JPH11328323A - Power saving system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To suppress the power consumption of an information processor as much as possible and to extend the operation time of a battery-driven type information processor which needs to be portable by putting into operation only necessary parts of the information processor which operates with the power supply by connecting to the information processor without putting unnecessary parts into operation. SOLUTION: An active type information processor 11 instructs a passive type information processor 12 to supply electric power. A power consumption control part 14 monitors the operation of execution control 13 and activates a necessary process mechanism in the passive type information processor 12. The power consumption control 14, when judging that the activated process mechanism in the information processor 12 is not used any more, inactivates the process mechanism to reduce the power consumption. Even if an arithmetic process mechanism is inactive, the power consumption control 14 activates the arithmetic process mechanism once detecting that the execution control 13 uses the arithmetic process mechanism.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a passive information processing apparatus having no power supply therein. The passive information processing apparatus does not function alone, but is integrated with another active information processing apparatus. In connection with the power consumption of the passive information processing device performing its function, particularly when the passive information processing device operates by receiving an instruction from another active information processing device, execution control and various processing mechanisms are performed depending on the operation state. To an active state (active mode) / inactive state (sleep mode) to control power consumption.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art There is an IC card system as a prior art. In an IC card system, the passive information processing device
The C card and the active information processing device correspond to an IC card reader / writer. This technology is based on an IC card system disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei 6-150077. When an IC card reader / writer connected to the IC card uses the IC card, the reader is used in accordance with the usage state of the IC card. The writer supplies power to the IC card to make the IC card usable, transmits a command to the IC card to process the IC card, and cuts off the power supply to the IC card after the processing is completed. The power consumption of the writer was reduced. That is, the reader / writer is IC
When processing is not performed on the card, the power consumption is reduced by not supplying power to the IC card, so that the battery usage time can be prolonged. Since a portable IC card reader / writer is driven by a battery, reducing power consumption by shutting off power supply to the IC card is effective for driving the reader / writer for a long time.

However, according to the conventional technology, a passive information processing apparatus having no power supply inside consumes a certain amount of power while power is supplied, and the passive information processing apparatus operates while the information processing apparatus is operating. No consideration was given to reducing the power consumed by the vehicle.

[0004]

In recent years, with the development of high-density and high-integration technology of LSI, the function of a passive information processing apparatus having no power supply such as an IC card has been improved.
For example, functions that do not always need to supply power, such as a numerical processor, have been implemented.

Therefore, power saving is required even during operation, and the present invention was born from such technical trends.

An object of the present invention is to provide a passive information processing apparatus having no power supply therein. The passive information processing apparatus does not function alone, but functions when paired with another active information processing apparatus. It is an object of the present invention to control the power consumption of the passive information processing apparatus during operation to prolong the operation time of the active information processing apparatus as the power supply source.

[0007]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, the power consumption of a passive information processing apparatus which performs its function in combination with another active information processing apparatus without having a power supply therein is reduced. A means is provided for controlling necessary power by performing execution control and activating / deactivating various processing mechanisms in accordance with the operation state of the processing apparatus, and for suppressing power consumption by power consumption control.

[0008]

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

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a passive information processing apparatus according to the present invention. The active information processing device 11 instructs the passive information processing device 12 to supply power. The execution control 13 executes an instruction received from the active information processing device 11. At this time, the power consumption control 14 monitors the operation of the execution control 13 and
Activate the necessary processing mechanism in the system. When the power consumption control 14 determines that the processing mechanism in the activated information processing apparatus 12 is no longer used, the power consumption control 14 deactivates the processing mechanism to reduce power consumption. I do. For example, it is assumed that the passive information processing device 12 receives an operation command from the active information processing device 11.
The execution control 13 decodes the received instruction and determines that it is necessary to perform an operation. The execution control 13 uses an arithmetic processing mechanism existing in the various processing mechanisms 15 to perform the arithmetic processing. Since the arithmetic processing mechanism has not been used until this time, the arithmetic processing mechanism is in an inactive state. However, even if the processing mechanism is inactive, the power consumption control 14
Activates the arithmetic processing mechanism when the execution control 13 detects that the arithmetic processing mechanism is used. When the arithmetic processing using the arithmetic processing mechanism ends, the arithmetic processing mechanism reports an interrupt to the power consumption control 14 to notify that the arithmetic processing using the arithmetic processing mechanism has ended. In response to this, the power consumption control 14 deactivates the arithmetic processing units in the various processing units to reduce the power consumption.

FIG. 2 shows an example of a system in which the present invention is applied to an IC card as one embodiment of the present invention. IC card 2
Reference numeral 2 denotes an information processing apparatus that operates by receiving power supply from a power supply line VCC27 supplied from the IC card reader / writer 21. The IC card 22 has an MPU 23 having a function of reading and writing data and performing various operations, an EEPROM 24 having a function of retaining non-volatile data, a RAM 25 having a function of retaining volatile data, and specially processing special numerical operations. There is a numerical processor 26 that performs The MPU 23, the EEPROM 24, the RAM 2
5. A plurality of numerical processors 26 may exist.

A command from the IC card reader / writer 21 receives an operation command through a line I / O 28, and the operation result is also returned through the line I / O 28.

The reset of the IC card 22 is performed by a line RST29.
, The IC card 22 performs a reset.

FIG. 3 is an example of a time chart showing a flow of processing of an IC card when the present invention is applied to an IC card system. The IC card 22 is inserted into the reader / writer 21 (301), and power is supplied to the IC card 22 (302). A reset signal is transmitted from the reader / writer 21 to the IC card 22 through the line RST29 (30).
3) The IC card 22 initializes the IC card 22 as a reset operation (304). After the reset operation of the IC card 22, the IC card 22 performs a start-up process (3.
05), an answer-to-reset signal is transmitted to the reader / writer 21 through the line I / O 28 to notify the reader / writer 21 that the IC card 22 is usable (306). After receiving the command from the reader / writer 21 after the start-up processing of the IC card 22, all parts of the IC card 22 are deactivated (sleep mode) according to the instruction of the power consumption control 14, and the IC card 22 itself consumes it. (307). From reader / writer 21 to I
The command is transmitted to the C card 22 (308), and the MPU 23 is activated (active mode) according to the instruction of the power consumption control 14 (309). The IC card 22 internally processes the command based on the received command (310). The power consumption control 14 activates various processing mechanisms necessary for executing internal processing of the IC card (active mode).
/ Inactivation (sleep mode) instruction (31
1) Reduce power consumption even during execution of internal processing. After the internal processing is completed, the IC card 22 becomes the reader / writer 2
1 is responded to the command (312), and the processing of the IC card ends. After the processing is completed, all the parts of the IC card 22 are deactivated (sleep mode) according to the instruction of the power consumption control 14, and the power consumed by the IC card 22 itself is reduced (313).

FIGS. 4 and 5 show an example of a processing flow of the power consumption control 14 in which the present invention is applied to an IC card. The power consumption control 14 sets all parts of the IC card 22 in an inactive state (sleep mode) until receiving a command from the reader / writer 21 (401). When a command is received from the reader / writer 21 (402), the power consumption control 14
3 is activated (active mode) (403). MP
The execution control 13 uses the U23 to execute the received instruction. At this time, when the execution control 13 uses the EEPROM 24,
If the ROM 24 is in the inactive state (sleep mode), the EEPROM 24 generates an interrupt to the power consumption control 14 (405). The interrupted power consumption control 14 activates the EEPROM 24 (40
6) Put the EEPROM 24 in a usable state. EEP
After activating the ROM 24 (active mode), the power consumption control 14 monitors the time from the state where the EEPROM 24 is activated (active mode) (407). While monitoring the time, the execution control is EEP
When there is no access to the ROM 24 (41
4), the power consumption control 14 puts the EEPROM 24 in an inactive state (sleep mode) (415). The same applies to the RAM 25. When the execution control 13 uses the RAM 25, R
If the AM 25 is in the inactive state (sleep mode), the RAM 25 generates an interrupt to the power consumption control 14 (408). The power consumption control 14 receiving the interrupt activates the RAM 25 (409), and the RAM 2
5 is enabled. After activating the RAM 25 (active mode), the power consumption control 14 monitors time from the state where the RAM 25 is activated (active mode) (410). If the execution control has not accessed the RAM 25 for a certain period of time during the time monitoring (416), the power consumption control 14 puts the RAM 25 in an inactive state (sleep mode) (417).

At this time, if the instruction executed by the execution control 13 performs processing dependent on the numerical processor 26 (411), the power consumption control 14 activates the numerical processor 26 (active mode) (412). ), M
The PU 23 is deactivated (sleep mode) (41
3) Perform processing dependent on the numerical processor 26.
At this time, the MPU 23 does not need to operate until the operation of the numerical operation processor 26 ends.
And the arithmetic processor 26 do not operate at the same time, so that the instruction can be executed without increasing the power consumption. The power consumption control 14 continues the processing dependent on the numerical processor 26 until the processing dependent on the numerical processor 26 ends. When the power consumption control 14 is notified from the numerical operation processor 26 that the processing has been completed by an interrupt or the like (419), the power consumption control 14 deactivates the numerical operation processor 26 (sleep mode) (420). ,
Activate the MPU 23 (active mode) (42
1).

When the execution control 13 responds to the command to the reader / writer 21 and the power consumption control 14 receives that all the internal processing of the IC card has been completed, the power consumption control 14 returns to the processing of 401 and returns to the processing of the IC card. 22 is set to a standby state.

According to this embodiment, the electric power required when using the IC card is the same as the conventional IC that operates all the parts.
Significant power consumption is reduced compared to cards.

FIG. 6 shows an example in which the present invention is applied to a non-contact type IC card which is operated by being excited by a magnetic field or the like. When recognizing that the non-contact type IC card 52 has approached, the card identification device 51 generates a magnetic field and transmits a command to the non-contact type IC card 52. Non-contact type I
The C card 52 is excited by a magnetic field, and receives a transmitted command to perform an operation. However, since the electric power generated by the excitation is extremely small, by applying the present invention, it is possible to enhance the function of the non-contact type IC card 52 that operates by the excitation.

FIG. 7 shows an example in which the present invention is applied to a portable information processing apparatus operating at a remote place. Host computer 6
Numeral 1 emits radio waves by using a tower 63 or the like to issue a command to the portable information processing device 62. Portable information processing device 62
Generates electric power by receiving radio waves and executes the received instruction. By applying the present invention to the portable information processing device 62, the power consumption of the portable information processing device 62 can be reduced, and the portable information processing device 62 can be enhanced in function. If this technology becomes feasible, in the future, pagers and the like that do not require batteries will be feasible.

[0020]

As described above, according to the present invention,
An information processing apparatus that operates by receiving power supply by being connected to an information processing apparatus operates only necessary parts of the information processing apparatus and does not operate unnecessary parts of the information processing apparatus. This has the effect of minimizing power consumption and increasing the operating time of a battery-powered information processing device that requires portability.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration example when the present invention is applied to an IC card.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a time chart of command reception and response when the present invention is applied to an IC card.

FIG. 4 is an example of a flowchart of a power consumption control process according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an example of a flowchart of a power consumption control process according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 shows a non-contact type I operating by exciting the present invention with a magnetic field or the like.
This is an example applied to a C card.

FIG. 7 is an example in which the present invention is applied to a portable information processing device that operates by generating electric power by radio waves or the like.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 11 Information processing apparatus of power supply source 12 Information processing apparatus which operates by receiving power supply and an instruction 13 Execution control 14 Power consumption control 21 IC card reader / writer 22 IC card 23 MPU 24 EEPROM 25 RAM 26 Numerical processing processor 51 IC card Identification device 52 Non-contact type IC card 61 Host computer 62 Portable information processing device

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A passive information processing apparatus which does not have a power supply therein and which does not function alone, comprises means for supplying power to the passive information processing apparatus, and means for instructing processing to be executed. The passive information processing apparatus includes a unit integrated with the active information processing apparatus, and power supply and instructions are executed from the active information processing apparatus by integrating the passive information processing apparatus with the active information processing apparatus. The passive information processing apparatus is provided with means for supplying power only to an execution control mechanism and various processing mechanisms required for an internal operation and suppressing power consumption. . 2. The passive type device according to claim 1, wherein said means for suppressing power consumption comprises means for activating / deactivating an execution control mechanism and various processing mechanisms by power consumption control. Information processing device. 3. The passive information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said means for supplying power has a function of generating and operating power by being excited by a magnetic field or the like. 4. An information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said paired means has a function of being integrated even in a remote place.