JPH0651880A - Information processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To reduce the energy consumption of the device by providing a means for detecting the use condition of a bus and a means for managing power. CONSTITUTION:When there is an input from an I/O equipment 5 to an I/O control means 3 or when there is an interruption from an MPU 1 to each control means, a bus 2 is made busy and turned to an occupied state. In the state of not using the bus 2, the operations of the control means at one part and a peripheral equipment are not required. At such a time, it is detected at a power managing means by using a bus use condition detecting means 101 that each control means does not use the bus 2 or any specified circuit uses the bus. Then, a power supply control means 102 controls the supply of power to each control means and the peripheral equipment sets the device from a normal state to a low energy consumption state or reversely sets the device from the low energy consumption state to the normal state. Thus, the useless energy consumption can be reduced.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus having a bus and power management means.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art There is no conventional information processing apparatus that detects a bus usage state and puts the apparatus into a low power consumption state.
In most cases, when there is no key input, waiting for key input is detected and the device is put into a low power consumption state.

[0003]

However, the conventional information processing apparatus has a drawback in that a circuit that does not need to be operated is in vain when it is not waiting for a key input. It is an object of the present invention to eliminate such drawbacks and reduce the power consumption of the device.

[0004]

The present invention is characterized in that it is provided with means for detecting a bus usage state and means for power management so that the power consumption of the device is reduced.

[0005]

According to the present invention, the means for detecting the usage status of the bus is
When it is detected that the bus is not used within a certain period of time or that a specific circuit is using the bus, the information processing device is set to the low power consumption state by the means for managing the power.

[0006]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the present invention. 1 is an MPU that controls the entire device and performs calculations, etc.
Is. Reference numeral 2 is a system bus which is a signal transmission path between the MPU and each circuit. 3 is an I for controlling I / O equipment
/ O control means. An I / O bus 4 is a signal transmission path between the I / O control means and the I / O device. 5 is
It is an I / O device such as a keyboard, a mouse, and a disk device. Reference numeral 6 is a display control means for controlling display means such as a liquid crystal display device and a display device. Reference numeral 7 is a display means such as a liquid crystal display device or a display device including a display storage means. Reference numeral 8 is a storage control means for controlling the storage means. Reference numeral 9 is a storage means such as a memory. Reference numeral 10 is a power management unit that outputs a power supply signal and manages the supplied power. The command output from the MPU 1 is sent to the I / O control unit 3, the display control unit 6, and the storage control unit 8. The I / O equipment 5, the display means 7, and the storage means 9 are respectively the I / O control means 3, the display control means 6, and the storage control means 8.
Controlled by. When there is an input from the I / O device to the I / O control means, and when there is an instruction from the MPU to each control means, the bus becomes busy and the bus is in use. When there is no signal exchange between each control means and the MPU, the bus is in an unused state. When the bus is not used, some control means and peripherals do not need to operate. Therefore, the present invention detects the usage status of the bus and controls the power supply so as not to supply unnecessary power to these circuits. The power management means 10 includes therein a means for detecting the usage status of the bus 2.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the internal configuration of the power management means 10. Reference numeral 101 denotes a bus usage status detecting means for detecting that each control means does not use the bus or that a specific circuit uses the bus. There are, for example, two methods for detecting that the bus is open. One is a method in which a chip select for selecting ownership of a bus detects that none of the chips connected to the bus is selected. Again 1
The other is a method of detecting the voltage of the bus and detecting that it is in an indefinite state (High impedance) and that it is neither a High level nor a Low level. Reference numeral 102 denotes a power supply control means for controlling power supply to each control means and peripheral equipment. A power supply control signal 1021 which is an output signal from 102 is transferred to each control unit and peripheral equipment. When the power supply control signal 1021 is transferred to the control means, the operation of all or part of the circuits of the control means is stopped. Further, when the power supply control signal 1021 is transferred to the peripheral device, the operation of all or part of the circuits of the peripheral device is stopped. An output signal from the bus usage status detection means is input to the power supply control means 102. The power supply control means 102 sets the device from the normal state to the low power consumption state, and vice versa, based on the input signal that detects the use status of the bus.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the bus usage status and the timing of the power supply control signal 1021. This is the case where the bus is released and the power consumption is low. When the bus is busy, it is a normal state in which input / output operations from peripheral devices and program execution are being performed. When the bus is no longer busy, that is, when the bus is released, I / O operations, program execution, etc. are not performed, and it is possible to stop all or part of the operation of the control unit and peripheral devices. It is possible. When a certain time T elapses after the bus is opened, the power supply control signal is set to the high level to control the power supplied to the control means and peripheral devices. When the power supply control signal becomes High level, the device enters the low power consumption state.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the use status of the bus and the timing of the power supply control signal 1021. This is a case where only a specific circuit enters the low power consumption state when the bus is used. When the bus is busy, it is a normal state in which an unspecified circuit or device is accessing the bus and performing input / output operations. When the bus is not busy and is once released and only a specific circuit is using the bus, for example, when a timer interrupt is included, the interrupt is masked and all or one of the operation of the control means and the peripheral device is interrupted. It becomes possible to stop the department. The specific circuit sets the power supply control signal to the High level when a certain time T elapses after using the bus, the control means,
Controls the power supplied to peripheral devices. When the power supply control signal becomes High level, the device enters the low power consumption state.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the bus usage status and the timing of the power supply control signal 1021 in the case where the apparatus goes from the low power consumption state to the normal state. The operation of the peripheral device or the circuit is started by the bus usage status detecting means detecting that the bus is busy, and the power supply control means receiving it to set the power supply control signal to the low level. The operation is started by, for example, M in the control means.
In the peripheral device, the instruction transmitted from the PU causes the input, for example, by the operation of the operator.

The above is the description of the embodiment of the present invention.

[0013]

As described above, the present invention is provided with means for detecting the usage status of the bus and means for setting the information processing apparatus to the low power consumption state, and the bus is not used within a certain time. The power consumption of the information processing device is reduced by detecting that there is a certain circuit or that a specific circuit is using the bus.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an internal configuration diagram of power management means.

FIG. 3 is a timing diagram of bus usage and power supply control signals.

FIG. 4 is a timing diagram of bus usage and power supply control signals.

FIG. 5 is a timing diagram of bus usage and power supply control signals.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 ... MPU, 2 ... System bus, 3 ... I / O control means, 4 ... I / O bus, 5 ... I / O equipment, 6 ... Display control means, 7 ... Display means, 8 ... Storage control means, 9 ... Storage means, 10 ... Power management means, 101 ... Bus usage status detection means, 102 ... Power supply control means, 1021 ... Power supply control signal.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. An information processing apparatus having a bus, comprising first means for detecting a bus usage status and second means for setting the information processing apparatus in a low power consumption state, the first means comprising: When the bus is in an unused state within a certain time, or when it is detected that a specific circuit is using the bus, the second means puts the information processing device into a low power consumption state. Information processing device.