JP4419663B2 - Information processing system, program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing system and program, and more particularly, to a technology effective when applied to an information processing system that performs high-speed startup using a standby state such as standby or hibernation.

  For example, in an information processing system such as a personal computer (PC), at present, a great amount of time is spent in initialization of hardware, initialization of an OS, and the like when the power is turned on, and a waiting time of several minutes is necessary. For this reason, as in Patent Document 1, the main device is turned off while maintaining the main memory contents, and it looks as if the power has been turned off to shorten the next startup time (standby). It is known to reduce the next startup time by a method (hibernation) in which the contents and device state are saved in an auxiliary storage device and the contents are returned to the main memory and the device again at the next startup.

  In addition, in order to prevent the system from becoming unstable due to a memory leak or the like when continuously using a personal computer, a technique for automatically detecting and resetting a memory leak as disclosed in Patent Document 2 It has been known.

  However, standby and hibernation are mainly used temporarily on notebook PCs, etc., and standby and hibernation can be used efficiently and stably on a commercial computer that operates continuously. It wasn't.

In other words, the current commercial OS for personal computers is still unstable, and when it is used for a long time while repeating the transition to and recovery from the standby or hibernation state, it usually does not surface, such as memory leaks and resource entrapment. There is concern about destabilization due to factors such as software bugs, and it is difficult to achieve stable operation simply by monitoring memory leaks.
JP-A-10-97353 JP 2004-5305 A

  An object of the present invention is to provide an information processing technique capable of achieving both improvement in convenience by shortening the system startup time and ensuring of stability of the system.

The information processing system of the present invention, when there is a termination request of the system is shifted to the standby or Haibanenyon state, means for counting the transition times, when there is a termination request system, the transition number given Means for determining whether the number has exceeded the number , means for displaying a message prompting the user to turn off or restart when the number of transitions exceeds the predetermined number , and when the power is turned off or restarted And means for setting the number of transitions to an initial value.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to improve both convenience by shortening the system startup time and ensuring the stability of the system.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a conceptual diagram showing an example of the configuration of an information processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing an example of its operation.

  The information processing system 10 according to the present embodiment includes a CPU 11, a main storage device 12, an auxiliary storage device 13, a display unit 14, an operation unit 15, a scheduler 16 (reset means), a bus 17, a power supply device 18, and a power switch 19. I have.

  The CPU 11 is a central processing unit that executes software stored in the main storage device 12, and is connected to the main storage device 12, the auxiliary storage device 13, and the power supply device 18 through the bus 17, and controls these peripheral devices.

  The display unit 14 is configured by a display, and visualizes and presents various information to the user of the information processing system 10. The operation unit 15 includes an information input device such as a keyboard and a mouse, and is used by a user to input various data and commands to the information processing system 10.

  The main storage device 12 refers to a software group (operation means) such as a task table 21, a task monitoring control 22, a standby control 23, a hibernation control 24, and a business menu control 25 related to various controls as described later, and the software group. The management table to be stored is stored. The auxiliary storage device 13 is a storage device that saves the contents of the main storage device 12 when hibernation is performed, and maintains the stored contents even when the power is turned off.

  The auxiliary storage device 13 stores basic software 20, software such as task monitoring control 22 to hibernation control 24, and business menu control 25, and these programs are transferred to the main storage device 12 at reset. Is activated.

  Furthermore, the auxiliary storage device 13 stores business software (application program) that runs on the basic software 20, and is read into the main storage device 12 by an activation request from the operation unit 15 and activated, so that any business can be performed. Processing (task) is performed.

  The power supply device 18 supplies the main power supply 18a to the CPU 11, the main storage device 12, the auxiliary storage device 13 and the like, stops the supply of the main power supply 18a in response to an instruction from the CPU 11, and turns on the power switch 19 via the power control line 19a. Alternatively, the supply of the main power supply 18a is started in response to an instruction from the scheduler 16. The power supply device 18 continues to supply the standby power supply 18b to the scheduler 16 and the main storage device 12 even when the power supply is 0FF.

  The scheduler 16 includes a real-time clock 16a (RTC), and includes control logic programmed with a function for instructing the power supply device 18 to reset by resuming the supply of the main power supply 18a at a set time from the CPU 11.

  The basic software 20 has a function of registering an operation task such as business software in the task table 21 and performing processing such as task scheduling. The task monitoring control 22 has a function of continuously monitoring at a predetermined interval until there are no tasks on the task table 21 and reporting the presence / absence of a task to the basic software 20.

  The standby control 23 stores the current information of the CPU 11 in the main storage device 12, instructs the power supply device 18 to stop the main power supply 18 a, and causes the standby power supply 18 b to be supplied. A function to shift to the “standby” state is provided.

  The hibernation control 24 stores the current information of the main storage device 12 and the CPU 11 in the auxiliary storage device 13 and instructs the power supply device 18 to stop the main power supply 18a, thereby realizing the transition to the “hibernation” state. It has a function.

  The business menu control 25 is a function for presenting and selecting an operation menu for starting up arbitrary business software or turning off the power to the user, a function for enabling the power to be turned off only when the business software is not executed, an arbitrary business Function for measuring software usage duration, number of transitions to hibernation when the power is turned off, function for measuring usage duration from power on, and power off when there is no user selection input within the specified time A function to automatically shift to, etc. is provided.

  That is, when the power is turned off, the information processing system 10 according to the present embodiment can select whether to use the high-speed startup mode using standby or hibernation, or to perform normal all power off without using it. It is possible. In the following description, the state of transition to standby or hibernation is collectively referred to as a dormant state as necessary.

Hereinafter, an example of the operation of the present embodiment will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.
When the main power supply 18a is turned on by operating the power switch 19 to the information processing system 10 (step 101), various devices connected to the bus 17 such as the CPU 11 and the main storage device 12 are initialized. After that, the basic software 20 and the control software such as the task monitoring control 22 to the hibernation control 24 are read from the auxiliary storage device 13 and started, and a basic environment for executing the business program is constructed (steps). 102).

Thereafter, the job menu control 25 is activated by an automatic execution function or the like (step 103), and the job selection menu is displayed on the display unit 14.
When a business process is selected by operating the operation unit 15 or the like (step 104), the selected business software is started and a predetermined business process is executed (step 110), and the business process ends. Then (step 111), the process returns to the menu selection in step 104.

  When the menu is selected and the power is turned off (power off in this menu means all power off with system reset or restart with system reset), fast standby using standby or hibernation is selected. It is determined whether or not it is in the power-up mode (step 105). If it is not in the high-speed power-up mode, the entire power supply is turned off (step 113) and the process is terminated.

  On the other hand, in the case of the fast start-up mode, the timer in the scheduler 16 is initialized (step 106), and it shifts to the hibernation or standby state (rest state) by the operation of the standby control 23 or the hibernation control 24 (step 107). In the transition to the hibernation state, the task table 21 is monitored by the task monitoring control 22, and control is performed so as to shift to the hibernation state after all tasks such as business software have been completed.

  Thereafter, the scheduler 16 monitors the presence or absence of a power-on instruction by pressing the power switch 19 from the user on the power control line 19a (step 108), and elapses from the transition start time to the hibernation state in the step 106. The time is monitored by the real time clock 16a (step 109).

  When a power-on instruction is detected in step 108, the current hibernation state is restored (step 112), and the process returns to the menu presentation / selection process in step 104. The return from the hibernation state is performed in a short time at high speed by using standby or hibernation, and the user can select and start a job immediately after pressing the power switch 19, so waiting for startup A short and light operating environment can be realized.

  On the other hand, if it is determined in step 109 that the elapsed time in the current dormant state exceeds a predetermined threshold, that is, it is determined that the user is unlikely to use the information processing system 10, the above-described steps Returning to 102, the main power supply 18 a is supplied to the CPU 11, the main storage device 12, and the auxiliary storage device 13, and reset processing for initializing devices such as the CPU 11 and the main storage device 12 is executed. After the reset process, the business menu control 25 is activated. When the business menu control 25 does not receive any user input within a predetermined time as described above, the power is automatically turned off after step 106 ( Since there is a function for shifting to (pause processing), the process again shifts to the pause state in steps 106 to 109 unless there is user intervention.

  As a result, a system malfunction caused by a resource leak due to a memory leak in the main storage device 12 or a bug in business software caused by repeating the hibernation state and the return from the hibernation state for a long period of time. Stabilization can be reliably eliminated by automatic execution of reset in the hibernation state in anticipation of when the user is unlikely to use the information processing system 10.

  In the example of the flowchart of FIG. 2 described above, the case where the execution timing of the reset in the hibernation state is determined based on the duration of the hibernation state is illustrated, but the reset in the hibernation state is performed as in the flowchart of FIG. For example, a specific time zone of a day or a specific time may be designated.

  That is, in the flowchart of FIG. 3, the initialization of the timer in step 106 in FIG. 2 is omitted, and the calendar function of the real-time clock 16a provided in the scheduler 16 instead of step 109 for measuring the passage of time by the timer. Etc. is used to execute step 109a for determining whether or not a predetermined time is reached during the hibernation state, and when the predetermined time is reached, the operation of resetting step 102 is performed. is there.

  Accordingly, by specifying the reset execution time in the time zone such as midnight, early morning, break time, etc., in which the information processing system 10 is unlikely to be used in advance, the work of the user who uses the information processing system 10 is hindered. Without any problem, it is possible to realize the stabilization of the operation of the information processing system 10 by executing the reset in the hibernation state.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, by detecting the maintenance of the hibernation state such as standby or hibernation for a certain time, the information processing system 10 24 by repeating the hibernation state and return. There is an advantage that high-speed start-up can be realized without the instability factor of the system that comes from continuous operation.

  According to the present embodiment, the transition to the standby or hibernation state when the task is not operating is guaranteed, and the system is activated when the power supply 0FF state occurs when the hibernation state continues for a certain period of time or longer. Rebooting and shifting to the standby and hibernation state again can eliminate the unstable factors of 24-hour operation.

  By guaranteeing that no task is operating during the power-off process and executing standby, there is an advantage that the next startup can be speeded up without the user and application being aware of standby. Further, by combining with hibernation, there is an advantage that the next start-up can be speeded up even if the standby power supply 18b is not supplied.

  Another modification is shown in the flowchart of FIG. The basic software 20 controls the operation in the business menu control 25, and when there is a task that is activated, a function that prevents the power OFF from being selected, and a task that is activated when the power OFF is selected. If it exists, a function of displaying a message to the user that the power cannot be turned off can be provided.

  That is, as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 4, the basic software 20 determines whether or not there is a business process (task) being executed by the task monitoring control 22 when there is a power-off interrupt (step 201). ), If not, branch to branch point A2 in the flowchart illustrated in FIG. 1 or FIG. 2, and if yes, display a message that the power cannot be turned off because there is a task being executed. (Step 202), and the process ends.

  In step 201, it is determined whether or not the business software is compatible with standby or hibernation, and when only the corresponding business software is operating, a function is provided that enables a transition to a sleep state by turning off the power. You can also

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of the operation of the information processing system 10 according to another embodiment of the present invention. In this case, an example is shown in which the number of transitions to the hibernation state is used as a trigger for the transition to the hibernation state.

  That is, the power supply is turned on to start using the information processing system 10 (step 301). When the power is turned on, the system including the basic software 20 (OS) and the business menu control 25 is started (step 302). When the system starts up, the standby counter is reset (step 303).

Thereafter, various requests from the user are awaited, and various processes are performed according to the respective requests (step 304). Of course, a system termination request is also waiting.
When there is a system termination request, first, it is compared whether or not the number of standbys executed after turning on the power exceeds the standby execution upper limit (power-off standby number) that needs to be turned off (step 305).

  When the number of standby times exceeds the number of power-off standby times, a message such as “Power-off is necessary. Turn off the power or restart it” is displayed on the display unit 14 (step 306).

  It is confirmed whether the content of the user termination request is standby (step 307). If standby is designated, the standby counter is incremented by one (step 308). Thereafter, the standby state is entered (step 309). When the user performs a return operation from standby in this state, the state returns to step 304.

  In step 307, if it is not standby, it is confirmed whether the content of the user's termination request is power off (step 310). If power OFF is designated, power OFF processing is performed (step 311).

  In this embodiment, when the number of standbys exceeds a certain number, a message to that effect is displayed to prompt the user to turn off or restart the power, and the information processing system 10 can be initialized at an appropriate timing. There is an effect.

  In the above description, the number of standbys is reset after the system is started, but can be executed at any timing as long as it is between step 301 to step 305 in FIG. The message content can be an arbitrary character string as long as the content prompts the user to power off or restart. Furthermore, although the order of determination of the user's termination request is in the order of standby and power off, it can be reversed.

  Further, when the user selects standby, the power may be automatically turned off as necessary. As described above, when the standby is selected, the power is automatically turned off as necessary, so that there is an effect that the user can operate without being aware of the proper use of the standby and the power off.

  As a modification, instead of the number of times of transition to the standby state, a message that prompts the user to turn off or restart when the power is not continuously turned off for a certain period may be displayed. In this case, the fixed period can be arbitrarily set and can be specified in units of weeks or days.

  As a result, a message is displayed when the power is not turned off continuously for a certain period of time, so that even a user who is operating without much standby can be turned off or turned on again. There is an effect that the activation can be promoted and the initialization of the information processing system 10 can be executed at an appropriate timing.

  Furthermore, as a modified example, when the usage time of the application installed in the information processing system 10 exceeds a certain time, a message prompting to turn off or restart the power may be displayed. In this case, the fixed period can be arbitrarily set, and is specified in units of hours or days.

  In this way, when the time spent using the application installed in the information processing system 10 exceeds a certain time, a message to that effect is displayed on the display unit 14 to prompt the user to turn off or restart the information. There is an effect that the initialization of the processing system 10 can be executed at an appropriate timing. This is particularly effective for a user who continues to use without performing standby or power-off.

  Furthermore, as a modification, a user interface that integrates power OFF and standby may be prepared to simplify the operation at the end of use of the information processing system 10. That is, as shown in FIG. 6, on the use end screen 40, the “power OFF” button and the “standby” button are collectively implemented as one “use end” button 41, and the “restart” button 42, “ It is displayed on the display unit 14 together with the “Cancel” button 43.

  Thus, when the user finishes using the information processing system 10, the user can automatically turn off the standby or power by simply selecting the “use end” button 41. In other words, by providing a user interface that integrates power OFF and standby, there is an effect that the user can operate without being aware of the proper use of standby and power OFF.

  Further, as illustrated in FIG. 7, a check box 44 of “Power OFF at the end of use” may be prepared below the “Use end” button 41. When the user finishes using the information processing system 10, the user can arbitrarily turn off the standby or power by switching the state of the check box 44. As a result, a user interface that integrates power-off and standby is prepared, and power-off can be performed at the end of use of the information processing system 10, so that the power is intentionally turned on when the machine is moved. There is an effect that it can be turned off.

  The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made. For example, when using standby or hibernation technology, it is guaranteed that no task exists, so the memory state of the main storage device 12 at the time of standby or hibernation recovery is constant, and this memory state is fixed to a ROM or the like. If the main storage device 12 is restored with the contents of the ROM, the save time when the power is turned off is shortened, and the stability of the system is improved.

It is a conceptual diagram which shows an example of a structure of the information processing system which is one embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the effect | action. It is a flowchart which shows the modification of operation | movement of the information processing system which is one embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the modification of operation | movement of the information processing system which is one embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart which shows the modification of operation | movement of the information processing system which is one embodiment of this invention. It is a conceptual diagram which shows an example of the user interface in the information processing system which is one embodiment of this invention. It is a conceptual diagram which shows the modification of the user interface in the information processing system which is one embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

10 Information processing system 11 CPU
12 Main storage device 13 Auxiliary storage device 14 Display unit 15 Operation unit 16 Scheduler 16a Real time clock 17 Bus 18 Power supply device 18a Main power supply 18b Standby power supply 19 Power switch 19a Power control line 20 Basic software 21 Task table 22 Task monitoring control 23 Standby control 24 hibernation control 25 business menu control 40 use end screen 41 “use end” button 42 “restart” button 43 “cancel” button 44 check box

Claims (3)

When there is a request for termination of the system, a transition to the standby or hibernation state, and a means for counting the number of transitions,
Means for determining whether the number of times of migration exceeds a predetermined number when there is a system termination request ;
Means for displaying a message prompting to turn off or restart when it is determined that the number of times of transition exceeds a predetermined number;
An information processing system comprising: means for setting the number of transitions to an initial value when power is turned off or restarted.   2. The information processing system according to claim 1, wherein when the power-on state continues for a certain period, the message prompting the power-off or restart is displayed. When there is a system termination request, the computer shifts to the standby or hibernation state, and when there is a power-on request, the computer that returns from the standby or hibernation state is
When there is a system termination request, a means for shifting to the standby or hibernation state and counting the number of transitions,
Means for determining whether the number of times of migration exceeds a predetermined number when there is a system termination request ;
Means for displaying a message prompting to turn off or restart when it is determined that the number of times of migration exceeds a predetermined number;
A program for functioning as a means for setting the number of transitions to an initial value when power is turned off or restarted.

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