JP2021111094A - Information processing apparatus and control method - Google Patents

Abstract

To appropriately reduce power consumption in accordance with user's usage situations.SOLUTION: An information processing apparatus comprises: a usage situation collection unit which collects usage situations of a system which the apparatus has, at prescribed time intervals to aggregate usage situation information associating time information and the usage situations of the system with each other; an operation time generation unit which generates operation time information of the system on the basis of the usage situation information aggregated by the usage situation collection unit; and a mode control unit which, in a standby mode in which a normal operation state of operating the system has been switched to a low power consumption state by stopping a part of the system including at least a display unit, alternately switches between a first low power consumption state and a second low power consumption state which consumes less power than in the first low power consumption state and requires a long time to return to the normal operation state, on the basis of the operation time information generated by the operation time generation unit.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

The present invention relates to an information processing device and a control method.

Information processing devices such as notebook-type personal computers (hereinafter referred to as notebook PCs) are expected to further reduce power consumption. Generally, in an information processing device, in order to reduce power consumption, a part of the system such as a sleep mode (S3 state) or a modern standby mode (S0ix state) is changed from a normal operating state (S0 state) to a part of the system depending on the operating state. Is shifting to a low power consumption state in which the system is stopped.
On the other hand, there is known a technique in which an information processing apparatus outputs a wake event at a set calendar time of the system and activates the system by the wake event (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2011-248788

However, in the conventional information processing apparatus, it is difficult to appropriately shift to the low power consumption state according to the usage situation of the user, and it is desired to appropriately reduce the power consumption.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an information processing device and a control method capable of appropriately reducing power consumption according to a user's usage situation. ..

In order to solve the above problem, one aspect of the present invention collects the usage status of the system possessed by the own device at predetermined time intervals, and aggregates the usage status information in which the time information and the usage status of the system are associated with each other. At least from the usage status collection unit, the operation time generation unit that generates the operation time information of the system based on the usage status information aggregated by the usage status collection unit, and the normal operating state in which the system is operating. In the standby mode in which a part of the system including the display unit is stopped to put it in a low power consumption state, the first low power consumption state and the first low power consumption state and the first low power consumption state based on the operation time information generated by the operation time generation unit. The information processing apparatus includes a mode control unit that switches between the second low power consumption state and the second low power consumption state, which consumes less power than the low power consumption state of 1 and has a long return time to the normal operating state.

Further, one aspect of the present invention includes the time measuring unit for measuring the time in the above-mentioned information processing apparatus, and the operating time information is changed from the first low power consumption state to the second low power consumption state. The mode control unit includes a first change time to be changed and a second change time for changing from the second low power consumption state to the first low power consumption state. When the time is the first change time, the first low power consumption state is changed to the second low power consumption state, and the time becomes the second change time. In this case, the second low power consumption state may be changed to the first low power consumption state.

Further, in one aspect of the present invention, in the above information processing apparatus, whether or not the operation time generation unit is a period during which the system is constantly used at predetermined time intervals of the usage status information. The operation time information is generated by combining the adjacent periods in use and setting the operation end time as the first change time and the operation start time as the second change time. You may try to do it.

Further, in one aspect of the present invention, in the above information processing apparatus, the operation time generation unit may generate the operation end time and the operation start time including a predetermined margin period.

Further, one aspect of the present invention is that in the above-mentioned information processing apparatus, the operation time generation unit has a period during which the system is not constantly used among a plurality of the periods during which the system is used. The total power consumption required for the process of reciprocally changing the first low power consumption state and the second low power consumption state is calculated from the first low power consumption state during the unused period. When it is larger than the total power consumption reduced when changing to the second low power consumption state, the unused period is replaced with the used period to generate the operating time information. May be good.

Further, one aspect of the present invention includes a main control unit that executes the main processing of the system in the above information processing apparatus, and a sub control unit that can operate in the standby mode and is different from the main control unit. The sub-control unit may include the time measuring unit.

Further, in one aspect of the present invention, in the information processing apparatus, the usage status collecting unit aggregates the usage status information for each day of the week at the predetermined time interval, and the operating time generating unit is described. The operation time information may be generated for each day of the week.

Further, in one aspect of the present invention, in the information processing apparatus, the operation time information or the usage status information is displayed on the display unit, and the operation time information or the operation time information or the operation time information or the operation status information is received according to an operation received by the input unit. An editing processing unit for editing the usage status information may be provided.

Further, one aspect of the present invention is the modern standby mode in which the first low power consumption state can be quickly returned to the normal operating state in the standby mode in the information processing apparatus. The low power consumption state of may be the hibernation mode.

Further, one aspect of the present invention is a usage status collecting unit that collects the usage status of the system possessed by the own device at predetermined time intervals and aggregates the usage status information in which the time information and the usage status of the system are associated with each other. , The operating time generation unit that generates the operating time information of the system based on the usage status information aggregated by the usage status collecting unit, and the operating time information or the usage status information are displayed on the display unit and input. It is an information processing apparatus including an editing processing unit that edits the operating time information or the usage status information according to the operation received by the unit.

Further, in one aspect of the present invention, the usage status collecting unit collects the usage status of the system owned by the own device at predetermined time intervals, and aggregates the usage status information in which the time information and the usage status of the system are associated with each other. The usage status collection step to be performed, the operation time generation step in which the operation time generation unit generates the operation time information of the system based on the usage status information aggregated by the usage status collection step, and the mode control unit In the standby mode in which at least a part of the system including the display unit is stopped to reduce the power consumption from the normal operating state in which the system is operating, the operating time information generated by the operating time generation step is used. Based on this, the first low power consumption state and the second low power consumption state, which consumes less power than the first low power consumption state and has a long return time to the normal operating state, are switched and changed. It is a control method including a mode control step.

According to the above aspect of the present invention, the power consumption can be appropriately reduced according to the usage situation of the user.

It is a figure which shows an example of the main hardware configuration of the notebook PC by this embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows an example of the functional structure of the notebook PC by this embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the usage situation information in this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the display example of the usage situation information in this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the display example of the operation time information in this embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the collection process of the usage state of the notebook PC by this embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the generation processing of the operation time information of a notebook PC by this embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the control process of the standby mode of the notebook PC by this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the control example of the conventional standby mode. It is a figure which shows the control example of the standby mode of the notebook PC by this embodiment.

Hereinafter, the information processing apparatus and the control method according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a main hardware configuration of the notebook PC 1 according to the present embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 1, the notebook PC 1 includes a CPU 11, a main memory 12, a video subsystem 13, a display unit 14, a chipset 21, a BIOS memory 22, an HDD 23, an audio system 24, and a WLAN card. It includes 25, a USB connector 26, an imaging unit 27, an embedded controller 31, an input unit 32, a power supply circuit 33, a battery 34, and an AC / DC adapter 35.
In this embodiment, the CPU 11 and the chipset 21 correspond to the main control unit 10.

The CPU (Central Processing Unit) 11 executes various arithmetic processes by program control and controls the entire notebook PC 1.
The main memory 12 is a writable memory used as a read area for the execution program of the CPU 11 or as a work area for writing the processing data of the execution program. The main memory 12 is composed of, for example, a plurality of DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) chips. This execution program includes an OS (Operating System), various drivers for operating peripheral devices in hardware, various services / utilities, application programs, and the like.

The video subsystem 13 is a subsystem for realizing a function related to image display, and includes a video controller. The video controller processes a drawing command from the CPU 11, writes the processed drawing information to the video memory, reads the drawing information from the video memory, and outputs it to the display unit 14 as drawing data (display data).
The display unit 14 is, for example, a liquid crystal display, and displays a display screen based on drawing data (display data) output from the video subsystem 13.

The chipset 21 includes USB (Universal Serial Bus), serial ATA (AT Attachment), SPI (Serial Peripheral Interface) bus, PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) bus, PCI-Express bus, LPC (Low Pin Count) bus, and the like. It has a controller and multiple devices are connected. In FIG. 2, as an example of the device, the BIOS memory 22, the HDD 23, the audio system 24, the WLAN card 25, the USB connector 26, and the imaging unit 27 are connected to the chipset 21.

The BIOS (Basic Input Output System) memory 22 is composed of, for example, an electrically rewritable non-volatile memory such as an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory) or a flash ROM. The BIOS memory 22 stores the BIOS, the system firmware for controlling the embedded controller 31, and the like.

The HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 23 (an example of a non-volatile storage device) stores an OS, various drivers, various services / utilities, application programs, and various data.
The audio system 24 records, reproduces, and outputs sound data.

The WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network) card 25 is connected to the network by a wireless LAN to perform data communication. When the WLAN card 25 receives data from the network, for example, it generates an event trigger indicating that the data has been received.
The USB connector 26 is a connector for connecting peripheral devices using USB.

As shown in FIG. 1, the image capturing unit 27 is, for example, a Web camera arranged above the display unit 14 and captures an image. The imaging unit 27 is connected to the chipset 21 by a USB interface.

The embedded controller 31 (an example of a sub control unit) is a one-chip microcomputer that monitors and controls various devices (peripheral devices, sensors, etc.) regardless of the system state of the notebook PC 1. Further, the embedded controller 31 has a power supply management function for controlling the power supply circuit 33. The embedded controller 31 is composed of a CPU, ROM, RAM, etc. (not shown), and also includes a plurality of channels of A / D input terminals, D / A output terminals, timers, and digital input / output terminals. For example, an input unit 32, a power supply circuit 33, and the like are connected to the embedded controller 31 via their input / output terminals, and the embedded controller 31 controls these operations.

The embedded controller 31 controls the power supply circuit 33 according to the system state (for example, S0 state to S5 state) defined in the ACPI (Advanced Configuration and Power Interface) specifications. Here, the S0 state is the most active state and is a normal operating state (normal operating state). The S5 state is a shutdown state (power off state) in which the power is turned off by software.

The CPU 11 of the present embodiment corresponds to the S0ix state, which is a low power consumption state capable of quickly returning to the S0 state, and the embedded controller 31 is in a standby mode using this S0ix state (for example, a modern standby mode). ) Corresponds to the control of the power supply circuit 33. Here, the S0ix state is an extended state of the S0 state defined in the ACPI specifications, and is an S0ix state in which power consumption is reduced as compared with the S0 state.
In the present embodiment, the standby mode is a state in which at least a part of the functions of the notebook PC1 system including the display unit 14 is stopped, and corresponds to, for example, the S0ix state, the S1 state to the S4 state, and the like.

The input unit 32 is, for example, an input device such as a pointing device such as a keyboard or a touch pad.
The power supply circuit 33 includes, for example, a DC / DC converter, a charge / discharge unit, a battery unit, an AC / DC adapter, and the like, and operates the notebook PC 1 with a DC voltage supplied from the AC / DC adapter or the battery unit. Convert to multiple voltages required for. Further, the power supply circuit 33 supplies electric power to each part of the notebook PC 1 based on the control from the embedded controller 31.

Next, with reference to FIG. 2, the functional configuration of the notebook PC 1 according to the present embodiment will be described.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the notebook PC 1 according to the present embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 2, the notebook PC 1 includes a main control unit 10, an embedded controller 31, and a storage unit 40. Note that FIG. 2 shows only the main functional configurations of the invention of the present embodiment.

The embedded controller 31 includes a power supply control unit 311, a timekeeping unit 312, and an event processing unit 313.
The power supply control unit 311 controls the power supply circuit according to the system state (for example, S0 state to S5 state). The power supply control unit 311 controls the supply and stop of various power sources generated by the power supply circuit 33 in response to a request from the main control unit 10.

The timekeeping unit 312 is, for example, an RTC (Real Time Clock), and measures the time. The embedded controller 31 (timekeeping unit 312) is supplied with power even in the standby mode, and the time can be measured. Here, the standby mode is a state in which at least a part of the system including the display unit 14 is stopped to be in a low power consumption state, and for example, a modern standby mode (S0ix state), a sleep mode (S3 state), and a state. The hibernation mode (S4 state) and the like correspond.

The event processing unit 313 processes various events by various sensors connected to the embedded controller 31, an input unit 32, and the like. The event processing unit 313 outputs an event based on various sensors, an input unit 32, and the like to the main control unit 10. Further, the event processing unit 313 generates an event when, for example, the time measured by the time measuring unit 312 reaches a preset time, and outputs the event to the main control unit 10.

The storage unit 40 is a non-volatile storage unit realized by, for example, the HDD 23 or the BIOS memory 22. The storage unit 40 includes, for example, a usage status information storage unit 41 and an operating time information storage unit 42.

The usage status information storage unit 41 stores the system usage status data of the notebook PC 1 (own device) collected at predetermined time intervals (for example, every 15 minutes), and uses the data aggregated based on the data. Memorize status information. The usage status information is information obtained by associating the time information with the usage status of the system and totaling the four weeks of each day of the week. Here, the details of the usage status information will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of usage status information in the present embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 3, the usage status information is information that aggregates the usage status of the notebook PC1 collected every 15 minutes on each day of the week, and corresponds to the day of the week, the start time, the end time, and the usage level. It is attached. Here, the usage level indicates the certainty of unused, and is divided into five levels of "100" (unused), "75", "50", "25", and "0" (100% used). It has been aggregated. Further, the start time and the end time indicate the start time and the end time of the corresponding usage level.

For example, during the period from the start time "0:00:00" to the end time "21:44:59" when the day of the week is "Sun" (Sunday), the usage level is "100" and the aggregation result is "unused". It shows that.
In addition, the usage level is "75" during the 15-minute period from the start time "21:45:00" to the end time "22:29:59" when the day of the week is "Sun" (Sunday), for example, four times. It shows that it is used with a probability of once.

Further, FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a display example of usage status information in the present embodiment.
In FIG. 4, the usage status information as shown in FIG. 3 is visualized. The black portion indicates the usage level “0” (100% used), and the white portion indicates the usage level “100” (unused). Shown. Further, in the usage status information display example shown in FIG. 4, the vertical axis indicates the day of the week and the horizontal axis indicates the time. As shown in FIG. 4, the usage status information is aggregated for each day of the week in 15-minute units (15-minute intervals).

Returning to the description of FIG. 2, the operation time information storage unit 42 stores the operation time information of the system generated based on the usage status information. Here, the operating time information is information indicating a time zone in which the system is estimated to be operated, which is generated based on the usage status information as described above. Further, in the present embodiment, the time zone in which this system is estimated to be operated is referred to as an active time, and the operation start time in which the system is estimated to be started in the time zone (the first operation start time). The change time of 2) and the operation end time (first change time) estimated to end the operation of the system are included.
Here, a data example of operating time information will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a display example of operating time information in the present embodiment.
In the display example of the operating time information shown in FIG. 5, the vertical axis indicates the day of the week and the horizontal axis indicates the time. In the example shown in FIG. 5, for example, the active time on Monday is from 8:15 (8:15:00) to 23:30 (23:30), and in this case, the operation start time is It is 8:15, and the operation end time corresponds to 23:30.

Returning to the description of FIG. 2, the main control unit 10 includes a usage status collection unit 101, an operation time generation unit 102, a mode control unit 103, and an editing processing unit 104.
The usage status collection unit 101 collects the usage status of the system at predetermined time intervals, and aggregates the usage status information in which the time information and the usage status of the system are associated with each other. The usage status collection unit 101 collects the usage status of the system for each day of the week, for example, at intervals of 15 minutes, and aggregates the usage status information as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 described above. Further, the usage status collecting unit 101 stores the collected usage status and the aggregated usage status information in the usage status information storage unit 41.

The usage status collecting unit 101 may be realized by a usage status collecting function by an OS such as Windows 10 (Windows is a registered trademark).

The operation time generation unit 102 generates system operation time information based on the usage status information aggregated by the usage status collection unit 101. The operation time generation unit 102 generates operation time information such as an active time including an operation start time and an operation end time shown in FIG. 5, based on the usage status information stored in the usage status information storage unit 41, for example. Here, the operation end time is the first change time for changing from the modern standby mode (an example of the first low power consumption state) to the hibernation mode (an example of the second low power consumption state) in the standby mode. The operation start time corresponds to the second change time for changing from the hibernation mode to the modern standby mode in the standby mode.

Specifically, the operation time generation unit 102 generates the operation time information as shown in FIG. 5 by the following procedure.

First, the operation time generation unit 102 classifies whether or not the system is in constant use for each predetermined time interval of the usage status information, and combines adjacent used periods. , The operation end time is set as the first change time, and the operation start time is set as the second change time, and the operation time information is generated. The operation time generation unit 102 obtains usage status information every 15 minutes for (a) a period of high usage frequency (usage level is 60 or less) and (b) a period of low usage frequency (usage level is greater than 60 and less than 100). ), (C) Unused period (use level is 100).

The operation time generation unit 102 sets (a) a period of high frequency of use as a candidate for active time.
Next, the operation time generation unit 102 connects the adjacent (b) infrequently used period to the active time candidate according to (a) to make a new active time candidate.

Next, the operation time generation unit 102 adds a predetermined margin period (for example, 45 minutes before and 15 minutes after) before and after the candidate for the active time to make a candidate for a new active time. That is, the operation time generation unit 102 generates the operation end time and the operation start time including a predetermined margin period. In addition, when the operation time generation unit 102 adds a predetermined margin period, (b) when a period with low frequency of use appears, (b) the period with low frequency of use is further added to the candidates for active time. And expand the candidates for active time. In this way, the operation time generation unit 102 repeats until the predetermined margin period becomes “0”.

Next, when the active time candidates are adjacent to each other at a predetermined interval or less, the operating time generation unit 102 combines the adjacent active time candidates to obtain the final active time. Here, in the predetermined interval, the total power consumption required for the process of mutually changing the modern standby mode and the hibernation mode is reduced when the modern standby mode is changed to the hibernation mode in the interval. The interval is greater than the sum of.

That is, when the operation time generation unit 102 has a period during which the system is not constantly used ((c) an unused period) between a plurality of periods of use (candidates for active time). The total power consumption required for the process of changing between the modern standby mode and the hibernation mode is less than the total power consumption reduced when changing from the modern standby mode to the hibernation mode during the (c) unused period. If it is large, (c) the unused period is combined as the used period (candidate for active time). That is, in this case, the operating time generation unit 102 (c) replaces the unused period with a candidate for the active time and generates the operating time information (active time).

The operation time generation unit 102 generates the above-mentioned operation time information (active time) for each day of the week, and performs a process of generating the operation time information (active time), for example, once a day (predetermined time). Interval).
The operation time generation unit 102 stores the generated operation time information (active time) in the operation time information storage unit 42.

The mode control unit 103 controls various modes such as a standby mode. The mode control unit 103 controls the node PC 1 to be in the standby mode when, for example, various conditions for shifting to the standby mode (for example, the node PC 1 is not operated for a predetermined period) are satisfied. In this case, the mode control unit 103 controls the power supply circuit 33 via the power supply control unit 311 of the embedded controller 31, for example, to shift to the standby mode.

Further, in the standby mode, the mode control unit 103 has, for example, a modern standby mode (first low power consumption state) and a hibernation mode (second low) based on the operation time information generated by the operation time generation unit 102. Controls to switch between (power consumption state) and change. Here, the hibernation mode consumes less power than the modern standby mode and takes a long time to return to the normal operating state.

That is, when the time reaches the operation end time included in the operation time information, the mode control unit 103 takes a long time to return from the modern standby mode to the normal operation state, but consumes less (less) hibernation. Controls to change to the mode. Further, when the time reaches the operation start time included in the operation time information, the mode control unit 103 changes from the hibernation mode to the modern standby mode in which the power consumption is high (large) but the return time to the normal operation state is short. Control to change.

Here, the time is measured by the time measuring unit 312 of the embedded controller 31, and the mode control unit 103 detects that the time has reached the operation end time or the operation start time by the event output from the event processing unit 313. .. Further, the mode control unit 103 controls and changes the power supply circuit 33 via the power supply control unit 311 when switching between the modern standby mode and the hibernation mode. The output of the event indicating that the operation end time has been reached may be executed by the OS instead of the embedded controller 31.

The editing processing unit 104 displays the operating time information or the usage status information on the display unit 14, and edits the operating time information or the usage status information according to the operation received by the input unit 32. The editing processing unit 104 displays, for example, either or both of the usage status information as shown in FIG. 4 and the operating time information as shown in FIG. 5 on the display unit 14 so that the user can confirm it. At the same time, for example, one or both of the operation time information and the usage status information are edited so that the user can freely set the information.

In addition, the editing processing unit 104 has an export function that outputs operating time information or usage status information to an external device (for example, an external storage device or a server device), for example, as a file, or externally outputs operating time information or usage status information. It may be provided with an import function for importing from a device (for example, an external storage device or a server device).

Next, the operation of the notebook PC 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an example of the collection process of the usage status of the notebook PC 1 according to the present embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 6, the usage status collection unit 101 of the main control unit 10 first determines whether or not it is the usage status collection time (step S101). The usage status collecting unit 101 acquires, for example, the time measured by the time measuring unit 312 or the like, and determines whether or not it is the collecting time (for example, the time every 15 minutes). When the time is the collection time (step S101: YES), the usage status collection unit 101 advances the process to step S102. Further, when the time is not the collection time (step S101: NO), the usage status collection unit 101 returns the process to step S101.

In step S102, the usage status collecting unit 101 stores the usage status in association with the day of the week and the time. The usage status collecting unit 101 stores the information indicating whether or not the notebook PC 1 is in use in the usage status information storage unit 41 in association with the day of the week and the time, for example.

Next, the usage status collecting unit 101 aggregates the usage status corresponding to the same day of the week and the same time for the past four weeks (step S103). The usage status collection unit 101 uses the usage status information for the past four weeks stored in the usage status information storage unit 41, for example, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 (here, on the same day of the week and at the same time). Minutes) is generated.

Next, the usage status collection unit 101 updates the usage status aggregation result (step S104). The usage status collection unit 101 stores the usage status information for the same day of the week and the same time, which is newly generated as the aggregation result, in the usage status information storage unit 41, and stores the usage status as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. Update the information.
After the process of step S104, the usage status collecting unit 101 returns the process to step S101.

In this way, the usage status collection unit 101 aggregates the usage status for the past 4 weeks collected every 15 minutes and every day of the week to generate usage status information as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, and the relevant usage status information is generated. The usage status information is stored in the usage status information storage unit 41.

Next, the process of generating the operating time information of the notebook PC 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. 7.
FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation time information generation process of the notebook PC 1 according to the present embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 7, the operation time generation unit 102 of the main control unit 10 classifies the usage status information into three categories: high frequency of use, low frequency of use, and unused information (step S201). Based on the usage status information stored in the usage status information storage unit 41, the operation time generation unit 102 uses the usage status information every 15 minutes for (a) a period of high usage frequency (usage level is 60 or less), (b). ) Infrequently used period (use level is greater than 60 and less than 100), and (c) unused period (use level is 100).

Next, the operation time generation unit 102 sets the frequently used area as a candidate for the active time among the classified usage status information (step S202). That is, the operation time generation unit 102 sets the above-mentioned (a) frequently used period as a candidate for the active time.

Next, the operation time generation unit 102 includes an infrequently used area adjacent to the active time candidate as the active time candidate (step S203). That is, the operation time generation unit 102 connects the adjacent (b) infrequently used period to the active time candidate according to (a) to make a new active time candidate.

Next, the operation time generation unit 102 adds a margin period before and after the candidate for the active time (step S204). Here, the margin period is 45 minutes before the candidate for the active time and 15 minutes after the candidate. The operating time generation unit 102 adds a margin period before and after the active time candidate to make it a new active time candidate.

Next, the operation time generation unit 102 determines whether or not the active time candidates are adjacent to each other within a predetermined period (step S205). The predetermined period here means that the total power consumption required for the process of mutually changing the modern standby mode and the hibernation mode is reduced when the modern standby mode is changed to the hibernation mode in the time interval. It is a time interval that is greater than the total power consumption. The operation time generation unit 102 advances the process to step S206 when the active time candidates are adjacent to each other for a predetermined period or less (step S205: YES). Further, the operation time generation unit 102 advances the process to step S207 when the active time candidates are adjacent to each other for a period larger than a predetermined period (step S205: NO).

In step S206, the operating time generation unit 102 continuously sets the active time candidates as active time candidates. That is, the operating time generation unit 102 continuously activates the active time candidates so as not to shift to the hibernation mode when it is considered that shifting to the hibernation mode is disadvantageous in consideration of power consumption. Candidate for time.

Next, the operation time generation unit 102 determines the candidate for the active time as the active time, and determines the candidate for the active time.
The operating time information is stored in the operating time information storage unit 42 as the operating time information (step S207).
In step S205, when the candidates for active time are adjacent to each other for a period larger than a predetermined period, it is considered that shifting to the hibernation mode is disadvantageous in consideration of power consumption, and therefore active. Avoid combining time candidates.

The operation time generation unit 102 periodically (for example, once a day, once a week, once a month, etc.) executes the processes from step S201 to step S207 described above. It shall be.

Next, the control process of the standby mode of the notebook PC 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an example of the standby mode control process of the notebook PC 1 according to the present embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 8, the notebook PC 1 determines whether or not the time is within the active region when shifting to the standby mode (step S301). The mode control unit 103 of the main control unit 10 first refers to the operation time information (active time) stored in the operation time information storage unit 42, and the current time is within the active time area (within the active time period). ) Is determined. The mode control unit 103 advances the process to step S302 when the current time is within the active time region (within the active time period). Further, the mode control unit 103 advances the process to step S306 when the current time is not within the active time region (within the active time period).

In step S302, the mode control unit 103 sets the operation end time and shifts to the modern standby mode. That is, the mode control unit 103 sets the next operation end time of the operation time information (active time) stored in the operation time information storage unit 42 in the embedded controller 31, and also sets the power supply circuit 33 via the power supply control unit 311. To shift to modern standby mode.

Next, the embedded controller 31 determines whether or not the time measured by the time measuring unit 312 has reached the set operation end time (step S303). When the time measured by the time measuring unit 312 reaches the operation end time (step S303: YES), the event processing unit 313 of the embedded controller 31 generates an event indicating that the time has reached the operation end time. The process proceeds to step S306. Further, the embedded controller 31 advances the process to step S304 when the time measured by the time measuring unit 312 does not reach the operation end time (step S303: NO).
Instead of the event processing unit 313 of the embedded controller 31, the OS may generate an event indicating that the operation end time has been reached.

In step S304, the embedded controller 31 determines whether or not a release event has occurred. The embedded controller 31 advances the process to step S305 when, for example, a release event for releasing the standby mode such as pressing the keyboard occurs (step S304: YES). Further, the embedded controller 31 returns the process to step S303 when, for example, a release event for releasing the standby mode such as pressing the keyboard has not occurred (step S304: NO).

In step S305, the mode control unit 103 returns to the normal operating state. That is, the mode control unit 103 controls the power supply circuit 33 via the power supply control unit 311 to return to the normal operating state. After the process of step S305, the mode control unit 103 ends the control process in the standby mode.

Further, in step S306, the mode control unit 103 sets the operation start time and shifts to the hibernation mode. That is, the mode control unit 103 sets the next operation start time of the operation time information (active time) stored in the operation time information storage unit 42 in the embedded controller 31, and also sets the power supply circuit 33 via the power supply control unit 311. To shift to hibernation mode.

The mode control unit 103 executes a process of saving the information stored in the main memory 12 and various register information in the main control unit 10 to the HDD 23 when shifting to the hibernation mode to control the power supply. The power supply to the main control unit 10 and the main memory 12 is stopped via the unit 311.

Next, the embedded controller 31 determines whether or not the time measured by the time measuring unit 312 has reached the set operation start time (step S307). When the time measured by the time measuring unit 312 reaches the operation end time (step S307: YES), the event processing unit 313 of the embedded controller 31 generates an event indicating that the time has reached the operation start time. The process proceeds to step S309. Further, when the time measured by the time measuring unit 312 does not reach the operation start time (step S307: NO), the embedded controller 31 advances the process to step S308.

In step S308, the embedded controller 31 determines whether or not a release event has occurred. The embedded controller 31 advances the process to step S305 when, for example, a release event for releasing the standby mode such as pressing the keyboard occurs (step S308: YES). Further, the embedded controller 31 returns the process to step S307 when, for example, a release event for releasing the standby mode such as pressing the keyboard has not occurred (step S308: NO).

In step S305, when returning from the hibernation mode, the power supply control unit 311 of the embedded controller 31 starts supplying power to the main control unit 10 and the main memory 12. Then, the mode control unit 103 restores the information stored in the main memory 12 saved in the HDD 23, various register information in the main control unit 10, and the like, and then shifts to the normal operation state.

Further, in step S309, the mode control unit 103 releases the hibernation mode, sets the operation end time, and shifts to the modern standby. That is, first, the power supply control unit 311 of the embedded controller 31 starts supplying power to the main control unit 10 and the main memory 12. Then, the mode control unit 103 restores the information stored in the main memory 12 saved in the HDD 23, various register information in the main control unit 10, and the like. Next, the mode control unit 103 sets the next operation end time of the operation time information (active time) stored in the operation time information storage unit 42 in the embedded controller 31, and also sets the power supply circuit via the power supply control unit 311. The 33 is controlled to shift to the modern standby mode. After the process of step S309, the mode control unit 103 advances the process to step S303.

Next, a control example of the standby mode of the notebook PC according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 9 and 10.
FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a control example of the conventional standby mode. Here, for comparison, first, a conventional control example of the standby mode will be described.

In the conventional standby mode example shown in FIG. 9, the operating state is the active state (operating) until 22:00 on Friday, and the modern standby mode from 22:00 on Friday to 9:00 on Monday. It will be active (operating) after 9 o'clock on Monday. In the modern standby mode, the power consumption is lower than that in the active state. For example, when the battery capacity at 22:00 on Friday is 100%, the battery capacity at 9 o'clock on Monday when the use is resumed is 67%. The battery capacity is a relative value with the amount of electric power stored when the battery is fully charged as 100%.

Next, FIG. 10 is a diagram showing a control example of the standby mode of the notebook PC 1 according to the present embodiment.
In the example shown in FIG. 10, the scheduled usage time is set from 8:30 to 23:00 on each day of the week from Monday to Friday. However, in this example, the mode control unit 103 changes the system state from the modern standby mode to the hibernation mode at 23:00 (operation end time) on Friday, for example, based on the active time (operating time information) shown in FIG. Change to. When the system state changes to the hibernation mode, the power consumption temporarily increases and becomes almost the same as the power consumption in the active state (during operation). Immediately after that, the power consumption drops sharply because it goes into hibernation mode. Hibernation mode consumes less power than modern standby mode.

Further, the mode control unit 103 changes the system state from the hibernation mode to the modern standby mode at 8:15 (operation start time) on Monday, for example, based on the active time (operating time information) shown in FIG. do.
In the notebook PC 1 according to the present embodiment, for example, when the battery capacity at 22:00 on Friday is 100%, the battery capacity at 9:00 on Monday when the use is resumed is 92%.
As described above, in the notebook PC 1 according to the present embodiment, the power consumption can be significantly reduced as compared with the conventional standby mode shown in FIG.

As described above, the notebook PC 1 (information processing device) according to the present embodiment includes a usage status collection unit 101, an operation time generation unit 102, and a mode control unit 103. The usage status collection unit 101 collects the usage status of the system owned by the own device at predetermined time intervals, and aggregates the usage status information in which the time information and the system usage status are associated with each other. The operation time generation unit 102 generates system operation time information based on the usage status information aggregated by the usage status collection unit 101. In the standby mode, the mode control unit 103 consumes less power than the modern standby mode (first low power consumption state) and the modern standby mode based on the operation time information generated by the operation time generation unit 102, and is in a normal operation state. The hibernation mode (second low power consumption state), which has a long return time to, is switched between and changed. Here, the standby mode is a mode in which at least a part of the system including the display unit 14 is stopped from the normal operating state in which the system is operating to reduce the power consumption.

As a result, the notebook PC 1 according to the present embodiment has a modern standby mode (first low power consumption state) and a hibernation mode (second low power consumption state) based on the operating time information according to the usage status of the user. Since the above and the like are switched to each other and changed, the power consumption can be appropriately reduced according to the usage situation of the user.
For example, as shown in FIGS. 9 and 10 described above, the notebook PC 1 according to the present embodiment can appropriately reduce the power consumption in the standby mode as compared with the conventional control.

Further, the notebook PC 1 according to the present embodiment includes a time measuring unit 312 for measuring the time. The operating time information includes a first change time for changing from a first low power consumption state (for example, modern standby mode) to a second low power consumption state (for example, hibernation mode), and a second low power consumption. It includes a second change time to change from a state (eg, hibernation mode) to a first low power consumption state (eg, modern standby mode). When the time measured by the time measuring unit 312 becomes the first change time, the mode control unit 103 changes from the first low power consumption state to the second low power consumption state, and the time measuring unit 312 clocks. When the time is changed to the second change time, the second low power consumption state is changed to the first low power consumption state.

As a result, the notebook PC 1 according to the present embodiment sets the first low power consumption state (for example, modern standby mode) and the second low power consumption state (for example, hibernation mode) according to the time measured by the time measuring unit 312. Can be switched appropriately.

Further, in the present embodiment, the operation time generation unit 102 classifies whether or not the system is in a steadily used period for each predetermined time interval of the usage status information, and is used adjacent to the system. By combining the periods, the operation time information is generated with the operation end time as the first change time and the operation start time as the second change time. For example, the operation time generation unit 102 obtains usage status information every 15 minutes by (a) a period of high usage frequency (usage level is 60 or less) and (b) a period of low usage frequency (usage level is greater than 60). It is classified into three stages: (less than 100) and (c) unused period (use level is 100). Then, the operation time generation unit 102 sets (a) a period of high frequency of use as a candidate for active time, and further connects (b) a period of low frequency of use adjacent to the candidate of active time according to (a). , Candidate for new active time.

As a result, the notebook PC 1 according to the present embodiment can appropriately generate operating time information according to the usage status of the user by a simple method.

Further, in the present embodiment, the operation time generation unit 102 generates the operation end time and the operation start time including a predetermined margin period. The operation time generation unit 102 adds, for example, a 45-minute margin period before the operation start time and a 15-minute margin period after the operation end time.

As a result, the notebook PC 1 according to the present embodiment becomes a situation in which it takes time for the user to start using the notebook PC 1 and return to the operating state during the second low power consumption state (for example, hibernation mode). The possibility can be reduced. That is, the notebook PC 1 according to the present embodiment can more appropriately generate operation time information according to the usage status of the user by including a predetermined margin period in the operation end time and the operation start time.

Since the number of aggregates (data points) is small, the above-mentioned margin period may be used to absorb variations in use. For example, when aggregating data longer than one month, the margin period may be further shortened or set to zero, and the margin period may be changed according to the number of aggregates (data points).

Further, in the present embodiment, the operation time generation unit 102 has a first low power consumption state and a second low power consumption state when there is a period during which the system is not constantly used among a plurality of periods of use. The total power consumption required for the process of reciprocally changing from the low power consumption state of is reduced when the first low power consumption state is changed to the second low power consumption state during the period when the system is not in use. If it is larger than the total power consumption, combine the unused period as the used period. That is, in this case, the operation time generation unit 102 replaces the unused period with the used period to generate the operation time information.
As a result, the notebook PC 1 according to the present embodiment can further appropriately reduce the power consumption in the standby mode according to the usage situation of the user.

Further, the notebook PC 1 according to the present embodiment includes a main control unit 10 that executes the main processing of the system, and an embedded controller 31 (sub control unit) that can operate in the standby mode and is different from the main control unit 10. .. The embedded controller 31 includes a time measuring unit 312.
As a result, the notebook PC 1 according to the present embodiment can measure the time even when the main control unit 10 is stopped, and is in the first low power consumption state (for example, modern standby mode). It is possible to appropriately switch between the second low power consumption state (for example, hibernation mode) according to the time.

Further, in the present embodiment, the usage status collecting unit 101 aggregates usage status information at predetermined time intervals (for example, 15-minute intervals) for each day of the week. The operation time generation unit 102 generates operation time information for each day of the week.
Thereby, the notebook PC 1 according to the present embodiment can appropriately switch between the day of the week and the second low power consumption state (for example, hibernation mode) at a predetermined time interval (for example, every 15 minutes). Therefore, the standby mode can be controlled more finely according to the usage status of the user.

Further, the notebook PC 1 according to the present embodiment displays the operating time information or the usage status information on the display unit 14, and edits the operating time information or the usage status information according to the operation received by the input unit 32. A unit 104 is provided.
As a result, the notebook PC 1 according to the present embodiment can freely set the operating time information according to the convenience of the user, so that the convenience can be improved.

Further, in the present embodiment, the editing processing unit 104 has an export function for outputting operating time information or usage status information to an external device (for example, an external storage device, a server device, etc.), for example, as a file, and operating time information or It may be provided with an import function for fetching usage status information from an external device (for example, an external storage device or a server device).
As a result, the notebook PC 1 according to the present embodiment can take over the usage status information and the operating time information to another PC, and even the other PC can be used like the user's own PC.

Further, in the present embodiment, the first low power consumption state is the modern standby mode capable of quickly returning to the normal operation state in the standby mode, and the second low power consumption state is the hibernation mode.
As a result, the notebook PC 1 according to the present embodiment can appropriately reduce the power consumption by switching between the modern standby mode and the hibernation mode according to the usage situation of the user.

Further, the control method according to the present embodiment includes a usage status collection step, an operation time generation step, and a mode control step. In the usage status collection step, the usage status collection unit 101 collects the usage status of the system owned by the own device at predetermined time intervals, and aggregates the usage status information in which the time information and the system usage status are associated with each other. In the operation time generation step, the operation time generation unit 102 generates system operation time information based on the usage status information aggregated by the usage status collection step. In the mode control step, the mode control unit 103 performs a modern standby mode (first low power consumption state) and a hibernation mode (second) based on the operation time information generated by the operation time generation step in the standby mode. (Low power consumption state) and change by switching between each other.
As a result, the control method according to the present embodiment has the same effect as that of the notebook PC 1 described above, and the power consumption can be appropriately reduced according to the usage situation of the user.

The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and can be modified without departing from the spirit of the present invention.
For example, in the above embodiment, an example of using the system operating time information as information for switching the low power consumption state in the standby mode has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and is used for other processing. You may try to do it. That is, the notebook PC 1 (information processing apparatus) includes the above-mentioned usage status collecting unit 101 and the operating time generation unit 102, so that the user's usage status can be used for various purposes.

Further, the notebook PC 1 (information processing device) is further provided with the above-mentioned editing processing unit 104, so that the usage status of the user can be visualized and the operating time information can be freely provided according to the convenience of the user. Since it can be set, convenience can be improved.

Further, in the above embodiment, the example in which the information processing device is the notebook PC 1 has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and other information processing devices such as a tablet terminal device and a desktop PC may be used. good. Further, the information processing device may be an electronic device such as a television.

Further, in the above embodiment, the example in which the first low power consumption state is the modern standby mode and the second low power consumption state is the hibernation mode has been described, but the present invention is not limited thereto. , Other low power consumption states may be used. For example, the first low power consumption state may be the modern standby mode, the second low power consumption state may be the sleep mode (S3 state), and the first low power consumption state may be the sleep mode. (S3 state), and the second low power consumption state may be the hibernation mode.

Further, in the above embodiment, the usage status collecting unit 101 has described an example of collecting the usage status every day of the week and every 15 minutes, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the usage status collecting unit 101 is used at other time intervals. You may want to collect the situation.
Further, in the above embodiment, the usage status collecting unit 101 has described an example in which the usage status for four weeks is totaled for each day of the week, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the totaling period is applied to another period. You may.

Further, in the above embodiment, the usage status collecting unit 101 indicates the usage level as the certainty of unused, and indicates "100" (unused), "75", "50", "25", and "0". Although the example of totaling to 5 levels of "(100% use) has been described, the present invention is not limited to this, and other use level indicators may be applied.

Further, in the above embodiment, the operation time generation unit 102 has described an example of classifying the usage status information into three stages, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the operation time generation unit 102 classifies the usage status information into other stages such as two stages. You may do so. Further, the predetermined margin period is not limited to the value of the above embodiment, and may be another value.

Further, in the above embodiment, the mode control unit 103 has described an example in which the mode control unit 103 immediately shifts to the hibernation mode when the current time is not within the active time region (within the active time period), but the present invention is limited to this. It is not something that is done. The mode control unit 103 may set a short hibernation timeout (for example, 60 minutes) for the outside of the active time period for the OS, and shift to the hibernation mode after the hibernation timeout.

Each configuration included in the notebook PC 1 described above has a computer system inside. Then, a program for realizing the functions of each configuration included in the notebook PC 1 described above is recorded on a computer-readable recording medium, and the program recorded on the recording medium is read into a computer system and executed. The processing in each configuration provided in the notebook PC 1 may be performed. Here, "loading and executing a program recorded on a recording medium into a computer system" includes installing the program in the computer system. The term "computer system" as used herein includes hardware such as an OS and peripheral devices.
Further, the "computer system" may include a plurality of computer devices connected via a network including a communication line such as the Internet, WAN, LAN, and a dedicated line. Further, the "computer-readable recording medium" refers to a portable medium such as a flexible disk, a magneto-optical disk, a ROM, or a CD-ROM, or a storage device such as a hard disk built in a computer system. As described above, the recording medium in which the program is stored may be a non-transient recording medium such as a CD-ROM.

The recording medium also includes an internal or external recording medium that can be accessed from the distribution server to distribute the program. It should be noted that the program may be divided into a plurality of parts, downloaded at different timings, and then combined with each configuration provided in the notebook PC 1, or the distribution server for distributing each of the divided programs may be different. Furthermore, a "computer-readable recording medium" is a volatile memory (RAM) inside a computer system that serves as a server or client when a program is transmitted via a network, and holds the program for a certain period of time. It shall also include things. Further, the above program may be for realizing a part of the above-mentioned functions. Further, it may be a so-called difference file (difference program) that can realize the above-mentioned function in combination with a program already recorded in the computer system.

Further, a part or all of the above-mentioned functions may be realized as an integrated circuit such as an LSI (Large Scale Integration). Each of the above-mentioned functions may be made into a processor individually, or a part or all of them may be integrated into a processor. Further, the method of making an integrated circuit is not limited to LSI, and may be realized by a dedicated circuit or a general-purpose processor. Further, when an integrated circuit technology that replaces an LSI appears due to advances in semiconductor technology, an integrated circuit based on this technology may be used.

1 Notebook PC
10 Main control unit 11 CPU
12 Main memory 13 Video subsystem 14 Display 21 Chipset 22 BIOS memory 23 HDD
24 Audio system 25 WLAN card 26 USB connector 27 Imaging unit 31 Embedded controller (EC)
32 Input unit 33 Power supply circuit 40 Storage unit 41 Usage status information storage unit 42 Operation time information storage unit 101 Usage status collection unit 102 Operation time generation unit 103 Mode control unit 104 Editing processing unit 311 Power supply control unit 312 Timekeeping unit 313 Event processing unit

Claims (11)

A usage status collection unit that collects the usage status of the system owned by the own device at predetermined time intervals and aggregates the usage status information that associates the time information with the usage status of the system.
An operating time generation unit that generates operating time information of the system based on the usage information collected by the usage status collecting unit.
Based on the operating time information generated by the operating time generator in the standby mode in which at least a part of the system including the display unit is stopped to reduce the power consumption from the normal operating state in which the system is operating. , Mode control for switching between the first low power consumption state and the second low power consumption state in which the power consumption is lower than that of the first low power consumption state and the return time to the normal operation state is long. An information processing device equipped with a unit. Equipped with a timekeeping section that measures the time
The operating time information includes a first change time for changing from the first low power consumption state to the second low power consumption state, and the first low power consumption from the second low power consumption state. Includes a second change time to change to state,
The mode control unit
When the time measured by the time measuring unit becomes the first change time, the first low power consumption state is changed to the second low power consumption state.
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the time becomes the second change time, the second low power consumption state is changed to the first low power consumption state. The operation time generation unit classifies whether or not the system is in constant use for each predetermined time interval of the usage status information, and combines the adjacent usage periods. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the operation end time is set as the first change time and the operation start time is set as the second change time to generate the operation time information. The information processing device according to claim 3, wherein the operation time generation unit generates the operation end time and the operation start time including a predetermined margin period. The operating time generator has the first low power consumption state and the second low power consumption when there is a period during which the system is not constantly used among the plurality of used periods. The total power consumption required for the process of reciprocally changing the state is reduced when the first low power consumption state is changed to the second low power consumption state during the unused period. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3 or 4, wherein when the total power consumption is larger than the total power consumption, the unused period is replaced with the used period to generate the operating time information. A main control unit that executes the main processing of the system,
It is capable of operating in the standby mode and is provided with a sub control unit different from the main control unit.
The information processing device according to any one of claims 2 to 5, wherein the sub-control unit includes the timekeeping unit. The usage status collection unit aggregates the usage status information for each day of the week at the predetermined time interval.
The information processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the operation time generation unit generates the operation time information for each day of the week. From claim 1, the operation time information or the usage status information is displayed on the display unit, and the editing processing unit for editing the operation time information or the usage status information according to the operation received by the input unit is provided. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 7. The first low power consumption state is a modern standby mode capable of quickly returning to the normal operating state in the standby mode.
The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the second low power consumption state is a hibernation mode. A usage status collection unit that collects the usage status of the system owned by the own device at predetermined time intervals and aggregates the usage status information that associates the time information with the usage status of the system.
An operating time generation unit that generates operating time information of the system based on the usage information collected by the usage status collecting unit.
An information processing device including an editing processing unit that displays the operating time information or the usage status information on the display unit and edits the operating time information or the usage status information according to an operation received by the input unit. A usage status collection step in which the usage status collection unit collects the usage status of the system owned by the own device at predetermined time intervals and aggregates the usage status information in which the time information and the usage status of the system are associated with each other.
An operating time generation step in which the operating time generation unit generates operating time information of the system based on the usage information aggregated by the usage status collecting step.
The mode control unit is generated by the operation time generation step in the standby mode in which at least a part of the system including the display unit is stopped from the normal operating state in which the system is operating to bring the system into a low power consumption state. Based on the operating time information, the first low power consumption state and the second low power consumption state, which consumes less power than the first low power consumption state and has a long return time to the normal operating state, are mutually exchanged. A control method that includes a mode control step to switch to and change.

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