JP5636016B2 - Information processing apparatus and device connection switching method thereof - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus and a device connection switching method thereof.

  In recent years, as computers have become lighter and smaller, many computers called so-called notebook computers, which are convenient to carry, have been developed. Such laptop computers are increasingly required to be lightweight and thin, and it is difficult to mount a large number of peripheral devices, and the port layout has become severe.

  On the other hand, for example, there are many users who use DVD and Blue-RAY, so there are many users who want to mount optical devices. In addition, companies increasingly use smart cards for login control, and more companies wish to install smart card devices. As described above, there are demands for a light-weight and thin notebook computer and a plurality of peripheral devices, and it is desired to satisfy both demands.

JP 2011-138465 A JP 2010-231824 A

  The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and an object thereof is to provide an information processing apparatus capable of mounting a plurality of peripheral devices in a space-saving manner and a device connection switching method thereof.

  In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, the present invention provides a first device that conforms to a first standard, a second device that conforms to a second standard, and the first device. It is characterized by comprising switching means for selectively switching the connection with the second device and connecting to a common interface, and control means for controlling switching of the switching means.

  Further, according to a preferred aspect of the present invention, the control means switches the connection of the switching means to the first device and performs user authentication using the first device when the main body is activated. It is desirable that the connection of the switching means is switched to the second device to make the second device operable.

  According to a preferred aspect of the present invention, the control means switches the connection of the switching means to the first device and stores the authentication stored in the recording medium attached to the first device when the main body is activated. Information is used to perform user authentication, the authentication information is stored in a memory, and after user authentication, the connection of the switching unit is switched to the second device to make the second device operable, and an application When user authentication is requested from the program, it is detected whether or not the recording medium is attached to the first device, and stored in the memory when the first device is attached. It is desirable that user authentication is performed using the authentication information, and that user authentication is not performed when the first device is not attached.

  According to a preferred aspect of the present invention, it is desirable that the detection of the mounting of the recording medium is performed using pins provided on the connector of the common interface.

  According to a preferred aspect of the present invention, it is desirable that the first standard is a USB standard and the second standard is a SATA standard.

  According to a preferred aspect of the present invention, it is preferable that the first device is a smart card device, the recording medium is a smart card, and the second device is an optical device.

  Moreover, according to a preferable aspect of the present invention, it is further preferable that the bay device further includes a bay device accommodating portion that detachably accommodates the bay device, and the bay device mounts the first and second devices.

  In order to solve the above-described problems and achieve the object, the present invention provides a device connection switching method for an information processing apparatus, which includes a first device based on the first standard and a second standard. It includes a switching step of selectively switching the connection with the compliant second device and connecting to a common interface, and a control step of controlling switching of the switching step.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to provide an information processing apparatus capable of mounting a plurality of peripheral devices in a space-saving manner and an information processing apparatus capable of the device connection switching method.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic external configuration of a notebook personal computer to which the information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment is applied. FIG. 2 is a schematic hardware configuration diagram of the notebook personal computer. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a main part configuration relating to switching of connection between an OP device and a smart card device mounted on a bay device of a notebook personal computer. FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the use of the pins P1 to P9 of the connector. FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining an example of the connection switching operation between the OP device and the smart card device when the main body is activated.

  Hereinafter, the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that the present invention is not limited to the embodiments. In addition, constituent elements in the following embodiments include those that can be easily assumed by those skilled in the art or that are substantially the same.

(Embodiment)
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic external configuration of a notebook personal computer to which the information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment is applied.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the notebook personal computer 1 includes a main body side housing 2 and a monitor side housing 3. The main body side housing 2 includes a keyboard 21, a touch pad, a bay 4 that is a device housing portion, and the like. The keyboard 21 is provided on the upper surface of the main body side housing 2 and is operated when inputting various commands and data. The bay 4 is provided on one side surface of the main body side housing 2, and various bay devices 5 can be attached and detached. Further, the bay 4 is provided with an eject button 4a for releasing the bay device 5 from being mounted. The bay device 5 is formed with a notch 5 d that engages with a lock mechanism (not shown) provided in the main body side housing 2. After the user attaches the bay device 5 to the bay 4, the user operates a lock button (not shown) and engages the notch 5 d of the bay device 5 by the lock mechanism to lock the bay device 5. When the bay device 5 is removed from the bay 4, the lock button is operated to unlock the bay device 5, and then the eject button 4a is pressed to remove the bay device 5.

  The bay device 5 includes, for example, an OP device that accommodates an OP (Optical) disc 72 such as a DVD or a Blue-Ray disc, and a smart card device that is provided above the OP device and accommodates a smart card 82. Is installed. The smart card device accommodates the smart card 82 and is configured to be able to read / write data. The OP device is configured to accommodate the OP disk 72 so that data can be read / written. In the bezel 5a of the bay device 5, an insertion slot 5b for the OP disk 72 and an insertion slot 5c for the smart card 82 are formed. The OP disk 72 is accommodated in the OP device by being inserted from the insertion slot 5b, and is ejected to the outside from the insertion slot 5b by pressing an eject button (not shown). Similarly, the smart card 82 is accommodated in the smart card device by being inserted from the insertion slot 5c, and is ejected to the outside from the insertion slot 5c by pressing an eject button (not shown). The smart card device complies with the USB standard (Universal Serial Bus) which is the first standard. The OP device is compliant with the SATA (Serial Advanced Technology Attachment) standard which is the second standard.

  The monitor-side housing 3 is configured to be rotatable (openable / closable) with respect to the main body-side housing 2 through a pair of hinges 6 with one side as a rotation center. The monitor housing 3 is provided with a monitor 18 such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display), and various information is displayed on the monitor 18 in accordance with commands from the main body housing 2.

  FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram showing a schematic configuration of the notebook computer 1. The CPU 11 includes a memory controller and a PCI Express controller, and is connected to the main memory 16, the video card 17, and the chip set 12. The video card 17 is a subsystem for realizing functions related to image display, and includes a video controller. The video controller processes a drawing command from the CPU 11, writes the processed drawing information into the video memory, reads out the drawing information from the video memory, and outputs it as a drawing data to a monitor 18 such as a liquid crystal display (LCD). ing.

  The main memory 16 is a writable memory used as an execution program reading area of the CPU 11 or a work area for writing processing data of the execution program. For example, it is composed of a plurality of DRAM chips. This execution program includes an OS (for example, Windows (registered trademark) XP, Vista, 7, etc.) capable of power control based on ACPI (Advanced Configuration and Power Interface), and various drivers for hardware operation of peripheral devices. , A utility program, an authentication application program (for example, VPN), and the like. These execution programs are stored in the HDD 30.

  The chip set 12 includes a controller such as SATA, USB, PCI Express, and LPC, and an RTC (Real Time Clock). The HDD 30 is connected to the SATA controller, the LAN card 13 is connected to the PCI Express controller, and the USB receptacle 16 is connected to the USB controller. An RJ45 receptacle 15 is connected to the LAN card 13. In addition, a SATA-use and USB-use bay device 5 can be connected to the SATA controller and the USB controller. The bay device 5 is housed in the bay 4 in the main body side housing 2 of the notebook computer 1 and is connected to a SATA controller and a USB controller via a general-purpose (common) connector 64. An RRPROM 31 and an embedded controller (EC) 41 are connected to the LPC controller.

  The EEPROM 31 holds information such as a BIOS (Basic Input / Output System) 62, a program for controlling the embedded controller 41, a password registered by the user, a supervisor password, and a product serial number. This is a non-volatile memory and the stored contents can be electrically rewritten.

  The embedded controller 41 is a microcomputer composed of a CPU, ROM, RAM, and the like, and further includes a plurality of channels of A / D input terminals, D / A output terminals, timers, and digital input / output terminals. The embedded controller 41 can execute a program related to management of the internal operating environment of the notebook PC 1 independently of the CPU 11. The embedded controller 41 controls the keyboard 21 and touch pad (not shown).

  The embedded controller 41 controls the operation of the charger 27 by monitoring the state of the battery set 23. The battery set 23 conforms to the standard of the smart battery system (SBS) and is mounted in a manner that cannot be replaced by the user inside the casing. The embedded controller 41 sets the charging current setting value and the charging voltage setting value of the battery set 23 in the charger 27. The charger 27 charges the battery set 22 by a constant current / constant voltage control method (CCCV) based on the setting value of the charging current and the setting value of the charging voltage set by the embedded controller 21.

  The embedded controller 41 controls the DC / DC converter 29 via the power controller 25 and supplies power to the system device mounted on the notebook PC 1. The power controller 25 is connected to the embedded controller 41 and the DC / DC converter 29 and controls the DC / DC converter 29 based on an instruction from the embedded controller 41. The DC / DC converter 29 converts a DC voltage supplied from the battery set 23 or an AC / DC adapter (not shown) into a plurality of voltages and supplies power to the system device.

  FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a main part configuration relating to switching of connection between an OP device and a smart card device mounted in the bay device 5 of the notebook computer 1. In the figure, illustration of the chip set 12 is omitted, and only a main part related to switching of connection between the OP device and the smart card device is shown. FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining the use of the pins P1 to P9 of the connector 64.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the bay device 5 includes a MUX 9, an OP device 7, and a smart card device 8. The MUX 9 functions as a switching unit and selectively connects (exclusively) to the SATA controller (SATA side) 71 and the USB controller (USB side) 81 in accordance with BUS_SWITCH (switching signal) input from the embedded controller 41. Switch to.

  The OP device 7 includes a SATA controller 71, and an OP disk 72 is mounted. The SATA controller 71 includes a motor for driving the OP disk 72 and a drive circuit for reading / writing data, and controls reading / writing of data to / from the OP disk 72. The SATA controller 71 transmits and receives a SATA signal to and from the CPU 11 via the MUX 9 and the connector 64.

  The smart card device 8 includes a USB controller 81 and a smart card 82 is attached. The USB controller 81 includes a drive circuit for reading / writing data of the smart card 82 and controls reading / writing of data to / from the smart card 82. The USB controller 81 transmits and receives USB signals to and from the CPU 11 via the MUX 9 and the connector 64. Further, the USB controller 81 outputs SCARD_DTCT (smart card attachment detection signal) indicating whether or not the smart card 82 is attached / detached to the embedded controller 41 via the connector 64. The smart card 82 stores authentication information for performing user authentication. The user can perform user authentication by inserting the smart card 82.

  Further, the main body side of the notebook computer 1 includes an OS 61 that controls the operation of the notebook computer 1, a BIOS 62 that executes booting, an authentication application program (for example, VPN) 100 that requires user authentication, a CPU 11, An embedded controller 41, a connector 64, and the like are provided.

  The embedded controller 41 detects attachment / detachment of the OP disk 72 based on BAY_EJECT (OP device attachment detection signal). Also, the embedded controller 41 detects the attachment / detachment of the bay device 5 based on BAY_ATTACH (bay attachment detection signal). Further, the embedded controller 41 transmits BUS_SWITCH for switching the connection of the MUX 9 to the MUX 9 to switch the connection destination of the MUX 9. Further, the embedded controller 41 determines whether the smart card 82 is inserted or removed based on SCCCARD_DTCT input from the USB controller 81.

  The CPU 11 transmits / receives a SATA signal to / from the SATA controller 71 and transmits / receives a USB signal to / from the USB controller 81.

  The connector 64 has a pin configuration corresponding to both the SATA standard and the USB standard. The connector 64 includes pins P1 to P9. As shown in FIG. 4, P1 is for power supply, P2 to P5 are for data transmission / reception of SATA signal or USB signal, P6 is for OP disk installation detection, P7 is for bay device installation detection, P8 is for MUX connection switching, P9 is used for smart card attachment detection. Hereinafter, the lines connected to the pins P1 to P9 are referred to as P1 to P9 lines.

  In FIG. 3, a power supply voltage is supplied from the main body side to the bay device 5 through the P1 line. This power supply voltage is supplied to the SATA controller 71, the USB controller 81, and the MUX 9.

  One end side of the P2 to P5 lines is connected to the CPU 11 and the other end side is connected to the MUX 9. Using the P2 to P5 lines, general-purpose signals (BUS_TXP (transmission (differential +)), BUS_TXN (transmission (differential-)), BUS_RX (reception (differential +)), BUS_RXN (reception) between the CPU 11 and the MUX 9 Here, the signal transmitted / received using the P2 to P5 lines may be either a SATA signal or a USB signal, and is therefore represented as a general-purpose signal.

  One end of the P6 line is connected to the embedded controller 41, and the other end is connected to an eject SW 51 for ejecting the OP disk 72. The eject SW 51 is connected to the GND when the OP disk 72 is mounted. For example, an embedded controller 41 and a power source via a pull-up resistor are connected in parallel to the main body side of the P6 line, and the embedded controller 41 is in a state in which the OP disk 72 is not mounted (the eject SW 51 is pushed). In this case, the voltage HIGH of the P6 line can be detected as BAY_EJECT in the mounted state, and the mounting of the OP disk 72 can be detected.

  One end side of the P7 line is connected to the embedded controller 41, and the other end side is connected to the GND of the bay device 5. For example, an embedded controller 41 and a power source via a pull-up resistor are connected in parallel to the main body side of the P7 line. When the bay device 5 is not mounted in the bay 4, the embedded controller 41 In the state where the line voltage HIGH is attached, the voltage LOW of the P7 line is detected as BAY_ATTACH, and the attachment of the bay device 5 can be detected. The method for detecting the mounting of the bay device 5 or the OP disk 72 is not limited to these methods, and a known method can be used.

  One end of the P8 line is connected to the embedded controller 41, and the other end is connected to the MUX 9. The embedded controller 41 transmits BUS_SWITCH for switching the connection of the MUX 9 to the MUX 9 using the P8 line. The MUX 9 selectively switches the connection between the SATA controller (SATA side) 71 and the USB controller (USB side) 81 in accordance with BUS_SWITCH. When the BUS_SWITCH indicates the SATA side, the MUX 9 switches the connection to the SATA side, so that the SATA signal (SATA_TXP (transmission (difference)) is used between the CPU 11 and the SATA controller 71 using the P2 to P5 lines. SATA_TXN (for transmission (differential-)), SATA_RXP (for reception (differential +)), SATA_RXN (for reception (differential-)), and MUX9 has BUS_SWITCH on the USB side In this case, the connection is switched to the USB side, whereby the USB signal (USB3TXP (for transmission (differential +), USB3_TXN (transmission) is used between the CPU 11 and the USB controller 81 using the P2 to P5 lines. Trust (differential-), USB3_RXP (receive (differential +), USB3_RXN (receive) (Differential -)) are transmitted and received.

  One end side of the P9 line is connected to the embedded controller 41, and the other end side is connected to the USB controller 81. The USB controller 81 detects whether the smart card 82 is attached or not, and outputs SCCARD_DTCT indicating the attachment / non-attachment of the smart card 82 to the embedded controller 41 using the P8 line.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart for explaining an example of the connection switching operation between the OP device 7 and the smart card device 8 when the main body is activated. In the figure, a case where user authentication is performed using the smart card 82 will be described.

  In FIG. 5, first, when the main body power is turned on or restarted, the BIOS 62 starts booting (step S1), the embedded controller 41 outputs BUS_SWITCH for instructing the MUX 9 to switch to the USB side, and the MUX 9 Switches the connection to the USB side (step S2). Next, the BIOS 62 configures the smart card device 8 (step S3). As a result, communication between the CPU 11 and the USB controller 81 becomes possible. When the boot is completed (“Yes” in step S4), the BIOS 62 compares the authentication information stored in advance in the EEPROM 31 with the authentication information read from the smart card 82 to perform user authentication (step S5). If the user authentication is successful (“Yes” in step S5), the BIOS 62 stores the authentication information read from the smart card 82 in the EEPROM 31 (step S6).

  Next, the embedded controller 41 outputs BUS_SWITCH for instructing the MUX 9 to switch to the SATA side, and the MUX 9 switches the connection to the SATA side (step S7). The BIOS 62 configures the OP device 7 (step S8). As a result, communication between the CPU 11 and the SATA controller 71 becomes possible, and the OP device 7 becomes usable. Next, when the OS 61 is activated and enters an operating state (“Yes” in step S9), the OS 61 activates, for example, the authentication application 100 (step S10). Since the authentication application 100 requires user authentication, the authentication application 100 instructs the embedded controller 41 to perform user authentication. In response to this, the embedded controller 41 determines whether the smart card 82 is not attached (inserted / removed) based on SCCARD_DTCT input from the USB controller 81 (step S11). Is not attached (“Yes” in step S11), log off is performed (step S13). On the other hand, when the smart card 82 is attached (“No” in step S11), user authentication is performed using the authentication information read from the smart card 82 stored in the EEPROM 31 (step S12), and the user authentication is successful. Notify the authentication application 100. As a result, the authentication application 100 can be operated.

  As described above, according to the present embodiment, the OP device 7 conforming to the SATA standard, the smart card device 8 conforming to the USB standard, and the connection between the OP device 7 and the smart card device 8 are alternatively selected. MUX9 that connects to a common interface and an embedded controller 41 that controls the switching of the connection of MUX9, so even if OP device 7 and smart card device 8 are installed, a common interface is used Therefore, it is possible to save space.

  Further, when the main body is activated, the connection of the MUX 9 is switched to the smart card device 8 side, the authentication information stored in the smart card 82 is read and user authentication is performed, and after the user authentication, the connection of the MUX 9 is switched to the OP device 7 side. Since the OP device 7 is brought into an operable state, user authentication can be performed using a smart card.

  The authentication information read from the smart card 82 is stored in the EEPROM 31. When user authentication is requested from the authentication application 100 with the OP device 7 connected, the smart card 82 is attached. If it is connected, user authentication is performed using the authentication information read from the smart card 82 stored in the EEPROM 31. If the smart card 82 is not attached, user authentication is performed. Since it is determined not to be performed, user authentication can be performed even when the OP device is used as long as the smart card is not removed.

  In the above embodiment, the USB standard is used as the first standard and the SATA standard is used as the second standard. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and other standards are used. It may be. Further, although the smart card device has been described as an example of the first device, a device capable of fingerprint authentication or voiceprint authentication may be used. Further, although the OP device has been described as the second device, another device such as an HDD or an SDD may be used.

  In addition, a notebook personal computer has been described as an example of the information processing apparatus, but the present invention is not limited to this, and can be applied to other information processing apparatuses such as a PDA.

  The information processing apparatus and the device connection switching method thereof according to the present invention are useful when a plurality of peripheral devices are mounted in a space-saving manner.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Notebook PC 2 Main body side housing 3 Monitor side housing 4 Bay 4a Eject button 5 Bay device 6 Hinge (connection part)
7 OP device 8 Smart card device 9 MUX
11 CPU
12 Chip set 13 LAN card 15 RJ45
16 Main Memory 17 Video Card 18 Monitor 21 Keyboard 23 Battery Set 25 Power Controller 27 Charger 29 DC / DC Converter 30 Hard Disk (HDD)
31 EEPROM
41 Embedded Controller 61 OS
62 BIOS
64 connector 71 SATA controller 72 OP disk 81 USB controller 82 smart card

Claims (6)

A first device compliant with the first standard;
A second device compliant with the second standard;
Switching means for selectively switching the connection between the first device and the second device to connect to a common interface;
Control means for controlling switching of the switching means;
Equipped with a,
The control means includes
At the time of activation of the main body, the connection of the switching means is switched to the first device, user authentication is performed using authentication information stored in a recording medium attached to the first device, and the authentication information is Store in memory,
After user authentication, the connection of the switching means is switched to the second device to make the second device operable.
When user authentication is requested from the application program, it is detected whether or not the recording medium is attached to the first device, and stored in the memory when the recording medium is attached. An information processing apparatus that performs user authentication using authentication information and does not perform user authentication when the recording medium is not loaded . The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 , wherein the mounting of the recording medium is detected using a pin provided on a connector of the common interface. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first standard is a USB standard, and the second standard is a SATA standard. Said first device is a smart card device, wherein the recording medium is a smart card, said second device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the optical device Information processing device. Furthermore, a bay device accommodating portion that detachably accommodates the bay device is provided,
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the bay device includes the first device and the second device. A device connection switching method for an information processing apparatus,
A switching step of selectively switching the connection between the first device compliant with the first standard and the second device compliant with the second standard and connecting to the common interface;
A control process for controlling switching of the switching process;
Only including,
In the control step,
At the time of activation of the main body, the connection in the switching step is switched to the first device, and user authentication is performed using authentication information stored in a recording medium attached to the first device. Store in memory,
After user authentication, the connection in the switching step is switched to the second device to make the second device operable.
When user authentication is requested from the application program, it is detected whether or not the recording medium is attached to the first device, and stored in the memory when the recording medium is attached. A device connection switching method for an information processing apparatus , wherein user authentication is performed using authentication information, and user authentication is not performed when the recording medium is not loaded .

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