WO2014184959A1

WO2014184959A1 - Control device and remote controller

Info

Publication number: WO2014184959A1
Application number: PCT/JP2013/063834
Authority: WO
Inventors: 知晃行田; 成憲中田
Original assignee: 三菱電機株式会社
Priority date: 2013-05-17
Filing date: 2013-05-17
Publication date: 2014-11-20
Also published as: JPWO2014184959A1; JP6099736B2

Abstract

A remote controller according to the present invention comprises a central calculation device (6) in which a control unit (60) generates a drawing command that is used to make a drawing calculation device perform drawing processing. A command transmission unit (65) transmits the drawing command that is generated by the control unit (60) to the drawing calculation device. After transmission of the drawing command, a response data transmission unit (66) performs response communication concerning a data request from the drawing calculation device without said response communication being mediated by the control unit (60). When generating the drawing command, the control unit (60) generates the following data in advance and stores said data in RAM (63): response data intended for the drawing calculation device that corresponds to the drawing command; and control data that is used when the response data transmission unit (66) transmits the response data to the drawing calculation device. The response data transmission unit (66) performs response communication on the basis of the response data and the control data.

Description

Control device and remote controller

The present invention relates to a control device and a remote controller provided with the control device.

In recent years, it is not uncommon for remote controllers for operating home appliances and equipment to include a full-dot liquid crystal display and a GUI (graphical user interface) to improve user convenience.

In such a remote controller, since the processing load for drawing an image is large, there has been a problem that a main process for controlling home appliances and equipment is delayed by the drawing process.

On the other hand, for example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technique of separately providing a drawing arithmetic device as dedicated hardware for executing drawing processing.

JP 2010-175638 A

Even in the configuration as described above, in order to draw an image (screen) including information related to the operation state managed on the microcomputer (microcomputer) side, the target operation is performed between the microcomputer and the drawing arithmetic unit. Communication is required to maintain state consistency. Therefore, if there are many types of operation states to be drawn, the processing load for the microcomputer to communicate with the drawing arithmetic device increases. In such a situation, if the CPU to be mounted is not of high specifications, there is a possibility that the main process to be executed by the microcomputer may be delayed.

The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems, and an object of the present invention is to provide a control device and a remote controller that can prevent a delay in main processing even during screen drawing.

In order to achieve the above object, a control device according to the present invention provides:
A control unit that generates a drawing command for causing a drawing arithmetic unit configured by a hardware circuit dedicated to the drawing process to execute a specific drawing process;
A command transmission unit that transmits the drawing command generated by the control unit to the drawing arithmetic device;
A response data transmission unit that executes response communication to the data request from the drawing arithmetic device without passing through the control unit after transmitting the drawing command;
When the control unit generates the drawing command, response data to the drawing arithmetic device corresponding to the drawing command and control data for the response data transmitting unit to transmit the response data to the drawing arithmetic device And storing the generated response data and the control data in a predetermined memory,
The response data transmission unit executes the response communication based on the response data and the control data.

According to the present invention, the control device can execute the main processing without delay while the drawing processing is being executed by the drawing arithmetic device.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the remote controller which concerns on Embodiment 1 of this invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a central processing unit (control device) according to the first embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of a setting content table. It is a figure which shows an example of the fluctuation | variation screen element table. FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining data stored in a RAM according to the first embodiment. FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a response data transmission unit according to the first embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of the response data sequence of Embodiment 1. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a transfer control data string according to the first embodiment. FIG. 6 is a flowchart (part 1) illustrating a procedure of a drawing control process according to the first embodiment. 5 is a flowchart (part 2) illustrating a procedure of a drawing control process according to the first embodiment. FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining data stored in a RAM according to the second embodiment. It is a figure which shows an example of a head response data sequence. It is a figure which shows an example of a back response data sequence. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a response data transmission unit according to Embodiment 2. FIG. 9 is a flowchart (part 1) illustrating a procedure of a drawing control process according to the second embodiment. 12 is a flowchart (part 2) illustrating a procedure of a drawing control process according to the second embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a transfer control data string according to the third embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the response data transmission part of Embodiment 3. 14 is a flowchart illustrating a procedure of drawing control processing according to the third embodiment.

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a remote controller 1 according to the first embodiment of the present invention. The remote controller 1 is a device for a user to operate an air conditioner (control target device) (not shown). In addition, the control target device may be an illuminator, a security system, or the like, and various home appliances and facility devices may be the operation target of the remote controller 1.

As shown in FIG. 1, the remote controller 1 includes an operation receiving unit 2, a display unit 3, a screen data storage unit 4, a drawing arithmetic device 5, and a central arithmetic device 6. The operation reception unit 2 includes a touch panel, a touch pad, and the like, receives an input operation from the user, and outputs a signal (operation signal) corresponding to the received input operation to the central processing unit 6.

The display unit 3 is a liquid crystal device including a full-dot LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) panel, for example. The display unit 3 displays a screen drawn (generated) by the drawing calculation device 5.

The screen data storage unit 4 includes, for example, an EEPROM (ElectricallyrErasable Programmable Read-Only Memory), a serial flash ROM (Read Only Memory), a parallel flash ROM, or the like. The screen data storage unit 4 stores screen data, a drawing sequence, and the like that are read and used by the drawing arithmetic unit 5 at the time of screen drawing.

The drawing arithmetic unit 5 is composed of a hardware circuit dedicated to drawing processing. When receiving a drawing command (to be described later) from the central processing unit 6, the drawing calculation device 5 reads screen data corresponding to the drawing command from the screen data storage unit 4. Then, the drawing operation device 5 generates a display screen based on the read screen data and outputs the screen to the display unit 3.

The central processing unit 6 (control device) is a microcomputer that performs overall control of the remote controller 1. As shown in FIG. 2, the central processing unit 6 includes a control unit 60, a setting content storage unit 61, a ROM 62, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 63, an input port 64, a command transmission unit 65, and response data. A transmission unit 66.

The control unit 60 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and the like, interprets a software program (hereinafter referred to as “program”) read from the ROM 62, and performs arithmetic processing and control of each component according to the contents. .

The setting content storage unit 61 is a readable / writable nonvolatile memory composed of, for example, an EEPROM. As shown in FIG. 3, a setting content table 610 is stored in the setting content storage unit 61. The setting content table 610 indicates the control content for the control target device (in this example, the air conditioner) set by the user operation, information indicating the screen being displayed on the display unit 3, or the screen to be displayed next by the user operation. It is a data table in which the information etc. which are shown are stored.

Specifically, one or a plurality of records each including a data ID and a data value are registered in the setting content table 610. In the example shown in FIG. 3, it is understood that the user has made settings for causing the air conditioner to perform a cooling operation with a target temperature of 25 ° C. Further, the display unit 3 shows that the screen corresponding to the screen ID “0” is being displayed or is the next screen to be displayed. In FIG. 3, the data ID and the data value are expressed in decimal numbers.

Returning to FIG. 2, the ROM 62 is a nonvolatile read-only memory that stores various programs executed by the control unit 60 and various definition tables referred to when the programs are executed. In the present embodiment, the ROM 62 stores a variable screen element table 620 as shown in FIG. 4 as one of various definition tables. The variable screen element table 620 defines information about screen elements that may vary (that is, not fixed) depending on the contents of the setting content table 610 for each screen to be displayed on the display unit 3. It is a data table.

Specifically, as shown in FIG. 4, records including a screen ID and one or more pieces of screen element information are registered in the variable screen element table 620 by the number of screens to be displayed. Yes. The screen element information includes a data ID and a data length when data corresponding to the data ID is transmitted to the drawing arithmetic device 5. When a plurality of pieces of screen element information are set in one record in the variable screen element table 620, response data (details will be described later) corresponding to each piece of screen element information is sent to the drawing arithmetic unit 5 in the arrangement order. It matches the order to do. In FIG. 4, as in FIG. 3, the data ID is expressed in decimal.

Returning to FIG. 2, the RAM 63 is a memory used as a work area of the control unit 60. In the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 5, the response data string 630 and the transfer control data string 631 generated by the control unit 60 are temporarily stored. Details of the response data string 630 and the transfer control data string 631 will be described later.

2, the input port 64 is a port for inputting the operation signal output from the operation receiving unit 2. The command transmission unit 65 is a communication interface for transmitting the drawing command generated by the control unit 60 to the drawing arithmetic device 5. As the communication interface method, for example, a clock synchronous serial method, an asynchronous serial communication method, a general-purpose bus method, or the like can be adopted.

When the response data transmission unit 66 detects a signal (data request signal) for requesting response data from the drawing operation device 5, the response data transmission unit 66 transmits the response data read from the response data sequence 630 stored in the RAM 63 to the drawing operation device 5. To do.

As shown in FIG. 6, the response data transmission unit 66 includes a first DMAC 660, a second DMAC 661, a third DMAC 662, a timer 663, and a data transmission unit 664. The first DMAC 660 is a DMA (Direct Memory Access) controller that executes one data transfer triggered by detection of a data request signal output from the drawing arithmetic unit 5. The first DMAC 660 includes a read start address register, a read data size register, an offset value register, and the like.

The read start address register is a register for storing a memory address (read start address) of a transfer source that starts reading data. The read data size register is a register for storing the size (byte unit) of data read from the transfer source memory address in one data transfer. The offset value register is a register for storing an offset value (in bytes) for updating the read start address every time one data transfer is completed.

In the present embodiment, in the initialization process when the remote controller 1 is turned on, the read start address register of the first DMAC 660 is stored in the memory indicating the storage destination of the transfer control initial value 665 in the memory determined in advance by the control unit 60. An address is set. In this embodiment, the transfer control initial value 665 is 1-byte data (for example, “0x01”), and is used to start a timer 663 described later. The transfer control initial value 665 is stored in a nonvolatile memory such as the setting content storage unit 61 or the ROM 62.

In the first DMAC 660, “1” is set to the read data size register by the control unit 60 and “0” is set to the offset value register in the same initialization process as described above. Each time the first DMAC 660 detects a data request signal from the drawing arithmetic unit 5, the first DMAC 660 reads the transfer control initial value 665 and transfers it to the start register of the timer 663.

The second DMAC 661 is a DMA controller that executes one data transfer triggered by detection of a timeout signal output from the timer 663. Similar to the first DMAC 660, the second DMAC 661 includes a read start address register, a read data size register, an offset value register, and the like. In the read start address register of the second DMAC 661, a memory address indicating the storage destination of the response data string 630 in the RAM 63 is set by the control unit 60 in a drawing control process described later. Further, “1” is set in the read data size register and the offset value register of the second DMAC 661 by the control unit 60 in the initialization process when the remote controller 1 is powered on.

The response data column 630 is data in which a plurality of response data in which a data ID and a data value corresponding to the data ID are paired are stored. As shown in FIG. 7, the data ID is stored in the area for the first byte of each response data. The data value is set in the subsequent data portion area. The data length of each response data is acquired from the variable screen element table 620.

The response data string 630 is obtained by the control unit 60 on the condition that the display content in the display unit 3 needs to be updated and the above-described changing screen element is included in the new display target screen. Generated and stored in the RAM 63. The control unit 60 generates a response data string 630 based on the setting content table 610 stored in the setting content storage unit 61 and the variable screen element table 620 stored in the ROM 62.

More specifically, the control unit 60 refers to the record corresponding to the screen that requests display to the drawing arithmetic device 5 in the variable screen element table 620, and in order from the screen element information 1 set in this record. Each data ID and data length are acquired. Further, the control unit 60 acquires a data value corresponding to the acquired data ID from the setting content table 610. The control unit 60 sequentially generates response data corresponding to each screen element information using the data ID, data value, and data length acquired in this way, and stores the response data side by side to store the response data string 630. Generate. Further, the control unit 60 adds dummy response data indicating the end to the end of the response data string 630 (response data 3 in the example of FIG. 7). Note that the example of the response data string 630 illustrated in FIG. 7 corresponds to the record of the screen ID “0” in the variable screen element table 620 of FIG.

In the response data string 630 shown in FIG. 7, in the response data 1, the second byte of the data part stores a value (0x25) representing the target temperature data value (25 ° C.) in BCD (binary decimal number). Has been.

Each time the second DMAC 661 detects a time-out signal output from the timer 663, the second DMAC 661 reads data of a predetermined size (1 byte in the present embodiment) from the response data string 630 and transmits the data by the data transmission unit 664. Transfer to register.

The third DMAC 662 is a DMA controller that executes one data transfer triggered by detection of a transmission completion signal output from the data transmission unit 664. Similar to the first DMAC 660 and the second DMAC 661, the third DMAC 662 includes a read start address register, a read data size register, an offset value register, and the like. In the read start address register of the third DMAC 662, a memory address indicating the storage destination of the transfer control data string 631 in the RAM 63 is set by the control unit 60 in a drawing control process described later. Further, the read data size register and the offset value register of the third DMAC 662 are set to “1” by the control unit 60 in the initialization process when the remote controller 1 is turned on.

The transfer control data string 631 is data that stores a plurality of data (transfer control data) for controlling the data transfer of the second DMAC 661 (see FIG. 8). Each transfer control data corresponds to each response data in the response data string 630. That is, in the example shown in FIGS. 7 and 8, response data 1 and transfer control data 1, response data 2, transfer control data 2, response data 3 and transfer control data 3 correspond to each other. As shown in FIG. 8, the data length of each transfer control data in the transfer control data string 631 is the same as the data length of the corresponding response data. In each transfer control data, data indicating “start of transfer” (in this embodiment, “0x01”) is stored for each byte from the beginning up to the data length minus the first byte. At the end of each transfer control data, data indicating “transfer stop” (in this embodiment, “0x00”) is stored.

The transfer control data sequence 631 is generated by the control unit 60 along with the generation of the response data sequence 630 and stored in the RAM 63. The control unit 60 generates a transfer control data sequence 631 based on the response data sequence 630 generated previously.

Each time the third DMAC 662 detects a transmission completion signal output from the data transmission unit 664, the third DMAC 662 reads data of a predetermined size (1 byte in the present embodiment) from the transfer control data string 631, and the timer 663 Transfer to the start register.

The timer 663 (transfer signal output unit) includes a start register, and starts counting when data indicating the start of timing (in this embodiment, “0x01”) is stored in the start register. In the

timer

663, 1 is set in advance as a count value until timeout, and a timeout signal (transfer signal) is output when a predetermined time has elapsed after the start of timing.

The data transmission unit 664 is a communication interface for transmitting response data to the drawing arithmetic device 5. As the communication interface method, for example, a clock synchronous serial method, an asynchronous serial communication method, a general-purpose bus method, or the like can be adopted. The data transmission unit 664 starts transmission when data is stored in the transmission register, and outputs a transmission completion signal when transmission is completed.

Although the configuration of the remote controller 1 has been described above, the remote controller 1 includes an interface (not shown) for communicating with a control target device such as an air conditioner in addition to the above-described components.

Subsequently, operations related to drawing control executed by the central processing unit 6 of the remote controller 1 will be described. FIG. 9 and FIG. 10 are flowcharts showing the procedure of the drawing control processing (drawing control processing) executed by the central processing unit 6. This drawing control process is repeatedly executed while the remote controller 1 is powered on. Note that, in the following drawing control processing, in order to facilitate understanding, it is assumed that the updated display screen when the display content needs to be updated includes a changing screen element.

When the content of the setting content table 610 is updated as a result of the operation through the operation accepting unit 2 by the user, the control unit 60 determines whether or not the display content of the display unit 3 needs to be updated (step S101). . For example, when the user performs an operation for switching the display screen, the control unit 60 determines that the display content needs to be updated. When it is determined that the display content needs to be updated (step S101; YES), the control unit 60 generates the response data string 630 and the transfer control data string 631 as described above, and stores them in the RAM 63 (step S101). S102).

Then, the control unit 60 sets the read start address in the read start address register of each of the second DMAC 661 and the third DMAC 662 (step S103). More specifically, the control unit 60 sets a memory address indicating the storage destination of the response data string 630 in the RAM 63 in the read start address register of the second DMAC 661. In addition, the control unit 60 sets a memory address indicating the storage destination of the transfer control data string 631 in the RAM 63 in the read start address register of the third DMAC 662.

The control unit 60 generates a drawing command for requesting the drawing operation device 5 to update the display contents, and transmits the drawing command to the drawing operation device 5 via the command transmission unit 65 (step S104). This drawing command includes information (screen specifying information) for specifying a screen to be displayed. Examples of the screen specifying information include a screen ID and information indicating a storage destination of target screen data in the screen data storage unit 4.

The drawing calculation device 5 that has received the drawing command reads the corresponding screen data from the screen data storage unit 4 based on the screen specifying information included in the drawing command. Then, the drawing operation device 5 generates a display screen based on the read screen data and outputs the screen to the display unit 3. At that time, if the data request flag indicating that specific data needs to be acquired from the central processing unit 6 is stored in the read screen data, the drawing processing unit 5 stores the data in the central processing unit 6. On the other hand, a data request signal is output. The data request flag is stored in the screen data so as to correspond to the screen element information in the variable screen element table 620 shown in FIG. That is, in the screen data corresponding to the screen ID “0”, a data request flag indicating a target temperature acquisition request and a data request flag indicating an operation mode acquisition request are stored.

When a plurality of data request flags are stored in one screen data, the output order of the data request signal by the drawing operation device 5 matches the arrangement order of the screen element information in the corresponding record of the variable screen element table 620. To do. That is, for the screen data corresponding to the screen ID “0”, the drawing arithmetic unit 5 first outputs a data request signal for requesting data indicating the target temperature. Then, after receiving response data from the central processing unit 6 with respect to this data request signal, a data request signal for requesting data indicating the operation mode is output.

In the present embodiment, when the drawing operation device 5 receives response data (for example, data indicating the operation mode) according to the last data request flag from the central processing device 6, the drawing operation device 5 receives the data request signal once more. It is a specification to output. In response to the data request signal at this time, the central processing unit 6 transmits the last response data indicating “end” (response data 3 in the example of FIG. 7) to the drawing operation device 5.

When the first DMAC 660 of the response data transmission unit 66 detects the data request signal from the drawing arithmetic unit 5 (step S105 in FIG. 10; YES), the first DMAC 660 reads the transfer control initial value 665 and transfers it to the start register of the timer 663 (step S105). S106). As a result, the timer 663 is activated to start measuring time. Thereafter, when a time-out signal is output from the timer 663 (step S107; YES), the second DMAC 661 reads data of a predetermined size (1 byte in the present embodiment) from the response data string 630, The data is transferred to the transmission register of the data transmission unit 664 (step S108).

When data is stored in the transmission register, the data transmission unit 664 transmits this data to the drawing arithmetic unit 5. When the transmission completion signal is output by the data transmission unit 664 (step S109: YES), the third DMAC 662 receives data of a predetermined size (1 byte in the present embodiment) from the transfer control data sequence 631. Is transferred to the start register of the timer 663 (step S110).

When the data transferred to the start register of the timer 663 does not indicate “transfer stop” (step S111; NO), the operation of the response data transmission unit 66 waits for the output of a timeout signal by the timer 663 (step S107). ).

On the other hand, if the data transferred to the start register of the timer 663 indicates "transfer stop" (step S111; YES), and there is untransferred response data (step S112; NO), response data transmission The operation of the unit 66 waits for the output of the next data request signal by the drawing arithmetic unit 5 (step S105). When there is no untransferred response data (step S112; YES), that is, when all the response data is transmitted to the drawing arithmetic unit 5, the drawing control process by the central arithmetic unit 6 ends for the update of the display contents this time. .

When the updated display screen does not include a fluctuating screen element, the control unit 60 does not generate the response data sequence 630 and the transfer control data sequence 631, but simply transmits a drawing command and immediately The drawing control process ends. In this case, a data request signal is not output from the drawing arithmetic unit 5, and the response data transmission unit 66 does not perform the operation described above.

As described above, in the remote controller 1 of the present embodiment, when it is necessary to display a screen including a changing screen element, the control unit 60 of the central processing unit 6 (control device) corresponds to the screen. A response data string 630 is generated in advance and stored in the RAM 63. For the subsequent processing, the response data transmission unit 66 performs response communication to the drawing arithmetic device 5 without going through the control unit 60, that is, the CPU, in response to the detection of the data request signal from the drawing arithmetic device 5. Execute. For this reason, even if it is a screen display by a liquid crystal device of a full dot format, the load of the control part 60 (CPU) can be reduced, ensuring the response speed to the drawing arithmetic unit 5. Therefore, the control part 60 can perform the main process regarding control of an air conditioner (control object apparatus) without delay.

Further, since the response data transmission unit 66 can be realized by a memory transfer circuit having a simple configuration, the cost of the central processing unit 6 is not increased.

Further, since the screen data and the like are stored in the screen data storage unit 4 separate from the central processing unit 6 and the drawing arithmetic unit 5 directly acquires the screen data and the like from the screen data storage unit 4, the central processing unit It is not necessary to increase the capacity of the memory mounted on the device 6, and the cost can be reduced.

In the present embodiment, the execution of data transfer by the third DMAC 662 is triggered by the detection of the transmission completion signal output from the data transmission unit 664. However, the detection of other signals may be triggered. In this case, for example, the response data transmission unit 66 is provided with a timer different from the timer 663. This timer starts timing every time a time-out signal is output from the timer 663, and outputs a time-out signal to the third DMAC 662 when a predetermined time elapses. That is, the added timer outputs a time-out signal to the third DMAC 662 when a predetermined time has elapsed from the start of data transmission by the data transmission unit 664. The third DMAC 662 may execute one data transfer with the detection of the timeout signal as a trigger.

(Embodiment 2)
Next, a remote controller according to the second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the following description, components and the like that are common to the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals, and description thereof is omitted.

In the remote controller of the second embodiment, the control unit 60 of the central processing unit 6 generates a top response data sequence 632 and a backward response data sequence 633 as shown in FIG. 11 instead of the response data sequence 630, Save in the RAM 63.

The head response data string 632 stores a plurality of head response data that is data corresponding to a predetermined size (1 byte in the present embodiment) from the head of each response data in the response data string 630 (see FIG. 7). It is data. The backward response data string 633 is data in which a plurality of pieces of data (in this embodiment, data in the data portion area) excluding the portion corresponding to the head response data in each response data of the response data string 630 are stored as backward response data. is there. In other words, the top response data string 632 and the backward response data string 633 are data in a form in which the response data string 630 is divided. An example of the top response data string 632 is shown in FIG. 12, and an example of the backward response data string 633 is shown in FIG.

As shown in FIG. 14, the response data transmission unit 66a of this embodiment includes a first DMAC 660, a second DMAC 661, a third DMAC 662, a timer 663, and a data transmission unit 664, as in the first embodiment.

However, in this embodiment, every time the first DMAC 660 detects a data request signal from the drawing arithmetic unit 5, data corresponding to a predetermined size (1 byte in this example) is read from the top response data string 632. Read and transfer to the transmission register of the data transmission unit 664. Each time the second DMAC 661 detects a time-out signal output from the timer 663, the second DMAC 661 reads data of a predetermined size (1 byte in this example) from the backward response data string 633, and the data transmission unit 664 Transfer to the send register. The operations of the third DMAC 662, the timer 663, and the data transmission unit 664 are the same as in the first embodiment.

Next, operations relating to drawing control executed by the central processing unit 6 in the remote controller of the present embodiment configured as described above will be described. 15 and 16 are flowcharts showing the procedure of the drawing control process executed by the central processing unit 6. Note that, as in the first embodiment, in the following drawing control processing, in order to facilitate understanding, it is assumed that the updated display screen when the display content needs to be updated includes a changing screen element. To do.

When the content of the setting content table 610 is updated as a result of the operation through the operation accepting unit 2 by the user, the control unit 60 determines whether or not the content displayed on the display unit 3 needs to be updated (step S201). ). As a result, when it is determined that the display content needs to be updated (step S201; YES), the control unit 60 generates a top response data string 632, a backward response data string 633, and a transfer control data string 631, and the RAM 63 (Step S202).

Then, the control unit 60 sets the read start address in the read start address register of each of the first DMAC 660 to the third DMAC 662 (step S203). More specifically, the control unit 60 sets a memory address indicating the storage destination of the head response data string 632 in the RAM 63 in the read start address register of the first DMAC 660. Further, the control unit 60 sets a memory address indicating the storage destination of the backward response data string 633 in the RAM 63 in the read start address register of the second DMAC 661. In addition, the control unit 60 sets a memory address indicating the storage destination of the transfer control data string 631 in the RAM 63 in the read start address register of the third DMAC 662.

The control unit 60 generates a drawing command for requesting the drawing calculation device 5 to update the display contents, and transmits the drawing command to the drawing calculation device 5 via the command transmission unit 65 (step S204).

When the data request signal output from the drawing arithmetic unit 5 in response to the drawing command is detected (step S205 in FIG. 16; YES), the first DMAC 660 of the response data transmitting unit 66a determines in advance from the head response data string 632. Data corresponding to the size (1 byte in the present embodiment) is read and transferred to the transmission register of the data transmission unit 664 (step S206).

When data is stored in the transmission register, the data transmission unit 664 transmits this data to the drawing arithmetic unit 5. When the data transmission is completed and a transmission completion signal is output from the data transmission unit 664 (step S207: YES), the third DMAC 662 determines a predetermined size (in this embodiment, from the transfer control data sequence 631). 1 byte) of data is read out and transferred to the start register of the timer 663 (step S208).

When the data transferred to the start register of the timer 663 does not indicate “transfer stop” (step S209; NO), the operation of the response data transmission unit 66a waits for the timer 663 to output a timeout signal (step S210). ). Thereafter, when a time-out signal is output from the timer 663 (step S210; YES), the second DMAC 661 reads data of a predetermined size (1 byte in the present embodiment) from the backward response data string 633. Then, the data is transferred to the transmission register of the data transmission unit 664 (step S211). Thereafter, the operation of the response data transmitter 66a waits for the output of the transmission completion signal by the data transmitter 664 (step S207).

On the other hand, if the data transferred to the start register of the timer 663 indicates "transfer stop" (step S209; YES), and there is untransferred top response data or backward response data (step S212; NO) ) The operation of the response data transmission unit 66a waits for the next data request signal to be output by the drawing arithmetic unit 5 (step S205). When there is no untransferred top response data and backward response data (step S212; YES), in other words, when all the response data is transmitted to the drawing arithmetic unit 5, the central arithmetic unit 6 regarding the update of the display contents this time The drawing control process ends.

As described above, in the remote controller of the present embodiment, when it becomes necessary to display a screen including a fluctuating screen element, the control unit 60 of the central processing unit 6 (control device) responds with the head response corresponding to the screen. A data string 632 and a backward response data string 633 are generated in advance and stored in the RAM 63. For the subsequent processing, the response data transmission unit 66a executes response communication without using the control unit 60, that is, the CPU, in response to the detection of the data request signal from the drawing arithmetic unit 5. Therefore, the same effect as that of the remote controller 1 of the first embodiment can be obtained.

(Embodiment 3)
Next, a remote controller according to the third embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the following description, the same reference numerals are given to components common to the first or second embodiment, and the description thereof is omitted.

In the remote controller of the third embodiment, the control unit 60 of the central processing unit 6 generates a top response data string 632 and a backward response data string 633 by the same method as in the second embodiment, and stores it in the RAM 63 ( (See FIGS. 11 to 13). However, in the remote controller of the third embodiment, the contents of the transfer control data string 631 generated by the control unit 60 are different from those of the first and second embodiments.

In this embodiment, each transfer control data in the transfer control data string 631 includes a data length of the corresponding head response data in the head response data string 632 and a data length of the corresponding back response data in the rear response data string 633. Based data, that is, data based on the data length of corresponding response data (see FIG. 7) is stored. More specifically, each transfer control data in the transfer control data string 631 of this embodiment stores a numerical value indicating the data length −1 of the corresponding response data (see FIG. 17).

FIG. 18 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the response data transmission unit 66b of the present embodiment. The response data transmission unit 66b includes a first DMAC 660, a second DMAC 661, a third DMAC 662, and a data transmission unit 664. That is, the response data transmission unit 66b has a configuration in which the timer 663 provided in each of the response

data transmission units

66 and 66a is removed.

As in the second embodiment, the first DMAC 660 of the response data transmission unit 66b detects a data request signal from the drawing arithmetic unit 5 every time it detects a data request signal from the head response data string 632 (in this example, 1 byte). ) Portion of data is read out and transferred to the transmission register of the data transmission unit 664.

The second DMAC 661 of the response data transmission unit 66b further includes an untransferred number register (not shown) in addition to the registers included in the second DMAC 661 of the first and second embodiments. The untransferred number register is a register for storing the remaining number of times (untransferred number) that the second DMAC 661 should perform data transfer. Each time the second DMAC 661 detects the transmission completion signal output from the data transmission unit 664, the second DMAC 661 starts from the backward response data string 633 on the condition that the stored value of the untransferred number register, that is, the untransferred number is 1 or more. The data for a predetermined size (1 byte in this example) is read and transferred to the transmission register of the data transmission unit 664. When the second DMAC 661 completes the data transfer, the second DMAC 661 decrements the value stored in the untransferred number register.

The third DMAC 662 of the response data transmission unit 66b reads data of a predetermined size (1 byte in this example) from the transfer control data sequence 631 every time it detects a data request signal from the drawing arithmetic unit 5. , Transfer to the untransferred number register of the second DMAC 661.

The data transmission unit 664 of the response data transmission unit 66b performs the same operation as the data transmission unit 664 of the first and second embodiments. However, in the response data transmission unit 66b, the output destination of the transmission completion signal is the second DMAC 661.

Next, operations relating to drawing control executed by the central processing unit 6 in the remote controller of the present embodiment configured as described above will be described. Note that, in the drawing control processing executed by the central processing unit 6 of the present embodiment, the processing until the control unit 60 generates a drawing command for the drawing processing device 5 is the same as in the second embodiment (FIG. 15). The description thereof is omitted. Similarly to the first and second embodiments, in order to facilitate understanding, the display screen after updating when the display content needs to be updated will be described as including a changing screen element.

When the data request signal output from the drawing arithmetic unit 5 in response to the drawing command transmitted by the control unit 60 is detected (step S301 in FIG. 19; YES), the third DMAC 662 is determined in advance from the transfer control data string 631. The data corresponding to the size (1 byte in this embodiment) is read and transferred to the untransferred number register of the second DMAC 661 (step S302).

When the data request signal is detected in the same manner as described above, the first DMAC 660 reads data of a predetermined size (1 byte in this embodiment) from the head response data string 632 and transfers it to the transmission register of the data transmission unit 664. (Step S303).

When data is stored in the transmission register, the data transmission unit 664 transmits this data to the drawing arithmetic unit 5. When the transmission of data is completed and a transmission completion signal is output from the data transmission unit 664 (step S304: YES), the second DMAC 661 has a storage value (that is, an untransferred number) in the untransferred number register of 1 or more. Whether or not (step S305).

When the number of untransferred is 1 or more (step S305; YES), the second DMAC 661 reads data for a predetermined size (1 byte in the present embodiment) from the backward response data string 633, and transmits the data transmission unit. The data is transferred to the transmission register 664 (step S306). The second DMAC 661 decrements the stored value of the untransferred number register (step S307).

On the other hand, when the number of untransferred is not 1 or more (step S305; NO) and there is untransferred top response data or backward response data (step S308; NO), the operation of the response data transmitting unit 66b is drawn. The operation device 5 waits for the next data request signal to be output (step S301). When there is no untransferred top response data and backward response data (step S308; YES), in other words, when all the response data is transmitted to the drawing arithmetic unit 5, the central arithmetic unit 6 for updating the display contents this time The drawing control process ends.

As described above, in the remote controller according to the present embodiment, when it is necessary to display a screen including a fluctuating screen element, the control unit 60 of the central processing unit 6 (control device) causes the head corresponding to the screen to be displayed. A response data string 632 and a backward response data string 633 are generated in advance and stored in the RAM 63. For the subsequent processing, the response data transmission unit 66b executes response communication without using the control unit 60, that is, the CPU, in response to detection of the data request signal from the drawing arithmetic unit 5. Therefore, the same effects as those of the remote controller 1 of the first embodiment and the remote controller of the second embodiment can be obtained.

Further, in the remote controller according to the present embodiment, the size of the transfer control data string 631 can be reduced as compared with the cases of the first and second embodiments, so that the amount of memory such as the RAM 63 in the central processing unit 6 is reduced. it can. In response data transmission unit 66b, after the transmission completion signal is output by data transmission unit 664, the next data is set in the transmission register by one data transfer operation. For this reason, the response speed with respect to the drawing arithmetic unit 5 can be further improved.

The present invention is capable of various embodiments and modifications without departing from the broad spirit and scope of the present invention. Further, the above-described embodiment is for explaining the present invention, and does not limit the scope of the present invention. That is, the scope of the present invention is shown not by the embodiments but by the claims. Various modifications within the scope of the claims and within the scope of the equivalent invention are considered to be within the scope of the present invention.

The present invention can be suitably employed in a remote controller for operating home appliances, equipment, and the like.

1 remote controller, 2 operation accepting unit, 3 display unit, 4 screen data storage unit, 5 drawing arithmetic unit, 6 central processing unit, 60 control unit, 61 setting content storage unit, 62 ROM, 63 RAM, 64 input port, 65 Command transmission unit, 66, 66a, 66b Response data transmission unit, 610 Setting content table, 620 Fluctuating screen element table, 630 Response data column, 631 Transfer control data column, 632 First response data column, 633 Back response data column, 660 1DMAC, 661 2nd DMAC, 662 3rd DMAC, 663 timer, 664 data transmitter, 665 transfer control initial value

Claims

A control unit that generates a drawing command for causing a drawing arithmetic unit configured by a hardware circuit dedicated to the drawing process to execute a specific drawing process;
A command transmission unit that transmits the drawing command generated by the control unit to the drawing arithmetic device;
A response data transmission unit that executes response communication to the data request from the drawing arithmetic device without passing through the control unit after transmitting the drawing command;
When the control unit generates the drawing command, response data to the drawing arithmetic device corresponding to the drawing command and control data for the response data transmitting unit to transmit the response data to the drawing arithmetic device And storing the generated response data and the control data in a predetermined memory,
The said response data transmission part is a control apparatus which performs the said response communication based on the said response data and the said control data.
The control data includes data indicating transfer start and data indicating transfer stop,
The response data transmission unit includes a data transmission unit, a transfer signal output unit, a first DMA controller, a second DMA controller, and a third DMA controller,
When the transfer signal output unit receives data indicating the transfer start, the transfer signal output unit outputs a transfer signal at a predetermined timing,
The data transmission unit transmits the received data to the drawing arithmetic device,
Each time the first DMA controller detects a data request signal from the drawing arithmetic unit, the first DMA controller transfers data indicating the transfer start to the transfer signal output unit,
Each time the second DMA controller detects the transfer signal, it sequentially reads data of a predetermined size from the top of the response data, transfers the read data to the data transmission unit,
Each time the third DMA controller detects a signal indicating that data transmission by the data transmission unit is completed, the third DMA controller sequentially reads data of a predetermined size from the top of the control data, and transfers the read data to the transfer unit. The control device according to claim 1, wherein the control device transfers the signal to a signal output unit.
The control unit divides the response data into two data, a top response data and a back response data, and stores the data in the memory,
The control data includes data indicating transfer start and data indicating transfer stop,
The response data transmission unit includes a data transmission unit, a transfer signal output unit, a first DMA controller, a second DMA controller, and a third DMA controller,
When the transfer signal output unit receives data indicating the transfer start, the transfer signal output unit outputs a transfer signal at a predetermined timing,
The data transmission unit transmits the received data to the drawing arithmetic device,
Each time the first DMA controller detects a data request signal from the drawing arithmetic unit, the first DMA controller sequentially reads data of a predetermined size from the top of the head response data, and transfers the read data to the data transmission unit. ,
Each time the second DMA controller detects the transfer signal, it sequentially reads data of a predetermined size from the head of the backward response data, transfers the read data to the data transmission unit,
Each time the third DMA controller detects a signal indicating that data transmission by the data transmission unit is completed, the third DMA controller sequentially reads data of a predetermined size from the top of the control data, and transfers the read data to the transfer unit. The control device according to claim 1, wherein the control device transfers the signal to a signal output unit.
The control unit divides the response data into two data, a top response data and a back response data, and stores the data in the memory,
The control data includes data indicating the required number of data transfers corresponding to the backward response data,
The response data transmission unit includes a data transmission unit, a first DMA controller, a second DMA controller, and a third DMA controller,
The data transmission unit transmits the received data to the drawing arithmetic device,
Each time the first DMA controller detects a data request signal from the drawing arithmetic unit, the first DMA controller sequentially reads data of a predetermined size from the top of the head response data, and transfers the read data to the data transmission unit. ,
Each time the second DMA controller detects a signal indicating that data transmission by the data transmission unit is completed, the backward response is performed on the condition that the value stored in a predetermined register included in the second DMA controller is 1 or more. Read data of a predetermined size sequentially from the beginning of the data, transfer the read data to the data transmission unit, decrement the stored value of the register after the transfer,
The third DMA controller sequentially reads data of a predetermined size from the top of the control data each time the data request signal is detected, and transfers the read data to the register of the second DMA controller. The control apparatus according to 1.
An operation accepting unit for accepting an operation from a user;
A control device;
A screen data storage unit for storing screen data;
In accordance with a drawing command transmitted from the control device, the corresponding screen data is read from the screen data storage unit, and a drawing arithmetic device that performs drawing processing based on the read screen data;
A display unit for displaying a screen drawn by the drawing arithmetic device,
The controller is
A control unit that generates the drawing command for causing the drawing arithmetic unit to execute a specific drawing process;
A command transmission unit that transmits the drawing command generated by the control unit to the drawing arithmetic device;
A response data transmission unit that executes response communication to the data request from the drawing arithmetic device without passing through the control unit after transmitting the drawing command;
When the control unit generates the drawing command, response data to the drawing arithmetic device corresponding to the drawing command and control data for the response data transmitting unit to transmit the response data to the drawing arithmetic device And storing the generated response data and the control data in a predetermined memory,
The response data transmission unit is a remote controller that executes the response communication based on the response data and the control data.