JPH10124198A - Electronic equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To store information necessary for continuous execution at the time of next time power supply turning-on even at the time of rapid voltage lowering by judging whether or not power for resuming processing remains when a battery voltage is reduced to such a extent that it is difficult to keep a suspending state in a memory. SOLUTION: When the battery voltage falls so as to be difficult to keep the suspending state, and it is judged that power to process resuming remains in the battery in the suspending state of a memory 1-6, the power of respective devices is re-supplied and the resuming processing part of a suspending/resuming device 1-4 is started. In the meantime, when the battery voltage is reduced so as to permit the keeping of the suspending state to be difficult and it is judged that power to process resuming does not remains in the battery, the resuming processing is prohibited without supplying power to the respective devices. During this, power is supplied to the memory 1-6 by an auxiliary battery 1-11.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a battery-powered electronic device, particularly a notebook computer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a notebook personal computer or the like, when a power-off instruction is given and a power-on instruction is given again, a battery operation is performed so that the processing of a program currently being executed can be continuously executed. In many cases, a so-called resume function is provided to hold necessary data on a memory using a function.

As described above, necessary data in a memory is held in a volatile memory by using a battery, and power supply to other memories is cut off to reduce battery consumption. .

However, in a configuration in which a memory is held by using a battery, if the voltage of the battery drops while the memory is being held, there is a problem that data saved in the memory is not guaranteed and is destroyed.

As a means for avoiding this, a method of storing information necessary for continuous execution when a power-on instruction is issued in a nonvolatile secondary storage device can be considered. A non-volatile secondary storage device does not require a battery to hold information.

However, it takes time to store the data in the secondary storage device. When the power-off instruction is issued, the data is stored in the secondary storage device, and when the storage is completed, the power is turned off. It took time from the instruction to the power off, which was inconvenient.

As a method for solving these problems, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-124148 discloses a method in which a power-off instruction is issued.
The battery voltage is monitored using the above-mentioned means for storing information in the memory, and when the battery voltage is equal to or lower than a predetermined voltage, that is, when the battery voltage becomes low enough to hold the memory, information is automatically stored in the secondary storage device. Is stored, that is, the above two methods are combined.

[0008]

However, when a sudden voltage drop occurs, such as when the battery is disconnected from the main body during normal use, the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-1241 is disclosed.
In the technology disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 48, there is a possibility that the battery voltage does not reach a level necessary for driving each device in the middle of the process, not only the process is interrupted in the middle, but also the data in the memory is destroyed, Information at the time of power-off may not be able to be held normally.

As described above, the present invention stores information necessary for continuing to execute safely when the next power-on instruction is issued even when the voltage suddenly drops.

[0010]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, a CPU serving as a central processing unit, a memory serving as a volatile storage device, a secondary storage device serving as a nonvolatile storage device, and a data input / output device. In an electronic device including an input / output unit for outputting and a battery for supplying power to each device, the CPU controls the turning on and off of each device and detects the voltage of the battery, thereby providing the CPU with a current battery. A power management unit capable of notifying a voltage; a memory suspending unit configured to save data necessary for continuing execution of the program being executed to the memory and to cut off a power supply of each device other than the memory; Secondary storage device suspending means for evacuating data necessary for continuing execution of the program in the secondary storage device and cutting off the power of all the devices. A resume means for restoring the data saved in the memory or the secondary storage device when the power is turned on again in a state in which the memory is suspended by the memory suspend means and making the program executable; When the management unit detects that the battery voltage has decreased to such an extent that it is difficult to maintain the suspended state of the memory, the management unit determines whether the power for performing the resume processing by the resume unit remains in the battery. Solve the problem.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, when the power management means determines that the power for performing the resume processing by the resume means remains in the battery, the power supply to each device is turned on. Then, after executing the resume processing, the above-mentioned problem is solved by executing the suspend processing by the secondary storage device suspending means.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, when the voltage of the battery decreases and the power for retaining the data in the memory cannot be supplied, the power for retaining the data for a certain period of time is supplied. A battery, wherein when the power management unit determines that the power for performing the resume process by the resume unit does not remain in the battery, the resume process is prohibited, and the data in the memory is held by the auxiliary battery. By doing so, the above problem is solved.

[0013]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of one embodiment of the present invention. The information processing device (1-1) includes a CPU (1-
2), operating system (1-3), suspend / resume device (1-4), input / output device (1-
5), a memory (1-6), a magnetic disk (1-7) acting as a nonvolatile secondary storage device, and a power management device (1
-8). As the power supply means, a battery (1-
9) and an AC power supply (1-10).

CPU (1-2), operating system (1-3), input / output device (1-5), memory (1-
6), the magnetic disk (1-7) is usually used in an information processing apparatus, and thus will not be described in detail here.

In the suspended state, when the voltage of the battery (1-9) drops extremely and the auxiliary battery (1-11) cannot supply power enough to hold data in the memory, This is a small, low-capacity battery that can supply power enough to hold data in a memory for a certain period.

Suspend / resume device (1-4)
Saves data necessary for continuing execution of a running program to a memory (1-6) or a magnetic disk (1-7) when a suspend process occurs, and cuts off a power supply of other devices. A suspend processing unit to perform
When the power is turned on again from the power off state of each device,
By operating necessary devices based on the data stored in the memory or the magnetic disk, the state is restored to a state immediately before power-off, and the program is restored to a state before execution of the suspend processing, and then the processing is performed. It comprises a resume processing unit to be continued and a ROM unit storing a program for executing a series of these operations.

The power management device (1-8) includes a battery (1).
-9), and the battery voltage is supplied to the CPU (1-
To notify 2), the A / D converter converts an analog signal indicating a battery voltage into a digital signal, a ROM for storing a program, a RAM for storing data used by the program, and a connection to an external device. It comprises a general-purpose one-chip microcontroller having an input / output port and a CPU for executing programs and processing signals from the input / output port.

Although the one-chip microcontroller is always supplied with power from the battery even in the suspended state, the CPU of the power management device has a lower function than the CPU of the information processing device (1-1). Although it has a high processing capability, it can operate with low power consumption.

The processing of the present invention will be described with reference to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 4, 5, 6, and 7. When the suspend processing from the operating system (1-3) to the memory (1-6) occurs (4-1), the suspend processing unit of the suspend / resume device (1-4) is activated (4-
2).

The activated suspend processing unit is a CPU (1).
All the data necessary for the operating system currently being executed, such as the contents of the register of -2) and the data indicating the state of each device, are saved in the memory (1-6) (4-3).

When the saving of the data is completed, the power of each device is cut off (4-4) except for the memory (1-6) and the power management device (1-8). This puts the memory in a suspended state.

Since only the memory (1-6) and the power management device (1-8) consume power in the suspended state, the voltage of the battery (1-9) is decreasing. , As shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 2, the lowest voltage at which the resume processing can be performed is defined as a C voltage. Since the discharge characteristics are determined depending on the type of the battery, it can be easily determined that the power for performing the resume processing at the C voltage remains.

An alarm is issued when the battery voltage becomes low, and an L voltage slightly higher than the C voltage is set for the purpose of prompting replacement of the battery or connection of an AC power supply. Assuming that the time from when the voltage becomes L to when the voltage becomes C is T time, the L voltage is set so that the T time becomes about several minutes in the case of the drop shown in FIG.

However, when the battery (1-9) or the AC power supply (1-10) is disconnected from the main unit during the suspension, an abrupt voltage drop occurs as shown in FIG. In such a case, the T time is several hundred microseconds or the like.

On the other hand, the power management device (1-8) periodically detects the battery voltage. To detect the battery voltage, it is necessary to operate the A / D converter in the power management device. There is. In order for the A / D converter to operate, a small amount of power and several tens of microseconds are consumed. Therefore, if the detection period is lengthened to a certain extent, power consumption can be suppressed. Is detected.

As described above, the L voltage cannot be detected depending on the detection interval of the battery voltage of the power management device (1-8), and the C voltage is immediately detected. That is, when the C voltage is detected without detecting the L voltage in this manner, it can be determined that the power for resuming does not remain.

The flow of the process will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. In the suspended state of the memory, the power management device (1-8) periodically detects the battery voltage (6).
-1). When it is detected that the battery voltage has become equal to or lower than the L voltage indicating that the remaining battery power has become low (6-2), an alarm is issued to promote replacement of the battery or connection of the AC power supply (6-3).

Further, when it is detected that the battery voltage has fallen below the C voltage indicating that it is difficult to maintain the suspended state to the memory (6-4),
It is checked whether the L voltage has been detected before (see 6-
5). If the C voltage is detected after detecting the L voltage, the cause of the decrease in the battery voltage can be determined to be a normal voltage drop, so that it can be determined that the power for performing the resume processing remains. However, if the C voltage is detected without detecting the L voltage, the cause of the decrease in the battery voltage is considered to be a sudden voltage drop due to the disconnection of the battery or the AC power supply. It is possible to determine that no power remains.

As described above, by setting and detecting two voltage values, it is possible to determine whether or not power for performing the resume process remains.

Next, when it is determined that the power for performing the resume processing is remaining in the battery, the procedure for executing the resume processing and executing the suspend processing to the secondary storage device will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. Will be explained.

In the suspended state of the memory, if it is determined that the battery voltage decreases so that it becomes difficult to maintain the suspended state, and it is determined that the battery has enough power to perform the resume processing (7-1, 7-
2), the power of each device is turned on again (7-3), and the resume processing unit of the suspend / resume device (1-4) is started (7-4).

At this time, the power management device (1-8) informs the CPU that the cause of the resume is insufficient battery capacity.
Notify (1-2) (7-5). The resume processing unit checks to which device data necessary for continuous execution of the operating system (1-3) at the time of executing the suspend process is saved (7-6). The data is saved to the memory (1-6). When it is
The data saved on the memory (1-6) is restored (7-
7). If the data is saved on the magnetic disk (1-7), the disk saved on the magnetic disk (1-7) is restored (7-8). After data restoration, the resume processing unit notifies the operating system (1-3) that the resume processing has been completed (7-9).

Further, the resume processing unit determines what the resume factor is (7-10). If the resume factor is not due to the shortage of the battery voltage, the operating system (1-3) whose processing has been interrupted is continuously executed (7-12). If it is determined that the resume factor is a shortage of the battery voltage, a suspend process for the magnetic disk (1-7) is immediately executed (7-
11).

FIG. 5 shows the flow of the suspend process. When the suspend processing for the magnetic disk (1-7) occurs (5-1), the suspend processing unit of the suspend / resume device (1-4) starts (5-2). The activated suspend processing unit transfers all data necessary for the currently executing operating system (1-3), such as the contents of the registers of the CPU (1-2) and the data indicating the status of each device, to the magnetic disk (1-7). ) (5-3). When the saving of the data is completed, the power of each device is turned off (5-
4) The device enters a suspend state.

Next, a description will be given of a process performed when the battery voltage drops so that it becomes difficult to maintain the suspended state after the suspend process to the memory is performed, and the power for the resume process does not remain in the battery. .

When it is determined in the suspended state of the memory that the battery voltage has decreased so much that it is difficult to maintain the suspended state, and that the power for the resume processing is not remaining in the battery (7-1, 7-). 2),
Resume processing is prohibited without turning on the power to each device. During this time, power is supplied to the memory (1-6) by the auxiliary battery (1-11). Maintaining the suspended state by replacing the battery (1-9) or checking the connection of the AC power supply (1-10) while using power supplied by the auxiliary battery (1-11). Can be.

[0038]

As described above, when the battery voltage is reduced to such an extent that it is difficult to maintain the suspended state of the memory, it is possible to determine whether or not the power for the resume processing remains in the battery.

When it is determined from the above determination that the battery has enough power to perform the resume processing, the power to each device is turned on and the resume processing can be executed. Furthermore, since the power management device has a function of notifying the CPU that the power has been turned on due to insufficient battery voltage, the data is saved when the resume processing unit detects that the resume factor is due to insufficient battery capacity. Therefore, the suspend process for the secondary storage device that does not require a power supply is executed, so that data can be stored regardless of a decrease in battery voltage.

If it is determined that the power for the resume processing is not left in the battery, the resume processing can be prohibited by not turning on the power to each device. Therefore, during the resume process, the battery voltage does not reach a level sufficient to drive each device, and not only is the resume process interrupted, but also the data in the memory is destroyed and the next resume process is executed normally. Can be prevented from becoming impossible.

Further, by utilizing the period in which power is supplied to the memory by the auxiliary battery, by replacing the battery or connecting AC power, the suspended state is maintained, and data corruption in the memory due to insufficient battery voltage is prevented. It can be prevented beforehand.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an information processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a voltage drop of a battery in a normal state in a suspended state of a memory;

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a voltage drop of a battery at the time of abnormality in a suspended state of a memory;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a flow of a memory suspend process.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the flow of a suspend process for a magnetic disk.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of a process of determining whether or not power for a resume process remains in a battery in a memory suspended state.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating a flow of a resume process.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1-1 information processing device 1-2 CPU 1-3 operating system 1-4 suspend / resume device 1-5 input / output device 1-6 memory 1-7 magnetic disk 1-8 power management device 1-9 battery 1-10 AC power supply 1-11 Auxiliary battery

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A CPU serving as a central processing unit, a memory serving as a volatile storage device, a secondary storage device serving as a nonvolatile storage device, an input / output unit for inputting / outputting data, and supplying power to each device. In an electronic device equipped with a battery, a power management unit that controls turning on and off of each device and detects a voltage of the battery so as to notify the CPU of a current battery voltage. Memory suspending means for saving data necessary for continuing execution of the program in the memory, and turning off the power of each device other than the memory; and data necessary for continuing execution of the program being executed. A secondary storage device suspending unit that saves the data in the secondary storage device and turns off the power of all devices; In a suspend state, when the power is turned on again, the memory or the secondary storage device restores the data saved in the secondary storage device, and resumes the program in an executable state. An electronic apparatus characterized by detecting whether or not power for performing the resume processing by the resume means remains in the battery when detecting that the memory has been reduced to such an extent that it is difficult to maintain the suspended state of the memory. 2. When the power management means determines that the power for performing the resume processing by the resume means remains in the battery, the power supply is turned on to execute the resume processing. 2. The electronic apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a suspend process is performed by said secondary storage device suspending means. 3. An auxiliary battery for supplying power for retaining data for a certain period when the voltage of the battery drops and power for retaining data in the memory cannot be supplied. When it is determined that the power for performing the resume processing by the resume means is not remaining in the battery, the resume processing is prohibited and the data in the memory is held by the auxiliary battery. Item 1
Electronic device as described.