JP3542409B2 - Information processing equipment - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
[Industrial applications]
The present invention relates to an information processing device operable with a battery.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Conventionally, an information processing device that has a controller that monitors battery capacity, can operate on a battery, and can operate on a battery, and has a suspend mode detects when the remaining battery capacity is low during battery operation, and stores the data on a disk or the like. It was necessary to save and perform processing to safely shut off the system. The suspend mode is a low power consumption mode of the system. The system retains the setting of the last full operation mode, and returns (resumes) to a full operation mode environment immediately before entering the suspend mode by a certain trigger signal (hereinafter referred to as a resume event). Mode. Also, if the battery level is insufficient during suspend mode and the data cannot be retained, the user is notified by sound, etc., to prompt the user to perform the process, or the system settings are saved to a secure storage device such as a disk. It is necessary to automatically evacuate and shut down the system. That is, a state in which the remaining battery capacity is insufficient during the suspend can be regarded as one of the resume events. Therefore, in order to collectively manage trigger factors that need to cause a mode transition from the suspend mode, it is convenient to provide the battery capacity monitoring controller with a function of detecting a resume event. For these reasons, there is an example of an information processing apparatus configured to provide the battery capacity monitoring controller with a function of detecting a resume event.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
In an information processing device that has a controller that monitors the battery capacity and can operate on a battery and has a suspend mode, the battery capacity monitoring controller operates in the sleep mode for as long as possible and transitions to the normal operation mode when necessary This configuration is effective when it is desired to reduce the power consumed by the battery capacity monitoring controller itself. This is particularly effective in a suspend mode for reducing the power consumption of the entire system, when it is desired to extend the suspend mode duration. However, when the battery remaining amount monitoring controller wants to detect more resume events than the number of interrupt detection signals that can be used for the sleep mode operation, if the sleep time is too long, there is a disadvantage that the resume event generated during the sleep time cannot be detected. This makes it impossible to detect a resume event that requires a certain degree of real-time performance, for example, an event caused by the user, such as a key input during suspension or a mouse click. Since the event cannot be detected when the monitoring controller is in the sleep mode, the resume request may not be accepted, or the controller may wait until the resume event is detected, which is very inconvenient. For example, in order to detect a resume event from the user to some extent in real time, it is necessary to release the battery level monitoring controller from sleep about eight times per second (8 Hz cycle). If this can be extended to about once every 100 seconds, power consumption cannot be reduced, but even if the user inputs a resume event, it will be almost missed and will not be detected.
[0004]
Note that the sleep mode of the battery remaining amount monitoring controller is a mode in which the software in the controller stops operating, a limited interrupt signal can be detected, and the interrupt signal returns to the full operation mode. Yes, this is a mode in which the power consumption of the controller itself is smaller than in the full operation mode.
[0005]
The full operation mode of the battery level monitoring controller means that the software built in the controller operates, all signal terminals of the controller can be used, and the controller enters sleep mode by a signal from external hardware or software setting. It refers to an operation mode that can make a transition.
[0006]
In the above-described conventional example, since the battery level monitoring controller cannot detect a resume event during sleep, the interval between occurrences of an interrupt signal for canceling sleep is increased to suppress power consumption of the controller, and the controller enters the normal operation mode. It can be seen that if the total time is reduced, the time during which the resume event cannot be detected becomes longer, and the user has a dilemma that it becomes inconvenient.
[0007]
An object of a first invention according to the present application is to make a controller having a sleep mode monitor a battery capacity, and in an information processing apparatus operable on a battery, the consumption of the battery capacity monitoring controller in a suspend mode which is a power saving mode of the system. An object of the present invention is to provide a user with an information system that saves power and has a long duration even in a suspend mode.
[0008]
An object of a second invention according to the present application is to provide a resume event that requires a certain degree of real-time performance when the system is resumed from a suspend mode to a normal operation mode, such as a user input such as a key input during a suspend or a mouse click. An object of the present invention is to provide an information processing apparatus which detects an event, responds at any time without waiting the user when the user wants to resume, and transitions to the full operation mode.
[0009]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
To solve the above object, the information processing apparatus of the present invention is driven by a battery, an information processing apparatus having a suspend mode, and the battery capacity monitoring controller has a sleep mode, monitors the capacity of the battery, Instruction means for instructing the operation mode of the battery capacity monitoring controller to transition from a sleep mode to a normal mode; and holding means for holding a signal requesting a return of the information processing apparatus from a suspend mode to a normal operation mode. A control unit for changing an operation mode of the information processing apparatus from a suspend mode to a normal operation mode, wherein when the operation mode of the battery capacity monitoring controller changes from a sleep mode to a normal mode, the holding unit If the signal requesting the return is held at the To transition from the over-de to the normal operation mode, after the battery capacity monitoring controller instructs to the control unit, the battery capacity monitoring controller is characterized by entering into sleep mode.
[0013]
【Example】
(Example 1)
FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of Embodiment 1 of the present invention.
[0014]
E11 is a central processing unit (CPU) of the information processing device.
[0015]
E12 is a memory for storing various data.
[0016]
E13 is a memory controller that connects the CPU E11, the memory E12, and peripheral devices.
[0017]
E14 is a peripheral device A connected to the memory controller E13, and is a device that does not turn off even when the system is suspended.
[0018]
E15 is a peripheral device B connected to the memory controller E13, and is a device whose power is turned off while the system is suspended.
[0019]
E16 is a system mode control unit that controls the system to transition between the normal operation mode and the suspend mode. The power is supplied to the system mode control unit E16 even during the suspension, and the system mode control unit E16 performs a resume process and the like.
[0020]
E17 is a power supply unit that supplies power to all devices in the system in the normal operation mode and supplies power to necessary devices in the suspend mode according to a control signal from the system mode control unit E16. In this case, power is not supplied to the peripheral device BE15 during the suspend mode. In addition, the system mode control unit E16 outputs a Suspend_State signal to the device E14 whose power is not turned off during the suspend mode to notify the operation mode state of the system. Furthermore, the system mode control unit has an internal counter, and when the value set in the counter is counted up, generates a sleep release interrupt signal to the battery remaining amount monitoring controller, and causes the controller to switch from the sleep mode to the normal mode. Return to the operation mode and detect the full capacity of the battery. The device that has received the Suspend_State signal operates as previously set, and shifts to a power saving operation during the suspend mode.
[0021]
E18 is a battery remaining amount monitoring controller that monitors the output voltage of the battery E19 and monitors the remaining capacity of the battery. When the remaining capacity affects the system operation, a low battery notification signal is output to the system for notification. In addition, the battery remaining amount monitoring controller E18 generates an interrupt in response to a sleep release interrupt signal from the system mode control unit, transitions from the sleep mode to the normal operation mode, and performs various processes. This processing is executed according to a program built in the controller itself. In this example, six types of resume event signals that trigger the system to resume from the suspend mode are connected to the battery remaining amount monitoring controller. The PWR-ON signal is a signal indicating that the power on switch of the system is turned on, the KEY_IN signal is a signal indicating that a key is input from the keyboard, the MOUSE_IN signal is a signal indicating that a mouse input is performed, Event-A , Event-B, and Event-C signals indicate other resume event signals. As described above, many controllers having a sleep mode limit the number of input signal terminals and the number of interrupt input terminals that can be used during the sleep mode in order to suppress the power consumption of the controller itself during the sleep mode. In this example, there is only one interrupt input terminal that is valid during the sleep mode, and a controller that cannot allocate all other resume event signals to the interrupt terminal is used.
[0022]
According to the present invention, when a resume event trigger signal is generated, a trigger signal holding device E20 for latching and holding the resume event trigger signal is newly added. It goes without saying that the trigger signal holding device E20 holds the resume event signal without turning off the power even during the suspension. When the battery remaining amount monitoring controller E18 is released from the sleep mode and finishes reading each terminal, a clear signal is generated to clear the state held by the trigger signal holding device E20.
[0023]
Further, the trigger signal holding device E20 has a configuration that consumes almost no power in a static state other than the operation of latching and clearing signals, such as a flip-flop circuit formed by a CMOS process. Is effective to increase the effect of reducing power consumption.
[0024]
FIG. 2 shows a flowchart for explaining the operation of this embodiment. By adding the resume event trigger signal holding device E20, in this embodiment, if each terminal of the controller to which the resume event signal is connected is read in S14, the resume event has occurred because the trigger signal is held. Can be detected, and a request to generate a resume signal can be made to the system in S16.
[0025]
FIG. 2 shows the contents of the interrupt processing that has occurred when the battery remaining amount monitoring controller E18 in FIG. 1 receives a sleep release interrupt signal from the system mode control unit E16.
[0026]
S10 is the start of interrupt processing.
[0027]
S11 is a battery remaining amount detection process. In this example, the remaining battery capacity is calculated from the voltage value output by the battery. However, when the battery has a function of communicating its own capacity, the remaining capacity may be obtained by communication.
[0028]
S12 determines whether the remaining battery charge is sufficient for the operation of the system. If the value does not satisfy the preset value, the process proceeds to S19. Otherwise, proceed to S13.
[0029]
S13 determines whether the system is currently suspended. The determination can be made based on the state of the Suspend_State signal. If the system is suspended, the process proceeds to step S14. If the system is not suspended, it is not necessary to check for a resume event.
[0030]
In step S14, the terminals to which the resume event signal is connected are sequentially read from the trigger signal holding device E20. Thus, the resume event that has occurred while the controller E18 is in the sleep state can be detected.
[0031]
In step S15, whether or not a resume event has occurred is determined from the values of the terminals read in step S14. If the resume event has not occurred, the process proceeds to S17. If a resume event has occurred, the process proceeds to S16.
[0032]
In S16, in a process when it is detected that a resume event has occurred, a resume request signal is output to the system mode control unit E16.
[0033]
In step S17, a sleep mode is entered in order to reduce the power consumption of the battery remaining amount monitoring controller. Here, it is assumed that the controller can transition to the sleep mode by its own instruction (software).
[0034]
In S19, as a result of detecting the remaining battery level in S12, it is determined that the remaining battery level is insufficient. Therefore, a Low battery signal is output to the system and notified. The system receiving this signal starts a preset process.
[0035]
S18 is the end of this interrupt processing.
[0036]
(Example 2)
FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of Embodiment 2 of the present invention.
[0037]
In FIG. 3, E31 is a central processing unit (CPU) of the information processing apparatus.
[0038]
E32 is a memory for storing various data.
[0039]
E33 is a memory controller that connects the CPU E31, the memory E32, and peripheral devices.
[0040]
E34 is a peripheral device A connected to the memory controller E33, and is a device that does not turn off even when the system is suspended.
[0041]
E35 is a peripheral device B connected to the memory controller E33, and is a device whose power is turned off while the system is suspended.
[0042]
E36 is a system mode control unit that controls the system to transition between the normal operation mode and the suspend mode. The power is supplied to the system mode control unit E36 even during the suspension, and the system mode control unit E36 performs a resume process and the like.
[0043]
E37 is a power supply unit that supplies power to all devices in the system in the normal operation mode and supplies power to necessary devices in the suspend mode according to a control signal from the system mode control unit E36. In this case, power is not supplied to the peripheral device BE35 during the suspend mode. Further, the system mode control unit E36 outputs a Suspend_State signal to the device E34 whose power is not turned off during the suspend mode to notify the operation mode state of the system. Furthermore, the system mode control unit has an internal counter, and when the value set in the counter is counted up, generates a sleep release interrupt signal to the battery remaining amount monitoring controller, and causes the controller to switch from the sleep mode to the normal mode. Return to the operation mode and detect the full capacity of the battery. The device that has received the Suspend_State signal operates as previously set, and shifts to a power saving operation during the suspend mode.
[0044]
E38 is a battery remaining amount monitoring controller that monitors the output voltage of the battery E39 and monitors the remaining capacity of the battery. When the remaining capacity affects the system operation, a low battery notification signal is output to the system for notification. In addition, the battery remaining amount monitoring controller E38 generates an interrupt in response to a sleep release interrupt signal from the system mode control unit E36, transitions from the sleep mode to the normal operation mode, and performs various processes. This processing is executed according to a program built in the controller itself. In this example, six types of resume event signals that trigger the system to resume from the suspend mode are connected to the battery remaining amount monitoring controller. The PWR-ON signal is a signal indicating that the power on switch of the system is turned on, the KEY_IN signal is a signal indicating that a key is input from the keyboard, the MOUSE_IN signal is a signal indicating that a mouse input is performed, Event-A , Event-B, and Event-C signals indicate other resume event signals. As described above, many controllers having a sleep mode limit the number of input signal terminals and the number of interrupt input terminals that can be used during the sleep mode in order to suppress the power consumption of the controller itself during the sleep mode. In this example, there is only one interrupt input terminal that is valid during the sleep mode, and a controller that cannot allocate all other resume event signals to the interrupt terminal is used.
[0045]
E38 is a battery remaining amount monitoring controller, which is based on a controller having one or more interrupt inputs that can be used even in the sleep mode in addition to the sleep release interrupt. However, when the number of interrupts that can be used during the sleep mode is smaller than the number of all resume events, the solution of this embodiment is required. In the case of the present embodiment, the Suspend_State signal is not connected because the battery remaining amount monitoring controller does not need to monitor the suspend state of the system.
[0046]
E40 is a resume event trigger signal integrating means, which takes the OR of each resume event signal and connects its output signal to another interrupt input terminal of the battery remaining amount monitoring controller. In this embodiment, the resume event signal and the interrupt input signal of the battery remaining amount monitoring controller have a negative logic, and are realized by NOR. Also, it goes without saying that the power of the resume event trigger signal integrating means is not turned off during the suspend mode.
[0047]
In order to increase the effect of reducing power consumption, the resume event trigger signal integration means may be configured to consume little power when the input signal is stable, such as a CMOS process circuit. Is valid.
[0048]
FIG. 4 shows a flowchart for explaining the operation of this embodiment.
[0049]
FIG. 4 shows that the remaining battery level monitoring controller E38 in FIG. 3 causes the system mode control unit E36 to receive a sleep release interrupt signal, or the resume event trigger signal integration means E40 receives a resume event interrupt signal, and an interrupt process occurs. This shows the contents of the interrupt processing when the processing is performed.
[0050]
S30 is the start of interrupt processing.
[0051]
S31 detects which of the two interrupts has occurred. If it is a sleep mode release interrupt, the process proceeds to S32; otherwise, the process proceeds to S37 since a resume event has occurred, and a resume request output is generated to the system.
[0052]
S32 is a battery remaining amount detection process. In this example, the remaining battery capacity is calculated from the voltage value output from the battery. However, if the battery has a function of communicating its own capacity, the remaining capacity may be obtained by communication.
[0053]
In step S33, it is determined whether the remaining battery charge is sufficient for the operation of the system. If the value does not satisfy the preset value, the process proceeds to S34. Otherwise, proceed to S35.
[0054]
In S34, as a result of detecting the remaining battery level in S33, it is determined that the remaining battery level is insufficient. Therefore, a Low battery signal is output to the system and notified. The system receiving this signal starts a preset process.
[0055]
In step S37, a sleep mode is entered in order to reduce the power consumption of the battery remaining amount monitoring controller.
[0056]
Here, it is assumed that the controller can transition to the sleep mode by its own instruction (software).
[0057]
S36 is the end of this interrupt processing.
[0058]
【The invention's effect】
As described above, according to the present invention, the battery capacity monitoring controller has the sleep mode independent of the suspend mode of the information processing device, and detects the resume event signal generated when the battery capacity monitoring controller is in the sleep mode. However, there is an effect that the resume operation of the information processing apparatus can be performed.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration according to a first example of the present invention.
FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an operation according to the first exemplary embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a configuration according to a second example of the present invention.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an operation according to a second example of the present invention.
[Explanation of symbols]
E11 CPU
E12 Memory E13 Memory controller E14 Peripheral device A
E15 Peripheral device B
E16 System mode control unit E17 Power supply unit E18 Battery remaining amount monitoring controller E19 Battery E20 Trigger signal holding device

Claims (2)

Is driven by a battery, an information processing apparatus having a suspend mode,
A battery capacity monitoring controller having a sleep mode and monitoring the capacity of the battery;
Instruction means for instructing the operation mode of the battery capacity monitoring controller to transition from a sleep mode to a normal mode;
Holding means for holding a signal requesting a return from the suspend mode to the normal operation mode of the information processing apparatus,
A control unit that transitions the operation mode of the information processing apparatus from a suspend mode to a normal operation mode,
When the operation mode of the battery capacity monitoring controller transitions from the sleep mode to the normal mode, if the signal requesting the return is retained in the retaining unit, the transition from the suspend mode to the normal operation mode is performed. The information processing apparatus , wherein the battery capacity monitoring controller enters a sleep mode after the battery capacity monitoring controller instructs the control unit. The battery capacity monitoring controller, after the instruction Previous Symbol controller, the information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the instructing clearing of the signal held in said holding means.

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