JPH09269853A - Power consumption controller and its method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To save wasteful power for display by preventing the disappearing of input data by misoperation. SOLUTION: An input detection part 12 detects the presence/absence of data input from an input part 11 in the middle of operating a device. When a clock part 13 detects the absence of data input in a prescribed time by means of the detection signal, a power source control part 14 supplies a dropped voltage set to be lower than a rated voltage for a display part 15. The dropped voltage is a voltage at a lowest level for identifying data on the display part 15. Thus in the state of being supplied with this dropped voltage, a user never regards the device as being not operated because data on the screen looks dark.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a portable information processing device such as a notebook personal computer (notebook personal computer), and particularly to a battery-driven portable information processing device driven by a dry battery or a battery. The present invention relates to a power control device and a power consumption control method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in a portable information processing device such as a notebook computer, a power source is a big problem because a driving source is a dry battery or a battery. If the power supply runs out while using this type of equipment, the data currently being processed will be lost.

Therefore, if no input is made for a certain period of time even when the device is in operation, the power supply voltage of the display device (liquid crystal) is set to 0 [V] to suppress unnecessary power consumption for display. Is generally done.

In this state, the display device is in a non-display state (state in which nothing is displayed). When the user performs an input action such as pressing any key, the display device is supplied with the normal power supply voltage, and the display device is brought into a display state.

[0005]

As described above, in the conventional battery-powered portable information processing device, the power supply voltage of the display device is set to 0 when no input is made for a certain period of time.
By setting it to [V], useless electric power applied to the display device was suppressed.

However, the power supply voltage of the display device is set to 0.
When automatically set to [V], nothing is displayed on the screen, and the user cannot determine whether or not the device is in operation. Therefore, when the power supply voltage of the display device is 0 [V] due to the power consumption mode, the user actually operates the device even though the device power is on and the device is operating. Believing that there is no, the user may accidentally turn off the power of the device when trying to turn it on.

As described above, if the power source of the apparatus is turned off by mistake, for example, in a device that does not have a backup system such as a resume function, there is a problem that all the input data will be lost.

The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and it is possible to prevent the input data from being lost due to an erroneous operation and to suppress the unnecessary power consumption for display and the power consumption control device. It is an object to provide a power control method.

[0009]

A power consumption control device of the present invention comprises an input means for inputting data, a display means for displaying data, and a predetermined time from the input means during operation of the device. According to the input detection means for detecting the absence of data input and the detection result of this input detection means,
The display means is provided with a power supply control means for supplying a rated voltage or a reduced voltage set lower than the rated voltage.

The power supply control means sets the minimum level voltage at which the data on the display means can be identified when the input detection means detects that no data has been input from the input means for a predetermined time. It is characterized in that a reduced voltage is supplied to the display means.

According to such a configuration, the presence or absence of data input from the input means such as a keyboard is detected during operation of the device, and when the detection signal detects that no data has been input for a predetermined time, For example, the reduced voltage set to be lower than the rated voltage is supplied to the display unit including a liquid crystal display device.

In this case, the above-mentioned reduced voltage is the lowest level voltage at which the data of the display means can be identified. When the reduced voltage is supplied to the display means, the data on the screen looks dim. Therefore, the user does not think that the device is not operating.

[0013]

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 a power consumption control device used in a battery-powered portable information processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention. This device is
The input unit 11, the input detection unit 12, the clock unit 13, the power supply control unit 14, and the display unit 15 are included.

The input unit 11 is composed of, for example, an input device such as a keyboard, and inputs data such as characters. The input detection unit 12 monitors an input signal (key input) S1 from the input unit 11, and when detecting the input signal S1, generates a detection signal S2 indicating that. Timing unit 13
Is a retriggerable digital counter, which outputs a count-up signal S3 when a certain time has elapsed after the detection signal S2 was input, and starts counting from the initial value when a retrigger input is accepted before the count-up state. To do.

The power supply control unit 14 controls the power supply voltage V supplied to the display unit 15, and here, the clock unit 1 is used.
The voltage value (rated voltage / reduced voltage) is switched based on the count-up signal S3 from 3. The display unit 15
For example, a display device such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) is used to display data such as characters.

FIG. 2 is a timing chart showing the signals of the above respective parts constituting the present apparatus, and FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the power consumption control processing of the present apparatus. The operation of the embodiment will be described below with reference to FIGS. 2 and 3.

During the operation of the device, the signal S1 input by the input unit 11 which is, for example, a keyboard is read by the microprocessor through a system bus (not shown) and is given to the input detection unit 12.

The input detection unit 12 detects the presence or absence of the signal S1 from the input unit 11 and outputs the detection signal S2 to the clock unit 13.
Output to The timer 13 outputs a count-up signal S3 to the power supply controller 14 when it does not receive the detection signal S2 from the input detector 12 after a certain period of time. If the detection signal S2 is received before the count-up state, the timer 13 clears the current count value,
Resumes counting from the initial value.

Here, as shown in the flow chart of FIG. 3, when the input detection unit 12 detects the input signal S1 of the input unit 11 (YES in step A11), the count value of the clock unit 13 is detected at the detection timing. Is cleared (step A12). Therefore, in this state, the count-up signal S3 is not output, and the power supply control unit 14 supplies the normal rated voltage to the display unit 15 (step A13).

On the other hand, when the input detection unit 12 detects the input signal S1 of the input unit 11 (NO in step A11),
The count value of the timer 13 is updated with the lapse of time (step A14). When the input signal S1 of the input unit 11 is not detected even after the lapse of a predetermined time (YES in step A15), the time counting unit 13 outputs a count-up signal S3 indicating that to the power supply control unit 14. To be done. As a result, the power supply control unit 14 supplies the display unit 15 with the reduced voltage set to be lower than the normal rated voltage (step A16).

In this case, the reduced voltage means the display unit 15
Is the lowest level voltage at which the data can be identified, and is experimentally obtained in advance for each type of display unit 15. Specifically, for example, when the rated voltage is 36 [V], the reduced voltage is about 24 [V]. When the reduced voltage is supplied to the display unit 15, the data on the screen looks dim. Therefore, the user does not think that the device is not operating.

As described above, when there is no input for a certain period of time, the power source voltage V of the display unit 15 is set to 0 as the power consumption mode.
It is possible to prevent data loss due to an erroneous operation by setting a voltage that allows display data to be identified to some extent instead of setting to [V].

In addition to the system using a digital counter, it is also possible to use, for example, a "retriggerable multivibrator" which uses a charging or discharging time constant by a capacitor and a resistor for the time counting unit 13.

[0024]

As described above, according to the present invention, the presence or absence of the data input from the input means is detected during the operation of the equipment, and the detection signal indicates that the data is not input for a predetermined time. Since the device is supplied with a reduced voltage that is set lower than the rated voltage, the data on the screen can be viewed even in the power consumption mode, and the user thinks that the device is not operating. There is no. As a result, it is possible to prevent the input data from being lost due to an erroneous operation, and suppress unnecessary power consumption for display.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a power consumption control device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a timing chart showing signals of respective parts constituting the device.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a power consumption control process of the device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 11 ... Input part 12 ... Input detection part 13 ... Timekeeping part 14 ... Power supply control part 15 ... Display part S1 ... Input signal S2 ... Detection signal S3 ... Count-up signal V ... Power supply voltage

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An input means for inputting data, a display means for displaying data, and an input detecting means for detecting that no data has been input from the input means for a predetermined time during operation of the device. A power consumption control device comprising: a power supply control means for supplying a rated voltage or a reduced voltage set lower than the rated voltage to the display means in accordance with the detection result of the input detection means. 2. The power supply control means sets the minimum level voltage at which the data of the display means can be identified when the input detection means detects that there is no data input from the input means for a predetermined time. The power consumption control device according to claim 1, wherein the reduced voltage is supplied to the display means. 3. A power consumption control method used in a portable information processing device having an input unit for inputting data and a display unit for displaying data, wherein the input unit is in operation during operation of the device. The presence or absence of data input from the device is detected, and if the detection signal detects that there is no data input for a predetermined time, the display unit is supplied with a reduced voltage set lower than the rated voltage. Power consumption control method characterized by. 4. When the absence of data input from the input unit for a predetermined period of time is detected, a lowest level voltage that can identify the data of the display unit is supplied to the display unit as the reduced voltage. 4. The method according to claim 3, wherein
The described power consumption control method.