JP2001209465A - Information processing device and method for predicting battery operational time - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To exhibit estimated value of battery operational time which better reflects current state of user's usage manner and current equipment configuration of an information processing device. SOLUTION: A base estimated operational time calculation part 20 calculates a base estimated value of battery operational time (base estimated operational time) which is uniquely determined from the current remained battery capacity acquired by a remained capacity acquisition part 10. The reduced remained battery capacity and an elapsed time when a user operates a PC, and the corresponding base estimated operational time are used by a corrected value calculation part 40 to calculate a corrected value, and to store it in a corrected value holding part 50. When the estimated time for which the battery can be operated is to be shown to the user, an estimated operational time calculation part 60 calculates the estimated operational time by correcting the base estimated operational time using the corrected value stored in the corrected value holding part 50.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus which can be driven by a battery and a method of estimating a battery driveable time thereof.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, many portable information processing apparatuses have a function of presenting an expected value of a battery driving time to a user in some form. The user changes the usage of the device (loading method) or charges the battery, using the presented value as a guide. Although there are various types of anticipated methods, some typical methods are as follows.

First, as a first example, the remaining capacity of the battery of the device is simply divided by the power consumption per unit time (actually measured by the manufacturer: incorporated in the device as a fixed value), or after the battery is fully charged. There are devices that employ a technique such as multiplying the battery operation time (actually measured by the manufacturer) by the current remaining capacity ratio (%). This method is simple enough to divide using a fixed value that has been measured in advance, and is sufficient especially for a mobile phone or a small electronic organizer.

[0004] As a second example, there is one applied to a device in which a user can make various power saving settings for the entire device or a specific device therein. In the case of such a device, the calculation method of the expected time is basically similar to that of the first example, but when the set value of each setting item is changed, the power consumption per unit time is correspondingly changed. The value is corrected, and an estimated time reflecting the set contents is presented. This example is often adopted in a relatively large-sized device having various processing contents, such as a personal computer (personal computer).

[0005]

However, the above method has the following problems.

[0006] The first example is that the power consumption per unit time greatly changes depending on the usage of the user, and the reliability of the expected value is not guaranteed for a device that allows the user to add / delete a device after purchase. There is a problem that it cannot be secured. For this reason, it does not cause much problem in mobile phones and small electronic organizers, but it is difficult to always provide highly accurate forecast values in devices such as personal computers that have various processing contents and excellent device expandability. .

The second example has the same problem as the first example. That is, in the second example, the correction is only made according to the content of the power saving setting. Therefore, if the power saving setting is determined, the expected value is uniquely determined. The same problem of not being reflected exists.

[0008] The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and it is possible to present an estimated value of a battery drivable time that better reflects the current situation such as the user's usage and the current device configuration of the device. It is an object of the present invention to provide a simple information processing device and a battery driveable time prediction method.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the present invention relates to an information processing apparatus which can be driven by a battery, comprising: a remaining battery capacity obtaining means for obtaining a remaining battery capacity; Means for calculating a predicted battery drive time based on the obtained remaining battery capacity; and a correcting means for monitoring a load condition of the information processing apparatus and correcting a value of the battery drive predicted time based on the load condition. And providing the user with the predicted battery drive time corrected by the correction means.

[0010] In this information processing apparatus, when the predicted time during which the battery can be driven is presented to the user, the predicted value is not uniquely determined simply by a parameter such as the remaining battery value. By correcting the predicted value based on the above, it is possible to present a predicted value of the battery drivable time that better reflects the current situation such as the user's usage and the current device configuration of the device. For obtaining the load status of the information processing apparatus, a battery consumption per unit time or the like can be used as an index. In addition, it is preferable to acquire the history of the load status and correct it with the average value, or to perform the correction using a weighted average value or the like according to the acquired duration of each load instead of the simple average value.

According to the configuration of the present invention, for example, when the user tends to use the apparatus without imposing too much load on the apparatus, the displayed estimated battery drive time becomes longer each time it is repeated, and Eventually, it will settle to a value close to the ability value corresponding to the actual battery consumption. In another example, if the user adds any device to this device, the power consumption will increase by that device, so the ability value will temporarily be shorter than expected, but this also requires repeated learning. Converges as the expected value becomes shorter.

Therefore, it is possible to absorb the tendency of the specification of the user, which is difficult to prepare in the apparatus in advance, and the influence of the device added after the purchase, and reflect it in the expected battery drive time. I can do it. The estimated battery drive time reflecting these factors is a more meaningful value for the user than a simple estimated time ignoring those factors.

In addition, in response to a change in the device configuration of the information processing apparatus, the history of the load status acquired so far by the correction means is discarded, and the acquisition of the load status history by the correction means is re-executed from the beginning. It is preferable to further provide a means for causing this. Accordingly, when the past load condition data becomes meaningless due to addition / removal of a device, acquisition of the load condition history can be started again from the initial state, and more appropriate correction processing can be performed. Become.

The monitoring of the load condition by the correction means may be performed only during the period when the information processing apparatus is driven by a battery, or may be excluded during the period when the operation of the information processing apparatus is stopped. By configuring the monitoring of the load status only during a certain period, it is possible to prevent an inappropriate load status value from being acquired.

Further, the present invention relates to an information processing apparatus which can be driven by a battery, wherein a remaining battery capacity obtaining means for obtaining a remaining battery capacity, a remaining battery capacity obtained by the remaining battery capacity obtaining means, and an information processing apparatus for the information processing apparatus. Means for calculating an estimated battery drive time based on parameters related to power saving settings, and measuring an actual drive time of the information processing apparatus per unit battery capacity, and calculating a correction value of the expected battery drive time based on the measurement result. A correction value calculating means for calculating, and a means for accumulating the correction value calculated by the correction value calculating means, and correcting the expected battery drive time based on a history of the correction values. It is characterized by presenting the predicted battery drive time to the user.

As described above, the measured actual drive time is converted into a correction value of the base expected drive time determined by the remaining battery capacity and the power saving setting parameter, and the corrected value is stored and held. When presenting to the user, the estimated driving time can be immediately calculated and presented to the user regardless of the state of the power saving setting at that time. Further, it is preferable that the actual driving time is measured every predetermined period, and that the correction value is calculated every predetermined period, and the correction value is stored and held.

[0017]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a computer system as an information processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention. This computer system is a notebook-type portable personal computer (PC) that can be driven by a battery. When an external power supply is supplied via an AC adapter, the computer system operates using the external power supply and charges the battery. Will be On the other hand, when the AC adapter is not connected to the PC main body, such as when used in a mobile environment, the PC operates on power from a battery.

As shown in the figure, the PC main body includes a CPU.
1, a host-PCI bridge 2, a main memory 3, a display controller 4, an I / O controller 5, a PCI-ISA bridge 6, a BIOS-ROM 7, an embedded controller (EC) 8, a power controller 9, and the like.

The CPU 1 is for controlling the operation of the entire PC, and the system 1 of the BIOS-ROM 7
Starting with S, the operating system and various other programs loaded into the main memory 3 are executed. In the system of this embodiment, the user can make various power saving settings for the entire system or a specific device therein. The power saving setting items include brightness adjustment of the LCD panel controlled by the display controller 4, setting of the automatic turning-off time of the LCD panel, setting of the automatic stop time of the HDD controlled by the I / O controller 5, operation speed of the CPU 1. There are items related to settings and performance settings of the entire system, which are combinations of the settings of those devices.

The control of the power saving setting is performed by using a power saving utility program. The power saving utility program is provided with a function of estimating the battery drive possible time and presenting the estimated time to the user, in addition to the function related to the power saving setting described above.

The host-PCI bridge 2 is a bus bridge device for connecting the CPU bus and the PCI bus 100 bidirectionally, and has a built-in memory control function for controlling access to the main memory 3. The main memory 3 stores an operating system, application programs / utilities to be processed, data created by the application programs / utilities, and the like. S is stored in a part of the main memory 3
An overlay memory area called an MRAM is allocated, and stores various information related to system management such as a remaining battery capacity.

In the SMRAM, the CPU 1 operates in a system management mode (SMM) by a system management interrupt (SMI).
Is a memory space that can be accessed only when the
The storage of the remaining battery capacity in the SMRAM is performed by a system management routine (SM-BIOS) in the system BIOS that can be executed in the system management mode (SMM). The issuance of an SMI for storing data of the remaining battery capacity in the SMRAM is periodically performed by the EC 8 at, for example, certain fixed intervals. In response to this SMI, SM-
The BIOS acquires the current remaining battery capacity from the power supply controller 9 through the EC 8 and stores it in the SMRAM. Therefore, the latest battery remaining capacity data is always held in the SMRAM.

The detection of the remaining battery charge by the power supply controller 9 is performed by, for example, setting the remaining battery charge at full charge to 100%.
It is performed by sequentially subtracting the value by the power consumption obtained by integrating the voltage / current output from the battery. In this case, the unit of the remaining battery capacity data stored in the SMRAM is also%.

Next, a functional configuration of a power saving utility program which is a feature of the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the power saving utility program includes, as its functional modules, a remaining capacity acquisition unit 10, a power saving setting unit 11, an expected base drive time calculation unit 20, a clock unit 30, a correction value calculation unit. 40, a correction value holding unit 50, and an expected driving time calculation unit 60 are provided.

The remaining battery capacity acquiring section 10 is for acquiring the current remaining battery capacity, reads out the remaining battery capacity data (%) from the above-mentioned SMRAM, and calculates the expected base drive time calculating section 20 and the correction value calculating section. 40.
The power saving setting unit 11 performs control related to power saving settings according to an instruction from a user. The parameter indicating the current power saving setting is provided from the power saving setting unit 11 to the expected base drive time calculation unit 20.

The expected base drive time calculating section 20 is a base battery drive that is uniquely determined by the current remaining battery capacity acquired by the remaining battery capacity acquiring section 10 or by the remaining battery capacity and parameters related to the power saving setting. The expected value of the possible time (base expected driving time) is calculated. The estimated base driving time is a fixed value determined by a parameter relating to the remaining battery capacity or the power saving setting.

The timer 30 has a function of measuring the elapsed time from one arbitrary moment to another arbitrary moment. Here, it is mainly used for measuring the time required for the remaining battery capacity to decrease by a certain amount. The correction value calculation unit 40 monitors the load condition of the PC based on the battery consumption per unit time, and corrects the base expected drive time based on the load condition. Using the remaining battery capacity that has been reduced while using the battery and the elapsed time therebetween, and the base expected drive time corresponding thereto, the remaining drive time corresponding to the base expected drive time value and the actual battery consumption (performance Is calculated as a correction value. This calculation method will be described in detail in FIG.

The correction value holding section 50 holds the correction values calculated by the correction value calculation section 40 for each time and their average values. This is used to calculate an appropriate predicted value of the remaining drive time based on the history of the load status of the PC. The expected drive time calculation unit 60 calculates a value finally presented to the user as the expected drive time by multiplying the current base expected drive time by the average value of the past correction values accumulated so far.

FIG. 3 shows an example of the internal configuration of the correction value holding unit 50. As shown in FIG. 3, the correction value holding unit 5
0 holds all correction values measured in the past and their average value. In FIG. 3, the correction values are calculated for 163 times, and the average value of the correction values is “1.0”.
4 "is shown.

Next, the procedure of the battery drivable time prediction method according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the flowcharts of FIGS. There are three main processes, each of which is executed at the following three timings. 1) Immediately after turning on the power of the PC (initial processing) 2) Immediately before turning off the power of the PC (end processing) 3) When presentation of the expected drive time is necessary (as needed) FIG. The flow of the initial processing at the time of turning on is shown. When the power of the PC is turned on, first, the remaining capacity acquisition unit 10 acquires the current remaining battery capacity W1 from the SMRAM and sends it to the correction value calculation unit 40 (step S1).
01). Further, the current time T1 is sent from the clock unit 30 to the correction value calculation unit 40 (step S102). The remaining battery charge W1 and the current time T1 are held in the correction value calculator 40. Next, the base expected drive time calculation unit 20 calculates
Battery remaining capacity W1 (and parameters for power saving settings)
, And calculates the current estimated base drive time T _EB and sends it to the correction value calculator 40 (step S103). The value of the estimated base drive time T _EB is also held by the correction value calculator 40.

FIG. 5 shows the flow of processing when the PC is turned off. That is, the following processing is performed in the termination processing when the power of the PC is turned off. First,
The remaining capacity acquisition unit 10 acquires the current remaining battery capacity W2 from the SMRAM and sends it to the correction value calculation unit 40 (Step S201). Further, the current time T2 is sent from the clock unit 30 to the correction value calculation unit 40 (step S202). Then, the correction value calculation unit 40, the actual drive time _{T R} per unit battery capacity is calculated as an indicator of load on the PC (step S203). _{T R = (T2-T1)} / (W1-W2) Then, the correction value calculation unit 40 calculates the correction value K (step S204). K = T _R / (T _EB / W1) where (T _EB / W1) is the base expected drive time T _EB
Is the driving time per unit battery capacity based on
Next, the correction value calculation unit 40 stores the correction value K in the correction value holding unit 5.
0, and all K already saved
Is recalculated and stored in the correction value holding unit 50 (step S205).

Note that T _EB included in the calculation formula for calculating the correction value K is not the one at the present time (during termination processing), but is the one shown in FIG.
During initial processing (during initial processing).

Next, referring to the flowchart of FIG.
The flow of processing when an expected driving time value is requested will be described.

When the user or the system requests the presentation of the estimated driving time value at the current remaining battery level, the processing of FIG. 6 is executed, and the estimated driving time is calculated and displayed on the screen.

First, the expected drive time calculating section 60 obtains the current estimated base drive time T _EB from the expected base drive time calculating section 20 (step S301). Then, the expected driving time calculation unit 60, after obtaining the average value K _A of the correction value from the correction value holding unit 50 (step S302), finally by multiplying the average value K _A to the base estimated driving time T _EB determining expected driving time _{T E} to be presented to the user (step S303).

T _E = T _EB × K _A T _EB included in the equation for calculating the expected drive time T _E
Is a value according to the remaining battery level at the present time, that is, at the time when this process is called (not the value held in the correction value calculation unit 40 during the initial process of FIG. 4).

FIG. 7 shows a second configuration example of the correction value holding unit 50. In this example, the upper limit of the number of past correction values held by the correction value holding unit 50 is determined. In the example of FIG. 7, the upper limit is 20.

In this case, when the correction value holding unit 50 already holds the past correction values up to the upper limit, the correction value calculation unit 40 deletes the oldest (number 01) and removes the other 19 correction values. The number of the value data is sequentially shifted by one,
The current correction value is recorded in the vacant number 20 place. At this time, the average value is also rewritten to the average value of the new 20 correction values.

By setting the upper limit on the number of correction values to be held in this way, the capacity of the storage medium to be allocated for the correction value holding unit 50 can be set to a finite value. In addition, even when the device configuration of the PC is changed due to how the user places a load or when a device is added / removed, an effect such that the expected drive time follows the current condition earlier is expected.

FIG. 8 shows a third example of the configuration of the correction value holding unit 50. In this example, the correction value holding unit 50 stores not only the correction value but also the measurement time of the actual data used to calculate the correction value (that is, the value of T2−T1 in FIG. 4). Then, the correction value calculation unit 40
Instead of a simple average of these correction values, a weighted average obtained by adding weights according to the length of the measurement time is calculated. The calculation of the weighted average is performed by the following equation, for example.

Weighted average = (R ₁ TI ₁ + R ₂ TI ₂ +...
_{+ R N TI N) / (} TI 1 + TI 2 + ... + TI N) R i: i -th correction value TI _i: i-th computation time N: a weight by number thus measured time correction value held By using the added weighted average value in the calculation of the expected drive time, it becomes possible to obtain the average value of the correction values in a state in which the duration is taken into account for each measured load of the PC, which is more than the case where the simple average is used. In addition, it is possible to provide the user with an expected driving time that is more suited to the current state of the use of the PC.

FIG. 9 shows a fourth configuration example of the correction value holding unit 50.

In this example, a process of registering a default correction value in the correction value holding unit 50 as initial data in advance is performed. FIG. 9A is a first example of an initial state of the correction value holding unit 50.

To enable the user to present the expected drive time even when the user first starts up the PC,
At the factory shipment stage, at least one piece of data needs to be held in the correction value holding unit 50. FIG.
(A) is an example of the initial state. When only one piece of data is stored in such a manner, the average value of the correction values becomes the initial value (1) at the initial stage when the user starts using the device. .00).
This is because the ratio of newly added data to the total number of data held in the correction value holding unit 50 is high.

This means that the estimated driving time presented to the user changes drastically, which may confuse the user.

FIG. 9B shows a second example of the initial state of the correction value holding unit 50. The difference from FIG. 9A is that “1.0
A plurality of data “0” is set in advance (10 in this example).
). If a plurality of data are held in the initial state, the average value becomes the initial value (1.0 at the initial stage when the user starts using the PC).
0) will be prevented from changing dramatically. This makes it possible to prevent the user from being confused by a dramatic change in the expected driving time.

Next, a second example of the functional configuration of the power saving utility program will be described with reference to FIG.

In this example, in addition to the configuration of FIG. 2, a correction value initialization unit 70 is added to the power saving utility program. The correction value initialization unit 70 discards the past correction value data held in the correction value holding unit 50 when the device configuration changes due to the addition or removal of a device from / to the PC, and holds the correction value. This is for returning the unit 50 to the initial state.

The interface for activating the correction value initialization unit 70 is open to the user. For example, when transferring a PC used by another user to another person,
Alternatively, when it is determined that the correction value data accumulated so far does not make sense, for example, when a device is added to the PC, the correction value initialization unit 70 is activated to return to the initial state. Can be done. By initializing the correction value holding unit 50 in this way, it can be expected that an appropriate estimated driving time in a new use environment will be settled earlier than in the case where the correction value holding unit 50 is not performed.

The trigger for activating the correction value initialization unit 70 may be held by a user other than the user. For example, when the device configuration of the PC is changed, a function (plug and play) that can automatically detect the change is used. When the device configuration is changed, the detection of the change is used as a trigger to start the correction value initialization unit 70. If activated, the correction value holding unit 50 can be returned to the initial state without giving a trigger by the user.

Next, a third example of the functional configuration of the power saving utility program will be described with reference to FIG.

In this example, the correction value calculating section 40 shown in FIG.
A correction value checking unit 80 is newly added between the correction value checking unit 80 and the correction value holding unit 50. The correction value checking unit 80 checks whether the correction value output from the correction value calculation unit 40 satisfies a predetermined condition, and if it satisfies the condition, stores it in the correction value holding unit 50. To save. That is, the correction value checking means 80 has a condition (value range) to be satisfied by the correction value, and checks whether the output from the correction value calculation unit 40 satisfies this condition. For example, when the determined condition is 0.4 ≦ K ≦ 2.5 (K: correction value), even if the correction value “0.3” is calculated, the condition is not satisfied and the correction value is held. It is discarded without being sent to the unit 50. When the correction value of “1.2” is calculated, the correction value is sent to the correction value holding unit 50 and stored to satisfy the condition.

The following effects can be expected from the correction value checking unit 80, for example. PC, word processor,
Many information processing devices such as PDAs and mobile phones are powered by O
Many devices have a function of automatically shifting from an operation state to a power saving operation stop state such as memory suspend or hibernation if left for a certain period of time in the state of N.
If the device enters such an operation stop state during the measurement of the correction value, the power consumption is significantly reduced in that state, and as a result, the amount of decrease in the remaining battery capacity is abnormally small compared to the elapsed time. Is calculated (that is, the correction value becomes an abnormally large value). The expected driving time required by the user is a numerical value when the normal power-on state (operating state) continues, and it is not preferable to hold such correction value data and reflect it in the expected driving time. The effect of eliminating such undesirable data can be expected.

Note that the minimum value and the maximum value of the conditional expression to be satisfied by the correction value are “0.4” and “2.
5 ", but it does not necessarily have to be this value. It is preferable to set a minimum / maximum value that completely includes a range that can fluctuate due to an increase or decrease in load due to the usage of the user or attachment / detachment of a device and does not greatly exceed the range.

Next, a fourth example of the functional configuration of the power saving utility program will be described with reference to FIG.

In this example, a power supply switching detecting section 90 is provided in addition to the configuration shown in FIG. The power supply switching detection unit 90 detects whether the power supply source of the PC is a battery or an external AC power supply via an AC adapter, and when the power supply is switched from the external AC power supply to the battery, the remaining power is detected. It notifies the acquisition unit 10 and the clock unit 30. With this as a trigger, the same processing as that performed when the power is turned on (the processing in FIG. 4) is performed.

Further, when the power supply source is switched from the battery to the external AC power supply, the power supply switching detection section 90 similarly notifies the remaining capacity acquisition section 10 and the timer section 30 of the fact. With this as a trigger, the same processing as that performed when the power is turned off (the processing in FIG. 5) is performed.

These processes are for calculating and accumulating correction values only while the PC is driven by the battery, excluding the period when the PC is driven by the external AC power supply. This is because while the external AC power is supplied, the remaining battery capacity increases, so that the correction value cannot be calculated correctly. Whether the power supply source is a battery or an external AC power source can be detected by determining whether or not an AC adapter is connected. When the AC adapter is attached / detached, an event indicating the same via the power supply controller 9 and the EC 8 is notified to the power saving utility program directly or via the BIOS by an interrupt. Can be determined.

Next, a fifth example of the functional configuration of the power saving utility program will be described with reference to FIG.

In this example, a power saving state detection unit 101 is provided in addition to the configuration shown in FIG. Power saving state detection unit 10
1 notifies the remaining capacity acquisition unit 10 and the clock unit 30 when the PC returns from a power saving operation stop state such as memory suspend or hibernation to a normal operation state. With this as a trigger, the remaining capacity acquisition unit 10 and the clock unit 30 perform the same processing (the processing in FIG. 4) as when the power is turned on. When the operation state is switched from the operation state to the operation stop state, the power saving state detection unit 101 notifies the remaining capacity acquisition unit 10 and the timer unit 30 of the change. With this as a trigger, the same processing as that performed when the power is turned off (the processing in FIG. 5) is performed.

As described above, some recent information processing apparatuses are provided with a power saving operation stop state (standby mode such as memory suspend, hibernation, etc.) different from the power OFF state and the normal ON state. is there. For example, in many cases, when there is no input from the user for a certain period of time, the operation automatically shifts to the operation stop state. While the device is in the operation stop state, the device cannot be used in the same manner as in the power-off state, but the power consumption during that period is significantly reduced.
Then, the power returns to the normal power-on state (operating state) by a trigger such as an attempt by the user to input.

During the operation stop state, the power consumption of the device is significantly reduced. If the correction value is calculated including this period, an abnormally high correction value will be calculated. In addition, while in the operation stop state, the user cannot use the device as usual, and it is considered that storing data in such a state is not appropriate.

As described above, when calculating and accumulating the correction values, the operation stop state is not included in the target period, so that the same operation as in the case where the correction value check unit 80 of FIG. The effect can be obtained.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the PC load condition is measured using the battery consumption per unit time (actual driving time per unit capacity), and the base prediction is performed based on the measurement history. Since the drive time is corrected, it is possible to present to the user an expected value of the battery drive possible time that better reflects the current situation such as the usage of the user and the current device configuration. In addition, since the measurement result of the load condition is converted and stored in a ratio (correction value) to the expected base drive time determined in consideration of the power saving setting parameter each time the measurement is performed, the battery operation is performed. When presenting a possible predicted time to the user, the predicted drive time can be immediately calculated and presented to the user regardless of the state of the power saving setting at that time.

Furthermore, in the present embodiment, the base expected drive time is calculated using not only the remaining battery charge but also the parameters related to the power saving setting, and is corrected based on the actual load condition. When the power setting is changed, an estimated driving time reflecting the setting can be presented to the user.

That is, the user sets the output of a device such as a CPU or an LCD (whether full output with emphasis on performance or reduction in output at the expense of performance in order to extend battery drive time). In the case of a device that has a power saving setting function that can do this, on the power saving setting screen, change the output setting of this device to this value, and the (battery operation time (expected value) will change so much). It is desirable to present it to the user at that time. The impact on battery life when changing power savings settings is a very important factor when deciding on power savings settings, so the information should be provided to the user before finalizing the settings. The functions provided are important.

In this embodiment, the functions of the power saving utility described individually with reference to FIGS. 10 to 13 may be used in combination as appropriate, and in any case, the functions of the correction value holding units in FIGS. 7 to 9 may be used. It can be used in combination with the structure as appropriate.

In this embodiment, the correction value is stored and managed as the history of the load status. However, the value itself indicating the load status may be stored and managed. In addition, the configuration and method of the present embodiment can be applied not only to a PC but also to a portable information processing device that can be driven by a battery, such as a word processor, a PDA, and a mobile phone.

[0069]

As described above, according to the present invention,
It is possible to present an estimated value of the battery drivable time that better reflects the current situation such as the usage of the user and the current device configuration of the device.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a computer system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exemplary block diagram showing a functional configuration of a power saving utility used in the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a first example of an internal configuration of a correction value holding unit used in the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is an exemplary flowchart illustrating an initial processing operation when the power is turned on in the embodiment.

FIG. 5 is an exemplary flowchart illustrating an end processing operation when the power is turned off in the embodiment.

FIG. 6 is an exemplary flowchart for explaining the process of presenting an estimated driving time according to the embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a view showing a second example of the internal configuration of the correction value holding unit used in the embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing a third example of the internal configuration of the correction value holding unit used in the embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a fourth example of the internal configuration of the correction value holding unit used in the embodiment.

FIG. 10 is an exemplary block diagram showing a second example of the functional configuration of a power saving utility used in the embodiment.

FIG. 11 is an exemplary block diagram showing a third example of the functional configuration of a power saving utility used in the embodiment;

FIG. 12 is an exemplary block diagram showing a fourth example of the functional configuration of a power saving utility used in the embodiment;

FIG. 13 is an exemplary block diagram showing a fifth example of the functional configuration of the power saving utility used in the embodiment;

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Remaining capacity acquisition part 11 ... Power saving setting part 20 ... Base expected drive time calculation part 30 ... Clock part 40 ... Correction value calculation part 50 ... Correction value holding part 60 ... Expected drive time calculation part 70 ... Correction value initialization part 80: correction value check unit 90: power supply switching detection unit 101: power saving state detection unit

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. An information processing apparatus capable of being driven by a battery, comprising: a remaining battery capacity obtaining means for obtaining a remaining battery capacity; and a predicted battery drive time based on the remaining battery capacity obtained by the remaining battery capacity obtaining means. Means for monitoring the load condition of the information processing apparatus, and correcting means for correcting the value of the expected battery drive time based on the load condition. An information processing apparatus characterized in that the information processing apparatus presents the information. 2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the correction unit obtains a history of the load status of the information processing apparatus, and corrects the value of the expected battery drive time based on the obtained history of the load status. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1. 3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the correction unit associates a value of the load of the information processing apparatus with a duration of the load and retains a history of the load status of the information processing apparatus. 3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the value of the expected battery drive time is corrected based on a weighted average value according to a length of the duration to be performed. 4. In response to a change in the device configuration of the information processing apparatus, the history of the load status acquired so far by the correction unit is discarded, and the acquisition of the load status history by the correction unit is performed first. 3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising: means for executing the program again. 5. The information processing apparatus further comprises: means for determining whether a current operating power supply of the information processing apparatus is a battery or an external power supply. 2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information processing apparatus is executed only during a certain period. 6. The information processing apparatus further comprises means for determining whether the information processing apparatus is in an operating state or a stopped state, and monitoring of a load condition by the correction means is performed only during a period in which the information processing apparatus is in an operating state. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information processing apparatus is executed. 7. An information processing apparatus capable of being driven by a battery, comprising: a remaining battery capacity obtaining unit for obtaining a remaining battery capacity; a remaining battery capacity obtained by the remaining battery capacity obtaining unit; and a power saving setting of the information processing apparatus. Means for calculating an expected battery drive time based on parameters; and a correction value for measuring an actual drive time of the information processing device per unit battery capacity and calculating a correction value for the expected battery drive time based on the measurement result. Calculating means for accumulating a correction value calculated by the correction value calculating means, and correcting the battery drive predicted time based on a history of the correction value, wherein the battery drive corrected by the correcting means is provided. An information processing device for presenting an estimated time to a user. 8. A battery drivable time prediction method for predicting a battery drivable time of an information processing device capable of being driven by a battery, comprising: calculating a predicted battery drive time based on a remaining battery charge; Monitoring the load condition of the processing device, and correcting the value of the expected battery drive time based on the load condition, and presenting the corrected expected battery drive time to a user. Drivable time prediction method. 9. A battery drivable time prediction method for predicting a battery drivable time of an information processing device capable of being driven by a battery, based on a remaining battery capacity and a parameter relating to a power saving setting of the information processing device. Calculating a predicted battery drive time; measuring an actual drive time of the information processing device per unit battery capacity; and calculating a correction value of the expected battery drive time based on the measurement result. Accumulating the correction value calculated in the correction value calculating step, and correcting the expected battery drive time based on a history of the correction value, and presenting the corrected expected battery drive time to a user. A method for predicting battery driveable time, characterized in that: