JP2005173661A - Electronic equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide electronic equipment operating without any trouble even in case of inserting a board to a different model of electronic equipment by preventing the current consumed by a substrate from exceeding the value of a current feedable by a power supplying unit. <P>SOLUTION: This electronic equipment comprises the substrate 10 having a first nonvolatile storage medium 7; the power supplying unit 11 having a second nonvolatile storage medium 13, which supplies power source to the substrate 10; and a control means 1 for reading and comparing information for the current consumed by the substrate, which is preliminarily stored in the first storage medium 7 and information for the current feedable by the unit 11, which is preliminarily stored in the second storage medium 13, and performing, in a case that the both are matched, or the value of the current information feedable by the unit 11 is larger, a control for keeping information for a function permitted to use in the substrate 10, which is preliminarily stored in the first storage medium 7. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic device in which a power supply unit (PSU) and a substrate that receives power supply from the power supply unit are separate substrates.

In electronic devices where the power supply unit and the board that receives power supply from this power supply unit are separate boards, those that change the supply voltage flexibly, those that change the power supply voltage according to the operating frequency, and power supply voltage status There are known ones that vary the frequency of the multiplied clock and those that control the clock frequency of the expansion interface control unit with a network interface device.
Due to the common use of PWB / PCB, some electronic devices such as copiers have similar hardware configurations such as the PWB / PCB does not change at all between different models, or some I / Fs are present on the PCB. . In some cases, the I / F with the electronic device main body is common among different models even if the PWB / PCB is different. In such a case, it is possible in terms of hardware to be mounted on a different type of substrate. Related documents include the following.
JP 2001-324754 A JP 2002-56774 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 10-41793 Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-15551 JP 11-289754 A Japanese Patent No. 2687710 Japanese Patent No. 3139879 JP 2001-30574 A JP 2001-142579 A JP 2001-184293 A JP-A-11-167441

However, when recycling boards (controllers, BCUs, etc.) in electronic equipment (such as copiers) and attaching them to different models, there are few problems between models of the same specification, but various problems between models of different specifications. Will occur. Further, even if the circuit board is mounted on a different type of board, if the current consumption of the board exceeds the value of the current that can be supplied by the power supply unit, it may not move or cause a malfunction.
The present invention pays attention to the current consumption, prevents the current consumption of the board from exceeding the value of the current that can be supplied by the power supply unit, and operates even if a board is inserted into a different type of electronic device. The purpose is to provide.

To achieve the above object, the invention described in claim 1 includes a substrate having a first nonvolatile storage medium and a power supply unit having a second nonvolatile storage medium and supplying power to the substrate. Read and compare information on current consumption of the substrate stored in advance in the first nonvolatile storage medium and information on current that can be supplied by the power supply unit stored in advance in the second nonvolatile storage medium, As a result, when the two values match or the value of the current information that can be supplied by the power supply unit is larger, control is performed to maintain information on the function permitted to be used on the substrate stored in advance in the first nonvolatile storage medium. The most important feature is an electronic device equipped with a control means for performing the operation.
The invention described in claim 2 comprises a substrate having a first nonvolatile storage medium, and a power supply unit having a second nonvolatile storage medium and supplying power to the substrate, the first nonvolatile storage medium The current consumption information of the substrate stored in advance and the current supplyable information stored in the second nonvolatile storage medium are read and compared, and as a result, one of the values is larger. At this time, the electronic device including a control unit that performs control to rewrite information on a function permitted to be used on a substrate stored in advance in the first nonvolatile storage medium is the main feature.
According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the electronic device according to the first or second aspect, when the control means compares the information and the value of the current information that can be supplied by the power supply unit is larger, the first nonvolatile The main feature is an electronic device that rewrites information on functions permitted to be used on a substrate stored in advance in a volatile storage medium so as to expand the functions to be used.
According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the electronic apparatus according to any one of the first to third aspects, when the control means compares the information, the value of the current information that can be supplied by the power supply unit is smaller. The main feature is an electronic device that rewrites information on a function permitted to be used on a substrate stored in advance in the first non-volatile storage medium so that a part of the function is stopped or reduced.
According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in the electronic device according to any one of the first to fourth aspects, the control means supplies power to the target function when expanding the function, and the target when stopping or reducing the function. The main feature is an electronic device that stops the power supply to the function.
According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the electronic device according to any one of the first to fifth aspects, the control means increases the operating frequency when expanding the function, and decreases the operating frequency when stopping or reducing the function. Features equipment.
According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the electronic device according to any one of the first to sixth aspects, the control means rewrites information on a function permitted to be used on the substrate previously stored in the first nonvolatile storage medium. The main feature is an electronic device that rewrites the current consumption information of the substrate stored in the first nonvolatile storage medium into the current consumption of the substrate with the rewritten function.
According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in the electronic device according to any one of the first to seventh aspects, the control means supplies the current information when the value of the current information that can be supplied by the power supply unit is smaller as a result of comparing the information. The main feature is an electronic device that outputs a message indicating that there is insufficient current to the display unit.

  The present invention includes a substrate having a first nonvolatile storage medium and a power supply unit having a second nonvolatile storage medium and supplying power to the substrate, and is stored in advance in the first nonvolatile storage medium. The current consumption information of the printed circuit board and the information on the current that can be supplied by the power supply unit stored in advance in the second non-volatile storage medium are read and compared. As a result, they match or can be supplied by the power supply unit. When the current information value is larger, control is performed to maintain information on functions permitted to be used on the substrate stored in advance in the first nonvolatile storage medium, and the first nonvolatile storage medium is And a power supply unit that has a second nonvolatile storage medium and supplies power to the substrate, information on current consumption of the substrate stored in the first nonvolatile storage medium in advance, Pre-stored in a non-volatile storage medium When the information on the current that can be supplied by the supplied power supply unit is read and compared, and as a result of which one of the values is large, the function that is permitted to be used on the substrate stored in advance in the first nonvolatile storage medium By performing control to rewrite information, the intended purpose can be achieved.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an electronic apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The electronic apparatus includes a substrate 10 and a power supply unit 11.
In the board 10, the CPU 1, the ROM 2, the RAM 3 and the hard disk 4, the timer 5, the operation display unit 6, data (information on current consumption of the board 10, information on functions permitted to be used on the board, etc.) via the system bus. Are connected to an optional I / F 8 that is an I / F of an option card / device used in the substrate 10.
The CPU 1 controls these parts 2 to 8 in an integrated manner. The timer 5 is a function used when the CPU 1 controls each part of the substrate. For example, the timer 5 is used when counting timing for synchronizing each part of the substrate. The operation display unit 6 displays a variety of information such as driving conditions, substrate states, input conditions and the like, and a display operation LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) with a touch panel for performing input operations such as selection input and setting input by the user such as function selection. ).
The power supply unit 11 includes a power supply unit 12 that supplies power to the substrate 10 and a nonvolatile memory (2) 13 that stores data of current that can be supplied by the power supply unit 11.

FIG. 2 is an operation flowchart in the electronic apparatus of the present invention. Information on the current consumption of the substrate 10 stored in advance in the nonvolatile memory (1) 7 is acquired (S1). Information on current that can be supplied by the power supply unit 11 that supplies power to the substrate 10 stored in advance in the nonvolatile memory (2) 9 is acquired (S2).
The value of the power consumption information on the board 10 is compared with the value of the current information that can be supplied from the power supply unit 11, and when the comparison result matches (Y in S3), the process ends. When the value of the current consumption information of the substrate 10 is larger (N in S4), the function is stopped so that the current can be supplied to the power supply unit 11 (S5).
When the function is stopped or reduced, the power supply to the target function is stopped (for example, the power supply to the hard disk 4, the option I / F 8 or the like is stopped), and the operating frequency is decreased (for example, CPU1, ROM2, RAM3). The operation frequency of the option I / F 8 or the like is lowered).
Corresponding to the place where the function is stopped and reduced, the substrate stored in advance in the nonvolatile memory (1) 7 of the substrate 10 (if there is another substrate having a nonvolatile memory, that nonvolatile memory is also possible) The information on the function permitted to be used at 10 is rewritten (S6). Then, the consumption current information of the substrate 10 stored in the nonvolatile memory (1) 7 is rewritten to the consumption current when the rewritten function is used (S7).
When the value of the current consumption information of the substrate 10 is smaller (Y in S4), it is selected whether or not to extend the function (S8). Exit when not expanding. When expanding the function, the function is expanded so that the current can be supplied to the power supply unit 11 or less (S9). When expanding the function, power is supplied to the target function (for example, power is supplied to the hard disk 4, the option I / F 8, etc. for which power supply has been stopped), and the operating frequency is increased (for example, CPU1, The operation frequency of ROM2, RAM3, option I / F8, etc. is increased).
Corresponding to the expanded function, the non-volatile memory (1) 7 of the substrate 10 (if there is another substrate having a non-volatile memory, that non-volatile memory is also acceptable) Information on functions permitted to be used is rewritten (S10). Then, the current consumption information of the substrate 10 stored in the nonvolatile memory (1) 7 is rewritten to the current consumption when the rewritten function is used (S11).

The non-volatile memory (1) 7 of the substrate 10 (if there is another non-volatile memory substrate, that non-volatile memory may be used) is consumed when all the functions permitted for the substrate 10 are used. It has current value information, current consumption value information for each device, and current consumption information for each operating frequency.
When the function is expanded, the consumption current of the expanded function is added to the information of the consumption current value when all the functions permitted to be used on the board 10 are used (currently used when raising the operating frequency). Add the difference between the current consumption at the operating frequency and the current consumption when the operating frequency is increased). When stopping or reducing the function, subtract the current consumption of the stopped or reduced function (when decreasing the operating frequency) Subtract the difference between the current consumption at the operating frequency currently used and the current consumption when the operating frequency is lowered).
Further, in the present invention, the value of the power consumption information of the substrate 10 is compared with the value of the current information that can be supplied from the power supply unit 11, and the current information that can be supplied from the power supply unit 11 is supplied when the value is smaller. Outputs that there is not enough current.
The consumption current value of this board stored in a non-volatile storage medium (NVRAM, EEPROM, etc.) on the board (controller, BCU, etc.) incorporated in this electronic device, and the current that can be supplied by the PSU of the main body If the values of the current and the current that can be supplied by the PSU of the main body are large, the substrate can be operated at a current lower than that supplied by the PSU.
Further, when either one is larger as a result of the comparison, the substrate can be operated at or below the current supplied by the PSU by expanding, stopping, or reducing the function used in a certain substrate. If the substrate is less than the current supplied by the PSU, the function can be expanded. In addition, a part of the function is stopped and reduced so that a certain substrate has a current less than or equal to the current supplied by the PSU, so that the current supply of the PSU is insufficient.
Also, when expanding the function, power is supplied to the target function to expand the function, and when stopping or reducing the function, the power supply to the target function is stopped to cope with the shortage of PSU current supply. Further, when expanding the function, the performance is improved by increasing the operating frequency, and when the function is stopped or reduced, the operating frequency is decreased to cope with the insufficient current supply of the PSU.
In addition, when comparing the current values of the substrate and the PSU every time the power is turned on, when the function is expanded or reduced, the information on the current consumption of the substrate must be rewritten to the current consumption when the function is expanded or reduced. The information on the functions that are permitted to be used must be rewritten every time the power is turned on. In the electronic apparatus according to the present invention, the next time the power is turned on, the current value of the substrate and the PSU is compared.

It is a block diagram of the electronic device which concerns on embodiment of this invention. 3 is an operation flowchart in the electronic apparatus of the present invention.

Explanation of symbols

1 CPU (control means)
7 Nonvolatile Memory (1) (First Nonvolatile Storage Medium)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Board | substrate 11 Power supply unit 13 Non-volatile memory (2) (2nd non-volatile storage medium)

Claims (8)

  Consumption of a substrate pre-stored in a first nonvolatile storage medium, comprising: a substrate having a first nonvolatile storage medium; and a power supply unit having a second nonvolatile storage medium and supplying power to the substrate The current information and the information on the current that can be supplied by the power supply unit stored in advance in the second nonvolatile storage medium are read and compared. As a result, the two match or the current information that can be supplied by the power supply unit An electronic apparatus comprising control means for performing control to maintain information on a function permitted to be used on a substrate stored in advance in a first nonvolatile storage medium when the value is larger.   Consumption of a substrate pre-stored in a first nonvolatile storage medium, comprising: a substrate having a first nonvolatile storage medium; and a power supply unit having a second nonvolatile storage medium and supplying power to the substrate The current information and the current information that can be supplied by the power supply unit stored in advance in the second nonvolatile storage medium are read and compared. As a result, when one of the values is larger, the first nonvolatile storage An electronic apparatus comprising control means for performing control to rewrite information on a function permitted to be used on a substrate stored in advance in a medium.   3. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein when the value of the current information that can be supplied from the power supply unit is larger as a result of comparing the information, the control means is stored in advance in the first nonvolatile storage medium. An electronic device characterized in that information on a function permitted to be used on a board is rewritten so as to expand a function to be used.   4. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein when the value of the current information that can be supplied by the power supply unit is smaller as a result of comparing the information, the control means is the first nonvolatile storage medium on the substrate. An electronic device characterized in that information on a function permitted to be used on a board stored in advance is rewritten so that a part of the function is stopped or reduced.   5. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the control means supplies power to the target function when expanding the function, and stops power supply to the target function when stopping or reducing the function. An electronic device characterized by that.   6. The electronic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control means increases the operating frequency when expanding the function and decreases the operating frequency when stopping or reducing the function.   7. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein when the control means rewrites information on a function permitted to be used on a substrate stored in advance in the first nonvolatile storage medium, An electronic device, wherein information on current consumption of a substrate stored in a storage medium is rewritten to current consumption of the substrate with a rewritten function.   8. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the control means sends a message that the supplied current is insufficient when the value of the current information that can be supplied by the power supply unit is smaller as a result of comparing the information. Is output to the display unit.

Images