JPH10240403A - Information processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To stop the loss of data transfer and to fast reproduce sound and display data by making one card receive data and transfer it to another card and making the other card expand compressed data and transfer data after expansion to a sound source chip and a display chip. SOLUTION: Display and sound data which are compressed and stored in an HDD and CD-ROM are transferred to a PC card 21 through a PC card controller 6 and a socket 7. An I/F logic 16 in the card 21 transfers data which are received to a PC card 22 through a connector 23. A decoder 17 in the card 22 expands compressed data that are received and separately transfers display and sound data after expansion to a display controller 11 and a sound controller 12 through a bypass. The controllers 11 and 12 reproduce the transferred data on display 9 or at a speaker 13.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to transfer of compressed sound and display data in an information processing apparatus such as a notebook personal computer (hereinafter referred to as a notebook PC).
It relates to speeding up of a reproduction method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As described in Nikkei Electronics 1995, 12, 18 (P177), a conventional reproducing system is provided with a bypass between a PC card socket, a sound source chip, and a display chip, so that a single PC card can be used. And an interface circuit with a PC card controller and a circuit for reproducing compressed data. The PC card receives the compressed sound and display data from the CPU, decompresses the received data, and transfers the decompressed data to the sound source chip and the display chip through the bypass. The sound source chip and the display chip reproduced the received data on a speaker and a liquid crystal display device, respectively.

[0003] Notebook PCs in which two PC cards can be mounted at the same time have a structure in which a bypass is provided only between a lower PC card socket, a sound source chip, and a display chip.

[0004]

However, in the above-mentioned prior art, data transfer from the CPU to the PC card is required.
The data transfer from the PC card to the tone generator chip and the display chip is partially shared with the bus. Therefore, it is impossible to perform two types of data transfer at the same time, resulting in a reduction in speed.

An object of the present invention is to provide a system capable of eliminating such data transfer loss and reproducing sound and display data at high speed.

[0006]

In order to solve the above-mentioned problems, the system according to the present invention comprises a pair of two PC cards, each of which is connected by a connector. Also, two sockets for inserting two cards are
Each is connected to a PC card controller via an independent bus. One receives data from the CPU and transfers data to the other card, and the other decompresses the compressed data and transfers the decompressed data to the tone generator chip and the display chip.

As a result, the reception of the compressed data and the transfer of the decompressed data are performed via separate buses, respectively, so that the two data transfers can be performed simultaneously, and the sound and display data can be transmitted at high speed. Can be played.

[0008]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the information processing apparatus. This information processing apparatus is represented by a notebook computer, a word processor, and the like.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a CPU for controlling the entire information processing apparatus, and reference numeral 2 denotes a main storage device 3 and data transfer between various peripheral devices and the CPU. Bridge to supply. 4 is an external storage device such as a hard disk, and 5 is a compact disk (CD-ROM) represented by an optical disk device.
Device. Reference numeral 6 denotes a PC card controller for controlling the PC card, and reference numerals 7 and 8 denote sockets into which the PC card is inserted. Reference numeral 10 denotes a display controller that generates a display signal for causing the liquid crystal display device 9 to display a screen, and 11 denotes a display memory that temporarily stores display data. A sound controller 12 controls a sound function.
Is a speaker. Reference numeral 14 denotes a system bus for exchanging data between the CPU and the controller. Fifteen
Is a PC card, which contains therein a PC card controller, a display controller, an I / F logic 16 for controlling an interface with a sound controller, and a decoder 17 for expanding compressed display and sound data. Reference numeral 18 denotes a bypass for transferring the expanded display and sound data to the display controller and the sound controller, respectively. This bypass 18
It is partially multiplexed with the bus between the socket 8 and the PC card controller 6.

Next, a conventional display data and sound data reproducing method will be described with reference to FIG.

The CPU transmits display and sound data stored in the HDD 4 and the CD-ROM 5 in a compressed form via the system bus 14, the PC card controller 6, and the like.
Transfer to C card 15. The inside of the PC card 15 is I /
F logic 16 and decoder 17
The I / F logic 16 controls data transfer with the PC card controller 6, the display controller 10, and the sound controller 12, and the decoder 17 expands compressed data.

In the PC card 15, the I / F logic 16 receives the compressed data transferred from the PC card controller 6 and transfers it to the decoder 17. The decoder 17 decompresses the received compressed data and re-executes the I / F logic 1
Return to 6. The I / F logic 16 transfers the expanded data to the display controller 10 and the sound controller 12 via the bypass 18. Finally, the display controller 10 and the sound controller 12 reproduce the transferred data on a display or a speaker, respectively.

In this case, data transfer from the PC card controller 6 to the PC card 15 and data transfer from the PC card 15 to the display controller 10 and the sound controller 12 are performed through the same bypass 18. Therefore, it is impossible to execute two types of data transfer in parallel, resulting in a reduction in display and sound data reproduction speed.

Next, the configuration of the PC card of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. The PC card of the present invention is composed of a pair of two cards, and each of the two cards has an I / O for controlling data transfer with the PC card controller 6.
An F card 21 and a decode card 22 for expanding compressed data. A connector 23 connects between the I / F card 21 and the decode card 22.
Data transfer from the / F card 21 to the decode card 22 is performed via this connector. I / F card 21
The I / F logic 16 is stored therein, and the decoder 17 is stored in the decode card 22.

It is preferable to use a connector that can be easily bent.

Next, a method of reproducing compressed display data and sound data using the PC card of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

The display and sound data compressed and stored in the HDD and CD-ROM are transferred to the PC card 21 via the PC card controller 6 and the socket 7. The I / F logic 16 in the PC card 21 transfers the received data to the PC card 22 via the connector 23.

The decoder 17 in the PC card 22 expands the received compressed data, and applies the expanded display and sound data to the display controller 1 via the bypass 18.
0, transfer to the sound controller 12. Finally, the display controller and the sound controller reproduce the transferred data on a display or a speaker, respectively.

As a result, data transfer from the HDD or CD-ROM to the PC card and data transfer from the PC card to the display controller and the sound controller are performed in parallel via independent buses.
As a result, compressed display and reproduction of sound data can be executed at high speed.

Next, FIG. 4 shows an example of an apparatus configuration using the PC card of the present invention. In FIG. 4, reference numeral 41 denotes an information processing apparatus represented by a notebook personal computer;
This is a slot for a card. In this case, it is assumed that two PC cards can be inserted at the same time. Two pairs of PC cards are inserted into 42, but the PC card with the built-in decoder must be inserted into a slot connected to the display controller and the sound controller by a bus.

Next, a box type PC card will be described with reference to FIG. Just connecting two PC cards with a foldable flat cable will result in two P cards.
It is difficult to insert the C card into the socket at the same time. Also, in terms of durability, there is a high possibility that the cable will be cut due to bending.

Therefore, as shown in FIG. 5, two PC cards are covered with a rigid box, and a signal group from a notebook PC side socket passes through the box and is connected to a corresponding signal on the PC card side. So that Further, the vertical interval between the two sockets on the notebook personal computer side and the vertical interval between the two PC cards are made the same. Thus, two PC cards can be inserted at the same time, and the cable can be prevented from being cut due to bending.

Next, a case where a detachable uneven connector is used as a connector for connecting PC cards will be described with reference to FIG.

In FIG. 6, reference numerals 61 and 62 denote eject buttons for removing a PC card. Reference numerals 64 and 65 denote concave and convex connectors.
3 or 66. Connector 64
And 65 have different sizes, and in this case, the connector 64 is larger. Further, the shape of the connector is such that the lengths of the upper base and the lower base are different from each other, and in this case, the lower base is longer. Since the size of the two connectors is different and the lengths of the upper and lower bases of the connectors are different, when the I / F card and the decoding card are inserted upside down, the concave / convex connector does not engage with each other firmly.

Thus, it is possible to prevent inadvertent insertion of the two PC cards upside down. The eject button 61 is a button for the PC card 21 and
2 is a button for the PC card 22. Therefore, PC
If only one button is pressed with the connector attached when removing the card, there is a danger that pressure will be applied to the joint portion of the connector and a contact failure may occur. Therefore, the eject buttons 61 and 62 may be covered when connected to a PC card like a cable 66. Then, unless the cable 66 is removed from the PC card, it becomes impossible to press the eject button, and it is possible to prevent poor contact of the connector.

When a cable such as the cable 63 that does not cover the eject button is used, allow a sufficient length for the cable, and use a material having high elasticity to reduce the pressure applied to the connector. be able to.

[0028]

According to the present invention, HDD, CD-ROM
Data transfer from the PC card to the PC card and data transfer from the PC card to the display controller and the sound controller are executed via independent buses. This makes it possible to transfer the compressed display and sound data to the PC card and to transfer the decompressed data to the display controller and the sound controller in parallel. , Sound data can be reproduced at high speed.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an information processing apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a PC card of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a data reproducing method according to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of a system configuration;

FIG. 5 is a diagram of a box-type PC card.

FIG. 6 is a diagram of a detachable connector.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 CPU, 4 HDD, 5 CD-RO
M, 6 PC card controller, 7, 8 socket, 10 display controller, 12 sound controller, 16 I / F logic, 17
..Decoder, 18 ... bypass, 21 ... I /
F card, 22: decode card, 23: connector, 41: notebook computer, 42 ...
・ PC card slot, 51 ・ ・ ・ PC card box 61, 62 ・ ・ ・ Eject button, 63, 64, 6
5, 66 · · · detachable connector cable

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A central processing unit (hereinafter referred to as a CPU).
And an external storage device (hereinafter, referred to as HD or CD-ROM) such as a hard disk device or a CD-ROM device, a socket (hereinafter, referred to as a PC card socket) into which two or more PC cards can be inserted, a speaker, a liquid crystal display device ( LCD below
) And means for directly transferring sound data and display data from a PC card to a controller of a speaker and a display device (hereinafter referred to as a bypass). In an information processing device such as a notebook personal computer equipped with a CPU, the CPU transfers sound and display data compressed and stored in the HDD and CD-ROM to two PC cards inserted into the socket, and the two PC cards Is an information processing apparatus for decompressing transmitted data while sharing processing, and transmitting the decompressed sound and display data to a speaker and a controller of a display device through the bypass. 2. A pair of PC cards, wherein each PC card is connected to each other via a connector cable, and the first PC card is an HDD,
The sound and display data compressed and stored in a storage device such as a CD-ROM are received from the CPU, transferred to the remaining second PC card via the connector, and the second PC
2. A PC card system, wherein the card expands the transferred data and transfers the expanded sound and display data to a controller of a speaker or a display device through the bypass according to claim 1. 3. A pair of PC cards according to claim 2, wherein said pair of PC cards is covered with a rigid housing, and a signal from a socket on an information processing device side is said housing. To connect to the PC card in the housing.
A PC card system wherein a C card can be attached and detached at the same time. 4. A pair of two PC cards according to claim 2, wherein a connector for transferring data between the two PC cards is a detachable concave-convex connector. A PC card system, wherein the attached connectors have different sizes, and each connector has a different length at the upper and lower bases. 5. A pair of PC cards according to claim 2, wherein a connector for transferring data between the two PC cards is a detachable concave-convex connector, and said connector is a P-type connector.
When a card is attached to a C card, it becomes impossible to press a button for detaching a PC card.
C card system.