JP5159533B2 - Information processing device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, and more particularly to an information processing apparatus that realizes both power saving and security enhancement by controlling the sensitivity of a sensor.

  In recent years, crimes for intrusion into houses have increased, and various crime prevention techniques have been proposed. Since introduction of an advanced security system is costly, a thermal automatic switch has been proposed that turns on illumination when a person approaches the entrance using a human sensor that detects the presence or absence of a human body. In addition, using a pyroelectric human sensor that detects a human body in a detection area by detecting a heat ray radiated from the human body, when a human body is detected, a normal mode in which illumination is turned on for a predetermined time, and light or There has been proposed a thermal automatic switch with an absence mode function that switches between an absence mode that threatens a suspicious person with sound (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

In addition, as a crime prevention technique against theft of a PC (personal computer) containing personal information or confidential company information, an information processing apparatus provided with a sensor for detecting the state of the apparatus main body such as a gyro sensor has been proposed (for example, Patent Document 2).
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2007-200046 JP 2000-155876 A

  However, the information processing apparatus provided with the sensor for detecting the apparatus main body taking-out state as described above is an invention that strengthens the security of the information processing apparatus after being taken out, so that it can take some measures before being taken out. Is desirable. Moreover, it is necessary to provide a special sensor such as a gyro sensor for such security enhancement, which is expensive. In the thermal automatic switch with absence mode function using a human sensor, mode switching cannot be performed automatically, and it is difficult to respond according to the situation of the place.

  Therefore, it is desired that the same sensor is used not only for security enhancement but also for other purposes by controlling its sensitivity.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and an object thereof is to realize both power saving and security enhancement by controlling the sensitivity of a sensor.

  An information processing apparatus according to the present invention is an information processing apparatus, wherein a human sensor that detects the presence or absence of a human body, a determination unit that determines an operating state of the information processing apparatus, and the information processing apparatus that includes the determination unit If it is determined that the CPU provided is ON, the sensitivity of the human sensor is reduced, the CPU is OFF by the determination means, at least the human sensor is energized, and power consumption is higher than in a normal operation state. Sensitivity control means for increasing the sensitivity of the human sensor when it is determined that the first power saving mode is low, and the human sensor detects the sensitivity of the human sensor when the sensitivity of the human sensor is low. When the absence of the human body is detected, at least the human sensor is energized, and shifts to the second power saving mode in which the power consumption is lower than that in the normal operation state, and the sensitivity of the human sensor is high. If the presence of a human body is detected by the sensitive sensor, and performing a predetermined security operation.

  According to the present invention, both power saving and security enhancement can be realized by controlling the sensitivity of the sensor.

  Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. The embodiments described below are preferred embodiments of the present invention, and thus various technically preferable limitations are given. However, the scope of the present invention is particularly limited in the following description. As long as there is no description of the effect, it is not restricted to these aspects.

  FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of an information processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The information processing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment is an open / close type information processing apparatus, and the display unit housing 3 is provided with a display unit. In this embodiment, an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) is used as an example of the display unit. It is connected to the operation unit housing 4 so as to be opened and closed. Note that the present invention is not limited to an information processing device that can be opened and closed, and is widely applied to information processing devices.

  A sensor 2 is installed in the operation unit housing 4 of the information processing apparatus 1. The sensor 2 detects the presence or absence of a human body. Specifically, it is a human sensor that detects a human body. When a human body is detected, it is known that the human body is present, and when the human body cannot be detected, the absence of the human body is known. As a specific example of the human sensor, a pyroelectric sensor or a distance measuring sensor can be considered. The sensor 2 shown in FIG. 1 is built in the information processing apparatus 1, but may be a removable external sensor. Moreover, the installation position of the human sensor may be anywhere in the information processing apparatus 1.

  In the sensor 2, when the operation state determination unit 16 described later determines that the CPU included in the information processing apparatus 1 is ON, the sensor sensitivity is controlled to be small, and as shown in FIG. It functions within a range where 5 seats (the presence of a human body) can be detected. In this case, when it is detected that the user 5 is absent, the function is switched to the power saving mode in which the power consumption is lower than that in the normal operation state by turning off some functions of the device such as the LCD. It is characterized by that. For example, the CPU is turned off, the operation speed is lowered, and the display unit such as the LCD is turned off. In this power saving mode, at least the sensor 2 is energized, so that when a human body is subsequently detected, the power saving mode can be returned to the normal operation state.

  On the other hand, when the operation state determination unit 16 determines that the CPU 10 is OFF, but at least the sensor 2 is energized and the power consumption mode is lower than the normal operation state, it is shown in FIG. As described above, the sensor sensitivity of the sensor 2 is largely controlled, and can be detected farther than the detection range shown in FIG. Thereby, it is possible to realize enhanced security by detecting whether or not a suspicious person has passed around (the presence of a human body) and performing a predetermined operation process (security operation) if detected. Particularly in the case of an information processing apparatus used in an office, if a human body is detected at midnight, it can be considered as detection of a suspicious person. The predetermined operation process (security operation) will be described later. The power saving mode referred to here is referred to as a first power saving mode in order to distinguish it from the power saving mode. Therefore, when the sensor sensitivity is controlled to be small, it is detected that the user 5 is absent, and a part of a device such as an LCD is turned off. The power saving mode in which the power consumption is low is referred to as a second power saving mode.

  In the above embodiment, the sensor 2 is installed in the operation unit housing 4 as shown in FIG. 1, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the sensor 2 may be installed in the display unit housing 3. When the sensor 2 is installed in the display unit housing 3, even when the display unit housing 1 is closed, a mirror (for example, a 45 ° mirror) is mounted on the operation unit housing 4 as shown in FIGS. By changing the sensor reaction angle, the human body can be detected in the forward direction. In this case, for example, a distance measuring sensor can be used as the sensor 2a.

  In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the sensor 2a is fixed. For example, it can be considered that the sensor 2a can be rotatably installed as shown in FIGS. The sensor 2b may be moved by an electric motor (not shown). Thereby, even when the display unit housing 3 is closed, the human body can be detected in the forward direction by changing the sensor reaction angle. Note that the rotation operation of the sensor 2b may be interlocked with the opening / closing of the display unit housing 3 and automatically rotated to a predetermined angle in accordance with the opening / closing of the display unit housing 3.

  Next, a functional configuration of the information processing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of the information processing apparatus 1. The information processing apparatus 1 includes a sensor 2, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 10, a ROM (Read Only Memory) 11, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 12, a sensor sensitivity control unit 14, and an operation state determination unit 16.

  The CPU 10 controls the entire information processing apparatus 1 in association with the ROM 11 and the RAM 12. The ROM 12 stores in advance a control program for the information processing apparatus 1 and various application programs. The CPU 10 controls each functional block based on a control program stored in the ROM 11. In addition, activation / stop and control of various application programs stored in the ROM 11 are performed.

  The operation state determination unit 16 can determine the operation state of the information processing apparatus 1 as a whole. In the present embodiment, for example, it is possible to determine whether the CPU is ON / OFF or that some of the devices are OFF, so that the power saving mode is lower in power consumption than the normal operation state.

  The sensor sensitivity control unit 14 decreases the sensitivity of the human sensor 2 when the operation state determination unit 16 determines that the CPU 10 is ON.

  When the sensor 2 cannot detect the human body when the sensitivity of the sensor 2 is low (detection of absence of the user), the operation state of the information processing apparatus 1 is shifted to the second power saving mode that consumes less power than the normal operation state. To do. For example, some functions of an apparatus such as an LCD are turned off. In this power saving mode, at least the sensor 2 may be energized so that when a human body is detected, the normal operation state can be restored from the power saving mode.

  On the other hand, if the operation state determination unit 16 determines that the CPU 10 is OFF and at least the sensor 2 is energized and is in the first power saving mode in which the power consumption is lower than that in the normal operation state, the sensor The sensitivity control unit 14 increases the sensitivity of the sensor 2.

  When the sensor 2 detects a human body when the sensor sensitivity is high, threatening with an alarm sound is performed from an output unit (not shown) as suspicious person detection, or the abnormality occurrence notification unit 20 shown in FIG. To perform a predetermined security operation such as notifying the security management server of the occurrence of an abnormality. Such various security operations may be controlled by the sensor sensitivity control unit 14, or may be controlled by each unit such as an abnormality occurrence notification by the abnormality occurrence notification unit 20. You may control.

  FIG. 9 shows a flowchart showing the operation process of the information processing apparatus 1 according to this embodiment. In the case of the first power saving mode in which the operating state of the information processing apparatus 1 is determined, the CPU 10 is OFF, at least the sensor 2 is energized and consumes less power than the normal operating state (step S1 / power saving mode) ) The sensor sensitivity is controlled to be large (step S2). In this case, when a human body is detected (step S3 / Yes), security operations such as threatening and abnormality occurrence notification are performed (step S4).

  On the other hand, when the CPU 10 is ON (step S1 / ON), the sensor sensitivity is controlled to be small (step S5). In this case, when the human body is not detected by the sensor 2 (the absence of the human body) (step S6 / No), the information processing apparatus 1 is set to the second power saving mode that consumes less power than the normal operation state. (Step S7).

  Thus, by controlling the sensitivity of the sensor in accordance with the operating state of the information processing apparatus 1, both power saving and security enhancement can be realized.

  The program for the CPU to execute the processing shown in the flowchart of FIG. 9 constitutes a program according to the present invention. As a recording medium for recording the program, a semiconductor storage unit, an optical and / or magnetic storage unit, or the like can be used. By using such a program and a recording medium in a system having a configuration different from that of each of the above-described embodiments and causing the CPU to execute the program, substantially the same effect as the present invention can be obtained.

  Although the present invention has been specifically described above based on the preferred embodiments, it is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to the above-described ones and can be variously modified without departing from the gist thereof.

1 is a perspective view of an information processing apparatus 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure for comparing the detection range of low sensitivity and high sensitivity of the sensor 2 which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a figure for demonstrating that the 45 degree mirror is mounted in the operation part housing | casing 4 which concerns on embodiment of this invention. FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line aa ′ in FIG. 3. It is a figure for demonstrating that the sensor which concerns on embodiment of this invention is installed rotatably. It is sectional drawing of the information processing apparatus 1 shown in FIG. It is a functional block diagram of information processor 1 concerning an embodiment of the present invention. It is a functional block diagram of information processor 1 concerning an embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart which shows the operation processing of the information processing apparatus 1 which concerns on this embodiment of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Information processing apparatus 2 Sensor 3 Display part housing | casing 4 Operation part housing | casing 5 User 6 45 degree mirror 10 CPU
11 ROM
12 RAM
14 sensor sensitivity control unit 16 operation state determination unit 20 abnormality occurrence notification unit 21 network 22 security management server

Claims (4)

An information processing apparatus,
A human sensor for detecting the presence or absence of a human body,
Determining means for determining an operating state of the information processing apparatus;
When the determination unit determines that the CPU included in the information processing apparatus is ON, the sensitivity of the human sensor is reduced, the CPU is OFF by the determination unit, and at least the human sensor is energized. And a sensitivity control means for increasing the sensitivity of the human sensor when it is determined that the first power saving mode in which the power consumption is lower than in the normal operation state is provided,
A second power saving mode in which at least the human sensor is energized and consumes less power than in a normal operation state when the human sensor detects the absence of a human body when the human sensor has low sensitivity To
An information processing apparatus that performs a predetermined security operation when the presence of a human body is detected by the human sensor when the human sensor has high sensitivity. A notification means for notifying an external device via a network;
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the predetermined security operation is an operation of transmitting an abnormality notification by the notification unit.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the human sensor is a distance measuring sensor or a pyroelectric sensor including a light emitting unit and a light receiving unit.   The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the human sensor is detachably provided.

Images