JP5611506B2 - Portable electronic devices - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a portable electronic device having an image memory (for example, RAM) and having, for example, an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display Device) module as a display unit.

  In mobile phone terminals, high-speed serial data transfer is used for data transfer from a processor unit (CPU) to a display monitor such as an LCD module. In most cases, a commercially available display control LSI is mounted as a display interface.

Among the above-mentioned LCD modules, there are a type with a built-in RAM (image memory) for holding image data and an external type. In the former case, the image data is stored only when the display contents are updated. It is a mechanism to be transferred.
For this reason, the display control LSI for controlling the display of the LCD module is more advantageous in terms of power consumption when the former LCD module is connected.

  By the way, in recent mobile phones, power saving is the most important design item because of its mobility, and many techniques for power saving have been proposed.

  For example, a technique has been proposed in which pause image data is displayed on the display panel only during a period in which the user has stopped operating the mobile phone, and the update image transfer operation of the CPU is stopped to reduce power consumption. (For example, refer to Patent Document 1).

In addition, a technique for operating in a power saving mode (lowering the brightness of a pixel) that controls a pixel set so as to operate with reduced power consumption while continuing pattern display has been proposed (see, for example, Patent Document 2). .
JP 2005-208455 A Special Table 2002-511608

  However, the techniques disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2 described above all relate to CPU power saving control by monitoring key inputs, and can only execute rough power saving control, and can perform detailed power saving. Control is not possible.

  An object of the present invention is to provide a portable electronic device capable of fine power saving control while using an inexpensive display control LSI.

  In order to solve the above-described problems, a portable electronic device of the present invention includes a display unit having a memory in which image data is stored, a display control unit connected to the display unit via a serial data transfer path, Screen update processing that starts when the display control unit has completed the transfer of the updated image data for one screen to the memory via the serial data transfer path, and is caused by the necessity of updating the image data of the display unit And a control unit that stops the operation of the display control unit when the request does not occur for a predetermined time.

  Further, in the portable electronic device of the present invention, when there is a new screen update processing request while the operation of the display control unit is stopped, the control unit cancels the operation stop of the display control unit and requests An update image data transfer process based on the screen update process may be performed.

  In the portable electronic device of the present invention, when a new event occurs during the screen update process in the display control unit, the control unit waits for completion of transfer of the updated image data during the update process and displays the display. You may perform the screen update process corresponding to the said event to the said display control part, without stopping operation | movement of a control part.

  Further, in the portable electronic device of the present invention, the display unit has a power saving display mode for performing power saving display, and the control unit, when the display unit is operating in the power saving display mode, You may stop the screen update process corresponding to the event which performs the transfer request | requirement of predetermined update image data.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide a portable electronic device capable of fine power saving control while using an inexpensive display control LSI.

[First Embodiment]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an internal configuration of the portable electronic device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. Here, a mobile phone 1 is illustrated as a portable electronic device.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the mobile phone 1 includes a communication unit 11, an operation unit 12, an audio processing unit 13, a speaker 14, a microphone 15, a display unit 16, a storage unit 17, and a control unit 18. And composed of

The communication unit 11 captures a plurality of communication systems. For example, according to a communication protocol of CDMA2000 1x (hereinafter simply referred to as 1x) or EVDO, the communication unit 11 communicates with a network side device including a base station connected to a mobile communication network (not shown). Wireless communication between them.
EVDO communication is faster than 1x communication, and 1x communication is different from EVDO communication in that it supports voice communication in addition to data communication.

The operation unit 12 includes keys to which various functions are assigned, such as a power key, a call key, a numeric key, a character key, a direction key, a determination key, and a call key.
When these keys are operated by the user, the operation unit 12 generates a signal corresponding to the operation content, and inputs the signal to the control unit 18 as a user instruction.

The audio processing unit 13 processes an audio signal output from the speaker 14 and an audio signal input from the microphone 15.
That is, the sound processing unit 13 amplifies the sound input from the microphone 15, performs analog / digital conversion, further performs signal processing such as encoding, converts it into digital sound data, and outputs it to the control unit 18. .
The audio processing unit 13 performs signal processing such as decoding, digital / analog conversion, and amplification on the audio data supplied from the control unit 18, converts the audio data into an analog audio signal, and outputs the analog audio signal to the speaker 14.

The display unit 16 is configured by using a display device such as an LCD panel or an organic EL (Electro-Luminescence) panel, for example, and here, an LCD module incorporating a RAM 160 that stores image data is used. .
The display unit 16 displays an image corresponding to the video signal supplied from the control unit 18. Specifically, in addition to the phone number of the callee at the time of outgoing call, the phone number of the other party at the time of incoming call, received mail and outgoing mail, pictographic images such as date, time, remaining battery level, and standby image are also displayed. included. In the case of LCD, the display unit 16 is a power saving display mode that performs power saving display such as turning off the backlight while displaying, and in the case of organic EL, displaying the lowest luminance. Light mode).

The storage unit 17 stores various data used for processing in the control unit 18.
The storage unit 17 includes, for example, an application program executed by the control unit 18, an address book for managing personal information such as a telephone number and an e-mail address of a communication partner, an audio file for reproducing a ring tone and an alarm sound, Holds setting data and temporary data used in the program processing.
The above-described storage unit 17 is configured by, for example, a nonvolatile storage device (flash memory), a randomly accessible storage device (SRAM, DRAM), or the like.

The control unit 18 controls the overall operation of the mobile phone.
That is, the control unit 18 performs various processes of the cellular phone (controls such as voice calls performed via a circuit switching network, creation and transmission / reception of e-mails, browsing of the Internet Web (World Wide Web) site). The operation of each block described above (transmission / reception of signals in the communication unit 11 and input / output of audio in the audio processing unit 13) is controlled so as to be executed in an appropriate procedure according to the operation of 12.
The control unit 18 includes a computer (microprocessor) that executes processing based on a program (operating system, application program, etc.) stored in the storage unit 17, and performs the above-described processing according to a procedure instructed in this program. Run. That is, the control unit 18 sequentially reads instruction codes from programs such as an operating system and application programs stored in the storage unit 17 and executes processing.

  The control unit 18 includes a display control unit (display controller 180), and starts timing when the display controller 180 completes transfer of updated image data for one screen to the display unit 16 (RAM 160). It has a function of stopping the operation of the display controller 180 (sleep control) when a screen update processing request is not generated for a predetermined time. Details will be described later.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a detailed connection configuration around the display unit 16 connected to the control unit 18 shown in FIG. 1 and the control unit 18 via the serial data transfer path 10.

  2, in addition to the display controller 180 described above, the control unit 18 includes a main control unit (CPU 181), a transmission-side high-speed serial device 182 (hereinafter referred to as a Tx high-speed serial device 182), power control, and the like. Part 183.

  The display unit 16 includes a RAM 160 as an image memory, and includes an LCD panel 161 having the power saving display mode described above, and a reception-side high-speed serial device 162 (hereinafter referred to as Rx high-speed serial device 162). Is done.

In the above configuration, image data generated by the CPU 181 is converted into serial data by the Tx high-speed serial device 182, and serial data propagated through the serial data transfer path 10 is converted into parallel data by the Rx high-speed serial device 162. Then, the image is drawn on the RAM 160 built in the display unit 16.
The image data drawn here is read out in synchronization with the display timing of the LCD panel 161 to obtain a desired display.

  Note that the power control unit 183 operates to stop power supply to the Tx high-speed serial device 182 and the Rx high-speed serial device 162 when the display controller 180 transitions to the sleep state.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the portable electronic device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. Hereinafter, the operation of the portable electronic device according to the first embodiment of the present invention shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 will be described in detail with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

First, the control unit 18 (CPU 181), which detects the occurrence of an event associated with the opening of the cellular phone 1, key operation, incoming call, mail reception, alarm generation, or activation of an application program, first displays an event generated on the display unit 16. In order to perform the screen display accompanying this, an update process of the image data is performed (step S31).
For example, when the user opens the casing, the CPU 181 activates the display controller 180 to display the generated clock or screen saver (step S32), and the image data is transferred to the Tx high-speed serial device 182 and the serial data transfer path. 10. Transfer to the RAM 160 as the image memory via the Rx high-speed serial device 162 of the display unit 16 (step S33).

The CPU 181 monitors the end of transfer of image data (step S34), and when the end of transfer is detected (step S34 “Yes”), starts a timer (not shown) (step S35).
During image data transfer (step S34 “No”), the CPU 181 monitors the occurrence of another event (step S36). For example, when there is a key press or the like (step S36 “Yes”), the event When the transfer of the image data accompanying the above is started and no other event has occurred (step S36 “No”), the timer activation process is executed (step S35). Here, the timer counts A seconds.

When the image data update request accompanying the occurrence of another event occurs during the time monitoring period by the timer (before the timeout of A seconds) (step S37 “Yes”), the CPU 181 transfers the image data accompanying the event (step S37). S33).
When an image data update request accompanying the occurrence of another event does not occur (step S37 “No”), the CPU 181 further detects a timeout (step S38 “Yes”) and stops the operation of the display controller 180. Is executed (step S39). This can save power.

Here, “sleep control” refers to a state in which data being processed (such as setting values) is saved under the control of the CPU 181 and the power control unit 183 supplies only power for restarting to the display controller 180. It means to make a transition.
When the sleep is released, the normal power supply state is restored, and the CPU 181 can resume the operation after restoring the saved data.

FIG. 4 is a timing chart showing the operation of the portable electronic device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4A shows a case where no image data update request is generated due to the occurrence of an event during the timer monitoring period. FIG. 4B shows the image data and the operation state of the display controller 180 in the case where an image data update request is generated due to the occurrence of another event during the timer monitoring period.
FIG. 4B also shows other event input (key input) timings.

In the timing chart of FIG. 4A, the CPU 181 transfers still image data for one screen, for example, to the display unit 16 (RAM 160) via the serial data transfer path 10 by the display controller 180. Subsequently, the CPU 181 starts counting A seconds by a timer (not shown) at the timing when the data transfer is completed, and when the next screen update processing request (transfer of updated image data) does not occur during the A seconds. The sleep control for stopping the operation of the display controller 180 is executed.
When the next screen update process request occurs after the timeout, the CPU 181 resumes the operation of the display controller 180 (releases sleep) and performs the process of transferring the updated image data.

On the other hand, in the timing chart of FIG. 4B, when a new event such as a z key input occurs during the screen update process (image data update) based on the y key down (indicated by an arrow in the figure), the CPU 181 Waits for the completion of the transfer of the updated image data y ′, continues the operation state without stopping the operation of the display controller 180, and executes the screen update process of the updated image data z ′ corresponding to the generated z key input To do.
After the above screen update process (image data update) is executed, if no other event has occurred, the CPU 181 causes the display controller 180 to transfer the image data as in the timing chart shown in FIG. Start counting A seconds at the completion timing.

As described above, according to the portable electronic device according to the first embodiment of the present invention, when the display unit 16 includes the RAM 160 in which image data is held, for example, an LCD module is used, the display controller 180. Saves power by performing timer monitoring at the timing when transfer of updated image data for one screen to the RAM 160 is completed, and controlling the display controller 180 to sleep when a screen update processing request is not generated for a predetermined time counted by the timer. Can be realized.
The present invention provides a remarkable effect when used in a display control LSI (display controller 180) that is inexpensive but consumes a large amount of power.

  Note that the above control does not adversely affect the user with respect to display, and a display with no sense of incompatibility is possible even when compared with normal control. In addition, the battery life of the mobile phone 1 can be extended due to power saving, and can be used without being charged for a long time. Furthermore, since the operation of an LSI that generates a periodic clock such as the display controller 180 is temporarily stopped, a derivative effect of reducing the influence of noise on the wireless part can be obtained.

[Second Embodiment]
FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the operation of the portable electronic device according to the second embodiment of the present invention when further power saving is aimed using the display unit 16 having the low light mode (power saving display mode). It is a figure.
In the second embodiment described below, the display unit 16 mounted on the mobile phone 1 can perform display in a low-light mode in which screen display is performed without turning on the backlight, for example. 1. It shall have the same structure as Embodiment 1 shown in FIG.

  Hereinafter, the operation of the portable electronic device according to the second embodiment of the present invention shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 will be described in detail in association with the flowchart of FIG.

The CPU 181 constantly monitors the occurrence of a screen update request event due to a key operation of the operation unit 12 (step S51). Here, when it is detected that there is no key operation (“No” at step S51), the timer monitoring for B seconds is performed, the time measurement for B seconds is waited (step S52 “Yes”), and the display unit 16 (LCD The light control of the panel 161) is performed (step S53).
Further, the CPU 181 performs a process of stopping the screen saver if it is in operation (stops the screen update process), and sets the clock display to OFF (step S54).
On the other hand, if a key operation is detected (step S51 “Yes”), the CPU 181 performs processing to stop the screen saver if it is operating, and cancels the clock display OFF setting (step S55). ), Lighting control based on the set luminance is performed (step S56).

As described above, according to the portable electronic device according to the second embodiment, when the display unit 16 (LCD panel) is operating in the low light display mode, a transfer request for predetermined update image data is performed. By stopping the screen update process corresponding to the event, the sleep time of the display controller 180 can be set longer, so that further power saving can be realized and fine power saving control can be performed.
Here, the screen update data corresponding to the event includes a flash (registered trademark) standby screen in addition to a clock display and a screen saver.

Although only the mobile phone 1 is illustrated as the portable electronic device according to the embodiment of the present invention, it has the same configuration, for example, is mounted on a PDA (Personal Digital Assistants), an electronic notebook, a game machine, a notebook PC, or the like. The same can be applied to the case.
Further, although only the LCD module is illustrated as the display unit 16, it can be replaced if it is a display monitor of a type in which a RAM as an image memory is built in the panel, such as an organic EL or LED module.

It is a block diagram which shows the internal structure of the portable electronic device which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the detailed connection structure of the control part shown in FIG. 1, and a display part periphery. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the portable electronic device which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. 4 is a timing chart illustrating an operation of the portable electronic device according to the first embodiment of the present invention. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the portable electronic device which concerns on Embodiment 2 of this invention.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Mobile phone, 10 ... Serial data transfer path, 11 ... Communication part, 12 ... Operation part, 13 ... Audio | voice processing part, 14 ... Speaker, 15 ... Microphone, 16 ... Display part (LCD module), 17 ... Memory | storage part, DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 18 ... Control part, 160 ... RAM, 161 ... LCD panel, 162 ... Reception side high-speed serial device (Rx high-speed serial device), 180 ... Display controller, 181 ... Main control part (CPU), 182 ... Transmission side high-speed serial device ( Tx high-speed serial device), 183... Power control unit.

Claims (4)

A display unit having a memory for storing image data;
A display control unit connected via a serial data transfer path to the display unit;
The display control unit starts timing when the transfer of the updated image data for one screen to the memory via the serial data transfer path is completed, and the screen update caused by the necessity of the image data update of the display unit A control unit that stops the operation of the display control unit when a processing request does not occur for a predetermined time;
A portable electronic device comprising: The controller is
When there is a new screen update processing request while the operation of the display control unit is stopped, the operation stop of the display control unit is canceled and update image data transfer processing based on the requested screen update processing is performed. The portable electronic device according to claim 1, wherein The controller is
When a new event occurs during the screen update process in the display control unit, the display control unit waits for the completion of the transfer of the updated image data during the update process without stopping the operation of the display control unit. The mobile electronic device according to claim 1, wherein a screen update process corresponding to the event is executed. The display unit has a power saving display mode for performing power saving display,
The controller is
4. The screen update process corresponding to an event for requesting transfer of predetermined update image data is stopped when the display unit is operating in a power saving display mode. 5. The portable electronic device as described in.

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