JP2003345467A - Information processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information processing device for switching on/off with a power switch provided in PS/2 interface peripheral equipment in a simple configuration. <P>SOLUTION: A PS/2 interface keyboard 10 provided with a power switch 13 is connected to an information processing device 1. Pins of pin numbers 2 and 6 of a cable 11 connected to the keyboard 10 are connected the power switch 13. The information processing device 1 has a power supply unit 3, a mother board 5 mounted with a PS/2 interface part 51 and a power controller 52, a main body power switch 6, a PS/2 jack 7 and others contained or installed therein. When the power switch 13 is pushed, the signal goes through lines of the pin numbers 2 and 6 of the cable 11 to the power controller 52, and then on/off control of the power supply unit 3 is carried out. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

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, and more particularly, to an information processing apparatus which can be turned on / off from a peripheral device such as a keyboard having a PS / 2 (Personal System / 2) interface. About.

An information processing apparatus, for example, a desktop personal computer (hereinafter, referred to as a DOS / V standard)
In the past, PS / 2 for bidirectional serial communication has been used as a standard interface for keyboards and mice, and a 6-pin mini D
An IN (Deutsch Industrie Norm: German Industrial Standard) plug (or connector) is used.

In recent years, the connection of a keyboard and a mouse
USB (Universal) instead of S / 2 interface
Serial Bus) is spreading. The USB has a feature that a maximum of 63 terminal devices can be connected to one bus, and a plug (or connector) can be attached and detached even when the power of a personal computer or the like is turned on. Further, the plug has four pins and has a small number of pins, so that the plug is easy to use.
However, USB has an OS (Operating System)
ows (registered trademark) 98 or later, there are restrictions such as the cable length is limited (maximum 3 m or 5 m). In addition, USB keyboard and mouse are
If the connection is made before the OS is installed, the connection may not be recognized and the OS may not be installed. For this reason, when using Windows (registered trademark) 95, when the distance between the keyboard or mouse and the personal computer body is longer than the prescribed value, or when installing an OS, the keyboard / mouse of the PS / 2 interface must be used. There is a situation that can not be obtained.

In an information processing apparatus such as a personal computer, a power switch for turning on / off a power supply is provided in a main body of the apparatus. Usually, a push button type is used as the power switch, and is provided at a predetermined location on the front panel. In the case of a DOS / V personal computer, the power switch is pressed to turn on the power. In addition, to turn off the power, the power switch is not operated except when a trouble occurs, and after the execution of the application is ended, the desktop screen is operated by operating the mouse and the “Start” button on the screen is pressed. , Start menu "Windows
(End of (registered trademark)) "
The power is turned off by software.

[0005] The keyboard is always connected to a cable having a relatively short length (about 1.2 m), and the cable cannot be replaced. Therefore, the information processing device is installed within a range where the cable can reach. For this reason, the power switch is located at a position accessible to the user,
There was no need to provide a power switch on the keyboard. For this reason, it has become common sense to turn on / off the power using a power switch provided in the apparatus body.

However, a technique for turning on / off the power of the information processing apparatus from a keyboard has been proposed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-195156. When the dedicated power-off key on the keyboard is pressed while the information processing apparatus is operating, power-off information is sent to the main body through the signal line (D + or D-) of the USB interface, and the power-off information is received. The USB controller on the main unit starts a program for turning off the power and turns off the main power. On the other hand, in order to turn on the main power supply from the keyboard side, power is supplied from the sub power supply section to the signal identification means and the differential amplification means, and power-on information from the keyboard side is passed through the switching section and the differential amplification means. The signal is input to the signal identification means, and the main power supply is turned on by the signal identification means.

[0007]

However, according to the conventional information processing apparatus, the PS / 2 interface keyboard and mouse are not provided with a power switch, but are provided only in the information processing apparatus main body. It was not possible to turn on / off the main power supply from a peripheral device such as a mouse. Further, since it is necessary to operate the power switch, it is necessary to arrange the information processing apparatus main body so that the user can easily reach it, or to turn the front panel toward the user, and there are restrictions on the installation location and the like. For this reason, if the power switch is also provided in the keyboard or mouse of the PS / 2 interface, there is no restriction on the installation location of the information processing apparatus main body, and the usability is improved.

[0008] As described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-195156, when the power on / off information is notified from the keyboard of the PS / 2 interface to the main body,
It is necessary to greatly change the configuration of the main body, which increases the complexity and the versatility. In the case of a USB interface, since a 4-pin plug is used, D
There are no pins other than +, D-, + power supply, and GND, and a dedicated line cannot be allocated for turning on / off the power supply. For this reason, in the USB interface, power on / off information has to be put on the data line.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a PS / 2 interface peripheral device which can be turned on / off entirely by a power switch provided on the peripheral device side with a simple configuration, and has operability and operability. An object of the present invention is to provide an information processing apparatus with improved arrangement.

[0010]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides an interface unit including a PS / 2, a power supply unit for supplying power to at least a device built in the main body, and a main body provided in the main body. In an information processing apparatus in which on / off control of the power supply unit is performed in response to operation of a power switch, a peripheral device connected to the interface unit by a PS / 2 interface and provided with a second power switch; The power supply unit is turned on / off based on either a power on / off signal transmitted through a wire not used in the PS / 2 interface in a connection cable for a peripheral device or a signal from the power switch. There is provided an information processing apparatus including a power supply control unit for controlling.

[0011] According to this configuration, the power on / off information from the peripheral device connected to the main body through the PS / 2 interface is transmitted through the wire not used in the specification of the PS / 2 interface in the connection cable. The power is supplied to the power control unit, and the power control unit performs on / off control of the power unit based on the power on / off information transmitted from the peripheral device. Therefore, on / off control of the power supply of the information processing apparatus main body from the peripheral device side of the PS / 2 interface such as a keyboard can be achieved with a simple configuration and low cost. Furthermore, since the power on / off control can be performed without using the power switch of the information processing apparatus main body, the power on / off control can be performed from the keyboard even when the information processing apparatus main body is away from the installation location of the keyboard. In addition, the operability is improved, and the degree of freedom of arrangement is improved.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows a configuration of an information processing apparatus according to the present invention. In the following, it is assumed that the information processing device is a personal computer. The information processing apparatus 1 includes a housing 2 as a main body, a power supply unit 3 (power supply unit), a motherboard 5 on which a CPU 4 is mounted, a hard disk device (not shown), a CD drive device, and a floppy (registered trademark) disk drive device. And a cooling fan.
The power supply unit 3 is supplied with AC 100 V power from the outside, but is not shown here. A main body power switch 6 is mounted on the front of the housing 2, and a PS / 2 jack 7 for a keyboard is exposed on the back of the housing 2. Further, on the back of the housing 2, there are jacks for a built-in graphic card, a modem card, etc., and a P for a mouse.
The S / 2 jack and the like (both not shown) are exposed.

The information processing apparatus 1 is connected with a keyboard 10 and a display 20 as peripheral devices, and, if necessary, with other peripheral devices such as a printer, a scanner, and an external storage device (none are shown). Connected. The keyboard 10 has a PS / 2 specification, and is connected to the information processing apparatus 1 via a cable 11 (a 4-pin plug 12 is provided at an end). The plug 12 is inserted and connected to the PS / 2 jack 7 provided on the back of the housing 2.
Further, the keyboard 10 is provided with keys 14 on an operation surface, and a push button type power switch 13 at an appropriate position on the operation surface.

The motherboard 5 has a PS for a keyboard.
PS / 2 interface unit 51 for processing a signal from the / 2 jack 7, and the PS / 2 interface unit 51
A power control controller 52 (power control means) for controlling power on / off of the power supply unit 3 based on power on / off information from the keyboard 10 and a signal from the main body power switch 6 via the power supply unit 6 is mounted. When a key on the keyboard 10 is operated, the PS / 2 interface unit 51 sends the data to a chipset (not shown) connected to the CPU 4. When the power switch 13 or 6 is operated, the power control controller 52 turns on and off (soft off), sleep processing, suspend processing, and wake-on (Wake-On).
Perform processing and the like.

The power control controller 52 has a two-input OR circuit 53, and its input terminal receives the output signals from the power switch 13 and the main body power switch 6. Therefore, when either the power switch 13 on the keyboard 10 or the main power switch 7 on the information processing apparatus 1 is pressed (or when two switches are pressed simultaneously), an output signal is generated in the OR circuit 53. I do. OR circuit 5
3 generates an output signal, the power supply controller 52
Recognizes that the power is on or off, and executes control to turn on or off the power supply unit 3.

FIG. 2 shows the details of the plug 12 and the PS / 2 jack 7. The plug 12 is a 6-pin mini-DIN plug attached to the end of the cable 11 as shown in FIG. 2 (a). Pin numbers (circled numbers in the figure) are assigned. The following uses are specified for each pin. Pin No. 1 ... Data [DATA] Pin No. 2 ... (Reserved) Pin No. 3 ... Ground [GND] Pin No. 4 ... + 5V Pin No.5 ... Clock [CLK] Pin No.6・ ・ (Reservation)

The PS / 2 jack 7 is of a female type, as shown in FIG.
And is fitted to the inserted plug 12.
The assignment of the pin number of each pin is opposite to that of the plug 12 in FIG.

Here, the connection relationship between the power switch 13 and the plug 12 will be described. The power switch 13 is a push-on type in which a contact is turned on when a key portion is pressed, one of the two terminals is a GND terminal having a pin number 3, and the other is a pin terminal having a pin number 2 described in paragraph [0016]. It is connected to the “reserved” terminal of pin number 6. That is, in the present invention, the pins of the pin numbers 2 and 6 are assigned as the pins dedicated to the power switch. Therefore, the cable 11 needs to mount six lead wires (wires).

Next, the power switch 1 on the keyboard 10
3 will be described. When the main power supply of the information processing apparatus 1 is off, the PS / 2 interface unit 51 and the power supply controller 52 are on standby by the backup power supply. When the power switch 13 is pressed in this state, the signal (detection voltage) reaches the pins No. 2 and No. 6 of the plug 12 through the cable 11. Further, the signal is input to the pin Nos. 2 and 6 of the jack 7 and one input terminal of the OR circuit 53 of the power supply controller 52 through the PS / 2 interface unit 51. As a result, an output signal is generated in the OR circuit 53, and based on the output signal, the PS / 2 interface unit 51 turns on the power supply unit 3 and starts supplying power to the motherboard 5 and other internal devices such as a hard disk.

On the other hand, if the power switch 13 is kept pressed for a certain period of time, for example, 4 seconds or more, while the main power is on, the signal (detection voltage) is transmitted through the cable 11 to the pins 2 and 6 of the plug 12. Pins are reached, and pins 7 and 6 of jack 7 and PS / 2
The signal is input to one input terminal of the OR circuit 53 of the power supply controller 52 through the interface unit 51. Based on the output signal of the OR circuit 53, the power supply controller 52 turns off the power supply unit 3 and stops supplying main power to the motherboard 5, the hard disk, and other internal devices.

The power is turned on / off by the main body power switch 6.
When turning off the power, turn on the power switch 6
Is pressed through the OR circuit 53.
2 detects and turns on the power supply unit 3. When the main power is on, the main body power switch 6 is turned on for a certain period of time.
For example, when the power switch 13 is continuously pressed for 4 seconds or more, the operation is performed via the OR circuit 53 by the power control controller 52.
And the power supply unit 3 is turned off. In the above description, it is assumed that the power switch 13 or the main body power switch 6 is kept pressed for 4 seconds or more when the power is turned off. It is.

As described above, according to the present invention, P
By utilizing the fact that pin number 2 and pin number 6 of the S / 2 interface are in an empty state (unused state), the power on / off operation information relating to the power switch 13 of the keyboard 10 is transmitted to this pin, On / off control of the power supply unit 3 can be performed with a simple configuration.

Incidentally, even if an attempt is made to send a power on / off signal from the keyboard side to the information processing apparatus main body by using a USB interface keyboard, the USB interface has two lines for DC power supply and two lines and four lines for data transmission. This is a pin specification, and there is no room for other uses. In contrast, the PS / 2 interface is
As shown in Fig. 7, only 4 lines and 4 pins out of 6 lines and 6 pins are used, and there are 2 lines and 2 pins available. Therefore, by using the two wires and the two pins for the operation information of power on / off, the power on / off of the power supply unit 3 in the main body is controlled.
The off control can be easily performed.

In the above-described embodiment, the power switch 13 is provided on the keyboard of the PS / 2 interface. However, the present invention is not limited to the keyboard, and other devices using the PS / 2 interface (e.g., Device), for example, a mouse, a ten key, and the like. Further, instead of the power switch 13, a dedicated key connected to the pin number 2 and the pin number 6 may be provided.

In the above embodiment, the personal computer is described as the information processing apparatus. However, the present invention is not limited to the personal computer, and the peripheral device and the main body by the PS / 2 interface are separated. The present invention can be applied to all the systems that require the power of the main unit to be turned on / off by the peripheral device or the main unit.

[0026]

As is clear from the above, according to the information processing apparatus of the present invention, the power on / off information is transmitted from the peripheral device connected to the main unit by the PS / 2 interface to the PS / 2 among the connection cables. Since the power is sent to the power control means in the main body through wires not used in the interface specifications, and the power control means controls on / off of the power unit based on power on / off information from the peripheral device side. The on / off control of the power supply of the information processing apparatus main body from the peripheral device side of the PS / 2 interface can be realized with a simple and low-cost configuration. Also,
Since the power on / off control can be performed without using the power switch of the information processing device, even if the information processing device is away from the location where the keyboard is installed or is placed in a situation where it is difficult to operate, the power supply can be controlled from the keyboard. ON / OFF control can be performed, so that the operability is improved and the degree of freedom of arrangement is improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an information processing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a sketch showing a bin arrangement of mini DIN plugs and jacks for a PS / 2 interface.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Information processing device 2 Case 3 Power supply unit 4 CPU 5 Motherboard 6 Main unit power switch 7 PS / 2 jack 8 Jack 10 Keyboard 11 Cable 12 plugs 13 Power switch 14 keys 20 Display 51 PS / 2 interface 52 Power supply controller 53 OR circuit

Claims (4)

[Claims] An interface unit including a PS / 2 (Personal System / 2), a power supply unit for supplying power to at least a device built in the main body, and the power supply unit in response to an operation of a main body power switch provided on the main body. A peripheral device connected to the interface unit by a PS / 2 interface and provided with a second power switch; and a PS / PS in a connection cable for the peripheral device. (2) A power supply control unit that controls on / off of the power supply unit based on either a power on / off signal transmitted through a wire not used in the interface or a signal from the power switch. Information processing device. 2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the peripheral device is a keyboard, a mouse, or a numeric keypad using a PS / 2 interface. 3. The device according to claim 1, wherein the peripheral device includes a second power switch connected to the wire that is not used in a PS / 2 interface.
Or the information processing apparatus according to 2. 4. The 6-pin DIN plug of the connection cable or the second or 6-pin DIN connector of the 6-pin DIN connector.
4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information processing apparatus is connected to a number pin.