JP2654400B2 - Information processing device - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, and more particularly, to an information processing apparatus in which a plurality of terminal devices are connected to a host device and communication is sequentially performed between the host device and each terminal device. Things.

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a data processing system including a plurality of terminal devices such as a handy terminal and a host computer such as a personal computer has been known.

In this type of device, a host device and a terminal are connected directly or via a communication line, and data is input / output between the host device and the terminal device.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] In the system as described above, information relating to daily business activities is collected by a host computer, or data required for each terminal is input to a single host computer. In some cases, a plurality of terminal devices are connected, and data transmission and reception are sequentially performed for each terminal.

However, in the past, most terminal devices were carried by a battery so that sales personnel could carry them and use them outdoors, but conventional terminal devices cannot receive signals unless the power is turned on. could not.

For this reason, at the time of the above information input / output, all the terminals are turned on and connected to the host, but usually only one terminal can communicate at a time, and the terminal which is not performing communication at a time. Battery is wasted.
In addition, when a large number of terminals are connected, it takes a considerable amount of time to complete transmission and reception with the last terminal, so it is possible that the terminal with the last communication order will not be able to complete transmission and reception due to battery exhaustion There was sex.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is an object of the present invention to solve the above problems, to prevent unnecessary power consumption of a terminal device, and to reliably perform data input / output with a host device.

[Means for Solving the Problems] In order to solve the above problems, according to the present invention, in an information processing apparatus connected to a host device and communicating with the host device, a predetermined signal supplied from the host device is provided. Power-on means for turning on the power according to the following; communication means for performing communication with the host device after power-on by the power-on means; and power-on after the communication with the host device by the communication means is completed. A configuration in which a power shutoff means for shutting off is provided is adopted.

[Operation] According to the configuration described above, in the information processing device connected to the host device and communicating with the host device, the power is turned on in accordance with an instruction from the host device. The power can be cut off by the power cut-off means without the instruction of (1).

EXAMPLES Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail based on examples shown in the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an example of an information processing system using the present invention.
Host device 1 such as a personal corn pewter system
And a plurality of terminal devices 2 to 5. The terminal devices 2 to 5 are connected to the host device 1 via a communication connector 6.

The host device 1 sequentially inputs and outputs data to and from the terminal devices 2 to 5 via a known communication port, for example, an RS232C port. Here, the host device 1 is initially the terminal device 2
When the communication with the terminal device 2 is completed, the communication with the terminal device 3 is performed.
And communicate in sequence.

In the case of such communication, conventionally, the power supplies of the terminal devices 2 to 5 are all turned on in preparation for the start of communication. However, in the present embodiment, the terminal devices 2 to 5 are one by one from the host device 1 side.
, And only the power of the terminal that performs communication is turned on. That is, when the host device 1 is communicating with the terminal device 2, the power of the terminal devices 3, 4, and 5 is turned off, and when the communication with the terminal device 3 is next performed, the power of the terminal device 3 is turned on.
The power of the terminal devices 2, 4, and 5 is cut off.

 FIG. 2 shows the structure of the terminal devices 2 to 5.

In FIG. 2, reference numeral 7 denotes a communication port of the communication connector 6, which comprises the aforementioned RS232C port and the like. One of the receiving terminals of the communication port 7 is connected to the control unit 10 of the terminal device via the insulating device 8.

The insulating device 8 is used to insulate the communication port 7 from the internal backup voltage, and includes, for example, a photocoupler.

The control unit 10 includes a microprocessor, an input / output port, and the like, and performs communication processing and information processing described below according to a control program (described later) stored in the ROM 10a.

To the control unit 10, components of a terminal device (not shown), for example, a display, a memory, a printer, and the like are connected via an input / output port, and the control unit 10 has a low-level active signal input to the input port 12. When the power supply unit 14 is turned on, power supply to the entire apparatus is started.

 Battery B is connected to power supply unit 14 as a power supply.

When an active signal is input from the communication port 7, the insulating device 8 supplies a low-level active signal to the control unit 10. This signal is output from the diode D2
Is connected to the input port 12 via.

The output signal of the power switch 9 is input to the input port 12 via the diode D1. The power switch 9 is operated by an operator of the terminal device, and outputs a low-level active signal when the power is turned on. This signal is input to the input port 12 via the cathode-pointing diode D1.

The control unit 10, the insulating device 8, the power supply, and the switch 9 always receive power supply from the backup power supply 11 regardless of the state of the main power supply.

As described above, regardless of which of the insulating device 8 and the power switch 9 outputs a low-level active signal, this signal is transmitted to the control unit 10 via one of the diodes D1 and D2.
The control unit 10 turns on the power of the entire terminal device.

Further, the control unit 10 has an input port 13, to which an output of the insulating device 8 is input via a diode D3. The input port 13 is connected with the cathode facing the insulating device 8 side.

FIG. 3 shows a control program of the control unit 10 of each of the terminal devices 2 to 5. The procedure of FIG. 3 is stored in the ROM 10a.

3 is started when power-on is instructed by a manual command of the host device 1 or an operator, that is, when a low-level active signal is input from the insulating device 8 or the power switch 9.

When a low-level active signal is input from the insulating device 8 or the power switch 9, a low level is input to the input port 12 from the diodes D1 and D2 as described above,
Numeral 10 supplies the voltage of the battery B to each unit of the device via the power supply unit 14.

In step S15, it is determined whether power-on has been commanded from the insulating device 8. This determination is made by detecting whether or not the output level of the diode 13 is low, that is, whether or not the insulating device 8 outputs a low-level power-on signal.

When step S15 is affirmed, the process proceeds to step S16, and when denied, the process proceeds to step S20.

In step S20, since the power is manually turned on by the power switch 9, known information processing is performed. In this process, the power of the apparatus is cut off by turning off the power of the power switch 9.

On the other hand, in step S16, a communication port required for data communication with the host device 1 is set, for example, a communication speed is determined, and data transmission and reception with the host device 1 are performed in step S17 according to a known procedure.

When the communication ends, a predetermined communication end process is performed in step S18, and in step S19, the control unit 10 performs a soft power-off, that is, a process of stopping power supply to each unit of the device via the power supply unit 14.

According to the above control, the terminal device 2
By inputting a power-on signal to the communication port 7 of the terminal device from which communication is to be performed, the power of the terminal devices 2 to 5 can be turned on only during the communication period. When the communication is completed, the terminal devices 2 to 5 automatically shut off their own power. Therefore, only during the period when communication is necessary,
5 can be turned on automatically, the battery of the terminal device is not wasted unnecessarily unlike the conventional one, and the terminal device in the later communication order cannot operate while communicating with a large number of terminals. It does not become.

Note that the power-on signal input to the terminal device is RS
CTS (clear to send) signal at 232C port can be used.

Further, needless to say, even if the terminal device is not driven by a battery, wasteful power consumption can be prevented by the same control.

[Effects of the Invention] As is clear from the above, according to the present invention, in an information processing apparatus connected to a host device and communicating with the host device, power is turned on according to an instruction from the host device, and after power is turned on, When the communication is completed, the power is cut off by the power cut-off means without any instruction from the host device, so that unnecessary power consumption can be prevented, communication with the host device can be surely performed, and power cut-off. Is not required to be received from the host device, and the communication efficiency can be improved.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an explanatory diagram showing the structure of an information processing apparatus employing the present invention, FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the structure of the terminal device of FIG. 1, and FIG. 3 shows a control procedure of the terminal device. It is a flowchart figure. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Host device, 2 ... Terminal device 6 ... Communication connector 7 ... Communication port, 8 ... Isolation device 9 ... Power switch, 10 ... Control part 12, 13 ... Input port 14 ... Power supply Part B: Battery

Claims (1)

(57) [Claims] 1. An information processing device connected to a host device and communicating with the host device, comprising: a power supply unit for turning on power according to a predetermined signal supplied from the host device; After the input, the communication means for performing communication with the host device, After the communication with the host device by the communication means,
An information processing apparatus, comprising: a power cutoff unit that cuts off power.