JP6696021B1 - Information processing equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve convenience. An information processing apparatus includes a main display unit that displays a main screen, a host control unit that controls its own device including the main display unit using a first general-purpose OS (operating system), and a sub screen. A touch screen having a sub-display unit for displaying and a touch detection unit for detecting a touch operation by the operation medium on the sub-display unit, and a sub-control unit for controlling the touch screen using the second general-purpose OS, The control unit controls the sub control unit as an auxiliary function unit. [Selection diagram] Fig. 3

Description

  The present invention relates to an information processing device.

  2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, in an information processing device such as a notebook PC (notebook personal computer), one including a sub display unit in addition to a main display unit is known (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In such an information processing apparatus, the sub-display unit is configured by a touch screen that displays various information and detects a touch operation, which is effective for making the information processing apparatus multifunctional.

JP, 10-254622, A

  However, in the above-described information processing device, since the sub-display unit is configured by a dedicated system, it is difficult to easily add a function to the sub-display unit and the like, which is inconvenient. was there.

  The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide an information processing apparatus capable of improving convenience.

  In order to solve the above problems, one embodiment of the present invention uses a main display portion that displays a main screen and a host that controls a device including the main display portion using a first general-purpose OS (operating system). A touch screen including a control unit, a sub-display unit that displays a sub-screen, and a touch detection unit that detects a touch operation on the sub-display unit by an operation medium; and a second general-purpose OS to control the touch screen. And a sub control unit for controlling the sub control unit as an auxiliary function unit.

  Further, according to an aspect of the present invention, in the information processing device, the host control unit responds to the predetermined event when a predetermined event occurs in an application executed by the first general-purpose OS. A notification display instruction to display the notification on the sub display unit, and the sub control unit responds to the predetermined event according to the notification display instruction transmitted by the host control unit. The notification may be displayed on the sub display unit.

  Further, according to an aspect of the present invention, in the information processing device, the notification includes a message, and the sub-control unit detects the touch operation in which the touch detection unit instructs a reply to the message. In this case, the input reply message may be transmitted to the host control unit, and the host control unit may cause the application to transmit the reply message to the reply destination.

  Further, according to an aspect of the present invention, in the information processing device, the sub-control unit includes a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) indicating the location information of the website in the message, and the sub-display unit displays the URL. When the touch operation that specifies the URL is detected, the URL is transmitted to the host control unit, the host control unit activates browser software, and displays the website corresponding to the URL. Alternatively, it may be displayed on the main screen of the main display unit.

  Further, according to one embodiment of the present invention, in the above-described information processing device, a keyboard that can accept a key input from a user and output the accepted key input to the host control unit and the sub control unit is provided. The control unit may acquire the key input from the keyboard when it is necessary to acquire the key input.

  Further, according to an aspect of the present invention, in the information processing device, the sub control unit displays an icon indicating a predesignated application, which is an application executed by the first general-purpose OS, in the sub display. When the touch detection unit detects the touch operation that specifies the icon, the touch detection unit transmits a start request to start the application corresponding to the specified icon to the host control unit. The host control unit may activate the application corresponding to the icon in response to the activation request.

  Further, according to an aspect of the present invention, in the information processing device, the sub-control unit causes the sub-display unit to display the icons corresponding to a plurality of the applications that realize equivalent functions, and the touch operation is performed. When the detection unit detects the touch operation of swiping the icon, one of the plurality of applications corresponding to the icon is selected according to the direction of the swipe, and the selected one is selected. A start request for starting the application may be transmitted to the host control unit.

  Further, according to an aspect of the present invention, in the information processing device, the sub-control unit causes the sub-display unit to display an operation screen for operating an application executed by the first general-purpose OS. When the touch detection unit detects the touch operation for operating the application on the operation screen, the touch detection unit transmits an operation request to perform the detected operation to the host control unit, and the host control unit performs the operation. The operation of the application may be executed in response to a request.

  Further, according to one embodiment of the present invention, a main display portion that displays a main screen, a host control portion that controls a device including the main display portion using a first general-purpose OS (operating system), and a sub screen are included. A touch screen controlled by a second general-purpose OS, the host control unit including: a sub-display unit that displays a sub-display unit; and a touch detection unit that detects a touch operation performed on the sub-display unit by an operation medium. When the touch detection unit detects the touch operation of flicking the icon displayed on the sub-display unit, a plurality of touch-sensitive units that realize the same function corresponding to the flicked icon are displayed according to the direction of the swipe. An information processing apparatus that starts one of the applications using the first general-purpose OS.

  In the information processing device according to the aspect of the present invention, the equivalent function may be a voice assistant function.

  According to the above aspect of the present invention, convenience can be improved.

It is an external view showing an example of a notebook PC according to the present embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the main hardware constitutions of the notebook PC by this embodiment. It is a block diagram showing an example of functional composition of a notebook PC by this embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the notification process of the notebook PC by this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of the sub screen in the notification process of this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of the email notification popup in this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of a popup of the schedule notification in this embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the reply process of the message in this embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the starting process of the application from the subsystem in this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of a popup when URL is clicked in this embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the operation processing of the application in this embodiment. It is a figure which shows the example of a display of the sub screen in the operation process of this embodiment. It is a figure which shows another example of the starting process of the application from the subsystem in this embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the starting process of the voice assistant in this embodiment. It is an external view which shows the modification of the notebook PC by this embodiment.

  An information processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

  FIG. 1 is an external view showing an example of a notebook PC (notebook personal computer) 1 according to this embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the main hardware configuration of the notebook PC 1 according to this embodiment. In the present embodiment, the notebook PC 1 will be described as an example of the information processing device.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the notebook PC 1 is a notebook personal computer, and includes a main display unit 14 that displays a main screen (main screen), a keyboard 32 and a pointing device 33, a sub display unit 42, and a touch sensor 43. And a touch screen 41 having. The notebook PC 1 also includes a main system 10 that controls the entire notebook PC 1 including the main display unit 14, the keyboard 32, and the pointing device 33, and a subsystem 40 that controls the sub display unit 42 and the touch sensor 43.

The main system 10 is a system that controls the entire notebook PC 1 using Windows (registered trademark, an example of a first general-purpose OS (operating system)), for example.
The subsystem 40 is, for example, a system that controls an auxiliary function unit including the sub-display unit 42 and the touch sensor 43 by using Android (registered trademark, an example of a second general-purpose OS).
In this way, the notebook PC 1 has two general-purpose OSs in one device, and these general-purpose OSs can operate in parallel (simultaneously).

  Further, as shown in FIG. 2, the notebook PC 1 includes a CPU 11, a main memory 12, a video subsystem 13, a main display unit 14, a chipset 21, a BIOS memory 22, an HDD 23, and a USB interface unit 24. An audio system 25, a WLAN card 26, an EC (embedded controller) 31, a keyboard 32, a pointing device 33, a power supply circuit 34, a sensor unit 35, a touch screen 41, and a system chip 44. ..

A CPU (Central Processing Unit) 11 is, for example, an x86 CPU, executes various arithmetic processing under program control, and controls the entire notebook PC 1.
The main memory 12 is a writable memory used as a read area for the execution program of the CPU 11 or as a work area for writing processing data of the execution program. The main memory 12 is composed of, for example, a plurality of DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory) chips. This execution program includes a Windows (registered trademark) OS, various device drivers for operating peripheral devices in hardware, various services / utilities, application programs, and the like.

  The video subsystem 13 is a subsystem for realizing a function related to image display, and includes a video controller. The video controller processes the drawing command from the CPU 11, writes the processed drawing information in the video memory, reads the drawing information from the video memory, and outputs it to the main display unit 14 as drawing data (display data).

  The main display unit 14 (an example of a first display unit) is, for example, a liquid crystal display or an organic EL (Electro-Luminescence) display, and is based on drawing data (display data) output from the video subsystem 13 as a main screen. Display the display screen.

  The chipset 21 includes a USB (Universal Serial Bus), a serial ATA (AT Attachment), a SPI (Serial Peripheral Interface) bus, a PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) bus, a PCI-Express bus, and an LPC (Low Pin Count) bus. It is equipped with a controller to connect multiple devices. In FIG. 2, as an example of devices, a BIOS memory 22, an HDD 23, a USB interface unit 24, an audio system 25, a WLAN card 26, and an EC 31 are connected to the chip set 21.

  The BIOS (Basic Input Output System) memory 22 is composed of an electrically rewritable nonvolatile memory such as an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory) or a flash ROM. The BIOS memory 22 stores BIOS, system firmware for controlling the EC 31, and the like.

An HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 23 (an example of a non-volatile storage device) stores a Windows (registered trademark) OS, various drivers, various services / utilities, application programs, and various data.
The USB interface unit 24 is an interface unit for connecting peripheral devices using USB.

The audio system 25 records, reproduces, and outputs sound data.
A WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network) card 26 is connected to a network by a wireless LAN to perform data communication. The WLAN card 26, for example, when receiving data from the network, generates an event trigger indicating that the data has been received.

  The EC 31 is a one-chip microcomputer that monitors and controls various devices (peripheral devices, sensors, etc.) regardless of the system state of the notebook PC 1. Further, the EC 31 has a power management function of controlling the power circuit 34. The EC 31 is composed of a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and the like (not shown), and has an A / D input terminal, a D / A output terminal, a timer, and a digital input / output terminal of a plurality of channels. A keyboard 32, a pointing device 33, a power supply circuit 34, a sensor unit 35, and the like, for example, are connected to the EC 31 via these input / output terminals, and the EC 31 controls these operations.

  The keyboard 32 is, for example, an input device such as a keyboard device or a touch sensor, and receives a key input from a user. The pointing device 33 is an input device such as a mouse or a touch pad, and mainly accepts designation of a position on the display screen and designation or selection of an operation target (object) such as an operation button.

The power supply circuit 34 includes, for example, a DC / DC converter, a charging / discharging unit, a battery unit, an AC / DC adapter, and the like, and operates the notebook PC 1 with a DC voltage supplied from the AC / DC adapter or the battery unit. Convert to multiple voltages needed for. Further, the power supply circuit 34 supplies electric power to each unit of the notebook PC 1 under the control of the EC 31.
The sensor unit 35 performs various detections such as the temperature and state of each unit of the notebook PC 1, for example. The sensor unit 35 detects, for example, opening / closing of the cover.

The touch screen 41 is arranged, for example, on the side surface of the housing of the notebook PC 1, and includes a sub display unit 42 and a touch sensor 43.
The sub display unit 42 (an example of a second display unit) is, for example, a liquid crystal display or an organic EL display, and displays a sub screen. The sub display unit 42 displays, for example, various icons, battery information, notifications from the main system 10 such as mail, and the like.

  The touch sensor 43 (an example of a touch detection unit) is arranged so as to overlap the sub display unit 42, and detects a touch operation on the sub display unit 42 by the operation medium. In the following description of the present embodiment, touching the touch sensor 43 (sub display unit 42) with the user's finger is referred to as “touch”, and the user's finger refers to a predetermined portion of the touch sensor 43 (sub touch). Pushing (touching) so as to poke a predetermined display portion of the display unit 42 may be referred to as “tap”. In addition, when the user's finger "touches" or "taps" and then repels the finger, it may be referred to as "flick". “Touch”, “tap” and “flick” are included in the touch operation. The operation medium includes, for example, a user's finger or a touch pen.

  The system chip 44 is, for example, a SoC (System On Chip) including an ARM core (registered trademark), and integrally controls the subsystem 40 including the touch screen 41. The system chip 44 executes, for example, an Android (registered trademark) OS or program stored in a nonvolatile memory (not shown) such as a flash memory.

In FIG. 2, the CPU 11, the main memory 12, the video subsystem 13, the main display unit 14, the chipset 21, the BIOS memory 22, the HDD 23, the USB interface unit 24, the audio system 25, The WLAN card 26, an EC (embedded controller) 31, a keyboard 32, a pointing device 33, a power supply circuit 34, and a sensor unit 35 are included in the main system 10. Further, the touch screen 41 and the system chip 44 are included in the subsystem 40.
Further, the main system 10 and the subsystem 40 are connected by, for example, a USB interface and an I2C (Inter-Integrated Circuit) bus.

Next, the functional configuration of the notebook PC 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the notebook PC 1 according to this embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 3, the notebook PC 1 includes a main system 10 and a subsystem 40. The main system 10 includes a main display unit 14, a host control unit 15, an application 16, a WLAN card 26, a keyboard 32, and a sensor unit 35. The subsystem 40 also includes a touch screen 41 and a sub controller 45.

  The host control unit 15 is a functional unit realized by reading a program stored in the HDD 23 or the BIOS memory 22 into the main memory 12 and executing the program by the CPU 11. The host control unit 15 controls its own device (notebook PC 1) including the main display unit 14 using the OS of Windows (registered trademark). The host control unit 15 also controls the sub control unit 45 as an auxiliary function unit.

  Further, the host control unit 15 causes the sub display unit 42 to display a notification according to a predetermined event when a predetermined event occurs in the application 16 executed by the Windows (registered trademark) OS. Is transmitted to the sub control unit 45. The predetermined event here is, for example, reception of mail, reception of message, notification from SNS (Social Networking Service), schedule notification of schedule management software, or the like. The host control unit 15 transmits a notification display instruction corresponding to the event to the sub control unit 45 using, for example, the USB interface.

Further, when the host control unit 15 receives the notification reply request from the sub-control unit 45, the host control unit 15 causes the application 16 corresponding to the notification to transmit the reply message to the reply destination.
Further, when the icon is tapped in the sub control unit 45 and the activation request for the application 16 is received from the sub control unit 45, the host control unit 15 activates the application 16 corresponding to the icon according to the activation request. To do.

  In addition, for example, when the host control unit 15 receives a browser software activation request (an example of an application 16 activation request) together with a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) from the sub control unit 45, the host control unit 15 activates the browser software. Then, the host control unit 15 causes the browser software to display the display of the website corresponding to the URL on the main screen of the main display unit 14. In the following description, the browser software may be simply referred to as “browser”.

  Further, when the sub screen of the subsystem 40 is used as the operation screen of the application 16, the host control unit 15 executes the operation of the application 16 in response to the operation request from the sub control unit 45.

  The sub-control unit 45 is a functional unit realized by reading a program stored in a nonvolatile memory (not shown) into the memory (not shown) and executing the program by the system chip 44. The sub-control unit 45 controls the touch screen 41 using, for example, an OS of Android (registered trademark).

  The sub control unit 45 displays a notification corresponding to a predetermined event on the sub display unit 42 in response to the notification display instruction transmitted by the host control unit 15. Further, this notification includes a message, and when the touch sensor 43 detects a touch operation for instructing a reply to the message, the sub control unit 45 transmits the input reply message to the host control unit 15. To do. Note that the sub-control unit 45 acquires the key input from the keyboard 32 via the EC 31 using the I2C bus when the key input is required to be acquired. Here, the keyboard 32 is an input device capable of receiving a key input from a user and outputting the received key input to the host control unit 15 and the sub control unit 45.

  Further, when the message includes the URL indicating the position information of the website and the touch operation for designating the URL displayed on the sub display unit 42 is detected, the sub control unit 45 sets the URL to the host control unit 15. Send to. That is, the sub-control unit 45 causes the sub-display unit 42 to display an icon indicating the application 16 that is the application 16 executed by the Windows (registered trademark) OS and is designated in advance. Then, when the touch sensor 43 detects a touch operation for designating an icon, the sub-control unit 45 transmits to the host control unit 15 a launch request for launching the application 16 corresponding to the designated icon, The system 10 starts the application 16.

  Further, the sub control unit 45 causes the sub display unit 42 to display icons corresponding to the plurality of applications 16 that realize the same functions. Then, when the touch sensor 43 detects a touch operation for flicking the icon, the sub control unit 45 selects one application 16 of the plurality of applications 16 corresponding to the icon according to the direction of the flick. A start request for starting the selected one application 16 is transmitted to the host control unit 15. Here, the equivalent function is, for example, a voice assistant function.

  Specifically, the sub control unit 45 displays the icon of the voice assistant function on the sub display unit 42, and when the icon is flicked, changes the software of the voice assistant function to be activated according to the direction of the flick. And start it. For example, when the flick direction is the vertical direction, the sub control unit 45 activates Alexa (registered trademark). For example, when the flick direction is the horizontal direction, the sub control unit 45 causes the Cortana (registered trademark) registration. Trademark).

  Further, the sub control unit 45 displays an operation screen for operating the application 16 on the sub display unit 42, and detects when the touch sensor 43 detects a touch operation for operating the application 16 on the operation screen. An operation request for performing the operation is transmitted to the host controller 15.

Next, the operation of the notebook PC 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the notification process of the notebook PC 1 according to this embodiment. Here, an example of the case of notifying the subsystem 40 of the notification of mail reception from the main system 10 will be described.

As shown in FIG. 4, when an event such as mail reception occurs in the main system 10, the host control unit 15 acquires the event (mail reception) (step S101).
Next, the host control unit 15 sends a notification display instruction of mail to the sub control unit 45 (step S102). The host control unit 15 transmits, for example, a notification display instruction including the content (message) of the received mail to the sub control unit 45.

Next, the sub control unit 45 displays the notification of the mail on the sub screen (step S103). The details of the display example on the sub-screen will be described later with reference to FIGS. Further, here, a case will be described in which a reply message is transmitted in response to an email notification.
Next, the sub control unit 45 acquires the reply message from the keyboard 32 (step S104). The sub control unit 45 causes the sub display unit 42 to display a popup window for inputting a reply message. The details of the reply message input screen will be described later with reference to FIG.

Next, the sub control unit 45 transmits a transmission request for the input (acquired) reply message to the host control unit 15 (step S105).
Next, the host control unit 15 causes the application 16 to return a reply message (step S106). The host control unit 15 activates the application 16 corresponding to the reply message such as mail software, and causes the reply message received from the sub-control unit 45 to be transmitted. For example, the application 16 returns a reply message to the mail software via the WLAN card 26.

Next, with reference to FIGS. 5 to 7, a display example of the sub-screen in the notification process of the present embodiment will be described.
FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a display example of a sub-screen in the notification processing of this embodiment.
In FIG. 5, first, the sub control unit 45 displays an icon screen such as the screen G1 on the sub screen of the sub display unit 42. Next, when the notification display request for mail reception is received from the host control unit 15, the sub control unit 45 displays a sub screen including a pop-up window indicating a mail reception notification, such as the screen G2.

  Here, when the user swipes up the popup window, the sub control unit 45 displays a sub screen such as the screen G3. On the screen G3, when the user swipes the popup window downward, the sub control unit 45 ends the display of the popup window and displays a sub screen like the screen G4.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a display example of a mail notification popup in the present embodiment. FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a display example of a schedule notification popup in the present embodiment.
For example, when the sub control unit 45 receives a mail reception notification from the host control unit 15, the sub control unit 45 displays a popup such as the popup window W1 in FIG. 6 on the sub screen. Further, for example, when the sub-control unit 45 receives a schedule notification from the host control unit 15, the sub-control unit 45 displays a pop-up such as the pop-up window W2 in FIG. 7 on the sub-screen.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of a message reply process according to this embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 8, when the sub-control unit 45 displays a message notification pop-up like the window W3 on the sub-screen, the touch sensor 43 displays, for example, the “Reply” button BT1 (reply button). When the tap is detected, the sub control unit 45 displays a pop-up like the window W4 on the sub screen. That is, the sub-control unit 45 displays a pop-up for inputting a reply message, as shown in the window W4.

  In this case, the user inputs a reply message using the keyboard 32 included in the main system 10, and the keyboard 32 outputs the accepted key input to the sub control unit 45 via the EC 31. The sub-control unit 45 displays the key input accepted by the keyboard 32 as shown in the window W5. When the touch sensor 43 detects the tap of the “Send” button BT2 (transmission button) in the pop-up shown in the window W5, the sub control unit 45 transmits a reply message transmission request to the host control unit 15 ( (See step S105 in FIG. 7).

Next, with reference to FIGS. 9 and 10, a process of starting the application 16 of the main system 10 from the subsystem 40 in the present embodiment will be described.
FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of a startup process of the application 16 from the subsystem 40 in the present embodiment.

  In FIG. 9, the processing from step S201 to step S204 is the same as the processing from step S101 to step S104 in FIG. 7 described above, and therefore the description thereof is omitted here. In step S204, the sub control unit 45 displays a pop-up including the URL in the content of the mail on the sub screen, as shown in the window W3 of FIG. 8, for example.

  Next, in step S205, when the user taps the URL in the display of the mail, the sub control unit 45 displays a display confirming the activation of the browser on the sub screen to confirm the activation of the browser. That is, the sub control unit 45 displays a browser icon (button BT3) such as the window W6 in FIG.

  Next, when the browser icon (button BT3) is tapped, the sub control unit 45 transmits a browser activation request including the URL to the host control unit 15 (step S206). That is, when the touch sensor 43 detects a touch operation (for example, a tap) that specifies the browser icon (button BT3), the sub control unit 45 transmits a browser activation request including a URL to the host control unit 15. To do.

  Next, the host control unit 15 activates the browser and displays the website of the URL on the main screen (step S207). That is, the host control unit 15 activates the browser application 16 in the main system 10 in response to the browser activation request, and displays the website display of the URL included in the browser activation request on the main screen.

Next, with reference to FIG. 11 and FIG. 12, operation processing of the application 16 in the present embodiment will be described.
FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of operation processing of the application 16 in the present embodiment. Here, an example of operating a music player as the application 16 will be described.

  As shown in FIG. 11, the sub control unit 45 first displays the operation screen (control screen) of the application 16 on the sub screen (step S301). For example, when the sub control unit 45 receives a display instruction of an operation screen of a music player or the like from the host control unit 15, the sub control unit 45 displays the operation screen G5 as shown in FIG. 12 on the sub screen.

  The sub-control unit 45 acquires, for example, album and track information from the host control unit 15, and displays the album title, the track (song) title, and the artist name on the operation screen G5. For example, in the example shown in FIG. 12, the title of the album is “XXXXXXX”, the title of the track is “◯ × Δ ◯◯”, and the artist name is “YYYYYY”. The sub-control unit 45 also displays operation buttons such as the buttons BT4 and BT5.

  Next, the sub control unit 45 acquires an operation by a touch operation (step S302). The sub-control unit 45 acquires the operation content when the touch sensor 43 detects a touch operation for operating the music player (for example, when a tap such as the button BT4 and the button BT5 is detected).

  Next, the sub control unit 45 transmits an operation request for the application 16 to the host control unit 15 (step S303). That is, the sub control unit 45 sends an operation request including operation information indicating the operation content of the music player to the host control unit 15.

Next, the host control unit 15 executes the operation of the application 16 (step S304). That is, the host control unit 15 executes the operation of the music player according to the operation information included in the operation request.
The music player can be operated by, for example, “Play” (play) or “Pause” (stop) as shown by the button BT4, volume up or down, mute or unmute as shown by the button BT5. and so on.

  In this way, the sub control unit 45 causes the sub display unit 42 to display the operation screen G5 for operating the application 16 (for example, a music player), and the touch sensor 43 causes the operation screen G5 to display the application 16 (for example, When a touch operation for operating the music player) is detected, an operation request for performing the detected operation is transmitted to the host control unit 15. Then, the host control unit 15 executes the operation of the application 16 (for example, a music player) in response to the operation request.

Next, another example of activating the application 16 from the subsystem 40 will be described with reference to FIGS. 13 and 14.
FIG. 13 is a diagram showing another example of the activation process of the application 16 from the subsystem 40. Here, as an example of the application 16, an example of activating voice assistant software from the subsystem 40 will be described.

  In FIG. 13, the sub control unit 45 first displays the icon of the voice assistant function on the sub screen (step S401). The sub-control unit 45 displays the icon of the voice assistant function, for example, as shown in the screen G6 of FIG.

  Next, the sub control unit 45 detects a flick of the icon of the voice assistant function (step S402). For example, when the touch sensor 43 detects a touch operation for flicking the icon of the voice assistant function, the sub control unit 45 acquires the direction of the flick. The sub control unit 45 may detect swipe instead of flick.

  Next, the sub control unit 45 determines the voice assistant software according to the flick direction (step S403). As shown in the screen G7 of FIG. 14, for example, when the flick direction is the vertical direction FD1, the sub control unit 45 determines the voice assistant software to be Alexa (registered trademark). In addition, for example, when the flick direction is the lateral direction FD2, the sub control unit 45 determines the voice assistant software to be Cortana (registered trademark).

  Next, the sub-control unit 45 sends a request to activate the voice assist software to the host control unit 15 (step S404). That is, the sub control unit 45 transmits to the host control unit 15 an activation request for activating the voice assistant software determined according to the flick direction.

  Next, the host control unit 15 activates the voice assist software in response to the activation request (step S405). As a result, the voice assist software is activated and is ready for use.

  In this way, the sub-control unit 45 causes the sub-display unit 42 to display icons (for example, icons of voice assistant functions) corresponding to the plurality of applications 16 that realize the same functions. When the touch sensor 43 detects a touch operation for flicking an icon, the sub-control unit 45 selects one of the plurality of applications 16 corresponding to the icon according to the direction of the flick, and selects the application 16. The activation request for activating the one application 16 is sent to the host controller 15. Then, the host control unit 15 activates one application 16 selected from the plurality of applications 16 in response to the activation request.

  As described above, the notebook PC 1 (information processing device) according to the present embodiment includes the main display unit 14, the host control unit 15, the touch screen 41, and the sub control unit 45. The main display unit 14 displays a main screen. The host control unit 15 uses a first general-purpose OS (for example, Windows (registered trademark)) to control its own device (notebook PC 1) including the main display unit 14. The touch screen 41 includes a sub display unit 42 that displays a sub screen, and a touch sensor 43 (touch detection unit) that detects a touch operation on the sub display unit 42 by an operation medium. The sub-control unit 45 controls the touch screen 41 using a second general-purpose OS (for example, Android (registered trademark)). Then, the host control unit 15 controls the sub control unit 45 as an auxiliary function unit.

  As a result, in the notebook PC 1 according to the present embodiment, both the host control unit 15 and the sub control unit 45 use the general-purpose OS. Therefore, for example, the development environment of the general-purpose OS is used to display the sub-display unit 42. It is possible to easily add multiple functions such as adding functions. Therefore, the notebook PC 1 according to the present embodiment can improve the expandability of functions and convenience.

In addition, in the present embodiment, the host control unit 15 responds to a predetermined event when a predetermined event occurs in the application 16 executed by the first general-purpose OS (for example, Windows (registered trademark)). A notification display instruction for displaying a notification (for example, a mail, a message, an SNS notification, etc.) on the sub display unit 42 is transmitted to the sub control unit 45. The sub control unit 45 displays a notification corresponding to a predetermined event on the sub display unit 42 in response to the notification display instruction transmitted by the host control unit 15.
As a result, the notebook PC 1 according to the present embodiment can recognize the notification of the event by the sub display unit 42, and can further improve the convenience.

Further, in the present embodiment, the above-described notification includes a message, and when the touch sensor 43 detects a touch operation for instructing a reply to the message, the sub-control unit 45 displays the input reply message, It is transmitted to the host controller 15. The host control unit 15 causes the application 16 to send a reply message to the reply destination.
As a result, the notebook PC 1 according to the present embodiment can easily reply to a message using the sub control unit 45 (auxiliary function unit, subsystem 40), and can further improve convenience.

Further, in the present embodiment, the sub-control unit 45 includes the URL indicating the position information of the website in the message, and when the touch operation for designating the URL displayed by the sub-display unit 42 is detected, the URL is detected. Is transmitted to the host controller 15. The host control unit 15 activates the browser software and causes the display of the website corresponding to the URL to be displayed on the main screen of the main display unit 14.
As a result, in the notebook PC 1 according to the present embodiment, the sub control unit 45 (sub system 40) can easily cause the main display unit 14 (main system 10) to display the website corresponding to the URL. Further convenience can be improved.

In addition, the notebook PC 1 according to the present embodiment includes a keyboard 32 that receives a key input from a user and can output the received key input to the host control unit 15 and the sub control unit 45. The sub-control unit 45 acquires the key input from the keyboard 32 when the key input needs to be acquired.
As a result, in the notebook PC 1 according to the present embodiment, key input can be performed from the keyboard 32 in the sub control unit 45 (sub system 40), and thus convenience can be further improved.

Further, in the present embodiment, the sub-control unit 45 sub-displays an icon indicating the application 16 that is the application 16 executed by the first general-purpose OS (for example, Windows (registered trademark)) and is designated in advance. When the touch sensor 43 detects a touch operation for designating an icon, the touch sensor 43 sends a boot request to the host controller 15 to boot the application 16 corresponding to the designated icon, while displaying the display on the unit 42. The host control unit 15 activates the application 16 corresponding to the icon in response to the activation request.
As a result, the notebook PC 1 according to the present embodiment can activate the application 16 of the first general-purpose OS (for example, Windows (registered trademark)) from the sub-control unit 45 (subsystem 40), and thus the convenience is further enhanced. Can be improved.

Further, in the present embodiment, the sub control unit 45 causes the sub display unit 42 to display icons (for example, icons of voice assistants) corresponding to the plurality of applications 16 that realize the equivalent functions. When the touch sensor 43 detects a touch operation for flicking the icon, the sub control unit 45 selects one application 16 of the plurality of applications 16 corresponding to the icon according to the direction of the flick, An activation request to activate the selected one application 16 is transmitted to the host control unit 15.
As a result, the notebook PC 1 according to the present embodiment can switch and activate a plurality of applications 16 that realize equivalent functions, and further improve convenience.

Further, in this embodiment, the equivalent function described above is the voice assistant function.
As a result, the notebook PC 1 according to the present embodiment can switch and use a plurality of voice assistant functions by touch operation without using a trigger word.

In addition, in the present embodiment, the sub-control unit 45 causes the sub-display unit 42 to display an operation screen for operating the application 16 executed by the first general-purpose OS (for example, Windows (registered trademark)), and touches the screen. When the sensor 43 detects a touch operation for operating the application 16 on the operation screen, the sensor 43 transmits an operation request for performing the detected operation to the host control unit 15. The host control unit 15 executes the operation of the application 16 in response to the operation request.
As a result, the notebook PC 1 according to the present embodiment can operate the application 16 of the first general-purpose OS (for example, Windows (registered trademark)) from the sub control unit 45 (sub system 40) by touch operation. The convenience can be improved.

The notebook PC 1 according to the present embodiment also includes a main display unit 14, a host control unit 15, and a touch screen 41. The host control unit 15 uses a first general-purpose OS (for example, Windows (registered trademark)) to control its own device including the main display unit 14. The touch screen 41 includes a sub-display unit 42 that displays a sub-screen and a touch sensor 43 that detects a touch operation on the sub-display unit 42 by an operation medium, and includes a second general-purpose OS (for example, Android (registered trademark)). Controlled by. When the touch sensor 43 detects a touch operation for flicking the icon displayed on the sub display unit 42, the host control unit 15 has an equivalent function (for example, an equivalent function) corresponding to the flicked icon according to the direction of the flick. , One of the plurality of applications 16 that realizes the voice assistant function) is started using a first general-purpose OS (for example, Windows (registered trademark)).
As a result, the notebook PC 1 according to the present embodiment can switch and activate a plurality of applications 16 that realize an equivalent function, for example, a voice assistant function, by touch operation, and further improve convenience.

It should be noted that the present invention is not limited to the above-mentioned embodiment, and can be modified within the scope of the present invention.
For example, in the above embodiment, an example in which the notebook PC 1 is applied as an example of the information processing apparatus has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and other information processing apparatuses such as a tablet PC and a PDA (Personal Digital Assistant). May be applied to.

Further, in the above embodiment, an example in which the touch screen 41 is arranged on the same casing surface as the keyboard 32 has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and for example, as shown in FIG. It may be arranged on the side surface of the housing outside of.
FIG. 15 is an external view showing a modification of the notebook PC 1 according to this embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 15, the notebook PC 1 includes a touch screen 41, and the touch screen 41 is arranged on the side surface of the housing outside the cover of the notebook PC 1. Here, the sub display unit 42 is arranged to be visible and displayable when the display of the main display unit 14 is invisible (for example, the openable cover of the notebook PC 1 is closed). .. By arranging in this manner, various operations can be performed from the subsystem 40 while the openable / closable cover of the notebook PC 1 is closed (when the main system 10 is in a standby mode such as a low power consumption state). It will be possible.

  Further, in the above embodiment, an example in which the voice assistant software is switched and executed depending on the direction of the flick of the icon has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this. For example, depending on the direction of the flick, a browser may be used. The software may be switched, the output speaker of the telephone software may be switched, or the like.

  Further, in the above embodiment, an example of operating the music player has been described as an example of the operation of the application 16, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the operation of another application 16 may be performed from the subsystem 40. You can

Each of the components of the notebook PC 1 described above has a computer system inside. Then, by recording a program for realizing the functions of the respective constituents of the notebook PC 1 described above in a computer-readable recording medium, reading the program recorded in this recording medium into a computer system, and executing the program, You may perform the process in each structure with which the said notebook PC1 is provided. Here, “reading and executing a program recorded in a recording medium on a computer system” includes installing the program in the computer system. The “computer system” mentioned here includes an OS and hardware such as peripheral devices.
Further, the “computer system” may include a plurality of computer devices connected via the Internet, a WAN, a LAN, a network including a communication line such as a dedicated line. The "computer-readable recording medium" refers to a portable medium such as a flexible disk, a magneto-optical disk, a ROM, a CD-ROM, or a storage device such as a hard disk built in a computer system. As described above, the recording medium storing the program may be a non-transitory recording medium such as a CD-ROM.

  The recording medium also includes a recording medium provided inside or outside accessible from the distribution server for distributing the program. The programs may be divided into a plurality of programs and downloaded at different timings, and then combined in each configuration of the notebook PC 1, or the distribution server that distributes each of the divided programs may be different. Furthermore, the "computer-readable recording medium" holds a program for a certain period of time, such as a volatile memory (RAM) inside a computer system that serves as a server or a client when the program is transmitted via a network. It also includes things. Further, the program may be for realizing a part of the functions described above. Further, it may be a so-called difference file (difference program) that can realize the above-mentioned functions in combination with a program already recorded in the computer system.

  Further, some or all of the above-mentioned functions may be realized as an integrated circuit such as an LSI (Large Scale Integration). Each of the functions described above may be individually implemented as a processor, or part or all of the functions may be integrated and implemented as a processor. Further, the method of circuit integration is not limited to LSI, and may be realized by a dedicated circuit or a general-purpose processor. Further, in the case where an integrated circuit technology that replaces the LSI appears due to the progress of semiconductor technology, an integrated circuit according to the technology may be used.

1 notebook PC
10 Main system 11 CPU
12 main memory 13 video subsystem 14 main display section 15 host control section 16 application 21 chipset 22 BIOS memory 23 HDD
24 USB interface section 25 Audio system 26 WLAN card 31 EC (embedded controller)
32 keyboard 33 pointing device 34 power supply circuit 35 sensor unit 40 subsystem 41 touch screen 42 sub display unit 43 touch sensor 44 system chip 45 sub control unit

Claims (10)

A main display section that displays the main screen,
A host control unit that controls a self-device including the main display unit using a first general-purpose OS (operating system);
A touch screen having a sub-display section for displaying the sub-screen, and a touch detection section for detecting a touch operation by the operation medium on the sub-display section;
A sub-control unit for controlling the touch screen using a second general-purpose OS,
The information processing apparatus, wherein the host control unit controls the sub-control unit as an auxiliary function unit. In the application executed by the first general-purpose OS, the host control unit may issue a notification display instruction to display a notification according to the predetermined event on the sub display unit when a predetermined event occurs. Send to sub-control,
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the sub control unit displays a notification according to the predetermined event on the sub display unit in response to the notification display instruction transmitted by the host control unit. The notification includes a message,
The sub-control unit transmits the input reply message to the host control unit when the touch detection unit detects the touch operation for instructing a reply to the message,
The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the host control unit causes the application to transmit the reply message to a reply destination. The sub-control unit includes a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) indicating the location information of the website in the message, and when the touch operation that specifies the URL displayed by the sub-display unit is detected, Sending the URL to the host controller,
The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the host control unit activates browser software to display a display of the website corresponding to the URL on the main screen of the main display unit. A keyboard is provided, which receives a key input from a user and can output the received key input to the host control unit and the sub-control unit,
The information processing device according to claim 1, wherein the sub-control unit acquires the key input from the keyboard when the key input needs to be acquired. The sub control unit is an application executed by the first general-purpose OS, and displays an icon indicating a predesignated application on the sub display unit, and the touch detection unit designates the icon. When the touch operation to be detected is detected, a start request for starting the application corresponding to the specified icon is transmitted to the host control unit,
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the host control unit activates the application corresponding to the icon in response to the activation request. When the sub-control unit causes the sub-display unit to display the icons corresponding to the plurality of applications that realize the same function, and the touch detection unit detects the touch operation for flicking the icon. In accordance with the direction of the flick, one application is selected from the plurality of applications corresponding to the icon, and a start request to start the selected one application is transmitted to the host control unit. Item 6. The information processing device according to item 6. The sub control unit causes the sub display unit to display an operation screen for operating an application executed by the first general-purpose OS, and the touch detection unit operates the application on the operation screen. When a touch operation is detected, an operation request for performing the detected operation is transmitted to the host control unit,
The information processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the host control unit executes an operation of the application in response to the operation request. A main display section that displays the main screen,
A host control unit that controls a self-device including the main display unit using a first general-purpose OS (operating system);
A sub-display unit for displaying a sub-screen, and a touch detection unit for detecting a touch operation on the sub-display unit by an operation medium, and a touch screen controlled by a second general-purpose OS,
When the touch detection unit detects the touch operation for flicking the icon displayed on the sub display unit, the host control unit is equivalent to the flicked icon according to the direction of the flick. An information processing apparatus that activates one of a plurality of applications that realizes the function of using the first general-purpose OS. The information processing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the equivalent function is a voice assistant function.

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