JP2003223157A - Display device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a display device in which work load of software is reduced in a commanding means that becomes a control section and the number of input output terminals of the means is reduced. <P>SOLUTION: A flash memory (a storage means) 2 conducts reading and writing of display data so that various information is displayed by a display (a display means) 4. A control section (a commanding means) 5 provides instructions so that reading of the display data stored in the flash memory 2 and writing of the display data to the memory 2 are conducted. A display control IC (a driving control means) 6 reads the display data from the memory 2 based on the instruction signals from the section 5 and the data are displayed on the display 4 and the display data are written into the memory 2. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a display device for displaying various kinds of information, and more particularly to a display device for reading display data from a storage means or writing display data to the storage means.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Vehicle display devices include vehicle information such as vehicle speed, engine speed and fuel, enlarged display linked with a navigation device, an inter-vehicle distance warning system for measuring an inter-vehicle distance with a preceding vehicle, and road traffic. Information and Communication (VICS)
A system having a multi-display function for displaying vehicle traveling information and the like is desired.

As such a display device for a vehicle, there is one as shown in FIG. 4, which includes a control unit 1, a flash memory (FLASH ROM) 2, a display control IC 3 and
It is composed of a display unit 4.

The control unit 1 is composed of a microcomputer, and has a CPU for executing processing for displaying various information such as the vehicle information and the vehicle traveling information on the display 4, and a program for the processing. Remembered R
OM, RAM for temporarily storing data and calculation results,
The control unit 1 is composed of an interface circuit and the like for electrically connecting the flash memory 2 and the display control IC 3 so that the flash memory 2 and the display control IC 3 can communicate with each other.

The flash memory 2 is a storage means capable of reading and writing display data relating to various types of information, and reads and writes display data in accordance with commands from the control section 1. The stored display data are, for example, enlarged image data such as turn right / left as an auxiliary display of the navigation device, and vehicle image data in the vehicle distance warning system. These display data are intended to upgrade the system. For,
It may be rewritten or added by being connected to an external device such as a personal computer.

The display control IC 3 is a drive controller that operates the display device 4 in accordance with an instruction signal from the control unit 1.

In the display 4, liquid crystal is enclosed in a pair of glass substrates provided with transparent electrodes (not shown) made of, for example, indium tin oxide (ITO), and the transparent electrodes are orthogonal to each other. In stripes,
This is a so-called dot matrix type liquid crystal display panel in which the transparent electrodes are arranged so that the portions facing each other form pixels, and various information is displayed based on drive signals from the display control IC 3.

A display device is constituted by the above-mentioned respective parts. Based on a predetermined step process programmed in the control unit 1, such a display device reads out predetermined image data from the flash memory 2 and causes the display unit 4 to perform a predetermined display, and in some cases, the flash memory. The display data can be rewritten to 2 and new display data can be added. An arrow between the control unit 1 and the display control IC 3 in the drawing means control by the external bus A1 such as a busy signal and an output data signal, and an arrow between the control unit 1 and the flash memory 2 indicates a busy signal, Input / output data signal, address signal,
External bus A2 for strobe signals for write / read
It means control by.

[0009]

In such a display device, since the access control between the flash memory 2 and the display control IC 3 is performed by the control unit 1, the program in the control unit 1 becomes complicated and the load on the software becomes heavy. In addition, since two systems of control by the external buses A1 and A2 are required (control unit 1 and flash memory 2, control unit 1 and display control IC 3), the number of input / output terminals in the control unit 1 is increased, so that it is highly functional. However, there is a problem in that a different control unit is required and the display device is disadvantageous in terms of cost.

Further, in the display device, since the control unit 1 and other devices (display control IC 3 and flash memory 2) are connected by the two external buses A1 and A2, the mounting area of the system is expanded, There is a problem that the display device itself becomes large and is easily affected by unnecessary radiation noise (external noise).

In view of the above-mentioned problems, the present invention makes it possible to reduce the load on software and reduce the number of input / output terminals in the command means, which is the control part, and is unnecessary. The present invention provides a display device that is less likely to be affected by radiation noise.

[0012]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided storage means for storing display data for displaying various kinds of information by the display means, and the storage means stored in the storage means. A command means for instructing display data to be displayed by the display means, and a drive for causing the display data to be displayed on the display means while reading the display data from the storage means based on a command signal from the command means. And a control means.

Further, as described in claim 2, storage means capable of reading and writing display data for displaying various kinds of information by the display means, and the display data stored in the storage means. Based on a command means for instructing reading and writing of the display data to the storage means, and a command signal from the command means, the display data is read from the storage means to the display means. Drive control means for displaying the data and writing the display data to the storage means.

Further, as described in claim 3, the drive control means discriminates the command signal from the command means,
It is provided with a determination unit that determines whether the display data is read from the storage unit or the display data is written to the storage unit.

Further, as described in claim 4, the drive control means is provided with an address latch function for outputting a latch signal for latching the address value in the judging means to the judging means.

Further, as described in claim 5, the drive control means is provided with a select function for outputting to the determination means a selection signal indicating that the processing signal from the command means relates to the drive control means. It will be.

Further, as described in claim 6, the display data comprises image data.

[0018]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. The same or corresponding portions as those of the conventional example will be denoted by the same reference numerals and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

As shown in FIG. 1, the display device according to the embodiment of the present invention includes a control section 5, a display control IC (drive control means) 6, a flash memory (storage means) 2, and a display unit (display means). 4) and is different from the above-described conventional example in that data read / write to the flash memory 2 is performed.
Display control IC based on an instruction from the control unit 5 for writing
6 is the point to do.

The control unit 5 has substantially the same basic configuration as the conventional control unit 1 (CPU, RAM, ROM, etc.), but the busy signal of the flash memory 2, the input / output data to / from the flash memory 2, and the flash memory 2 are included. Address data, a strobe signal for reading / writing to the flash memory 2, a strobe signal for accessing the flash memory 2 and the like, and one external bus B for exchanging with the display control IC 6. The arrow between the section 5 and the display control IC 6 indicates the control by the external bus B described above.

As shown in FIG. 2, the display control IC 6 comprises a judgment circuit (judgment means) 6a, a memory circuit 6b, a display control circuit 6c, a display data output circuit 6d, and an interface circuit 6e. Each part is an internal bus 6
connected by f.

The determination circuit 6a is a function setting means composed of storage means such as a register, and specifies write mode / read mode to the flash memory 2, addressing of the flash memory 2, and writing to the flash memory 2. The data storage designation, the designation for starting the processing to the flash memory 2, and the like are performed. That is, the determination circuit 6a is also a determination unit that determines whether the command signal from the control unit 5 is a data write to the flash memory 2 or a data read from the flash memory 2.

When the strobe signal (command signal) from the control unit 5 writes (writes) data to the flash memory 2, the judging circuit 6a writes "write mode", "address designation", "Data storage"
And a command signal of "execute processing" are output via the display control circuit 6c and the interface circuit 6e to write a predetermined data.

Further, the judging circuit 6a is arranged so that when the command signal (strobe signal) from the control section 5 reads (reads) data to the flash memory 2, the flash memory 2
On the other hand, command signals such as "read mode", "address designation", and "process execution" are output via the display control circuit 6c and the interface circuit 6e to perform a predetermined data read operation.

The memory circuit 6b temporarily stores the data to be displayed by the display 4, and the data read from the flash memory 2 is also temporarily stored in the memory circuit 6b.

The display control circuit 6c transmits a command signal from the control section 5 input via the determination circuit 6a to the flash memory 2 (transmits via the interface circuit 6e), and controls display on the display unit 4. And the temporary storage control to the memory circuit 6b. Further, the display control circuit 6c synthesizes a plurality of image data to display the display 4
It is also possible to display by.

The display data output circuit is the display control circuit 6c.
The display data generated by is output in a predetermined format, and the display data is displayed by the display device 4.

The interface circuit 6e is for transmitting the command signal to the flash memory 2.

The display device includes a flash memory 2 capable of reading and writing display data for displaying various information by the display device 4, and reading and flashing of the display data stored in the flash memory 2. Based on a control unit 5 that instructs the memory 2 to write the display data, and based on a command signal from the control unit 5, the display data is read from the flash memory 2 and displayed on the display unit 4. And a display control IC 6 for writing the display data in the flash memory 2.
C6 includes a determination circuit 6a that determines the command signal from the control unit 5 and determines whether the display data is read from the flash memory 2 or the display data is written in the flash memory 2. Therefore, the control unit 5 controls the display unit 4 and the flash memory 2
It is only necessary to output a specific command signal to each of the display control ICs 6 for the respective controls, and therefore the program in the control unit 5 can be simplified, so that the load on the software can be reduced.

Also, the external bus B in the control unit 5 may be one system, the number of input / output terminals in the control unit 5 can be reduced, and an inexpensive control unit can be selected in the circuit configuration of the display device. It is possible to achieve cost reduction as a display device.

By setting the external bus B to one system,
Since the mounting area of the system can be reduced, the display device itself can be downsized, and it is less susceptible to unwanted radiation noise (external noise).

Further, by using the display data as image data, the merit is further increased. That is, when the configuration of the present invention is applied to, for example, an auxiliary display device that performs enlarged display in conjunction with a navigation device, since the image data has a large data capacity, the flash memory 2 is transferred to the flash memory 2 using two external buses A1 and A2. It is possible to reduce the processing load on the control unit as compared with the conventional display device that includes the control unit 1 that performs the process of reading and writing the image data and displays the image data on the display device 4 via the display control IC 3. Becomes

Next, another embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 3, but the same or corresponding portions as those of the conventional example and the above-described embodiment are designated by the same reference numerals, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

The difference from the above-described embodiment is that the display control IC 6 has an address latch function of outputting a latch signal for latching the address value in the determination circuit 6a to the determination circuit 6a and an address set by the address latch function. It has a select function of outputting a selection signal indicating that the value is related to the display control IC 6 to the determination circuit 6a.

That is, the display control IC 6 is provided with a latch circuit 6g and a select circuit 6h in front of the determination circuit 6a.

The latch circuit 6g is for latching a predetermined address in the determination circuit 6a, and is, for example, the display 4
The type of the liquid crystal panel or the organic EL panel, the panel size, the scanning period of the display unit 4 (in the case of a dot matrix type display unit), and the like, and the address indicating the display form of the display unit 4 are specified. The address is latched (address latch function).

When the control unit 6 is connected to a device other than the display control IC 6 (for example, another display control IC) via the single external bus B, the select circuit 6h outputs a signal from the control unit 5. Processing signal (latch circuit 6g and select circuit 6
(including a command signal input via h) is a display control IC
6 to generate a select signal (selection signal) indicating that the information is information on 6 and output the select signal to the determination circuit 6a (selection function). The determination circuit 6a receives the select signal to display the display control IC.
It recognizes that the designation is for 6 and executes a predetermined process in accordance with an instruction from the control unit 5.

According to such an embodiment, the display control IC 6
By providing the latch circuit 6g and the select circuit 6h on the display unit 4, the display form of the display unit 4 can be specified, and even when the control unit 5 is connected to another device,
There is no malfunction that is confused with the processing with the other device. Further, by providing the display control IC 6 integrally with the latch circuit 6a and the select circuit 6h, it is possible to reduce the mounting area as a display device and to reduce the size.

Further, as compared with the case where the address latch circuit and the select circuit are provided outside the display control IC 6, the connection by the external bus is unnecessary, so that it is possible to obtain the display device which is not easily affected by the unnecessary radiation noise.

The display device in the above-described embodiment has been described by using the flash memory 2. However, the present invention is an electronic integrator (odd / odometer) for integrating the traveling distance of a vehicle or the like.
It is also effective for a display device using a nonvolatile memory such as an EEPROM used for a trip meter).

Further, although the display device in the above-described embodiment reads and writes data by using the flash memory 2, in the present invention as set forth in claim 1, the control unit can control the data. A display device using storage means only for reading display data based on a command signal, that is, storage means for storing display data for displaying various information by a display (display means), and the storage means A control unit (command unit) that instructs the display unit to display the stored display data, and the display data is read from the storage unit based on a command signal from the control unit. Control IC (driving control means) for displaying on the display means
The present invention can be applied to a display device provided with, and it is possible to obtain the same effect as the display device described above.

Further, in the other embodiments described above, the display control IC 6 is provided with the latch circuit 6g and the select circuit 6h. However, depending on the system configuration of the display device, only the latch circuit 6g or the select circuit is provided. It may be only 6h, and may have at least one of the address latch mechanism and the select function.

[0043]

As to the display device for displaying various kinds of information, it becomes possible to reduce the load on the software and reduce the number of input / output terminals in the command means as the control means. In addition, it is possible to obtain a display device that is not easily affected by unnecessary radiation noise.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a display device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a display control IC in the display device of the above embodiment.
FIG.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing a display device according to another embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a conventional display device.

[Explanation of symbols]

2 Flash memory (storage means) 4 Display (display means) 5 Control unit (command means) 6 Display control IC (drive control means) 6a Judgment circuit (judgment means) 6b memory circuit 6c Display control circuit 6d Display data output circuit 6e interface circuit 6f internal bus 6g latch circuit 6h Select circuit B external bus

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    F term (reference) 5C082 BB25 CA85 DA01 DA87 MM02                       MM04                 5H180 AA01 BB02 BB04 BB13 FF33

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. Storage means for storing display data for displaying various information by the display means, and command means for instructing the display data stored in the storage means to be displayed by the display means. A display control unit that reads the display data from the storage unit and displays the display data on the display unit based on a command signal from the command unit. 2. Storage means capable of reading and writing display data for displaying various information by the display means, reading of the display data stored in the storage means, and storage in the storage means. Command means for instructing to write the display data, and based on a command signal from the command means, the display data is read from the storage means and displayed on the display means, and to the storage means. 2. A display control device comprising: a drive control unit that writes the display data. 3. The drive control means discriminates the command signal from the command means to read the display data from the storage means or write the display data to the storage means. The display device according to claim 2, further comprising a determination unit for determining. 4. The display device according to claim 3, wherein the drive control means has an address latch function of outputting a latch signal for latching an address value in the determination means to the determination means. 5. The drive control means comprises a select function for outputting to the determination means a selection signal indicating that the processing signal from the command means relates to the drive control means. The display device according to any one of claims 1 to 3. 6. The display device according to claim 1, wherein the display data is image data.