JPH06289953A - Attachable/detachable information processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To improve mutual availability by considering a calorific value and cooling capacity by permitting a personal processor module to read cooling capacity information from a docking station and to oscillate an operation frequency corresponding to the calorific value. CONSTITUTION:ROM 75 storing information showing the cooling capacity of the docking station(DS) 2 is provided in DS 2. Plural oscillation circuits 70 and 71 and a selection circuit 72 selecting the operation frequency of CPU 12 are provided in the personal processor module(PPM) 1. When a system is started, information is read from ROM 75 and the cooling capacity of DS 2 is recognized. Then, the operation frequency of CPU 12, which becomes the calorific value that the operation of PPM 1 can guarantee, is decided in accordance with cooling capacity. The oscillators 70 and 71 corresponding to the frequency is selected by a selection circuit 75. Althrough PPM 1 cannot be used at its maximum capacity, it can be used by DS 2 with various cooling capacity, and mutual availabity can be improved.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a workstation,
In the field of information processing devices such as personal computers, the present invention relates to a removable information processing device in which a specific component can be removed and carried, and a means for expanding the application range so that the component can be used in various combinations.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art At present, the use of personal computers is diversifying with the spread of personal computers. One of them is that one person tends to use multiple personal computers. As a concrete example, there are businessmen who use three models: a desktop personal computer used in an office, a notebook personal computer carried on a business trip, and a low-priced personal computer used at home.

In order to meet such demands, removable personal computers have appeared. The idea is that you can remove and use only the elements necessary for carrying from a desktop PC used in the office. Its basic configuration is
Laptop computer and docking station (hereinafter D
Abbreviated as S. ), It can be used as a desktop computer by connecting a laptop computer. As such a conventional technique, there is an "electronic information device and its docking station" disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-263304.

[0004]

In the above-mentioned prior art, a notebook type personal computer is an object to be carried. In the present invention, however, a desktop type personal computer is used instead of a CPU, a memory and an HDD in order to improve portability. Assume a system in which one component can be attached to and detached from the main body. Here, the components are defined as a personal processor module (hereinafter abbreviated as PPM) and a main body other than the PPM as a docking station (hereinafter abbreviated as DS). PPM and DS have the same image as the relationship between the cassette tape and VCR of the video system. PP
The M and DS do not function individually, but when the PPM is attached to the DS, they function as a usable personal computer.

In such a removable information processing device,
The PPM may be a plurality of types of products having different processing performances, storage capacities, etc., and the DS may be a plurality of types of products such as a notebook type and a desktop type depending on the usage pattern. In particular, the heat generation amount of the PPM that can be used in a notebook type DS having a mounting structure having a small cooling capacity such as no FAN and low cooling capacity is limited. Therefore, a high-performance PPM with high power consumption is physically D
Even if it can be attached to S, it cannot be used. Actually, the power consumption of a notebook PC is about 10 W, while 1
The CPU of 00MIPS class exceeds 10W by itself.
Thus, heat quantity control becomes a problem, and the interoperability of PPM and DS falls. Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to improve the interoperability in consideration of the heat generation amount and the cooling capacity.

[0006]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a ROM for storing information indicating the cooling capacity of the DS is replaced with a DS.
Further, the PPM is provided with a plurality of oscillation circuits and a selection circuit for selecting the operating frequency of the CPU.

[0007]

[Operation] When the system is started, the information is read from the ROM,
Recognize the cooling capacity of the DS. According to this, the operating frequency of the CPU, which is the heat generation amount that can guarantee the operation of the PPM, is determined. The oscillator corresponding to this frequency is selected by the selection circuit. As described above, although the PPM cannot be used with the highest performance, it can be used with a DS having a wide variety of cooling capacities, and the interoperability is improved.

[0008]

EXAMPLES Examples of the present invention will be described below. First,
A product image of a detachable information processing device composed of PPM and DS will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. 1 shows the appearance when the PPM is removed, and FIG. 2 shows the appearance when the PPM is attached to the DS. In these figures, the same components are designated by the same reference numerals. In the figure, 1 is PPM,
2 is DS, 3 is PPM insertion slot of DS2, 4 is a display device,
5 is a keyboard. When using the removable information processing device, the PPM 1 is inserted into the DS 2 as shown in FIG.
On the other hand, when carrying a PPM, as shown in FIG.
Removed from 2. The user need only carry the removed PPM1. For example, when using both at work and at home, one PPM1 and DS2 may be purchased.
Since the PPM 1 does not include the display device 4 and the keyboard 5 as compared with the notebook information processing device, the PPM 1 is small and lightweight and excellent in portability. Next, the internal configuration of PPM1 and DS2 will be described.

FIG. 3 shows a block diagram of a removable information processing apparatus. In the figure, circuit blocks having the same functions as those in FIG. 1 are designated by the same reference numerals. The PPM 1 includes a system circuit 10 of an electronic circuit unit and a connection unit 11 bridging with the DS2.
It consists of. In the system circuit 10, 12 is a CPU,
Reference numeral 13 is a memory / bus control circuit, 14 is a random access memory (hereinafter abbreviated as RAM), 15 is a read only memory (hereinafter abbreviated as ROM), and 19 is a nonvolatile memory in which written information is not lost even when power is turned off. RAM, 1
Reference numeral 6 is a hard disk drive (hereinafter abbreviated as HDD) control circuit, 17 is an HDD, and 18 is a local bus. Reference numeral 24 is a power supply line to the system circuit 10. D
S2 is a system circuit 20 of an electronic circuit unit, a connection unit 21 bridging with the PPM 1, an AC (alternating current) to a DC (direct current)
And a power supply control circuit 23 for controlling power supply to the system circuit 20 and the like. The power supply control circuit 23 supplies electric power also to the system circuit 10 through the connection parts 21 and 11, and the connection information signal line 2
Whether or not PPM1 is connected is recognized by 5.
Further, the system circuits 10 and 20 can exchange various kinds of information through the local bus 18 connected by the connection units 11 and 21. In this way, the PPM 1 and the DS 2 can be attached and detached using the connecting portions 11 and 21 as contacts.

Here, the detailed configuration of the system circuit 20 in the DS2 will be described. As a device connected to the local bus 18, 30 is a LAN circuit for network connection, 31 is D for digitally processing signals such as audio and video.
SP circuit, 32 is a display control circuit 32 for displaying necessary information on the display device 4, 32 is a SCSI control circuit for controlling information transfer to and from a file device, and 34 and 35 are SCS.
An HDD and a CDROM controlled by the I circuit 33, and an I / O control circuit 36 bridging the local bus 18 and the I / O bus 37. As devices connected to the I / O bus 37, 37 to 38 are expansion slots into which various I / O cards can be mounted, 41 is a keyboard control circuit for controlling the keyboard 5, 42 is FDC for controlling a floppy disk, 4
3 is a non-volatile RAM for storing various system information, 44
Is a printer control circuit for controlling the printer. All of these devices in the system circuit 20 are connected to the connection unit 1.
C in PPM1 when 1 and 22 are connected
It is accessed by the PU 12. The operation of the entire system in this case will be described below.

When the power supply circuit 22 starts to supply power, the power supply control circuit 23 passes the connection information signal line 25 to the PPM 1
Check if is connected. If connected, the system circuit 2 of the DS2 through the power supply line 24
0 and power supply to the system circuit 10 of PPM1 is started. Upon receiving the power supply, the CPU 12 starts operating. First, the program stored in the ROM 15 is executed. This program is executed by the system circuit 10 and the system circuit 2.
The information necessary for the initialization of each device in 0 is set and the operation is confirmed. If there is no problem with each device,
The system program stored in the HDD 17 is stored in the RAM
The CPU 12 sends a read command to the HDD control circuit 16 for downloading to the HDD 14. When the download is completed, the CPU 12 executes the system program. This system program is generally called an operating system (hereinafter abbreviated as OS), and specific products include MS-DOS and UNIX. Basic OS operation is the same, but I use
The operating environment varies depending on the type of / O. In order to absorb the difference in operating environment, a program called a device driver corresponding to each I / O is stored in the RAM from the HDD 17.
Download to 14. When the setting of the device driver is completed and the OS is completely started, the user executes various application software according to the purpose. For example,
Considering a word processor as application software, the outline of its operation is as follows. If the program is stored in the HDD 17, the OS is H
The device driver of the DD control circuit 16 is instructed to read the corresponding program. As a result, the device driver sends a command to the HDD control circuit 16, and the HD
The program is transferred from D17 to RAM14. When the transfer is completed and this program is executed, the word processor is started. After booting, HDD34 or CDRO
In order to read the document file stored in the M35, by issuing an instruction to the device driver of the SCSI circuit 33, the RAM 1 is read from the HDD 34 or the CDROM 35.
The information of the document file is transferred to 4. In order to display this information, the device driver of the display control circuit 32 is used, and the necessary information is transferred from the RAM 14 to the display control circuit 32.
Transferred to. The display control circuit 32 converts this information into displayable visible information and sends it to the display device 4. When the displayed document is edited, the keyboard control circuit 41 fetches the editing information input by the keyboard 5 and transfers it to the RAM 14 using the device driver. According to this editing information, the document file already stored in the RAM 14 is edited, the edited information is sent to the display control circuit 32 again, and the edited document is displayed on the display device 4. In this way, various work is performed by using the device driver corresponding to each I / O. When transferring a document file to another information device connected by the network, the LAN circuit 3
0, a DSP circuit 31 for voice output of document information, a SCSI circuit 33 for storing a document file in the HDD 34, a printer control circuit 44 for printing a document, and an FDC 42 device for storing a document on a floppy disk. Use the driver.

As described above, the removable information processing apparatus of the present invention has one complete system configuration by mounting the PPM 1 on the DS 2. Such a PPM
The detachable information processing device including the DS and the DS needs to support a wide range of applications from a high-performance desktop type to a small and lightweight notebook type. In particular, when a PPM having a high-performance CPU is used in a notebook type DS, a cooling means for the PPM, which generates a large amount of heat, poses a problem. Therefore, we will give up using PPM at full power and use it with the performance according to the cooling capacity of the notebook DS. A specific example will be described below.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a removable information processing apparatus capable of adjusting the performance of the PPM according to the cooling capacity of the DS. In the figure, the same reference numerals are given to the circuit blocks and the same signal lines having the same functions as in FIG. In the figure,
70 is an oscillator for generating a 66 MHz clock signal, 7
1 is an oscillator for generating a 33 MHz clock signal, 72
Is a clock signal selection circuit, and 73 is a CPU 12
A register in which bit information can be set, 74 is a register 7
A selection signal line whose signal level is determined according to the information of 3; 75
Is a ROM for storing cooling information of DS2. ROM7
The cooling information stored in 5 indicates that when 0, DS2 is a notebook type, and when it is 1, DS2 is a desktop type.
The CPU 12 can recognize whether the incorporated DS2 is a desktop type or a notebook type by reading this information. Further, the CPU 12 writes the information in the register 73 to set the operating frequencies to 66 MHz and 33 MH.
Either z can be selected. Specifically, the selection circuit 72
Selects the oscillator 70 when the signal level of the selection signal line 74 is “H”, and selects the oscillator 71 when the signal level is “L”. Therefore, when the CPU 12 writes 1, the selection signal line 74 outputs an “H” level signal to the selection signal line 74, and the 66 MHz clock signal of the oscillator 70 becomes the clock of the CPU 12. Conversely, when the CPU 12 writes 0, the selection signal line 74
Outputs an "L" level signal to the selection signal line 74, and the 33 MHz clock signal of the oscillator 71 becomes the clock of the CPU 12. The heat generation amount of the PPM 1 in which the CPU 12 operates at 33 MHz can be suppressed to a level without a problem by the cooling capacity of the notebook DS. On the other hand, PP operating at 66MHz
The calorific value of M1 is not sufficient for the cooling capacity of the notebook type DS, but is at a level with no problem for the desktop type DS. These functions are stored in the ROM without the user's awareness.
The program stored in 15 determines the operating speed. The flowchart of the program will be described below.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart for determining the operating frequency of the CPU 12. This will be described below. After the power is turned on, the CPU 12 reads the cooling information from the ROM 75. If the cooling information is 1, 1 is written in the register 73 and the 66 MHz clock is selected. On the contrary, if the cooling information is 0, 0 is written in the register 73 and the 33 MHz clock is selected. After determining the operating frequency of the CPU 12, the configuration is recognized and the system is activated. After that, the application software is executed to perform the desired work.

[0015]

As described above, the high-performance PPM purchased by the user can be used even in the notebook type by lowering the operation speed, and its application is expanded. In particular, according to the present embodiment, the system automatically determines the operation speed, so that the user does not need to be aware of the relationship between the cooling capacity and the operation speed. In addition, it is possible to prevent an accident caused by the user making an incorrect setting. By these, the interoperability of PPM and DS can be improved.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external view of a removable information processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an external view of the detachable information processing device.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the detachable information processing device.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the same.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 ... PPM, 2 ... DS, 10 ... system circuit, 20 ... system circuit, 18 ... local bus, 11 ... connection part, 21 ... connection part, 70 ... oscillator, 71 ... oscillator, 72 ... selection circuit, 73 ... register, 75 ... ROM, 36 ... I / O control circuit.

─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁵ Identification number Office reference number FI technical display location 7165-5B G06F 1/04 310 A

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A CPU, a memory, a local bus for connecting various devices, a memory / bus control circuit for enabling the exchange of information between the CPU, the memory, and devices on the local bus. A personal processor module (hereinafter abbreviated as PPM) including a connection unit that enables information exchange with an external information device using a local bus, a connection unit of the local bus connectable to the PPM, and the local bus Any number of devices above,
The docking station (hereinafter abbreviated as DS) including a power supply circuit for supplying power,
In the detachable information processing device in which the CPU can access the device on the local bus of the DS while the DS and DS are connected, a means for generating a plurality of clocks with different frequencies and a selection from the plurality of clocks are selected. A selection circuit that supplies a clock to the CPU, a register that stores the selection information of the clock on the PPM local bus, a storage unit that is accessible through the DS local bus and that stores the cooling capacity information of the DS are provided, and the power is turned on. A program for setting specific selection information in the register according to the cooling capacity information stored in the DS later is provided in the memory, and D
An attachable / detachable information processing device characterized in that the heat generation amount of PPM can be controlled according to the cooling capacity of S.