JP2012137810A - Information processor and control method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information processor which allows a user to use the information processor so as to effectively extending a use time.SOLUTION: An information processing terminal includes a function unit, a current consumption measurement unit, and a processing unit. The function unit operates according to a user's setting. The current consumption measurement unit measures a current consumption by a prescribed time interval. If a current consumption measured by the current consumption measurement unit is a predetermined threshold or more, the processing unit outputs information according to a contribution showing the degree to which a user's setting contributes to reduction in a current consumption, to a user.

Description

  The present invention relates to a technology that enables a user to use an information processing apparatus while conscious of reducing power consumption.

  In recent years, mobile phones have become more and more multifunctional, and in addition to voice calls, mail, full browser, camera, infrared communication, games, GPS (Global Positioning System), One Seg (TV broadcast reception), Bluetooth (registered trademark) (short distance) Many functions such as wireless communication are installed. Those functions increase the power consumption of the mobile phone. If a user uses these functions without being aware of power consumption, the current consumption will increase greatly and the battery will be consumed quickly. As a result, the user will feel that the usage time of the mobile phone is short. .

  On the other hand, Patent Document 1 discloses a portable terminal that enables a user to be aware of power consumption. The portable terminal disclosed in Patent Document 1 switches the operation mode or outputs a message based on the comparison result between the total guaranteed power that guarantees the execution of the process itself and its minimum execution time and the remaining power amount.

JP 2009-032239 A

  Since the processing of the terminal device disclosed in Patent Document 1 is processing performed when the remaining power amount decreases, the user cannot be made aware of power consumption when the remaining power amount is sufficient. However, even when there is a sufficient amount of remaining power, if the current consumption is not taken into account, the effect of extending the use time cannot be obtained sufficiently.

  An object of the present invention is to provide an information processing apparatus that allows a user to use the device for effectively extending the usage time.

In order to achieve the above object, an information processing apparatus of the present invention provides:
A functional unit that operates according to user settings;
A current consumption measuring unit that measures current consumption at predetermined time intervals;
Processing for outputting to the user information corresponding to a contribution indicating how much the user setting contributes to reduction of current consumption when the current consumption measured by the current consumption measuring unit is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold. Part.

The control method of the present invention is a control method of an information processing apparatus that operates according to user settings,
Measure current consumption at specified time intervals,
If the measured current consumption is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold, information corresponding to the degree of contribution indicating how much the user setting contributes to the reduction of current consumption is output to the user.

  ADVANTAGE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, the information processing apparatus which can be used so that use time can be lengthened effectively is realizable.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the information processing terminal of this embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the mobile telephone by a present Example. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the mobile telephone 40 by a present Example. It is a figure which shows the setting information memorize | stored in the memory | storage device part 46 of the mobile telephone 40 by a present Example. It is a figure which shows an example of the screen display of the mobile telephone 40 by a present Example. It is a figure which shows the other example of the screen display of the mobile telephone 40 by a present Example.

  Embodiments for carrying out the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

  First, a basic embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the information processing terminal according to the present embodiment. Referring to FIG. 1, the information processing terminal 10 includes a function unit 11, a current consumption measurement unit 12, and a processing unit 13.

  The function unit 11 executes a function provided to the user by the information processing terminal 10 according to the user setting. Examples of functions provided to the user by the information processing terminal 10 include voice call, mail, full browser, camera, game, and one-segment TV. For example, when the function unit 11 executes a call function, the function unit 11 outputs a sound having a volume according to the user setting of the call volume.

  The consumption current measuring unit 12 measures the consumption current of the information processing terminal 10 at predetermined time intervals.

  If the current consumption measured by the current consumption measuring unit 12 is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold, the processing unit 13 sends information corresponding to the contribution indicating how much the user setting contributes to the reduction of the current consumption to the user. Output. Information is output to the user by screen display or voice output.

  According to the information processing terminal 10 having the above-described configuration, it is possible to make the user aware of power consumption when there is a sufficient amount of remaining power. Encourage users.

  Further, in the information processing terminal 10 according to the present embodiment, a plurality of setting options that can be selected as user settings are determined, and the degree of contribution is determined for each of the plurality of setting options. Then, the processing unit 13 displays a contribution degree corresponding to the setting option selected as the user setting on the screen. For example, there are six setting options for the call volume, and the degree of contribution to the power consumption reduction of the call volume selected by the user is displayed on the screen.

  In addition, there are a plurality of setting items that affect power consumption, and a plurality of setting options are predetermined for each of the plurality of setting items. Then, the processing unit 13 displays a setting item related to the function being executed by the function unit 11 on the screen. In addition, the processing unit 13 further displays guidance information indicating how the current consumption can be reduced by changing the user setting of the setting item related to the function executed by the function unit 11.

  For example, the brightness of the display illumination, whether the operation button illumination is on or off, the volume of a voice call, the volume of a music player, and the like correspond to the setting items. For example, when the function unit 11 is executing a voice call function, information indicating the call volume, which is a setting item related to the voice call, is displayed on the screen, and when the call volume is further reduced, current consumption is reduced. Guidance information is displayed on the screen.

  In addition to the guidance information, guidance information indicating that the current consumption can be reduced by reducing the brightness of the display lighting, guidance information indicating that the current consumption can be reduced by reducing the brightness of the rear display lighting, and turning off the operation button lighting Then, there are guidance information indicating that current consumption can be reduced, guidance information indicating that current consumption can be reduced by reducing the volume of the music player, and the like.

  Hereinafter, more specific examples of the present invention will be described.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the mobile phone according to the present embodiment. Referring to FIG. 2, the mobile phone 40 includes an operation unit 42, a display unit 43, an illumination unit 44, a device current measurement unit 45, a storage device unit 46, a microphone 47, an analog / digital (A / D) conversion unit 48, a digital signal. / Analog (D / A) conversion section 49, receiver 4A, data encoding / decoding processing section 4B, radio section 4C, and antenna 4D.

  The operation unit 42 inputs information corresponding to the operation by the user to the control unit 41. The information to be input includes information for executing various functions, information for selecting user settings from setting options of each setting item, and the like.

  The display unit 43 displays characters and images on the screen under the control of the control unit 41 as various functions are executed.

  The illumination unit 44 emits illumination for improving the visibility of the display unit 43.

  The device current measuring unit 45 measures the current consumption of the entire device of the mobile phone 40.

  The storage device unit 46 is a memory that stores information such as setting items, setting options, and user settings.

  The microphone 47, the A / D converter 48, the D / A converter 49, the receiver 4A, the data encoding / decoding processor 4B, the radio unit 4C, and the antenna 4D perform, for example, a voice call that is a general function of a mobile phone. It is a functional part for realizing.

  The control unit 41 executes various functions by using the above-described units, and executes processing for making the user aware of power consumption as the various functions are executed.

  The cellular phone 40 of this embodiment corresponds to the information processing terminal 10 of FIG. The device current measurement unit 45 corresponds to the consumption current measurement unit 12 of FIG. Operation unit 42, display unit 43, illumination unit 44, storage device unit 46, microphone 47, A / D conversion unit 48, D / A conversion unit 49, receiver 4A, data encoding / decoding processing unit 4B, radio unit 4C, And the function equivalent to the function part 11 and the process part 13 of the information processing terminal 10 is implement | achieved by the antenna 4D.

  Next, the operation of the mobile phone 40 according to this embodiment will be described. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the mobile phone 40 according to this embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the setting information stored in the storage device unit 46 of the mobile phone 40 according to the present embodiment.

  Referring to FIG. 4, a plurality of setting options and contributions to the setting options are set for each of various setting items. For example, there are setting options from level 1 to level 6 for the brightness of the display illumination. As the level increases in order from level 1 to level 6, the display illumination becomes brighter. Levels 1 and 2 have a contribution of “High”, levels 3 and 4 have a contribution of “Middle”, and levels 5 and 6 have a contribution of “Low”. The higher the level, the lower the contribution to reducing current consumption.

  Here, as an initial state before the operation of the flowchart of FIG. 3 is started, it is assumed that the control unit 41 controls each unit to execute a function desired by the user. At that time, the control unit 41 controls each unit in accordance with the user settings stored in the storage device unit 46.

  Referring to FIG. 3, the control unit 41 issues a timer and monitors a timeout in order to measure the current consumption of the apparatus at an arbitrary fixed time interval (step S <b> 11). It is assumed that the information on the time interval for measuring the current consumption is stored in advance in the storage device unit 46. The user of the mobile phone 40 may be able to set or change the time interval.

  When the control unit 41 detects a timer timeout (step S12), the device current measurement unit 45 measures the current consumption of the device in response to an instruction from the control unit 41 (step S13).

  The cellular phone 40 is driven by a battery (not shown), and the current consumption of the device is a current flowing from the battery. The control unit 41 records the current value measured by the device current measurement unit 45 in the storage device unit 46.

  Further, the control unit 41 compares the value of the device consumption current recorded in the storage device unit 46 with a threshold value stored in advance in the storage device unit 46 (step S14). This threshold value is a threshold value for detecting that a certain amount of device consumption current flows. As a result, when a large apparatus current consumption is flowing, it is possible to perform processing for making the user aware of reducing the current consumption. The threshold is determined in advance and stored in the storage device unit 46. This threshold value may be common to all functions, or may be individually provided for each function to be executed.

  If the value of the current consumption is less than the threshold value, the control unit 41 determines that it is not necessary to encourage the user to be aware of the current consumption, and the user setting that sufficiently contributes to the reduction of the current consumption is determined. The degree of contribution shown is displayed on the screen of the display unit 43 (step S17). For example, if the contribution level is “High”, the control unit 41 displays “eco operation level High” at the top of the screen of the display unit 43 as shown in FIG.

  In step S14 of FIG. 3, if the value of the current consumption is equal to or greater than the threshold value, the control unit 41 extracts the function being operated, and reads the user setting related to the function from the storage unit 46 (step S15). For example, when the browser is activated and the browser screen is displayed on the display unit 43, the control unit 41 reads the user setting from the storage unit 46, so that the user setting of the brightness of the display illumination is changed from level 1 to level 6. Check which of the following.

  Furthermore, the control part 41 confirms the contribution corresponding to a user setting (step S16). In the case where there are a plurality of setting items related to the function being executed, the control unit 41 may use, for example, the average contribution of each setting item as the contribution as a device. Further, each setting item may be weighted in the calculation for calculating the average.

  Subsequently, the control unit 41 displays on the screen of the display unit 43 a display corresponding to the degree of contribution to the reduction of the current consumption set by the user (step S17). For example, if the contribution level is “Middle”, the control unit 41 displays “eco operation level Middle” as shown in FIG. If the contribution level is “Low”, the control unit 41 displays “eco operation level Low” at the upper part of the screen of the display unit 43.

  In addition, the control unit 41 displays guidance information indicating how the current consumption can be reduced by changing the user setting of the setting item related to the function being executed at the lower part of the screen of the display unit 43. For example, as shown in FIG. 6, guidance information that prompts to lower the brightness of the display illumination is displayed.

  When these series of processes are completed, the control unit 41 returns to step S11 and repeats the processes.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment and the Example of this invention were described, this invention is not limited only to these embodiment and Example, In the range of the technical thought of this invention, these are combined. It may be used or a part of the configuration may be changed.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Information processing terminal 11 Function part 12 Current consumption measurement part 13 Processing part 40 Cellular phone 41 Control part 42 Operation part 43 Display part 44 Illumination part 45 Device current measurement part 46 Storage device part 47 Microphone 48 A / D conversion part 49 D / A conversion unit 4A receiver 4B decoding processing unit 4C radio unit 4D antenna

Claims (9)

A functional unit that operates according to user settings;
A current consumption measuring unit that measures current consumption at predetermined time intervals;
Processing for outputting to the user information corresponding to a contribution indicating how much the user setting contributes to reduction of current consumption when the current consumption measured by the current consumption measuring unit is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold. An information processing apparatus. A plurality of setting options that can be selected as user settings are determined in advance, and the degree of contribution is determined in advance for each of the plurality of setting options,
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processing unit displays a contribution level corresponding to the setting option selected as the user setting on a screen. Multiple setting options are set in advance for each of multiple setting items.
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the processing unit displays a setting item related to a function being executed by the functional unit on a screen.   The said process part further displays on the screen the guidance information which shows how it can reduce consumption current, if the user setting of the setting item relevant to the function which the said function part is performing is changed. Information processing device.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information processing apparatus is a mobile phone. A method of controlling an information processing apparatus that operates according to user settings,
Measure current consumption at specified time intervals,
A control method for an information processing apparatus that outputs to a user information corresponding to a degree of contribution indicating how much the user setting contributes to reduction of current consumption if the measured current consumption is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold . A plurality of setting options that can be selected as user settings are determined in advance, and the degree of contribution is determined in advance for each of the plurality of setting options,
The control method of the information processing apparatus according to claim 6, wherein a contribution level corresponding to the setting option selected as the user setting is displayed on a screen. Multiple setting options are set in advance for each of multiple setting items.
The information processing apparatus control method according to claim 6 or 7, wherein a setting item related to the function being executed is displayed on a screen.   The information processing apparatus control method according to claim 8, wherein guidance information indicating how to reduce current consumption can be further displayed on a screen by changing a user setting of a setting item related to the function being executed.

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