TWI486831B - Power saving device and power saving method - Google Patents

Description

Power saving device and power saving method thereof

The invention relates to a power saving device, in particular to a high efficiency power saving device and method applicable to a touch device.

As shown in FIG. 4A, the touch panel driving circuit 60 mainly includes a transmitting circuit 61, a receiving circuit 62 and a microprocessor 63, wherein the microprocessor 63 is connected. The transmitting circuit 61 and the analog-digital conversion circuit 62 control the transmitting circuit 61 to send a driving signal to the plurality of driving lines 51 of the touch panel 50', and the analog-to-digital conversion circuit 62 receives the touch panel 50'. After the analog sensing signal of the line 52, the analog digital signal is converted into a digital sensing signal by the analog digital conversion circuit 62, and then output to the microprocessor 63 in full, and the firmware and preset value built in the microprocessor 63 are built-in. Vr1~Vr4 are compared to determine whether to perform corresponding touch functions, such as output coordinates, gesture commands, and the like.

As described above, the touch drive circuit 60 needs to periodically scan or poll and determine the similar circuit size of the signal to be received. Once the user has not used it for a long time, continuous scanning and judgment will cause power waste; These similar circuits all design sleep mode and working mode. In the driving circuit 60 of the touch panel, when the driving circuit 60 detects that no object appears in the touch panel 50' for a predetermined time in the working mode, or the polling has no result, the driving circuit 60 enters. Sleep mode to achieve power saving effect. Referring to FIG. 5, since the driving circuit 60 generally has the microprocessor 63 as the main control component, the microprocessor 63 is at least basically composed of a central processing unit (CPU) 631 and a timer. (TIMER) 632, interrupt instruction unit (IRC) 633, read only memory (ROM) 634, static random access memory (SRAM) 635, and watchdog timer (WDT) 636, in the conventional touch panel driving circuit In the sleep mode, the timer 632 will continue to count in the schedule and wake up the microprocessor 63 periodically, so when the drive circuit 60 is woken up into the active mode by the sleep mode, as shown in FIG. 4B, the microprocessor The device 63 sequentially sets (IRC, ROM, SRAM, WDT), calculation and judgment until entering the sleep mode; therefore, as shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B, the total power of the drive circuit 60 in the operation mode and the sleep mode. Schematic diagram of the consumption; as shown in the figure, after entering the operation mode S61, the first stage program is executed, and after the microprocessor 63 is woken up, the scanning circuit S62 and S63 are enabled to be sent to the transmission circuit 61 and the analog-to-digital conversion circuit 62. The power consumption of the first stage program is L1; then, the second stage process is performed, at which time the analog-to-digital conversion circuit 62 converts the signal of the analog-to-digital conversion circuit 62 into a digital sensing signal, and the microprocessor 63 also Order IRC, RO The setting of M, SRAM, TIMER, WDT, then the microprocessor 63 receives the digital sensing signal of the analog digital conversion circuit 62, and performs coordinate operation on the digital sensing signal through the firmware to determine whether the object is in or not, etc., S64, wherein the second The power consumption (hardware and firmware power consumption) of the phase program is L2; finally, after the microprocessor 63 obtains the object or coordinate information obtained by the above steps, it judges to execute its corresponding function S65, and then enters the sleep mode S66 again after completion. The power consumption (firmware power consumption) of the third stage program is L3. In the working mode, the analog-to-digital conversion circuit 62 continuously converts the digital sensing signal to the microprocessor 63, and the firmware of the microprocessor 63 performs a comparison and operation on the digital sensing signal to calculate a valid coordinate; The power consumption L2 of the second-stage program is naturally higher than the power consumption of the first and third-stage programs, and is a program that must be executed under the current driving circuit architecture. Moreover, the microprocessor 63 compares the plurality of digital sensing signals R1 R R4 one by one with the preset values Vr1 VVr4 one by one, and also causes a time accumulation error, so that the touch panel 50 reflects the coordinate position of the upper object. Sensitivity and correctness are affected.

In summary, the current program that uses the above-mentioned driving circuit architecture to scan or poll to detect a specific situation and then execute the corresponding function still consumes too much power in the working mode, and the operation error due to time accumulation needs to be further improved. It.

In view of the above-mentioned technical deficiencies, the main object of the present invention is to provide a power saving device and a power saving method thereof to provide better power saving effects.

The main technical means for achieving the above purpose is that the power saving device comprises: a signal output circuit for outputting at least one analog signal to be compared; and a comparison circuit for connecting at least one reference signal and the signal output circuit to Receiving the at least one analog analog signal to be compared, the comparing circuit compares the analog signal to be compared with the reference signal and generates a comparison signal; and a microprocessor is connected to the comparison circuit, and the comparison signal is output according to the comparison circuit Decide whether to wake up the microprocessor to perform the corresponding function.

The power saving device mainly replaces the original microprocessor with a firmware for long time calculation and judgment by an external comparison circuit. Since the comparison circuit is a hardware circuit, it can be quickly and referenced after receiving the signal to be compared. The signal is compared, and the comparison signal is transmitted to the microprocessor only when the signal to be compared is greater than the reference signal, to wake up the microprocessor to perform the corresponding function; thus, the microprocessor can be reduced for a long time. Electricity, and achieve the power saving effect.

Another power saving device of the present invention comprises: a touch panel comprising a driving line and a sensing line; and a transmitting circuit connected to the driving line of the touch panel; a comparison circuit is connected to the plurality of sensing lines of the touch panel to receive an analog sensing signal, the comparison circuit is further connected with a plurality of touch threshold signals, and the analog sensing signal and the touch are received after receiving the plurality of analog sensing signals The threshold signals are compared and a comparison signal is generated; an analog-to-digital conversion circuit is connected to the output of the comparison circuit, and converts the comparison signal into a digital sensing signal for output; and a microprocessor is connected to the analogy The digital conversion circuit receives the digital sensing signal output by the analog digital conversion circuit and performs a corresponding function according to the digital sensing signal.

Since the transmitting circuit of the power saving device transmits the driving signal, the comparison circuit continuously receives the sensing signal from the sensing line of the touch panel, and because the comparison circuit is connected with the plurality of touch threshold signals, only the sensing is performed. The signal is greater than the touch threshold signal, and the comparison circuit outputs the comparison signal to the analog digital conversion circuit, and the analog digital conversion circuit converts the digital signal into a digital sensing signal and outputs the signal to the microprocessor; The touch circuit can save a considerable amount of power consumption by using the microprocessor firmware for a plurality of digital sensing signals for a long time. Moreover, since the present invention implements the comparison circuit by a hardware circuit, the time error can be eliminated. Sensitivity and correctness of object coordinates.

Moreover, the main technical means for achieving the above object is that the power saving method of the present invention includes: receiving at least one analog-like analog signal outputted by one of the signal output circuits of the electronic device via a comparison circuit; the comparison circuit continues Receiving at least one analog analog signal to be compared with at least one reference signal, and generating a comparison signal; and determining, according to the comparison signal, whether to wake up a microprocessor for subsequent operations and performing a corresponding function.

The power saving method of the present invention provides a comparison circuit for continuously outputting the signal to be compared, so that the comparison circuit quickly compares the reference signal connected thereto after receiving the signal to be compared, and only when the signal to be compared is greater than the reference signal. The comparison signal is transmitted to the microprocessor. To wake up the microprocessor to perform the corresponding function; thus, the power consumed by the microprocessor for a long time can be reduced, and the power saving effect can be achieved.

10, 10'‧‧‧ comparison circuit

11‧‧‧ Comparator

20‧‧‧ analog digital conversion circuit

30‧‧‧Microprocessor

40‧‧‧Transmission circuit

50‧‧‧ Signal output circuit

50'‧‧‧ Trackpad

51‧‧‧ drive line

52‧‧‧Induction line

53‧‧‧ objects

60‧‧‧ drive circuit

61‧‧‧Transmission circuit

62‧‧‧ analog digital conversion circuit

63‧‧‧Microprocessor

631‧‧‧Central Processing Unit

632‧‧‧Timer

633‧‧‧Interrupt command unit

634‧‧‧Read-only memory

635‧‧‧Static Random Access Memory

636‧‧‧Watchdog Timer

Figure 1 is a block diagram of a circuit of the power saving device of the present invention.

2A is a circuit block diagram of a preferred embodiment of the power saving device of the present invention.

Figure 2B: Flowchart of Figure 2A performing object detection and coordinate output.

Figure 3A is a timing diagram showing the appearance of an object on a touch panel.

FIG. 3B is a schematic diagram of the power consumption of the driving circuit of the existing touch panel in conjunction with FIG. 3A.

FIG. 3C is a schematic diagram of the power consumption of the present invention in conjunction with FIG. 3A.

Figure 4A is a circuit block diagram of an existing drive circuit.

Figure 4B: Flowchart of Figure 4A performing object detection and coordinate output.

Figure 5: Functional block diagram of the microprocessor.

The present invention is directed to the use of a microprocessor for periodic scanning, polling to detect the presence or absence of a particular object or condition, and providing a power saving device as a circuit for the microprocessor to perform the corresponding function. Referring first to FIG. 1, it includes at least one The signal output circuit 50, a comparison circuit 10, and a microprocessor 30, wherein the signal output circuit 50 can be selected from a touch circuit, a keyboard scan circuit, or a polling circuit of a motherboard connector, etc., to periodically output at least one The circuit to be compared to the signal. The comparison circuit 10 is connected to the signal output circuit 50 and the at least one reference signal Vr1 VVr4. When the to-be-compared signal is greater than the corresponding reference signals Vr1 VVr4, the comparison circuit 10 outputs a comparison signal, wherein the comparison signal includes at least Have to wait Compare the numerical information in the signal (for example: amount of induction, etc.). The microprocessor 30 is connected to the comparison circuit 10, and is woken up after receiving the comparison signal, and performs a coordinate operation and performs a function corresponding to the comparison signal and the output coordinate with a firmware. Moreover, the microprocessor 30 transmits a The analog-to-digital conversion circuit 20 is connected to the comparison circuit 10, and the analog-to-digital conversion circuit 20 first converts the comparison signal into a digital signal and outputs the same to the microprocessor 30; wherein the microprocessor 30 includes at least a central processing unit (CPU) ), timer (TIMER), interrupt command unit (IRC), read only memory (ROM), static random access memory (SRAM), and watchdog timer (WDT).

The power saving device of the present invention mainly compares the to-be-compared signal and the reference signal through the comparison circuit 10, and determines whether to wake up the microprocessor 30 for subsequent operations and execution operations according to the comparison result. The power saving device of the present invention does not need to perform signal comparison through the microprocessor 30, so the microprocessor 30 can be maintained in the sleep mode without being woken up without performing coordinate operations or instruction execution. In addition, the microprocessor 30 of the power saving device of the present invention turns off the timer in the sleep mode, and the timer is required to be turned on to save more power than the conventional touch panel driving circuit. Therefore, the present invention can be applied to an electronic device that performs a polling operation for a long period of time, thereby greatly reducing power consumption and achieving energy saving. As shown in FIG. 2A , the present invention is applied to a touch device and constitutes a power saving device. The power saving device includes: a touch panel 50 ′ including a driving line 51 and The sensing circuit 52 is connected to the driving line 51 of the touch panel 50' to periodically transmit the driving signals TX1 to TX4. In the embodiment, the transmitting circuit 40 is connected to a timing circuit 401. The timing circuit 401 provides a one-cycle signal of the transmitting circuit 40, and the transmitting circuit 40 is periodically outputted to the touch panel 50'. A comparison circuit 10' includes a plurality of comparators 11 for respectively connecting to the touch panel. a 50' complex sensing line 52 for periodically receiving a plurality of sensing signals and having a plurality of touch threshold signals connected thereto Vr1~Vr4 (reference signal), and after receiving the complex sensing signal, when the comparison sensing signals R1~R4 are greater than the corresponding touch threshold signals Vr1~Vr4, the comparing circuit 10' outputs a comparison signal; an analog-to-digital conversion The circuit 20 is connected to the output end of the comparison circuit 10', and is awakened after receiving the comparison signal of the comparison circuit 10', and converts the comparison signal into a digital sensing signal and outputs the same; and a microprocessor 30, The system is connected to the analog-to-digital conversion circuit 20, and is awakened after receiving the analog-to-digital conversion circuit 20 to output a digital sensing signal, and performs a corresponding function according to the digital sensing signal.

Referring to FIG. 2B, when the power saving device enters the working mode, the first phase program is performed, and the transmitting circuit 40 and the comparing circuit 10' are enabled, and the driving circuit 40 outputs a driving signal to the touch panel 50. Then, the comparator 11 of the comparison circuit 10' receives the analog sensing signal of each sensing line 52 of the touch panel 50'. If there is no object on the touch panel 50', the analog sensing signal received by the comparator 11 It is lower than the touch threshold signals Vr1~Vr4 to which it is connected, and the comparison signal is not output. Therefore, the analog-to-digital conversion circuit 20 is not enabled, and the microprocessor 30 is continuously maintained in a sleep state. As shown in FIGS. 3A and 3C, although the power saving device is in the working mode, there is no object on the touch panel 50', so the main power consuming components are the transmitting circuit 40 and the comparing circuit 10', compared to the conventional touch. The power consumption of the board driving circuit, although the power consumption L1' of the first stage program of the present invention is slightly higher than the first stage power consumption L1 of FIG. 3B, if no object 53 touches the touch panel 50' Since the present invention does not need to wake up the microprocessor 30, there is no power consumption L2, L3 of the second and third stage programs, so that the present invention can greatly save overall energy consumption.

Referring to FIGS. 2B and 3C, when the touch panel 50' is in the working mode S10 and the object 53 touches the touch panel 50', the analog signal of the sensing line 52 corresponding to the position of the object 53 is raised. S11, at this time, the comparator 11 of the comparison circuit 10' corresponding to the sensing line 52 outputs a comparison signal S12 because the analog sensing signal received by the comparator 11 is higher than the connected touch threshold signals Vr1 to Vr4 (the above is the first stage program). Then, the second stage process is performed, wherein the analog-to-digital conversion circuit 20 and the microprocessor 30 are enabled to be woken up, and the analog-to-digital conversion circuit 20 converts the comparison signal into a digital sensing signal S13 and outputs the same The microprocessor 30, at this time, the microprocessor 30 is awakened from the sleep state, and sequentially pairs the central processing unit, the timer, the interrupt instruction unit, the read only memory, the static random access memory, and the watchdog. The timer and other components perform setting S14, and then the central processing unit of the microprocessor 30 accesses the digital sensing signal received by the read-only memory through the firmware and performs operations to obtain the position and coordinate information of the corresponding object. S15, the overall power consumption of the second-stage program is slightly increased to the second-stage power consumption L2'; finally, the third-stage program is performed, wherein the microprocessor 30 calculates the object position or coordinate information obtained according to the foregoing second-stage program. The message determines the corresponding touch function, and executes the touch function S16, and then returns to the sleep mode 517, wherein the power consumption of the third stage program is L3'.

Referring to FIG. 3B at the same time, the power saving device of the present invention determines the object coordinates and performs the object coordinate corresponding function (such as output coordinates, output gesture command, etc.) in the working mode, but at this time, the microprocessor 30 of the present invention. There is no need to wake up the central processing unit and the read-only memory to perform a comparison operation on the plurality of digital sensing signals R1 to R4 one by one. Therefore, the power consumption of the power saving device of the present invention in the second stage is still better than that of the conventional touch panel. The power consumption L2 of the second stage program of the drive circuit is low. Furthermore, the microprocessor 30 of the present invention can only wake up and perform setting, calculation and execution of the corresponding touch function only when receiving the digital sensing signal, and does not have to compare and judge the plurality of digital sensing signals one by one. Time accumulation error, causing errors in coordinate operations.

The power saving device of the present invention can be applied to the touch panel as a driving circuit as shown in FIG. 2A, for example, a keyboard scanning circuit, a polling circuit of a motherboard connector, etc., which can be directly used at the signal output end of the applications to be compared. Setting a comparison circuit, firstly using a hardware circuit to quickly and pre-filter whether a button has been pressed, whether the connector has been plugged in, or the like; if so, the corresponding comparison signal is transmitted through the analog digital conversion circuit. To the microprocessor, the microprocessor is only responsible for converting the digital signal for calculation, and determining the function corresponding to the digital signal, and then executing it.

In summary, the power saving device of the present invention mainly replaces the program for calculating and judging the original microprocessor with the firmware by an external comparison circuit. Since the comparison circuit is a hardware circuit, the signal to be compared can be received at one time. After the fast comparison with the reference signal, and only when the signal to be compared is greater than the reference signal, it is determined that the corresponding execution function has been generated, and then the analog digital conversion circuit is transmitted to the microprocessor, and the microprocessor performs the corresponding Function; therefore, in the driving circuit applied to the touch panel, in the working mode, the power consumption time and amount of the receiving circuit and the microprocessor can be effectively reduced, and the purpose of further power saving is achieved. Furthermore, since the present invention implements the comparison circuit with a hardware circuit, the accuracy of the operation of the time error can be eliminated, and the overall scanning or polling speed can be improved.

Claims (8)

A power saving device includes: a signal output circuit for outputting at least one analog signal to be compared; and a comparison circuit for connecting at least one reference signal and the signal output circuit to receive the at least one analog signal to be compared, the comparison The circuit compares the analog signal and the reference signal to be compared and generates a comparison signal; and a microprocessor is connected to the comparison circuit, and determines whether to wake up the microprocessor to perform a corresponding function according to the comparison signal output by the comparison circuit. . The power saving device of claim 1, wherein the signal output circuit is connected to a timing circuit, and the timing circuit controls the signal output circuit to periodically output the at least one to be compared signal. The power saving device according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising an analog-to-digital conversion circuit connected between the output end of the comparison circuit and the microprocessor to convert the comparison signal into a digital signal and output the same microprocessor. A power saving device includes: a touch panel comprising a plurality of driving lines and sensing lines; a transmitting circuit connected to the driving lines of the touch panel; and a comparison circuit connected to the touch panel The plurality of sensing lines are configured to receive analog sensing signals, and the comparing circuit is further connected with a plurality of touch threshold signals, and comparing the analog sensing signals and the touch threshold signals after receiving the plurality of analog sensing signals, and generating a comparison signal; An analog-to-digital conversion circuit is coupled to the output of the comparison circuit and converts the comparison signal into a digital sense signal for output; and a microprocessor is coupled to the analog-to-digital conversion circuit, the microprocessor receives the analogy The digital conversion circuit outputs a digital sensing signal, and performs a corresponding function according to the digital sensing signal. The power saving device of claim 4, wherein the transmitting circuit is coupled to a timing circuit that controls the transmitting circuit to periodically transmit a driving signal to the transmitting circuit. A power saving method for an electronic device includes: receiving, by a comparison circuit, at least one analog-to-comparison analog signal outputted by a signal output circuit of the electronic device; the comparison circuit continuously receiving at least one analog signal to be compared with at least one The reference signal is compared and a comparison signal is generated; and the comparison signal is used to determine whether to wake up a microprocessor for subsequent operations and perform corresponding functions. The power saving method of claim 6, wherein the comparison signal is first converted into a digital signal and then output to the microprocessor. The power saving method of claim 6, wherein the comparison signal includes at least the numerical information in the signal to be compared.