JP2017034551A - Information processing apparatus, control program, and control method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To display a screen on an operation display unit quickly when returning from power-saving state.SOLUTION: An information processing apparatus has a function of entering power-saving state which stops power to be supplied to each of units, including at least an overall control unit for controlling the whole of the apparatus and a display unit. In a case of returning from power-saving state, an initial start control unit starts first, to control start-up for enabling the information processing apparatus, and displays a predetermined screen on the display unit before the information processing apparatus is enabled.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, a control program, and a control method.

  Information processing apparatuses such as image processing apparatuses and PCs (Personal Computers) often have a power saving control function that stops power supply to each part of the apparatus in accordance with the operation state of the apparatus. To return from the power saving state to the normal state in which the power supply to each part of the apparatus is resumed, a certain amount of time is required for the restoration process in each part of the apparatus. Therefore, it is desired to promptly display the screen on the operation display unit such as the display panel of the apparatus in order to make the user recognize that the return process is being performed when returning from the power saving state.

  In a conventional information processing apparatus, a configuration is known in which a CPU (Central Processing Unit) that operates a controller that controls the entire apparatus and a CPU that operates an operation display unit are separately provided. With such a configuration, each CPU can operate the operation display unit and the controller separately when returning from the power saving state, and the screen display on the operation display unit can be performed quickly.

  However, a configuration including a plurality of CPUs in an information processing apparatus leads to an increase in cost, and recent CPUs are often multi-core, and a plurality of processes can be performed at a high speed, so a plurality of CPUs are integrated. The tendency to do is progressing. Further, in a device in which the controller and the operation display unit are operated by the same CPU, it is proposed that the image data stored before the transition to the power saving state is displayed on the operation display unit when returning from the power saving state. (Patent Document 1).

  Due to the integration of the CPU in the information processing apparatus, after the CPU operates the controller, the screen rendered by the controller is displayed on the operation display unit. Therefore, it may take longer to display the screen on the operation display unit than when the controller and the operation display unit are operated by different CPUs.

  Also in the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1, the display of the image data stored in advance on the operation display unit is after the information processing apparatus has returned to the normal state, and the return process is performed by the user. A quick screen display for recognizing the fact is not realized.

  The present invention has been made to solve such a problem, and an object of the present invention is to display the screen on the operation display section more quickly when returning from the power saving state.

  In order to solve the above problems, an aspect of the present invention is an information processing apparatus having a function of shifting to a power saving state in which power supply to a predetermined unit including at least a general control unit and a display unit that controls the entire device Then, when returning from the power saving state, the startup control is performed to start the information processing apparatus first and make the information processing apparatus operable, and a predetermined screen is displayed until the information processing apparatus becomes operable. An initial activation control unit for displaying on the display unit is included.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to display the screen on the operation display unit more quickly when returning from the power saving state.

It is a figure which illustrates the hardware constitutions of the information processing apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which illustrates functional composition of an information processor concerning an embodiment of the present invention. It is a sequence diagram which illustrates the operation | movement at the time of return from the shift to a power saving state in the information processing apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which illustrates screen information concerning an embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which illustrates screen information concerning an embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure which illustrates the aspect of the touch operation to the screen displayed on the display panel which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which illustrates the screen displayed on the display panel which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which illustrates the screen displayed on the display panel which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which illustrates screen information concerning an embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart which illustrates operation | movement of BIOS which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which illustrates screen information concerning an embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart which illustrates operation | movement of BIOS which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which illustrates the screen displayed on the display panel which concerns on embodiment of this invention.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. In the present embodiment, an information processing apparatus having a function of shifting to a power saving state in which power supply to predetermined units is stopped according to an operation state will be described as an example.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a hardware configuration of the information processing apparatus 1 according to this embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the information processing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment includes a configuration similar to a general server, a PC (Personal Computer), and the like. When the information processing apparatus 1 is an image processing apparatus, an engine for realizing a scanner, a printer, and the like is provided in addition to the hardware configuration shown in FIG.

  That is, the information processing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 10, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 20, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 30, an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 40, and an I / F 50. 80 is connected through 80. Further, an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) 60 and an operation unit 70 are connected to the I / F 50.

  The CPU 10 is a calculation unit and controls the operation of the information processing apparatus 1 as a whole. The RAM 20 is a volatile storage medium capable of reading and writing information at high speed, and is used as a work area when the CPU 10 processes information. The ROM 30 is a read-only nonvolatile storage medium and stores a program such as firmware. The HDD 40 is a non-volatile storage medium that can read and write information, and stores an OS (Operating System), various control programs, application programs, and the like.

  The I / F 50 connects and controls the bus 80 and various hardware and networks. The LCD 60 is a visual user interface for the user to check the state of the information processing apparatus 1. The operation unit 70 is a user interface for a user to input information to the information processing apparatus 1 such as a keyboard and a mouse.

  In such a hardware configuration, a program stored in a storage medium such as the ROM 30 or the HDD 40 or an optical disk (not shown) is read out to the RAM 20. Then, the CPU 10 performs a calculation according to the program loaded in the RAM 20 to configure a software control unit. A functional block that realizes the functions of the information processing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment is configured by a combination of the software control unit configured as described above and hardware.

  Next, functions of the information processing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a functional configuration of the information processing apparatus 1 according to this embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the information processing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment includes a controller 100 and a display panel 110. The controller 100 also includes a basic input output system (BIOS) 101, an operating system (OS) 102, a service program 103, an application 104, and an operation display control unit 105.

  The controller 100 is an overall control unit that controls the entire apparatus. When power is supplied to the information processing apparatus 1, the BIOS 101 functions as an initial activation control unit that first activates and performs activation control for enabling the information processing apparatus 1 to operate. Specifically, when power is supplied to the information processing apparatus 1, the BIOS 101 starts up first and outputs a startup command to the OS 102.

  The BIOS 101 displays a predetermined screen on the display panel 110 until the information processing apparatus 1 becomes operable when the information processing apparatus 1 returns from the power saving state. That is, when the BIOS 101 starts after returning from the power saving state, it first performs a predetermined image drawing process, inputs a clock of the display panel 110, and displays a predetermined screen generated by the drawing process on the display panel 110. indicate.

  The predetermined screen is, for example, a screen for the application 104 displayed on the display panel 110 when shifting to the power saving state. As described above, it is one of the gist of the present embodiment that the BIOS 101 preferentially displays the predetermined screen on the display panel 110 when returning from the power saving state.

  The BIOS 101 stores touch information when the user touches the screen displayed on the display panel 110 while returning from the power saving state, and stores the touch information after the application 104 is activated. Notify Details of processing related to touch information by the BIOS 101 will be described later.

  The OS 102 is basic software that controls the entire information processing apparatus 1. Specifically, for example, the OS 102 receives a startup command from the BIOS 101 and outputs a startup command to the service program 103 described later. Further, the OS 102 receives information from an operation display control unit 105 described later and controls the application 104 via the service program 103.

  Further, the OS 102 performs a process of shifting to the power saving state when there is no operation from the user for a certain period of time. Further, when the OS 102 shifts to the power saving state, the screen information for the application 104 displayed on the display panel 110 is stored in a storage medium that the BIOS 101 can refer to when starting up. That is, the OS 102 functions as a screen information storage processing unit that stores screen information in a storage medium. Details of the screen information storage processing by the OS 102 will be described later.

  The service program 103 is a software module configured by installing a software program in the information processing apparatus 1. The service program 103 receives a command from the OS 102 and outputs a start command and a shutdown request to the application 104.

  An application program (hereinafter referred to as “application”) 104 is a software module configured by installing a software program in the information processing apparatus 1. For example, the application 104 is general application software such as word processing software, spreadsheet software, or image editing software. When the information processing apparatus 1 is an image processing apparatus, the application 104 is application software related to image processing such as a copy processing application and a scanner processing application.

  Further, the application 104 displays a screen corresponding to the processing content on the display panel 110 via the operation display control unit 105. That is, the application 104 functions as an information processing unit that executes various types of processing and displays a screen corresponding to the content of the processing on the display unit.

  The application 104 performs startup processing in response to a startup command from the service program 103, and performs shutdown processing in response to a shutdown request from the service program 103. The operation display control unit 105 displays information on the display panel 110 or notifies the OS 102 of information input via the display panel 110.

  The display panel 110 is an output interface that visually displays the state of the information processing apparatus 1, and an input when the user directly operates the information processing apparatus 1 or inputs information to the information processing apparatus 1 as a touch panel. It is also an interface. In other words, the output interface of the display panel 110 is realized by the LCD 60 (display unit) shown in FIG. 1, and the input interface is realized by the operation unit 70 shown in FIG.

  Next, an operation at the time of returning from the shift to the power saving state in the information processing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram illustrating an operation at the time of returning from the shift to the power saving state in the information processing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment. As illustrated in FIG. 3, when the OS 102 shifts to the power saving state, the OS 102 acquires screen information displayed on the display panel 110 and stores the screen information in a storage medium that can be referred to by the BIOS 101 at startup (S301).

  4 and 5 are diagrams illustrating screen information stored in the storage medium. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a screen image, and FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating screen configuration information. As illustrated in FIG. 4, the screen image is, for example, an operation screen image including a button for operating the application 104 (for example, “XX application”).

  As shown in FIG. 5, the screen configuration information is a table in which display components such as buttons constituting the screen of the image shown in FIG. 4 are associated with positional information of the display components. For example, the screen shown in FIG. 4 includes “button A” to “button F” as display components, and the table shown in FIG. 5 includes the lower left coordinates and upper right coordinates of each button as position information. ing. As shown in FIG. 4, for example, the coordinates are set such that the horizontal direction is the x-axis direction, the vertical direction is the y-axis direction, and the lower left is (0, 0). For example, the lower left coordinates of “button A” are (x1_min, y1_min), and the upper left coordinates are (x1_max, y1_max).

  Returning to FIG. 3, when the OS 102 stores the screen information in the storage medium, each unit of the information processing apparatus 1 shifts to the power saving state (S302). Note that, in the information processing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, the apparatus shifts to the power saving state by stopping the power supply to the predetermined units including at least the controller 100 as the overall control unit and the display panel 110 as the display unit And After the transition to the power saving state, when the recovery timing from the power saving state is reached (S303), the BIOS 101 is first activated (S304).

  The BIOS 101 activated after returning from the power saving state acquires the screen information stored in the processing of S301 from the storage medium, and performs screen drawing processing based on the screen information on the display panel 110 (S305). Specifically, the BIOS 101 inputs a clock to the display panel 110 and draws an image of the screen shown in FIG. 4 on the display panel 110, for example. The display panel 110 on which the screen drawing processing has been performed by the BIOS 101 displays a screen based on the screen information acquired by the BIOS 101 (S306).

  The BIOS 101 that has performed the screen drawing process acquires touch information when the user performs a touch operation via the screen displayed on the display panel 110 during the restoration process of other units of the information processing apparatus 1. It is stored in the medium (S307). The touch information is information for specifying the touched display component. That is, the touch information is operation information indicating the operation content for the screen displayed on the display unit.

  FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example in which the user is touching the screen. As illustrated in FIG. 6, for example, when the user touches the “button D” displayed on the screen illustrated in FIG. 4, the BIOS 101 acquires coordinates indicating the position touched by the user. The BIOS 101 acquires the screen information stored in the process of S301 from the storage medium, refers to the screen configuration information shown in FIG. 5 included in the screen information, and displays the name of the display component located within the acquired coordinate range. Obtained as touch information. For example, in the case illustrated in FIG. 6, the BIOS 101 acquires “button D” as touch information.

  The BIOS 101 having the touch information stored in the storage medium performs screen drawing processing on the display panel 110 (S308). The display panel 110 on which the screen drawing processing has been performed by the BIOS 101 displays a screen (S309).

  FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a screen displayed on the display panel 110 by the process of S309. When the user performs a touch operation via the screen displayed on the display panel 110, a message “Please wait for a while” is displayed on the display panel 110 until the activation of the application 104 is completed, as shown in FIG. The This is because the operation after the touch operation by the user depends on the application 104, and thus the operation after the touch operation cannot be advanced until the activation of the application 104 is completed.

  On the other hand, in parallel with the above-described processing, the BIOS 101 that has been activated after returning from the power saving state notifies the OS 102 of an activation command, and the OS 102 that has received the activation command is activated (S310). The activated OS 102 notifies the service program 103 of the activation command, and the service program 103 that has received the activation command is activated (S311). The activated service program 103 notifies the activation command to the application 104, and the application 104 that has received the activation command is activated (S312).

  When the activation of the application 104 is completed, the BIOS 101 that has stored the touch information in the storage medium notifies the activated application 104 of the touch information stored in the storage medium (S313). The application 104 notified of the touch information from the BIOS 101 performs screen drawing processing based on the notified touch information (S314). For example, when the touch information indicates “button D”, an image of a screen displayed when “button D” is touched is generated.

  The application 104 that has performed the screen drawing process outputs the generated image to the operation display control unit 105, and the operation display control unit 105 performs display processing of the image input from the application 104 to the display panel 110. This is performed (S315). The display panel 110 on which display processing has been performed by the operation display control unit 105 displays a screen (S316). That is, when the information processing apparatus 1 becomes operable, the BIOS 101 executes processing for displaying a screen based on the operation information on the display unit.

  FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a screen displayed on the display panel 110 by the process of S316. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 6, when the user touches “button D” during the activation process of the application 104, after the activation of the application 104, the transition is caused by touching “button D” as illustrated in FIG. A screen to be displayed is displayed on the display panel 110.

  Note that the activation timings of the OS 102, the service program 103, and the application 104 illustrated in FIG. 3 are examples, and the activation processing of the OS 102 or the like is not necessarily completed at each processing timing of the BIOS 101 illustrated in FIG.

  As described above, in the information processing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, the BIOS 101 that is activated first when returning from the power saving state is connected to the display panel 110 until the information processing apparatus 1 becomes operable. A predetermined screen drawing process is executed. As a result, when returning from the power saving state, drawing processing on the display panel 110 is executed in preference to other processing, so that it is possible to display the screen on the display panel 110 which is an operation display unit more quickly. become.

  Further, in the information processing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment, when the user performs a touch operation via the screen displayed on the display panel 110 during the activation process of the application 104, the BIOS 101 stores the touch information. Then, the BIOS 101 notifies the touch information to the application 104 after the application 104 is activated, and the application 104 executes a drawing process on the display panel 110. As a result, it becomes possible to accept a touch operation from the user before the application 104 is activated, so that the processing after the application 104 is activated can be executed more quickly.

  However, the configuration in which the BIOS 101 stores touch information is not essential, and even if there is no configuration in which touch information is stored, a predetermined screen is quickly displayed, so that a return process is performed for the user. Can be recognized.

  In the above-described embodiment, when the user performs a touch operation via the screen displayed on the display panel 110 during the activation process of the application 104, the BIOS 101 stores information for specifying the display component as touch information. The case where it does is demonstrated as an example. Further, when the specified display component is a button for starting the application 104, the BIOS 101 may control the activation order of the application 104 according to the display component. That is, the touch information (operation information) in this case indicates an operation for starting the application 104 that is an information processing unit.

  FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating screen configuration information on a screen on which the application 104 is activated when a button included in the screen is touched. As shown in FIG. 9, the screen configuration information is associated with an application name to be activated for each display component in addition to the information included in the screen configuration information shown in FIG. For example, when a “copy” button (for example, “button A”) is touched on the operation screen of the image processing apparatus, a copy application (for example, “application A”) as one of the applications 104 is activated.

  FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of the BIOS 101 when the user performs a touch operation via the screen displayed on the display panel 110. As illustrated in FIG. 10, the BIOS 101 stores touch information in a storage medium in the same manner as the process of S307 illustrated in FIG. 3 (S1001).

  The BIOS 101 that has stored the touch information determines whether the acquired screen configuration information includes information about the startup application (S1002). If the screen configuration information does not include the activation application information (S1002 / NO), the BIOS 101 ends the process.

  On the other hand, if the screen configuration information includes information on the startup application (S1002 / YES), the BIOS 101 refers to the screen configuration information and acquires information on the startup application (S1003). For example, when the display component indicated by the touch information stored in the process of S1001 is “button A”, the BIOS 101 acquires the startup application information of “application A” from the screen configuration information illustrated in FIG.

  The BIOS 101 that has acquired the information of the activated application determines whether it is within a predetermined time after the BIOS 101 is activated (S1004). The predetermined time is, for example, a predetermined time as a time from when the BIOS 101 is activated until when activation control of the application 104 is started.

  If the predetermined time has elapsed since the BIOS 101 started (S1004 / NO), the BIOS 101 ends the process. On the other hand, if it is within a predetermined time since the BIOS 101 is activated (S1004 / YES), the BIOS 101 controls the activation order of the applications 104 via the OS 102 and the service program 103 (S1005). Specifically, for example, when the activation application information acquired in the processing of S1003 is “copy application”, the BIOS 101 is activated so that “copy application” of the applications 104 is activated with priority over other applications 104. Control the order.

  With such a configuration, after the information processing apparatus 1 is activated, the application 104 that the user intends to use is preferentially activated, so that it is possible to shorten the time until the user uses the desired application 104.

  In addition, the BIOS 101 controls the activation order of the applications 104 according to the information of the applications 104 that use the screen displayed on the display panel 110 during the process of returning from the power saving state (hereinafter referred to as “application information”). May be. FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating application information. For example, the application information is further included in the screen information including the information illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5. For example, when the screen illustrated in FIG. 4 is a screen for “application A”, the application information indicates “application A”.

  FIG. 12 is a flowchart illustrating an operation related to activation control of the application 104 of the BIOS 101 when application information is included in the screen information. As illustrated in FIG. 12, the BIOS 101 that is activated after returning from the power saving state acquires application information included in the screen information from the storage medium (S1201).

  The BIOS 101 that acquired the application information activates and controls the application 104 of the acquired application information via the OS 102 and the service program 103 (S1202). The BIOS 101 that controls the activation of the application 104 of the acquired application information controls the activation of the other application 104 (S1203). With such a configuration, when the application 104 is controlled to start, the application 104 that uses the screen displayed on the display panel 110 before the transition to the power saving state is preferentially started, so that the operation display can be performed more quickly. Can be displayed on the screen.

  In these embodiments, the case where the OS 102 stores the screen information in the storage medium when shifting to the power saving state has been described as an example. However, this is merely an example, and the application 104 displaying the screen on the display panel 110 may be stored in the storage medium when shifting to the power saving state. In this case, the application 104 functions as a screen information storage processing unit.

  Further, in these embodiments, the case where the screen for the application 104 displayed on the display panel 110 when shifting to the power saving state is used as the predetermined screen has been described as an example. In addition, the predetermined screen may be a fixed screen such as a screen for displaying some message such as “Please wait for a while” or an initial screen when the apparatus is activated. FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating a screen displayed on the display panel 110 by the BIOS 101 when the predetermined screen is fixed.

  When the BIOS 101 recovers from the power saving state and starts up, the BIOS 101 inputs a clock to the display panel 110, for example, draws a fixed screen shown in FIG. 13 and displays it on the display panel 110. When the fixed screen does not include a display component such as a button, even if the user performs a touch operation, the BIOS 101 stores touch information or performs the processing illustrated in FIG. Never do.

  Moreover, in these embodiments, the case where the display panel 110 is an operation display unit that is both a display unit and an operation unit has been described as an example. However, for example, when the predetermined screen is a fixed screen that does not include a display component such as a button, the display unit and the operation unit may have different configurations, and the BIOS 101 is fixed to a single display unit. The drawing process may be performed to display the screen.

1 Information processing device 10 CPU
20 RAM
30 ROM
40 HDD
50 I / F
60 LCD
70 Operation unit 80 Bus 100 Controller 101 BIOS
102 OS
103 Service Program 104 Application 105 Operation Display Control Unit 110 Display Panel

JP 2013-258474 A

Claims (7)

An information processing apparatus having a function of shifting to a power saving state in which power supply to a predetermined unit including at least a general control unit and a display unit for controlling the entire apparatus is stopped,
When returning from the power saving state, start control is performed for starting up and enabling the information processing apparatus to operate, and a predetermined screen is displayed until the information processing apparatus becomes operable. An information processing apparatus comprising an initial activation control unit for displaying on a display unit. Including a screen information storage processing unit that stores information on a screen displayed on the display unit in a storage medium when shifting to the power saving state;
The initial activation control unit displays a screen based on the information on the screen stored in the storage medium until the information processing apparatus becomes operable when returning from the power saving state. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the information processing apparatus is displayed. The display unit is an operation display unit that receives an operation on the displayed screen.
The initial activation control unit
Until the information processing apparatus becomes operable, obtain operation information indicating operation contents for the screen displayed on the display unit;
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the information processing apparatus becomes operable, a process for displaying a screen based on the acquired operation information on the display unit is executed. An information processing unit that executes various processes and displays a screen corresponding to the content of the process on the display unit,
The operation information indicates an operation for starting the information processing unit,
When the initial activation control unit acquires the operation information within a predetermined time after activation, the initial activation control unit activates the information processing unit to be activated based on the acquired operation information in preference to the other information processing units. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the starting order is controlled. An information processing unit that executes various processes and displays a screen corresponding to the content of the process on the display unit,
The screen information storage processing unit stores information on the screen displayed by the information processing unit in the storage medium,
The initial activation control unit prioritizes the information processing unit that displays a screen based on the information of the screen stored in the storage medium over the other information processing units when returning from the power saving state. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the activation order is controlled so as to be activated. A control program for controlling an information processing apparatus having a function of shifting to a power saving state for stopping power supply to a predetermined unit including at least a general control unit and a display unit for controlling the entire device,
When returning from the power-saving state, performing a start control for enabling the information processing apparatus to start up first;
A control program for causing the information processing apparatus to execute a step of displaying a predetermined screen on the display unit until the information processing apparatus becomes operable. A control method for an information processing apparatus having a function of shifting to a power saving state in which power supply to a predetermined unit including at least a general control unit and a display unit for controlling the entire apparatus is stopped,
When returning from the power saving state, start control for starting the information processing apparatus first and enabling the information processing apparatus,
A control method comprising displaying a predetermined screen on the display unit until the information processing apparatus becomes operable.