TW201308092A - Power management method for external electronic device - Google Patents

Abstract

A power management method for an external electronic external device is illustrated. The external electronic device includes a control chip, a firmware, and an inner device. The external electronic device is connected to a host, and the host provides a power to the external electronic device. Firstly, the control chip receives a standby signal, and then transmits a power off interrupt signal to the firmware. Next, the firmware transmits a standby mode enter signal to the inner device, and then the inner device transmits a standby mode complete signal to the firmware. Finally, the firmware turns off the power of the inner device by the indication of a signal with a first voltage level. Thus, the power management method makes the idle external device not have any extra power consumption, and also avoids the component damage for the inner device due to turning off the power of the inner device.

Description

Power management method for general external electronic device

The present invention relates to an external electronic device, and more particularly to a power management method for an external electronic device.

With the advancement of technology, various external electronic devices using different interfaces have been proposed and sold, and the most common external electronic device is a USB electronic device. Generally, the USB electronic device needs to be externally connected to the USB host, and needs to cooperate with the USB host to perform various command programs, wherein the USB host is, for example, a personal computer or a notebook computer, and the command program is, for example, a data storage. Take or host command output, etc. Most USB electronic devices supply power from the USB host, so the power management of the USB electronic device has a great impact on the power performance of the USB host.

A conventional power management method for a USB electronic device is explained below. First, the USB host uses a polling method to issue a command to detect that the USB electronic device is idle for a long time. If the USB electronic device is in an idle state for a long time, the USB host device sends a standby signal to the USB electronic device, so that the USB control chip or USB firmware of the USB electronic device enters the standby mode. However, the conventional power management method simply enters the USB control chip or the USB firmware in the USB electronic device into the standby mode without turning off the power of the internal device, so the USB electronic device will continue to consume the USB host. The power.

It is worth mentioning that the above standby signal may be a standby signal in the USB 2.0 specification, an LGO_U3, LGO_U2, or LGO_U1 status signal in the USB 3.0 specification.

In the USB 2.0 specification, the USB host generally has its own power management method, and the power management method of the USB host is independent of the power management method of the USB electronic device, so the USB host can utilize the standby or recovery signal in this specification. Communicate with the USB electronic device to control the USB electronic device to enter a power saving state.

In the USB 3.0 specification, the USB interface is a dual-bus architecture, and the dual bus architecture includes USB 2.0 and SuperSpeed bus. The foregoing LGO_U1 and LGO_U2 state signals are used to instruct the USB electronic device to enter a power saving state, wherein the power consumption state corresponding to the power saving state of the LGO_U2 state signal is less than the power consumption state corresponding to the power saving state of the LGO_U1 state signal. The LGO_U3 status signal is used to indicate that the USB electronic device enters a deep sleep state, and the power consumption of the deep sleep state is less than the power consumption state of the power saving state.

In summary, if there are more USB electronic devices connected to the USB host, the power consumption of the USB host will be higher. In the current situation of calling for energy-saving and carbon-saving environmental awareness, many countries require USB electronic devices to be sold with energy-saving labels, and their power consumption must meet specific standards. Accordingly, many vendors and scholars have worked hard to find a power management method that can properly manage the power of USB electronic devices.

Embodiments of the present invention provide a power management method for a USB electronic device. The USB electronic device is externally connected to a USB host) and includes a USB control chip, a USB firmware, and an internal device. When the USB control chip receives the standby signal from the USB host, the USB control chip notifies the USB firmware to transmit the standby mode signal to the internal device through the power-off interrupt signal, instructing the internal device to enter the standby mode. When the internal device enters the standby mode, the internal device transmits a standby completion signal to the USB firmware, so that the USB firmware transmits a predetermined signal through the first voltage level to notify the USB control chip to turn off the power of the internal device.

Another embodiment of the present invention provides another power management method for a USB electronic device. The USB electronic device is externally connected to the USB host and includes a USB control chip, a USB firmware, and an internal device. When the USB control chip receives the standby signal from the USB host terminal and the USB firmware indicates that the automatic power-off function is enabled, the USB control chip sends a signal to the standby mode after reading and confirming that the interface state with the internal device is idle. Internal device. When the internal device receives the signal to enter the standby mode, and the internal device enters the standby mode accordingly, the internal device replies to the standby completion signal to the USB control chip, so that the USB control chip turns off the power of the internal device.

An embodiment of the invention provides a power management method for an external electronic device. The electronic device includes a control chip, a firmware and an internal device connected to the host end and powered by the host end. The control chip receives the standby signal. The control chip transmits a power-off interrupt signal to the firmware. The firmware transmits a signal to the standby mode to the internal device. The internal device transmits a signal to the standby completion to the firmware. The firmware notifies the control chip to turn off the power of the internal device through the first voltage level signal.

In summary, the embodiments of the present invention provide a power management method for an external electronic device, which can turn off the power of the internal device of the external electronic device, thereby avoiding additional power consumption and complying with current energy saving. The trend of carbon saving. In addition to this, the power management method can also avoid damage to the internal device caused by turning off the power of the internal device.

The detailed description of the present invention and the accompanying drawings are to be understood by the claims The scope is subject to any restrictions.

[Embodiment of Power Management Method for External Electronic Device]

Please refer to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an external electronic device connected to a host end according to an embodiment of the present invention. The external electronic device 12 is connected to the host end 10, and the host end 10 can provide power for the external electronic device 12. And including a communication interface 121, a control wafer 120, a firmware 122, and an internal device 124. In this embodiment, the communication interface 121 of the external electronic device 12 can be a USB, E-SATA or IEEE 1394 interface. When the communication interface 121 is a USB interface, the control chip 120 can be, for example, a USB controller or a USB bridge, and the internal device 124 is, for example, a USB flash memory or a USB hard disk. In summary, the types of control wafer 120, communication interface 121, and internal device 124 are not intended to limit the invention.

The communication interface 121 serves as an interface for controlling the wafer 120 and the firmware 122 to communicate with the host terminal 10. The control chip 120 receives commands from the host terminal 10 through the communication interface 121. The firmware is electrically connected to the control chip 120 and the internal device 124, and communicates with the host terminal 10 through the communication interface 121. The internal device 124 is electrically connected to the firmware 122 and the control wafer 120.

Next, please refer to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 simultaneously. FIG. 2 is a flowchart of a power management method according to an embodiment of the present invention. Although the power management method of FIG. 2 only describes the step of turning off the power of the internal device 124, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the power management method is more likely to include other steps, such as turning on the power of the internal device 124. The steps followed by the steps and so on.

First, in step S201, the host terminal 10 commands the control chip 120 to enter the standby mode, that is, the control chip 120 receives the standby signal from the host terminal 10 through the communication interface 121. When the external electronic device 12 is a USB electronic device, the standby signal is a standby state (suspend) signal in the USB 2.0 specification, an LGO_U3, LGO_U2, or LGO_U1 status signal in the USB 3.0 specification. It should be noted that, in this embodiment, the standby signal is generated by the host terminal 10, but in other embodiments, the standby signal may also be from an external switch of the external electronic device 12.

Thereafter, in step S203, the control wafer 120 issues a power-off interrupt signal to the firmware 122. In step S205, after the firmware 122 receives the power-off interrupt signal, the firmware 122 sends a signal to enter the standby mode to the internal device 124, thereby instructing the internal device 124 to enter the standby mode.

In step S207, it is determined whether the internal device 124 has successfully entered the standby mode after receiving the standby mode signal. If the internal device 124 enters the standby mode after receiving the enter standby mode signal, step S209 is executed immediately. Conversely, if the internal device 124 does not successfully enter the standby mode, then step S215 is performed.

In step S209, the internal device 124 replies to the standby completion signal to the firmware 122. In step S211, after the firmware 122 receives the standby completion signal, the firmware 122 transmits a predetermined signal having the first voltage level to the control wafer 120 to notify the control wafer 120 to turn off the power of the internal device 124. Then, in step S213, after the control wafer 120 receives the predetermined signal having the first voltage level, the control wafer 120 turns off the power of the internal device 124.

The voltage level of the predetermined signal can be used to instruct the control wafer 120 to turn the power to the internal device 124 on or off. When the external electronic device 1 is a USB electronic device, the predetermined signal is, for example, a general-purpose input/output (GPIO) signal, and the first voltage level is, for example, a high voltage level. However, the present invention is not limited to this. For example, the predetermined signal may also be other types of signals or general signals, and the first voltage level may also be a low voltage level. In other words, in other embodiments, the firmware 122 can also transmit a first voltage level signal to the control wafer 120 to notify the control wafer 120 to turn off the power of the internal device 124.

In addition, if the internal device 124 fails to enter the standby mode after receiving the standby mode signal, step S215 is performed, that is, the internal device 124 will not reply to the standby completion signal, or the internal device 124 will reply unacknowledged (Non-acknowledge, NACK) signal to firmware 122. Next, in step S219, the number of times of entering the standby failure is incremented by 1, wherein the initial value of the number of times of entering the standby failure is zero. Then, in step S219, it is determined whether or not the number of standby failures is less than a predetermined value. If the number of standby failures is less than the predetermined value, step S203 is continued. If the number of standby failures is not less than the predetermined value, step S221 is performed. In step S221, the control wafer 120 notifies the host terminal 10 that the internal device 124 cannot smoothly enter the standby mode.

When the power of the internal device 124 is turned off using the power management method described in FIG. 2 or other embodiments, if the internal device 124 is required to be used, the power management method needs to further turn on the power of the internal device 124.

It is worth mentioning that in the power management method of FIG. 2, the step S213 of turning off the internal device 124 is after step S209. Briefly, the power of the internal device 124 is turned off after the internal device 124 has entered the standby mode, thereby avoiding component damage caused by the internal device 124 being powered off, and at the same time ensuring the data processed by the internal device 124 or The correctness of the instructions to avoid errors. Please refer to FIG. 1 and FIG. 3. FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a power management method according to an embodiment of the present invention. Although the power management method of FIG. 3 only describes the steps of turning on the power of the internal device 124, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the power management method is more likely to include other steps, such as turning off the power of the internal device 124. The steps followed by the steps and so on.

First, in step S301, the host terminal 10 wakes up the control chip 120, that is, the control chip 120 receives the wake-up signal transmitted from the host terminal 10 through the communication interface 121. Then, in step S303, the control chip 120 wakes up the firmware 122 according to the wake-up signal. More precisely, after receiving the wake-up signal, the control chip 120 transmits a power-on interrupt signal to the firmware 122 to wake up the firmware 122. . Next, in step S305, the firmware 122 transmits a predetermined signal having a second voltage level to the control wafer 120 to notify the control wafer 120 to turn on the power of the internal device 124. Then, in step S307, after the control wafer 120 receives the predetermined signal having the second voltage level, the control wafer 120 turns on the power of the internal device 124.

As previously described, the voltage level of the predetermined signal can be used to instruct the control wafer 120 to turn the power to the internal device 124 on or off. When the first voltage is at a high voltage level, the second voltage level is a low voltage level. When the first voltage is at a low voltage level, the second voltage level is a high voltage level. In short, neither the type of the predetermined signal nor the level of the voltage level is used to define the present invention.

Next, please refer to FIG. 1 and FIG. 4. FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a power management method according to an embodiment of the present invention. Although the power management method of FIG. 4 only describes the subsequent steps of turning on the power of the internal device 124, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the power management method is more likely to include other steps, such as turning the internal device on and off. 124 power supply steps, etc.

First, in step S401, after the power of the internal device 124 is turned on, the firmware 122 or the control chip 120 sends an instruction identification signal to the internal device 124 to confirm whether the internal device 124 is ready. Next, in step S403, after receiving the command identification signal, the internal device 124 determines whether the internal device 124 is ready according to its state.

If the internal device 124 is already ready, step S405 is performed. Conversely, if the internal device 124 is not ready, step S407 is performed. In step S405, the internal device 124 replies to the firmware 122 or the control wafer 120 ready completion signal to cause the firmware 122 or control wafer 120 to learn that the internal device 124 is ready to be completed. In step S407, the internal device 124 replies to the firmware 122 or the control wafer 120 is not ready or ready to be ready to cause the firmware 122 or control wafer 120 to learn that the internal device 124 is not ready. Finally, in step S409, the firmware 122 or the control wafer 12 notifies the host terminal 10 of whether the internal device 124 is ready.

In the power management method of FIG. 4, after the power of the internal device 124 is turned on, the host terminal 10 needs to know whether the internal device 124 is ready to determine whether the internal device 124 can be instructed to process data or instructions. If the internal device 124 is already ready, the host terminal 10 can instruct the internal device 124 to process the data or instructions. In this way, the correctness of the data or instructions processed by the internal device 124 can be ensured.

[Another embodiment of a power management method of an external electronic device]

Please refer to FIG. 1 and FIG. 5 simultaneously. FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a power management method according to another embodiment of the present invention. Although the power management method of FIG. 5 only describes the step of turning off the power of the internal device 124, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the power management method is more likely to include other steps, such as turning on the power of the internal device 124. The steps followed by the steps and so on.

In step S501 of the embodiment of FIG. 5, the firmware 122 instructs the control wafer 120 to enable the automatic power off function. Next, in step S502, the host terminal 10 commands the control wafer 120 to enter the standby mode, that is, the control chip 120 receives the standby signal from the host terminal 10. When the external electronic device 12 is a USB electronic device, the standby signal is a standby status signal in the USB 2.0 specification, an LGO_U3, LGO_U2 or LGO_U1 status signal in the USB 3.0 specification. It is to be noted that the order of steps S501 and S502 is not intended to limit the present invention. It should be noted that, in this embodiment, the standby signal is generated by the host terminal 10, but in other embodiments, the standby signal may also be from an external switch of the external electronic device 12.

Next, in step S503, the control wafer 120 reads the interface with the internal device 124 to determine whether the internal device 124 is in an idle state. If the internal device 124 is not in the idle state, step S515 is performed. If the internal device 124 is in an idle state, step S505 is performed.

In step S515, the number of interpretation idle failures is incremented by 1, wherein the initial value of the number of idle failures is 0. Then, in step S515, it is judged whether or not the number of interpretation idle failures is less than a predetermined value. If the number of idle failures is less than the predetermined value, step S502 is continued to attempt again to cause the host 10 to command the control wafer 120 to enter the standby mode. If the number of idle failures is not less than the predetermined value, step S517 is performed. In step S517, the control wafer 120 notifies the host terminal 10 that the internal device 124 cannot enter the idle state.

In step S505, the control wafer 120 transmits a signal to enter the standby mode to the internal device 124. Next, in step S507, it is determined whether the internal device 124 has successfully entered the standby mode after receiving the enter standby mode signal. If the internal device 124 enters the standby mode after receiving the enter standby mode signal, step S509 is executed immediately. Conversely, if the internal device 124 does not successfully enter the standby mode, then step S513 is performed.

In step S509, the internal device 124 replies to the standby completion signal to the control wafer 120. In step S511, after the control wafer 120 receives the entry standby completion signal, the control wafer 120 turns off the power of the internal device 124.

In addition, if the internal device 124 fails to enter the standby mode after receiving the standby mode signal, step S513 is performed, that is, the internal device 124 will not return to the standby completion signal, or the internal device 124 will reply the unconfirmed signal to the control chip. . Next, in step S516, the number of times of entering the standby failure is incremented by 1, wherein the initial value of the number of times of entering the standby failure is zero. Then, in step S516, it is determined whether the number of standby failures is less than a predetermined value. If the number of standby failures is less than the predetermined value, step S501 is continued. If the number of standby failures is not less than the predetermined value, step S517 is executed to notify the host terminal 10 that the internal device 124 cannot smoothly enter the standby mode.

The main difference between the embodiment of FIG. 5 and FIG. 2 is that the embodiment of FIG. 2 uses the firmware 122 to indicate that the internal device 124 enters the standby mode, but the embodiment of FIG. 5 uses the firmware 122 to enable control of the wafer 120. The automatic power off function, and then the control wafer 120 is used to instruct the internal device 124 to enter the standby mode.

It is worth mentioning that the embodiment of Figure 5 can also be integrated with the embodiment of Figure 2 to create another power management method. When the control chip 120 receives the standby signal from the host terminal 10, but the firmware 122 does not enable the automatic power-off function of the wafer 120, the power management method of the embodiment of FIG. 2 is performed. When the control chip 120 receives the standby signal from the host terminal 10 and the firmware 122 enables the automatic power-off function of the wafer 120, then all the steps after step S502 of FIG. 5 are performed (including step S502).

Please refer to FIG. 1 and FIG. 6. FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a power management method according to another embodiment of the present invention. Although the power management method of FIG. 6 only describes the steps of turning on the power of the internal device 124, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the power management method is more likely to include other steps, such as the step of turning off the power of the internal device 124. Follow its follow-up steps, etc.

First, in step S701, the host terminal 10 wakes up the control chip 120, that is, the control chip 120 receives the wake-up signal transmitted from the host terminal 10 through the communication interface 121. Then, in step S703, the control chip 120 wakes up the firmware 122 according to the wake-up signal and turns on the power of the internal device 124.

In addition, when the power of the internal device 124 is turned on, the host terminal 10 may start transmitting data or instructions to the internal device 124 for processing. However, in order to ensure the correctness of the data or instructions processed by internal device 124, it must first be ensured that internal device 124 is ready. Accordingly, after the power of the internal device 124 is turned on, the power management method of this embodiment can perform the steps similar to those of FIG. 4.

[Possible efficacy of the embodiment]

In one of the embodiments of the present invention, the control of the automatic power switch function of the internal device 124 can be determined by the host terminal 10 or the firmware 122 itself to the firmware 122 or the control wafer 120. If the control of the automatic power switch function of the internal device 124 is given to the control chip 120, the speed performance of the processing power switch will be improved, and the power management effect can be optimized. However, the firmware 122 is easier to replace and upgrade with respect to the control chip 120. Therefore, if the USB firmware 122 retains its control, the power management method of the embodiment of FIG. 2 of the present invention can also achieve optimal power saving. effect.

The power supply opening mechanism of the internal device 124 is also mentioned in the embodiment provided by the present invention. The purpose is to prevent the host terminal 10 from directly reading and writing the internal device 124 after the power is turned on, but the internal device 124 is in a busy state. The internal device 124 may be damaged, for example, the memory of the internal device 124 is misaligned. Therefore, the embodiment of the present invention provides a power-on method for the internal device 124. Before the host device 10 reads the internal device 124, the state of the internal device 124 is confirmed (ie, it is determined whether the internal device 124 is ready).

In summary, the embodiment of the present invention provides a power management method for an external electronic device. The power management method can turn off the power of the internal device 124 to achieve the effect of optimizing power saving. In addition, the power management method can also avoid component damage caused by turning off the power of the internal device 124, and ensure the correctness of the data or instructions processed by the internal device 124 after the power is turned on.

The above description is only an embodiment of the present invention, and is not intended to limit the scope of the invention.

10. . . Host side

12. . . Electronic device

120. . . Control chip

121. . . Communication interface

122. . . firmware

124. . . Internal device

S201~S219. . . step

S301~S307. . . step

S401~S409. . . step

S501~S517. . . step

S701~S703. . . step

1 is a block diagram of an external electronic device connected to a host in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a flow chart of a power management method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a power management method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a power management method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a power management method according to another embodiment of the present invention.

6 is a flowchart of a power management method according to another embodiment of the present invention.

S201~S219. . . step

Claims (9)

A power management method for a universal serial bus (USB) electronic device, the USB electronic device is externally connected to a USB host, and includes a USB control chip, a USB firmware and an internal device. The device, wherein the power management method comprises: when the USB control chip receives a standby signal from the USB host, the USB control chip notifies the USB firmware to transmit a standby mode signal to the internal through a power-off interrupt signal The device instructing the internal device to enter a standby mode; and when the internal device enters the standby mode, the internal device transmits a standby completion signal to the USB firmware to pass the USB firmware through a first voltage level A predetermined signal informs the USB control chip to turn off a power source of the internal device. The power management method for the USB electronic device according to claim 1 includes: when the USB control chip receives a wake-up signal from the USB host, the USB control chip wakes up the USB firmware; After the USB firmware is awakened, the USB firmware notifies the USB control chip to turn on the power of the USB device through a predetermined signal of a second voltage level; after the power of the internal device is turned on, the USB control The chip or the USB firmware transmits an instruction identification signal to the internal device; and after the internal device receives the command identification signal, the internal device returns a ready signal or a not ready signal to the USB control chip according to its state or The USB firmware is back to the USB host to see if the internal device is ready. A power management method for the USB electronic device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the predetermined signal is a general purpose input/output (GPIO) signal. A power management method for a universal serial bus electronic device, the USB electronic device is externally connected to a USB host, and includes a USB control chip, a USB firmware and an internal device, wherein the power management method includes: When the USB control chip receives a standby signal from the USB host and enables an automatic power-off function by the USB firmware, the USB control chip reads and confirms that the interface state with the internal device is idle. Sending an incoming standby mode signal to the internal device; and when the internal device receives the incoming standby mode signal, and the internal device enters the standby mode accordingly, the internal device replies with a standby completion signal to the USB control chip So that the USB control chip turns off a power source of the internal device. The power management method for the USB electronic device according to claim 4, further comprising: when the USB control chip receives a wake-up signal from the USB host, the USB control chip wakes up the USB firmware; After the USB firmware is woken up, the USB firmware notifies the USB control chip to turn on the power of the internal device; after the power of the internal device is turned on, the USB control chip or the USB firmware transmits an instruction. Identifying a signal to the internal device; and after receiving the command identification signal, the internal device returns a ready signal or a not ready signal to the USB control chip or the USB firmware according to the status thereof to respond to the USB Whether the internal device is ready on the host side. A power management method for an external electronic device, the electronic device includes a control chip, a firmware and an internal device, the electronic device is connected to a host, and the power is provided by the host, wherein the power is The management method includes: the control chip receiving a standby signal; the control chip transmitting a power-off interrupt signal to the firmware; the firmware transmitting an incoming standby mode signal to the internal device; the internal device transmitting a standby completion signal to The firmware; and the firmware notifies the control wafer to turn off the power of the internal device through a first voltage level signal. The power management method for an external electronic device of claim 6 further includes: when the control chip receives a wake-up signal; the control chip transmits a power-on interrupt signal to the firmware; the firmware transmits a first The two voltage level signals inform the control chip to turn on the power of the internal device; the control chip or the firmware transmits an instruction identification signal to the internal device; and the internal device returns a ready signal or a not ready signal according to the state thereof. The control wafer or the firmware is given to respond to whether the internal device is ready at the host end. The power management method for an external electronic device according to claim 6 or 7, wherein the standby signal is from the host terminal or an external switch of the electronic device. The power management method for an external electronic device according to claim 6 wherein the communication interface of the external electronic device can be a USB, E-SATA or IEEE 1394 interface.