JPH0455931A - Firmware device - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To shorten a period of development and to reduce the cost of a firmware device by providing a means to a processing unit to process the key input received from a touch panel together with a drawing processing means which displays the characters and graphics on a display device and a means which interprets the commands received through an interface. CONSTITUTION:A touch panel 1 serving as an input part, a thin display device 2 serving as a display part, and a processing unit 3 containing an interface for communication with the outside are put on each other in a single body. Thus the input and display parts are secured to various equipments as the man-machine interfaces MMI. Then the unit 3 processes the key input received through a touch panel, performs the drawing processing to display the characters and graphics on the device 2, and interprets the commands received through the interface. As a result, the programs to be developed for each equipment can be decreased and the program developed for each equipment can be decreased and the program developing period is shortened.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention provides a firmware that is an intelligent terminal suitable for use as a display and input device for various office automation equipment such as copying machines, facsimile machines, word processors, and personal computers. Regarding equipment.

[Conventional technology]

The various OA devices described above are generally provided with various input sections such as a keyboard and a touch panel, and various display sections such as an LCD display and a CRT display, and their input/output functions are also diversified.

Further, some devices are equipped with a serial interface or a parallel interface having a communication control function for transmitting and receiving data and commands to and from other devices.

[Problems to be Solved by the Invention] However, in such various conventional OA devices, each device has its own input section and display section.

Furthermore, since the interface had been developed, there were problems in that not only did it take a long time to develop a new product, but the development cost was high and the cost of 1M products was also high.

In addition, the input section and display section of the MMI (man-machine)
Since the interface (interface) could not be standardized and differed for each device, there was a lack of uniformity in appearance, and there was also the problem of having to learn how to operate and read the display for each device.

The present invention has been made in view of these conventional problems, and aims to provide a versatile input and display firmware device that can be connected to or incorporated into various devices. purpose.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention integrates a transparent touch panel, a thin display such as an LCD display, and a processing unit equipped with an interface for transmitting and receiving data and commands to and from external devices. A firmware device is installed on top of the processing unit, and the second processing unit includes a key input processing means from the touch panel, a drawing processing means for displaying characters and figures on the display, and a means for interpreting commands received through the interface. provide.

In addition, in the firmware device, the processing unit further includes means for analyzing and classifying errors in commands that cannot be interpreted by the command interpretation means, and storing the results, and a means for determining whether each of its own means functions normally when the power is turned on. There is also provided a device comprising means for diagnosing and storing the results, and means for transmitting the stored error analysis results and self-diagnosis results from the interface when a specific command is received at the interface.

Alternatively, in the firmware device.

The processing unit further includes a means for displaying and controlling a window on the display according to commands received through the interface, and a means for displaying keys on the display and controlling by defining an arbitrary position on the touch panel as a key. It's good to be prepared.

Furthermore, in the firmware device, the processing unit further includes means for displaying kana character keys on the display, defining and controlling any position on the touch panel as a kana character key, and a kana character string input from the touch panel. It is preferable to include a kana-kanji conversion means for converting the words into kanji.

[For production]

The firmware device according to the present invention has a touch panel as an input section, a thin display as a display section, and a processing unit equipped with an interface for communicating with the outside, which are integrally stacked on top of each other. The M on the equipment
It can be used as an input and display unit as MI.

The processing unit then performs key input processing from the touch panel, 9 drawing processing for displaying characters and figures on the display,
Since it is possible to perform processes such as interpreting commands received through the interface, the number of programs to be developed for each device is reduced, and the development period is shortened.

If the processing unit includes each of the above-mentioned means, the versatility will be increased, and since these functions do not need to be provided in the main body of the device, the development period for new products can be further shortened.

〔Example〕

Embodiments of the present invention will be specifically described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is an external view of a firmware device showing an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram thereof.

This firmware device includes a transparent touch panel 1, an LCD display 2 which is a flat display, and a processing unit 3.
are integrally stacked on top of each other.

A serial I/F connector (the interface is abbreviated as rI/FJ) and a parallel I/F connector are provided on the side of the processing unit 3, and a serial I/F cable 4 and a parallel I/F cable 5 are connected thereto, respectively.
is connected. It is connected to an external device via each I/F cable, and data and commands are exchanged with the external device.

This processing unit 3 receives at least a key input processing means from the touch panel 1, a drawing processing means for displaying characters and figures on the LCD display 2, and a serial I/F cable 4 and a parallel I/F cable 5. and means for interpreting commands.

In FIG. 1, a female connector 6 for connecting a CRT display is provided on the front side of the processing unit.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of the processing unit 3, in which the CPU 31. ROM32. RAM33, VRAM
34. Touch panel controller 35. LCD controller 36. CRT controller 37. Serial I/F3
8. and a parallel I/F 39.

These are formed by IC chips or the like on a board inside the case.

The CPU 31 constitutes a microcomputer together with the ROM 32 and the RAM 33, and is a central processing unit that centrally controls the entire processing unit, and realizes the functions of each section described later with reference to FIG.

In addition to the system program executed by the CPU 31, the ROM 32 also stores character font data, icon data, key arrangement data, and the like.

The RAM 33 is used as a working memory for the CPU 31 and also as a file for storing an error classification table and self-diagnosis results, which will be described later.

These ROM 32 and RAM 33 can be added as the functions of this firmware device are expanded.

The VRAM 34 is a video memory for drawing characters and figures to be displayed on the LCD display 2 in the form of dot images and outputting them as video data.

The touch panel controller 35 scans the touch panel 1, determines the key input at the touched position, and performs control to input the key input to the CPU 31.

The LCD controller 36 performs control to display the display data drawn in the VRAM 34 on the LCD display 2.

The CRT controller 37 connects the CRT controller 37 to the female connector 6 in FIG.
When the RT display is connected, the display data drawn in the VRAM 34 is controlled to be displayed on the CRT display.

Serial I/F 38 is 1 of serial I/F cable 4
It has a serial communication control function that transmits and receives data and commands to and from external devices using transmission lines and reception lines line by line.

The parallel I/F 39 has a parallel communication control function for transmitting and receiving data and commands as 8-bit or 16-bit parallel data to and from an external device via the parallel I/F cable 5.

FIG. 4 shows the functional configuration of the processing unit 3 of this embodiment.

With the hardware configuration shown in FIG. 3, the processing unit 3 of this firmware device can perform various functions as shown in FIG. can.

That is, a communication control function 10 that performs serial communication and parallel communication with an external device, and a command interpretation function 1 that interprets commands received from the external device.
1. A drawing processing function 12 that draws characters and figures for display as image data in accordance with the instructions of the command; A display control function 13 that displays the image data on the LCD display 6 and the CRT display 7 connected to the outside; It has at least a touch panel control function 14 that scans the touch panel 1 and processes key inputs.

Further, in this embodiment, when a window instruction command is interpreted by the command interpretation function 11, a window control function 15 is provided which displays a window on the LCD display 6 and controls the window by key input within the window from the touch panel 1. have

During the window control or in other cases, the shapes of various keys can be displayed on the LCD display 6, and arbitrary positions on the touch panel can be defined and controlled as each key.

In addition, when the command interpretation function 11 interprets the kana-kanji conversion instruction command, the required number of kana character keys is displayed on the LCD display 6, an arbitrary position on the touch panel 1 is defined and controlled as a kana character key, and the touch panel It also has a kana-kanji conversion function 16 that converts a kana character string input from 1 into kanji.

Furthermore, when the power is turned on, it diagnoses whether each part of the device functions normally and stores the results in the file 18, and when there is a command that cannot be interpreted by the command interpretation means 11, the error is analyzed and classified. When the command interpretation means 11 interprets that a specific command has been received, the self-diagnosis results and error analysis results stored in the file 18 are stored in the file 18 as a classification table. It also has a self-diagnosis/error analysis/classification function 17 that is sent out by.

Therefore, this firmware device is highly versatile and
If you connect or incorporate this into various devices and use it as an MMI, you will no longer have to develop the hardware and software (operation processing program) for the input and display sections for each device, and you will also be able to use commands. Error analysis, self-diagnosis.

There is no need to develop processing programs such as kana-kanji conversion each time.

Note that the thin display is not limited to an LCD display, and may be any thin display that can display characters and graphics, such as a plasma display or a thin CRT display.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As explained above, the firmware device according to the present invention is highly versatile and can be used as an MMI (man-machine interface) for various devices, thereby reducing the development cost of new models such as OA devices. It is possible to reduce the development period, reduce the product cost, and reduce the development period.

Furthermore, the MMI of various devices can be standardized, and not only can a uniform appearance be achieved, but the operation and display methods can also be standardized, so users do not have to remember them for each device. It will be done.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is an external view of a firmware device showing an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram thereof. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of the processing unit 3, and FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the processing unit 3 in FIG. 1...Transparent touch panel 2...LCD display (thin display) 3...Processing unit 4...Serial I/F cable 5...Parallel I/F cable 6...For CRT display connection Female connector 7...
CRT display Figure 1 Figure 3

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A transparent touch panel, a thin display such as an LCD display, and a processing unit equipped with an interface for transmitting and receiving data and commands to and from an external device are integrally stacked. , wherein the processing unit includes key input processing means from the touch panel, drawing processing means for displaying characters and figures on the display, and means for interpreting commands received by the interface. firmware device. 2. The firmware device according to claim 1, wherein the processing unit includes means for analyzing, classifying and storing errors in commands that cannot be interpreted by the command interpreting means, and each means of the processing unit functions normally when the power is turned on. means for diagnosing whether or not the error occurs and storing the results; and means for transmitting the stored error analysis results and self-diagnosis results from the interface when a specific command is received at the interface. A firmware device characterized by: 3. The firmware device according to claim 1, wherein the processing unit includes: means for displaying and controlling a window on the display according to commands received through the interface; and means for displaying keys on the display and controlling any of the keys on the touch panel. A firmware device comprising means for defining and controlling the position of the key as a key. 4. The firmware device according to claim 1, wherein the processing unit includes: means for displaying kana character keys on the display and controlling an arbitrary position of the touch panel by defining it as a kana character key; A firmware device comprising: a kana-kanji conversion means for converting a kana character string into kanji.