JP2015076954A - Electronic apparatus and information processing system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make operable time of the whole information processing system longer by restricting consumption of power supplied from a power supply source.SOLUTION: An electronic apparatus comprises: a storage battery; a connection unit to which a communication cable capable of receiving power supply is to be connected; a first drive time acquisition unit for acquiring first drive time Tc during which an information processing unit including a battery can operate alone using only power supplied from the battery, from the information processing apparatus via the communication cable; a second drive time acquisition unit for acquiring second drive time Te during which the operation can be performed alone using only power supplied from the storage battery; an operation execution unit for making a prescribed function be executed; a power supply switching unit for switching power used for execution of the function by the operation execution unit to any one of power supply from the storage battery and power supply from the communication cable; and a control unit for switching the power supply to be used in order to restrict consumption of power supply from the communication cable on the basis of a magnitude relation between the first drive time Tc and the second drive time Te.

Description

  The present invention relates to an electronic device and an information processing system, and more particularly to an electronic device that has a built-in storage battery and can receive power supply from other information processing devices, and an information processing system that includes the electronic device.

  Today, electronic devices that incorporate a storage battery such as a lithium ion battery and are driven by the power supplied from the storage battery are used. For example, electronic devices such as a wireless LAN router, a scanner, and a printer. Furthermore, some of these electronic devices are connected to an information processing device such as a personal computer, receive power from the personal computer, etc., and receive internal power supplied from the built-in storage battery and external power supplied from the personal computer, etc. There are ones that are used by switching, and ones that charge the internal storage battery using external power.

For example, in Patent Document 1, when a projector equipped with a built-in battery is connected to a personal computer with a USB cable and the remaining amount of the built-in battery is low, the projector is switched to a power source supplied from the personal computer through the USB cable. There has been proposed a projector system in which a projector is operated or a built-in battery is charged by receiving power from a personal computer.
In addition, this system periodically detects the remaining battery level of the computer's built-in battery and the remaining battery level of the projector's built-in battery, and calculates and calculates the battery life from these remaining level and the set brightness of the light source. It has also been proposed to display the estimated battery life.

JP 2004-69997 A

However, even when a commercial power supply is not available and the PC that supplies power is also operating on a storage battery, the electronic device that receives power from the PC is unconditionally operating and Electric power supplied from a personal computer was consumed to charge the storage battery.
In other words, regardless of the relationship between the remaining amount of the storage battery of the electronic device and the remaining amount of the storage battery of the personal computer, the power supplied from the personal computer is consumed in the electronic device. The operating time has been shortened.

  Many electronic devices, such as wireless routers, are connected to a personal computer with a USB cable and operate mainly depending on the operation of the personal computer. It is unreasonable that only the device is in an operable state. For example, in a communication system in which a personal computer and a wireless router work together to perform communication functions, if the personal computer's storage battery is exhausted and the personal computer cannot operate, the entire system can be This is not preferable because the operation cannot be performed. That is, it is not preferable that the time during which only one of the personal computer and the wireless router is operable is not long, and it is preferable that the operable time of the entire system in which both the personal computer and the wireless router operate is long.

  Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and relates to an information processing apparatus on the side that supplies power to an electronic device while ensuring the operation of the electronic device that receives power from the outside. It is another object of the present invention to ensure a sufficient operable time and to increase the operable time of the entire system including the electronic device and the information processing apparatus as much as possible.

  The present invention relates to a storage battery, a connection unit for connecting a communication cable capable of receiving power from the outside, and an information processing apparatus including a battery via the communication cable. A first drive time acquisition unit that acquires a first drive time Tc that can be operated independently using only the supplied power, and a second drive time Te that can be operated independently using only the supplied power from the storage battery A second drive time acquisition unit, an operation execution unit for executing a predetermined function, and an electric power used by the operation execution unit for executing the function, the power supplied from the storage battery, and the communication cable Based on the magnitude relationship between the supplied power switching unit that switches to one of the supplied power and the acquired first driving time Tc and second driving time Te, the communication cable is used. In order to limit the supply power consuming of, there is provided an electronic apparatus characterized by comprising said to switch the supply power used by the power supply switching unit control section.

  An information processing system in which an information processing apparatus capable of supplying power and an electronic device capable of receiving the supplied power are connected via a communication cable capable of carrying the supplied power. The information processing apparatus includes a battery, a drive time calculation unit that calculates a first drive time Tc that can operate independently using only power supplied from the battery, and a first connection unit that connects the communication cable. A communication unit that transmits the calculated first drive time Tc to the electronic device via the communication cable; and a power that supplies a part of the power supplied from the battery to the electronic device via the communication cable. A second connecting unit that connects the storage battery and the communication cable, and a first driving time Tc sent from the information processing apparatus. A drive time acquisition unit; a second drive time acquisition unit that acquires a second drive time Te that can be operated independently using only power supplied from the storage battery; an operation execution unit that executes a predetermined function; A power supply switching unit that switches the power used by the execution unit to execute the function to one of the power supplied from the storage battery and the power supplied via the communication cable; and the acquired first A control unit that switches the supply power to be used by the supply power switching unit in order to limit the consumption of the power supplied via the communication cable based on the magnitude relationship between the drive time Tc and the second drive time Te An information processing system characterized by comprising:

  According to this invention, based on the magnitude relationship between the acquired first drive time Tc and second drive time Te, the power used to execute the function is supplied via the power supplied from the storage battery and the communication cable. Since the power is switched to one of the supplied power, the operation of the information processing device on the power supply side alone is limited in the electronic device by limiting the consumption of the power supplied via the communication cable. It is possible to prevent the time from being shortened, and to increase the operable time of the entire system including the electronic device and the information processing apparatus.

1 is a configuration block diagram of an embodiment of an information processing system of the present invention. FIG. 1 is a configuration block diagram of an embodiment of an electronic device of the present invention. 1 is a configuration block diagram of an embodiment of an information processing apparatus of the present invention. It is a flowchart of one Example of the power supply switching process in the electronic device of this invention. It is a graph of the battery capacity change in Example 1 of this invention. It is a graph of the battery capacity change of the prior art example 1 corresponding to Example 1 of this invention. It is a graph of the battery capacity | capacitance change of one Example when the operable time of PC is longer than the operable time of TE. It is a graph of the battery capacity change of the prior art example 2 corresponding to FIG. It is a graph of the battery capacity change in Example 2 of this invention. It is a graph of the battery capacity change in Example 3 of this invention.

The best mode for carrying out the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. However, this does not limit the present invention.
<Configuration of information processing system>
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an embodiment of an information processing system including an electronic apparatus according to the present invention. Here, an information processing system in which the electronic device 1 and the information processing apparatus 2 are connected by a communication cable 3 is shown.
In FIG. 1, an electronic device 1 includes a storage battery (hereinafter also referred to as a battery), and is connected to an information processing apparatus 2 that can supply data communication and power via a communication cable 3. 2 to receive power supply.

The electronic device 1 is, for example, a device such as a wireless router, a scanner, a printer, or a modem. In the following embodiments, the electronic device 1 has a USB connection terminal for connecting a USB cable that is one of the communication cables 3. .
The information processing device 2 is a device corresponding to, for example, a notebook computer, a portable terminal such as a smartphone, a tablet terminal, and the like, and similarly has a USB connection terminal.
Hereinafter, the electronic device 1 on the power receiving side is also referred to as a power consuming device or simply TE.
The information processing apparatus 2 on the power supply side is also called a power supply apparatus or simply a PC.
The communication cable 3 is a wired cable that can carry data communication and supply power, and for example, a USB cable is used.

The USB cable 3 is a four-wire cable conforming to a serial transfer bus standard (Universal Serial Bus) defined as an international standard, and includes a pair of signal lines and a pair of power supply lines.
The pair of power supply lines are composed of a + 5V line and a GND line, and DC power is supplied from the PC 2 to the TE 1 by flowing a maximum DC current of 500 mA through the power supply line.

<Configuration of electronic device TE>
FIG. 2 shows a configuration block diagram of an embodiment of the electronic apparatus TE1.
The electronic device TE1 includes a control unit 11, a communication unit 12, an input unit 13, a charging unit 14, a supply power switching unit 15, a connection unit 16, a PC driving time acquisition unit 17, a TE driving time acquisition unit 18, a time comparison unit 19, An operation execution unit 20, a storage battery (battery) 25, and a storage unit 26 are provided.
The control unit 11 is a part that executes the function of the electronic apparatus TE1 of the present invention, and is mainly realized by a microcomputer including a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, an I / O controller, a timer, and the like.
In addition, the CPU executes each process such as the charging process and the supply power switching process of the present invention by organically operating the hardware based on a program stored in the ROM or the like.

The communication unit 12 is a part that transmits and receives data to and from other information communication devices. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 1, the communication unit 12 transmits and receives data to and from the personal computer 2 via the communication cable 3.
As the communication cable 3, a medium capable of wired communication may be used. However, the data communication may be performed not only by wired communication but also by wireless communication.
Since the present invention is directed to the electronic device TE1 that can be supplied with power from another information processing apparatus PC2, in the following embodiment, the electronic apparatus TE1 and the information processing apparatus (personal computer) PC2 are connected by the USB cable 3. It is assumed that the same USB cable 3 is used to perform wired data communication and transfer of DC power supplied from the PC 2 to the TE 1.

The input unit 13 is a part where a user inputs information such as characters and a function selection input, and a keyboard, a mouse, a touch panel, or the like is used. For example, permission or prohibition of charging of the storage battery is set using the input unit 13.
The charging unit 14 is a part that charges a storage battery (battery) 25, and charges the battery by using power supplied via the USB cable 3.
In addition, when the battery 25 is charged to the maximum capacity (full charge), the charging is stopped, and when the charging start instruction is input by the user, or when the current capacity of the battery 25 is reduced to a predetermined value or less. The charging mode is entered and charging is started.
The charging mode is a mode in which the battery 25 is charged. When the user inputs a mode setting instruction using the input unit 13, permission or prohibition of the charging mode is set in advance. When the setting is made to prohibit the charging of the battery, the charging mode is canceled and the storage battery is not charged.

The power supply switching unit 15 is a part that switches the power supply path used by the operation executing unit 20 to execute the TE function. The power supply switching unit 15 supplies the power supplied from the battery 25 and the power supplied via the USB cable 3. Switch to either supply path.
For example, as will be described later, when the single battery drive time (PC drive time Tc) of the PC 2 connected to the USB cable 3 is smaller than the single battery drive time (TE drive time Te) of TE1 (Tc <Te ) Switches the power supply path by the supply power switching unit 15 so that the power supplied from the battery 25 of the TE is used for the operation of the TE. At this time, even if power from the PC is supplied via the USB cable 3, the supplied power is not consumed.

The connection unit 16 is an interface part for connecting an external device. In particular, in the present invention, an interface capable of receiving an external power supply is used, and at least a USB connection terminal for connecting the USB cable 3 is used. Shall be provided.
Via this USB connection terminal, data transmission / reception between the TE and the PC and power supply from the PC are received.
The USB connection terminal is composed of four terminals for connecting the USB cable 3 described above, and includes two terminals for data communication and two terminals for power supply including a +5 V terminal and a ground (GND) terminal. I have.
When the supply power switching unit 15 is switched to use external power, the output current from the power supply terminal of + 5V and GND is given to the electronic circuit inside the TE and sent via the USB cable 3. The supplied power is used for the operation of TE1.

The PC drive time acquisition unit 17 is a part that acquires a drive time Tc in which a PC equipped with a battery can operate independently using only power supplied from the battery. That is, when the personal computer PC2 which is the counterpart device to which the USB cable 3 is connected is not supplied with power from the AC commercial power supply and is used alone using only the power supplied from the built-in battery of the PC, This is a part for acquiring a drive time during which the PC can operate (hereinafter referred to as a PC drive time Tc) until the PC becomes inoperable. The PC drive time Tc corresponds to the first drive time described above.
The PC drive time Tc is transmitted from the PC 2 to the TE 1 by regular communication between the PC 2 and the TE 1 via the USB cable or as a reply to the transmission of the request signal from the TE 1. In the following embodiment, it is assumed that the transmitted PC driving time Tc is acquired every certain time (for example, 5 minutes).
The PC 2 is a device that can operate only with its own battery, and even if the remaining capacity of the battery is the same, the actual operable time varies depending on the type and number of functions to be executed. Therefore, the PC driving time Tc is a rough time until the PC 2 becomes inoperable. For example, the time required until the operation becomes impossible when a typical specific application program is continuously executed or the time required when communication is continued via the communication unit is used as the PC drive time Tc. May be.

The TE drive time acquisition unit 18 is a part that acquires a drive time (hereinafter referred to as a TE drive time Te) that can be operated independently using only power supplied from the battery 25 of TE1 itself.
The TE drive time Te is the time when TE1 operates only when the TE power alone is operated with only the power supplied from the battery 25 without using the power supplied from other devices via an AC commercial power supply or USB cable. This is a rough guideline until it becomes impossible.
The TE drive time Te can be calculated by, for example, a predetermined proportional calculation formula that measures the current remaining capacity of the battery 25 and associates the remaining capacity with the drivable time.
The TE drive time Te corresponds to the second drive time described above.

The time comparison unit 19 compares the acquired PC drive time Tc and TE drive time Te, and determines which of Tc and Te is currently larger.
As will be described later, the supply power switching unit 15 switches the supply power to be used in order to limit the consumption of the power supplied via the USB cable based on the comparison result between the two drive times. I do.
The operation executing unit 20 is a part that executes a predetermined function of the TE 1. For example, when the TE 1 is a wireless router, it is a part that executes a wireless communication function with an access point or a wireless relay station.
The storage battery (battery) 25 is a rechargeable battery (secondary battery), and a NiCd battery, a lithium ion battery, a lithium polymer battery, or the like is used.
For example, charging is performed using electric power supplied via an AC commercial power supply or the USB cable 3, and a predetermined function is executed by the operation execution unit 20 of the TE 1, so that the stored electric power is consumed.

The storage unit 26 stores information and programs necessary for the operation of the TE 1 of the present invention, and a semiconductor storage element such as ROM, RAM, flash memory, or a storage device such as HDD or SSD is used.
The storage unit 26 stores, for example, the PC drive time Tc27, the TE drive time Te28, the standby timer initial value To29, the charging mode CH30, and the like.
The standby timer initial value To29 is an initial value of the timer Tm used in the flowchart of FIG. 4 described later, and corresponds to a time interval for acquiring the PC driving time Tc. For example, To = 5 minutes is set.

The charging mode CH30 is data in which whether or not charging of the own battery 25 is permitted is set in advance. For example, when the charging mode CH = 1, it means that charging is permitted, and the charging mode CH = 0. In this case, it means to prohibit charging.
This charging mode CH may be provided with a setting switch in the TE so that it can be set on the TE side. However, the charging mode CH is set from the PC to the TE when the TE is set in advance and the use of the TE is started. A value may be transmitted. That is, the charging mode CH can be set at least by either PC or TE.
However, since the TE may be a small device and may not have a setting input function, it is preferable to set the charging mode CH on the PC side.
As will be described later, the usage method of the supplied power in the second and third embodiments may be set in association with the set value of the charging mode.
For example, when the charging mode CH is permitted (CH = 1), the TE battery 25 is also charged using the power supplied from the PC. This corresponds to the second embodiment.
On the other hand, when the charging mode CH is not permitted (CH = 0), the TE battery 25 is not charged. This corresponds to the third embodiment.

<Configuration of information processing apparatus PC>
FIG. 3 shows a configuration block diagram of an embodiment of the information processing apparatus PC.
The information processing device PC2 is a device such as a personal computer or a portable terminal, and has a function of connecting a communication cable capable of supplying power, and can perform data communication and power supply to other electronic devices via the communication cable 3. It is a possible device.
The control unit 51 is a part that controls the operation of the PC, and is configured by a microcomputer including a CPU.
The display unit 52 is a part for displaying information necessary for the operation of the PC, and an LCD, an organic EL display, or the like is used.
The communication unit 53, the input unit 54, the charging unit 55, and the connection unit 56 each have the same configuration and function as each functional block of the same name provided in the TE1.
The charging unit 55 is a part that charges a storage battery (battery) 65 provided in the PC 2 and mainly charges the battery 65 using power supplied from an AC commercial power source (not shown).
The connection unit 56 includes a terminal (for example, a USB connection terminal) to which a cable capable of supplying power to an external electronic device can be connected. The USB connection terminal is connected to the electronic device 1 via the USB cable 3. Power is supplied.

The PC drive time calculation unit 57 calculates a time that is a rough guide until the PC becomes inoperable when the PC is operated alone using only the power supplied from the battery 65 provided in the PC. It is. This time corresponds to the PC driving time Tc described above.
For example, the PC drive time Tc is obtained by obtaining information on the remaining capacity of the battery using the output voltage value of the battery 65 and the like, and using a calculation formula showing a predetermined proportional relationship between the remaining capacity of the battery 65 and the driveable time. Can be calculated.
The calculated PC drive time Tc is stored in the storage unit 61, and is transmitted to the TE1 via the USB cable 3 periodically or in response to a request from the TE1.

The power supply unit 58 is a part that supplies a part of DC power supplied from the battery 65 to the connected USB cable 3 via the USB connection terminal of the connection unit 56.
The operation execution unit 59 is a part that executes a predetermined function of the PC. When AC commercial power is connected, each function of the PC is executed using AC power, but when AC commercial power is not connected, the power supplied from the battery 65 is consumed, Each function is executed.
Further, when the electronic device TE is connected via the USB cable 3, even if the PC is operating using only the power supplied from the battery 65, a part of the supplied power is connected. The USB connection terminal of the unit 56 can be supplied to the external electronic device TE1.
When the connected TE1 uses the power supplied from the USB cable 3, the power supplied from the battery 65 is consumed by the operation of the TE1 in addition to the consumption by the PC2's own operation.

The storage battery (battery) 65 is a secondary battery charged by the charging unit 55 and is consumed by the operation of the PC hardware. A battery similar to TE may be used.
The storage unit 61 is a part that stores information and programs necessary for the operation of the PC, and stores, for example, the PC drive time Tc62 described above.

<Overview of switching power supply of the present invention>
In the present invention, the TE switches the supply power to be used mainly by the following method based on the magnitude relationship between the acquired two drive times (Tc, Te).
(1) When PC drive time Tc <TE drive time Te, TE uses power supplied from TE storage battery 25. The power supplied via the USB cable 3 is not used.
(2) When the PC driving time Tc> TE driving time Te and not in the charging mode, the TE supplies the power supplied via the USB cable 3 until the PC driving time Tc becomes equal to or less than the TE driving time Te. use. Using this supplied power, the operation execution unit 20 executes a predetermined function. The TE battery 25 is not charged.
(3) When the PC driving time Tc> TE driving time Te and in the charging mode, the TE supplies the power supplied via the USB cable 3 until the PC driving time Tc becomes equal to or less than the TE driving time Te. use. Using this supplied power, the operation execution unit 20 executes a predetermined function, and the charging unit 14 charges the battery 25 of the TE.
(4) In the case of (2) or (3) above, after the operation execution unit 20 executes a predetermined function using the power supplied via the USB cable 3, the PC drive time Tc ≦ TE drive time When Te is reached, TE uses the power supplied from the battery 25 of the TE. This supplied power is used for the operation execution unit 20 to execute a predetermined function. The TE battery 25 is not charged.

<Explanation of battery capacity change>
Hereinafter, a change in the battery capacity due to the switching process of the supplied power in the TE of the present invention will be described in comparison with the conventional example.
FIG. 5 and FIG. 7 show graphs of examples of battery capacity change (decrease change) with respect to the elapsed time after startup for each of PC and TE.
Here, a case where each of the PC and TE is operated by using only its own battery is shown.
The vertical axis represents the battery capacity CP (mAh), and the horizontal axis represents the drive time T of the PC and TE.

In FIG. 5, the PC battery 65 was 5000 mAh in the initial (T = 0) full charge state, but the battery capacity gradually decreased by performing a predetermined operation. In the state after the minute (Tpc0) has elapsed, the PC is almost discharged and the PC becomes inoperable.
In addition, the TE battery 25 was about 2000 mAh in the initial (T = 0) full charge state, but the battery capacity gradually decreased by performing a predetermined operation, and about 5 hours and 40 minutes. In a state after (Tte0) has elapsed, it is almost discharged and TE becomes inoperable.
In the case of the example of FIG. 5, the relationship of Tpc0 <Tte0 is established with respect to the time when discharge becomes inoperable, and the PC has a shorter driveable time than TE.

In FIG. 7, the capacity of the PC battery 65, which was about 9000 mAh in the initial (T = 0) full charge state, is almost discharged after about 6 hours (Tpc0), and the PC becomes inoperable. The case where it becomes is shown.
Also, regarding the TE battery 25, the capacity which was about 1000 mAh in the initial (T = 0) full charge state is almost discharged after about 3 hours (Tte0), and the TE becomes inoperable. Shows the case.

In the case of the embodiment of FIG. 7, the relationship of Tpc0> Tte0 is established with respect to the time when discharge becomes inoperable, and the PC has a longer drivable time than TE.
In the case of FIG. 7, the PC driveable time (Tpc0) is sufficiently longer than TE, and there is a relative margin in the operation of the PC alone using only the PC battery. It is possible to supply power to the TE side via the USB cable 3.
That is, by supplying power from the PC to the TE, the PC driveable time (Tpc0) is somewhat shortened, but by supplying power to the TE, the TE driveable time (Tte0) is increased. As the operation of the entire system including the PC and the TE, it is considered that the operation time of the system itself is longer than that when power is not supplied from the PC to the TE.

However, in the case of FIG. 5, since the PC driveable time (Tpc0) is shorter than the TE driveable time (Tte0), if power is supplied from the PC to the TE, the PC driveable time (Tpc0). Will be even shorter.
When the PC driveable time (Tpc0) has passed and the PC has become inoperable, the TE battery capacity remains, and even if the TE can operate alone, the PC and TE are included. Since the operation of the entire system is impossible, in the case of FIG. 5, power should not be supplied from the PC to the TE.

(Conventional example 1)
In FIG. 6, the graph of the change of the battery capacity of the prior art example 1 is shown.
Again, a capacity change graph for a battery with the same full charge capacity as shown in FIG. 5 is shown. A broken line graph shows the capacity change graph of FIG.
As a conventional example, TE and PC are connected with a USB cable, and after connection, power is supplied unconditionally from PC to TE. On the TE side, the power supplied from its own battery and the PC via USB cable are connected. Operation is performed using either of the supplied power, and the TE battery is charged using the power supplied from the PC until the battery capacity of the PC becomes a predetermined value or less. .

In FIG. 6, regarding the change in the battery capacity of TE, power is supplied from the PC to the TE for about the first hour, so the TE operates with the power supplied from the PC and the battery is being charged. The battery capacity of TE increases. Thereafter, if the TE is operated by the power supplied from the PC without charging the TE battery until the capacity of the PC battery is completely discharged, the TE battery gradually decreases.
After the power supply from the PC is stopped at the time of Tpc1, since the TE operates only by the TE battery, the TE battery continues to be discharged, but the TE driveable time (Tte1) is shown in FIG. It becomes longer than the single drivable time (Tte0).

On the other hand, in FIG. 6, since power is supplied from the PC to the TE with respect to the change in the battery capacity of the PC, the time until the PC actually becomes inoperable (driveable time Tpc1 = about 2 hours) The drive time becomes shorter than Tpc0 (= about 3 hours) (Tpc1 <Tpc0).
That is, in the conventional example 1, since the TE and the PC are connected to the USB cable, power is continuously supplied from the PC to the TE. Therefore, from the TE drivable time (Tte0) Since the PC driveable time (Tpc1), which has been shorter, becomes shorter, the operation time of the entire system including the PC and TE also becomes shorter.

(Embodiment 1 of the present invention)
Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5, in the case where Tpc0 <Tte0, in the present invention, the processing of step S6 shown in the flowchart of FIG. It operates using only the power supplied from 25, and does not use the power supplied from the PC.
That is, FIG. 5 shows a graph of battery capacity change in the first embodiment of the present invention for PC and TE. In this case, both the PC and the TE decrease in capacity according to the battery capacity change graph shown in FIG. 5, and the PC drivable time is not shortened as in the conventional example 1.

(Conventional example 2)
In FIG. 8, the graph of the change of the battery capacity of the prior art example 2 is shown.
Here, a capacity change graph for a battery having the same full charge capacity as shown in FIG. 7 is shown. The broken line shows the capacity change graph of FIG.
Also in the case of FIG. 8, the drivable time for TE and PC alone is Tte0 <Tpc0.
In Conventional Example 2, as in Conventional Example 1, power is supplied from the PC to the TE while the TE and the PC are connected by a USB cable.
In addition, as shown in FIG. 8, for the first two hours or so, the TE operates using the power supplied from the PC and charges the battery of the TE's own battery. Until the battery is discharged and becomes inoperable, the TE battery is not charged and operates using the power supplied from the PC. Thereafter, only the power supplied from the own battery is used, and the TE battery is operated. Shall be operated.

Also in the case of FIG. 8, since TE charges the battery by receiving power supplied from the PC, the drivable time is increased from about 3 hours (Tte0) to about 10 hours (Tte1). However, the PC driveable time is shortened from the initial PC driveable time (Tpc0 = 6 hours) to about 3 hours (= Tpc1).
As a result, the PC driveable time (Tpc1) becomes shorter than the TE driveable time (Tte1), so that the operation time of the entire system including the PC and TE is equal to that in FIG. Or it will be shorter.

(Embodiment 2 of the present invention)
FIG. 9 shows a graph of changes in battery capacity in Example 2 of the present invention.
The broken line graph of FIG. 9 shows the change in battery capacity when the PC and TE shown in FIG. 7 are used alone.
That is, in the second embodiment, the case where the initial driveable time Tpc0 of the PC alone is longer than the initial driveable time Tte0 of the TE alone (Tpc0> Tte0) is shown.
In the second embodiment, it is assumed that TE is set to a charging mode that operates with power supplied from a PC and charges its own battery with the supplied power.
However, after the PC and TE start operation, the TE also uses the power supplied from the PC to charge the TE battery until the current PC drive time Tc becomes equal to or less than the TE drive time Te. After Tc ≦ Te, the operation is performed using only the electric power supplied from the TE's own battery.

In FIG. 9, it is assumed that Tc> Te from time T to time point Po, and Tc = Te at time point drive time Po.
First, when 0 <time T <Po, the TE operates with the power supplied from the PC and charges the battery of the TE, but the PC uses the power supplied from its own battery. Since the PC is operated and a part of the supplied power is also given to the TE side, the battery capacity of the PC is rapidly decreasing from 9000 mAh to 7000 mAh or less.
On the other hand, during this period (0 <T <Po), TE charges the battery using the power supplied from the PC, so the battery capacity of TE has increased to nearly 2000 mAh.
Further, when T = Po, the battery capacity of the PC is reduced. As a result, the time Tc during which the PC can be driven when the PC operates alone is reduced, whereas the battery capacity of TE is increased. Since the time Te in which TE can be driven in the case of single operation increases, Tc = Te.

After T = Po, if the charging of the TE battery is not stopped using the power supplied from the PC, the capacity of the PC battery will decrease as soon as the power consumed for the charging, There is a higher possibility that the PC becomes inoperable earlier than TE.
Therefore, even if TE is operable, after Tc = Te, that is, in FIG. 9, in order to avoid a situation where the PC cannot be operated first and the entire system including the PC and TE cannot be operated. After the driving time Po (T ≧ Po), the TE operates using only the power supplied from its own battery 25 without using the power supplied from the PC.
That is, the power supplied from the USB cable 3 is not consumed by switching the power supply source to the battery 25 side by the supply power switching unit 15.
As a result, in the portion where T ≧ Po, the PC battery capacity decreases based on the consumption of the single PC operation, so the time Tpc1 until the PC battery is discharged and the PC operation is disabled. Is about 5 hours as shown in FIG.
Compared with the conventional example 2 in FIG. 8, the time until the conventional PC becomes inoperable (Tpc1) was about 3 hours, whereas in the example 2 in FIG. It will be about 2 hours long.

As for TE, when T ≧ Po, it operates only with the power supplied from its own battery, so the battery capacity of TE decreases at the same rate as the broken line, but the TE battery discharges and TE The time Tte1 until the operation becomes impossible is about 5 hours as shown in FIG. Compared with Conventional Example 2 of FIG. 8, the time during which TE can operate alone is shorter than that of Conventional Example 2.
However, considering the time in which the entire system including PC and TE can be operated, in Example 2 in FIG. 9, both TE and PC are about 5 hours (= Tte1 = Tpc1). The possible time can be secured about 5 hours.
On the other hand, in the conventional example 2 of FIG. 8, although the TE drive time Tte1 is 10 hours, the PC drive time Tpc1 is reduced to about 3 hours, so that the entire system operable time is secured only about 3 hours. It will not be possible.
Therefore, as shown in the second embodiment, by switching the power consumption mode in the TE, the consumption of power supplied from the PC by the TE is limited, and the decrease in the operable time of the PC alone is suppressed. As a whole, the operation time of the system including TE and TE can be made longer than before.

(Embodiment 3 of the present invention)
FIG. 10 shows a graph of changes in battery capacity in Example 3 of the present invention.
The broken line graph of FIG. 10 also shows the graph of FIG. 7, and the initial drive time Tpc0 of the PC alone is longer than the initial drive time Tte0 of the TE alone, as in FIGS. The case (Tpc0> Tte0) is shown.
In the third embodiment, it is assumed that the TE operates using power supplied from the PC, but is set to a mode in which the battery 25 is not charged with the supplied power.
In other words, unlike the second embodiment, the third embodiment is not in the charging mode.
However, as in the second embodiment, the TE operation is performed using the power supplied from the PC until the current PC driving time Tc becomes equal to or less than the TE driving time Te, and after Tc ≦ Te, It is assumed that the TE operates using only power supplied from the battery 25 of the TE itself.

In FIG. 10, the range from the drive time T = 0 to the time point T = Po is Tc> Te, and it is assumed that Tc = Te when T = Po.
When 0 <time T <Po, TE operates with power supplied from the PC, but does not charge its own battery.
In this range, the TE does not consume power from its own battery 25 and does not charge the battery 25, so the battery capacity of the TE does not change, but the PC operates independently of the PC and power to the TE. Since the battery capacity of the PC is consumed for the supply, the battery capacity of the PC is reduced faster than the graph of the capacity change due to the use of the PC alone shown by the broken line.
When T = Po, if the PC driving time Tc becomes equal to the TE driving time Te, the power supply source is switched to the own battery 25 by the supply power switching unit 15 in order to suppress the power consumption of the PC battery. .
As a result, the power supplied from the PC is not consumed by the TE. Therefore, after T = Po, the battery capacity of the PC decreases almost in the same manner as the graph of the change in battery capacity of the PC alone.

On the other hand, after T = Po, TE operates only with the power supplied from its own battery 25, so the battery capacity of TE decreases as in the graph of the change in battery capacity of TE alone indicated by the broken line. To go.
In FIG. 10, for the PC, the initial drivable time (Tpc0) until it becomes inoperable by the single PC operation is about 6 hours, whereas the drivable time Tpc1 for the PC of the third embodiment is 5 Decrease to about hours.
However, in comparison with the conventional example 2 in FIG. 8, in the conventional example 2, the time until the PC becomes inoperable (Tpc1) was about 3 hours. Will be about 2 hours longer.
For TE, the time (Tte1) during which TE becomes inoperable is shorter than Conventional Example 2 in FIG. 8, but is longer to about 5 hours.
Further, when the operation time of the entire system including PC and TE is compared, the conventional example 2 in FIG. 8 is about 3 hours, whereas the embodiment 3 in FIG. 10 is about 5 hours. Can be made about 2 hours longer than before.
Therefore, also in the case of the third embodiment, as shown in FIG. 10, the power consumption of the PC by the TE is changed by switching the power consumption mode in the TE in consideration of the driveable time of the PC and TE batteries. , The operation time of the entire PC including the PC and the TE can be made longer than before.

<Supply power switching process of electronic device TE>
FIG. 4 shows a flowchart of one embodiment of the supply power switching process in the electronic apparatus TE of the present invention.
In step S1, the control unit 11 sets an initial value T0 in the standby timer Tm.
The standby timer Tm counts the time interval for acquiring the PC drive time Tc.
In step S2, it is monitored whether or not the standby timer Tm has timed out. It is confirmed that the time corresponding to the initial value T0 has elapsed, and when the time has elapsed and the standby timer Tm has timed out, the process proceeds to step S3.

In step S3, the PC drive time acquisition unit 17 acquires the PC drive time Tc from the PC.
As described above, for example, request information may be transmitted to a PC by data communication via a USB cable, and the PC drive time Tc may be received as a reply to the request information.
The PC drive time Tc here corresponds to the driveable time by the PC battery single operation calculated from the current battery capacity of the PC.
In step S4, the TE drive time acquisition unit 18 acquires the current battery capacity of itself and calculates the TE drive time Te corresponding to the battery capacity using a predetermined calculation formula. The TE drive time Te here corresponds to the remaining driveable time until the TE becomes inoperable when the TE is operated solely with the TE battery.

In step S5, the time comparison unit 19 determines whether or not the relationship between the acquired two drivable times is Tc <Te.
If Tc <Te, the process proceeds to step S6, and if not, the process proceeds to step S7.
In the case of Tc <Te, the remaining operation time of the PC is shorter than that of the TE. Therefore, if the TE consumes the power supplied from the PC, the PC operable time is shortened, which is not preferable.
Therefore, in step S <b> 6, the supply power switching unit 15 switches the power supply source to the own battery 25. As a result, the power supplied from the PC's own battery 25 is used without using the power supplied from the PC, and a predetermined function of the TE is executed.
Then, it returns to step S1.

On the other hand, when Tc ≧ Te, the remaining operation time of the PC is longer than that of the TE, so the TE is operated using the power supplied from the PC.
In step S7, the control unit 11 checks whether or not the preset mode of the battery 25 is the charging mode.
If the charging mode is set, the process proceeds to step S9. If not, the process proceeds to step S8.
As described above, in the charging mode, the TE battery 25 is charged using a part of the power supplied from the PC. When not in the charging mode, the TE battery 25 is not charged.

In both cases of steps S8 and S9, the supply power switching unit 15 switches the power supply source to the supply power from the PC on the connection unit 16 side.
In step S8, since the charging mode is not set, the TE operation is performed without charging the TE battery 25 by using the power supplied from the PC provided through the USB cable 3.
In step S9, since the charging mode is selected, the TE operation and the charging of the TE battery 25 are performed using the power supplied from the PC.
After step S8 or S9, the process returns to step S1.

In step S5, unless Tc <Te, the power supply from the PC is used to perform TE operation in step S8 or S9. Thereafter, the battery capacity of the PC decreases, and Tc <Te. In this case, the process proceeds to step S6, and the TE operation is performed using the power supplied from the battery 25 of the TE itself without using the power supplied from the PC.
By performing the above processing, it is possible to suppress a decrease in the remaining amount of the battery of the PC, and to appropriately control the decrease in the respective battery capacities due to the use of the PC and TE batteries, and a system including the PC and the TE The overall operation time can be made as long as possible.

<Appendix>
The present invention is an electronic apparatus and an information processing system having the following configuration.
(Supplementary note 1) An information processing apparatus comprising: a storage battery; a connection unit for connecting a communication cable capable of receiving external power supply; and a battery via the communication cable. A first drive time acquisition unit that acquires a first drive time Tc that can be operated independently using only the power supplied from the battery, and a second drive time Te that can be operated independently using only the power supplied from the storage battery. A second driving time acquisition unit to acquire, an operation execution unit for executing a predetermined function, and an electric power used by the operation execution unit to execute the function, supply power from the storage battery, and the communication cable The power supply switching unit that switches to one of the power supplied in the above and the magnitude relationship between the first drive time Tc and the second drive time Te acquired via the communication cable In order to limit the supply power consuming the electronic apparatus, characterized by comprising a control section to switch the power supply to be used by the power supply switching unit.
According to this, in the electronic device, since the supply power to be used is switched so as to limit the consumption of the power supplied via the communication cable, the reduction in the operable time of the information processing device is suppressed, and the electronic device The operable time of the entire information processing system including the information processing apparatus can be extended.

(Supplementary Note 2) A time comparison unit that compares the acquired first drive time Tc and the second drive time Te is provided. As a result of the comparison, when the first drive time Tc <the second drive time Te, The electronic device according to appendix 1, wherein the supply power switching unit switches to use the supply power from the storage battery.
According to this, since the electronic device uses the power supplied from its own storage battery and does not use the power supplied via the communication cable, the information processing apparatus uses the power supplied from the battery for its own operation. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the reduction of the operable time of the information processing system as a whole by suppressing the reduction of the operable time of the information processing apparatus.

(Supplementary note 3) When the first drive time Tc> the second drive time Te as a result of the comparison by the time comparison unit, the supply is continued until the first drive time Tc becomes equal to or less than the second drive time Te. The power switching unit switches to use the power supplied via the communication cable, and the operation executing unit executes a predetermined function using the power supplied via the communication cable. The electronic device according to Appendix 2, which is characterized.
According to this, since the electronic device uses the power supplied via the communication cable and does not use the power of the rechargeable battery, the operable time can be lengthened, and the operable time of the information processing apparatus itself is Although shortened, the operable time of the entire information processing system can be extended. Since the rechargeable battery of the electronic device is not charged, the amount of power supplied from the information processing device in the electronic device is less than when the rechargeable battery is charged. The operating time of the device itself can be lengthened.

(Additional remark 4) It further has a charge part which charges the storage battery, and as a result of comparison by the time comparison part, when the first drive time Tc> the second drive time Te, the first drive time Tc is The supply power switching unit switches to use the power supplied via the communication cable until the second drive time Te or less, and the operation using the power supplied via the communication cable is performed. The electronic device according to appendix 2, wherein the execution unit performs a predetermined function, and the charging unit charges the storage battery.
According to this, since the electronic device uses the power supplied via the communication cable to charge the storage battery, the operation time of the electronic device can be made longer than when the electronic device is not charged. In addition, the operable time of the information processing system as a whole can be extended.

(Supplementary Note 5) An input unit for setting permission or prohibition of charging of the storage battery is provided, and when the setting for prohibiting charging of the storage battery is made by the input unit, the charging unit charges the storage battery. The electronic apparatus according to appendix 4, wherein the electronic apparatus is not included.
According to this, by setting the user's own intention not to charge the rechargeable battery of the electronic device, the charging using the power supplied from the information processing device is not performed. It is possible to lengthen the operable time.

(Supplementary Note 6) When the first drive time Tc ≦ second drive time Te is satisfied after the operation execution unit executes a predetermined function using the power supplied via the communication cable, The electronic device according to appendix 3, 4 or 5, wherein the supply power switching unit switches to use the supply power from the storage battery.
According to this, since the power supplied from the storage battery is switched to use, the power supplied from the information processing device is not consumed on the electronic device side, and the operation time of the information processing device is prevented from being shortened. Can do.

(Supplementary note 7) An information processing system in which an information processing apparatus capable of supplying power and an electronic device capable of receiving the supplied power are connected via a communication cable capable of carrying the supplied power The information processing apparatus includes a battery, a driving time calculation unit that calculates a first driving time Tc that can operate independently using only power supplied from the battery, and a first connection that connects the communication cable. A communication unit that transmits the calculated first drive time Tc to the electronic device via the communication cable, and supplies a part of the power supplied from the battery to the electronic device via the communication cable. The electronic device obtains the first drive time Tc sent from the information processing device, the second connection unit for connecting the storage battery, the communication cable, and the information processing device. A first drive time acquisition unit, a second drive time acquisition unit that acquires a second drive time Te that can operate independently using only the power supplied from the storage battery, and an operation execution unit that executes a predetermined function; A power supply switching unit that switches the power used by the operation execution unit to execute a function between the power supplied from the storage battery and the power supplied via the communication cable; and the acquired Based on the magnitude relationship between the first drive time Tc and the second drive time Te, the supply power used by the supply power switching unit is switched in order to limit the consumption of the power supplied via the communication cable. An information processing system comprising a control unit.

1 Electronic equipment TE
2 Information processing equipment PC
3 Communication cable (USB cable)
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Control part 12 Communication part 13 Input part 14 Charging part 15 Supply power switching part 16 Connection part 17 PC drive time acquisition part 18 TE drive time acquisition part 19 Time comparison part 20 Operation execution part 25 Storage battery (battery)
26 storage unit 27 PC drive time Tc
28 TE drive time Te
29 Standby timer value To
30 Charging mode CH
51 Control Unit 52 Display Unit 53 Communication Unit 54 Input Unit 55 Charging Unit 56 Connection Unit 57 PC Drive Time Calculation Unit 58 Power Supply Unit 59 Operation Execution Unit 61 Storage Unit 62 PC Drive Time Tc
65 Storage battery

Claims (7)

A storage battery,
A connection part for connecting a communication cable capable of receiving an external power supply; and
A first drive time acquisition unit that acquires, from an information processing device including a battery via the communication cable, a first drive time Tc that allows the information processing device to operate independently using only power supplied from the battery; ,
A second drive time acquisition unit that acquires a second drive time Te that can be operated independently using only power supplied from the storage battery;
An operation execution unit for executing a predetermined function;
A power supply switching unit that switches power used by the operation execution unit to execute a function between power supplied from the storage battery and power supplied via the communication cable;
Supply used by the supply power switching unit to limit the consumption of power supplied via the communication cable based on the magnitude relationship between the acquired first drive time Tc and second drive time Te. An electronic device comprising: a control unit that switches power. A time comparison unit for comparing the acquired first drive time Tc and the second drive time Te;
As a result of the comparison, if the first driving time Tc <the second driving time Te,
The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the supply power switching unit switches to use the supply power from the storage battery. As a result of the comparison by the time comparison unit, when the first drive time Tc> the second drive time Te, the supply power switching unit switches until the first drive time Tc becomes equal to or less than the second drive time Te. , Switch to use the power supplied via the communication cable,
The electronic apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the operation execution unit executes a predetermined function using electric power supplied via the communication cable. Further comprising a charging unit for charging the storage battery,
As a result of the comparison by the time comparison unit, when the first drive time Tc> the second drive time Te, the supply power switching unit switches until the first drive time Tc becomes equal to or less than the second drive time Te. Switch to use the power supplied via the communication cable,
3. The electronic device according to claim 2, wherein the operation execution unit performs a predetermined function using the power supplied via the communication cable, and the charging unit charges the storage battery. 4. machine. An input unit for setting permission or prohibition of charging of the storage battery;
The electronic device according to claim 4, wherein when the input unit is set to prohibit charging of the storage battery, the charging unit does not charge the storage battery.   When the first drive time Tc ≦ the second drive time Te after the operation execution unit executes a predetermined function using the power supplied via the communication cable, the supply power switching is performed. The electronic device according to claim 3, 4, or 5, wherein the unit switches to use power supplied from the storage battery. An information processing system in which an information processing apparatus capable of supplying power and an electronic device capable of receiving the supplied power are connected via a communication cable capable of carrying the supplied power,
The information processing apparatus is
Battery,
A drive time calculation unit that calculates a first drive time Tc that can be operated independently using only power supplied from the battery;
A first connection for connecting the communication cable;
A communication unit that transmits the calculated first drive time Tc to the electronic device via the communication cable;
A power supply unit that supplies a part of the power supplied from the battery to the electronic device via the communication cable;
The electronic device is
A storage battery,
A second connection for connecting the communication cable;
A first drive time acquisition unit for acquiring a first drive time Tc sent from the information processing apparatus;
A second drive time acquisition unit that acquires a second drive time Te that can be operated independently using only power supplied from the storage battery;
An operation execution unit for executing a predetermined function;
A power supply switching unit that switches power used by the operation execution unit to execute a function between power supplied from the storage battery and power supplied via the communication cable;
Supply used by the supply power switching unit to limit the consumption of power supplied via the communication cable based on the magnitude relationship between the acquired first drive time Tc and second drive time Te. An information processing system comprising: a control unit that switches power.