TW202424927A - Electronic paper device control system and electronic paper device control method - Google Patents

Abstract

An electronic paper device control system includes a server for receiving a plurality of user information and generating an update instruction according to the plurality of user information; a microcontroller unit; at least one electronic paper device, coupled to the microcontroller unit, for displaying a display content; and a gateway, coupled to the server and the microcontroller unit, for receiving the update instruction, and instructing the microcontroller unit to control the at least one electronic paper device to update the display content according to the update instruction.

Description

Electronic paper device control system and electronic paper device control method

The present invention relates to an electronic paper device control system and an electronic paper device control method, and more particularly to an electronic paper device control system and an electronic paper device control method for timely supplying power to update displayed content.

Electronic paper devices have the advantages of no blue light, no reflection, no viewing angle restriction and power saving, so more and more applications choose electronic paper devices as display carriers. For example, electronic paper devices can be used as conference room doorplates. According to the reservation status of the conference room, the conference room doorplate will display the occupancy time of each meeting and the information of the meeting initiator; during the meeting, the conference room doorplate can display "Meeting in progress" to remind the current conference room status.

On the other hand, electronic paper devices can still display static images when they are turned off or when they are not receiving power. However, electronic paper devices must automatically power on at regular intervals or at specific times, and query the server for updates, and return to the power-off state after the updates. In order to update the meeting room reservation schedule in real time, the frequency of automatic power-on and query for updates must be increased, which greatly reduces the power saving effect of electronic paper devices. In this case, how to update the display content of electronic paper devices in real time while taking into account their power saving effect has become one of the topics of concern to the industry.

One of the main purposes of the present invention is to provide an electronic paper device control system and an electronic paper device control method to solve the above problems.

The present invention provides an electronic paper device control system, comprising a server for receiving a plurality of user information and generating an update instruction according to the plurality of user information; a microcontroller unit; at least one electronic paper device coupled to the microcontroller unit and used to display a display content; and a gateway coupled to the server and the microcontroller unit, used to receive the update instruction and instruct the microcontroller unit to control the at least one electronic paper device to update the display content according to the update instruction.

The present invention provides an electronic paper device control method, comprising: a server receiving a plurality of user information and generating an update instruction according to the plurality of user information; a gateway receiving the update instruction and instructing a microcontroller unit to control at least one electronic paper device to update a display content according to the update instruction.

Certain terms are used in this specification and subsequent patent applications to refer to specific components. A person of ordinary skill in the art should understand that hardware manufacturers may use different terms to refer to the same component. This specification and subsequent patent applications do not use differences in names as a way to distinguish components, but rather use differences in the functions of the components as the criterion for distinction. The word "including" mentioned throughout the specification and subsequent patent applications is an open term and should be interpreted as "including but not limited to". In addition, the word "coupled" here includes any direct and indirect electrical connection means. Therefore, if a first device is described herein as being coupled to a second device, it means that the first device may be directly electrically connected to the second device, or may be indirectly electrically connected to the second device via other devices or connection means.

Please refer to FIG. 1, which is a schematic diagram of an electronic paper device control system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The electronic paper device control system 1 includes a user device 10, a server 20, a gateway 30 (Gateway), a microcontroller unit 40 (MCU) and at least one electronic paper device 50. The user inputs a plurality of user information through the user device 10. The server 20 is coupled to the user device 10 to receive a plurality of user information and generate an update instruction according to the plurality of user information. The gateway 30 is coupled to the server 20 and the microcontroller unit 40 to receive the update instruction and instruct the microcontroller unit 40 to control at least one electronic paper device 50 to update the display content according to the update instruction.

Specifically, when at least one electronic paper device 50 is powered off or not powered, the user can still view its display content. Therefore, when the display content does not need to be updated, at least one electronic paper device 50 can be kept in a powered off state, or the microcontroller unit 40 does not supply power to at least one electronic paper device 50 to save power. On the other hand, when the server 20 receives a plurality of user information input by the user, it can generate an update indication based on the plurality of user information to indicate whether the display content needs to be updated. When the update indication indicates that the display content needs to be updated, the gateway 30 instructs the microcontroller unit 40 to supply power to at least one electronic paper device 50. After receiving power, at least one electronic paper device 50 enters the boot state, and then connects to the server 20 and downloads a plurality of user information. In this way, at least one electronic paper device 50 can update the plurality of user information in the displayed content. After the update is completed, at least one electronic paper device 50 can enter the shutdown state, or the microcontroller unit 40 stops supplying power to at least one electronic paper device 50 to make it enter the shutdown state. On the other hand, the electronic paper device control system 1 can further include a power supply unit, and is coupled to at least one electronic paper device 50 through a switch. When the displayed content needs to be updated, the microcontroller unit 40 can control the switch to enable the power supply unit to supply power to at least one electronic paper device 50. It should be noted that the power supply unit and the switch are not shown in FIG. 1 . In the following embodiments, it is assumed that the microcontroller unit 40 can supply power to at least one electronic paper device 50 .

In one embodiment, the electronic paper device control system 1 can be applied to conference room reservations. Please refer to Figure 2, which is a schematic diagram of a conference room display device control system 2 of an embodiment of the present invention. The conference room display device control system 2 is derived from the electronic paper device control system 1, so the same devices are represented by the same symbols. The difference is that in the conference room display device control system 2, the server 20 is coupled to a plurality of gateways 60, each gateway 60 is coupled to a plurality of microcontroller units 70, and each microcontroller unit 70 is coupled to at least one electronic paper device 50. In detail, the server 20 can be a cloud server, for example, a Microsoft 365 server. A plurality of gateways 60 may be arranged on each floor, and respectively coupled to a plurality of microcontroller units 70 corresponding to a plurality of conference rooms on a respective floor. Each microcontroller unit 70 is coupled to at least one electronic paper device 50 in the corresponding conference room. Specifically, a user connects to the cloud server 20 through the user device 10 and adds a reservation record for a specific conference room. The server 20 sends an update instruction to a specific gateway corresponding to the specific conference room according to the reservation record, and the specific gateway can control a specific microcontroller unit corresponding to the specific conference room to supply power to at least one electronic paper device 50 in the specific conference room. In this way, at least one electronic paper device 50 can connect to the server 20 (for example, through a wireless network) to download the reservation record and update the reservation record in the display content. After the update is completed, at least one electronic paper device 50 immediately enters a shutdown state to save power.

Furthermore, the conference room display device control system 2 can be applied to the situation where the conference room is entering a meeting from being idle. For example, when the meeting is about to start, the server 20 sends an update instruction to the specific gateway, and the specific gateway instructs the specific microcontroller unit to supply power to at least one electronic paper device 50 in the specific conference room. At least one electronic paper device 50 can update and display the display content of "Meeting in Progress", as shown in FIG. 2, but not limited thereto.

On the other hand, the operation of the electronic paper device control system 1 and the conference room display device control system 2 can be summarized as an electronic paper device control method 3. As shown in FIG. 3 , the electronic paper device control method 3 includes the following steps:

Step S300: Start.

Step S302: The server receives a plurality of user information and generates an update instruction according to the plurality of user information.

Step S304: The gateway receives the update instruction, and instructs the microcontroller unit to control at least one electronic paper device to update the display content according to the update instruction.

Step S306: End.

For detailed description of process 3 and its derivative variations, please refer to the above description and will not be elaborated here.

It should be noted that the electronic paper device control system 1 and the conference room display device control system 2 are embodiments of the present invention. A person skilled in the art can combine, modify or change the above-mentioned embodiments according to the spirit of the present invention, but is not limited thereto. All the above descriptions, steps, and/or processes (including recommended steps) can be implemented through hardware, software, firmware (i.e., a combination of hardware devices and computer instructions, the data in the hardware devices are read-only software data), electronic systems, or combinations of the above devices. Hardware can include analog, digital and hybrid circuits (i.e., microcircuits, microchips or silicon chips). Electronic systems can include system on chip (SoC), system in package (SiP), computer on module (CoM) and computer systems. The process steps and embodiments of the present invention may exist in the form of program codes or instructions and be stored in a storage unit. The storage unit may be a computer-readable recording medium, and the storage unit may include a read-only memory (ROM), a flash memory (Flash Memory), a random-access memory (RAM), a subscriber identity module (SIM), a hard disk or a disc read-only memory (CD-ROM/DVD-ROM/BD-ROM), but is not limited thereto. The above process and embodiments may be compiled into program codes or instructions and stored in a storage unit. A processor may be used to read and execute the program codes or instructions stored in the storage unit to implement all the aforementioned steps and functions.

In summary, the electronic paper device control system and method of the present invention can instruct the microcontroller unit to supply power to the electronic paper device when the display content needs to be updated, and the electronic paper device connects to the server to download and update the display content. After the update is completed, the electronic paper device returns to the shutdown state. In this way, the electronic paper device control system and method of the present invention does not need to frequently turn on and off the electronic paper device to check whether there is updated content. Therefore, compared with the previous technology, more power can be saved. The above is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention. All equal changes and modifications made according to the scope of the patent application of the present invention should be covered by the scope of the present invention.

1: Electronic paper device control system 2: Conference room display device control system 10: User device 20: Server 30,60: Gateway 40,70: Microcontroller unit 50: Electronic paper device S300,S302,S304,S306: Steps

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of an electronic paper device control system according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of a conference room display device control system according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 3 is a schematic diagram of a process flow of an electronic paper device control method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

1: Electronic paper device control system

2: Conference room display device control system

10: User device

20: Server

30:Gateway

40: Microcontroller unit

50: Electronic paper device

Claims (10)

An electronic paper device control system includes: a server for receiving a plurality of user information and generating an update instruction according to the plurality of user information; a microcontroller unit; at least one electronic paper device coupled to the microcontroller unit for displaying a display content; and a gateway coupled to the server and the microcontroller unit for receiving the update instruction and instructing the microcontroller unit to control the at least one electronic paper device to update the display content according to the update instruction. The electronic paper device control system as described in claim 1, wherein when the update indication shows that the display content needs to be updated, the gateway instructs the microcontroller unit to supply power to the at least one electronic paper device to update the display content. An electronic paper device control system as described in claim 2, wherein the at least one electronic paper device is further coupled to the server when powered to receive the plurality of user information, and updates the display content according to the plurality of user information. The electronic paper device control system as described in claim 2, wherein after the at least one electronic paper device updates the display content, the microcontroller unit stops supplying power to the at least one electronic paper device. The electronic paper device control system as described in claim 1, wherein when the update indication shows that the display content does not need to be updated, the microcontroller unit does not supply power to the at least one electronic paper device. A method for controlling an electronic paper device includes: A server receives a plurality of user information and generates an update instruction according to the plurality of user information; A gateway receives the update instruction and instructs a microcontroller unit to control at least one electronic paper device to update a display content according to the update instruction. The electronic paper device control method as described in claim 6, wherein when the update indication shows that the display content needs to be updated, the gateway instructs the microcontroller unit to supply power to the at least one electronic paper device to update the display content. The electronic paper device control method as described in claim 7, wherein the at least one electronic paper device is coupled to the server when powered to receive the plurality of user information, and updates the display content according to the plurality of user information. The electronic paper device control method as described in claim 7, wherein after the at least one electronic paper device updates the display content, the microcontroller unit stops supplying power to the at least one electronic paper device. The electronic paper device control method as described in claim 6, wherein when the update indication shows that the display content does not need to be updated, the microcontroller unit does not supply power to the at least one electronic paper device.