JP2007328534A - Information processor and control method for information processor - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information processor capable of using a function of an extension device without waiting for an OS to start after power is supplied. <P>SOLUTION: When power is supplied to a notebook computer 1, a boot processing program is performed by a BIOS. A connection authentication program is performed according to the boot processing program and radio communication is performed with the extension device 30. The notebook computer 1 performs an initialization program to initialize a function in a range where a key board, a mouse and the like are set via the radio communication. When the initialization of the extension device 30 is completed, the extension device 30 becomes available. By incorporating software for performing the connection authentication processing and radio communication processing with the extension device and the initialization/control processing of a defined function, a part of the function of the extension device becomes available before the OS starts after power is applied. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to wireless communication, and more particularly to a method for starting an expansion device by wireless communication.

  Conventionally, in order to use peripheral devices with different ports, it is necessary to provide a port corresponding to each peripheral device. However, with the downsizing of information processing devices represented by notebook computers, etc., peripheral devices are connected. It is becoming difficult to secure a space for providing a port. In order to use a plurality of peripheral devices, it is necessary to connect the expansion device to the computer main body.

  The expansion device is connected to the information processing device with a connector or the like by wire. The BIOS (Basic Input Output System), which is the boot code of the computer, can perform the functions of the expansion device immediately after the computer is turned on by simply performing hardware initialization and setting. Before a computer OS (Operating System) started up, it was possible to perform input operations using a mouse and a keyboard.

In order to further improve the usability of the expansion device, for example, a device described in Patent Document 1 is known as a wireless connection between a computer and the expansion device.
JP 2000-194444 A

  When the connection between the computer and the expansion device is performed by wireless communication, connection authentication, communication processing, and the like for wireless communication are processed by a driver or software that operates after the OS of the computer main body is activated. Therefore, even if the computer main unit is turned on, the functions of the expansion device cannot be used immediately, and only after the OS is started, the driver is loaded, the software is loaded, and the initialization is completed. The function cannot be used. That is, among the functions of the expansion device, there is a problem that a function that can be used in a wired connection becomes unusable if it is wireless.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an information processing apparatus that can use the functions of an expansion device without waiting for the OS to start after the power is turned on.

  In order to achieve the above object, an information processing apparatus according to the present invention operates under the control of an operating system, and in an information processing apparatus capable of wireless communication with an expansion device, a main body, and wireless communication means provided in the main body And starting means for starting up the operating system, and control means for controlling the expansion device via the wireless communication means, the control means before the operating system is started up by the starting means The expansion device is initialized through wireless communication.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an information processing apparatus that can use the functions of the expansion device without waiting for the OS to start after the power is turned on.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, a notebook computer 1 will be described as an example of the information processing apparatus.

  FIG. 1 is an external perspective view showing a notebook computer 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The notebook computer 1 includes a main body 2, and a display unit 3 is rotatably attached to the main body 2 via a hinge portion 4. A circuit board on which a plurality of electronic components are mounted is accommodated in the main body 2. A touch pad 5 is attached to the front upper surface 2a of the main body 2 and a palm rest 6 is provided. A keyboard 7 is attached to the rear upper surface 2 b of the main body 2. A power switch 8 is provided on the rear upper surface 2b. When the power switch 8 is pressed, the notebook computer 1 is powered on.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the information processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. The notebook computer 1 includes a CPU 10, a north bridge 11, a main memory 12, a display controller 13, an LCD 14, a south bridge 15, a hard disk drive (HDD) 16, a wireless communication unit 17, a flash BIOS-ROM 18, an embedded controller / keyboard controller IC. An (EC / KBC) 19 and a power supply circuit 20 are provided.

  The CPU 10 is a processor that controls the operation of each component of the notebook computer 1. The CPU 10 executes an operating system and various application programs / utility programs loaded from the HDD 16 to the main memory 12. The CPU 10 also executes the BIOS stored in the BIOS-ROM 18. The BIOS is a program for hardware control.

  The bridge device connects the north bridge 11 and the local bus of the CPU 10 and the south bridge 15. The north bridge 11 also has a function of executing communication with the display controller 13 via an AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port) bus or the like. Further, the north bridge 11 includes a memory controller that controls the main memory 12.

  The display controller 13 controls the LCD 14 used as a display device of the notebook computer 1. The south bridge 15 is connected to a PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) bus and an LPC (Low Pin Count) bus, respectively.

  The wireless communication unit 17 is a wireless network device that performs wireless communication with an expansion device described later. The embedded controller / keyboard controller (EC / KBC) 19 is a one-chip microcomputer in which an embedded controller for power management and a keyboard controller for controlling the touch pad 5 and the keyboard 7 are integrated.

  The embedded controller / keyboard controller 19 cooperates with the power supply circuit 20 to turn on / off the power of the notebook computer 1 according to the operation of the power switch 8 by the user. The power supply circuit 20 generates system power to be supplied to each component of the notebook computer 1 using an external power supply supplied via the battery 21 or the AC adapter 22.

  FIG. 3 is an external perspective view showing the expansion device according to the embodiment of the present invention. The notebook computer 1 is wirelessly connected to the expansion device 30. The main body 30a of the expansion device 30 is provided with, for example, two connectors 32a and 32b for connecting external input devices such as a mouse 40 and a keyboard 50. The number of connectors 32 can be freely determined. The mouse 40 and the keyboard 50 are provided with plugs 40 a and 50 a for connecting to the connectors 32 a and 32 b of the expansion device 30. In addition to the touch pad 5 and the keyboard 7 provided on the main body 2 of the notebook computer 1, an input operation of the notebook computer 1 can be performed by the mouse 40 and the keyboard 50 connected to the expansion device 30. Further, in the embodiment of the present invention, an input operation can be performed with the mouse 40 and the keyboard 50 connected to the expansion device 30 even before the OS is started as will be described later. In addition to the mouse 40 and the keyboard 50, for example, an LCD can be connected to the expansion device to display a screen before the OS is started.

  FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the expansion device according to the embodiment of the present invention. The expansion device 30 is provided with a controller 60, a wireless communication unit 61, and the like. A mouse 62, a keyboard 63, an LCD 64, and the like are connected to the expansion device 30 as required by the user. The controller 60 is built in the expansion device 30 and controls the wireless communication unit 61 and various connected devices. The wireless communication unit 61 is a wireless network device that performs wireless communication with the notebook computer 1.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a boot processing function of the information processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, when boot control of the notebook computer 1 is performed, the BIOS has a connection authentication processing program, a wireless communication processing program, and an initialization / control program for the expansion device 30 in addition to a normal BIOS code. Yes. By having these programs, the functions of the expansion device 30 can be used before the OS of the notebook computer 1 is activated. Detailed control operation of the expansion device 30 will be described later.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the configuration of the control firmware of the expansion device according to the embodiment of the present invention. The control firmware of the expansion device 30 includes a first mode that operates under the management of the OS and a second mode that operates under the management of the non-OS. In the second mode, the function of the expansion device 30 is limited to, for example, a mouse and a keyboard. Immediately after the boot process of the notebook computer 1, the expansion device 30 is used in the second mode that operates under non-OS management.

  FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the operation of the expansion device when the notebook computer is activated. The expansion device 30 stands by in the second mode for restricting functions (step 1-1), and when the expansion device does not receive the wireless connection request signal from the notebook computer 1 (No in step 1-2), Continue waiting in mode 2. When the power of the notebook computer 1 is input and the notebook computer 1 is activated, a boot processing program is executed by the BIOS. Along with the boot processing program, a connection authentication program is executed to make a wireless connection request to the expansion device 30. When the expansion device 30 receives the wireless connection request signal from the notebook computer 1 (Yes in Step 1-2), the expansion device 30 transmits a connection confirmation response signal to the notebook computer 1 (Step 1-3). ). When the connection confirmation response signal is transmitted, the authentication process is started (step 1-4). The mutual connection ID and passcode of the notebook computer 1 and the expansion device 30 are authenticated, and it is confirmed whether or not the wireless connection is permitted. Further, it may be configured such that one of the notebook computer 1 and the expansion device 30 permits a connection request from the other. When wireless authentication between the notebook computer 1 and the expansion device 30 is completed (Yes in step 1-5), the initialization program of the expansion device 30 is executed to initialize the functions of the set range such as a keyboard and a mouse. (Step 1-6). When the initialization program of the expansion device 30 is executed and the initialization of the expansion device 30 is completed (step 1-7), the expansion device 30 can be used. When the initialization of the expansion device 30 is completed, the system configuration information of the notebook computer 1 is read, and an initial setting program for initial setting of each hardware is executed according to this information (step 1-8). Thereafter, after the BIOS boot processing is completed, processing such as OS reading (step 1-9) is performed.

  As described above, software that executes connection authentication processing, wireless communication processing, and limited function initialization / control processing for the expansion device is incorporated into the boot processing program of the information processing device, so that it can be expanded before the OS is started. Some functions of the device can be used. In addition, the firmware that executes communication and function control of the Wireless expansion device has a second mode that can control the minimum functions, thereby reducing the size of the software processing code and reducing the processing capacity and processing time. Can be small.

  When the present invention is implemented, it is possible to provide an information processing apparatus that can use the functions of the expansion device without waiting for the OS to start after the power is turned on.

  The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment as long as it does not depart from the gist of the present invention, and various modifications are possible.

1 is an external perspective view showing a notebook computer 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The block diagram which shows the structure of the information processing apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. The external appearance perspective view which shows the expansion apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. The block diagram which shows the structure of the expansion apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the boot processing function of the information processing apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. The figure which shows the structure of the control firmware of the expansion apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. The flowchart which shows operation | movement of the expansion apparatus at the time of notebook computer starting.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Notebook computer, 2 ... Main body, 3 ... Display unit, 5 ... Touch pad, 7 ... Keyboard, 10 ... CPU, 11 ... North bridge, 12 ... Main memory, 15 ... South bridge, 17 ... Wireless communication part, 18 ... BIOS-ROM, 19 ... EC / KBC, 30 ... Expansion device

Claims (6)

In an information processing device that operates under the control of an operating system and can communicate wirelessly with an expansion device,
The body,
Wireless communication means provided in the main body;
Booting means for booting the operating system;
Control means for controlling the expansion device via the wireless communication means,
The information processing apparatus, wherein the control unit initializes the expansion device via the wireless communication before the operating unit is activated by the activation unit. Storage means for storing an initial setting program for initial setting of the main body;
Execution means for executing the program stored in the storage means,
The control means, before the initial setting program is executed,
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the expansion apparatus is initialized via the wireless communication. The storage means
A wireless connection authentication program for performing wireless connection authentication with the extension device;
A wireless communication program for performing wireless communication with the extension device after the wireless connection authentication;
An initialization program for initializing the expansion device via the wireless communication, and before the initialization program is executed, the execution means includes the wireless connection authentication program stored in the storage means, and The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the wireless communication program and the initialization program are executed.   2. The input device connected to the expansion device, wherein the control means initializes the input device via the wireless communication before the operating system is started. Information processing device. In a method of controlling an information processing apparatus that operates under the control of an operating system and can communicate wirelessly with an expansion device,
Perform wireless connection authentication with the expansion device,
After the wireless connection authentication, wireless communication with the expansion device,
A method for controlling an information processing apparatus, comprising: initializing the expansion device via the wireless communication and starting the operating system. 6. The information processing apparatus control method according to claim 5, wherein the expansion apparatus is initialized via the wireless communication before the initial setting of the information processing apparatus is executed.

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