JP5710198B2 - Information processing apparatus, control method, and control program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus capable of power saving operation, a control method for causing the information processing apparatus to perform power saving operation, and a control program.

  Various techniques for eliminating unnecessary power consumption related to information processing apparatuses have been proposed. With regard to the information processing apparatus, it may be left in a state where the user does not use it while being activated, and it has been proposed that the information processing apparatus detects this and shifts to the power saving mode. For example, Patent Document 1 describes a display device that reduces power consumption by displaying a screen based on detection of a person by a person detection sensor and an imaging camera.

  According to the display device described in Patent Literature 1, since a screen can be displayed when a person approaches the vicinity that can be detected by the person detection sensor and the imaging camera, the screen can be turned off in other cases. It is possible to reduce power consumption. This solves the problem that using only the human detection sensor, an operation screen is displayed even if a person who does not intend to operate the display device passes or approaches, so that wasteful power consumption cannot be suppressed. It is a technique to do.

JP 2003-255922 A

  However, the display device described in Patent Document 1 must include both a person detection sensor and an imaging camera in order to suppress wasteful power consumption, and the following problems arise. The challenge is to determine the presence of a person based on the sensor values obtained separately from two separate sensors (person detection sensor and imaging camera) in order to reduce power consumption more finely than in the past. This means that complex control is required.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide an information processing apparatus, a control method, and a control program that solve the above-described problems and suppress wasteful power consumption.

The present invention provides an input means for receiving an input from a user, a measuring means for outputting a measured value of a sensor according to the presence or absence of the user, and a first for determining the presence of the user based on the measured value. a threshold value determining means for determining a second threshold value of the threshold and the user to determine the absence, based on the relationship between the measured value and the first threshold or the second threshold value, the control for executing the power saving operation an information processing apparatus and means, threshold value determining means, a measurement value output when the input means is receiving a user's input with a first threshold value, corresponding to the first threshold value characterized by a value with a second threshold value.

  Advantageous Effects of Invention According to the present invention, there is an effect that the information processing apparatus can suppress fine and wasteful power consumption with simple control based on a value acquired from one type of sensor provided.

It is an example of the block diagram of the information processing apparatus which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is an example of the threshold value management table which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart of the power saving mode of the information processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.

  Embodiments of an information processing apparatus according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is an example of a block diagram of an information processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. The information processing apparatus 10 includes a control unit 100, a detection unit 200, an input unit 300, and a display unit 400. An example of the information processing apparatus 10 is a personal computer. Further, any apparatus that performs an operation while looking at a screen or the like and performs information processing by the operation may be included in an example of the information processing apparatus 10.

  The control unit 100 includes a threshold value determination unit 110, a threshold value management table 120, a threshold value recording unit 130, and a screen control unit 140.

  The threshold value determination unit 110 detects the value detected by the detection unit 200 when a person operating the information processing apparatus 10 (hereinafter abbreviated as a user) operates with the input unit 300, and the user is present in front of the information processing apparatus 10. It is assumed that the person is engaged and is set as the presence threshold. The presence threshold is a value that is considered to be present (present) before the information processing apparatus 10 if the presence threshold is equal to or greater than that value. In addition, when the threshold determination unit 110 determines the presence threshold, the threshold determination unit 110 refers to the threshold management table 120 and determines the absence threshold.

  The threshold management table 120 is as shown in FIG. 2, and the presence threshold and the away threshold have a certain correlation. In FIG. 2, the values detected by the detection unit 200 are classified into 0 to 250, and among these values, the value corresponding to the value detected as the presence threshold (that is, the away threshold) is 0. , 8, 16, and 30. Note that these values in FIG. 2 are merely examples, and are appropriately changed according to various conditions. As described above, the threshold determination unit 110 refers to the threshold management table 120 to determine the away threshold corresponding to the presence threshold. The away threshold is a value that is considered to be that the user does not necessarily exist in front of the information processing apparatus 10 (separate) if the value is less than this value. Here, when the threshold value is less than the presence threshold value and equal to or greater than the away threshold value, the presence of the user in front of the information processing apparatus 10 is ambiguous. That is, whether the user always exists or does not exist cannot be determined. The correspondence to this ambiguous case has been described with reference to FIG.

  The threshold recording unit 130 records the presence threshold and the away threshold determined by the threshold determination unit 110.

  The screen control unit 140 compares the presence threshold value and the away threshold value recorded in the threshold value recording unit 130 with the sensor values acquired by the detection unit 200 to adjust the brightness of the display unit 400 and turn on / off the screen power supply. Do.

  The detection unit 200 is a sensor that detects whether or not there is a user of the information processing apparatus 10. Examples of the sensor type include an infrared sensor that can detect a person. Many of these sensors are inexpensive and small in size. In addition, there is no particular limitation as long as a person can be detected. The detection unit 200 detects whether there is a user in front of the information processing apparatus 10 at a certain period, and transmits the value of the sensor to the control unit 100.

  The input unit 300 is a part for inputting information to the information processing apparatus 10, and specifically corresponds to a keyboard, a mouse, or the like. Also included are other input means such as buttons and touchpads. Note that an operation at the input unit 300 is converted into an input signal and transmitted to the control unit 100.

  The display unit 400 is a screen that displays the content processed by the information processing apparatus 10, and the screen control unit 140 performs brightness adjustment based on the presence threshold and the away threshold and ON / OFF of the screen power supply.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of the power saving mode of the information processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention.
Note that this flowchart detects whether or not a user exists in front of the information processing apparatus 10, performs brightness adjustment of the display unit and ON / OFF of the screen power according to the presence of the user, and the information processing apparatus 10 power saving is shown.

  First, in step S <b> 100, the detection unit 200 acquires a sensor value and transmits it to the threshold value determination unit 110 and the screen control unit 140 of the control unit 100.

  Next, in step S <b> 110, it is determined whether or not any operation has been performed at the input unit 300. If there is an operation as a result of the determination, the process proceeds to step S120. On the other hand, if there is no operation, the process proceeds to step S140.

  Next, in step S <b> 120, the threshold value determination unit 110 regards the sensor value of the detection unit 200 at that time as the presence threshold value, assuming that the user is present in front of the information processing apparatus 10. The presence threshold is recorded in the threshold recording unit 130. In step S110, the presence threshold value is not determined until any operation is performed on the input unit 300. Therefore, an appropriate initial setting value is recorded in the threshold recording unit 130 as the presence threshold value. Yes. Instead of the initial set value, the presence threshold value is recorded in the threshold value recording unit 130.

  Next, in step S130, the threshold determination unit 110 refers to the threshold management table 120 based on the presence threshold recorded in the threshold recording unit 130, and determines the away threshold corresponding to the presence threshold. In step S110, the presence threshold value is not determined until any operation is performed on the input unit 300. Therefore, the away threshold value cannot be determined. Therefore, similarly to the above, an initial setting value appropriate as the away threshold value is recorded in the threshold value recording unit 130.

  Next, the process proceeds to step S190, and one loop is completed. Here, when step S190 is reached, the process returns to step S100, and a series of flows is repeated. Here, this one loop is performed in about 0.5 seconds. That is, the detection unit 200 acquires the sensor value and transmits it to the control unit 100 about every 0.5 seconds. However, the set time of this one loop can be changed as appropriate.

  On the other hand, if there is no operation on the input unit 300 in step S110, the process proceeds to step S140. The screen control unit 140 determines whether there is a change in the sensor value of the detection unit 200. The detection unit 200 transmits the value of the sensor to the control unit 100 at a certain period in order to detect whether or not there is a user in front of the information processing apparatus 10. Therefore, the sensor value acquired each time can be stored in a recording unit (not shown) in the control unit 100, and a change in the sensor value can be determined. Since the change in the sensor value means that the user is moving by operating the information processing apparatus 10 or the like, it can be determined that the user exists in front of the information processing apparatus 10. If there is a change in the sensor value, the process proceeds to step S190, and one loop is completed.

  If there is no change in the sensor value, the process proceeds to step S150. When there is no change in the sensor value, it is a suspicious case whether or not a user exists in front of the information processing apparatus 10. Therefore, the screen control unit 140 compares the presence threshold recorded in the threshold recording unit 130 with the sensor value. If the sensor value is equal to or greater than the presence threshold, the screen control unit 140 proceeds to step S190 and completes one loop. This is because if the sensor value is equal to or greater than the presence threshold, it can be determined that the user is present in front of the information processing apparatus 10.

  On the other hand, the presence threshold recorded in the threshold recording unit 130 is compared with the sensor value. If the sensor value is less than the presence threshold, the process proceeds to step S160. Accordingly, the screen control unit 140 compares the away threshold value recorded in the threshold value recording unit 130 with the sensor value, and if the sensor value is equal to or greater than the away threshold value, the process proceeds to step S170.

  In step S170, since the sensor value is between the presence threshold and the away threshold, it is determined that the user is present in front of the information processing apparatus 10, and the brightness of the display unit 400 is adjusted. (Such as making it darker) to notify the user. Before entering Step S170, the state of the display unit 400 is set to a certain level of brightness. If the user exists there, it is anticipated that this notification (brightness adjustment) will be noticed and some action (keyboard or mouse operation, etc.) will occur. If there is no user, the brightness adjustment contributes to power saving of the information processing apparatus 10. After step S170, the process proceeds to step S190, and one loop is completed. Note that when step S190 is reached, the process returns to step S100 and the series of steps is repeated. Therefore, the luminance adjustment is performed in steps S140 (with sensor value change) and step S150 (with the presence threshold). Reset in comparison).

  Further, in step S160, the screen control unit 140 compares the away threshold value recorded in the threshold value recording unit 130 with the sensor value. If the sensor value is less than the away threshold value, the process proceeds to step S180. In step S180, the screen power of display unit 400 is turned off. Here, the fact that the sensor value is less than the away threshold is because it can be reliably determined that there is no user in front of the information processing apparatus 10. After step S180, the process proceeds to step S190, and one loop is completed.

  As described above, as described in the flowchart, the information processing apparatus 10 constantly detects whether or not a user exists before that, and whenever an input is performed from the input unit 300 by the user, an optimum seating threshold value is determined. , And a away threshold are set.

  According to the above embodiment, in the information processing apparatus including a certain type of sensor, it is determined whether there is a user in front of the information processing apparatus using the presence threshold and the away threshold. There is an effect that fine power saving operation can be executed.

  In addition, the above two threshold values are configured by extracting a value (seating threshold) obtained from the sensor and a corresponding value (seating threshold) from the threshold management table based on the value. It has become possible to execute power-saving operation reliably without complicated control. Furthermore, there is an effect that it is possible to avoid a problem that occurs when these threshold values are acquired independently. The problem is a case where the acquired presence threshold and the away threshold are numerically reversed.

  Although the embodiments have been described above, various modifications and changes may be made to these embodiments and specific examples without departing from the broad scope and scope of the present invention defined in the claims. Is possible.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Information processing apparatus 100 Control part 110 Threshold determination part 120 Threshold management table 130 Threshold recording part 140 Screen control part 200 Detection part 300 Input part 400 Display part

Claims (7)

Input means for receiving input from the user;
Measuring means for outputting a measured value of the sensor according to the presence or absence of the user;
Threshold determination means for determining a first threshold for determining the presence of the user and a second threshold for determining the absence of the user based on the measurement value;
Control means for executing a power saving operation based on the relationship between the measured value and the first threshold value or the second threshold value;
An information processing apparatus comprising:
The threshold value determining unit sets the measurement value output when the input unit receives input from the user as the first threshold value, and sets a value corresponding to the first threshold value as the second threshold value. An information processing apparatus characterized by setting a threshold value. The information processing apparatus includes a threshold management table that manages thresholds for determining the presence of the user,
2. The information processing according to claim 1, wherein when the threshold value determination unit determines the second threshold value, the threshold value corresponding to the first threshold value is set as the second threshold value in the threshold value management table. apparatus. The information processing apparatus includes display means,
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control unit controls power supply to the display unit in order to execute a power saving operation. The control means, the first threshold value, and, based on the second threshold value but can not determine whether the user is present, according to claim 3, characterized in that to adjust the brightness of the display means serial mounting of the information processing apparatus. The control means performs the power saving operation by comparing the measured value with the second threshold value when the measured value does not reach the first threshold value and the power saving operation cannot be executed. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4 . Input means for receiving input from the user;
Measuring means for outputting a measured value of the sensor according to the presence or absence of the user;
Threshold determination means for determining a first threshold for determining the presence of the user and a second threshold for determining the absence of the user based on the measurement value;
Control means for executing a power saving operation based on the relationship between the measured value and the first threshold value or the second threshold value;
In a method for controlling an information processing apparatus comprising:
The threshold value determining means sets the measurement value output when the input means receives the user input as the first threshold value, and sets a value corresponding to the first threshold value to the second threshold value. A step of setting a threshold;
An information processing apparatus control method comprising: Input means for receiving input from the user;
Measuring means for outputting a measured value of the sensor according to the presence or absence of the user;
Threshold determination means for determining a first threshold for determining the presence of the user and a second threshold for determining the absence of the user based on the measurement value;
Control means for executing a power saving operation based on the relationship between the measured value and the first threshold value or the second threshold value;
In a control program for controlling an information processing apparatus comprising:
The threshold value determining means sets the measurement value output when the input means receives the user input as the first threshold value, and sets a value corresponding to the first threshold value to the second threshold value. Processing to be a threshold;
Is executed on the information processing apparatus.

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