JPH06266480A - Power supply control method - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide the power control method which reduces the power consumption of an electronic apparatus to which a peripheral device is connected through a peripheral device control circuit and a connector. CONSTITUTION:It is detected whether a connector 10 of a peripheral device 12 is connected to a connector 9 of an information processor 1 or not; and when it is not connected, power supply to a peripheral device control circuit 3 which controls the peripheral device 12 is stopped by a switch 7, thus preventing unnecessary power consumption.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a power supply control method,
In particular, the present invention relates to a power supply control method capable of reducing power consumption of an electronic device connected to an external option device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, electronic devices such as notebook personal computers and portable game devices are often constructed so that an optional device such as an auxiliary storage device can be added. The optional device is an interface of the electronic device main body. There are proposed ones that operate in response to an instruction from an electronic device via a control circuit, and that are driven by a battery built in an optional device and that are driven by an external power supply. In addition, these electronic devices
Many of them are driven by an internal battery power source for portable use, and it is desired to prolong the battery life.

As a conventional power supply control method for extending the life of the battery, for example, a standby state of a main drive load circuit such as a CPU is detected by an external signal, and during this standby state, It has been proposed to reduce the power applied to the load circuit to reduce the power consumption.
A power supply control method for reducing power consumption according to these conventional techniques is described in, for example, JP-A-55-150620 and JP-A-58-131817.

[0004]

The power supply control method according to the prior art described above can reduce the power consumption of a digital electric circuit such as a CPU capable of detecting a driving state and capable of power control, but consumes an analog electric circuit. There is a problem that the power cannot be reduced and it is insufficient for further reducing the power consumption inside the electronic device.

An object of the present invention is to eliminate the above-mentioned problems caused by the prior art, and to provide a power supply control method capable of reducing the power consumption of an analog electric load circuit and an electronic device which cannot detect a load driving state in a circuit. Is to provide.

[0006]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a power supply control method for electronic equipment in which a peripheral device is connected via a peripheral device control circuit and a connector, and the peripheral device is not connected to the connector. A first feature is that power supply to a control circuit is stopped or reduced, and in the power supply control method, power supply to a peripheral device control circuit to which the connector is not connected by lowering a drive clock frequency of the peripheral device control circuit. The second characteristic is to reduce Further, according to the present invention, the device driver is registered in a power supply control method of an electronic apparatus, for example, a personal computer, in which a peripheral device is connected through a peripheral device control circuit and a connector and a device driver of the peripheral device to be used is registered. A third feature is that the power supply to the peripheral device control circuit that does not exist is stopped or reduced.

[0007]

In the power supply control method according to the first feature, the power consumption of the peripheral device control circuit that is not used is reduced by monitoring the connection state of the peripheral device connector and reducing or stopping the power consumption supply of the peripheral device control circuit. It is possible to prevent consumption and reduce power consumption even in an analog electric load circuit and an electronic device that cannot detect a load driving state in the circuit. In the power supply control method according to the second feature, the power consumption of the entire device can be reduced by lowering the drive clock frequency of the peripheral device control circuit not connected to the connector. In the power control method according to the third feature, in the electronic device that registers the device driver of the peripheral device to be used, by stopping or reducing the power supply of the peripheral device control circuit that does not register the device driver, the software control is performed. Moreover, the peripheral device connection state can be monitored to reduce the power consumption of the entire apparatus.

[0008]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A power supply control method according to the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. <First Embodiment> FIG. 1 is an information processing apparatus 1 which is an electronic device to which a power supply control method according to a first embodiment of the present invention is applied.
3 is a diagram showing a peripheral device 12 which is an optional device connected to the apparatus 1. FIG. The information processing apparatus 1 is, for example, a portable notebook computer, and the peripheral device 12
Is a floppy disk storage device or the like optionally connected to the notebook computer. The information processing apparatus 1 according to the present embodiment includes a CPU 2 that performs information processing, as shown in FIG.
A battery 5 for supplying electric power to the CPU 2 and constituent circuits (not shown), a DC / DC converter 6 for converting the electric power from the battery 5 into a DC / DC converter, and a peripheral device 12 connected according to an instruction from the CPU 2 as a peripheral device. Peripheral device control circuit 3 controlled by control signal 4, device-side connector 9 for transmitting and receiving peripheral device control signal 4 and other peripheral devices 12, and peripheral device control circuit for supplying power from DC / DC converter 6 3 and a cable 11 of the peripheral device 12 when using the optional peripheral device 12
It is configured to be connected to the connector 10 via. The device-side connector 9 is provided with a vacant pin 13a to which electric power supplied from the power line L via the pull-up resistor 8 and a vacant pin 13b which is grounded are provided, and the peripheral device-side connector 10 is provided with the vacant pin 13a. A short-circuit pin 10a for short-circuiting the pins 13a and 13b when connected to the device-side connector 9 is provided.

Further, the power source control switch 7 switches whether to supply power to the device control circuit 3 by power supply from the connector 9 side.
And 10 are not connected, the control terminal of the power supply control switch 7 is set to "H" to turn off the power supply to the device control circuit 3, and when the connectors 9 and 10 are connected, the control terminal of the switch 7 is set to "L". The power supply to the control circuit 3 is turned on. Although the information processing apparatus 1 and the peripheral device 12 in this embodiment have other circuits and mechanisms built therein, the description thereof will be omitted in the present specification to facilitate understanding of the present invention.

The information processing apparatus 1 thus constructed is to add the peripheral device 12 according to the usage of the processing apparatus 1, and the addition is performed by the connectors 9 and 13. First, power supply control when the information processing apparatus 1 alone performs processing will be described. In this case, the device 1
As for the power supply, the power from the battery 5 through the DC / DC converter 6 is supplied only to the CPU 2 and other circuits (not shown) necessary for the sole use of the device, and in this example, the empty pin 13a of the device-side connector 9 is used. Is in the open state, the control terminal of the power supply control switch 7 becomes “H”, whereby the power supply to the device control circuit 3 via the switch 7 is blocked. As for the power supply when the information processing apparatus 1 and the peripheral device 12 are connected by the respective connectors 9 and 10, the power from the battery 5 is supplied to the CPU 2 and a circuit (not shown) necessary for independent use of other devices, as described above. And the connector 9 in this example.
Since the vacant pin 13a of the connector 10 is grounded by the short-circuit pin 10a of the connector 10 and is electrically connected to the pin 13b, the control terminal of the power supply control switch 7 becomes “L”, which supplies power to the device control circuit 3 via the switch 7. Will be performed.

Thus, the power supply control method according to this embodiment is
According to the connection state between the connector 9 on the information processing device 1 side and the peripheral device side connector 10, the power supply control switch for supplying power to the peripheral device control circuit 3 in the device 1 is configured to be turned on / off. Device 1
Peripheral device control circuit 3 unnecessary when not connecting 2
It is possible to prevent power supply to the device and achieve power saving of the device. In this embodiment, an example in which the connection of the peripheral device is detected by electrical conduction through the short-circuit pin of the peripheral device side connector has been described, but the peripheral device connection detection method according to the present invention is not limited to this. ,
It can also be performed by another embodiment described later.

<Second Embodiment> FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example in which the connector connection is detected by a microswitch built in a connector on the information processing apparatus side. The microswitch of the present power control circuit is a peripheral device. Side connector 10
A button 14 projecting a convex tip from a button retainer plate 16 that is a fitting surface of the button and the tip is pressed by fitting with another connector; a button rail 17 for guiding the movement of the button 14; The button 14 is moved by the rear end of the contact plate 15a and 15b, and the contact plate 15b is grounded to the contact plate 15a and 15b.
It is configured such that ab is connected to the empty pin 13a and the control terminal of the power supply control switch 7 similar to the above-mentioned embodiment. The circuit configuration of the battery on the side of the information processing apparatus is the same as that of the above-mentioned embodiment, and the connector on the side of the peripheral device has a general connector shape. Although not shown, the button 14 is biased toward the retainer plate 16 by a spring or the like.

In the power supply control method according to the present embodiment having the above-described structure, the micro switch is built in the connector 91 of the information processing apparatus and the connector 10 of the peripheral device is used.
When the information processing apparatus 1 alone performs processing as in the above-described embodiment, the rear end of the button 14 of the microswitch does not press the contact plates 15a and 15b with a spring or the like. Because there is a power control switch 7
When the control terminal becomes "H", the power supply to the device control circuit 3 via the switch 7 is blocked, and when the information processing apparatus and the peripheral device connectors 91 and 100 are connected, The button 14 is pressed by this connector connection to bring the contact plates 15a and 15b into conduction, so that the pin 13b is grounded and the control terminal of the power control switch 7 becomes "L", whereby the device control circuit is operated via the switch 7. The electric power is supplied to No. 3.

As described above, the power supply control method according to this embodiment is
A connection between the connectors 91 and 100 is detected by a microswitch built in the connector 91 on the information processing apparatus side, and a power control switch for supplying power to the peripheral device control circuit 3 in the apparatus 1 is turned on / off. As a result, it is possible to prevent power supply to the peripheral device control circuit 3 when the peripheral device 12 is not connected and to achieve power saving of the device without making any change to the connector 100 on the peripheral device side. The micro switch in this embodiment is not limited to the structure shown in FIG. 2, and may have another structure as long as it does not hinder the connector fitting, and is not limited to the connector built-in type. Absent.

<Third Embodiment> FIG. 3 is provided with a power supply control switch 71 for connecting a peripheral device control circuit 3 to a power supply line L supplied from a battery inside the information processing apparatus in each of the above embodiments. It is a diagram showing an example, and the present embodiment is characterized in that the power supply control switch 71 is a switch that can be turned on / off by an operator from outside the housing of the apparatus 1. The power control method of the present embodiment saves power in the information processing apparatus by turning off the power control switch 71 when the operator determines not to use the peripheral device and turning on the power control switch 71 when using the peripheral device. be able to. Particularly, in the power supply device according to the present embodiment, even when the peripheral device is connected, the power supply to the peripheral device control circuit 3 is stopped by the switch 71 while the operator is not using the device, so that the power consumption of the device is further reduced. Can be achieved. For example, when the information processing device is a portable notebook computer and the peripheral device is a communication modem, power saving can be achieved by turning off the switch 71 at the time of creating a transmission mail in the communication preparation stage.

<Fourth Embodiment> FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a power supply control method according to still another embodiment. The power supply control method according to the present embodiment uses the connector switch or the like shown in the above embodiments, instead of stopping the power supply to the device control circuit itself by the switch depending on the connection state of the connector as in the above embodiments. Power consumption by lowering the drive frequency of the device control circuit. More specifically, the device control circuit 31 applied to this embodiment has a clock divider 18 for dividing an input operation clock as shown in FIG. 4, and an input operation clock and a low frequency divider divided by the divider 18. And a selector 19 which receives a clock of a frequency and which selectively outputs these clocks to a control circuit 20 by a clock selection signal 21 described later. The clock selection signal 21 is the first to third. The signal for detecting the connection state of the peripheral device described in the embodiment is used. The circuits and mechanisms of the information processing apparatus and peripheral devices in this embodiment are
It is the same as the above embodiment except for the power control switch 7 or 71.

The power supply control method according to the present embodiment is applied to the connector 9 on the information processing apparatus 1 side and the connector 1 on the peripheral device side.
The peripheral device control circuit 31 in the apparatus 1 is controlled by the clock selection signal 21 indicating the connection state with 0 or the instruction of the operator.
Switching the drive clock selected by the internal selector 19,
When the peripheral device is not connected, the control circuit 21, that is, the device control circuit 31 is driven by the low frequency divided by the clock divider 18, and when the peripheral device is connected, it is driven by the normal operation clock to save the power consumption of the device. Can be achieved. Particularly, in the present embodiment, since the power supply to the peripheral device control circuit 31 is not stopped, there is an effect that the connection state of the peripheral device previously accessed by the peripheral device control circuit 31 is not erased.

<Fifth Embodiment> FIGS. 5 and 6 are views for explaining a power control method according to still another embodiment of the present invention. This embodiment is different from the above embodiments in software and The power control of the peripheral device control circuit 3 is performed by using a power control register that stores a power consumption mode according to a situation such as connection of peripheral devices. First, the information processing apparatus 101 according to the present embodiment includes a CPU 2 that performs information processing as shown in the figure, a battery 5 that supplies power to the CPU 2 and constituent circuits (not shown), and DC / DC conversion of the power from the battery 5. The DC / DC converter 6, the peripheral device control circuit 3 for controlling the peripheral device 12 connected by the instruction of the CPU 2 by the peripheral device control signal 4, and the peripheral device control signal 4 and others are transmitted to and received from the peripheral device 12. Device side connector 93 and CPU 2
A power control register 22 that sets a power consumption mode for each peripheral device control circuit 3 according to an instruction from the memory device 200, and a memory 200 that stores a large number of programs for controlling the operation of the information processing apparatus 101. When the optional peripheral device 12 is used, the device-side connector 93 is connected to the peripheral device-side connector 102 via the cable 11 of the peripheral device 12. Although only a pair of peripheral device control circuits and corresponding connectors are shown in the present embodiment, an actual information processing device, for example, a personal computer, is provided with a plurality of external storage devices, printing devices and other expansion devices. It has a built-in peripheral device control circuit and corresponding connector.

In the memory 200, as in a normal personal computer, the OS at device startup, the number of files at startup, the number of sector buffers, and other settings, and the device driver settings according to the peripheral devices used are set. System configuration file (CONFIG.S
YS), batch files for software startup, and various application software are stored. More specifically, this system configuration file (CONFIG.SYS) specifies the number of files and buffers as shown in Table 1 below, as well as device drivers for the printer and mouse,
I have registered a print system and a mouse system,
The software startup batch file is an interface (RS23) that specifies a communication interface required for communication when the application software is communication software, for example.
2C) The system is registered.

[0020]

[Table 1]

Further, the power control register 22 includes a CPU 2
Stores a table for designating the low power consumption mode and the normal power consumption mode for the peripheral device control circuit 3 for each of a plurality of peripheral devices in accordance with the instruction of. It stores a mode specification table to instruct.

Now, the information processing apparatus 1 configured as described above
The power supply control method in 01 will be described according to the flowchart shown in FIG. First, when the information processing apparatus 101 is powered on (step 61), the memory 200
The OS is read out from the device to start up the device, and the peripheral devices connected are reset (step 62) and the power control register 22 is instructed to the low power consumption mode to all the peripheral device control circuits 3 (step 63). Next, the apparatus reads the system construction file in the memory and sets its device driver, for example, the device driver for the printing device and the device driver for the mouse (step 64). Next, the peripheral device corresponding to the registered device driver is searched (step 65), the power mode of the power control register 22 for the peripheral device 12 for which the device driver is registered is set to the normal mode (step 66), and the device driver is registered. Set the low power consumption mode of the power control register 22 for the peripheral device 12 that has not been set to the mode continuation (step 67), and perform other initial settings with the batch file for software startup, and then start the required software. To do.

Thus, the information processing apparatus 10 according to this embodiment
Reference numeral 1 refers to the device driver set when the device is started up, and the peripheral device control circuit of the registered device driver compatible peripheral device is in the normal power consumption mode. Peripheral device control of the unregistered device driver compatible peripheral device is performed. Power consumption can be reduced by setting the circuit in the low power consumption mode. In addition, recent devices are easily broken by a small amount of static electricity or the like due to low voltage, high speed operation, and miniaturization. In the present invention, such devices and circuits are protected when not in use, and reliability is also improved. You can also Furthermore, the power consumption of the entire device can be reduced, and the battery operation can be extended.

In the above embodiment, an example in which the power consumption mode is set by referring to the device driver only when the device is started up has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this, and when switching the software used. It can also be implemented by switching the power consumption mode with reference to a device driver or the like set in the internal memory. Further, the low power consumption mode is not limited to low power and may be configured to stop the power supply as in the first embodiment. Further, the electronic device to which the present invention is applied is not limited to the above-mentioned notebook personal computer and portable game device, and for example, a DAT to which a microphone amplifier or the like which is an external option can be connected, an AV device, a measuring instrument, It goes without saying that it can be applied to other electronic devices such as wireless devices.

[0025]

As described above, the power supply control method according to the present invention controls the peripheral device which is not used by monitoring the connection state of the peripheral device connector and reducing or stopping the power consumption supply of the peripheral device control circuit. The power consumption of the circuit can be prevented, the power consumption can be reduced even in the analog electric load circuit and the electronic equipment which cannot detect the load driving state in the circuit, and the driving clock frequency of the peripheral device control circuit not connected to the connector can be lowered. This can reduce the power consumption of the entire device. Further, in the power supply control method according to the present invention, in the electronic device that registers the device driver of the peripheral device to be used, by stopping or reducing the power supply of the peripheral device control circuit that does not register the device driver, the peripheral device can be softened by software. It is possible to monitor the device connection state and reduce the power consumption of the entire apparatus.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining a power supply control method for electrically detecting a connector connection according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining a power supply control method for detecting a connector connection by a micro switch according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining a power supply control method for designating a connector connection by a switch according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining a method of reducing power of a peripheral device control circuit according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining a power supply control method for detecting the use of peripheral devices by software according to an embodiment of the present invention.

6 is a flow chart for explaining the operation of the apparatus shown in FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Information processing device, 2 ... CPU, 3 ... Peripheral device control circuit, 4 ... Peripheral device control signal, 5 ... Battery, 6 ...
DC / DC converter, 7 ... power control switch, 8 ... resistor,
9 ... Device side connector, 10 ... Peripheral device side connector,
11 ... Cable, 12 ... Peripheral device, 13a ... Space pin, 13b ... Space pin, 14 ... Button, 15a ... Contact plate, 15b ... Contact plate, 16 ... Button retainer, 17 ... Button rail, 18 ... Clock divider, 19 ... Selector, 2
0 ... Control circuit, 21 ... Clock selection signal, 22 ... Power control register, 200 ... Memory.

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (72) Inventor Yuu Matsui 3-10-22 Sakae, Naka-ku, Nagoya-shi, Aichi Hiritsu Chubu Software Co., Ltd. (72) Inventor Takashi Yoshitomi 292 No. Yoshida-cho, Totsuka-ku, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa, Ltd. (72) Kenji Ohnishi Microelectronics Equipment Development Laboratory, Inc. (72) Inventor Kenji Onishi Owariasahi-shi, Aichi Harukaoka Ikegami No. 1 in Hitachi Office Co., Ltd. Office Systems Division (72) Inventor Shuichi Hayashi Owariasahi City, Aichi Prefecture Harukacho Ikegami No. 1 in Hitachi Office Systems Division (72) Inventor Yuichi Fukuda Owariasahi, Aichi Harukaoka Ikegami No. 1 Hitachi, Ltd. Oh (72) Inventor Yuichi Miura 1 Ikegami, Haruoka-cho, Owariasahi-shi, Aichi Prefecture Hitachi Asahi Electronics Co., Ltd. In-house (72) Inventor Hideaki Miyake 1 Ikegami, Haruoka-cho, Owariasahi-shi, Aichi Hitachi Asahi Electronics Co., Ltd.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A power supply control method for an electronic device in which a peripheral device is connected via a peripheral device control circuit and a connector, wherein power supply to a peripheral device control circuit not connected to the connector is stopped or reduced. Characteristic power supply control method. 2. The power supply control method according to claim 1, wherein the power supply to the peripheral device control circuit to which the connector is not connected is reduced by lowering the drive clock frequency of the peripheral device control circuit. 3. A power supply control method for an electronic device, wherein a peripheral device is connected via a peripheral device control circuit and a connector, and a device driver of the peripheral device to be used is registered, wherein the device driver is not registered. A power supply control method characterized by stopping or reducing power supply to a control circuit.