JPH08220199A - Battery life monitoring device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To monitor the life of battery power supply at a lapse of time in a battery life monitoring device of an electronic equipment which is driven by the battery power supply. CONSTITUTION: Operation occupation time (TRUN, THALT, TSLOW, and TOFF) corresponding to each of four different operation modes (RUN, HALT, SLOW, and OFF) of the consumption current of a CPU 11 is reset and counted by four timer T1-T4 in a timer unit 19 when the replacement of a battery 17 is detected by a battery replacement detection function in a power supply device 18. Based on each operation time (TRUN, THALT, TSLOW, and TOFF) of each operation mode counted by the timers T1-T4, each consumption current (IRUN, IHALT, ISLOW, and IOFF) of each operation mode which is stored, in advance, at the monitoring data memory in the memory 15, and an initial capacity S of the battery 17 which is stored, in advance, at the monitoring data memory, a remaining time X usable by the battery 17 can be predicted and calculated and shown on a display 16.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a battery life monitoring device for electronic equipment driven by a battery power source.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Generally, an electronic device driven by a battery power source is provided with a function of warning the remaining battery level in order to prevent a sudden stoppage of operation due to a decrease in battery capacity.

The conventional battery remaining amount warning function, for example, monitors the battery voltage and performs a warning operation when the battery voltage falls below a certain voltage level, or indicates the ratio of the remaining battery capacity according to the amount of decrease in the battery voltage. All of them are intended to monitor the voltage of the battery power source in real time.

[0004]

Therefore, although the conventional battery remaining amount warning function can warn the remaining amount of the battery capacity itself, the load during the operation of the electronic device is not constant, and the operating condition is not fixed. Since it fluctuates depending on the situation, there is a problem that it is difficult to temporally monitor the remaining battery level. The present invention
The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a battery life monitoring device capable of temporally monitoring the life of a battery power supply.

[0005]

That is, the battery life monitoring apparatus according to claim 1 of the present invention is an electronic circuit having a plurality of operation modes with different current consumption, and a battery for supplying a driving voltage to the electronic circuit. A power supply, a battery replacement detection means for detecting when the battery power supply is replaced, and a plurality of operation modes of the electronic circuit reset when the replacement of the battery power supply is detected by the battery replacement detection means. Based on a plurality of timers for measuring the operation time corresponding to each of, the operation time of each of the plurality of operation modes timed by the plurality of timers, the current consumption of each of the plurality of operation modes, and the initial capacity of the battery power source And a remaining time predicting means for predicting the remaining usable time of the battery power supply.

[0006]

In other words, the operation times corresponding to the operation modes in which the electric current consumption of the electronic circuit is different are reset and timed by the plurality of timers when the replacement of the battery power supply is detected by the battery replacement detection means. Therefore, the operation occupancy time for each different current consumption after the battery is replaced is measured.

Then, the remaining usable time of the battery power supply is predicted based on the operating time of each of the plurality of operation modes clocked by the plurality of timers, the current consumption of each of the plurality of operation modes, and the initial capacity of the battery power supply. Like

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an electronic circuit of an electronic device equipped with the battery life monitoring device of the present invention.

This electronic device has a CPU 11. The CPU 11 activates a system program stored in advance in the memory 15 in accordance with a key operation signal input from the keyboard 12 to control the operation of each part of the circuit. The CPU 11 has a clock generator (CG). The operation clock generated by 13 is supplied.

The CPU 11 is connected to the display 16 in addition to the memory 15 via the bus 14, and is connected to a power supply device 18 which supplies a voltage signal from the battery 17 to each circuit as a power supply voltage Vcc. It

The CPU 11 has four modes (RUN, HALT, SLOW, OF) each having different current consumption.
The operation mode signal from the CPU 11 is supplied to the timer unit 19.

The timer unit 19 includes the CPU 1
1 has four timers T1 to T4 that operate in accordance with each of the four operation mode signals from 1 to T, and the timer T1 is an R which the CPU 11 operates in the RUN mode.
The timer T2 operates when clocking with the UN mode signal supplied.
Is a HAL when the CPU 11 is operating in HALT mode.
The timer T3 operates by clocking with the T mode signal supplied,
The CPU 11 operates in the SLOW mode, and operates in the state of supplying the SLOW mode signal, and the timer T4 controls the CP
The U11 operates in the OFF mode, and operates in the state of supplying the OFF mode signal.

On the other hand, the power supply device 18 has a power supply voltage Vc.
In addition to the supply function of c, it has a battery replacement detection function for detecting the replacement operation of the battery 17, and when a battery replacement detection signal from this power supply device 18 is output to the bus 14, the timer unit 19 The clocked data in each of the timers T1 to T4 is reset to "0".

Here, each timer T of the timer unit 19
The operation clocks for 1 to T4 are supplied from an independent dedicated oscillator 19a. That is, each of the timers T1 to T4 of the timer unit 19 operates in each operation mode (RUN, RUN, etc.) of the CPU 11 from the time when the battery 17 is replaced.
HALT, SLOW, OFF) occupied time (TRUN, T
HALT, TSLOW, TOFF), respectively, and the occupied time corresponding to each operation mode of the CPU 11 clocked by the timer unit 19 is constantly monitored by the CPU 11 via the bus 14.

The memory 15 is a program memory in which a system program of this electronic device and subprograms for executing various functional operations are stored, the CPU 11
There is provided a work memory for temporarily storing the input / output data in the case, a monitoring data memory for storing power supply monitoring data, and the like.

The monitoring data memory in the memory 15 has four operation modes (RU) in the CPU 11.
The consumption current (IRUN, IHALT, ISLOW, IOFF) corresponding to each of N, HALT, SLOW, and OFF) is obtained in advance by experiments and theoretical calculations and stored, and the initial rated capacity S of the battery 17 is also stored in advance. It

The CPU 11 also executes a battery life monitoring process in parallel with the operation control of each part of the circuit according to the key operation signal from the keyboard 12, and in the battery life monitoring process, For example, the operation occupancy time (TRUN, THALT, TSLOW, etc.) of each operation mode timed by each timer T1 to T4 of the timer unit 19
TOFF), the consumption current (IRUN, IHA) of each operation mode stored in the monitoring data memory in the memory 15
LT, ISLOW, IOFF) and the initial rated capacity S of the battery 17 stored in the monitoring data memory, the battery 17
The remaining usable time of is calculated predictively and displayed on the display 16.

FIG. 2 shows four operation modes (RUN, HALT, SLOW, OF) of the CPU 11 in the electronic device.
It is a figure which shows the relationship between the operation clock frequency and current consumption corresponding to each of F).

FIG. 3 shows four operation modes (RUN, HALT, SLOW, OF) of the CPU 11 in the electronic device.
9 is a timing chart showing the relationship between the output state of each operation mode signal corresponding to each of F) and the change in current consumption.

That is, in the RUN mode, the CPU 11
Operates at the highest speed, the consumption current IRUN becomes the largest. Further, in the HALT mode, the clock generator (CG) 13 is operating, but the CPU 11 is in a stopped state, so that the current consumption IHALT is the second largest. In the SLOW mode, the clock signal from the clock generator (CG) 13 is divided into 1 / N and the CPU 11 operates at a low speed.
OW is the third highest. Further, in the OFF mode, the clock generator (CG) 13 is stopped, so that the current consumption thereof is the leak current only and is the smallest.

That is, the relation of the current consumption (IRUN, IHALT, ISLOW, IOFF) in each operation mode of the CPU 11 is as follows. IRUN>ISLOW>IHALT> IOFF FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram showing the peripheral configuration of the timer of the timer unit 19 in the electronic device.

Timers T1 to T4 of the timer unit 19
Are the corresponding operating mode signals (RUN, HALT, S
The gate is turned on in the high level state (LOW, OFF),
The clocking operation is performed according to the dedicated clock from the oscillator 19a. Then, the count content is read out to the CPU 11 via the data bus 14 as needed.

Next, a battery life monitoring process in an electronic device equipped with the battery life monitoring device having the above configuration will be described. First, when the battery 17 is newly replaced, the operation of battery replacement is detected by the power supply device 18, and the time measurement data of each of the four timers T1 to T4 in the timer unit 19 is reset to "0".

Then, in the timer T1, the occupied time TRUN when the RUN mode signal is output from the CPU 11
Is counted, the timer T2 measures the occupied time THALT in the state in which the HALT mode signal is output, and the timer T2
In 3, the occupancy time TSLOW in the state in which the SLOW mode signal is output is measured, and in the timer T4, the occupancy time TOFF in the state in which the OFF mode signal is output is measured.

In other words, each timer T1 to T4 has a battery 1
The occupancy time (TRUN, THALT, TSLOW, TOFF) of each operation mode after the replacement of 7 is obtained. Here, in the CPU 11, for example, the prediction processing of the remaining available time is performed in the following manner. Is done in this way.

First, the total current consumption capacity P consumed from the time when the battery 17 is replaced is the current consumption (IRUN, IHALT, IRUN, IHALT, etc.) stored in advance in the monitoring data memory in the memory 15. ISLOW, IOFF) and the operation occupancy time (TRUN, THALT, TSLOW, TOFF) of each operation mode timed by the timers T1 to T4.
Based on and, it is calculated according to the following equation (1).

P = (IRUN * TRUN) + (IHALT * THALT) + (ISLOW * TSLOW) + (IOFF * TOFF) Equation (1) Secondly, the operation from the time when the battery 17 is replaced (ON) The average used current consumption ION in () is calculated according to the following equation (2).

ION = {(IRUN * TRUN) + (IHALT * THALT) + (ISLOW * TSLOW)} / (TRUN + THALT + TSLOW) Equation (2) Thirdly, it is stored in advance in the monitoring data memory in the memory 15. The initial capacity S of the battery 17 and the total current consumption capacity P obtained from the above equation (1) after battery replacement, and the average current consumption current ION obtained from the above equation (2) after battery replacement Based on, the remaining battery usage time X is calculated according to the following equation (3).

X = (SP) / ION (3) Then, the remaining usable time X calculated by the CPU 11 is displayed on the display 16 to inform the user.

Therefore, according to the electronic apparatus equipped with the battery life monitoring device having the above-mentioned configuration, the four timers T1 to T4 in the timer unit 19 cause four operation modes (RUN, HALT, S) in which the current consumption of the CPU 11 is different.
The operation occupation time (TRUN, THALT, TSLOW, TOFF) corresponding to each of LOW and OFF)
When the replacement of the battery 17 is detected by the battery replacement detection function in, the timer T1 is reset and clocked.
Operating time of each operation mode (TRUN, THALT, TSLOW, TOFF) measured by T4, consumption current (IRUN, IHALT, ISLOW, IOFF) of each operation mode stored in advance in the monitoring data memory in the memory 15 , And the remaining usable time X of the battery 17 based on the initial capacity S of the battery 17 stored in advance in the monitoring data memory.
Is calculated and displayed on the display 16,
The user can know the remaining usable time corresponding to the remaining battery level as extremely accurate information, and can more effectively operate the electronic device.

Although the initial capacity S of the battery 17 is stored in advance in the monitoring data memory in the memory 15 in the above-described embodiment, for example, in the power supply device 18, the A / D
A converter may be provided to detect the initial voltage when the battery is replaced and the operating voltage that changes over time. further,
A database of characteristic data according to the type and rating of the battery 17 may be stored in advance, and more accurate predictive calculation processing of the remaining usable time may be performed.

[0032]

As described above, according to the battery life monitoring apparatus of the present invention, the operation time corresponding to each of the plurality of operation modes in which the consumption current of the electronic circuit is different is determined by the plurality of timers. Since it is reset and timed when the replacement of the battery power is detected by, the operation occupancy time for each different current consumption from the time when the battery is replaced can be measured. The remaining usable time of the battery power supply can be predicted based on the operation time of each operation mode, the current consumption of each of the plurality of operation modes, and the initial capacity of the battery power supply. Therefore, it becomes possible to accurately monitor the life of the battery power source in time.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of an electronic circuit of an electronic device equipped with a battery life monitoring device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a relationship between an operating clock frequency and current consumption corresponding to each of four operating modes (RUN, HALT, SLOW, OFF) of the CPU in the electronic device.

FIG. 3 is a timing chart showing the relationship between the output state of each operation mode signal corresponding to each of the four operation modes (RUN, HALT, SLOW, OFF) of the CPU in the electronic device and the change in current consumption.

FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram showing a peripheral configuration of a timer of a timer unit in the electronic device.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 ... CPU, 12 ... Keyboard, 13 ... Clock generator (CG), 14 ... Bus, 15 ... Memory, 16 ...
Display, 17 ... Battery, 18 ... Power supply device, 19 ... Timer unit, 19a ... Oscillator, IRUN, IHALT, ISL
OW, IOFF ... Current consumption in each mode, TRUN, THALT, TSL
OW, TOFF: Occupied time for each mode operation, P: Total current consumption capacity after battery replacement, ION: Average current consumption after battery replacement, X: Battery remaining usage time.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An electronic circuit having a plurality of operation modes with different current consumptions, a battery power supply for supplying a driving voltage to the electronic circuit, and a battery replacement detection means for detecting when the battery power supply is replaced. A plurality of timers that are reset when the replacement of the battery power source is detected by the battery replacement detection means, and that measure an operation time corresponding to each of a plurality of operation modes of the electronic circuit; And a remaining time predicting means for predicting a remaining usable time of the battery power source based on operating time of each of the plurality of timed operation modes, current consumption of each of the plurality of operation modes, and initial capacity of the battery power source. Battery life monitoring device characterized by. 2. The battery life monitoring device according to claim 1, wherein the electronic circuit includes at least a CPU, and the plurality of operation modes include a RUN mode and a HALT mode of the CPU.