JPH0962405A - Automatic power source control method for terminal device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide the automatic power source control method for an on-line system which makes it easy to alter the power source on/off schedule of the terminal device and uses a low-price power source control unit by storing the power source on/off time of the terminal device in an automatic power source control unit that the terminal device has externally according to an indication from a host and performing power source on/off control according to the stored time. SOLUTION: The host 1 uses a network to indicate power-off time and power-on time to terminal devices 2a, 2b, and 2n which are installed at different points A, B, and N and the terminal devices set the power-on/off time to automatic power source control units 4a, 4b, and 4n. The automatic power source control unit 4a sends a specific signal to the terminal device 2a at the power-on/off time and a power-on/off part 3 in the terminal device operates to turn on and off the power source of the terminal. To change the power-on/off time, the host 1 gives an indication of power-on/off time of a terminal device newly and then the power-on/off time of the terminal device can easily be changed and set.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to power control of a terminal device in an online system using a wide area network, and more particularly to an automatic power control system for automatically turning off / on the power of the terminal device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 64-951 discloses a prior art relating to an automatic power control system for controlling the power off / on of a terminal device by using a power control device provided outside the device.
There is a technique described in Japanese Patent No. 2 publication. In the invention described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 64-9512, one terminal device is connected to an automatic power supply control device, the terminal device stores its own operation schedule in a calendar file, and the calendar file is set by a control program when the power supply is started. An automatic power supply control method is realized in which the power-off time and the next power-on time are read out from the device and the automatic power supply control device is set to perform manual power-off / on control.

In the above prior art, the terminal device is powered off /
Each terminal device manages the operation schedule to be turned on.

Further, as another prior art, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-2
In the invention described in Japanese Patent No. 1316, a system is composed of a plurality of terminal devices and I / O, and management is performed by a configuration file storing power-on information of all the terminal devices configuring the system and a specific terminal device. By configuring the host and starting the management host by operating the automatic power control device at a preset time, the automatic power control device will be activated when the management host turns on another terminal device according to the contents of the configuration file. Instruct to start up the terminal device.

In the invention described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 21316/1990, a schedule for turning on the power of each terminal device is collectively managed by a management host, and one automatic power control device controls a plurality of terminal devices. It is carried out.

[0006]

In the above-mentioned prior art, in a system in which a large number of terminal devices and hosts are networked, when the power of the terminal devices is automatically turned off / on, the former prior art is The place where the device is installed is not particularly limited, but each terminal device needs to create and change its own operation schedule. Therefore, even if you want to change the operation schedule of multiple terminal devices all at once, the operation schedule of each terminal device will be changed in each terminal device, so the manpower and time required for the change Will increase.

In the latter prior art, the power-on time information of a plurality of terminal devices can be stored in a configuration file held by the management host, and each terminal device can be rewritten by rewriting the configuration file. You can change the power-on time.

However, in the case of controlling the power supply of each terminal device by one automatic power supply control device, a network for controlling startup from the automatic power supply control device to each terminal device is provided separately from the interface constituting the system. It is necessary to make a connection with the terminal device.

Also, when controlling the power supply of the terminal device by the automatic power supply control device corresponding to each terminal device, it is necessary to provide an interface between the host and all the automatic power supply control devices. Therefore, as the number of terminal devices increases, the cost required for network equipment increases,
An expensive automatic power supply control device having a communication function is required.

The present invention solves the above problems and, in an online system in which a host and a plurality of terminal devices are connected by a network, without turning on a new network or interface, the power of the terminal device can be turned off / off.
It is an object of the present invention to realize an automatic power control system by a low-cost power control device that can easily change the on-schedule.

[0011]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention stores the power-off / on-time of the terminal device in an external automatic power control device which the terminal device has externally according to an instruction from a host. The automatic power control device controls the power off / on, so that the power of the terminal device is turned off / on.
It controls the on.

[0012]

According to the present invention, the power-off / on time of the terminal device is stored in the automatic power control device externally provided by the terminal device according to an instruction from the host, and the power-off / on control is performed by the automatic power control device. Power off by individual device /
It is possible to eliminate the need to change the on-time and to set the power-off / on-time of the terminal device by the host after the power-off / on-time instruction of the terminal device until the next off / on time change. It is possible to reduce the labor and time required to create or change the operation schedule of one terminal device, and to control the power supply of a plurality of terminal devices by the existing network or interface without newly establishing a new network. Therefore, it is possible to eliminate the need for the host to control the power supply at the time other than issuing the instruction.

[0013]

1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of an automatic power control system for a terminal device in an online system according to the present invention.

In FIG. 1, a host 1 and at least two terminal devices 2a, 2b, 2n are connected by a network to form an online system.

In the host 1, the terminal devices 2a, 2b,
2n power-off / on-time information is set, and can be easily created and changed by the input means to the host 1.

The terminal devices 2a, 2b and 2n are installed at different bases A, B and N, respectively, and have an automatic power supply control device outside the device by connection through an interface.

When the terminal devices 2a, 2b, 2n are in the power-on state, the host 1 uses the network to instruct the terminal devices 2a, 2b, 2n to power-off and power-on time of each terminal device. Do this, and do this
After identifying with a, 2b, 2n, the terminal device using the existing interface, the automatic power control device 4a, 4b, 4n
Setting is performed by sending the power off / on time to the general-purpose I / O interface section.

At this time, if the terminal device is equipped with a general-purpose I / O interface, such as RS-232C, the terminal device can easily realize by a program.

Next, the power off / on control of the terminal device 2a will be described. The power-off and power-on time information sent by the interface can be read and written to the interface unit 5, the real-time clock control unit 6, and the clock unit 10 that sets the current time in advance and updates the time. By the interface unit 5 in the automatic power supply control device 4a configured by the real-time clock 7 configured by the storage unit 8 and the storage unit 9 that generate an interrupt when the time of the clock unit 10 matches, and the power supply control interface unit 11 When it is received, it is sent to the real-time clock control unit 6, and the power-off time is written into the storage unit 8 and the power-on time is written into the storage unit 9, respectively, so that the power-off / on time of the terminal device 2a is automatically turned on and off.
Set to.

When the current time of the clock unit 10 and the power-off time in the storage unit 8 match, the storage unit 8 issues an interrupt to the real-time clock control unit 6.

When the real-time clock control unit 6 receives an interrupt, it gives an instruction to the power supply control interface unit 11 and sends a specific signal to the terminal device 2a using the interface.

The terminal device 2a has a power-off / on unit 3 for changing the power-off / on state of the terminal device by receiving a specific signal from the outside, and operates the power-off / on unit. Turns off the power of the terminal device 2a.

On the other hand, when the power-on time stored in the storage unit 9 of the real-time clock 7 reaches the time at which the terminal device 2a should be turned on, the time-of-day clock 10 coincides with the time of the clock unit 10 so that the power is turned on. Generate an interrupt.

The real-time clock control unit 6 receiving the interrupt instructs the power control interface unit 11 to send a specific signal to the terminal device 2a, and the power off / on unit 3 operates to turn on the power of the terminal device 2a. It

With the above operation, the power supply on / off control of the terminal device is performed at the set time until the power off / on instruction of the new terminal device is given again from the host 1, and the terminal set in the host 1 is controlled. When the power off / on time of the devices 2a, 2b, 2n is different from the previous time, the power off / on time of the terminal device can be easily changed by issuing the time setting / changing instruction to the corresponding terminal from the host 1. it can.

As described above, according to this embodiment, it is possible to easily change the power-off / on time of the terminal device by the instruction from the host only at the time of the change, so that the power-off / on of the individual terminal device can be changed. It is not necessary to change the time or set the power off / on time each time.

Further, since the existing network can be used, it is possible to construct an online network with a low-priced power control device without constructing a new network or providing the automatic power control device with a special function such as a communication function. It is possible to realize automatic power control in the system.

[0028]

According to the present invention, the power off / on time of the terminal device is stored in the automatic power control device externally provided by the terminal device in accordance with an instruction from the host, and thereby the power off / on control is performed. By doing so, it is possible to easily change the power-off / on-time of the terminal device only by the instruction from the host at the time of the change. It is not necessary to set the on time, and it is possible to easily set and change the power off / on time.

Further, since the existing network or interface can be used, the automatic power control in the online system can be performed without the need to construct a new network and without providing the automatic power control device with a special function such as a communication function. It can be realized with a low-cost power supply control device and configuration.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing an embodiment of an automatic power supply control system for a terminal device in an online system according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Host, 2a-2n ... Terminal device, 3 ... Power-off / on part, 3a ... General-purpose I / O interface part, 4a-4n
... automatic power supply control device, 5 ... interface unit, 6 ... real-time clock control unit, 7 ... real-time clock,
8 ... storage unit, 9 ... storage unit, 10 ... clock unit, 11 ... power supply control interface unit.

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A plurality of terminal devices are installed in different bases, and are connected to the same host by a communication network.
In an online system that uses a wide area network composed of automatic power control devices that are connected to terminal devices at different bases by general-purpose I / O interfaces other than the network interface, the power-off and power-on times of the terminal devices are An automatic power control method for a terminal device, comprising: setting and changing the automatic power control device from a host, and performing power-off and power-on control of the terminal device according to the set contents.