JP6711061B2 - Wearable device, operation control method and program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a wearable device such as a wristwatch type smart watch that can be worn on the body, an operation control method and a program.

In recent years, wearable information terminal devices (hereinafter referred to as "wearable terminals") that are worn on the body and used in combination with smartphones have been commercialized by various companies and are gradually spreading. (For example, Patent Document 1)

JP 2006-101505 A

This type of wearable terminal needs to communicate with a smartphone to be used together, and is equipped with a processor having the same computing ability as that of the smartphone, and consumes a great amount of power.

On the other hand, for example, a wristwatch-type wearable terminal has a small housing, and in addition to the control system chip configuration, the battery as a power source is restricted by the scale of electronic circuits such as a display with a touch panel and various sensors. For example, only a battery having a size of about 1/10 of that of a smartphone can be mounted, and the continuous operation time is very short.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to achieve low power consumption and a long battery life without hindering required operations. To provide a wearable device, an operation control method, and a program capable of performing the above.

One embodiment of the present invention is a wearable device that can be worn on a body and includes a processor that repeats sleep and activation, and the processor activates the processor from sleep for a plurality of operations having different execution priorities. If continuous operation time after is shorter than a predetermined time, characterized by the go, such running the low priority operation than a preset priority.

According to the present invention, it is possible to realize low power consumption and prolong battery life without impairing required operations.

The figure which shows the use environment of the wrist terminal and smart phone which concern on one Embodiment of this invention. The block diagram which shows the function structure of the electronic circuit of the wrist terminal which concerns on the same embodiment. 3 is a flowchart showing the processing contents of a CPU and a low-power microcomputer that constitute the control unit according to the same embodiment. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a specific operation example based on the process of FIG. 3 according to the embodiment, as compared with a case where the process shown in FIG. 3 is intentionally executed without performing the process.

Hereinafter, an embodiment in the case where the present invention is applied to a wristwatch-type wrist terminal (hereinafter simply referred to as “wrist terminal”) that can be worn on a user's arm and that operates in cooperation with a smartphone will be referred to the drawings. explain.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a usage environment of a wrist terminal. In the same figure, a wrist terminal 10 worn by a user (not shown) on a wrist includes a smartphone 20 also owned by the user and, for example, Bluetooth (registered trademark) Low Energy (Bluetooth (registered trademark)) which is a short-range wireless communication standard. It is wirelessly connected by LE) technology.

Furthermore, the smartphone 20 is based on a fourth-generation mobile phone system and IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n technology, which is a wireless LAN standard, and is based on a nearest base station (not shown) or Wi-Fi (registered trademark) access point. And the like, and is wirelessly connected to a network N including the Internet.

The wrist terminal 10 has a display/input unit 10A and displays not only time information such as time but also various information and image contents, and various instruction operations can be performed by touching the surface with a finger. ..

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of an electronic circuit in the wrist terminal 10. In the figure, the display input unit 10A includes an operation unit 31 and a display unit 32. The operation unit 31 is a touch panel that is integrally formed on the display unit 32 and that uses a transparent conductive film, and some operation buttons that are provided on the housing of the wrist terminal 10. The coordinate value sequence information, the operation signal of the operation button, and the like are sent to the CPU 33.

The display unit 32 is composed of a color liquid crystal panel, a backlight mechanism, and their driver circuits, and displays information and the like given from the CPU 33.

The CPU 33 constitutes the control unit CTR of the wrist terminal 10 together with the low power microcomputer 34, and the memory 35 and the wireless unit 36 are connected to the CPU 33.

The memory 35 is composed of an OS (operating system) for controlling the CPU 33, a ROM that stores various application programs conforming to the operating system, various data, and the like in a nonvolatile manner, and a RAM that functions as a work memory of the CPU 33. Composed.

The wireless unit 36 connects the wireless LAN antenna 37 and the Bluetooth (registered trademark) antenna 38, and transmits and receives data to and from a device such as the smartphone 20 outside the wrist terminal 10 by the wireless LAN technology or the Bluetooth (registered trademark) technology.

The low-power microcomputer 34 has a significantly lower processing capacity and operating clock than the CPU 33, but is a microcomputer capable of operating with power consumption of about 1/10 of that of the CPU 33. On the other hand, each detection signal from the gyro sensor 39, the acceleration sensor 40, and the geomagnetic sensor 41 is input.

The gyro sensor 39 is composed of, for example, a vibration type gyro sensor using a MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical Systems) technology, detects an angular velocity based on a displacement of the wrist terminal 10 in the space, and outputs a detection signal thereof to the above-mentioned low speed. Output to the power microcomputer 34.

The acceleration sensor 40 is composed of, for example, a semiconductor piezoresistive triaxial acceleration sensor, detects the posture of the wrist terminal 10 from the direction of gravitational acceleration in a three-dimensional space, and outputs the detection signal to the low power microcomputer 34. To do.

The geomagnetic sensor 41 is composed of, for example, a magnetic impedance element, detects the direction of magnetic north, and outputs the detection signal to the low power microcomputer 34.

When the CPU 33 is in the sleep state, the low-power microcomputer 34 regularly inputs the detection outputs of the gyro sensor 39, the acceleration sensor 40, and the geomagnetic sensor 41, and activates the CPU 33 as necessary, but determines that it is not necessary. In such a case, these detection outputs are temporarily held, and are held until the CPU 33 is activated later and the data is transmitted to the outside.

It should be noted that the configuration of the electronic circuit of the smartphone 20 is the same as that of a very general well-known technique, and the illustration and description thereof will be omitted.

Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described.
In the present embodiment, as described above, the control unit CTR has a dual processor configuration including the CPU 33 and the low-power microcomputer 34. The CPU 33 appropriately shifts to the sleep mode to suppress unnecessary power consumption, while the low-power microcomputer 34 is used. The control process for monitoring the detection output from the gyro sensor 39, the acceleration sensor 40, and the geomagnetic sensor 41 is always executed while the low operation clock is used.

In addition, the priority of the operation executed by the CPU 33 or the low-power microcomputer 34 is set in advance according to the content of the operation.

FIG. 3 shows a power-on state of the wrist terminal 10 and a flow of processing executed by the CPU 33 or the low-power microcomputer 34 in the control unit CTR. At the beginning of the process, the CPU 33 is shifted to the sleep mode (step S101).

Then, the low-power microcomputer 34 determines whether or not a request for transmitting high-priority data has been issued to the smartphone 20 (step S102). The data with high priority to the smartphone 20 is, for example, a request to transmit a time alarm or a battery material warning, or a scheduled process of backing up the data in the wrist terminal 10 on a regular basis in the smartphone 20. Etc. are assumed.

Here, when it is determined that the request to transmit the high-priority data to the smartphone 20 is not generated (No in step S102), the low-power microcomputer 34 next detects that the CPU 33 has an external interrupt. It is determined whether or not (step S105).

When the CPU 33 determines that the external interrupt is not detected (No in step S105), the low power microcomputer 34 returns to the processing from step S102 again.

In this way, in the sleep mode of the CPU 33, by repeatedly executing the processing of steps S102 and S105, a request for transmitting high-priority data to the smartphone 20 is generated or the CPU 33 detects an interrupt from the outside. stand by.

If it is determined in step S102 that a request for transmitting high-priority data has been issued to the smartphone 20 (Yes in step S102), the low power microcomputer 34 releases the sleep mode of the CPU 33 and activates it. (Step S103). The CPU 33 transmits high-priority data to the smartphone 20 according to the transmission request (step S104), and then returns to the processing from step S101 again.

When it is determined in step S105 that the CPU 33 has detected an external interrupt (Yes in step S105), the low-power microcomputer 34 releases the sleep mode of the CPU 33 and activates the CPU 33. The contents of the interrupt signal which has become false are confirmed (step S107).

First, the CPU 33 determines whether or not the interrupt signal that is a factor of activation is data reception from the smartphone 20 via the wireless unit 36 (step S108).

When it is determined that the interrupt signal that is the factor of activation is data reception from the smartphone 20 (Yes in step S108), the CPU 33 receives the data from the smartphone 20 and transmits the data to the smartphone 20. The processes are executed in parallel (step S109).
Further, the CPU 33 also performs display on the display unit 32 and notification to the user according to the content of the data received from the smartphone 20 as necessary.

Subsequently, the CPU 33 determines whether the reception of the data from the smartphone 20 is completed, and the display on the display unit 32 based on the received data is also completed (step S110).

If it is determined that the reception of the data from the smartphone 20 has not been completed or the display on the display unit 32 based on the received data has not been completed (No in step S110), the CPU 33 further causes the smartphone to perform the operation. After continuously receiving the data from 20 and displaying the data on the display unit 32 based on the received data (step S111), the process returns to the determination in step S110.

As a result of repeatedly executing the processing of steps S110 and S111 in this way, when it is determined that the reception of the data from the smartphone 20 is completed and the display on the display unit 32 based on the received data is also completed (Yes in step S110). The CPU 33 returns to the processing from step S101 and shifts to the sleep mode under the control of the low power microcomputer 34.

Further, in step S108, when it is determined that the interrupt signal that is the cause of the activation is not the data reception from the smartphone 20 (No in step S108), the CPU 33 next determines that the interrupt signal that is the cause of the activation is the user. From the operation for the wrist terminal 10 of (1), it is determined whether or not the time is confirmed (step S112).

This is based on the detection outputs of the gyro sensor 39 and the acceleration sensor 40 via the low-power microcomputer 34 so that the plane of the display input unit 10A including the operation unit 31 and the display unit 32 is at least once set to a minimum time previously set, for example, At least 0.2 [seconds] to 0.3 [seconds] become substantially horizontal, and then a series of time confirmation is performed such that the upper side of the display input unit 10A is tilted so as to be lifted by a preset angle, for example, approximately 40°. The CPU 33 determines whether or not an operation has been performed.

If it is determined that a series of time confirmation operations have been performed on the wrist terminal 10 (Yes in step S112), the CPU 33 determines that the operation time of the CPU 33 is short, and does not transmit or receive data to or from the smartphone 20. The time information displayed on the display unit 32 is updated at any time based on the timed content of the RTC (real time clock) provided in the CPU 33 (step S113), and then the processing from step S101 is performed. Returning to this, the sleep mode is entered under the control of the low power microcomputer 34.

In addition, in step S112, when it is determined that the interrupt signal that is the cause of activation is not the confirmation of the time by the operation of the user (No in step S112), then the CPU 33 determines that the interrupt signal that is the cause of activation is It is determined whether or not the user's touch operation is performed on the operation unit 31 (step S114).

If it is determined that the interrupt signal that is the cause of activation is not the touch operation on the operation unit 31 by the user (No in step S114), the CPU 33 in the wrist terminal 10 corresponds to the content of the interrupt signal. After performing a predetermined operation (step S115), the process returns from step S101 to the sleep mode under the control of the low power microcomputer 34.

Further, when it is determined in step S114 that the interrupt signal that is the cause of activation is a touch operation on the operation unit 31 by the user (Yes in step S114), the CPU 33 performs the touch operation input from the operation unit 31. The operation according to the operation signal is executed (step S116).

In addition, the CPU 33 searches for the data held in the memory 35, which has a low priority and whose transmission to the smartphone 20 is suspended, assuming that the CPU 33 keeps operating for a while. If there is data, the signal is transmitted to the smartphone 20, and at the same time, a signal is transmitted to the smartphone 20 to request transmission of data with low priority (step S117).

After that, the CPU 33 determines whether or not the user operation is completed, the transmission of the low-priority data held in the memory 35 is completed, and the reception of the low-priority data from the smartphone 20 is also completed. It is determined (step S118).

If it is determined that the user operation is not yet completed or at least one of the transmission of the low-priority data and the low-priority data from the smartphone 20 is not completed (No in step S118), Further, the CPU 33 further continuously executes the operation according to the operation of the user, the data transmission to the smartphone 20, and the data reception from the smartphone 20 (step S119), and then returns to the determination of the step S118.

As a result of repeatedly executing the processing of steps S118 and S119 in this way, when it is determined that the operation according to the user's operation is completed, and the transmission of the data to the smartphone 20 and the reception of the data from the smartphone 20 are both completed. (Yes in step S118), the CPU 33 returns to the processing from step S101, and shifts to the sleep mode under the control of the low power microcomputer 34.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a specific operation example based on the process of FIG. 3 in comparison with a case where the process shown in FIG. 3 is executed at any time without performing the process.

FIG. 4A shows an operation example when the processing shown in FIG. 3 is not executed and the priority level is not set as the operation of the CPU 33.

In the same figure (A), the times t11 and t19 when the CPU 33 operates only for time confirmation, the times t16 and t17 when the CPU 33 operates for time confirmation and data communication with high priority, and the data communication with low priority. Therefore, the time t12, t13, t18, t20, t23 during which the CPU 33 operates, the time t15, t21 during which the CPU 33 operates for high-priority data communication, and the time t14, t22 during which the display input unit 10A functions as an information terminal. Has become.

During the time t14 of the functional operation by the display input unit 10A, the CPU 33 executes the processing in parallel for the time t15 for the data communication with high priority.

Further, during the time t22 of the function operation by the display input unit 10A, the CPU 33 executes the processing in parallel for the time t23 for the data communication with the low priority.

Therefore, the total operation time of the CPU 33 shown in (A-3) of FIG.
t11+t12+t13+t14+t16+t17+t18+t19+t20+t21+t22
Becomes

On the other hand, FIG. 4B shows an operation example in the case where the processing shown in FIG. 3 is executed and the processing is centralized in consideration of the priority of the operation of the CPU 33.

In the same figure (B), the times t11 and t19 when the CPU 33 operates only for time confirmation, the times t16 and t17 when the CPU 33 operates for time confirmation and data communication with high priority, and the data communication with low priority. Therefore, the time t12, t13, t18, t20, t23 during which the CPU 33 operates, the time t15, t21 during which the CPU 33 operates for high-priority data communication, and the time t14, t22 during which the display input unit 10A functions as an information terminal. Each operation time of is the same as that of FIG.

However, by setting the priority according to FIG. 3, the operations of the CPU 33 are executed more efficiently in parallel.

That is, during the time t14 of the function operation by the display/input unit 10A, the CPU 33 concurrently executes the processes of times t12 and t13 for low priority data communication and time t15 for high priority data communication. And running.

Further, during the time t22 of the function operation by the display input unit 10A, the CPU 33 also executes the respective processings of the times t18, t20, and t23 for data communication having a low priority in parallel.

Therefore, the total operation time of the CPU 33 shown in (B-3) of FIG.
t11 + t14 + t16 + t17 + t19 + t21 + t22
Therefore, the operating time of the CPU 33 can be shortened by “t12+t13+t18+t20” as compared with the total operating time of the CPU 33 shown in (A-3) of FIG. It can be reduced accordingly.

As described above in detail, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to realize low power consumption and prolong battery life without impairing required operations.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, when the CPU 33 is in the sleep state, the low-power microcomputer 34 holds low-priority data, and when the CPU 33 operates in response to an operation on the display input unit 10A that is considered to have a long continuous operation time, Since the suspended operation is executed using the held data, it is possible to more reliably complete the transmission/reception of the data with the low priority.

In that case. In particular, when a plurality of types of data are held, the continuous operation time is checked and then collectively executed, whereby the load on the CPU 33 can be further reduced and an efficient operation can be realized.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, in a short-time operation such as checking the time on the wrist terminal 10, the suspended operation is not performed in parallel, and the situation in which the transmission/reception of data is interrupted is surely avoided. I am trying.

On the contrary, in the above-described embodiment, the user's operation of the operation unit 31 (display input unit 10A) takes a long continuous operation time to some extent, and the parallel operation of the suspended operation is positively performed, so It is possible to avoid an increase in the number of operations to be held.

Further, in the above-described embodiment, since the operations of acquiring the detection outputs of the various sensors and outputting them to the outside are collectively put on hold as a low priority, a posture, altitude, atmospheric pressure, geomagnetism, etc. that may be acquired at a low frequency may be used. The detection outputs of the various sensors can be output at timings as needed.

Further, particularly when the external output of the sensor signal is for communication with an external device, the power consumption required for communication is considered to be relatively high, so that the load on the CPU 33 is further reduced and efficient operation is performed. Can be realized.

Although not described in the above embodiment, when it is necessary to update the application program installed in the wrist terminal 10 via the smartphone 20, the update data is set to have low priority. By performing the update operation of the application program, which is considered to require a relatively long operation time, in parallel with other operations having a high priority and a long continuous operation time, the power consumption by the CPU 33 is further reduced. It can be reduced.

In the above embodiment, the case where the display unit 32 configuring the display input unit 10A is configured by, for example, a color liquid crystal panel has been described. However, the liquid crystal panel configuring the display unit 32 has a two-layer structure, and A normally white transmissive monochrome liquid crystal panel may be arranged in the upper layer, and a color liquid crystal panel having a backlight may be arranged in the lower layer.

In this case, the upper monochrome liquid crystal panel specially performs time display, and during normal time display, the main processor is put into a sleep state and the lower color liquid crystal panel display is also turned off.

On the other hand, when the wrist terminal 10 is operated as an information terminal by an application program, the upper monochrome liquid crystal panel is turned off to be in a transparent state, and the lower color liquid crystal panel is used to perform display based on the application program. By doing so, it can further contribute to the reduction of power consumption.

The above embodiment has been described by taking the case where the control unit CTR is composed of the CPU 33 and the low power microcomputer 34 having different arithmetic processing capabilities as an example, but the present invention is not limited to such a dual processor structure. The present invention can be similarly applied to a device having a plurality of cores such as a device that operates by switching the frequency of the operation clock in a single processor configuration, a dual core, and a quad core.

In the above embodiment, the low-power microcomputer 34 determines whether the CPU 33 has detected an external interrupt, and when the CPU 33 determines that the external interrupt has been detected, the low-power microcomputer 34 determines that the CPU 33 Although the sleep mode is released and activated, the CPU 33 may directly detect the interrupt from the outside and release the sleep mode by itself to activate.

Further, the wearable device is not limited to the wrist terminal, and various types such as glasses type, one attached to the upper arm, one attached to clothes, and the like can be envisioned.

Besides, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and can be variously modified at the stage of implementation without departing from the spirit of the invention. Further, the functions executed in the above-described embodiments may be combined appropriately as much as possible. The above-described embodiment includes various stages, and various inventions can be extracted by appropriately combining a plurality of disclosed constituent elements. For example, even if some constituent elements are deleted from all the constituent elements shown in the embodiment, if the effect can be obtained, the structure in which the constituent elements are deleted can be extracted as the invention.

The inventions described in the initial claims of the present application will be additionally described below.
[Claim 1]
A wearable device that can be worn on the body,
A processor that repeats sleep and start-up has a priority level that is higher than a preset priority level for a plurality of operations with different execution priorities if the continuous operation time after the processor has been activated from sleep is shorter than a predetermined time. A wearable device comprising a processor that does not perform low activity.
[Claim 2]
When the continuous operation time after the processor is activated from sleep is longer than a predetermined time, the processor executes an operation in which the priority is lower than a preset priority.
The wearable device according to claim 1, wherein:
[Claim 3]
Further comprising a holding means for holding an operation in which the operation is not executed and the priority is lower than a preset priority,
When the processor determines that the continuous operation time after the processor is activated from sleep is longer than the predetermined time, the processor executes the operation held by the holding means.
The wearable device according to claim 2, wherein the wearable device is a wearable device.
[Claim 4]
When a plurality of operations with the priority lower than the preset priority are suspended in the suspension means, the processor determines that the continuous operation time after the processor is activated from sleep is longer than the predetermined time. If so, the wearable device according to claim 3, wherein a plurality of operations held by the holding means are collectively executed.
[Claim 5]
Further comprising a display unit for displaying information,
The processor determines that the continuous operation time of the processor is shorter than a predetermined time when the user wearing the wearable device detects an operation state of looking at the display unit.
The wearable device according to claim 1, wherein the wearable device is a wearable device.
[Claim 6]
Further comprising an operation unit for instructing an operation to be executed by the processor,
The processor determines that the continuous operation time of the processor is longer than a predetermined time when the user wearing the wearable device detects an operation state of operating the operation unit. The wearable device described.
[Claim 7]
Further comprising a sensor for detecting the state of the wearable device,
The operation in which the priority is lower than the preset priority is an operation of outputting the data detected by the sensor to the outside of the wearable device.
The wearable device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the wearable device is a wearable device.
[Claim 8]
A communication unit for communicating with an external device is further provided,
The operation in which the priority is lower than the preset priority is an operation of transmitting the data detected by the sensor to the external device by the communication unit.
The wearable device according to claim 7, wherein:
[Claim 9]
9. The operation of which the priority is lower than a preset priority is an operation of receiving update data of an application executed by the wearable device from the external device by the communication unit. Wearable device.
[Claim 10]
A method for controlling an operation of a processor included in a wearable device wearable on a body, comprising:
The processor repeats sleep and activation, and when the processor has a plurality of operations with different execution priorities and the continuous operation time after activation of the processor from sleep is shorter than a predetermined time, the priority is set in advance. An operation control method characterized in that an operation lower than a set priority is not executed.
[Claim 11]
A program executed by a processor of a wearable device wearable on the body, the processor repeating sleep and activation,
For multiple operations with different execution priorities, if the continuous operation time after the processor is awakened from sleep is shorter than a predetermined time, the function that does not execute the operation whose priority is lower than the preset priority A program characterized by:

10... wrist terminal,
10A... Display input section,
20... smartphone,
31... operation part,
32... Display,
33... CPU,
34... Low power microcomputer,
35...memory,
36... radio unit,
37... Wireless LAN antenna,
38... Bluetooth antenna,
39... Gyro sensor,
40... Acceleration sensor 41... Geomagnetic sensor,
CTR... control unit,
N... network.

Claims (11)

A wearable device that can be worn on the body,
The processor includes a processor that repeats sleep and activation, and for a plurality of operations having different execution priorities , the priority is set in advance when the continuous operation time after activation of the processor from sleep is shorter than a predetermined time. wearable device comprising a go a running lower than the set priority operation. The wearable according to claim 1, wherein the processor executes an operation in which the priority is lower than a preset priority when the continuous operation time after the processor is activated from sleep is longer than a predetermined time. apparatus. Further comprising a holding means for holding an operation in which the operation is not executed and the priority is lower than a preset priority,
3. The processor according to claim 2, wherein when the processor determines that the continuous operation time after the processor is activated from sleep is longer than the predetermined time, the holding means executes the operation held by the holding means. Wearable device. When a plurality of operations with the priority lower than the preset priority are suspended in the suspension means, the processor determines that the continuous operation time after the processor is activated from sleep is longer than the predetermined time. If so, the wearable device according to claim 3, wherein a plurality of operations held by the holding means are collectively executed. Further comprising a display unit for displaying information,
The processor determines that the continuous operation time of the processor is shorter than a predetermined time when the user wearing the wearable device detects an operation state of looking at the display unit. Or wearable device described. Further comprising an operation unit for instructing an operation to be executed by the processor,
The processor determines that the continuous operation time of the processor is longer than a predetermined time when the user wearing the wearable device detects an operation state of operating the operation unit. The wearable device described. Further comprising a sensor for detecting the state of the wearable device,
The priority of the operation of outputting the data detected by the sensor to the outside of the wearable device is lower than the preset priority,
The wearable device according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the wearable device is a wearable device. A communication unit for communicating with an external device is further provided,
Data detected by the sensor, the priority of the operation of transmitting to the external device by the communication unit, the priority is lower than the preset priority,
The wearable device according to claim 7, wherein: Update data of an application executed by the wearable device, the priority of the operation of receiving from the external device by the communication unit is lower than the preset priority,
The wearable device according to claim 8, wherein: A method for controlling an operation of a processor included in a wearable device wearable on a body, comprising:
The processor repeats sleep and activation, and when the processor has a plurality of operations with different execution priorities and the continuous operation time after activation of the processor from sleep is shorter than a predetermined time, the priority is set in advance. An operation control method characterized in that an operation lower than a set priority is not executed. A program executed by a processor of a wearable device wearable on the body, the processor repeating sleep and activation,
For multiple operations with different execution priorities, if the continuous operation time after the processor is awakened from sleep is shorter than a predetermined time, the function that does not execute the operation whose priority is lower than the preset priority A program characterized by: