JP2009110039A - Ic card, and information processing program for the same - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an IC card for displaying a character, a figure, or the like at a high speed in a simple constitution. <P>SOLUTION: The IC card includes a reception means (RF circuit 39) receiving a drawing command from a host device; a drawing means (display control MCU 36) generating image data as bitmap data on the basis of the drawing command; a display means (EPD 31a) displaying the image data obtained by the drawing means; and a storage means (nonvolatile memory 37) storing the drawing command used for generating the image data. When re-displaying the image data on the display means (EPD 31a), the drawing means (display control MCU 36) re-generates the image data from the drawing command stored in the storage means (nonvolatile memory 37) to display the image data. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an IC card and an information processing program for the IC card.

Patent Document 1 discloses a technique related to an RF-ID device that combines a nonvolatile display device and wireless communication. In this technique, information received by wireless communication is displayed on a non-volatile display device, so that display can be maintained for a long time while suppressing power consumption.
JP 2005-165814 A

  By the way, in the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1, the information displayed on the non-volatile display device is described by taking a number as an example, but in the case of enabling display of characters, figures, etc., the device There is a problem that the configuration of the system becomes complicated.

  In the case of an RF-ID device, a built-in battery is often used as a power source, and the speed of wireless communication is often slow in order to reduce power consumption. For this reason, when receiving and displaying a complicated figure etc. as bitmap data, there also exists a problem that reception of the information by radio | wireless communication requires much time.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide an IC card and an IC card information processing program capable of displaying characters and figures with a simple configuration and at high speed. To do.

In order to achieve the above object, an IC card of the present invention includes a receiving unit that receives a drawing command from a host device, a drawing unit that generates image data as bitmap data based on the drawing command, and the drawing unit. A display unit that displays the image data obtained by the above and a storage unit that stores the drawing command used to generate the image data, and the image data is displayed again on the display unit. The drawing unit generates the image data again from the drawing command stored in the storage unit and displays the image data.
According to this configuration, the drawing command is received from the host device by the receiving unit, the image data as bitmap data is generated by the drawing unit based on the drawing command, and the image data obtained by the drawing unit is displayed by the display unit. When the drawing command used for generating the image data is stored in the storage unit and the image data is displayed again on the display unit, the drawing unit uses the drawing command stored in the storage unit to obtain the image data. Is generated and displayed again. For this reason, it becomes possible to display a character, a figure, etc. with a simple structure and at high speed. Further, since it is not necessary to receive a drawing command again from the host device at the time of redrawing, the redrawing process can be executed at high speed.

In the present invention, the storage means is a non-volatile storage means, the display means is a non-volatile display means, and when the drawing process by the drawing means is completed, The power supply is stopped, and control means is provided for performing control to start power supply when drawing processing becomes necessary.
According to this configuration, the drawing command is stored in the non-volatile storage means, the image obtained as a result of executing the drawing command is displayed on the non-volatile display means, and when the drawing process is completed, the control means turns on the power. Stop supplying. For this reason, when drawing processing is completed, power supply can be stopped to reduce battery consumption, and display contents and drawing commands can be maintained even after power supply is stopped.

According to the present invention, in the above invention, when a predetermined period has elapsed after the image data is displayed on the display means, the drawing means is based on the content stored in the nonvolatile storage means. Then, a drawing process is executed, and the obtained image data is displayed on the non-volatile display means to perform refresh, which is an operation for maintaining display contents.
According to this configuration, when a predetermined period elapses after the image data is displayed on the display unit, the display content is refreshed based on the drawing command stored in the non-volatile storage unit. For this reason, it is not necessary to receive a drawing command from the host device again at the time of refresh, so that refresh can be performed at high speed.

Further, in the present invention, in the above invention, when changing a part of the image displayed on the display unit, the receiving unit receives a drawing command of a difference related to the changed part from the host device, and The drawing means executes a drawing process based on the drawing command of the difference.
According to this configuration, when a part of the image is changed, a difference drawing command is received from the host device, and a drawing process is executed based on the difference drawing command. For this reason, by receiving not all commands but differential commands from the host device, it is possible to execute image content change at high speed.

In addition, according to the present invention, in the above invention, when a new image is displayed on the non-volatile display means, the image displayed on the display means based on the drawing command stored in the storage means. After erasing, new image data is displayed.
According to this configuration, when displaying new image data, after erasing the image data displayed on the display unit based on the drawing command stored in the storage unit, the new image data is displayed. . For this reason, it is possible to prevent an afterimage from being generated on the display device, and it is possible to execute such processing at high speed by using the drawing command stored in the storage unit.

An information processing program for an IC card according to the present invention is obtained by a receiving unit that receives a drawing command from a host device, a drawing unit that generates image data as bitmap data based on the drawing command, and the drawing unit. When the computer functions as display means for displaying image data, storage means for storing the drawing command used to generate the image data, and when the image data is displayed again on the display means, The drawing unit generates the image data again from the drawing command stored in the storage unit and displays the image data.
According to this configuration, the drawing command is received from the host device by the receiving unit, the image data as bitmap data is generated by the drawing unit based on the drawing command, and the image data obtained by the drawing unit is displayed by the display unit. When the drawing command used for generating the image data is stored in the storage unit and the image data is displayed again on the display unit, the drawing unit uses the drawing command stored in the storage unit to obtain the image data. Is generated and displayed again. For this reason, it becomes possible to display a character, a figure, etc. with a simple structure and at high speed. Further, since it is not necessary to receive a drawing command again from the host device at the time of redrawing, the redrawing process can be executed at high speed.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. Hereinafter, the information processing program of the IC (Integrated Circuit) card of the present invention will be described as a program for controlling the operation of the IC card and the IC card.

(A) Description of Configuration of Embodiment FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an IC card system including an IC card according to an embodiment to which the present invention is applied. As shown in FIG. 1, the IC card system includes a personal computer 10, a communication router 20, and IC cards 30-1 and 30-2 as main components. In this example, the number of personal computers and communication routers is one, and the number of IC cards is two, but the number (or the number) may be other than this.

  Here, the personal computer 10 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a ROM (Read Only Memory), a RAM (Random Access Memory), an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), and the like, which are not shown, and is stored in the HDD. By executing the application program, information to be displayed on the IC cards 30-1 and 30-2 is generated, and information generated via the communication router 20 is transmitted. Based on the information supplied from the personal computer 10, the communication router 20 modulates the carrier wave by a predetermined modulation method, and transmits the modulated carrier wave to the IC cards 30-1 and 30-2 as a radio wave. The IC cards 30-1 and 30-2 receive and demodulate the radio waves transmitted from the communication router 20 to acquire information contained in the carrier wave, and the acquired information is an EPD (Electrophoretic Display) described later. To display.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an external configuration of the IC card 30-1 shown in FIG. Since the IC card 30-1 and the IC card 30-2 have the same configuration, the IC card 30-1 will be described below as an example. As shown in FIG. 2, the IC card 30-1 has a carrier 50 having a substantially rectangular thin shape, and is on the surface of the IC card 30-1 (the front surface in the depth direction in FIG. 2). EPD 31a as a display device is inserted, and operation buttons 35a to 35c constituting an input device 35 to be described later are arranged on the lower side (lower side in the vertical direction in FIG. 2).

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of the IC card 30-1. As shown in FIG. 3, the IC card 30-1 includes an EPD 31a (corresponding to “display means” and “display device” in the claims), an SRAM (Static RAM) 31b, a display control circuit 32, a battery 33, and a power supply circuit 34. , Input device 35, display control MCU (Main Control Unit) 36 (corresponding to “drawing means” and “control means” in the claims), nonvolatile memory 37 (corresponding to “storage means” and “storage device” in the claims) ), A communication control MCU 38, an RF (Radio Frequency) circuit 39 (corresponding to “reception means” in the claims), and an antenna 40.

  Here, the EPD 31a is a display device that displays characters and graphics by moving fine particles floating in a transparent liquid by an electric field. The information displayed on the EPD 31a is a nonvolatile display device that continues to be displayed even after the power supply to the EPD 31a is cut off. The SRAM 31b is a memory that stores information to be displayed on the EPD 31a. More specifically, for example, the EPD 31a is composed of 352 × 450 pixels in the horizontal and vertical directions, and the SRAM 31b has a storage capacity capable of storing information of 352 × 450 bits in the horizontal and vertical directions. Various information can be displayed by setting the pixels constituting the EPD 31a to a black or white state in accordance with each bit of information stored in the SRAM 31b. In this embodiment, the SRAM 31b is configured as a write-only memory capable of only writing. The display control circuit 32 is a circuit that performs control when information is displayed on the EPD 31a. For example, the display control circuit 32 performs control that converts a voltage between the display control MCU 36 and the EPD 31a. The display control circuit 32 supplies the power supplied from the power supply circuit 34 to the SRAM 31b and the EPD 31a. The battery 33 is composed of, for example, a lithium ion battery or the like, and supplies DC power to the power supply circuit 34. The power supply circuit 34 increases or decreases the power supply voltage supplied from the battery 33 to a predetermined voltage and supplies the voltage to the display control circuit 32. In FIG. 3, the power supply power generated by the power supply circuit 34 is supplied only to the display control circuit 32, but is actually supplied to other parts as well.

  The input device 35 includes operation buttons 35a to 35c and switches (not shown). When the operation buttons 35a to 35c are operated by the user, the switches are turned on or off, and the display control MCU 36 is switched. It is detected that the operation button has been operated based on the state of. The display control MCU 36 stores the drawing command supplied from the communication control MCU 38 as a drawing command 37 a in the nonvolatile memory 37, interprets the command, and corresponding font data or bitmap data stored in the nonvolatile memory 37. , And executes a drawing process using the built-in VRAM (Video RAM) 36a as a work area, and supplies the obtained image data as bitmap data (raster image data) to the display control circuit 32 to the EPD 31a. Execute the process to be displayed. The non-volatile memory 37 is composed of, for example, FeRAM (Ferroelectric RAM), and stores drawing commands supplied from the personal computer 10. The nonvolatile memory 37 stores font data and bitmap data used by the display control MCU 36, and stores a program executed by the display control MCU 36, and the like. The communication control MCU 38 interprets the digital signal supplied from the RF circuit 39, rewrites a built-in memory (not shown), and supplies a command restored from the digital signal to the display control MCU 36. The RF circuit 39 demodulates the radio wave captured by the antenna 40, generates a digital signal, and supplies the digital signal to the communication control MCU 38. The antenna 40 has, for example, a coil shape, captures radio waves transmitted from the communication router 20, and supplies them to the RF circuit 39.

(B) Description of Operation of Embodiment Next, the operation of the IC card system shown in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG. Below, the case where the IC card system of FIG. 1 is used in a zoo will be described as an example. Since the processes executed in the IC cards 30-1 and 30-2 are the same, the following description will be given taking the IC card 30-1 as an example.
First, an operation for transmitting new information from the personal computer 10 to the IC cards 30-1 and 30-2 will be described. For example, when information is provided and displayed on the IC cards 30-1 and 30-2, a predetermined application program is started on the personal computer 10 and supplied to the IC cards 30-1 and 30-2. To generate information. Specifically, as information to be supplied to the IC cards 30-1 and 30-2, for example, a case where information indicating the feeding time of animals is provided is considered. Specifically, a case where information as shown in FIG. In the example of FIG. 4A, “XX Zoo” as a title is displayed at the top of the EPD 31a, and “Next feeding time is as follows” as a message is displayed below the title. The next feeding time of each animal is “1. Penguin 10:00”, “2. Sea otter 10:30”, “3. Giraffe 11:00”, and “4. Elephant 11:30”. Is displayed. Each time is underlined for emphasis.

  As a drawing command for displaying such information, for example, a command as shown in FIG. 5 is generated. In this figure, for ease of explanation, a number indicating the line number is displayed at the left end of the drawing command, but such a line number may not actually be present. The drawing command “% T96X372Y (◯ × zoo) K” of line number 10 in FIG. 5 is a command for displaying “「 × zoo ”as the title shown in FIG. More specifically, “% T” is a command indicating that a character is displayed in double vertical and horizontal directions. “96X372Y” indicates coordinates for displaying characters, and in this example, X = 96 and Y = 372 are displayed as the lower left origin. Also, “(○ × Zoo) K” interprets the character string described in parentheses as a character string mixed with Shift JIS (Japan Industrial Standard) and ASCII (American Standard Code for Information), and the specified coordinates. Indicates to display as the lower left origin. When this drawing command is executed, “◯ × zoo” is displayed by double and vertical characters with X = 96, Y = 372 as the lower left origin. The drawing command “% N30X320Y (the next feeding time is as follows) K” of the line number 20 displays “the next feeding time is as follows” as a message shown in FIG. It is a command for. More specifically, “% N” indicates that characters are displayed in a normal size. The main commands after that are the same as those described above. Line numbers 30 to 60 are normal size characters and display “1. Penguin”, “2. Sea otter”, “3. Giraffe”, and “4. Elephant” shown in FIG. It is a command for. As for the designation of the character size, once the designation is made, the same size is displayed unless a change is instructed. For this reason, “% N” that specifies the character size is not described after the line number 30.

  The drawing command “230X216YP52Z4 [130Eni]” of the line number 70 is a command for drawing an underline attached under each time shown in FIG. More specifically, “230X216Y” at the beginning is a command for designating the coordinates as start coordinates. The next “P” is a command for saving the current coordinates (X = 230, Y = 216). The next “52Z” is a command for storing the value “52” in the register Z. In the next “4 [130 Eni]”, “4 []” indicates that the command in parentheses is executed four times. In “130Eni”, “130E” indicates that a line is drawn for 130 dots in the right (East) direction of the screen, and “n” is a value stored in the Z register in the (North) direction of the screen (= 52) indicates that the robot moves without drawing a line, and “i” indicates that it returns to the same X coordinate (= 230) as the coordinate stored in the previous P command. With the drawing command of line number 70, the four line segments in FIG. Further, line numbers 80 to 110 are commands for displaying the feeding time by characters having a normal size, similarly to the line numbers 30 to 60. In this example, the display position of the time in the Y direction is moved upward by one dot compared to the case where the line numbers are 30 to 60. This is a line segment drawn by the line number 70. This is to prevent the positions from overlapping.

  The drawing command generated in the personal computer 10 as shown in FIG. 5 is supplied to the communication router 20 via a predetermined interface (for example, USB (Universal Serial Bus) or LAN (Local Area Network)) of the personal computer 10. Is done. The communication router 20 acquires information supplied from the personal computer 10 and converts it into corresponding digital bit strings ("0" and "1" strings), modulates a carrier wave based on the digital bit strings, and is not shown. Transmit as radio waves from the antenna.

  The radio wave transmitted from the communication router 20 in this way is received by the IC card 30-1 (step S10 in FIG. 6). More specifically, the radio wave transmitted from the communication router 20 is captured by the antenna 40 of the IC card 30-1 and supplied to the RF circuit 39. The RF circuit 39 extracts a digital bit string included in the carrier wave captured by the antenna 40. The extracted digital bit string is supplied to the communication control MCU 38 where the command is interpreted. In this example, since the received information is a drawing command, it is determined Yes in step S11 of FIG. 6, and the process proceeds to step S12. If it is determined that the command is not a drawing command (step S11; No), the process ends.

  If the received digital bit string is a drawing command, the process proceeds to step S 12, and the display control MCU 36 stores the received drawing command in a predetermined area of the nonvolatile memory 37. When the storage process ends, the display control MCU 36 executes the drawing process based on the received drawing command (step S13). More specifically, the display control MCU 36 uses the VRAM 36a as a work area and executes a drawing process based on a drawing command. For example, when drawing a character (for example, when drawing a line other than the line number 70 in FIG. 5), font data corresponding to a code (for example, a shift JIS (Japan Industrial Standard) code) indicating the character, Obtained from the non-volatile memory 37 and expanded in a predetermined area of the VRAM 36a. In the case of a graphic (for example, when drawing line number 70 in FIG. 5), a drawing process is executed according to a drawing command, and the corresponding bit is set to a state of “1” or “0”. Further, in the case of bitmap data (for example, when displaying image data such as a photograph), the predetermined bitmap data stored in the nonvolatile memory 37 is acquired and expanded in a predetermined area of the VRAM 36a. . By such processing, image data as bitmap data is generated.

  In step S14, the display control MCU 36 executes a process of transferring the image data stored in the VRAM 36a to the SRAM 31b via the display control circuit 32. For example, when the drawing process of the drawing command shown in FIG. 5 is completed, the image data stored in the VRAM 36a is transferred to the SRAM 31b.

  In step S15, the display control MCU 36 executes a process for displaying the information stored in the SRAM 31b on the EPD 31a. More specifically, the display control MCU 36 instructs the display control circuit 32 to supply a write voltage (for example, 15V) to the EPD 31a, and configures the image data stored in the SRAM 31b. Each pixel of the EPD 31a is set to a black or white state according to the “0” or “1” state of each bit. Thereby, information corresponding to the image data stored in the SRAM 31b is displayed on the EPD 31a.

  When the display process in step S15 is completed, the display control circuit 32 stops the supply of power to the SRAM 31b. As a result, the operation of the power supply circuit 34 can be stopped, so that power consumption can be suppressed and consumption of the battery 33 can be prevented. Note that since the EPD 31a is a non-volatile information device, information displayed on the EPD 31a is retained even after the supply of power is cut off. When information is continuously rewritten (for example, when the display is changed according to the operation buttons 35a to 35c by the user), the information is stored in the SRAM 31b by continuing to supply power to the SRAM 31b. It is possible to partially rewrite existing information. Thereby, compared with the case where all the information is rewritten, the time required for rewriting can be shortened.

  As an example, for example, when a menu screen is displayed, the user is expected to select a menu item as the next operation. Therefore, after drawing the menu screen, the supply of power is maintained, so that the SRAM 31b Keep the contents. When the user operates the operation buttons 35a to 35c, the corresponding item needs to be displayed in reverse video or blinking. In this case, the display control MCU 36 displays only the selected menu item in the VRAM 36a. Redraw processing is performed, and only the image data is transferred to the SRAM 31b and overwritten, and displayed on the EPD 31a. As a result, it is only necessary to redraw and transfer only the area whose display is to be changed, so that the drawing speed can be improved. As a result, for example, even the EPD 31a that can only draw several times per second can be displayed without causing the user to feel dissatisfied.

  Next, an operation when a certain amount of time has passed since the display shown in FIG. 4A has been made and it becomes necessary to display new information shown in FIG. 4B, for example, will be described. In that case, the personal computer 10 generates information as shown in FIG. 7, for example. This drawing command is a drawing command (difference drawing command) for display instead of the line numbers 80 to 110 of the drawing command shown in FIG. The drawing command “% N230X217Y (14:00) K” of the line number 200 is information for displaying “14:00” with normal size characters at the coordinate positions of X = 230 and Y = 217. In addition, the drawing commands of the line numbers 210 to 230 have the normal size at the coordinate position of X = 230, Y = 165, the coordinate position of X = 230, Y = 113, and the coordinate position of X = 230, Y = 51. Are commands for displaying “14:30”, “16:00”, and “16:30” respectively. In addition to such a drawing command, the drawing command of the line numbers 200 to 230 is executed instead of the drawing command of the line numbers 80 to 110 of the drawing command (the drawing command of FIG. 5) sent earlier. And a higher order command (not shown) for instructing redrawing by the drawing command sent to. The drawing command including the upper command generated in this way is transmitted from the personal computer 10 to the IC cards 30-1 and 30-2 via the communication router 20 as in the case described above.

  In the IC card 30-1 that has received such a drawing command, the processing of the flowchart shown in FIG. 8 is executed. When this flowchart is started, first, in step S30, the display control MCU 36 determines whether or not it is a redrawing process in which the drawing command previously received and stored in the nonvolatile memory 37 is executed again. . In the present example, as described above, since the upper command indicates that the processing is to redraw a part of the drawing command shown in FIG. 5 stored in the non-volatile memory 37, the determination is Yes. Then, the process proceeds to step S31. If the drawing is not a redrawing but a new drawing, the determination is No, the process is terminated, and the process shown in FIG. 6 is executed instead of the process of FIG. In subsequent step S31, the display control MCU 36 determines whether or not it is a process of changing the partial display content. If it is a process of changing the partial display content (step S31; Yes), the process proceeds to step S32. In other cases (step S31; No), the process proceeds to step S33. In this example, the drawing command changes the time (partial display contents) shown in FIG. 4A, so that the determination in step S31 is Yes and the process proceeds to step S32.

  In step S32, processing for replacing a part of the drawing command is executed in order to partially change the display content. In this example, the line numbers 80 to 110 of the drawing command shown in FIG. 5 are replaced with the line numbers 200 to 230 of the drawing command shown in FIG. Instead of performing the replacement, these may coexist and the drawing commands of the line numbers 200 to 230 may be executed instead of the drawing commands of the line numbers 80 to 110.

  In step S33, the display control MCU 36 uses the VRAM 36a as a work area and executes the drawing commands with line numbers 10 to 70 shown in FIG. 5 and the drawing commands with line numbers 200 to 320 shown in FIG. As a result, image data corresponding to FIG. 4B is generated in the VRAM 36a. In subsequent step S34, the display control MCU 36 executes a process of transferring the image data stored in the VRAM 36a to the SRAM 31b via the display control circuit 32.

  Next, in step S35, the display control MCU 36 executes a process of displaying the information stored in the SRAM 31b on the EPD 31a. More specifically, the display control MCU 36 instructs the display control circuit 32 to supply a write voltage (for example, 15V) to the EPD 31a, and configures the image data stored in the SRAM 31b. Each pixel of the EPD 31a is set to a black or white state according to the “0” or “1” state of each bit. Thereby, information corresponding to the image data stored in the SRAM 31b is displayed on the EPD 31a. As a result, as shown in FIG. 4B, information indicating a new feeding time is displayed on the IC card 30-1.

  In addition, when the display process of step S35 is complete | finished, the display control circuit 32 stops supply of the power supply with respect to SRAM31b. As a result, the operation of the power supply circuit 34 can be stopped, so that power consumption can be suppressed and consumption of the battery 33 can be prevented. As described above, since the EPD 31a is a nonvolatile information device, the information displayed on the EPD 31a is retained even after the supply of power is cut off. In the example shown in FIG. 4, the time from display to re-display is long, but when the time from re-display is short, the supply of power to the SRAM 31 b is maintained and the area where information is redrawn is maintained. Only data may be newly transferred to the SRAM 31b and overwritten. According to such a method, the rewriting process can be performed quickly.

  As described above, in the embodiment of the present invention, the personal computer 10 generates a drawing command, supplies the drawing command to the IC cards 30-1 and 30-2, and the IC cards 30-1 and 30. The drawing process is executed at -2. For this reason, compared with the case where bitmap data is transmitted from the personal computer 10, the amount of data transfer can be reduced. As a result, information can be received without stress between the IC cards 30-1 and 30-2 and the communication router 20 that communicate at a low communication speed in order to prevent the battery 33 from being consumed. For example, in the case of the present embodiment, since the EPD 31a has 352 × 450 pixels in the horizontal and vertical directions as described above, the bitmap data to be displayed on the EPD 31a is 19800 bytes (= 19. 3 kilobytes (1 kilobyte = 1024 bytes)). On the other hand, in the case of the drawing command of FIG. Thus, by transmitting as a drawing command, the amount of information can be greatly reduced.

  In the embodiment of the present invention, in the IC cards 30-1 and 30-2, the received drawing command is stored in the nonvolatile memory 37, and when redrawing becomes necessary, the nonvolatile memory 37 stores the drawing command. The drawing process was executed based on the stored drawing commands. For this reason, when performing redrawing, it is not necessary to receive a drawing command from the personal computer 10 again, so that the redrawing process can be executed at a high speed and the battery 33 can be prevented from being consumed by communication.

  In the embodiment of the present invention, when the drawing process is completed, the supply of power by the power supply circuit 34 is stopped, so that the battery 33 can be prevented from being consumed. In addition, since the EPD 31a as a nonvolatile display device is used and the drawing command is stored in the nonvolatile memory 37, the display of the EPD 31a can be performed even when the power supply by the power supply circuit 34 is stopped. The contents can be maintained, and when redrawing is necessary, it is not necessary to receive the drawing command from the personal computer 10 again by using the drawing command stored in the nonvolatile memory 37. The redrawing process can be executed at high speed, and the battery 33 can be prevented from being consumed by communication.

  Further, in the embodiment of the present invention, when a part of the image displayed on the EPD 31 a is changed, a difference drawing command related to the change is received and stored in the nonvolatile memory 37. Since the redrawing process is executed based on the drawing command being received, the redrawing process can be executed at a high speed by reducing the data amount of the drawing command received from the personal computer 10, and by communication. The consumption of the battery 33 can be prevented.

(C) Modified Embodiment The above-described embodiment is merely an aspect of the present invention, and it is needless to say that modifications and applications can be arbitrarily made within the scope of the present invention.
For example, in the above embodiment, the EPD 31a has been described as an example of the nonvolatile display device. However, other display devices (for example, a liquid crystal display or the like) may be used. Further, as the resolution of the EPD 31a, a monochrome apparatus having 352 × 450 pixels each in the horizontal and vertical directions has been described as an example, but the number of pixels may be other than this, or a color apparatus may be used.

  In the above embodiment, the VRAM 36a has been described as having almost the same storage capacity as the SRAM 31b. However, for example, the VRAM 36a may be set to have a smaller storage capacity than the SRAM 31b. FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of the relationship between the VRAM 36a and the SRAM 31b when the VRAM 36a has a smaller storage capacity than the SRAM 31b. In the example of FIG. 9, the VRAM 36a has a capacity capable of storing 352 × 52-bit information in the horizontal and vertical directions, and the display control MCU 36 executes a drawing process using the VRAM 36a as a work area, "Or" 1 "is generated. The SRAM 31b has a capacity capable of storing information of 352 × 450 bits in the horizontal and vertical directions, and each pixel of the EPD 31a is either white or black depending on the bit information of the image data stored in the SRAM 31b. Is displayed. The VRAM 36a and the SRAM 31b have the same number of horizontal bits of 352 bits. In the vertical direction, the SRAM 31b has a capacity of about 8.7 times that of the VRAM 36a. Therefore, the image data (region image data) generated in the VRAM 36a is transferred a plurality of times, thereby completing one image stored in the SRAM 31b. When the image is completed, a write voltage is applied to the EPD 31, and the image data stored in the SRAM 31b is displayed.

  FIG. 10 shows an example of the division of the SRAM 31b. That is, in the example of FIG. 1-No. The image data is divided into eight areas, and image data can be transferred from the VRAM 36a to the SRAM 31b in units of each area. In the example of FIG. 10, the footer has a vertical height (Height) of 8 bits, the header has 26 bits, 1-No. Each of the 8 areas is configured as 52 bits. No. 1-No. The area 8 is the same size as the VRAM 36a. Note that FIG. 9 is an example, and the size may be other than this, or may be divided into other numbers.

  In such an embodiment, for example, when the information shown in FIG. 4 is displayed, the drawing process is executed for each area shown in FIG. Specifically, “XX Zoo” by the drawing command of the line number 10 shown in FIG. 5 is drawn using the VRAM 36a as a work area, and No. shown in FIG. Similarly, “Next feeding time is as follows” is drawn with the VRAM 36a as a work area by the drawing command of the line number 20 shown in FIG. No. The drawing process is executed in units of areas. For line numbers 40 to 110, first, a drawing command for displaying “1. Penguin 10:00” and a drawing command for drawing an underline are described in succession, and based on these, FIG. The information on the third line from the top shown in FIG. 6 is drawn, and subsequently, the drawing command for displaying “2. Sea otter 10:30” and the drawing command for drawing the underline are described in succession. The information on the fourth line from the top shown in 4 (A) is drawn, and the drawing process can be executed. Note that the drawing process may be executed by describing only the drawing command that is the difference from the previous drawing command. For example, in “1. Penguin 10:00” and “2. Sea otter 10:30”, only “2”, “Sea otter” and “3” which are the differences are described as drawing commands. 0:00 "may be overwritten to update the display content. According to such a method, the drawing process can be executed at high speed.

  As described above, the drawing process is executed in the VRAM 36a having a smaller storage capacity than the SRAM 31b to generate the area image data, and the generated image data is transferred to the SRAM 31b, whereby the high-resolution EPD 31a is used. However, information with high resolution can be displayed on the EPD 31a. Further, since the EPD 31a is divided into a plurality of strip-shaped areas and the drawing process is executed for each area, the transfer process is performed on the continuous areas in the SRAM 31b, thereby speeding up the transfer process. be able to. Further, when displaying predetermined contents, the processing speed can be improved by making the processing routine. For example, when performing error display, the content and area to be displayed are often determined in advance. In such a case, the error display process can be executed by designating only the content to be displayed. In addition, when the display process is continued, the power is supplied to the SRAM 31b while redrawing is performed in units of areas, so that even the EPD 31a having a low processing speed makes the user feel dissatisfied. And drawing processing can be executed. In addition, as described above, the case where the power is continuously supplied is limited to the case where the display process is continued, so that the power can be frequently interrupted to prevent the battery 33 from being consumed. Further, by performing the redrawing process in units of areas, a write-only memory can be used as the SRAM 31b. That is, in a memory that holds image data to be displayed on a display device in a personal computer or the like, information is generally displayed by performing a logical operation on new information and existing information. A memory that can be read and written is required. However, in this embodiment, such a logical operation is performed in the VRAM 36a, and the result of the logical operation is transferred to the SRAM 31b. As a result, the SRAM 31b can be a write-only memory that is cheaper than a readable / writable memory, so that the cost of the apparatus can be reduced. Further, by excluding the read cycle, the memory access speed can be improved.

  Further, in the above embodiment, as a case where redrawing is performed, a case where a part of the content is rewritten is described as an example, but the case where the same content is displayed again is also illustrated in FIG. The processing shown may be applied. As a specific example of performing redrawing, when the same information is displayed again after an operation for deleting the display is performed by the user, after moving outside the communication area of the personal computer 10 and deleting the display contents In some cases, the same content may be displayed again by moving into the communication area. In addition, when the information displayed on the EPD 31a is about one to two months, the electrophoretic particles settle and float on the dispersion medium due to the action of gravity, and for example, image disturbance such as a decrease in contrast may occur. is there. Therefore, for example, by executing the process shown in FIG. 6 every 1 to 2 weeks and performing “refresh” which is an operation for maintaining the display content by redisplaying the obtained image data, Such image disturbance can be prevented. In such a case, by using the drawing command stored in the nonvolatile memory 37, communication with the personal computer 10 can be omitted, and the refresh processing time can be shortened.

  Further, the contents displayed on the EPD 31a may be surely erased by using a drawing command stored in the nonvolatile memory 37. That is, in the EPD 31a, when the displayed content is deleted, the previous display content may remain as an afterimage. Therefore, by causing the displayed content to be displayed in reverse and then displaying new information, such afterimages can be prevented from occurring. In the display example of FIG. 4B, the information displayed on the EPD 31a is displayed in reverse (black characters are displayed in white and the background is displayed in black), and then the whole is displayed as white. Generation of afterimages can be prevented. Such an afterimage becomes prominent when a reversed character (background is black, character is white) is displayed. When such a display is performed, information stored in the nonvolatile memory 37 is displayed. Can be displayed in reverse (white on the background, black on the characters) to prevent afterimages.

  The above processing functions can be realized by a computer. In that case, a program describing the processing content of the function that the IC card should have is provided. By executing the program on a computer, the above processing functions are realized on the computer. The program describing the processing contents can be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium. Examples of the computer-readable recording medium include a magnetic recording device, an optical disk, a magneto-optical recording medium, and a semiconductor memory. Examples of the magnetic recording device include a hard disk device (HDD), a flexible disk (FD), and a magnetic tape. Examples of the optical disc include a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk), a DVD-RAM, a CD-ROM (Compact Disk ROM), and a CD-R (Recordable) / RW (ReWritable). Magneto-optical recording media include MO (Magneto-Optical disk).

  When distributing the program, for example, portable recording media such as a DVD and a CD-ROM in which the program is recorded are sold. It is also possible to store the program in a storage device of a server computer and transfer the program from the server computer to another computer via a network.

  The computer that executes the program stores, for example, the program recorded on the portable recording medium or the program transferred from the server computer in its own storage device. Then, the computer reads the program from its own storage device and executes processing according to the program. The computer can also read the program directly from the portable recording medium and execute processing according to the program. In addition, each time the program is transferred from the server computer, the computer can sequentially execute processing according to the received program.

It is a figure which shows the whole structure of the system containing the information processing apparatus of this invention. It is a figure which shows the external appearance of the IC card shown in FIG. It is a block diagram which shows the detailed structural example of IC card shown in FIG. It is an example of a display when information is displayed on the IC card shown in FIG. 5 is an example of a drawing command for displaying information shown in FIG. It is an example of the process performed in the IC card shown in FIG. It is an example of the drawing command which shows an example of a difference command. It is an example of the other process performed in the IC card shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the relationship between VRAM and SRAM shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows the aspect of division | segmentation of SRAM shown in FIG.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 ... Personal computer, 20 ... Communication router, 30-1, 30-2 ... IC card, 31a ... EPD (display means, display device), 36 ... Display control MCU (drawing means, control means), 37 ... Non-volatile memory (Storage means, storage device), 39... RF circuit (reception means).

Claims (6)

Receiving means for receiving a drawing command from the host device;
Drawing means for generating image data as bitmap data based on the drawing command;
Display means for displaying the image data obtained by the drawing means;
Storage means for storing the drawing command used for generation of the image data,
When redisplaying the image data on the display means, the drawing means generates and displays the image data again from the drawing command stored in the storage means.
IC card characterized by that. In the IC card according to claim 1,
The storage means is a non-volatile storage means;
The display means is a non-volatile display means,
When the drawing process by the drawing unit is completed, the power supply to the own machine is stopped, and when the drawing process is necessary, the control unit performs control to start the power supply.
IC card characterized by that. In the IC card according to claim 2,
When a predetermined period has elapsed after the image data is displayed on the display means, the drawing means executes a drawing process based on the contents stored in the nonvolatile storage means, and is obtained An IC card which performs refresh, which is an operation for maintaining display contents by displaying image data on the non-volatile display means. The IC card according to any one of claims 1 to 3,
When changing a part of the image displayed on the display means, the receiving means receives a difference drawing command relating to the changed part from the host device,
The drawing means executes a drawing process based on the difference drawing command;
IC card characterized by that. In the IC card according to any one of claims 2 to 4,
When a new image is displayed on the non-volatile display unit, the image displayed on the display unit is temporarily erased based on a drawing command stored in the storage unit, and then new image data is displayed. An IC card characterized by displaying. Receiving means for receiving a drawing command from the host device;
Drawing means for generating image data as bitmap data based on the drawing command;
Display means for displaying the image data obtained by the drawing means;
A computer functioning as storage means for storing the drawing command used for generating the image data;
When redisplaying the image data on the display means, the drawing means generates and displays the image data again from the drawing command stored in the storage means.
An information processing program for an IC card.

Images