JPH06103188A - Personal computer - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To automatically display whether an electric mail is received or not without affecting the execution of application programs or the like. CONSTITUTION:When the electric mail for the personal computer is received by a mail server on a LAN and a mail reception status is notified from the server to a computer's communication board 32, an I/O controller 21 puts an interrupt to a CPU and a communication driver program in a system memory 22 is started. When the CPU reads a mail reception status from a communication board 32 according to the program and detects the effective mail is received, it calls BIOS in a BIOS-ROM 25 and lights a mail icon 44a on a status LCD 44 through a status LCD control gate array 26, returning the control to the application programs or the like being executed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a personal computer capable of displaying whether or not electronic mail has been received.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, various portable laptop or notebook personal computers have been developed.

By connecting a personal computer of this type to a LAN or the like via a communication interface (communication board), electronic mail can be exchanged with other personal computers or the like via a mail server. Many are

However, conventionally, during execution of the application program, the user could not see whether or not the electronic mail was received, and sometimes the urgent electronic mail was not noticed.

In addition, to confirm whether or not a mail has been received,
The user stops the application program that is running, runs the mail program (which is one of the application programs), and by executing this mail program, the email that has been received by the mail server up to that point is addressed to the user. It had to be read from the server and displayed on the screen. And for this screen display result,
It was possible to return to the execution of the original application program after the mail program was terminated only after the user performed a confirmation operation using a keyboard or the like.

For this reason, conventionally, there has been a drawback that the running application program must be stopped for a long time in order to confirm whether or not the electronic mail is received.

[0007]

As described above, in the conventional personal computer, in order to confirm whether or not the electronic mail is received, the mail program is run with the running application program stopped, and the mail program is executed by then. The e-mail received by the server must be read from the server and displayed on the screen, which causes a problem that the running application program is stopped for a long time. In addition, when there is no received mail, there is a problem that stopping the running application program for a long time is completely useless.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object thereof is to provide a personal computer capable of automatically displaying whether or not an electronic mail is received without affecting the execution of an application program or the like. is there.

[0009]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is a personal computer capable of sending and receiving electronic mail, and an indicator for displaying at least whether or not the electronic mail is received, and an interrupt for generating an interrupt when the electronic mail is received. A generating means and an interrupt processing means that is activated in response to the interrupt and that displays a status indicating that the electronic mail has been received on the display unit when a valid electronic mail is received are provided. And

[0010]

In the above structure, when the e-mail addressed to the personal computer is received, for example, from the mail server, an interrupt is generated by the interrupt generating means and the interrupt processing means is activated. This interrupt processing means checks whether or not the electronic mail addressed to this personal computer is correctly received by the mail server, for example, by the status notified from the mail server, and if the correct electronic mail is received, The basic input / output program is called, and the input / output control function causes the display to display a status indicating that electronic mail has been received.

With this, the user can confirm that the electronic mail is received without performing any special operation by the status display on the display even when the application program is being executed on the personal computer. You can Also, if necessary, the contents of the received mail can be confirmed by activating the mail processing means to read the electronic mail received by the mail server and display it on the screen.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows the system configuration of a personal computer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

This personal computer is a laptop type or notebook type portable personal computer, and is an ISA (Industry Stand).
ardArchitecture) system bus (ISA-B)
US) 11, peripheral interface bus (PI-BUS; Peripheral Interface BU) for high-speed graphic transfer
S) 12, keyboard interface bus (KBC-B
US) 13, and power supply interface bus (PSC-
BUS) 14.

A CPU 20 and an I / O controller 21 are connected to the system bus (ISA-BUS) 11. CPU 20 and I / O controller 21
The microprocessor 80386SL manufactured and sold by Intel Corporation of the United States and the family chip 82360SL are used respectively.

The CPU 20 controls the entire system and executes a program to be processed stored in the system memory 22.

The I / O controller 21 is a dedicated logic for realizing the CPU and memory support functions, and controls the I / O devices connected to the serial port 41 and the printer port (EPP; Enhanced Print).
er Port) 43 to control an external printer. Further, the I / O controller 21 includes two DMA controllers for direct memory access control and an interrupt controller (PIC; Programmable).
Two Interrupter Controls, timer (PI)
T: Two Programmable Input Timers, serial I / O controller (SIO; Serial Input / O)
Two utput controllers and one real time clock (RTC; Real Time Clock) are built in. The real-time clock is a clock module that has its own battery for operation, and a static RAM of CMOS configuration (hereinafter referred to as CMOS) to which power is constantly supplied from the battery.
Memory). This CMOS memory is
It is used to store setup information indicating the system configuration.

CPU 20 and I / O controller 21
Communication between them is executed via a system bus (ISA-BUS) 11 or a dedicated interface line provided between the CPU 20 and the I / O controller 21.

A system memory 22 is connected to the local bus of the CPU 20. This system memory 22 is
It is used as a main memory of this system (personal computer system) and stores programs and data to be processed. The system memory 22 has a standard storage capacity of 4 Mbytes.

An optional DRAM card 23 is optionally connected to the local bus of the CPU 20 through an 88-pin dedicated card slot 24 provided in the computer body. The DRAM card 23 is used as an expansion memory of this system and has a capacity of 2 Mbytes.
There are types such as 4 Mbytes, 8 Mbytes, and 16 Mbytes.

The system bus (ISA-BUS) 1
A BIOS-ROM 25 is connected to 1. The BIOS-ROM 25 is a basic input / output program (BI
An OS (basic I / O system) is stored in the flash memory (FLASH MEM) so that the program can be rewritten. The basic input / output program includes a program for initialization processing at power-on, a driver program for controlling various input / output devices including the status LCD 44, and the like.

The system bus (ISA-BUS) 11 further includes a status LCD control gate array (SL).
CDC GA) 26, floppy disk controller (FDC) 27, PCMCIA gate array (PCMC
IA GA) 28, keyboard controller (KBC)
30, an expansion connector 31 to which an expansion unit (Desk Station) can be attached, and a hard disk drive (H
DD) 42 is connected.

Status LCD control gate array (SL
The CDC GA) 26 controls the display of the status LCD 44, communicates with the keyboard controller (KBC) 30,
And communication with the power supply controller (PSC) 46. In the display control of the status LCD 44, the status LCD control gate array (SLCDC GA) 2
6 displays on the status LCD 44 the remaining battery operation time, various operating environment states including the reception state of the electronic mail, and the like. In this case, the remaining battery operation time is displayed by numbers, and other operating environment states are displayed by icons. For the screen of the status LCD 44, see FIG.
Will be described later with reference to.

Status LCD control gate array (SL
CDC GA) 26 and keyboard controller (KB
Communication between C) 30 is performed in order to perform high-speed transfer of various control information between the CPU 20 and the keyboard controller (KBC) 30. For the communication, a dedicated keyboard interface bus (KBC-BUS) 13 is used.
Is used. Status LCD control gate array (S
The LCDC GA) 26 has an I / O register group that holds control information exchanged between the CPU 20 and the keyboard controller (KBC) 30. The keyboard controller (KBC) 30 reads and writes these register groups via the keyboard interface bus (KBC-BUS) 13 and the CPU 21 via the system bus 11.

Status LCD control gate array (SL
CDC GA) 26 and power controller (PSC) 46
Communication with CPU20 and power controller (PSC)
This is performed in order to perform high-speed transfer of various control information between 46, and a dedicated power supply interface bus (PSC-BUS) 14 is used for the communication. Status LCD control gate array (SLCDC GA) 26
Has an I / O register group that holds control information exchanged between the CPU 20 and the power supply controller (PSC) 46. The power supply controller (PSC) 46 is connected to the CPU 2 via the power supply interface bus (PSC-BUS) 14.
0 reads / writes these register groups via the system bus 11.

Status LCD control gate array (SL
The mail icon (MI) 44 displayed on the status LCD 44 is displayed in the register group of the CDC GA) 26.
A mail icon control register (MICR) 26a for holding control data for turning on / off a is included.

Floppy disk controller (FD
C) 27 is a 3.5-inch, 750K / 1.44 MB 2-mode floppy disk drive (FDD)
It is for controlling the control signal 45 and has a built-in variable frequency oscillator (VFO).

PCMCIA gate array (PCMCIA
GA) 28 is a PCMCIA slot 48a, 48b
68-pin PCMCIA (Per
sonal Computer Memory Card Alternativeal Ass
read / write control of the card and communication with the keyboard controller (KBC) 30. In addition, this PCMCIA gate array (PCMCIA G
A) 28 also includes interface logic with the EEPROM 29 and logic for implementing a security function.

Two PCMCIA slots 48a, 48
slot 48a is a card of all types, namely 1
Supports four types of PCMCIA cards, 8mm thick Thick type, 10.5mm thick type 3, 5.0mm thick type 2, and 3.3mm thick type 1, slot 48b being 5.0mm thick or 3mm thick. Supports two types of PCMCIA cards of type 2 and type 1 with a thickness of 3 mm. Here, a PCMCIA card with a small size of 5.0 mm or 3.3 mm is used as a security card. PCMCIA gate array (P
The security function of CMCIA GA) 28 is the security code read from the security card and the EEPROM2.
The personal identification number of 9 is verified, and the system is permitted to start only when they match.

Keyboard controller (KBC) 30
Is for controlling the built-in keyboard 51 built in the computer body as standard equipment. It scans the key matrix of the built-in keyboard 51 to receive a signal corresponding to a pressed key, and converts it into a predetermined key code. Convert. This key code is usually the system bus (I
It is transmitted to the CPU 20 by handshake type serial communication via the SA-BUS) 11, and in the case of a special key code, a keyboard interface bus (K
BC BUS) 13 to status LCD control gate array (SLDC GA) 26. The specific examples of the ordinary key code and the special key code are not directly related to the present invention, and the description thereof will be omitted. The keyboard controller (KBC) 30 also has a function of controlling a mouse 42 and an external keyboard 53 that are optionally connected.

The extension connector 31 has an extension unit (D
esk Station) can be connected, and the functions can be expanded by mounting various expansion boards on the expansion unit. Here, a communication board 32 having a communication interface function is mounted so that electronic mail can be exchanged with another personal computer or the like via a server (mail server) on the LAN. Communication board 3
When the mail server notifies that the e-mail addressed to the personal computer of FIG. 1 is received, the I / O controller 21 issues an interrupt to the CPU 20 via the system bus (ISA-BUS) 11. Is configured.

Hard disk drive (HDD) 42
Has an IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics) interface, and is directly access-controlled by the CPU 20. This hard disk drive (HDD)
42 has a storage capacity of 2.5 inches and 120M / 200M bytes.

Peripheral interface bus (PI-BUS)
A display controller (hereinafter referred to as a VGA controller) 33 conforming to the VGA (Video Graphics Array) specification is connected to the display 12. The VGA controller 33 is for controlling the display of a backlit LCD panel 49 for monochrome gradation display or color display and a color CRT 50 optionally connected, which is a peripheral interface bus (PI).
Image data from the CPU 20 via the (-BUS) 12 and draws it in the image memory (VRAM) 34. In this case, since the system bus (ISA-BUS) 11 is not used, the transfer of image data does not deteriorate the system performance.

Further, the system is provided with a power supply controller (PSC) 46 and a power supply circuit (PS) 47. The power supply controller (PSC) 46 is C
This is for controlling the power supply voltage supply from the power supply circuit 47 to each unit according to an instruction from the PU 20, and CP
Communication with the U20 is via a power interface bus (PSC-
BUS 14) and status LCD control gate array (SLCDC GA) 26 registers. The power controller (PSC) 46 is provided in each unit such as the CPU 20, the I / O controller 21, the system memory 22 and the DRAM card 23 when the power is off.
A backup power supply voltage BK is supplied from the power supply circuit 47.

FIG. 2 shows the external appearance of the personal computer having the configuration shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 2, the keyboard 51 incorporated in the computer main body has, for example, an LC at the rear.
A status LCD 44 is provided independently of the D panel 49. The screen of the status LCD 44 includes a group of icons for displaying various operating environment states such as a mail icon (MI) 44a for displaying the reception state (presence / absence of reception) of an electronic mail, and the remaining battery operation. It is composed of a remaining battery operation time display portion 44b for displaying the time by numbers. Mail icon (M
I) 44a is formed of a fixed LCD pattern, and has a status LCD control gate array (S) shown in FIG.
It turns on / off (lights / lights off) according to the control data held in the mail icon control register (MICR) 26a in the LCDC GA) 26.

FIG. 3 shows a schematic memory map in this system.

As shown in FIG. 3, in the memory space of this system, the BIOS stored in the BIOS-ROM 25 is stored.
An S, a DOS (Disk Operating System), a communication driver program, and various application programs are placed.

The DOS and the communication driver program are stored in advance in, for example, a system disk loaded in the floppy disk drive (FDD) 45, loaded into the system memory 22, and resident in the memory 22. The communication driver program is activated for each mail reception notification from the communication board 32 to determine whether or not a valid electronic mail is received, and calls the BIOS according to the determination result to call the mail icon (M
I) 44a is configured to be turned on.

On the other hand, various application programs are stored in the system memory 22 or the DRAM card 23 as needed.

The BIOS stored in the BIOS-ROM 25 is also stored in the system memory 22 at the time of start-up for high-speed access to the frequently used parts. However, since this is not directly related to the present invention,
For convenience of explanation, all the execution of BIOS is BIOS-ROM.
25 is accessed.

Next, the operation of the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG.

First, it is assumed that the personal computer having the configuration shown in FIG. 1 is connected to the LAN via the communication board 32 mounted on the expansion unit (Desk Station) connected to the expansion connector 31. To this LAN, for example, a mail server that controls the exchange of electronic mails between personal computers connected by the LAN is connected. For example, when the mail server receives an e-mail addressed to the personal computer shown in FIG. 1, the mail server stores the e-mail in a mailbox unique to the computer, and at the same time, stores the reception status (mail reception status) in the communication board. Notify 32. The communication board 32 constantly monitors the mail reception status notification from the mail server, and when the notification is detected, internally holds the notified mail reception status.
At the same time, the communication board 32 receives the mail via the system bus (ISA-BUS) 11 and the I / O controller 2
By notifying 1 to the CPU 2 from the controller 21
Generate an interrupt for 0.

In the personal computer shown in FIG. 1, the CPU 20 has the DOS loaded in the system memory 22, the system memory 22 or the DRA.
The application program loaded in the M card 23 is executed.

In this way, the CPU 20 is executing the DOS or the application program while the communication board 32 is being used.
The mail reception status notification from the mail server is detected by the I / O controller 21 to the CPU 2 as described above.
When 0 is interrupted, the CPU 20 executes the communication driver program resident in the system memory 22, as shown in the flowchart of FIG.

As a result, the CPU 20 first accesses the communication board 32 via the system bus (ISA-BUS) 11 and reads the mail reception status held in the board 32 (step S1). Next CPU
20 checks whether or not a valid mail having no reception error is received according to the read mail reception status (step S2).

If it is determined that the valid mail is received, the CPU 20 follows the communication driver program and stores the BI stored in the BIOS-ROM 25.
The OS is called via the system bus (ISA-BUS) 11, and the mail icon (M
I) 44a is lit and displayed (step S3). The display of the mail icon (MI) 44a will be described in more detail.

That is, when the CPU 20 calls the BIOS, the system bus (ISA-BU) is called according to the BIOS.
The mail icon control register (MICR) 26a in the status LCD control gate array (SLCDC GA) 26 is write-accessed via S) 11 and the mail icon (MI) 44a on the status LCD 44 is written in the register (MICR) 26a. For example, control data having a value "1" for displaying the light is set. Then, the status LCD control gate array (SLCDC GA) 2
6 is a mail icon control register (MICR) 26a
A mail icon (MI) 4 formed in a fixed LCD pattern at a predetermined position on the status LCD 44 as shown in FIG.
4a is turned on (turned on).

By displaying (turning on) the mail icon (MI) 44a on the status LCD 44, the user is in the process of executing the DOS or application program even if the personal computer shown in FIG. Even if is displayed on the LCD panel 49, it is possible to know that the electronic mail is received (without performing the special operation of stopping the running DOS or application program and running the mail program).

Thus, the mail icon (MI) 44
The process of notifying the user of the presence of the received mail by turning on a is executed by running the mail program with the running application program stopped, so that the electronic mail received by the mail server can be received. Load it into a personal computer and display it on the screen,
Unlike the conventional method in which the user's confirmation operation is waited for and the original program processing is resumed, the processing ends in an extremely short time. Therefore, the running application program or the like is not stopped for a long time.

In this embodiment, the mail icon (M
When I) 44a is not displayed, the user can recognize that the electronic mail has not been received. For this reason, as in the conventional case, it is confirmed that the received mail does not exist as a result of stopping the running program and performing the mail program process for checking whether or not the electronic mail is received. There is no unnecessary waste.

On the other hand, when it is determined in step S2 that the valid mail has not been received, the CPU2
0 skips the above step S3 for displaying the mail icon (MI) 44a and does nothing. In this case, if the mail icon (MI) 44a is already displayed, the display state is continued. If the mail icon (MI) 44a is not displayed, this extinguished state continues.

Now, the processing using the BIOS according to the above communication driver program is performed in an extremely short time as described above. Then, when this process ends, as shown in the flowchart of FIG.
Return to the OS or application program processing.

When the user confirms that the electronic mail is received by the lighting display state of the mail icon (MI) 44a on the status LCD 44, the user operates the keyboard (KB) 51 or the like to perform a predetermined operation at a desired time. Then, the mail program is run and the processing shown in FIG. 4 is performed. This mail program is loaded from the floppy disk device (FDD) 45 to the system memory 22 (or the DRAM card 23) as needed.

When the mail program is executed, received mail display processing (step S11) is performed. The details of this display processing are as follows.

First, the communication driver program in the system memory 22 is called from the mail program. C
According to this communication driver program, the PU 20 accesses the mail server on the LAN via the system bus (ISA-BUS) 11 and the communication board 32 and is stored in the server (mailbox unique to itself). The entire received mail is read and stored in the system memory 22. Then, the communication driver program returns to the mail program.

The CPU 20 follows the mail program
E-mail stored in the system memory 22
Control for displaying on the CD panel 49 is performed. As a result, the received mail display process of step S11 ends.

When the CPU 20 completes the received mail display processing of step S11, it follows the BI program according to the BI program.
Calls the BIOS stored in the OS-ROM 25, and mail icon (MI) on the status LCD 44
The display of 44a is turned off (step S1).
2). The turning off of the mail icon (MI) 44a will be described in more detail.

That is, when the CPU 20 calls the BIOS, the system bus (ISA-BU) is followed according to the BIOS.
The mail icon control register (MICR) 26a in the status LCD control gate array (SLCDC GA) 26 is write-accessed via the S) 11 and the mail icon (MI) 44a on the status LCD 44 is sent to the register (MICR) 26a. For example, control data having a value "0" for turning off the light is set. Then, the status LCD control gate array (SLCDC GA) 26
Turns off the display of the mail icon (MI) 44a on the status LCD 44 according to the control data whose value set in the mail icon control register (MICR) 26a is "0".

In the above, the case of displaying the presence / absence of reception of an electronic mail with the mail icon (MI) has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and it is also possible to display with an LED lamp or the like.

[0060]

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, when an electronic mail is received, the status is automatically displayed even if an application program or the like is being executed, so that the user can From this display, it is possible to confirm that the electronic mail has been received without performing any special operation. Moreover, the time required for the processing for displaying the status is extremely short compared to the conventional method in which all the received mail is read and displayed on the screen according to the special operation of the user and the confirmation operation of the user is accepted. However, there is almost no effect on the running application program.

Further, according to the present invention, a processing means (mail program) for reading the received mail and displaying it on the screen at an arbitrary time after confirming that the electronic mail is received by the above status display. Since it is possible to start, it is possible to avoid the waste of confirming that the received mail does not exist only after starting the mail program as in the conventional case.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a system configuration of a personal computer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the external appearance of the personal computer shown in FIG.

FIG. 3 is a schematic memory map in the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart for explaining the operation in the same embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 ... System bus (ISA-BUS), 20 ... CP
U, 21 ... I / O controller, 22 ... System memory, 25 ... BIOS-ROM, 26 ... Status LCD
Control gate array (SLCDC GA), 26a ... Mail icon control register (MICR), 32 ... Communication board, 44 ... Status LCD (display), 44a ... Mail icon (MI), 49 ... LCD panel.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Yasuhiro Nishino 2-9 Suehiro-cho, Ome-shi, Tokyo Toshiba Personal System Engineering Stock Company In-house

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A personal computer capable of sending and receiving electronic mail, a display for displaying at least whether or not electronic mail has been received, an interrupt generating means for generating an interrupt when the electronic mail is received, and the interrupt generating means. An interrupt processing unit that is activated in response to an interrupt generated by the device, and displays a status indicating that the electronic mail has been received on the display unit when a valid electronic mail is received. And a personal computer. 2. The interrupt processing means calls a basic input / output program (BIOS; Basic I / O System) to display a status indicating that the e-mail has been received. Personal computer. 3. The apparatus further comprises a mail processing unit which is activated by a request from the outside and displays a screen of an electronic mail received at that time, wherein the mail processing unit displays the screen after the display. The personal computer according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the status display indicating that the electronic mail has been received is erased. 4. The personal computer according to claim 3, wherein the mail processing means calls the basic input / output program to turn off a status display indicating that the electronic mail has been received.