JPH10161781A - Data disappearance preventing system for information processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an information processor in which data under execution do not disappear due to the deterioration of the residual capacity of a battery while driving for a long period by a battery. SOLUTION: At the point of the time of detecting a first level where a capacity sufficient for saving the operating state of the information processor 100 remains in the battery 113, the operating state of the information processor 100 is saved in an auxiliary storing means and at the point of the time of detecting a second level where a capacity smaller than that of the first level and sufficient for saving the operating state of the information processor 100 remains in the battery 113, the operating state of the information processor 100 is saved in a main storage device 102 and the power supply to the processor 100 is stopped while continuing power supply to the device 102.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, battery-driven information processing apparatuses represented by notebook personal computers have become widespread. The battery-powered information processing device can be used even in a situation where external power such as commercial power cannot be supplied, and is therefore excellent in portability.

In information processing apparatuses, there is a need for a function of storing a program execution state interrupted when the power is turned off, and restarting the execution from exactly the same program execution state when the power is turned on. With such a program interruption / resumption function, the user does not need to restart the program from the beginning when the power is turned on, and can immediately resume work. As a result, the efficiency of work using the information processing device is improved. As one of the conventional methods relating to the above-described program interruption / resumption function, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Sho 62-169
There is an application suspending / resuming device described in Japanese Patent Publication No. 218.

[0004] In a battery-driven information processing apparatus, the above-mentioned program interruption may be automatically performed when the remaining battery power decreases during driving and the remaining power to continue driving the main body decreases. According to this function, even when the user does not save necessary data in the auxiliary storage device when the remaining battery power is low, the data can be retained without being lost.

[0005]

When the program is automatically interrupted when the remaining battery level is low by the conventional program interruption / resuming function, there are two methods for saving the program execution state at the time of interruption. . One is a method in which data is mainly stored in a main storage device, and the contents of all registers of a central processing unit and the contents of I / O registers of peripheral devices are saved in a specific area of the main storage device, and are stored in the main storage device. The power supply is maintained. The other is a method of saving all register contents and contents originally stored in the main storage device to a nonvolatile storage device such as a hard disk device.

In the latter method of backing up data to the hard disk drive, when the program is interrupted from the power saving operation state in which the rotation of the hard disk drive is stopped, the rotation of the hard disk is restarted in the battery, and the register and the main storage device are restarted. It is necessary to continue operation for several tens of seconds before transferring the entire contents of the file to the hard disk. Therefore, when the remaining battery power becomes low, the interruption of the program must be started while the remaining power is sufficient for performing these operations. When a nickel-cadmium battery or a nickel-metal hydride battery is used as the battery, if the discharge per cell is stopped at a voltage higher than 1.1 volts, a so-called “memory effect” occurs, and a relatively large amount of battery power remains. The voltage drops during the operation.
When the "memory effect" occurs, the battery voltage is lower than in a normal state, which causes an erroneous early detection of a decrease in the remaining battery level. Therefore, while the user repeats the interruption and resumption of the program by backing up the data to the hard disk device, the apparent battery capacity is further reduced, and the driving time by the battery is shortened.

In the method of backing up data to the main storage device, since the data transfer to the hard disk device is not required, the time required for the program interruption processing is short, and the power consumption is small. For this reason, when the remaining battery capacity of the information processing apparatus is sufficient to operate for a few seconds, if the program interruption is started, the interruption of the program can be surely completed. Since the power for backing up the main storage device using the semiconductor memory is much smaller than the power for driving the entire information processing device, the main storage device is evacuated to the main storage device even when the remaining battery power is low. It is possible to hold the data obtained for several hours. As described above, the method of backing up data in the main storage device can be driven by a battery for a longer time than the method of backing up data in the hard disk device described above. However, if the remaining battery power becomes so low that sufficient power cannot be supplied to the main storage device, there is a risk that the interrupted program state will be lost. As with the method of backing up data to the hard disk drive, if the timing of executing the program interruption process is performed while the information processing device itself can be driven sufficiently, the data saved in the main storage device can be retained for a long time. Similarly, the driving time of the information processing apparatus by the battery is shortened. In addition, the danger of losing data when the remaining battery power is low cannot be fundamentally solved.

[0008] It is an object of the present invention to provide an information processing apparatus in which data being executed is not lost due to a decrease in the remaining battery power while being driven by a battery for a long time.

[0009]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a first aspect of the information processing apparatus of the present invention has a configuration in which the operation state of the information processing apparatus is saved to the auxiliary storage means. When the large capacity detects the first level remaining in the battery, the operation state of the information processing apparatus is saved to the auxiliary storage means, and the operation state of the information processing apparatus is less than the first level and the operation state of the information processing apparatus is reduced. At a point in time when the second level remaining in the battery is detected to have a capacity sufficient to perform the process of saving to the main storage device, the operation state of the information processing device is saved to the main storage device and the information is transferred to the main storage device. The power supply to the information processing apparatus main body is stopped while the power supply is continued.

According to a second aspect of the information processing apparatus of the present invention, the operation state of the information processing apparatus is saved in the auxiliary storage means when the first level is detected, and then the power supply to the information processing apparatus is A first backup operation for stopping supply, and the operation state of the information processing apparatus is not saved at the first level, and the operation state of the information processing apparatus is changed to the main state at the time when the second level is detected. Either one of a backup operation and a second backup operation of stopping power supply to the information processing apparatus main body while saving power to the storage device and continuing to supply power to the main storage device is selectively performed. To be

[0011]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIGS. 1 and 6 are schematic block diagrams of a battery-driven information processing apparatus according to a first embodiment, and FIG.
FIG. 3 is an explanatory view of the inside of the nonvolatile memory shown in FIG.
FIG. 4 is a state transition diagram for explaining a program interruption process in the information processing apparatus shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a program resuming process in the information processing apparatus shown in FIG.
3 is a graph showing an example of a discharge characteristic of a battery used as a main power supply of the information processing apparatus shown in FIG.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 101 denotes a central processing unit for executing a program. Reference numeral 102 denotes a main storage device for temporarily storing programs and data. Reference numeral 103 denotes a read-only memory, in which a so-called BIOS such as a program executed by the central processing unit 101 immediately after power-on and various processing routines closely attached to hardware are written. A display control device 104 displays the display data generated here on the display device 105. A display device 105 using a liquid crystal panel is representative of the battery-driven information processing device 100. A power supply control unit 107 supplies a stable power supply voltage to the entire information processing apparatus 100. Power supply control device 107 receives power supply from commercial power supply 112 or battery 113, and outputs a stable voltage of, for example, 3.3 volts or 5.0 volts. The battery 113 is composed of a secondary battery and can be charged. The power supply control device 107 has a built-in charging circuit, and charges the battery 113 when the commercial power supply 112 is used. 108 is a real-time clock (RTC). A backup battery 114 and a non-volatile memory 109 that always holds data by the backup battery 114 are connected to the real-time clock 108. Even when the power of the information processing apparatus 100 is turned off, the real-time clock 108 continues to operate with the backup battery 114 and measures the date and time in real time. As shown in FIG. 2, the non-volatile memory 109 has a use area 501 of the real-time clock 108 and a BI
An OS use area 502 is included. 110 is an auxiliary storage control device. The auxiliary storage device 110 is connected to an essentially nonvolatile storage device such as a hard disk device 115 or a floppy disk device 116. 111
Is an input device control device. 117 is an input device,
In addition to a keyboard, a pointing device such as a mouse, a trackpad, or a stick pointer is typical. Reference numeral 106 denotes a bus, which is a central processing unit 101, a main storage device 102, a read-only memory 103, a display control device 104, a power control device 107, and a real-time clock 1
08, auxiliary storage control device 110, input device control device 11
1 and control and data transfer. The power supply control device 117 and the real-time clock 108
18 is also connected.

Next, an outline of the nonvolatile memory 109 shown in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to FIG. Non-volatile memory 109
Since the data can always be held by the backup battery 114, the work area 501 of the real-time clock 108
In addition, it is also used as an area 502 for partially storing the BIOS setting items and the status flag of the program interruption processing. SavedDis in the BIOS usage area 502
The k bit 503 and the SavedRAM bit 504 are flag bits indicating the state of the program interruption processing.

Referring to FIG. 3, information processing apparatus 1 shown in FIG.
The state transition of the power supply unit when driving 00 is described. In general, the voltage of the battery 113 gradually decreases as the remaining capacity decreases. Here, for simplicity of description, it is assumed that a method of detecting the remaining battery level based on the battery voltage is used.
K, (2) Battery remaining Low, (3) Battery remaining V
eryLow, and (4) battery Dead. (1) The battery drive OK state indicates a state in which the information processing apparatus 100 can continue to be driven for 5 minutes or more with the energy of the battery 113 in the future. From the state of (1), the battery 113
When the remaining capacity of the information processing device 100 including the operation of the hard disk device 115 decreases and there is no guarantee that the information processing device 100 can be reliably driven for 5 minutes or more, the state changes to the (2) battery remaining low state. Furthermore, when the remaining amount of the battery 113 decreases from (2) and the information processing apparatus 100 can be driven for only about 5 seconds without performing a process that consumes a large amount of power, the remaining battery amount of (3) The state transits to the VeryLow state. In the battery dead state (4), the capacity of the battery 113 is almost completely discharged and the main storage device 1
When the power supply required to hold the data No. 02 cannot be supplied, or when the discharge is further continued, the battery 113 is damaged and the transition is made at a time when the capacity characteristic may be deteriorated.

In FIG. 3, states 201, 202, 203 and 20
Reference numeral 4 denotes a state in which power is supplied from the commercial power supply 112, and states 205, 206, 207, and 208 denote states in which the commercial power supply 112 is not connected or is not supplied even if it is connected due to a power failure or the like. . In the states 201 to 204, the power required for the operation of the information processing apparatus 100 is supplied from the commercial power supply 112, so that the capacity of the battery 113 does not decrease. Further, if the battery 113 is not completely charged, the battery is charged by the power supply control device 107, so that the remaining amount of the battery 113 is rather increased. vice versa,
In the states 205 to 208, the information processing apparatus 100 is driven by the energy of the battery 113, so that the remaining amount of the battery 113 decreases with time.

Next, the timing of the program interruption processing of the information processing apparatus 100 shown in FIG. 1 will be described with reference to FIG. When the information processing apparatus 100 is being driven in the state 205 and the state of the battery 113 decreases and the state transits to the state 206, the power supply control unit 107 instructs the central processing unit 101 to execute the current program execution state on the hard disk drive. An interrupt request is issued to save to 115. Here, the program execution state is a state in which the information processing apparatus 100 is returned to exactly the same state, including all register contents of the central processing unit 101, all register contents and display data of the display control unit 104, and contents of the main storage device 102. The data needed to do so. The central processing unit 101 that has received the request to save the program execution state saves the program execution state to a predetermined area of the hard disk device 115 according to an interrupt processing routine. After the program execution state has been normally saved to the hard disk device 115, the Saved Disk bit area 503 prepared in the nonvolatile memory 109 is set to 1 according to an interrupt processing routine. However, at this time, the program is not interrupted, and after the interrupt processing routine is completed, the execution of the program which has been performed so far is continued. Therefore, the user can save necessary data in a file after saving the program execution state to the heart disk device 115.

When the state of charge of the battery 113 further decreases and transitions to the state 207, the power supply control unit 107 instructs the central processing unit 101 to save the program execution state at that time to the main storage device 102. Issues an interrupt request. Upon receiving the request to save the program execution state, the central processing unit 101 saves the program execution states other than the contents of the main storage device 102 to a predetermined area of the main storage device 102 according to the interrupt processing routine. . After the necessary data has been normally saved to the main storage device 102, the saved RA previously prepared in the nonvolatile memory 109 is further followed in accordance with an interrupt processing routine.
The M bit 504 area is set to 1. Next, the central processing unit 102 reports to the power supply control unit 107 that a series of processing for saving the program execution state has been completed. When confirming the report from the central processing unit 102, the power supply control unit 107 cuts off the power supply to components other than the main storage device 102. Thus, the information processing apparatus 100 enters a so-called suspend state.

When the state of the battery 113 is further reduced from the state 207 and the state transits to the state 208, the power supply control unit 107 cuts off the power supply to the main storage device 102 and Sa
Clear the vedRAM bit 504 to 0. At this time, since power is not supplied to the system bus 106 of the information processing apparatus 100, the power control apparatus 107 accesses the nonvolatile memory 109 via the control signal 118 and the real-time clock 108. Further, the operation of the power supply control device 107 itself is stopped, and the discharge current from the battery 113 is almost completely stopped. When power is supplied from the commercial power supply 112 (transition to the state 204),
The power control device 107 starts supplying power to the other blocks in the information processing device 100 again.

When power is supplied from the commercial power supply 112, the power supply control unit 107 charges the battery 113 regardless of whether the information processing apparatus 100 is in a driving state or in an off state. Therefore, the remaining capacity of the battery 113 increases with time, and
02, 201. From state 202 to state 201
When the information processing apparatus 100 is in the program execution state when the process proceeds to
For 1, an interrupt request is issued to clear the SavedDisk bit. The central processing unit 101 clears the SavedDisk bit 503 during this interrupt processing.

States 204, 203, 202 and 201 and state 205 when the battery 113 is sufficiently charged
In this case, the main body of the information processing apparatus 100 suspended at the time of transition from the state 206 to the state 207 can be returned by a user operation. Specifically, when the user instructs the power control device 107 to perform a program resuming process (resume), the power control device 107 determines whether or not the power supply is in the resumable power state. To start the resume process.
The resume process is started when the power supply processing device 107 starts supplying power to the entire information processing device 100. First, the central processing unit 101 starts executing the program stored in the read-only memory 103.
In accordance with this program, first, the SavedRAM bit 504 of the nonvolatile memory 109 is checked (Step 302). If this bit is set to 1, it means that power has been supplied to the main storage device 102 for backup until immediately before this bit.
Resume processing is performed by returning the various register values saved in 2 to the original registers. Prior to resuming, SavedRAM bit 504 is cleared to 0 (step 303), and then the register value in main memory 102 is accurately returned to the corresponding register, such as display controller 104. Finally, when the contents of the register of the central processing unit 101 are returned from the save destination of the main storage device 102, the central processing unit 101 returns to the state immediately before the suspend processing performed at the time of transition from the state 206 to the state 207, and returns to the main storage device 102. It operates while referring to the stored programs and data (step 304).

FIG. 4 shows a judgment (step 305) as to whether or not the resume processing has been completed normally. However, if the resume processing has been normally completed, there is no room for making this condition judgment, and the central processing is not performed. The apparatus 101 transparently restarts the program execution as if the program execution was not interrupted. If the resume processing is not completed normally due to, for example, a part of the contents of the main storage device 102 being destroyed, the SavedRA
The process proceeds to the condition determination process of step 306, which is the same as when the M bit 504 is determined to be 0. In the condition determination 306, the SavedDisk bit 503 in the nonvolatile memory 109
Check. If this bit is set to 1, it means that the above-described program execution state is stored in the hard disk device, and therefore, the various register values and the contents of the main storage device 102 saved in the hard disk device 115 are stored. Resume processing is performed by returning. However, there is a possibility that the user has stored necessary data in the user area of the disk device between the time when these data are saved in the hard disk device 115 and the time when the program execution of the central processing unit 101 is stopped / interrupted. . In this case, since the program execution state in the hard disk device 115 is not the latest data for the user, it is possible that the user does not always want to faithfully restart the program.

Then, the central processing unit 101 reloads the basic software (OS) or application software from the disk devices 115 and 116 (cold boot) or restores the program execution state saved in the hard disk device 115 to resume. An inquiry is made to the user as to whether or not to do so (step 307). If the user wants to resume, steps 303 and 304
First, the SavedDisk bit 503 is cleared to 0 (step 309), and then the program execution restart processing is performed (step 310). Step 307
The user does not want to resume,
If it is determined in 06 that the SavedDisk bit 503 has been cleared to 0, the central processing unit 101 performs a normal startup process starting from a new reading of the basic software (OS) (step 312).

FIG. 5 shows the discharge characteristics of a nickel-cadmium battery or a nickel-metal hydride battery which has been widely used as a battery for a notebook personal computer. FIG.
The vertical axis represents the voltage of each battery constituting the battery 113, and the horizontal axis represents the ratio of the discharged capacity to the total capacity that can be taken out without causing significant damage to the battery. . Nickel-cadmium batteries and nickel-metal hydride batteries are characterized in that the voltage does not decrease significantly until the battery discharges 80% or more of its capacity. For this reason, it is difficult to detect the remaining capacity by monitoring the voltage. However, as the discharge capacity approaches 100%, the voltage drop becomes remarkable, and the remaining capacity can be accurately detected. For example, the voltage per battery cell is set to 0.9 V as the threshold VD, and when the voltage falls below this value, the discharge from the battery 113 is completely stopped. Information processing device 100
VeryLow state 207 for suspending
The upper limit threshold VVL is set so that the information processing apparatus 100 can be driven for, for example, 5 seconds from this state until the threshold VD is reached. Since the process of saving the program execution state to the main storage device 102 is completed in about three seconds in the case of a standard information processing device, the program interruption process can be reliably performed even with the above-described threshold setting. Also, by setting the threshold value VVL as low as possible, it is possible to secure a large amount of energy 403 for driving the information processing apparatus 100 normally.

Various register contents and main memory 102
The process of surely saving the entire contents of the hard disk drive 115 to the hard disk drive 115 has many uncertain factors in terms of required power consumption.
It must be executed at a point when there is some margin in the remaining battery power. Therefore, the upper limit threshold value VL of the battery remaining low state for saving the program execution state to the hard disk device 115 is set to, for example, 1.1 volts per cell, at which the discharge curve in FIG. Even after the program execution state is temporarily saved to the hard disk device 115 near the threshold value VL, the information processing device 100 can be driven during 402 and the user can transfer necessary data to the disk devices 115 and 116 during this time. The information processing apparatus 100 can be continuously used, for example, when the information processing apparatus 100 is saved or when the commercial power supply 112 is suddenly connected. Here, a nickel-cadmium battery or a nickel-metal hydride battery has been described as an example,
A lithium ion secondary battery using a graphite-based electrode also shows similar discharge characteristics. For lithium ion secondary batteries and lead-acid batteries using coke-based electrodes, the voltage drop due to discharge is linear with respect to FIG. 5, and no sharp voltage drop is seen in the region where the remaining capacity is small. Similarly to the transition condition from the state 206 to the state 207 in FIG. 3, it is more difficult to detect the transition condition from the state 205 to the state 206.
Therefore, this embodiment does not depend on the chemistry of the battery used.

FIG. 1 shows each functional block separately for simplification of the description. An information processing device such as a personal computer often has a structure in which some blocks are integrated into an integrated circuit as shown in FIG. 6 as compared with the block diagram shown in FIG. The system controller 601 controls the bus 106 and controls the main storage device 1
02, and interconnect these with the central processing unit 101. The system I / O unit 602 is an integrated circuit in which parts corresponding to the auxiliary storage control device 110, the input device control device 111, the real-time clock 108, and the nonvolatile memory 109 in FIG. Status flag SavedDisk bit 503 for program interruption processing
The SavedRAM bit 504 does not need to be in the independent nonvolatile memory 109 as shown in FIG. 1 and can be backed up by a backup battery 114 different from the drive battery 113 of the information processing apparatus 100.
02 may exist in the form of a memory or a register in a circuit such as 02.

In the program interruption / resumption method of the present embodiment, the remaining capacity of the battery 113 is almost zero.
The battery drive can be continued until the value of 0 is reduced to such a level that 0 cannot be driven. Further, even if the remaining capacity of the battery 113 decreases, the program execution state immediately before the program execution state saved in the main storage device 102 is saved in the hard disk device 115, so that the program execution can be reliably restarted.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a program interruption processing state flag of the battery-driven information processing apparatus according to the second embodiment, and FIGS. 8 and 9 are program interruption processing of the battery-driven information processing apparatus according to the second embodiment. FIG. 9 is a state transition diagram for explaining the following. In the second embodiment, the schematic blocks of the battery-driven information processing apparatus main body are the same as those in the first embodiment.

In FIG. 7, the program execution state data is saved in the main storage device 102 or the hard disk drive 11
SaveoDiskE selectively indicating whether to save to 5
The existence of the N bit 505 is different from the structure of the program interruption processing state flag of the first embodiment. Read-only memory 103 or auxiliary storage devices 115 and 116
When the dedicated program stored in any of the above is executed by the central processing unit 101, the user is inquired whether to save the program execution state data to the main storage device 102 or the hard disk device 115. To the SaveoDiskEN bit 505. The power supply control device 107 uses the
When the bit 505 is set to 1, the state transition of the power supply state is performed according to FIG. 8, and when it is cleared to 0, the state transition is performed according to FIG.

Referring to FIG. 8, the operation when the SaveDisk bit 505 is 1 will be described. When the information processing apparatus 100 is driven in the state 205 and the state of the battery 113 decreases and the state transits to the state 206, the central processing unit 101 receives the interrupt request from the power supply control unit 107 at this time similarly to the first embodiment. Is saved in a predetermined area of the hard disk drive 115. After the program execution state has been normally saved to the hard disk device 115, the Saved Disk bit area 503 is set to 1 according to an interrupt processing routine. Next, the central processing unit 102 operates as a power supply control unit 107.
To report that a series of evacuation processing of the program execution state has been completed. When confirming the report from the central processing unit 102, the power supply control unit 107 shuts off all power supply to the information processing device 100. From state 202 to state 20
1, if the information processing device 100 is in the program execution state, the power control device 107
For 01, an interrupt request is issued for clearing the SavedDisk bit. The central processing unit 101 clears the SavedDisk bit 503 during this interrupt processing.

The operation in the case where the SaveoDiskEN bit 505 is 0 will be described with reference to FIG. When the information processing apparatus 100 is driven in the state 205 and the state of the battery 113 decreases and the state transits to the state 207, the power supply control apparatus 10
7 issues an interrupt request to the central processing unit 101 to save the current program execution state to the main storage device 102. The central processing unit 101, which has received the request to save the program execution state, executes one of the main storage 1
The contents other than the contents of 02 are saved in a predetermined area of the main storage device 102. Necessary data is stored in the main storage device 102
After the evacuation has been completed normally, further according to the interrupt processing routine, the Sa prepared in the nonvolatile memory 109 in advance is used.
The vedRAM bit 504 area is set to 1. Next, the central processing unit 102 reports to the power supply control unit 107 that a series of processing for saving the program execution state has been completed. When confirming the report from the central processing unit 102, the power supply control unit 107 cuts off the power supply to components other than the main storage device 102. Thus, the information processing device 100 enters the suspend state.

When the state of the battery 113 is further reduced from the state 207 and the state transits to the state 208, the power supply control device 107 cuts off the power supply to the main storage device 102 and Sa
Clear the vedRAM bit 504 to 0. At this time, since power is not supplied to the system bus 106 of the information processing apparatus 100, the power control apparatus 107 accesses the nonvolatile memory 109 via the control signal 118 and the real-time clock 108. Further, the operation of the power supply control device 107 itself is stopped, and the discharge current from the battery 113 is almost completely stopped. When power is supplied from the commercial power supply 112 (transition to the state 204),
The power control device 107 starts supplying power to the other blocks in the information processing device 100 again.

In the states 201 to 204 and 205, the startup / program execution restart procedure when the user turns on the information processing apparatus 100 is the same as in the first embodiment.

In the program execution suspension / resumption method according to this embodiment, the user executes the program execution
If it is desired to save the battery, the battery drive can be continued until the remaining amount of the battery 113 decreases to such a level that the information processing apparatus 100 cannot be driven. However, battery 11
If the power supply from the commercial power supply 112 is not performed before the state 208 changes to the state 208, the data immediately before the interruption of the program execution may be lost. Further, the user can change the program execution state to the hard disk drive 115.
If the user wants to save the data, the power of the information processing apparatus 100 must be cut off while the battery 113 still has a remaining capacity of about 5 minutes to drive the information processing apparatus 100, and the driving time of the battery 113 must be shortened. Absent. On the other hand, even if the remaining amount of the battery 113 decreases, the program execution state can be surely restarted without losing the program execution state.

[0036]

According to the present invention, in a battery-driven information processing apparatus, two different threshold values are provided to monitor the remaining battery level, and when the first level is reached, the program execution state is saved to the hard disk. When the program reaches the second level, the program execution state at that time is saved in the main storage device and suspended, so that almost all of the battery energy can be used up without losing the data being processed. it can.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a battery-driven information processing apparatus according to a first embodiment.

FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the inside of the nonvolatile memory shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a program interruption process in the information processing apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a program restart process in the information processing apparatus shown in FIG. 1;

5 is a graph showing an example of a discharge characteristic of a battery used as a main power supply of the information processing device shown in FIG.

FIG. 6 is another block diagram of the battery-driven information processing apparatus according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of a program interruption processing state flag of the battery-driven information processing apparatus according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a state transition diagram for explaining a program interruption process of the battery-driven information processing apparatus according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a state transition diagram for explaining a program interruption process of the battery-driven information processing apparatus according to the second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 100: Information processing device main body, 102: Main storage device, 107: Power control device, 109: Non-volatile memory, 113: Battery, 115: Hard disk device

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Koichi Kimura 1099 Ozenji Temple, Aso-ku, Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture Inside System Development Laboratory, Hitachi, Ltd. (72) Inventor Yosuke Konaka 7-1-1 Higashi Narashino, Narashino City, Chiba Prefecture Inside Tachibana Keiyo Engineering Co., Ltd.

Claims (2)

[Claims] An information processing device having a battery for driving a main body, and a power supply capable of individually supplying power of the battery to the information processing device and a main storage device built in the information processing device. A control unit, and auxiliary storage means capable of holding storage without depending on the battery having a larger capacity than the main storage device, wherein the power control unit monitors a remaining capacity of the battery, A first level in which sufficient capacity remains in the battery for performing a process of saving an operation state to the auxiliary storage means, and an operation state of the information processing apparatus is saved to the main storage device less than the first level. A function of detecting a second level remaining in the battery with a capacity sufficient to perform the process of performing the first process, and a program interruption / resuming event issuing unit of the information processing apparatus; When the level is detected, the operation state of the information processing apparatus is saved to the auxiliary storage unit. When the second level is detected, the operation state of the information processing apparatus is saved to the main storage device. An information processing apparatus, wherein the power supply to the information processing apparatus main body is stopped while the power supply to the storage device is continued. 2. An information processing apparatus having a built-in battery for driving a main body, and power of the battery can be individually supplied to the information processing apparatus main body and a main storage device built in the information processing apparatus. A power supply control unit, an auxiliary storage unit that can hold the storage independently of the battery having at least a capacity larger than the main storage device, and a user of 1 bit or more that can hold the storage independently of the battery. The power control unit monitors the remaining capacity of the battery, and has a sufficient capacity to perform a process of saving the operation state of the information processing apparatus to the auxiliary storage means. The first level remaining in
A function of detecting a second level lower than the first level and having a capacity remaining in the battery sufficient to perform a process of saving the operation state of the information processing device to the main storage device; Means for issuing a program interruption / resuming event of the apparatus, wherein the operation state of the information processing apparatus is saved to the auxiliary storage means at the time when the first level is detected, based on the value of the small capacity storage means, A first backup operation for stopping power supply to the information processing apparatus, and the information processing apparatus does not save the operation state of the information processing apparatus at the first level and detects the second level at the time of detecting the second level. A second backup operation of stopping the power supply to the information processing device main body while saving the operation state of the main storage device and continuing the power supply to the main storage device. The information processing apparatus according to claim selectively be performed either backup operation.