JP2003248580A - Program and information processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a program control method capable of realizing a standby state in a computer by slightly modifying an existing boot loader without using APM or ACPI and without changing the OS itself. provide. SOLUTION: A step (a) for searching for a jump code at the time of starting an OS, and a step (b) for initializing hardware and performing a loader process when a jump code is not obtained in the step (a); When a jump code is obtained in step (a), a step (c) of performing loader processing without initializing hardware, and a step (d) of setting the computer 20 to a standby state after the step (c) And (e) causing the computer to transition from the standby state to the operating state when a predetermined hardware interrupt occurs;
A step (f) of initializing the OS after the step (b) or the step (e).

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention realizes, in a computer, a standby state in which power supply to a display, a hard disk, peripheral devices, etc. is stopped and a standby state is set so that the computer can be immediately returned to the operating state when necessary. The present invention relates to a program control method.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a computer, a display,
A standby state has been realized in which power supply to a hard disk, peripheral devices, etc. is stopped and a standby state is set so that the operating state can be immediately restored when necessary. Conventionally, this standby state is (i) a BIOS (Basic Input / Output Syste) having a power management function.
m: The basic input / output system program is the OS (Ope
SMI (System Manage) that rating system cannot recognize
ment Interrupt) and realize it independently without the involvement and recognition of the OS, or (ii) BIO
APM which is an interface between S and other programs (including OS and application programs) and which is an interface standard for power management
(Advanced Power Management) or ACPI (Advance
d Configuration and Power Interface)
OS corresponding to PM or ACPI is APM or ACPI
By calling the BIOS corresponding to the above, the OS corresponding to the APM or ACPI and the BIOS corresponding to the APM or ACPI cooperate with each other.

At present, there are many OSs that do not have a power management function. In a computer using an OS that does not have such a power management function, the standby state cannot be realized, or the BIOS having the power management function has the power management function as described in (i) above. There is no choice but to realize the standby state independently without the involvement and recognition of the OS. In this way, when the BIOS having the power management function realizes the standby state independently without involvement and recognition of the OS not having the power management function, the OS having no power management function causes the computer to stand by. It is possible to recognize that the state of the memory etc. before entering the state is the same as the state of the memory etc. after the computer returns from the standby state to the operating state (for the OS where the state of the memory etc. does not have the power management function). It must be transparent).

However, when the BIOS having the power management function realizes the standby state independently without the involvement and recognition of the OS not having the power management function, the timekeeping function of the OS not having the power management function is provided. The time managed by is not able to reflect the time the computer was in standby.

Further, if the peripheral device configuration differs depending on the computer, and there is a peripheral device that cannot be recognized by the BIOS having the power management function (hereinafter referred to as "unrecognizable peripheral device"), it cannot be recognized. It is virtually impossible to deal perfectly with peripheral devices in advance. Therefore, the OS that does not have the power management function has the same state of the unrecognizable peripheral device before the computer goes into the standby state and the state of the unrecognizable peripheral device after the computer returns from the standby state to the operating state. It has been difficult to make it recognizable (the state of the unrecognizable peripheral device is transparent to the OS that does not have the power management function).

In such a case, it is possible to enhance the program content of the BIOS or OS having a power management function to improve the degree of completion. However, the risk of a program error increases and the resource consumption is increased due to the enlargement of the program code. There is a problem in that the response is deteriorated due to the increase and the complicated processing.

On the other hand, as described in (ii) above, the APM
Alternatively, when the OS corresponding to ACPI and the BIOS corresponding to APM or ACPI cooperate to realize the standby state, the load on the BIOS corresponding to the APM or ACPI can be reduced, and the computer can be in the standby state. In addition, there is an advantage that the continuity of the operation of the OS corresponding to APM or ACPI is high after the computer returns from the standby state to the normal state.

However, O corresponding to APM or ACPI
Even when S and the BIOS corresponding to APM or ACPI cooperate to realize the standby state, the application program operates the OS state corresponding to the APM or ACPI before the computer enters the standby state and the computer operates from the standby state. It is necessary to recognize that the state of the OS corresponding to APM or ACPI after returning to the state is the same (the state of the OS corresponding to APM or ACPI is transparent to the application program). Therefore, APM or AC
A program code that allows the OS corresponding to PI to be continuous to the application program before all the services provided to the application program are put into the standby state and after the computer is returned from the standby state to the operating state It is necessary to prepare or make the application program recognize the standby state. That is, the basic composition is the same as the case where the BIOS having the power management function realizes the standby state independently without the involvement and recognition of the OS having the power management function. Moreover, the power management process when viewed from the whole computer is becoming more and more complicated, and the problem to be worried still remains.

By the way, as a conventional OS state, AC
Hibernation specified in the PI standard as Hibernation, standby state (suspend state), end state when the computer power is off, computer power is on, and user logon There was a state of waiting.

The computer is powered off and
When the computer is turned on while S is in the end state, the BIOS performs a hardware diagnostic process called POST by the BIOS prior to booting the OS, and the OS image from the external storage device (HDD, etc.) The boot loader performs the expansion processing to the memory. However, hardware diagnostic processing, OS from external storage device
Since it takes a considerable amount of time to develop the image in the memory, it takes a long time to start the OS.

By the way, Japanese Patent Application Publication (JP-A) No. 5-242057 (hereinafter, also referred to as "Reference 1")
Includes a plurality of central processing units, a write / read memory provided for each central processing unit, and a secondary storage device such as a disk device that stores an operating system for each central processing unit. In the above, a read-only memory that stores an initial loader program for booting the system when the power is turned on is provided only for one of the plurality of central processing units, and the respective initial loaders for the other central processing units are provided. The program is stored in the secondary storage device, and when the system is started up, one central processing unit executes the initial loader program in the read-only memory, so that each of the initial loader programs in the secondary storage device corresponds to the corresponding one. Transfer to write / read memory for each central processing unit While sending a reset signal to the secondary storage device, it loads its own operating system from the secondary storage device, and the other central processing units execute secondary storage according to the initial loader program stored in the corresponding write / read memory in response to the reset signal. A booting method for a multiprocessor system, which is characterized by loading an operating system for its own use from each device, is described.

[0012] However, the multiprocessor system start-up method described in Document 1 is provided with a read-only memory storing the initial loader program only for one central processing unit, and the one central processing unit executing this initial loader program. Transfers the initial loader program executed by the other central processing unit from the secondary storage device to the writing / reading memory, and the other central processing unit executes the initial loader program transferred to the writing / reading memory. This is to reduce the space of the read-only memory required for storing the loader program, not to realize the standby state of the system, nor to shorten the time required to boot the OS.

Further, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 8-98098 (hereinafter, also referred to as "reference 2") discloses receiving means for receiving a television signal, demodulating it and outputting a video signal, and a video signal from this receiving means. Analog-to-digital conversion means for converting the digital signal into a digital signal, and storage means for holding the digital video signal from the analog-to-digital conversion means,
Display means for reading the digital video signal stored in the storage means and displaying an image on the display screen, a bus for transferring the digital video signal between the analog-digital conversion means and the storage means, and data transfer by the bus A transfer control means for controlling the above, a ROM for storing a bootstrap program including activation of an operating system,
Immediately after the power is turned on, the transfer control means is initialized based on the bootstrap program stored in the ROM to enable data transfer by the bus, and then the operating system is started to shift the entire system to the management of the operating system. A television receiver equipped with a CPU is listed.

However, the television receiver disclosed in the reference 2 can watch the television image immediately after the power is turned on by activating the operating system after displaying the television image based on the bootstrap program. However, it does not realize the standby state and does not shorten the time required to start the OS.

Further, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-161385 (hereinafter, also referred to as "Document 3") discloses a power source for a computer system in a computer system having an operating state, an off state, and a plurality of sleep states in between. A means for detecting a change in the power supply state, and when a change in the power supply state is detected during a period in which the computer system is in one of a plurality of sleep states, in response to the change in the power supply state, A computer system including a sleep state transition unit that transitions the sleep state of the computer system among a plurality of sleep states is disclosed.

However, the computer system described in Document 3 is a battery-powered notebook PC or the like that can take a plurality of sleep states of ACPI specification S0 to S5, and the power supply state during the sleep state (for example, of the AC adapter). (Insertion / removal) allows the depth of the sleep state to be dynamically switched according to changes in the system state, etc., and makes it possible to always set the system state to the optimum sleep state. That is, when the BIOS having the power management function realizes the standby state independently without the involvement and recognition of the OS not having the power management function, the computer is in the standby state at the time managed by the clock function of the OS. The OS that does not have the power management function and the unrecognizable peripheral device before the computer goes into the standby state and the unrecognizable peripheral device after the computer returns from the standby state to the operating state It is not realized to be able to recognize that the state is the same as that of (the state of the unrecognizable peripheral device is transparent to the OS that does not have the power management function).

In addition, the computer system described in Reference 3 uses an OS and APM compatible with APM or ACPI.
Alternatively, when the BIOS corresponding to ACPI cooperates to realize the standby state, the application program restores the OS state corresponding to the APM or ACPI before the computer enters the standby state and the computer from the standby state to the operating state. Later APM or AC
It does not realize that the state of the OS corresponding to the PI can be recognized as being the same (the state of the OS corresponding to APM or ACPI is transparent to the application program). Furthermore, it does not shorten the time required to start the OS.

[0018]

Therefore, in view of the above points, the present invention can be realized without using APM or ACPI.
It is a first object of the present invention to provide a program control method capable of realizing a standby state in a computer by slightly modifying an existing boot loader without changing the OS itself. Further, the present invention is
A second object is to provide a program control method capable of shortening the time required to boot the OS.

[0019]

In order to solve the above problems, a program according to a first aspect of the present invention is a program control method for controlling activation of a program including an operating system in a computer. A step (a) of searching for a jump code at the time of startup, a step (b) of initializing the hardware and executing a loader process when the jump code is not obtained in the step (a), and a jump of step (a) When the code is obtained, a step (c) of performing a loader process without initializing the hardware, a step (d) of putting the computer into a standby state after the step (c), and a predetermined hardware Steps to bring the computer from standby to active if an interrupt occurs. And (e), after step (b) or step (e), to perform the steps (f) to initialize the program to be started.

A program according to a second aspect of the present invention is a program control method for controlling activation of a program including an operating system in a computer, the method including a step (a) of searching a jump code when the program is activated. , A step (b) of initializing the hardware to perform the loader process when the jump code is not obtained in the step (a), and a step (c) of putting the computer in a standby state after the step (b). , Step (d) of shifting the computer from the standby state to the operating state when a predetermined hardware interrupt occurs, and without the hardware initialization when the jump code is obtained in step (a) Step (e) for performing loader processing and step (c) or step After the (e), to perform the steps (f) to initialize the program to be started.

Here, the loader process verifies the presence / absence of the context, executes the soft reset process if the context exists, and executes the soft reset process if the context does not exist.
A hard reset process can be performed. Further, the hard reset process can be a process of creating a context and recording cluster chain information and entry point information of the program in the context. Further, the context stores the cluster chain information and the entry point information of the program, and the soft reset process executes the warm boot of the program by the entry point information recorded in the context, and the cluster recorded in the context. It is also possible to perform a cold boot of the program by chain information.

According to the first aspect of the present invention, the existing boot loader is slightly modified without using APM or ACPI, without changing the OS itself, and when the user makes a standby request, the boot loader is modified. A standby state can be realized in the computer by providing an interface program that notifies the application and issues an end request to another application program. Therefore, the standby state can be realized in the computer by using an OS that does not support APM or ACPI. Further, it is possible to minimize the increase in man-hours and the increase in the OS program code size due to the addition of the power management function. Furthermore, the standby state in the computer can be realized very simply, the stability of the computer can be enhanced, and the processing speed can be increased.

In addition, the time when the computer is in the standby state cannot be reflected at the time managed by the timekeeping function of the OS, and the OS that does not have the power management function is used before the computer enters the standby state. To be able to recognize that the state of an unrecognizable peripheral device is the same as the state of the unrecognizable peripheral device after the computer returns from the standby state to the operating state (the state of the unrecognizable peripheral device has a power management function. If the OS that supports APM or ACPI and the BIOS that supports APM or ACPI cooperate to realize the standby state, the application program causes the computer to enter the standby state. APM or A before entering the state To make it possible to recognize that the state of the OS corresponding to PI is the same as the state of the OS corresponding to APM or ACPI after the computer returns from the standby state to the operating state (of the OS corresponding to APM or ACPI. The problem that the state cannot be transparent to the application program can be eliminated.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, the OS
The OS can be booted at high speed with a general hardware configuration without changing itself.

[0025]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a computer for carrying out a program control method according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, the computer 2
0 is a program (boot loader, BIOS (Basic In
put / Output System: CPU (Central Pr) that executes basic input / output system programs), OS (Operating System), application programs, etc.)
ocessing unit) 11 and programs (boot loader, BIOS (Basic Input / Output S) required for startup, etc.
ROM (read only)
Memory) 13 and a RAM (Random Access Mem) for expanding the program data when the program is executed.
mory) 15 and an HDD (Hard Disk) that is connected to the CPU 11, etc., and stores the OS, application programs, etc.
A disk drive) 17 and a video controller 19 that is connected to the CPU 11 and controls the output of images and the like.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing the program control processing of the computer. Hereinafter, the program control method according to the present embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. The CPU 11 executes a software reset command (software reset), or a reset signal from a reset button (not shown) or the like is sent to the CPU 11
Is input (hardware reset), the CPU 11
Starts the process of FIG.

When the processing of FIG. 2 is started, the CPU 11
Reset processing is performed according to the reset vector in the ROM 13 (step 101). A jump code (jump destination address) is stored in the reset vector, and the jump destination is selected from the data (step 10).
2).

When the processing of FIG. 2 is started by a hardware reset, the address starts from "0", for example, and therefore jumps to POST (step 10).
2). In POST, H / W (hardware) such as HDD 17 and RAM 15 and registers are initialized (step 103).

Next, the boot loader stored in the ROM 13 is loaded into the RAM 15 by the POST bootstrap process.
Read in and expand (step 104). OS
When the expansion of RAM to RAM15 is completed, I / O
The contents indicated by the reset vector can be changed by inputting / outputting O.

After changing the contents to the entry of the boot loader, the boot loader reads the operation image of the OS from the HDD 17 into the RAM 15 and expands it (step 105). Next, the boot loader creates a context (step 106), and stores the data necessary for the next startup therein. Required data is, for example, RAM
13, disk devices such as HDD 17, parameters of video controller 19, entry address of OS, OS
Parameters to be passed to the HDD, O in the disk device such as the HDD 17
The cluster information of the OS image file related to S, the contents of the original reset vector, and the like. The information in this context always exists in the memory in a state protected from the OS even while the OS is operating. Only the boot loader can access this context area.

Next, the boot loader is the computer 20.
It is checked whether or not the parameter instructing the standby for the high-speed startup is received (step 107), and if the parameter is received, the CPU 11 is stopped and the computer 20 is shifted to the standby state (step 108). ). If a hardware interrupt (including a timer interrupt, a power switch being turned on, etc.) occurs while the CPU 11 is stopped in step 108 (start instruction), the CPU 11 resumes operation, and the computer 20 Transition from standby state to operating state.

If the parameter instructing the standby for the high-speed startup of the computer 20 has not been received in step 107, or if the hardware interrupt has occurred in step 108, the boot loader is set to O in the RAM 15.
S is initialized (step 109). At this time, as a mechanism that allows the OS to request a boot loader operation at the next boot loader startup, means for the OS to record a request code (for example, a specific memory address) is included in the parameter to be passed to the OS. Notify with. In this way, the OS operates, the application on the OS can be started, and the video controller 1
9 will be able to be controlled.

On the other hand, a software reset is performed as shown in FIG.
When the process of step 1 is started, the jump code information is read and the process jumps to the boot loader (step 10).
2). Then, it is confirmed whether there is a context in the RAM 15 (step 110).

When there is no context, the hardware is initialized but the context information of the boot loader is not sufficiently recorded. Therefore, the process proceeds to step 105 (step 110).

On the other hand, if there is a context, then it is confirmed whether or not there is an OS termination request (step 11).
1). Here, if there is a request for termination processing of the OS, O
The end processing of S is performed (step 112).

If there is no OS termination processing request, either warm (WARM) boot or cold (COLD) boot is selected (step 11).
3). Specifically, if the OS entry point can be acquired from the context, warm boot is performed, and if the OS entry point cannot be acquired from the context, cold boot is performed.

In case of warm boot,
The boot loader checks whether or not it has received a parameter instructing to enter the standby state (step 114), and if it has received the parameter, stops the CPU 11 and shifts the computer 20 to the standby state (step 114). 115). Step 115
If a hardware interrupt (including a timer interrupt, a power switch being turned on, etc.) occurs while the CPU 11 is stopped, the CPU 11 resumes operation and the computer 20 changes from the standby state to the operating state. Transition.

When the parameter instructing the standby state is not received in step 114, or the hardware interrupt occurs in step 115, the boot loader acquires the OS entry point from the context and Jump to a point (step 116). After that, follow step 109
The OS is initialized on the RAM 15. In addition, warm (W
In the (ARM) boot, since it is only necessary to guarantee the retention of the contents of the RAM 15, only standard and general power-off / power-on processing is performed for devices other than the RAM 15. For devices other than the RAM 15, O
S initializes after warm boot.

Cold (COLD) in step 113
In the case of boot, the boot loader will
Since the entry point of S cannot be acquired, the cluster information of the OS file is acquired from the context (step 117). According to the information, the OS file is read from the HDD 17 into the RAM 15 at high speed (step 11
8) Expand and initialize OS on RAM 15 (step 109). During the processing of steps 117, 118, and 109, the boot loader surely stores the data necessary for the next startup in the context.

When the computer 20 enters the standby state in step 115, the state of the application program running on the OS is not saved. Therefore, an interface that is an application program that runs on the OS and that monitors the operating state of the computer 20 and that notifies the boot loader when there is a standby request from the user and issues a termination request to another application program. Program (can be a dynamic link library)
By preparing, it becomes possible for the application program to save the data in the registry (system file storing parameters necessary for the operation of the OS) and the data file.

As described above, in the present embodiment, it is checked in step 114 whether or not the parameter instructing to enter the standby state is received. If the parameter is received, in step 115. The computer 20 shifts to the standby state. Thus, in this embodiment, the APM
An interface that slightly modifies the existing boot loader without using the ACPI without changing the OS itself, notifies the boot loader when a standby request is made by the user, and issues a termination request to another application program. By preparing the program, the computer 20 can be brought into a standby state. Therefore, the standby state can be realized in the computer 20 by using an OS that does not support APM or ACPI. Further, it is possible to minimize the increase in man-hours and the increase in the OS program code size due to the addition of the power management function. Furthermore, since the standby state in the computer 20 is realized extremely simply, the computer 2
The stability of 0 can be increased, and the processing speed can be increased.

In addition, the time when the computer is in the standby state cannot be reflected at the time managed by the timekeeping function of the OS, and the OS that does not have the power management function is provided before the computer enters the standby state. To be able to recognize that the state of an unrecognizable peripheral device is the same as the state of the unrecognizable peripheral device after the computer returns from the standby state to the operating state (the state of the unrecognizable peripheral device has a power management function. If the OS that supports APM or ACPI and the BIOS that supports APM or ACPI cooperate to realize the standby state, the application program causes the computer to enter the standby state. APM or A before entering the state To make it possible to recognize that the state of the OS corresponding to PI is the same as the state of the OS corresponding to APM or ACPI after the computer returns from the standby state to the operating state (of the OS corresponding to APM or ACPI. The problem that the state cannot be transparent to the application program can be eliminated.

Further, in this embodiment, step 1
At 07, it is checked whether or not the parameter instructing the standby for the high-speed startup is received, and if the parameter is received, the computer 20 is shifted to the standby state and made to stand by at step 108. Then, when a hardware interrupt (start instruction) occurs, the computer 20 is shifted from the standby state to the operating state. As described above, in the present embodiment, the OS can be booted at high speed without changing the OS itself and with a general hardware configuration.
Specifically, in a computer that uses Windows CE (registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation) as the OS,
It is possible to reduce the OS startup time, which was conventionally about 30 seconds, to less than 5 seconds.

[0044]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, by slightly modifying the existing boot loader without using APM or ACPI and without changing the OS itself, It becomes possible to realize a standby state in a computer. The second aspect of the present invention
From the viewpoint, it is possible to boot the OS at high speed without changing the OS itself and with a general hardware configuration.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a computer that executes a program control process according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a program control process according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 CPU 13 ROM 15 RAM 17 HDD 19 Video controller 20 computers

Claims (10)

[Claims] 1. A program for controlling activation of a program including an operating system in a computer, wherein a jump code is searched for when the program is activated, and a jump code is not obtained in step (a). When the jump code is obtained in step (a), the step (b) of initializing the hardware and the step of performing the loader processing without initializing the hardware is performed. ), After the step (c), a step (d) for putting the computer into a standby state, and a step (e) for shifting the computer from the standby state to the operating state when a predetermined hardware interrupt occurs. , After step (b) or step (e) A program for executing step (f) of performing synchronization. 2. A program for controlling activation of a program including an operating system in a computer, wherein step (a) of searching for a jump code when the program is activated, and no jump code obtained in step (a) The step (b) of initializing the hardware and performing the loader processing, the step (c) of putting the computer into a standby state after the step (b), and the step (b) of A step (d) of shifting the computer from a standby state to an operating state, and a step (e) of performing loader processing without initializing the hardware when a jump code is obtained in the step (a), The first program to be started after (c) or step (e) A program for executing step (f) of performing synchronization. 3. The loader process verifies the presence / absence of a context, executes a soft reset process if the context exists, and executes a hard reset process if the context does not exist. The program according to claim 1 or 2, which is characterized. 4. The program according to claim 3, wherein the hard reset process causes a context to be created and the cluster chain information and entry point information of the program to be recorded in the context. 5. The cluster chain information and entry point information of a program are recorded in the context, and the soft reset process causes a warm boot of the program to be executed according to the entry point information recorded in the context. The program according to claim 3, characterized in that cold boot of the program is executed according to the cluster chain information recorded in the context. 6. An information processing device for controlling the activation of a program including an operating system in a computer, wherein the step (a) of searching for a jump code when the program is activated, and the jump code being obtained in step (a). If not, the step (b) of initializing the hardware to perform the loader process, and the step of performing the loader process without initializing the hardware when the jump code is obtained in the step (a). (C), after the step (c), a step (d) of putting the computer into a standby state, and a step (e) of shifting the computer from the standby state to the operating state when a predetermined hardware interrupt occurs. ), And after step (b) or step (e), The information processing apparatus which executes a step (f) performing initialized, the. 7. An information processing device for controlling the activation of a program including an operating system in a computer, wherein step (a) of searching for a jump code when the program is activated, and no jump code is obtained in step (a). In the case of initializing the hardware and executing the loader process, after the step (b), the step (c) of putting the computer in a standby state, and a predetermined hardware interrupt occurs. A step (d) of shifting the computer from a standby state to an operating state, and a step (e) of performing loader processing without initializing hardware when a jump code is obtained in step (a) , After step (c) or step (e), An information processing apparatus that executes step (f) of performing initialization. 8. The loader process verifies the presence / absence of a context, executes a soft reset process if the context exists, and executes a hard reset process if the context does not exist. The information processing apparatus according to claim 6, which is characterized in that: 9. The information processing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the hard reset process executes creation of a context and recording of cluster chain information and entry point information of a program in the context. 10. The context stores program cluster chain information and entry point information, and the soft reset process executes a warm boot of the program according to the entry point information recorded in the context. The information processing apparatus according to claim 8, wherein cold boot of the program is executed according to the cluster chain information recorded in the context.