JPH03116314A - Personal computer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To report it to an operator without overlooking that the continuous operation dependent upon battery driving is impossible by reporting the low battery state of a main battery to the operator with a report tone. CONSTITUTION:An alarm 308 is driven and controlled through a parallel I/O 305 and an I/O driver 309 under the control of a power control CPU 306. When a battery used at present out of main batteries BT-L and BT-R is in the low battery state and the other battery is in the low battery state or is not connected yet at the time of battery driving with an AC adapter unconnected, a warning tone (beep tone) is generated. Thus, it is reported to the operator without passing over that the continuous operation dependent upon battery driving is impossible.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Purpose of the Invention (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a personal computer that is easy to carry and can be operated by an internal battery, and particularly relates to a power supply control mechanism that centrally manages power. This article relates to a personal computer with the following characteristics.

(Prior Art) In recent years, various types of personal computers have been developed that are easy to carry and can be operated by internal batteries. This type of personal computer constantly recognizes the operating power supply status and the device status whether it is being used with an AC adapter or internal battery, and when operating on a battery, it constantly recognizes the operating power supply status and device status. It is necessary to eliminate failures due to various types of TIs source abnormalities, including usage limit states (hereinafter referred to as low battery states), but conventional methods have been effective in concentrating power sources in devices that can operate from various power sources. There was no governing body.

(Problems to be Solved by the Invention) As mentioned above, in a personal computer that is easy to carry and can be operated with an internal battery, A.
Whether using the C adapter or the internal battery, it is necessary to constantly recognize the operating power supply status and device status, and eliminate all failures due to power supply abnormalities. There has been no effective central management mechanism for power sources in devices capable of operating from such a variety of power sources.

The present invention was made in view of the above circumstances, and provides a personal computer that is easy to carry and can be operated on both an AC adapter power source and a battery that can be recharged by the adapter power source, when the AC adapter is not in use. An object of the present invention is to provide a personal computer having a function of detecting a low battery state of a battery, and notifying a user by a notification sound that continued operation by battery power is impossible.

[Structure of the Invention] (Means and Effects for Solving the Problems) The present invention provides a power adapter that supplies operating power to the device main body in a personal computer that is easy to carry and can be operated by a rechargeable battery. A power control CPU that recognizes the state of the main battery that can be charged by the power supply of the same adapter, and a warning sound when the CPU recognizes that the power adapter is not connected and recognizes that the main battery is at its usage limit. The system is equipped with an alarm that notifies the operator of the low battery status when the power adapter is not in use, and this allows the operator to be notified without oversight of the condition in which continued battery-powered operation is impossible. I can do it.

The present invention also provides two sets of main batteries that are removably installed in the device body and can be charged by the power of a power adapter that supplies operating power to the device body, and the two sets of main batteries and the power adapter. A power control CPU that monitors the power status in the device including the power supply, and when the CPU recognizes the usage status due to the power adapter not being connected,
Means for controlling the supply of battery power into the device by using one of the batteries of the two sets of main batteries, and the CPU recognizing the usage state due to the power adapter not being connected, the battery when the power adapter is not in use; The system is configured to notify the operator of the low battery state of the battery in use, which cannot be switched, with a notification sound, thereby making it possible to notify the operator of the state in which continued operation by battery drive is impossible without overlooking.

(Example) An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

Figure 1 shows the power control C shown in Figures 2 and 3.
A flowchart showing a battery check processing flow according to an embodiment of the present invention executed by a PU (PC-CPU), FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the configuration of a system that realizes the processing functions shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the main parts of the intelligent power supply (PS) shown in FIG. 2, which realizes the processing functions shown in FIG. 1.

In FIG. 2, numeral 11 is the main CPU that controls the entire system, which is realized here by a 32-bit CPU chip. (CPU) to read the power status information and recognize whether the operating power supply is normal or not. 12 and 13 are internal buses connected to the CPU II, of which 12 is a 16-bit wide internal data bus and 13 is a 24-bit wide internal address bus. 14 is an optional numerical arithmetic processor (Numerical Data Processor) selectively connected to the internal data bus 12 via a connector.
ssor). 15 is a 16-bit wide data bus 1
5D and a 20-bit wide lower address bus 15L and 7
This is a system bus consisting of a bit-width upper address bus 15U. I6 is a bus driver (BUS-DRV) that provides a connection interface between the internal buses 12 and 13 and the system bus 15, and 17 is the system bus 1.
Bus controller (BUS-CN
T), 1g controls the transfer of addresses between the address buses 13-15 (U, L), and reads/writes the main memory 19.
Memory controller for write control (MEM-CNT)
It is. 19 is a main memory (1-RAM) accessed under address control of the memory controller 18; 20 is a BIOS-ROM storing a BIOS (basic operating program), which has a processing routine as shown in FIG. 1 in the initialization routine. 2
1 is an I10 decoder (Ilo-DEC) that decodes the I10 address on the system bus 15 and passes it to the corresponding I10 element (chip); 22 is an I10 controller (Ilo-CNT) that controls input/output of I10 data; 2
3 is a super integration IC (31) that houses various I10 controllers such as a floppy disk interface, hard disk interface, DMA controller, and interrupt controller; 24 is a frequency oscillator (VFO) that generates a clock for the floppy disk drive (FDD); 25 is a floppy disk drive interface (FDD-1/F).

26 is the hard disk drive interface (HD
D-1/F), in which an interface register is provided for selectively setting the HDD motor off command (NSC) in the initialization routine shown in FIG. 27 is a keyboard controller (KBC), 28
29 is a keyboard scan controller (SCC), and 29 is a backup RAM (B-RAM) used for the above-mentioned resume function. 3
0 is an expansion memory card (EXTM) optionally connected to expansion memory card connectors C1, C2, and C3. 31 is a clock module (RT) having its own operating battery and memory (CMO3-RAM) backed up by the same battery.
C; Real-Tinge C1ock), and here the setup data set on the setup screen etc. is stored and saved in the memory (CMO3-RAM). 32 is an input/output board (PRT/FDD-IF) to which input/output devices such as external floppy disk drives (FDD) and printers (PRT) are connected.
), 33 is a serial human output interface (S10) to which R3-232C interface devices etc. are connected.
It is.

Reference numeral 34 denotes an intelligent power supply (PS) equipped with a power control CPU (PC-CPU) that supplies and controls power for operation of the device, and here two main memories (BT-L).

BT-R) can be implemented, and the power control CP
It controls various operating power sources under the control of the U (PC-CPU), and the status of each power source is notified to the CPU II via the I10 controller 22. The internal configuration of the intelligent power supply 34 is shown in FIG. 3, and the battery check processing flow of the power control CPU (PC-CPU) provided inside the intelligent power supply 34 is shown in FIG.

Reference numeral 35 denotes a display controller (DIS P-CNT) which serves as a display system within the device, and here it is used to display so-called flat panels such as PDP (plasma display), LCD (liquid crystal display), and color panel (color LCD). A panel display and a CRT (CRT display) are respectively driven. 36 is a display controller for expansion (display system)
This is an expansion connector to which various expansion modules can be connected. Reference numeral 41 indicates a floppy disk drive (FDD) inside the device, which is connected to the floppy disk drive interface 25 , and 42 is a hard disk drive (hereinafter referred to as HDD) connected to the hard disk drive interface 26 .

43 is a keyboard unit (KB) connected to the keyboard scan controller 28, 44 is a numeric keypad (tenkey), and 45 to 47 are display devices connected to the display controller 35, of which 45 has a backlight. LCD, 46
is a PDP, and 47 is a CRT.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the intelligent power supply 34. As shown in FIG.

In FIG. 3, 301 is a power switch, 302 is a reset switch, 303 is a display switch, and 304 is a
is a ready setting switch provided on the expansion unit. 305 is each of these switches 301302, 303
, 304, and the power control C described later.
This is a parallel I10 that holds setting information for the PU (PC-CPU) 30B.

306 is a power control CPU (PC-CPU) that centrally controls the power supply of the entire device, and an internal bus 307
Information on each part of the power supply circuit and instruction information of the main CPU II are inputted through the main CPU 11, and the power supply to each part of the device is controlled based on the instructions of the main CPU 11, internal status, external operation status, etc. It has a battery check processing function as shown in Figure 1.

Reference numeral 308 denotes an alarm that generates a beep sound, which is driven and controlled via a parallel l10305 and an I10 driver 309 under the control of the power control CPU 30B. At times, the main battery (B
When a battery in use (T-L, BT-R) is in a low battery state and an unused battery is in a low battery state or unconnected, a warning sound (beeping sound) is generated. do.

Reference numeral 309 indicates an LED for indicating the power-on state and operating speed under the control of the power control CPU 30[i.

I that drives and controls the low battery status display LED, AC adapter connection status display LED, alarm 308, etc.
10 drivers.

310 is an I10 register used for data transmission and reception between the power control CPU 30f3 and a battery control circuit 311 to be described later.

311 is connected to the power control C'PU 306 via the I10 register 310 and the internal bus 307, and controls the main batteries (BT-L, BT-R).
This is a battery control circuit that selects and controls which battery to use and which battery to charge.

312 is the main battery main battery (BT-L
, BT-R).

314 is a current detector that detects the current (excluding backup current) flowing in the circuit within the device. 315 is a DC-DC converter that obtains power for operating each part in the apparatus from the AC adapter power supply or main battery power supply via the current detector 314. 316 is the current value detected by the current detectors 312 and 314, the output voltage of the main battery, and the DC-D
This is an A/D converter that performs analog/digital conversion to supply the output voltage of the C converter 315 as digital data to the power control CPU 30G. 317 is I1 for transmitting and receiving information between the power control CPU 30B and the main CPUIL.
0 controller 22.

Here, the operation in one embodiment of the present invention will be explained with reference to the above figures.

The power control CP 030B of the intelligent power supply 34 constantly monitors the operating state of the power switch 301.

That is, the power control CPU 30B executes a processing routine as shown in FIG. 3 when the device is in a power-off state, and executes the first processing routine when the device is in a power-on state. Execute the battery check processing routine as shown in the figure.

In this battery check process, first, it is determined whether the device is being driven by the AC adapter power or if the IC adapter is not connected and the device is being driven by the battery power (step Sl in FIG. 1).

Here, if it is powered by the AC adapter power,
Charging process as shown in FIG. 1(b) (step 821~
29) is executed.

In addition, when the battery is powered, the battery to be used (BT-L/BT-R) is judged from the status stored in the battery-backed internal memory (not shown), and the left battery BT-R is used. If so, use the same battery BT-L as the battery to be used this time, and recognize the connection status and low battery status of the battery BT-R.If it is the right battery BT-R, use the same battery BT-R as the battery to be used this time. The connection state and low battery state of the battery BT-R are recognized as the battery to be used (steps S2 to S5 in FIG. 1, S13 to 515).
. That is, it is determined whether or not the battery to be used is connected to the device main body based on the battery unit latch state of the battery storage section of the device main body. Steps S4 and 5 in FIG.
14),・When the target battery is connected,
It is determined whether the battery to be used is in a low battery state (step S5, 515 in FIG. 1).

When determining whether or not the battery to be used is in the low battery state, if it is recognized that the battery is not in the low battery state, the battery to be used (BT-L/BT-
R) is output as an operating power source (step S9, 519 in FIG. 1). When the low battery state is recognized, the battery to be used is switched, the low battery state of the switched battery is determined, and the battery is not in the low battery state. In this case, the switched battery is used, and the power of the same battery (BT-L/BT-R) is output as the operating power (Steps S8, S7, and S5 in Figure 1).
IOS51B, S17,520).

In addition, the latch state determination process (step S4 in FIG. 1,
514) When the latch on the battery to be used is in the oven state, determine whether the battery to be not used is unconnected or in a low battery state, and if the battery to be not used is usable, This battery is the battery to be used, and the same battery (BT-L/
BT-R) as an operating power source (Steps S8, S9, S18, 519 in Figure 1)
.

In addition, when the battery to be used is in a latch oven, and the battery not to be used is unconnected or in a low battery state, it is determined that continued operation by battery power is impossible, and the power control CPU
Parallel I/0305 and I1 under control of 30B
The notification device 308 is driven and controlled via the 0 driver 309, and a beep sound is used to notify that continued operation by battery power is impossible (step S8 318S11 in FIG. 1).

Also, it is determined whether the drive is performed by the AC adapter power supply or the battery power supply (step S4 in Fig. 1).
), when it is determined that the battery is powered by the AC adapter, the battery to be charged is determined based on the status stored in the internal memory, and if the battery is not fully charged, the battery is charged until it is fully charged. Once the battery is fully charged, the remaining battery is then charged, and if the battery is not fully charged, it is charged until it is fully charged, and when it is fully charged, the charging process is terminated (first step). Figure Steps S22 to S529).

In this way, the two main batteries (BT-L, B
T-R), the system recognizes the status of each battery, and if it detects that the battery cannot be switched when the power adapter is not in use, it notifies the operator with an audible notification. It is possible to notify the operator without oversight of a state in which continued operation is impossible.

[Effects of the Invention] As detailed above, according to the present invention, in a personal computer that is easy to carry and can be operated by a rechargeable battery, a power adapter that supplies operating power to the main body of the device and the same adapter can be used. Power control CPU (
! :The cPU is equipped with an alarm that generates a warning sound when the cPU recognizes the unconnected state of the power adapter and recognizes the usable limit state of the main battery, so as to detect the low battery state when the power adapter is not in use. By using a configuration that notifies the operator with a notification sound, it is possible to notify the operator without overlooking the state in which continued battery-powered operation is impossible.

Further, according to the present invention, the device can be freely provided in the main body of the device,
In a personal computer having two sets of main batteries that can be recharged by the power of a power adapter that supplies operating power to the main body of the device, the power state in the device that includes the two sets of main batteries and the power adapter. When the power control CPU that monitors the power adapter recognizes that the power adapter is not connected, it selects one of the two main batteries to be used, and uses that battery power inside the device. means for controlling the supply to the battery, and the CPU recognizes the usage state due to the power adapter not being connected, recognizes the usage limit state of the battery in the usage state, and controls the usage limit state of the unused battery or the battery is not installed. The system is equipped with an alarm that emits a warning sound when the state is recognized, and is configured to notify the operator of the low battery state of the battery in use, which cannot be switched when the power adapter is not in use. It is possible to notify the operator without oversight of a state in which continued operation is impossible.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Figure 1 shows the power control c shown in Figures 2 and 3.
A flowchart showing a battery check processing flow according to an embodiment of the present invention executed by pυ (PC-CPU), and FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an example of a system realizing the processing functions shown in FIG. 1 above. , FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the main parts of the intelligent power supply (PS) shown in FIG. 2, which realizes the processing functions shown in FIG. 1. 11...CPU (main CPU), 12. ．． 1
3...Internal bus (12...Internal data bus, 13
...Internal address bus 'I, 14-...Numerical arithmetic processor (NDP; Numerical Da)
ta Processor), 15=-system bus (15D... data path, 15L, 150... address bus) 16... bus driver (BUS-DRV
), 17...Bus controller (BUS-CNT)
, 18...Memory controller (MEM-CNT)
, 19... Main memory (I-RAM), 20...
・B IO3-ROM, 21...I10 decoder (I
10-DEC), 22. ,, I 10:7
controller (Ilo-CNT), 23... super integration IC (SI), 24... frequency oscillator (VFO), 25... floppy disk drive interface (FDD-I/F), 26... hard disk drive Interface (HDD-1/
F), 27-...Keyboard controller (KB
C), 28...Keyboard scan controller (S
CC), 29-... Backup RAM (B-RAM
), 30.・・Extended memory card (EXTM) 3
1... Clock module (RTC), 32... Input/output port (PRT/FDD-IF), 33...
Serial input/output interface (510), 34...
・Intelligent power supply (PS), 35...
・Display controller (DIS P-CNT
), 3B...Expansion connector, 41...Floppy disk drive (FDD), 42...Hard disk drive (HDD), 43...Keyboard unit (KB), 44...Numeric keypad (teak
ey) 45-LCD, 4G-FDP, 47-=C
RT display (CRT), BT-L, BT-R
...Main battery, 301...Power switch,
302... Reset switch, 303... Display switch, 304... Expansion unit setting switch, 305... Parallel I10.308... Power control CPU (PC-CPU), 307...
・Internal bus, 308...Alarm, 309...I10
Driver, 310, 317...I10 register, 3
11...Battery control circuit, 312, 314--
- Current detector, 315, 319-D C-DC converter, 316...A/D converter.

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) A power adapter that supplies operating power to the main unit, a power control CPU that recognizes the status of the main battery that can be recharged by the power from the adapter, and
A personal computer characterized in that the personal computer is equipped with an alarm that generates a warning sound when the unit U recognizes the unconnected state of the power adapter and recognizes the usage limit state of the main battery. (2) Two sets of main batteries that are removably attached to the device body and can be charged by the power of a power adapter that supplies operating power to the device body, and a device that includes the two sets of main batteries and the power adapter. When the power control CPU monitors the power status of the internal battery and the CPU recognizes that the power adapter is not connected, it selects one of the two main batteries to be used, and A means for controlling the supply of power into the device, and a means for the CPU to recognize the usage state when the power adapter is not connected, recognize the usage limit state of the battery in the usage state, and recognize the usage limit state of the battery in the unused state. What is claimed is: 1. A personal computer comprising: an alarm that generates a warning sound when it recognizes a state in which it is not installed or a state in which it is not installed.