JP2010122875A - Information processor and information processing method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve a problem wherein a time set value of a DIPM timer is inconvenient for coping with various specifications, when the time set value is fixed in an optical disk device (ODD), in case of using a DIPM standard of an optional standard for reducing a consumed current, using an SATA for an interface between the ODD and a PC. <P>SOLUTION: The time set value of the DIPM timer is made to be changed by a command from a CPU of the PC. The time set value is shortened, for example, when the consumed current is reduced with priority with respect to a time delay till operation start, or when a recording medium is mounted. Thereby, it is facilitated to cope with different specification for each customer, and to change the time set value according to a situation of a processor. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus and an information processing method, and more particularly to an information processing apparatus and an information processing method capable of reducing current consumption.

  In an interface (hereinafter abbreviated as IF) system between a control unit including a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and an optical disc device (hereinafter abbreviated as ODD) in a PC (Personal Computer), the processing speed is increased. In order to save space, PATA (Parallel Advanced Technology Attachment) that sends data in parallel has shifted to SATA (Serial Advanced Technology Attachment) that sends data in series.

  Since SATA has a higher transmission speed than PATA, reduction of current consumption is an important issue. This is an important issue particularly when applied to a portable notebook PC using a battery as a power source. For this reason, the logic level is changed from the conventional 5V / 0V to 0.5V / 0V.

  In addition, a method for reducing current consumption without affecting the basic operation has been proposed by devising a circuit control method related to IF. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-228561 discloses a technique for monitoring a time interval of commands issued from a host device and performing power saving at an appropriate timing. Patent Document 2 discloses a technique for changing a time for which a servo control circuit is turned off when a command is not received from a host computer for a certain period of time.

JP-A-8-335357 JP-A-8-212679

In the SATA standard, there is an option standard called DIPM (Device Initiated Power Management) for reducing the current consumption of the circuit related to the IF. This will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram of a state of current consumption control in the DIPM standard. There are three current consumption control states called Active, Partial, and Slumber. In FIG. 1, the contents, recovery time, and current consumption are described for each state.

In the active state, a logic circuit that generates a physical logic signal and a PLL (Phase Lock Loop) circuit that generates an operation clock are operating, and data can be transmitted and received. The current consumption is the largest among the three states.
In the partial state, power is supplied to the logic circuit, but at least the logic circuit has stopped operating and data cannot be transmitted / received. The time required to return to Active is as short as 10 microseconds or less. The current consumption is intermediate among the three states.
In the Slumber state, power is supplied to the logic circuit, but the operation of both the logic circuit and the PLL circuit is stopped, and data cannot be transmitted / received. The time required to return to Active is as long as 10 milliseconds or less. Current consumption is the lowest among the three.

  Note that the operation of the circuit in the above-described Partial and Slumber is an example. An essential item in these states is the return time to the active state, and if this is satisfied, the operation of the circuit different from the above may be used.

  Next, an example of the state transition between these three states will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a transition diagram of current consumption showing an example using the DIPM standard. The horizontal axis represents elapsed time, and the vertical axis represents current consumption. White arrows in the figure indicate the timing when the ODD receives a command from the control unit of the PC.

  First, assume that the state is Slumber. The operation during the period indicated by a in the figure is as follows. First, when the command A is received, the state changes from Slumber to Active within 10 milliseconds, and the ODD performs operations such as recording, reproduction, and stop. For example, after 50 milliseconds, the state transits to the Partial state in order to reduce current consumption. Since commands for ODD may be generated concentrated in a short period of time, immediately after receiving command A, wait for 50 milliseconds in the partial state so that it can immediately return to the active state (within 10 microseconds). . If no command is received during this time, the state transitions to the Slumber state, further reducing current consumption.

Next, the operation during the period indicated by b in the figure is as follows. First, when the command B is received, the state changes from Slumber to Active within 10 milliseconds, and the ODD performs the operation as described above. For example, after 50 milliseconds, the state transits to the Partial state in order to reduce current consumption. Thereafter, for example, when the next command C is received before 50 milliseconds elapses, the state immediately returns (within 10 microseconds) to the active state, and the ODD performs the operation as described above. For example, after 50 milliseconds, the state transits to the Partial state in order to reduce current consumption, and waits, for example, 50 milliseconds. If no command is received during this time, the state transitions to the Slumber state, further reducing current consumption.
As described above, a partial state is provided between Active and Slumber to reduce current consumption without delaying the operation for the command. Note that the ODD has a timer for measuring the passage of time, and the firmware defines a predetermined time such as 50 milliseconds, for example.

  For this reason, the value cannot be easily changed. The ODD manufacturer needs to change the firmware each time a value change is requested from the PC manufacturer, and it is necessary to prepare many types of firmware.

  An object of the present invention is to provide an information processing apparatus and an information processing method capable of reducing current consumption after solving this problem.

  In order to achieve the above object, the present invention has a control unit including a CPU, a first operation mode that is controlled by a command generated by the control unit, and performs information processing, and consumes less current than the first operation mode. An information processing apparatus having at least two operation modes including a second operation mode, wherein the time until the first operation mode transitions to the other operation mode is controlled It is characterized by having a timer that is set to a time specified by the section.

  In addition, the present invention includes at least a first operation mode that is controlled by a command generated by a control unit outside the apparatus and performs information processing, and a second operation mode that consumes less current than the first operation mode. An information processing apparatus including an optical disc apparatus having two operation modes, the information processing apparatus having a timer for setting a time until the first operation mode transitions to another operation mode to a time designated by the control unit It is characterized by.

  In addition, the present invention has at least two operation modes including a first operation mode that is controlled by a command and performs information processing and a second operation mode that consumes less current than the first operation mode. An information processing method for recording or reproducing an image, wherein at least a set value of a time for transition from the first operation mode to another operation mode is acquired in response to the first command; A determination step for determining whether the set value acquired in the acquisition step is suitable for the state of the device, and when the determination step determines that the setting value is not suitable for the state of the device, It is characterized by rewriting the set value to a suitable value.

  In addition, the present invention has at least two operation modes including a first operation mode that is controlled by a command and performs information processing and a second operation mode that consumes less current than the first operation mode. Information processing method for recording or reproducing a recording medium, comprising: a determination step for determining whether a recording medium is loaded according to the third command, wherein the determination step determines that the recording medium is loaded In this case, the setting value is set to a longer time than when the recording medium is not loaded by the fourth command.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an information processing apparatus and an information processing method capable of reducing current consumption, and in particular, there is an effect that an information processing apparatus and an information processing method capable of unifying ODD firmware with respect to reduction of current consumption can be realized.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
A timer (hereinafter referred to as a DIPM timer) provided in the ODD counts the time in the state including the above-described Active. As described above, the predetermined time is often defined by firmware. The present invention is characterized in that the predetermined time can be changed from the PC side which is the host control unit. For example, a stationary PC gives priority to the speed of operation in response to commands, and sets the time longer than a portable notebook PC. When using a battery as a power source, the time is given priority to reducing current consumption. Set it short. When an optical disk as a recording medium is loaded, the time is set longer with priority given to the speed of operation for the command. These can be performed at any time by a command from the CPU of the control unit.

First, the configuration of commands used will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a command block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.
ATAPI (AT Attachment Packet Interface) packet commands include, for example, a MODE SELECT command for setting a timer for a device such as ODD, or a MODE SENSE command for reading and confirming the setting. These are composed of a plurality of pages, and there is an area where usage is not specified called a Vendor Unique empty area. In the MODE SENSE command, currently Page Code = 2Bh corresponds to this, and FIG. 3 shows a case where this is used as an example.

  The 0 byte in FIG. 3 indicates this Page Code, and in this case 2Bh. 1 to 3 bytes are not used in this case (Reserved), and the transition time from Active to Partial from 4 bytes to 7 bytes (Partial Timer value) changes from Active to Slumber from 8 bytes to 11 bytes. Time (Slumber Timer value). By using such a command, the control unit of the PC can set the time until the state is changed with respect to the ODD.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention. The operation will be described based on this.
In FIG. 4, the control unit 41 of the entire PC includes a CPU, where a command is generated and transmitted to the ODD 42. In the ODD 42, this command is received by the SATA control circuit 421 that performs the power consumption control described above. When the SATA control circuit 421 receives a command for making the ODD 42 active, the IF portion of the ODD 42 is set to the active state in accordance with the command, and recording / reproduction in a recording / reproduction unit (not shown) indicated by the command received subsequently is performed. The state control of the ODD 42 is performed, for example, by allowing the operation to be started, and then transitioning to the Partial or Slumber state. When the SATA control circuit 421 receives a command for setting the above-described time, it sends the set value of the time accompanying this command to the DIPM timer management information storage unit 422, and the set value stored here is sent. Rewrite. In accordance with this time, the ODD 42 switches the state as described above to reduce current consumption. Note that the initial set value manufactured is stored in the DIPM timer initial value storage unit 423, and this value may be used until a rewrite instruction is issued by the command described above. The DIPM timer management information storage unit 422 uses a RAM (Random Access Memory) for performing the above-described rewriting, but the DIPM timer initial value storage unit 423 may be a ROM (Read Only Memory).

  Further, in the SATA control circuit 421 in FIG. 4, a command (MODE SENSE command) referring to the current setting value stored in the DIPM timer management information storage unit 422 is generated, and the CPU of the control unit 41 of the PC executes this command. It is good to be able to confirm.

FIG. 5 is an operation flowchart showing an embodiment of the present invention. Based on this, a method for setting the time stored in the DIPM timer management information storage unit 422 will be described.
In step S51, for example, when the PC is turned on and started up, the flow is started. In step S52, the control unit 41 sends a command to the SATA control circuit 421 to transmit the set value of the time stored in the DIPM timer management information storage unit 422, and the SATA control circuit 421 responds to this to the control unit 41. Send the set value.

  In step S53, the control unit 41 determines whether it is necessary to change the informed current time setting value in the current use situation. For example, especially in a stationary PC, there is a case where priority is given to less time delay until the start of operation than reduction of current consumption. In this case, the time setting values are Active = 500 milliseconds, Partial = 3 seconds, etc. Longer values are desirable. Also, in portable notebook PCs and the like, these priorities are often reversed, so a short value such as Active = 50 milliseconds and Partial = 100 milliseconds is desirable. In notebook PCs, it is also effective to use the former long value when driven by a commercial power supply and the latter short value when driven by a battery. Considering these, the determination in step S53 is performed.

  As a result of the determination in step S53, if it is determined that the setting value needs to be changed (Yes in the figure), the control unit 41 sends a command to the SATA control circuit 421 in step S54, and the DIPM timer The set value is changed to a desired value. The changed setting value is stored in the DIPM timer management information storage unit 422, and the flow ends in step S55.

As a result of the determination in step S53, if it is determined that it is not necessary to change the set value (No in the figure), the flow ends in step S55 as it is.
Although the flow ends in step S55, the flow is repeated as necessary until the PC is powered off thereafter.

FIG. 6 is an operation flowchart showing another embodiment of the present invention. Based on this, a method of setting the time stored in the DIPM timer management information storage unit 422 different from that shown in FIG. 5 will be described.
Operation starts in step S61. In step 62, the control unit 41 sends a command to the SATA control circuit 421 to acquire the current status of the ODD 42.
In step S63, the control unit 41 determines whether an optical disk as a recording medium is loaded based on the acquired situation.

As a result of the determination in step S63, when it is determined that the optical disk is mounted (Yes in the figure), priority is given to the fact that the time delay until the start of operation is smaller than the reduction in current consumption, and step S64. The DIPM timer setting value is set to a long value as described above.
As a result of the determination in step S63, if it is determined that the optical disk is not loaded (No in the figure), priority is given to reducing the consumption current over the time delay until the operation starts, and in step S65, the DIPM timer Is set to a short value as described above.
In either case, the flow ends in step S66, but this flow is repeated as necessary until the PC is powered off thereafter.

  The embodiment of the present invention has been described above, but this is an example and does not limit the present invention. Although the time setting value of the DIPM timer 522 is shown as a specific numerical value, the numerical value is not limited to this, and the number of setting values is not limited. In addition to the DIPM standard described in the present embodiment, various modifications and other standards are conceivable as a method for changing the set value depending on the situation, and all are within the scope of the present invention.

It is explanatory drawing of the state of the consumption current control in a DIPM specification. It is a transition diagram of consumption current which shows an example using a DIPM standard. It is a block diagram of the command which shows one Example of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows one Example of this invention. It is an operation | movement flowchart which shows one Example of this invention. It is an operation | movement flowchart which shows another one Example of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

41: Control unit 42: ODD
421... SATA control circuit 422... DIPM timer management information storage unit 423... DIPM timer initial value storage unit.

Claims (7)

A control unit including a CPU;
An optical disc having at least two operation modes including a first operation mode that is controlled by a command generated by the control unit and performs information processing and a second operation mode that consumes less current than the first operation mode. An information processing apparatus having a device,
An information processing apparatus comprising: a timer that sets a time until the first operation mode transitions to the other operation mode to a time specified by the control unit.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit switches the designated time according to a type of power supply of the apparatus.   2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit switches the designated time according to whether a recording medium is attached to the optical disc apparatus.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: an optical disc control circuit that generates a command for informing the control unit of a time set by the timer. At least two operation modes including a first operation mode that is controlled by a command generated by a control unit outside the apparatus and performs information processing and a second operation mode that consumes less current than the first operation mode. An information processing device including an optical disc device having
An information processing apparatus comprising: a timer that sets a time until the first operation mode transitions to another operation mode to a time specified by the control unit. Information is recorded or reproduced having at least two operation modes including a first operation mode controlled by commands and performing information processing and a second operation mode in which current consumption is smaller than that of the first operation mode. An information processing method for
An acquisition step of acquiring a set value of a time for transitioning from the first operation mode to another operation mode at least in response to the first command;
A determination step of determining whether the setting value acquired in the acquisition step is suitable for the state of the device,
An information processing method comprising: rewriting the set value to a suitable value by the second command when it is determined in the determination step that the device is not suitable for the state of the apparatus. Information is recorded or reproduced having at least two operation modes including a first operation mode controlled by commands and performing information processing and a second operation mode in which current consumption is smaller than that of the first operation mode. An information processing method for
A determination step of determining whether a recording medium is loaded by the third command;
When it is determined in the determination step that the recording medium is mounted, the setting value is set to a longer time than when the recording medium is not mounted by the fourth command. Information processing method.

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