JP6944555B2 - Information processing device and information processing method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an information processing device and an information processing method.

Conventionally, various technologies for reducing power consumption in an operating system (OS) that supports multi-window and multi-task have been proposed. Hereinafter, an OS that supports multi-window / multi-task is also referred to as a "multi-window / multi-task OS".

For example, in Patent Document 1 below, the power consumption of a display device is reduced by generating a full-screen size semi-transparent window and displaying the semi-transparent window immediately behind the active window that is currently being worked on and is in focus. The technology to reduce is disclosed.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2010-181458

However, in the technique of Patent Document 1, displaying a semi-transparent window increases the number of windows displayed on the display unit. This also increases the number of processes for displaying the window. Therefore, the power consumption related to the window display processing may increase.

In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide an information processing apparatus and an information processing method capable of reducing power consumption for displaying a plurality of windows in a multi-window / multi-task OS.

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the information processing apparatus according to one aspect of the present invention has an operating system (OS) that supports multi-window and multi-task, and a plurality of windows are displayed on the display unit. In the case, when the detection unit for detecting the positional relationship of the plurality of windows in the depth direction of the display unit and the first window including the content to be dynamically processed are included, the plurality of windows are based on the positional relationship. , if the display state of the first window is determined to satisfy a determining unit meets the predetermined requirements, the predetermined requirements, with respect to the first window, said first of the power saving unit to execute the power saving process for stopping the operation of the window, provided with, if the first window is the browser window, the power saving process, in the window of the browser It is to open a dummy tab in the foreground .

The information processing method according to one aspect of the present invention is that the operating system (OS) supports multi-window multi-tasking and that the detection unit displays a plurality of windows on the display unit. When the positional relationship of the plurality of windows in the depth direction of the display unit is detected and the determination unit includes a first window containing the content to be dynamically processed, the positional relationship is determined. Based on this, it is determined whether the display state of the first window satisfies the predetermined requirement, and when the power saving processing unit determines that the predetermined requirement is satisfied, the first window respect, the and performing power saving process for stopping the operation of the first window, only including, when the first window is a browser window, the power saving process, the browser To open a dummy tab in the foreground of the window .

According to the present invention, it is possible to reduce the power consumption for displaying a plurality of windows in a multi-window / multi-task OS.

It is a figure which shows an example of the external structure of the notebook type PC which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows an example of the hardware composition of the notebook type PC which concerns on this embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows an example of the functional structure of the notebook type PC which concerns on this embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the display area which concerns on the same embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the processing flow in the notebook type PC which concerns on this embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the display of a plurality of windows in the 1st specific example which concerns on this embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the display area in the 1st specific example which concerns on the same embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the display of a plurality of windows in the 2nd specific example which concerns on this embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the display area in the 2nd specific example which concerns on the same embodiment.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

<< 1. Information processing device configuration >>
The configuration of the information processing apparatus according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described. In this embodiment, a notebook PC (Personal Computer) will be described as an example of the information processing device. The information processing device according to the embodiment of the present invention is not limited to the notebook PC. For example, the information processing device may be realized by a terminal such as a desktop PC, a tablet, or a smartphone. The information processing device according to the present embodiment is a terminal equipped with a multi-window / multi-task OS in order to realize a multi-window / multi-task system.

<1-1. External configuration>
First, an example of the external configuration of the notebook PC 1 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of an external configuration of a notebook PC 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the following description, the long side direction of the display unit 14 will be the X-axis direction, the short side direction of the display unit 14 will be the Y-axis, and the direction perpendicular to the surface of the display unit will be the Z-axis direction.

As shown in FIG. 1, the notebook PC 1 includes a display unit 14. The notebook PC1 is equipped with a multi-window multi-task OS. The notebook PC 1 can display a plurality of windows on the display unit 14 by the function of the multi-window / multi-task OS. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, the notebook PC 1 displays one browser window BW and one application window AW on the display unit 14.

The number of windows displayed on the display unit 14 by the notebook PC 1 is not limited to this example. For example, the notebook PC 1 may display a plurality of browser windows BW and a plurality of application windows AW on the display unit 14.

The browser window BW according to the present embodiment is a window displayed by the function of the browser mounted on the notebook PC1. Further, the application window AW according to the present embodiment is a window displayed by a function of an application or the like other than the browser.

<1-2. Hardware configuration>
Subsequently, an example of the hardware configuration of the notebook PC 1 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the notebook PC 1 according to the present embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 2, the notebook PC 1 includes a CPU 11, a main memory 12, a GPU 13, a display unit 14, a chipset 21, a BIOS memory 22, an HDD 23, an audio system 24, a microphone 241, a speaker 242, a WLAN card 25, and a USB connector. 26, EC31, input unit 32, sensor unit 33, power supply circuit 34, and battery 35.

The CPU (Central Processing Unit) 11 executes various arithmetic processes by program control and controls the entire notebook PC1.

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 the 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 an OS, various drivers for operating peripheral devices in hardware, various services / utilities, application programs, and the like.

The GPU (Graphic Processing Unit) 13 executes image processing based on the control of the CPU 11 to generate display data. The GPU 13 is connected to the display unit 14 and outputs the generated display data to the display unit 14.

The display unit 14 is, for example, a liquid crystal display, and displays a display screen based on the display data output from the GPU 13.

The chip set 21 includes USB (Universal Serial Bus), serial ATA (AT Attachment), SPI (Serial Peripheral Interface) bus, PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) bus, PCI-Express bus, LPC (Low Pin Count) bus, and the like. It has a controller and multiple devices are connected. In FIG. 2, the BIOS memory 22, the HDD 23, the audio system 24, the WLAN card 25, the USB connector 26, and the chipset 21 are connected.

The BIOS (Basic Input Output System) memory 22 is composed of, for example, an electrically rewritable non-volatile memory such as an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory) or a flash ROM (Read Only Memory). The BIOS memory 22 stores the BIOS, the system firmware for controlling the EC31 and the like, and the like.

The HDD (Hard Disk Drive) 23 (an example of a non-volatile storage device) stores an OS, various drivers, various services / utilities, application programs, and various data.

In the audio system 24, a microphone 241 and a speaker 242 are connected to record, reproduce, and output sound data. The microphone 241 and the speaker 242 are assumed to be built in the notebook PC 1 as an example.

The WLAN (Wireless Local Area Network) card 25 is connected to the network by a wireless LAN to perform data communication. When the WLAN card 25 receives data from the network, for example, it generates an event trigger indicating that the data has been received.

The USB connector 26 is a connector for connecting peripheral devices using USB.

The EC (Embedded Controller) 31 is a one-Chip Microcomputer that monitors and controls various devices (peripheral devices, sensors, etc.) regardless of the system state of the notebook PC1. The EC31 includes a CPU (Read only Memory) and a RAM (Random Access memory) (not shown).

The EC 31 operates independently of the CPU 11 and mainly functions as a control unit that manages the internal operating environment of the notebook PC 1. The EC 31 reads a control program stored in the ROM in advance, executes a process instructed by various instructions described in the read control program, and realizes various functions.

The EC 31 also includes a multi-channel A / D input terminal, a D / A output terminal, a timer, and a digital input / output terminal. For example, an input unit 32, a sensor unit 33, a power supply circuit 34, and the like are connected to the EC 31 via their input / output terminals, and the EC 31 controls these operations.

Further, the EC 31 includes a plurality of channels of A / D input terminals, D / A output terminals, timers, digital input / output terminals, and the like. For example, an input unit 32, a sensor unit 33, a power supply circuit 34, and the like are connected to the EC 31 via their input / output terminals, and the EC 31 controls these operations.

The input unit 32 is, for example, a HID (Human Interface Device). Specifically, the HID is a pointing device such as a mouse and a touch pad, and an input device such as a keyboard.

The sensor unit 33 includes various sensors such as a proximity sensor that detects the approach of an object and an acceleration sensor that detects acceleration.

The power supply circuit 34 includes, for example, a DC / DC converter, a charge / discharge unit, a battery unit, an AC / DC adapter, and the like, and operates the notebook PC1 with a DC voltage supplied from an external power source or a battery 35. Convert to multiple voltages required for. Further, the power supply circuit 34 supplies electric power to each part of the notebook PC 1 based on the control from the EC 31.

The battery 35 is, for example, a lithium battery, and when the notebook PC 1 is supplied with power from an external power source, the battery 35 is charged via the power supply circuit 34, and when the notebook PC 1 is not supplied with power from an external power source. The charged power is output as the operating power of the notebook PC 1 via the power supply circuit 34.

<1-3. Functional configuration>
Subsequently, an example of the functional configuration of the notebook PC 1 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 the present embodiment.

As shown in FIG. 3, the notebook PC 1 includes an OS 40, a Window Manager 41, a browser processing unit 42, and a browser 43 (43-1 to 43-n (n is a natural number)) realized by software. Further, the notebook PC1 includes an input unit 32, a CPU 11, a GPU 13, a display unit 14, and a speaker 242 as the main hardware of the present embodiment.

The OS 40, the Window Manager 41, the browser processing unit 42, and the browser 43 are realized by reading the 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 OS 40 is, for example, an operating system such as Windows (registered trademark) or Linux (registered trademark), and inputs / outputs information to / from various hardware.

Window Manager 41 is a program executed based on OS 40. The Window Manager 41 performs processing related to a window for outputting various contents. The windows are, for example, a browser window BW and an application window AW.

For example, the Window Manager 41 causes the browser window BW generated by the browser processing unit 42 and the application window AW generated by various applications to be displayed on the display unit 14 via the OS 40 and the GPU 13.

In addition, the Window Manager 41 manages the appearance, positional relationship, size, operation method, and the like of the window. For example, suppose that the user performs an operation of changing the display position of the browser window BW displayed on the display unit 14 via the input unit 32. In this case, the operation content of the user is input to the Window Manager 41 via the input unit 32, the CPU 11, and the OS 40. The Window Manager 41 outputs the information of the browser window BW after the change of the display position to the browser processing unit 42 based on the input operation content.

When the operation content of the user is reflected in the browser window BW by the browser processing unit 42, the information of the reflected browser window BW is input to the Window Manager 41. When the information is input, the Window Manager 41 causes the display unit 14 to display the browser window BW via the OS 40 and the GPU 13.

When the information input from the browser processing unit 42 includes voice data, the Window Manager 41 may output the voice to the speaker 242 via the OS 40 and the CPU 11.

The browser processing unit 42 performs processing related to the output of the browser 43. For example, the browser 43 generates a browser window BW in which the browser 43 is drawn based on the resources acquired from the Web server by the communication of the WLAN card 25. In order to realize this function, the browser processing unit 42 includes a drawing processing unit 50.

The drawing processing unit 50 draws the browser 43 and performs rendering for generating the browser window BW. The browser 43 includes DOM60 (60-1 to 60-n (n is a natural number)) and CSS61 (61-1 to 61-n (n is a natural number)) having information about the browser 43. The DOM (Document Object Model) 60 is information indicating the structure of a document in the browser 43. CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) 61 is information for setting the style of the browser 43.

The browser 43 draws the browser 43 by rendering based on the DOM 60 and the CSS 61 to generate the browser window BW. After the browser window BW is generated, the browser processing unit 42 outputs the generated browser window BW to the Window Manager 41.

Further, the browser processing unit 42 has a function for reducing power consumption in a window other than the active window in the multi-window / multi-task system of the notebook PC1. The active window according to the present embodiment is, for example, a window considered to be used by the user. In order to realize this function, the browser processing unit 42 includes a detection unit 51, a calculation unit 52, a determination unit 53, and a power saving processing unit 54.

When a plurality of windows are displayed on the display unit 14, the detection unit 51 detects the positional relationship of the plurality of windows in the depth direction of the display unit 14. The plurality of windows displayed on the display unit 14 are a window in which the entire window is visibly displayed, a window displayed on the display unit 14 but only partially visible, and a window displayed on the display unit 14. Includes windows that cannot be seen. The window displayed on the display unit 14 but only partially visible is, for example, a window in which a part of its own window is hidden by another window. The window displayed on the display unit 14 but not visible is, for example, a window in which the entire own window is hidden by another window.

As an example, the detection unit 51 detects the positional relationship of the plurality of windows when the display of any of the plurality of windows displayed on the display unit 14 changes. The change in the display of the window is, for example, a change in the display position of the window, a change in the display size of the window, a change in the context with other windows, and the like. The detection unit 51 identifies whether or not the display of the window has changed based on the information based on the operation content of the user input from the Window Manager 41.

The detection unit 51 detects the positional relationship of a plurality of windows, for example, based on the information obtained by issuing a command. As an example, the detection unit 51 issues a command defined in the OS 40 for enumerating a plurality of windows and detecting the positional relationship. For example, when the OS 40 is Windows, the command is "Enum Windows API" defined in Windows. The detection unit 51 outputs the detection result to the calculation unit 52.

When the detection unit 51 issues the "Enum Windows API", Callback processing is performed for each of the listed windows. In the present embodiment, the Callback processing performs the processing of the calculation unit 52, the determination unit 53, and the power saving processing unit 54, which will be described later, for each of the listed windows.

The detection unit 51 may start detecting the positional relationship of a plurality of windows after a predetermined time has elapsed after the window display changes. Further, even if the window display changes, it is not necessary to start detecting the positional relationship of a plurality of windows while the input by the user is being performed.

The calculation unit 52 is located in front of the first window in the depth direction of the display unit 14 and the first window containing the dynamically processed content (hereinafter, also referred to as “dynamic content”). The area of the display area of the first window is calculated based on the positional relationship with the second window. Here, the dynamic content is, for example, a moving image content that outputs a moving image, an audio content that outputs an audio, a content that operates by a script language, or the like. The front is a direction toward the user who is visually recognizing the display unit 14 in the depth direction, and the back is a direction away from the user in the depth direction. The display area is the area of the area that is visibly displayed in the first window.

The calculation unit 52 acquires position information indicating the size and display position of each of the plurality of windows. As an example, the calculation unit 52 issues a command for acquiring the position and size of the window on the plane, which is defined in OS40. For example, when the OS 40 is Windows, the command is "GetWindowRect API" defined in Windows.

The calculation unit 52 calculates the area of each window based on the acquired window size. Based on the acquired position information, the calculation unit 52 identifies a region in which the first window and the second window overlap and a region in which the second window does not overlap. After specifying, the calculation unit 52 calculates the area of the area where the first window and the second window do not overlap as the area of the display area of the first window.

After calculating the area of the display area of the first window, the calculation unit 52 divides the area of the display area of the first window by the total area of the first window to determine the ratio of the display area of the first window. Is calculated. The calculation unit 52 outputs the calculation result to the determination unit 53.

Here, an example of the display area will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a display area according to the present embodiment. In FIG. 4, the browser window BW is shown as the first window, and the application window AW is shown as the second window.

As shown in FIG. 4, in the browser window BW which is the first window, the visible area is the display area DA which is not overlapped with the application window AW which is the second window.

When the plurality of windows include the first window, the determination unit 53 determines whether or not the display state of the first window satisfies a predetermined requirement based on the positional relationship of the plurality of windows. After the determination, the determination unit 53 outputs the determination result for each window to the power saving processing unit 54.

Predetermined requirements include, for example, that the proportion of the display area of the first window is less than or equal to a predetermined threshold. Specifically, the determination unit 53 determines whether or not the ratio of the display area of the first window calculated by the calculation unit 52 is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold value. When the ratio of the display area is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold value, the determination unit 53 determines that the first window satisfies the predetermined requirement.

On the other hand, when the ratio of the display area is not equal to or less than a predetermined threshold value, the determination unit 53 determines that the first window does not satisfy the predetermined requirement. The first window satisfying a predetermined requirement is a target of power saving processing (hereinafter, also referred to as “processing target”) in the power saving processing unit 54, which will be described later. That is, the determination unit 53 determines whether the first window is the processing target of the power saving processing unit 54. The window to be processed includes the browser window BW and the application window AW.

The value of the predetermined threshold value for determining whether or not the first window satisfies the predetermined requirement based on the ratio of the display area of the first window is not particularly limited, and an arbitrary value can be set by the user. May be done. For example, when it is desired to determine a window that is not completely displayed as a processing target, the user may set 100% as a predetermined threshold value. Further, when it is desired to determine a window that is not displayed more than half as a processing target, the user may set 50% as a predetermined threshold value.

Also, certain requirements may include that the first window does not contain audio content. Specifically, the determination unit 53 determines whether or not the audio content is included in the first window. When the audio content is included in the first window, the determination unit 53 determines that the first window does not satisfy the predetermined requirement.

On the other hand, when the audio content is not included in the first window, the determination unit 53 determines that the first window satisfies a predetermined requirement. That is, the determination unit 53 determines that the first window is the processing target.

The audio content is, for example, content for playing a moving image, content for playing music, and the like. It is assumed that when the user is performing background playback using a window containing audio content, the window is determined to be a processing target. In this case, background playback is stopped due to the power saving process described later. Therefore, by preventing the determination unit 53 from determining the first window containing the music content as the processing target, it is possible to prevent the user from unintentionally stopping the background playback.

Further, the predetermined requirement may include that the first window is not displayed in the foreground of the display unit 14. Specifically, the determination unit 53 determines whether or not the first window is displayed in the foreground of the display unit 14 based on the positional relationship of the plurality of windows. When the first window is displayed in the foreground of the display unit 14, the determination unit 53 determines that the first window does not satisfy a predetermined requirement.

On the other hand, when the first window is not displayed in the foreground of the display unit 14, the determination unit 53 determines that the first window satisfies a predetermined requirement. That is, the determination unit 53 determines that the first window is the processing target.

As described above, when the predetermined requirement is that the first window does not contain audio content or that the first window is not displayed in the foreground of the display unit 14, the determination unit 53 determines. The ratio of the display area calculated by the calculation unit 52 is not used. Therefore, the calculation process of the ratio of the display area in the calculation unit 52 can be omitted. Therefore, the processing speed of the browser processing unit 42 can be increased, and the power required for the calculation processing of the ratio of the display area can be reduced.

Further, the predetermined requirement may include that the ratio of the display area in which the dynamic content included in the first window is displayed on the display unit 14 is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold value. Specifically, the determination unit 53 determines whether or not the ratio of the display area of the dynamic content displayed on the display unit 14 is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold value. When the ratio of the display area of the dynamic content displayed on the display unit 14 is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold value, the determination unit 53 determines that the first window satisfies the predetermined requirement. That is, the determination unit 53 determines that the first window is the processing target.

On the other hand, when the ratio of the display area of the dynamic content displayed on the display unit 14 is not equal to or less than a predetermined threshold value, the determination unit 53 determines that the first window does not satisfy the predetermined requirement.

The value of the predetermined threshold value for determining whether or not the first window satisfies the predetermined requirement based on the ratio of the display area of the dynamic content displayed on the display unit 14 is not particularly limited. Any value may be set by the user. For example, when it is desired to determine a window in which dynamic contents are not completely displayed as a processing target, the user may set 100% as a predetermined threshold value. Further, when it is desired to determine a window in which half or more of the dynamic contents are not displayed as a processing target, the user may set 50% as a predetermined threshold value.

The ratio of the dynamic content displayed on the display unit 14 is calculated by the calculation unit 52 based on, for example, information on the dynamic content acquired from CSS or DOM.

Specifically, the calculation unit 52 acquires information indicating the size of the dynamic content and calculates the area of the dynamic content. The calculation unit 52 acquires the position information indicating the position where the dynamic content is displayed, and identifies the area where the dynamic content and the second window are superimposed and the area where the dynamic content is not superimposed. After specifying, the calculation unit 52 calculates the area of the area where the dynamic content and the second window do not overlap as the area of the display area of the dynamic content.

After calculating the area of the display area of the dynamic content, the calculation unit 52 divides the area of the display area of the dynamic content by the total area of the dynamic content to calculate the ratio of the display area of the dynamic content.

The power saving processing unit 54 executes the power saving processing on the first window (that is, the processing target) determined by the determination unit 53 to satisfy the predetermined requirements. For example, the power saving process is to stop the operation of the first window determined to be processed. Here, the operation of the first window is, for example, an operation related to the contents inside the first window. As an example of the operation related to the internal content, there is a process such as generation, drawing, and display of the content.

Even if the power saving process is executed for the first window, the operation such as the display related to the first window itself is continued under the control of the Window Manager 41.

This eliminates the power required for the first window to operate. Therefore, the power saving processing unit 54 can reduce the power consumption by the power saving processing for the first window.
The power saving process is not limited to this example.

For example, the power saving process may be to stop the execution of the process in the first window. The power saving processing unit 54 stops the execution of the process in the first window by issuing a command, for example.

As an example, the power saving processing unit 54 issues a command for stopping the running process. For example, when the OS 40 is Windows, the command is "NTSpendProcess" defined in Windows. When the OS 40 is Linux, the power saving processing unit 54 issues a STOP signal to the process in the first window.

When resuming the execution of the process in the first window, the power saving processing unit 54 issues a command for resuming the execution of the stopped process. For example, when the OS 40 is Windows, the command is "NTRecessProcess" defined in Windows. When the OS 40 is Linux, the power saving processing unit 54 issues a CONT signal to the process in the first window.

Further, the power saving process may be to minimize the first window. The power saving processing unit 54 minimizes the first window by, for example, issuing a message.

As an example, the power saving processing unit 54 issues a message for minimizing the window. For example, when the OS 40 is Windows, the message is "Send Message (WM_SYSCOMMAND, SC_MINIMIZE)" defined in Windows.

Further, the power saving process may be to open a dummy tab in the foreground in the browser window when the first window determined to be processed is the browser window. The power saving processing unit 54 causes the browser window to be processed to open a dummy tab by issuing a command, for example.

As an example, the power saving processing unit 54 issues a command for virtually inputting a shortcut key for opening a dummy tab. For example, when the OS 40 is Windows, the command is "keybd_event API" defined in Windows. When the browser is Chrome (registered trademark), the command is "chrome.windows API" defined in Chrome.

Further, the power saving processing unit 54 may control the operation of the window after the power saving processing is executed. For example, the power saving processing unit 54 may blur the display of the window after the power saving processing is executed. As a result, the user can easily distinguish the window in which the power saving process is executed from the plurality of windows displayed on the display unit 14.

As described above, the browser processing unit 42 can make the OS 40 execute the API for acquiring various information and the power saving processing via the Window Manager 41. Further, the browser processing unit 42 can execute the power saving processing on the window regardless of the type of browser such as the browser window BW or the application window AW by causing the OS 40 to execute the API.

<< 2. Process flow >>
The example of the configuration of the information processing device has been described above. Subsequently, an example of the processing flow in the notebook PC 1 according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of a processing flow in the notebook PC 1 according to the present embodiment. It is assumed that the flow described below is a flow on the premise that a plurality of windows are displayed on the display unit 14 and that each of the plurality of windows is the first window.

As shown in FIG. 5, the notebook PC1 first determines whether or not the window display has changed (S102). When the window display changes (S102 / YES), the notebook PC1 executes the process of S104. On the other hand, when the window display has not changed (S102 / NO), the notebook PC1 repeats the process from S102.

The notebook PC 1 lists a plurality of windows being displayed on the display unit 14 (S104). Next, the notebook PC1 detects the positional relationship of the listed windows (S106). After the detection, the notebook PC1 executes a Callback process for each detected window (S108).

In the Callback process, the notebook PC1 first acquires the position information and the size indicating the display position of the window, and calculates the area of the window (S110). Next, the notebook PC1 calculates the ratio of the display area of the window based on the calculated area and the positional relationship of the window (S112).

After calculating the ratio of the display area, the notebook PC1 determines whether or not the ratio of the display area is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold value (S114). When the ratio of the display area is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold value (S114 / YES), the notebook PC1 determines whether or not the first window contains audio content (S116). When the first window does not include audio content (S116 / NO), the notebook PC1 executes a power saving process on the first window (S118).

On the other hand, when the ratio of the display area is not equal to or less than a predetermined threshold value (S114 / NO), the notebook PC1 cancels the power saving performed in the first window (S120). Further, when the first window includes audio content (S116 / YES), the notebook PC1 cancels the power saving for the first window (S120).

After executing any of the processes S118 and S120, the notebook PC1 determines whether or not the target of the Callback process is the last window listed (S122). When the target of the Callback process is the last window listed (S122 / YES), the notebook PC1 ends the Callback process (S124) and repeats the process from S102. On the other hand, when the target of the Callback process is not the last window listed (S122 / NO), the notebook PC1 starts the Callback process of the next window (S126) and repeats the process from S110.

The process described with reference to FIG. 5 may be executed when a predetermined condition is satisfied. For example, the process may be executed when a DC voltage is not supplied to the power supply circuit 34 from an external power source. Further, the process may be executed when the DC voltage is not supplied to the power supply circuit 34 from the external power source and the remaining amount of the battery 35 is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold value. As a result, the power consumption of the notebook PC 1 can be reduced, the consumption speed of the power charged in the battery 35 can be slowed down, and the usable time of the notebook PC 1 can be extended.

<< 3. Specific example >>
The example of the processing flow in the information processing apparatus has been described above. Subsequently, a specific example according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 6A to 7B.

(1) First Specific Example First, a first specific example according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 6A and 6B. FIG. 6A is a diagram showing an example of display of a plurality of windows in the first specific example according to the present embodiment. FIG. 6B is a diagram showing an example of a display area in the first specific example according to the present embodiment. The predetermined threshold value in the first specific example is, for example, 75%.

As shown in FIG. 6A, a plurality of windows are displayed on the display unit 14 of the notebook PC 1 in the order of the browser window BW1, the browser window BW2, and the application window AW from the front. In the first specific example, it is assumed that the state shown in FIG. 6A is the state immediately after the window display is changed.

In this case, the detection unit 51 enumerates a plurality of displayed windows and detects the context of the enumerated windows. Subsequently, in the Callback process, it is determined whether or not to perform the power saving process in order from the window located in front of the display unit 14 in the depth direction.

Specifically, first, it is assumed that the browser window BW1 displayed at the frontmost position is the first window. In this case, first, the calculation unit 52 acquires the position information and the size of the browser window BW1 and calculates the area. After calculating the area, the calculation unit 52 calculates the ratio of the display area of the browser window BW1.

The browser window BW1 is displayed in the foreground of the display unit 14. Therefore, the calculation unit 52 calculates the ratio of the display area as 100%. Therefore, since the ratio of the display area is not equal to or less than the predetermined threshold value, the determination unit 53 determines that the power saving process is not performed on the browser window BW1.

Subsequently, assuming that the browser window BW2 displayed at the second position from the front is the first window, the browser window BW1 is the second window. In this case, first, the calculation unit 52 acquires the position information and the size of the browser window BW2 and calculates the area.

After calculating the area, the calculation unit 52 calculates the ratio of the display area of the browser window BW2. At this time, the calculation unit 52 calculates the ratio of the display area of the browser window BW2 based on the positional relationship between the browser window BW1 and the browser window BW2. The display area of the browser window BW2 is the display area DA1 shown in FIG. 6B.

When the ratio of the display area DA1 of the browser window BW2 is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold value and the browser window BW2 does not include audio content, the determination unit 53 determines that the browser window BW2 is subjected to the power saving process. do.

On the other hand, when the ratio of the display area DA1 of the browser window BW2 is not equal to or less than a predetermined threshold value, the determination unit 53 determines that the power saving process is not executed for the browser window BW2. Further, even when the ratio of the display area DA1 of the browser window BW2 is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold value but the browser window BW2 includes audio content, the determination unit 53 must execute the power saving process for the browser window BW2. judge.

Subsequently, assuming that the application window AW displayed at the third position from the front is the first window, the browser window BW1 and the browser window BW2 are the second windows. In this case, first, the calculation unit 52 acquires the position information and the size of the application window AW and calculates the area.

After calculating the area, the calculation unit 52 calculates the ratio of the display area of the application window AW. At this time, the calculation unit 52 calculates the ratio of the display area of the application window AW based on the positional relationship between the browser window BW1, the browser window BW2, and the application window AW. The display area of the application window AW is the display area DA2 shown in FIG. 6B.

When the ratio of the display area DA2 of the application window AW is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold value and the application window AW does not include audio content, the determination unit 53 determines that the application window AW is subjected to the power saving process. do.

On the other hand, when the ratio of the display area DA2 of the application window AW is not equal to or less than a predetermined threshold value, the determination unit 53 determines that the power saving process is not executed for the application window AW. Further, even when the ratio of the display area DA2 of the application window AW is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold value but the application window AW includes audio content, the determination unit 53 must execute the power saving process for the application window AW. judge.

(2) Second Specific Example Next, a second specific example according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 7A and 7B. FIG. 7A is a diagram showing an example of display of a plurality of windows in the second specific example according to the present embodiment. FIG. 7B is a diagram showing an example of a display area in the second specific example according to the present embodiment. The predetermined threshold value in the second specific example is, for example, 75%.

As shown in FIG. 7A, the application window AW is displayed as a whole on the display unit 14 of the notebook PC1. However, as shown in FIG. 7B, the browser window BW is displayed behind the application window AW in an invisible state. In the second specific example, it is assumed that the state shown in FIG. 7A is the state immediately after the window display is changed.

In this case, the detection unit 51 enumerates a plurality of displayed windows and detects the context of the enumerated windows. Subsequently, in the Callback process, it is determined whether or not to perform the power saving process in order from the window located in front of the display unit 14 in the depth direction.

Specifically, first, it is assumed that the application window AW displayed at the frontmost position is the first window. In this case, first, the calculation unit 52 acquires the position information and the size of the application window AW and calculates the area. After calculating the area, the calculation unit 52 calculates the ratio of the display area of the application window AW.

The application window AW is displayed in the foreground of the display unit 14. Therefore, the calculation unit 52 calculates the ratio of the display area of the application window AW to be 100%. Therefore, since the ratio of the display area is not equal to or less than a predetermined threshold value, the determination unit 53 determines that the application window AW is not subjected to the power saving process.

Subsequently, assuming that the browser window BW displayed at the second position from the front is the first window, the application window AW is the second window. In this case, first, the calculation unit 52 acquires the position information and the size of the browser window BW and calculates the area.

After calculating the area, the calculation unit 52 calculates the ratio of the display area of the browser window BW. At this time, the calculation unit 52 calculates the ratio of the display area of the browser window BW based on the positional relationship between the browser window BW and the application window AW.

The browser window BW is completely hidden behind the application window AW. Therefore, the calculation unit 52 calculates the ratio of the display area of the browser window BW to be 0%. Therefore, since the ratio of the display area is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold value, the determination unit 53 determines that the browser window BW is subjected to the power saving process.

<< 4. Modification example >>
The embodiment of the present invention has been described above. Subsequently, a modified example of the embodiment of the present invention will be described. In addition, each modification described below may be applied to the embodiment of the present invention alone, or may be applied to the embodiment of the present invention in combination. Further, each modification may be applied in place of the configuration described in the embodiment of the present invention, or may be additionally applied to the configuration described in each embodiment of the present invention.

(1) First Modification Example The notebook PC1 may include a camera. The camera is provided, for example, in the housing of the notebook PC 1 so that the user's eyes can be imaged. The camera is also connected to the chipset 21. The captured image of the user's eyes captured by the camera is input to the detection unit 51 of the browser processing unit 42 via the chipset 21, the CPU 11, the OS 40, and the Window Manager 41.

The detection unit 51 detects the position of the user's line of sight on the surface of the display unit 14 based on the input captured image. In this case, the predetermined requirement may include that the position of the user's line of sight on the surface of the display unit 14 is not included in the display area of the first window. The fact that the position of the user's line of sight is not included in the display area of the first window indicates that the user is not visually recognizing the first window.

The determination unit 53 determines whether or not the position of the user's line of sight on the surface of the display unit 14 is included in the display area of the first window. When the position of the user's line of sight is included in the display area of the first window, the determination unit 53 determines that the first window does not satisfy a predetermined requirement.

On the other hand, when the position of the line of sight of the user is not included in the display area of the first window, the determination unit 53 determines that the first window satisfies a predetermined requirement. That is, the determination unit 53 determines that the first window is the processing target. Then, the power saving processing unit 54 executes the power saving processing for the first window determined to satisfy the predetermined requirements. In this way, the first window to be processed may be determined based on the line of sight of the user.

(2) Second Modified Example In the above-described embodiment, an example of stopping the operation of the entire first window to be processed has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this example. The operation of the first window to be processed may be partially stopped.

For example, the power saving processing unit 54 stops only the operation of the content having high power consumption among the contents included in the first window to be processed. The content having high power consumption is, for example, moving image content, content drawn by WebGL (Web Graphics Library) (for example, a three-dimensional image), or the like.

Content with high power consumption can be specified based on, for example, the usage rate of the CPU 11 or the GPU 13. The browser processing unit 42 acquires information on the usage rates of the CPU 11 and the GPU 13 from the OS 40 via, for example, the Window Manager 41.

Further, the power saving processing unit 54 does not stop the operation of the content included in the display area among the contents included in the first window to be processed, but in the area hidden by the window displayed in front. Only the operation of the contained content may be stopped.

As described above, the information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment is equipped with a multi-window / multi-task OS. When a plurality of windows are displayed on the display unit 14, the information processing apparatus detects the positional relationship of the plurality of windows in the depth direction of the display unit 14. When the plurality of windows include the first window containing the dynamic contents, the information processing apparatus determines whether the display state of the first window satisfies a predetermined requirement based on the detected positional relationship. If it is determined that the predetermined requirements are satisfied, the information processing apparatus executes the power saving process for the first window.

With such a configuration, the information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment can reduce the power consumption of the window determined that the user cannot visually recognize the content among the plurality of windows displayed on the display unit 14.

Therefore, the information processing apparatus according to the present embodiment can reduce the power consumption for displaying a plurality of windows in the multi-window / multi-task OS.

The embodiment of the present invention has been described above. The information processing device according to the above-described embodiment may be realized by a computer. In that case, the program for realizing this function may be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium, and the program recorded on the recording medium may be read by the computer system and executed. The term "computer system" as used herein includes hardware such as an OS and peripheral devices. Further, the "computer-readable recording medium" refers to a portable medium such as a flexible disk, a magneto-optical disk, a ROM, or a CD-ROM, or a storage device such as a hard disk built in a computer system. Further, a "computer-readable recording medium" is a communication line for transmitting a program via a network such as the Internet or a communication line such as a telephone line, and dynamically holds the program for a short period of time. It may also include a program that holds a program for a certain period of time, such as a volatile memory inside a computer system that serves as a server or a client in that case. Further, the above program may be for realizing a part of the above-mentioned functions, and may be further realized for realizing the above-mentioned functions in combination with a program already recorded in the computer system. It may be realized by using a programmable logic device such as FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array).

Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail with reference to the drawings, the specific configuration is not limited to the above, and various design changes and the like can be made without departing from the gist of the present invention. It is possible to do.

1 Notebook PC
11 CPU
12 Main memory 13 GPU
14 Display 21 Chipset 22 BIOS memory 23 HDD
24 Audio system 25 WLAN card 26 USB connector 31 EC
32 Input unit 33 Sensor unit 34 Power supply circuit 35 Battery 40 OS
41 Window Manager
42 Browser processing unit 43 Browser 50 Drawing processing unit 51 Detection unit 52 Calculation unit 53 Judgment unit 54 Power saving processing unit 60 DOM
61 CSS
241 microphone 242 speaker

Claims (9)

An operating system (OS) that supports multi-window multitasking and
When a plurality of windows are displayed on the display unit, a detection unit that detects the positional relationship of the plurality of windows in the depth direction of the display unit and a detection unit.
When the plurality of windows include a first window containing dynamically processed contents, a determination unit for determining whether the display state of the first window satisfies a predetermined requirement based on the positional relationship. ,
When it is determined that the predetermined requirements are satisfied, the power saving processing unit that executes the power saving processing for stopping the operation of the first window with respect to the first window, and the power saving processing unit.
Equipped with a,
When the first window is a browser window, the power saving process is to open a dummy tab in the foreground in the browser window .
Information processing device. The power saving process is to stop the execution of the first window of the process, the information processing apparatus according to claim 1. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2 , wherein the power saving process minimizes the first window. The information processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 3 , wherein the predetermined requirement includes that the content for outputting audio is not included in the first window. The predetermined requirement according to any one of claims 1 to 4 , wherein the ratio of the display area displayed on the display unit of the first window is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold value. Information processing device. The predetermined requirement according to any one of claims 1 to 4 , wherein the ratio of the dynamically processed content displayed on the display unit is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold value. Information processing device. The area of the display area of the first window is calculated based on the positional relationship between the first window and the second window located in front of the first window in the depth direction. A calculation unit that calculates the ratio by dividing the area of the display area by the area of the first window.
The information processing apparatus according to claim 5 , further comprising. The information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 4 , wherein the predetermined requirement includes that the first window is not displayed in the foreground of the display unit. The operating system (OS) supports multi-window multitasking and
When a plurality of windows are displayed on the display unit, the detection unit detects the positional relationship of the plurality of windows in the depth direction of the display unit.
When the determination unit includes a first window containing content to be dynamically processed, it is determined whether the display state of the first window satisfies a predetermined requirement based on the positional relationship. To do and
When the power saving processing unit determines that the predetermined requirements are satisfied, the power saving processing for stopping the operation of the first window is executed for the first window.
Only including,
When the first window is a browser window, the power saving process is to open a dummy tab in the foreground in the browser window .
Information processing method.

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