JPH0675669A - Device and method for data processing - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To suppress unnecessary power consumption of a pen input computer by controlling the illumination and extinction of a back light with an optional time. CONSTITUTION:A limit time for which the operation of a stylus pen at a table input part 37 is expected is set to the timer of an input/output gate array 22. This timer clock the time of the absence of a coordinate input from the tablet input part 37 and the input/output gate array 22 generates an interruption signal to a CPU 21 unless there is the input for longer than the set limit time. The CPU 21 indicates the extinction of the back light 40 to a power source controller 31 corresponding to the interruption signal and stops its power supply. Consequently, the unnecessary power consumption can be suppressed.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a data processing device and method which are provided with a tablet input section integrated with a display section.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, various data processing devices such as personal computers have been planned and sold in consideration of portability and in pursuit of reduction in size and weight. In this type of data processing device, a battery whose usable time is limited is used as a power source, so that it is necessary to effectively use electric power. For this reason, conventionally, there are many systems having a power saving function called a "sleep" function in which a part that is not necessary for operation during operation is stopped so that useless power is not used.

As a concrete example of this power saving function, a CPU is used when no key input is made on the keyboard for a certain period of time.
The operating clock is set to a low speed and the drive motor of the hard disk device is stopped when the hard disk is not accessed for a predetermined time.

[0004]

Recently, a transparent tablet is integrally provided on a display section composed of a liquid crystal display panel having a backlight, and the transparent tablet is operated by a dedicated stylus pen. A data processing device (hereinafter referred to as "pen input computer"), which is designed to be smaller and lighter by eliminating the keyboard by performing input, has been newly commercialized. However, since the input unit and the display unit are integrated, it is different from the conventional data processing device. The technology related to the power saving function for longer use with electric power has not yet been established.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a data processing device and method in which a keyboard is eliminated and a tablet input section is provided integrally with a display section. It is also possible to use the limited power more effectively.

[0006]

That is, according to the present invention, a display section composed of a liquid crystal display panel with a backlight and a display section integrally provided on the display section are provided for inputting coordinates according to the operation of a stylus pen. A tablet input section for performing, and by setting the limit time to wait for the operation of the stylus pen on the tablet input section, the limit time is set in the timer in the input / output gate array,
When it is determined that there is no coordinate input from the tablet input section beyond the time limit based on the timed value of this timer, an interrupt signal is generated from the input / output gate array to the CPU, and the CPU responds to this interrupt signal. Then, the power controller is instructed to turn off the backlight to stop the power supply.

When there is a coordinate input from the tablet input section while the power supply to the backlight is stopped, the input / output gate array detects this and CP
An interrupt signal is generated for U, and the CPU responds to the interrupt signal by instructing the power supply controller to turn on the backlight to restart the power supply.

[0008]

With the above-mentioned structure, a display unit including a liquid crystal display panel with a backlight,
In a pen input computer that is integrally provided on this display unit and has a tablet input unit that inputs coordinates according to the operation of the stylus pen, turn on / off the backlight, which seems to consume the most power, for an arbitrary time. Therefore, it is possible to suppress the wasteful power consumption and more effectively use the limited power.

[0009]

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

FIG. 1 shows the external structure of the main body case 11. The main body case 11 is, for example, a flat plate-shaped housing of about A4 size and about 2 cm in thickness, and a power switch 12 for forcibly connecting and disconnecting the power is embedded in the upper end surface thereof.

Also, the front surface of the main body case 11 and almost the entire area except the peripheral portion serve as an input / output section 13 in which a transparent tablet is integrally formed on a liquid crystal display panel with a backlight. In accordance with the contents displayed on the input / output unit 13, the user holds the stylus pen 15 for input stored in the storage unit 14 on the right end surface of the main body case 11, and designates an arbitrary position on the transparent tablet with the tip 16 of the stylus pen 15. The input processing is performed by writing operation.

The transparent tablet uses an electromagnetic induction type digitizer. When the tip 16 of the wireless stylus pen 15 is brought close to a position near the tablet, coordinate data of the position closest to the tip 16 is input. It has become so. Although not shown, the main body case
A battery pack, which serves as an operating power supply, is attached and connected to the back side of 11.

FIG. 2 shows a functional configuration of the entire system provided inside the main body case 11, and 21 is a microprocessor (CPU) for controlling the operation of the entire system,
Reference numeral 22 is an input / output gate array 22 for controlling input / output of the microprocessor 21.

Microprocessor (hereinafter referred to as CPU)
The reference numeral 21 accesses the BIOS-ROM 23 storing the BIOS, the main memory 24 (and the extension memory card 25 if the extension memory card 25 is provided), and executes various data processing by starting a program according to the input instruction.

The input / output gate array 22 is a BIOS-RO.
This is a hardware circuit that controls input / output between each circuit connected to the system bus SB and the CPU 21 and the main memory 24 in accordance with the BIOS stored in M23, and a timer is built in as described in detail later.

The system bus SB includes a system integration 26, a liquid crystal controller (liquid crystal CNT) 27, and first and second IC card controllers (IC-CNT) 2
8, 29, keyboard controller (keyboard CNT) 3
Connected with 0.

The system integration 26 is connected to a power supply controller (power supply-CNT) 31, which is a processor for controlling the power supply of the entire system, and an RS232C connector 34, and performs communication control by serial data between them, and a floppy disk. Connector (FDD
Connector 32, a printer / floppy disk connector (PRT / FDD connector) 33, a hard disk device (HDD) 35, and a tablet controller 36, and communication control by parallel data is performed between them.

The floppy disk connector 32 is a connector used when the floppy disk device (first FDD) 42 is externally connected, and the printer / floppy disk connector 33 is externally connected to the printer or the floppy disk device (second FDD) 43. This is the connector used.

The tablet controller 36 controls the input of the stylus pen 15 on the transparent tablet 37 which is the uppermost layer of the input / output unit 13, and when the transparent tablet 37 is pointed or written by the stylus pen 15. To the input / output gate array 22 via the system integration 26 and the system bus SB.

The liquid crystal controller 27 is a system bus SB.
The display data sent via the VRAM 38 is expanded in the VRAM 38 to control the display of the liquid crystal display panel 39 which is the middle layer of the input / output unit 13. The liquid crystal display panel 39 is, for example, a transmissive type composed of a dot matrix of 640 vertical dots × 480 horizontal dots. For example, a backlight 40 of a fluorescent lamp (hereinafter abbreviated as “FL”) has its back side (lower side). side)
Located in.

The IC card controllers 28 and 29 are cards (IC cards) for expanding the functions of various personal computers such as memory cards and modem cards.
Controls the input / output of the 44 and 45 when they are mounted. The keyboard controller 31 controls the input of the keyboard 46 when it is externally connected. Next, the operation of the above embodiment will be described.

FIG. 3 shows an example of a setup screen for setting the system configuration. When the system is started, the coordinate position that is specified in advance on the transparent tablet 37, for example, the lower right position, is indicated by the tip 16 of the stylus pen 15. When a point is designated, the CPU 21 which has received the designated coordinate position data via the input / output gate array 22 recognizes this and activates the setup operation.

That is, in the setup screen of FIG. 3, "1. System setup (SYSTEMS
ETUP) "2. Memory capacity" 3. Screen display "
"4. Hard disk", "5. Peripheral device", "6. Other" and various setting items for each functional area are displayed in a rectangle as appropriate. In the figure, the item of "6. Other" is selected and the corresponding rectangle A part is highlighted by the cursor bar CB.

Here, the selection items are listed in order: "system setup""hardRAM""high speed ROM".
"Screen reverse""LCDcontrast""Hard disk capacity""Serialport""Modemport""Modempower""FDDtype""Printerport"
"Printer port""Batterymode" and "Speaker on""Batteryalarm" not shown here
There are a total of 16 items including "battery / remaining amount".

However, when the "battery mode" item in "6. Others" is selected and the corresponding rectangular portion is highlighted by the cursor bar CB, the candidate value is selected and set at the bottom of the screen. Input window W is displayed, and in the right part of the input window W, a “↑” key, “↓” key, “←” key, “→” key, which is used as a virtual keyboard area for instructing settings and the like, "Esc
The "Escape" key and the "Enter" key are displayed.

In the input window W for "battery mode", "save mode" and "normal mode" are set as candidate values.
And "Free setting" are displayed. Then, in the state where the “saving mode” in these candidate values is selected and the corresponding circle mark is highlighted by the cursor C, the sub input window SW is further displayed on the input window W.

That is, in the sub input window SW,
Five items of “processing speed”, “CPU sleep”, “HDD automatic stop time”, “automatic display stop time” and “brightness” are displayed, and recommended values prepared in advance are displayed.

"Processing speed" means whether the processing speed of the CPU 21 is "high speed" or "low speed", and "CPU sleep" is a sleep function for automatically decreasing the processing speed of the CPU 21 when there is no pen input for a certain period of time. Presence or absence, "HDD automatic stop time" is the fixed time when the rotation of the drive motor in the device is automatically stopped when the hard disk device 35 is not accessed for a fixed time, and "automatic display stop time" is the pen input If there is no light, the brightness of the backlight 40 is "large brightness (bright)", "medium brightness (normal)", "small brightness (dark)" for a certain period of time when the lighting of the backlight 40 is automatically stopped. “Whether the display is to be performed”, the “automatic display stop time” is, for example, “3 minutes” to
It can be set in units of 1 minute within the range of "30 minutes".

When the stylus pen 15 points to the position of the transparent tablet 37 corresponding to the "Esc" key after the selection and setting of each item is completed on the setup screen in this way, this point designation is input on the screen. Assuming that the window W is for saving when the setup is completed after selecting the candidate values, all the candidate values of the changed and set items are stored in the main memory 24.
Save to and finish the setup.

Next, FIG. 4 is used to control the power supply of the backlight 40 mainly by the input / output gate array 22 and the CPU 21 according to the item value of the "automatic display stop time" after the power is turned on to start the system. Explain.

That is, in the figure, when the power switch 12 is turned on and the BIOS is read from the BIOS-ROM 23, the initialization program "IR" in the BIOS is read.
In accordance with “T”, the CPU 21 sends an FL power-on command for turning on the FL power supply of the backlight 40 to the power supply controller 31, and the power supply controller 31 receiving the command supplies power to the backlight 40 to drive it for lighting. , “Local standby timeout function (shown as“ LSTO ”in the figure)” of the input / output gate array 22 is turned on, and “I / O trap function (“ I / OT ”in the figure)
Is turned off, the data of the "automatic display stop time" stored in the main memory 24 is read, and is set in the timer in the input / output gate array 22 (step S1).

Both the "local standby timeout function" and the "I / O trap function" are backlit.
It is realized by a hardware circuit in the input / output gate array 22 to control the power supply of 40.

That is, the "local standby time-out function" is used when the stylus pen 15 is not operated on the transparent tablet 37 for a certain period of time while the backlight 40 is being supplied with power and lit. The array 22 monitors the contents of the I / O address assigned to the tablet controller 36, detects when data is not being sent from the input / output gate array 22 and avoids unnecessary power consumption. In order to turn off the backlight 40, an interrupt signal to the CPU 21 is generated.
It is performed by the down-counting operation of the timer circuit provided in advance in 22. Every time the stylus pen 15 is operated on the transparent tablet 37, the time count value is an initial value (a value corresponding to the "automatic display stop time"). Is reset to.

The "I / O trap function" is a state where the power supply to the backlight 40 is stopped and turned off.
When the transparent tablet 37 is operated by the stylus pen 15, that is, the input / output gate array 22 monitors the contents of the I / O address assigned to the tablet controller 36, and data is sent from the input / output gate array 22. If so, this is detected and an interrupt signal to the CPU 21 is generated to restart the power supply to the backlight 40.

However, after turning on the "local standby time-out function" in step S1, the input / output gate array 22 waits for an SMI signal (described later) from the CPU 21 (step S2).

When the timer value in the input / output gate array 22 becomes "0", it means that the stylus pen 15 has not been operated on the transparent tablet 37 during the "automatic display stop time", and the input / output gate An interrupt signal indicating a time-out is sent from the array 22 to the CPU 21. CPU21
Is an SMI (System Ma) for interrupting normal data processing by this interrupt signal to perform system control.
and outputs the signal to the input / output gate array 22.

The input / output gate array 22 detects that the SMI signal includes an FL power off command for turning off the FL power of the backlight 40, and outputs the FL power off command to the system bus SB and the system integration. It is sent to the power supply controller 31 via 26. The power supply controller 31 stops the power supply to the backlight 40 and turns off the light according to the FL power off command. The I / O gate array 22 also includes a "local standby
Set the "timeout function" to off and the "I / O trap function" to on (step S3), and set SMI from the CPU 21.
Wait for a signal (step S4).

When the stylus pen 15 is operated on the transparent tablet 37 in this state, coordinate position data corresponding to the point designated position is input from the tablet controller 36 to the dedicated gate array 22 via the system integration 26 and the system bus SB. To be done. Dedicated gate array 22
Generates an interrupt signal to the CPU 21 by the "I / O trap function" based on this coordinate position data. CPU21
Generates an SMI signal in response to this interrupt signal and outputs it to the input / output gate array 22.

The input / output gate array 22 which has detected the SMI signal detects that the FL power-on command is included in the signal, and again issues the FL power-on command to the system bus SB, as in step S1. Send to the power supply controller 31 via system integration 26,
The power supply to the backlight 40 is restarted and turned on, the "local standby timeout function" is turned on, the "I / O trap function" is turned off (step S3), and the SMI signal from the CPU 21 is waited for. Yes (step S2).

After that, by repeatedly executing the above processing,
While the power is turned on by the power switch 12, the "local standby time-out function" and the "I / O trap function" are alternately turned on, and pen input by the stylus pen 15 must be made on the transparent tablet 37 for a certain time or longer. For example, the backlight 40 is turned off, and if there is a pen input with the backlight turned off, the backlight 40 is turned on again.

The CPU 21 controls the ON / OFF of the FL power source of the backlight 40 by transmitting the FL power source ON / OFF command included in the SMI signal to the power source controller 31. However, the power controller 31
Ignores the FL power off command when it determines that the AC adapter (not shown) is connected. Further, in conjunction with the OFF operation of the power switch 12, the FL of the backlight 40
It is possible to turn off the power for
The FL power supply of the backlight 40 cannot be turned on in conjunction with the ON operation of. Therefore, when the power is turned on, the CPU 21 sends the FL power on command to the power controller 31 according to the IRT of the BIOS as described above, and the FL
The power is turned on.

Since the power control processing of the backlight 40 shown in FIG. 4 is performed in order to suppress the power consumption during carrying, the power is supplied to the device via the AC adapter. The power controller 31 indicates that the FL power off command is
Ignore this if sent from 21. Therefore, the "local standby timeout function" is actually set to the off state, and the processing is not performed.

[0043]

As described above, according to the present invention, a display section constituted by a liquid crystal display panel with a backlight and a coordinate unit provided integrally on the display section according to the operation of the stylus pen are provided. In a pen-input computer equipped with a tablet input unit for inputting, since it is possible to control lighting / light-off of the backlight, which is considered to consume the most power, for an arbitrary time, wasteful power consumption is suppressed and limited. Electric power can be used more effectively.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an external configuration according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a system circuit configuration according to the embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a setup screen according to the embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the processing content of power control of the backlight according to the embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 ... Main body case, 12 ... Power switch, 13 ... Input / output section, 14
… Storage part, 15… Stylus pen, 16… Pen tip, 21… Microprocessor (CPU), 22… Exclusive gate array,
23 ... BIOS-ROM, 24 ... Main memory, 25 ... Expansion memory card, 26 ... System integration, 27 ... Liquid crystal controller, 28, 29 ... IC card controller, 30
… Keyboard controller, 31… Power controller, 32
… Floppy disk connector, 33… Printer / floppy disk connector, 34… RS232C connector, 35
... Hard disk device (HDD), 36 ... Tablet controller, 37 ... Transparent tablet, 38 ... VRAM, 39 ... Liquid crystal display panel, 40 ... Backlight, 42, 43 ... Floppy disk device (FDD), 44, 45 ... IC card, 46 ...
keyboard.

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A display means composed of a liquid crystal display panel with a backlight, a tablet input means integrally provided on the display means for inputting coordinates according to the operation of a stylus pen, and the tablet input. The setting means for inputting and setting the limit time for waiting the operation of the stylus pen for the means, and the timer for counting the limit time set by the setting means in the state where the backlight is lit are provided, and the timer counts the time. Corresponding to the first input / output control means for generating an interrupt signal when it is determined that there is no coordinate input from the tablet input means beyond the time limit depending on the value, and the interrupt signal of the first input / output control means. Then, the first control means for instructing to turn off the backlight, and the power supply to the backlight in response to the instruction of the first control means. First power supply control means for stopping the supply, and detecting the coordinate input from the tablet input means in a state where the power supply to the backlight is stopped by the first power supply control means. Second input / output control means for generating an interrupt signal, second control means for instructing lighting of the backlight in response to the interrupt signal of the second input / output control means, and the second control And a second power supply control means for restarting the power supply to the backlight corresponding to the means. 2. The first power supply control means judges this when the AC adapter is connected, ignores the instruction from the first control means, and does not stop the power supply to the backlight. The data processing device according to claim 1, wherein the data processing device is a data processing device. 3. An input / output device comprising a display unit composed of a liquid crystal display panel with a backlight and a tablet input unit integrally provided on the display unit for inputting coordinates according to the operation of a stylus pen. A data processing method for controlling a part, wherein the backlight is turned on when the power is turned on, a preset time limit is measured, and it is determined that there is no coordinate input from the tablet input part beyond the time limit. In the case where there is a first control means for generating an interrupt signal, and the backlight is turned off in response to the interrupt signal generated by the first control means, and there is coordinate input from the tablet input section. Second to detect this
Second control means for generating an interrupt signal of the above, and the backlight is turned on in response to the interrupt signal generated by the second control means, and a preset time limit is measured to set the time limit. And a third control means for generating an interrupt signal when it is determined that there is no coordinate input from the tablet input section.