CN101246393A - Computer device and keyboard input operation method thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

A computer device and a keyboard input operation method thereof, the keyboard input operation method comprising receiving an interrupt request; reading a first scan code stored in a scan code buffer; determining whether the first scan code is a preset scan code representing a function switch key; if the first scan code is a preset scan code, reading an event code stored in an event code buffer; and executing a corresponding service program or function according to the event code.

Description

Operation method of computer device and keyboard input thereof

technical field

The invention relates to keyboard input technology, in particular to a computer device and its keyboard input operation method.

Background technique

In many computer systems (eg, desktop computers), the keyboard is used as the main input device for inputting commands or data into the computer system. In such computer devices, the keyboard is coupled to the processing unit through a keyboard interface (eg, a keyboard controller). Generally speaking, a computer keyboard uses a mesh or matrix switch assembly. When a key on a specific junction in the mesh or matrix switch assembly is pressed, a The keyboard controller on the mainboard of the device will determine the pressed key through the location of the network.

However, as the size of portable computer devices (for example: notebook computers or ultra mobile computers (UMPC)) shrinks, and such computer devices usually have many additional functions, such as: switching the display screen on the computer device or projector, adjust the volume of the sound, or adjust the brightness of the picture, etc. However, the number of keyboard keys assembled on this type of computer device usually cannot support these functions respectively. Therefore, the keyboard on the existing portable computer device is usually provided with a function switching key (Function key; Fn key), so that a single button on the keyboard can not only have a single function.

For example, the "Backspace" key is originally a clear key for clearing the input characters or numbers, but if the Fn key and the "Backspace" key are pressed simultaneously, the speaker of the computer device will enter a mute state. In other words, some keys on the keyboard will have two functions. When pressed alone, they can perform general functions, such as text input, clear or update, etc., and can perform a specific function when used in conjunction with the Fn key. .

In addition, in this type of portable computer device, the Fn key is usually matched with the function keys (for example: F1-F12) on the keyboard to execute the functions of unlocking the keyboard, opening the Internet program, outputting the image to the projector, and executing the audio-visual program. Pause function, execute fast forward function of audio-visual program, execute reverse function of audio-visual program, enable sleep mode, increase screen brightness, decrease screen brightness, increase speaker volume, decrease speaker volume, enable mute function or other functions, In order to increase the additional functions that can be controlled by the keys without increasing the size of the keyboard.

Contents of the invention

The present invention provides an operation method for keyboard input, including receiving an interrupt request; reading a first scan code stored in a scan code buffer; judging whether the first scan code is a preset scan code; and if the first scan code is a default scan code; A scan code is a default scan code, reads an event code stored in an event code register, and executes a corresponding service program or function according to the event code.

The present invention also provides a computer device, comprising a keyboard with at least one alphanumeric key, at least one function key and at least one function switching key (Fn key); a processing unit; a keyboard controller coupled to the keyboard, The same interrupt signal is used to cause the processing unit to execute a corresponding service program or function when an alphanumeric key, a function key, a function switch key or a combination thereof is pressed.

The present invention also provides a computer device, including a keyboard, having at least one alphanumeric key, at least one function key, and at least one function switching key (Fn key); a keyboard controller, coupled to the keyboard, including a scan code register With an event code register; and a processing unit, after receiving an interrupt request, read a first scan code stored in the scan code register, and determine whether the first scan code represents the function switching key A default scan code, if the first scan code is the default scan code, read an event code stored in an event code register, and execute a corresponding service program or function according to the event code.

In order to make the above and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention more comprehensible, a preferred embodiment is specifically cited below, and in conjunction with the attached drawings, the detailed description is as follows:

Description of drawings

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a computer device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a keyboard.

FIG. 3 shows a flow chart of the steps of the keyboard input operation method according to the embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed ways

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a computer device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The computer device 100 includes a processing unit 10, a north bridge chip 11, a non-volatile memory 12, a memory unit 13, a south bridge chip 15, a display chip 30, a display unit 16, a keyboard 18, a bus 20, and a keyboard controller 22, wherein the memory unit 13 also includes a random access memory 14 (Random Access Memory, RAM), the south bridge chip 15 also includes an interrupt controller 24, and the keyboard controller 22 also includes a scan code buffer 221 and an event code buffer 223.

In this embodiment, the computer device 100 can be a desktop computer device, a server, a barebones system (Barebone), or a portable computer device, wherein the portable computer device includes notebook computers (Notebooks), tablet computers (Tablet PC) , Palmtops, and Ultra Mobile Computers (UMPC). In this embodiment, the non-volatile memory 12 may be a flash memory (Flash), and in other embodiments, the non-volatile memory 12 may also be a read-only memory (Read Only Memory, ROM). In this embodiment, the display unit 16 can be a liquid crystal display panel. In other embodiments, the display unit 16 can also be a plasma display panel, an organic electroluminescence display panel, a field emission display panel, or a cathode ray tube display panel. .

The processing unit 10 is coupled to the north bridge chip 11, and the processing unit 10 can be a microprocessor (Microprocessor) or a central processing unit (Central Processing Unit, CPU). The north bridge chip 11 is respectively coupled to the processing unit 10 , the south bridge chip 15 , the display chip 30 , and the memory unit 13 . The display chip 30 is coupled to the display unit 16 . In other embodiments, the display chip 30 can also be replaced by a display card.

The south bridge chip 15 is respectively coupled to the north bridge chip 11 , the non-volatile memory 12 , and the keyboard controller 22 . In other examples, the south bridge chip 15 can also be coupled to other computer auxiliary devices, such as a disk drive, an optical drive, or a printer. Thus, the processing unit 10 can access the data stored in the memory unit 13 through the north bridge chip 11 , and the processing unit 10 can also perform operations related to the non-volatile memory 12 and the keyboard controller 22 through the south bridge chip 15 .

In this embodiment, the south bridge chip 15 is coupled to the non-volatile memory 12 through an Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus. In this embodiment, the bus 20 between the keyboard controller 22 and the south bridge chip 15 can be a low pin count (Low Pin Count, LPC) bus. In other embodiments, the keyboard controller 22 and the south bridge chip 15 The bus 20 between them can also be an ISA bus.

Furthermore, the south bridge chip 15 is coupled between the north bridge chip 11 and the bus 20 to control the connection between the processing unit 10 and the keyboard controller 22 connected to the bus 20 . In addition, the interrupt controller 24 in the south bridge chip 15 can receive the interrupt signal of the keyboard controller 22 through the bus 20 , such as IRQ1 , so as to generate a corresponding interrupt request to notify the processing unit 10 to contact the keyboard controller 22 . Similarly, the south bridge chip 15 can also receive interrupt signals (for example: IRQ0, IRQ2～IRQ15) of other computer auxiliary equipment through other buses (for example: PCI bus, USB bus, SATA bus, or IDE bus), to generate The corresponding interrupt request is used to notify the processing unit 10 to contact other computer auxiliary devices.

The keyboard controller 22 is assembled on the motherboard. It is worth noting that each key on the keyboard 18 has a corresponding contact switch, and these contact switches can be coupled with the keyboard controller 22 through connecting wires, whereby the keyboard controller 22 can For example: in a few milliseconds) these contact switches are scanned once to determine whether one or more keys are pressed so that the corresponding contact switches generate keyboard signals, so that the keyboard controller 22 can generate keyboard signals according to different keys. The corresponding scan code (Scan Code). Then, the keyboard controller 22 will store the scan code in the scan code register 221 , and generate an interrupt signal IRQ1 to output to the interrupt controller 24 of the south bridge chip 15 . In addition, when some specific keys on the keyboard 18 are pressed, the keyboard controller 22 will generate corresponding event codes (Event Code) and store them in the event code register 223 .

The interrupt controller 24 receives interrupt signals from various computer peripherals, such as IRQ0-IRQ15, through a plurality of interrupt request signal lines, so as to generate corresponding interrupt requests to notify the processing unit 10 that other components want to communicate.

It should be noted that, in this embodiment, the keyboard controller 22 and the interrupt controller 24 only transmit the interrupt signal (for example, the interrupt signal IRQ1 ) through one interrupt request signal line. That is to say, no matter one key or multiple keys on the keyboard 18 are pressed, the keyboard controller 22 will send the same interrupt signal to the interrupt controller 24 through the same interrupt request signal line, wherein multiple keys are pressed The following situation is, for example: the situation where the function switching key (Fn key) and a single function key (for example: F1-F12) are pressed simultaneously, or the situation where the Fn key and a single letter key are pressed simultaneously, or multiple alphanumeric keys ( For example: Ctrl key + Alt key + Del key) are pressed simultaneously.

When the interrupt controller 24 receives the interrupt signal IRQ1, the interrupt controller 24 will generate a keyboard interrupt request (Keyboard Interrupt Request) and send it to the processing unit 10. Then, the processing unit 10 sends an acknowledgment message (Acknowledge) to the interrupt controller 24 to inform the interrupt controller 24 that the processing unit 10 has received the generated keyboard interrupt request. Next, the processing unit 10 executes a keyboard interrupt service routine (Keyboard Interrupt Service Routine, KBSR), so that the keyboard interrupt service routine obtains the scan code generated by it from the keyboard controller 22 to perform related operations, for example: convert the scan code into ASCII characters representing the alphanumeric keys pressed by the user, or to perform the function determined by the pressed characters.

Generally speaking, the keyboard interrupt service routine can be stored in the non-volatile memory 12 or the random access memory 14 . In some embodiments, the keyboard interrupt service routine used by keyboard 18 is part of the Basic Input/Output System (BIOS).

FIG. 2 shows a schematic diagram of the keyboard 18 . The keyboard 18 includes a plurality of traditional alphanumeric keys (alphanumeric Keys) 181, a plurality of function keys (Function Keys) 182, and a function switching key (Fnkey) 183. For example, the alphanumeric keys 181 include alphabet keys a~z, number keys 0~9, Ctrl key, Shift key, Alt key, etc., and the function keys 182 include at least F1~F12 keys. The keyboard controller 22 is coupled to the keyboard 18 to detect whether the alphanumeric keys 181 , function keys 182 , and function switching keys 183 are pressed by the user.

It should be noted that, in the embodiment of the present invention, when the function switching key (Fn) 183 and any function key (F1-F12) 182, or the function switching key (Fn) 183 and any alphanumeric key 181 are pressed When pressing down, the keyboard controller 22 will generate a set of preset scan codes. In this embodiment, the set of preset scan codes is, for example, E023. At this time, the keyboard controller 22 also generates a corresponding event code and stores it in the event code register 223 .

Table 1 is a comparison table between event codes and their corresponding service programs in the embodiment of the present invention.

event code the key pressed Corresponding functions ECD01 Fn+F2 Open the Internet program ECD02 Fn+F3 Turn on keypad lock ECD03 Fn+F4 Output image to projector ECD04 Fn+F5 Execute the pause function of the audio-visual program ECD05 Fn+F6 Execute the fast-forward function of audio-visual programs ECD06 Fn+F7 Execute the reverse function of the audio-visual program ECD07 Fn+F8 Turn on sleep mode ECD08 Fn+F9 Increase the brightness of the screen ECD09 Fn+F10 Reduce the brightness of the screen

ECD10 Fn+F11 Raise the volume of the horn ECD11 Fn+F12 Reduce the volume of the horn ECD12 Fn+Backspace Turn on the mute function

Table I

For example, when the F2 key in the Fn key 183 and the function key 182 is pressed, the keyboard controller 22 will generate a default scan code E023 and generate an event code ECD01, representing that the user wants to open (or execute) an Internet access program. If the F3 key in the Fn key 183 and the function key 182 is pressed, the keyboard controller 22 will generate a default scan code E023 and generate a corresponding event code ECD02, representing that the user wants to open the function of the keyboard lock, so as to Keypad 18 is locked. In other words, when the Fn key 183 and the F8 key of the function keys 182 are pressed, the keyboard controller 22 will generate a default scan code E023 and a corresponding event code ECD07, representing that the user intends to enable the sleep mode to Save power consumption. It should be noted that, in other embodiments, when the Fn key 183 and any alphanumeric key 181 are pressed, the keyboard controller 22 can also generate the default scan code E023 and generate a corresponding event code.

When the alphanumeric key 181, the function key 182 or a combination thereof or a hotkey (Hotkey) is pressed, the keyboard controller 22 will generate a corresponding scan code, but does not include the preset scan code E023, indicating that the function switching key ( Fn) 183 is not pressed.

FIG. 3 shows a flow chart of an operation method for keyboard input according to an embodiment of the present invention, which is executed by the processing unit 10 . In step S310, an interrupt request is received. In step S320, read the first scan code stored in the scan code register. In step S330, it is determined whether the first scan code represents the default scan code of the function switching key. In step S340, if the first scan code is the default scan code, read an event code stored in an event code register, and execute a corresponding service program or function according to the event code.

The operation method of keyboard input according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described below. The method is executed by the processing unit 10 . Please refer to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2 at the same time.

First, when the processing unit 10 detects the keyboard interrupt request sent by the interrupt controller 24, it executes the corresponding keyboard interrupt service program. Generally speaking, the interrupt controller 24 can be used to generate different interrupt requests to inform the processing unit 10 according to the interrupt signals sent by different components, such as IRQ0˜IRQ15 , and the processing unit 10 will execute the corresponding interrupt service routine. In this embodiment, when any key or multiple keys are pressed in the keyboard 18, the interrupt controller 24 will send a keyboard interrupt request to the processing unit 10 according to the interrupt signal IRQ1 generated by the keyboard controller 22, So that the processing unit 10 executes the keyboard interrupt service program.

It should be noted that the keyboard interrupt request is generated by the interrupt controller 24 detecting the interrupt signal IRQ1 sent by the keyboard controller 22, and the interrupt signal IRQ1 is due to the keyboard controller 22 detecting the function switching key (Fn key) on the keyboard 18 183. Alphanumeric keys 181, function keys (F1-F12) 182, combination of function switching key (Fn key) 183 and alphanumeric key 181, or combination of function switching key (Fn key) 183 and function key 182 is pressed produced when.

In this way, the keyboard interrupt service program can first read the scan code stored in the scan code register 221 in the keyboard controller 22, and call a filter program (FP) to determine whether the scan code is the default in this embodiment scan code. In this embodiment, the filtering program can be stored in a disk drive (Disk Drive) or BIOS of the computer device 100 . In a preferred embodiment of the present invention, the default scan code represents the scan code generated when the function switching key (Fn key) 183 or its combination with other keys on the keyboard 18 is pressed by the user. For example, the default scan code may be E023, but not limited thereto.

When the filter program judges that the current scan code is the default scan code (E023), the filter program will read the event code stored in the event code register 223 in the keyboard controller 22, so that the BIOS in the computer device 100 or The application program can execute a corresponding service program (or function) according to the obtained event code.

For example, as shown in Table 1, assuming that the read event code is ECD01, it means that the function switching key (Fn) 183 and the function key F2 are pressed by the user, and the computer device 100 will execute a service program to open (or execute) the Internet access program.

In other words, the BIOS in the computer device 100 can selectively execute a corresponding service program according to the read event code, so as to open the keypad lock, open the Internet access program, output images to the projector, execute the pause function of the audio-visual program, execute The fast-forwarding function of the audio-visual program, the reverse function of executing the audio-visual program, enabling the sleep mode, increasing the brightness of the screen, reducing the brightness of the screen, increasing the volume of the speaker, reducing the volume of the speaker, enabling the mute function or other functions.

If the filter program judges that the read scan code is not the default scan code (E023), the keyboard interrupt service program executes the function corresponding to being pressed, for example: convert the scan code obtained by the keyboard interrupt service program into a representative use or the ASCII character of the alphanumeric key pressed, or perform the function determined by the pressed character.

In addition, it is worth mentioning that, whether it is the keyboard interrupt service program or the filter program performing related operations, the related operations still need to be performed by the processing unit 10 for related operations. Therefore, in the description of the preferred embodiment of the present invention, it can also be said that the processing unit 10 judges whether the scan code in the keyboard controller 22 is the preset scan code of the function switch key, if the scan code in the keyboard controller 22 is the preset scan code If the code is scanned, the processing unit 10 reads the event code stored in the event code register 223, and the processing unit 10 can execute a corresponding service program or function according to the event code.

Although the present invention has been disclosed above with preferred embodiments, it is not intended to limit the present invention. Any person familiar with the art may make various equivalent changes or substitutions without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. Therefore, this The scope of protection of the invention should be defined by the claims.

Claims (14)

1. the method for operating of a keyboard input is characterized in that, comprises the steps:

Receive an interrupt request;

Read one first scan code that is stored in the one scan sign indicating number buffer;

Judge whether described first scan code is a default scan code; And

If described first scan code is described default scan code, reads an event code that is stored in the event code buffer, and carry out the service routine or the function of a correspondence according to described event code.

2. method of operating as claimed in claim 1 is characterized in that, described first scan code is produced when being pressed by the combination of other button on a function switch key or itself and the keyboard.

3. method of operating as claimed in claim 1 is characterized in that, described interrupt request is produced when detecting a look-at-me by a South Bridge chip.

4. method of operating as claimed in claim 3 is characterized in that, described look-at-me is that a function switch key is pressed, produces when a function key is pressed, an alphanumeric key is pressed or wherein the two is pressed on detecting a keyboard.

5. method of operating as claimed in claim 1, it is characterized in that, when a function switch key and a function key or an alphanumeric key simultaneously by when being pressed, store described first scan code to described scan code buffer, and store described event code to described event code buffer.

6. a computer installation is characterized in that, comprising:

One keyboard has at least one alphanumeric key, at least one function key, reaches at least one function switch key;

One processing unit; And

One keyboard controller couples described keyboard, with when described alphanumeric key, described function key, described function switch key or its Macintosh are pressed, produces mutually same look-at-me, causes described processing unit to carry out the service routine or the function of a correspondence.

7. computer installation as claimed in claim 6, it is characterized in that, also comprise a South Bridge chip, be coupled between described processing unit and the described keyboard controller, when receiving described look-at-me, the keyboard interrupt request that produces causes described processing unit to carry out the service routine or the function of described correspondence.

8. computer installation as claimed in claim 7, it is characterized in that, described processing unit is after receiving described interrupt request, read one first scan code that is stored in the one scan sign indicating number buffer, judge whether described first scan code is a default scan code of the described function switch key of representative, if described first scan code is described default scan code, reads and be stored in an event code in the event code buffer, and carry out the service routine or the function of a correspondence according to described event code.

9. a computer installation is characterized in that, comprising:

One keyboard has at least one alphanumeric key, at least one function key and at least one function switch key;

One keyboard controller couples described keyboard, comprises that one scan sign indicating number buffer is with an event code buffer;

One processing unit, after being used to receive an interrupt request, read one first scan code that is stored in the described scan code buffer, judge whether described first scan code is a default scan code of the described function switch key of representative, if described first scan code is described default scan code, read and be stored in an event code in the event code buffer, and carry out the service routine or the function of a correspondence according to described event code.

10. computer installation as claimed in claim 9 is characterized in that, when described keyboard controller is pressed in described function switch key, produces described first scan code and is stored to described scan code buffer.

11. computer installation as claimed in claim 10 is characterized in that, described keyboard controller is in detecting described function switch key, described function key, producing described look-at-me when an alphanumeric key is pressed or wherein the two is pressed.

12. computer installation as claimed in claim 11, it is characterized in that, described keyboard controller is simultaneously by when being pressed in described function switch key and described function key or described alphanumeric key, store described first scan code to described scan code buffer, and store described event code to described event code buffer.

13. computer installation as claimed in claim 9 is characterized in that, comprises that also an interruptable controller is in order to produce described interrupt request according to described look-at-me.

14. computer installation as claimed in claim 13 is characterized in that, described interruptable controller is arranged in the South Bridge chip.

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