JPH04153714A - Control method for information processing equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To save electric power without exerting any influence upon a screen display nor processing operation by stopping supplying a clock to a central processor, restarting supplying the clock to the central processor with an optional key depressed, and performing a process corresponding to the depression of the key. CONSTITUTION:An operation clock control means 6 stops supplying the clock to the central processor 4 when there is no key input for a certain time or according to an indication by key input. A display device 3, however, continues to display contents at the stop as they are. When an optional key is depressed in this state, a key input device 1 informs the control means 6 of the depression of the key and the control means 6 restarts processing operation from the internal state at the stop in response to the information, reads a code out of a code book 2 according to the key input, and displays the character on the display device 3. Consequently, electric power is saved without exerting any influence upon the display operation nor information processing operation.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Summary] Regarding an information processing device that uses a ProSensor as a central processing unit, which can operate on batteries and can stop and restore an operating clock signal, the screen display and processing operations are affected. The aim is to provide an information processing device that can save power without having to overload the computer, and is equipped with a key input device that has multiple keys and generates a code corresponding to the press of the key, and a key input device that generates a code corresponding to the press of the key. a code buffer that stores the code that has been processed; a display device; and a display device that retains the internal state and stops processing when the supply of the operating clock signal is stopped, and that retains the internal state when the supply of the operating clock signal is resumed. The processor includes a central processing unit that controls each part of the processing device, an oscillation circuit that generates an operating clock, and an oscillation circuit that generates the clock based on instructions from the key input device. In the processing device, the operation clock control means controls stop and restart of supply of an operation clock from the means to the central processing unit, wherein the operation clock control means receives an instruction signal from the key input device or a certain period of time. When it is detected that no key is pressed on the key input device, the supply of the operating clock to the processor is stopped, and the display device is controlled to shift to a state where the display contents are retained, and in this state, the key input device is pressed. When the key press is detected, the supply of an operating clock to the central processing unit is resumed, and the central processing unit is configured to read out information stored in the code buffer in response to the key input and resume processing.

[Industrial application field]

The present invention relates to an information processing device that uses a processor as a central processing unit that can operate on batteries and can stop and restore an operating clock signal.

In recent years, portable information processing devices that can operate on batteries have become widespread.

This portable information processing device is required to save power so that it can be used for a longer time while being carried.

[Conventional technology]

In a conventional information processing apparatus, a system clock is always operated and supplied to each part during operation.

However, even if low power consumption elements are used in the device,
There was a limit to the reduction in power consumption by supplying a system clock.

[Problem to be solved by the invention]

Therefore, further power savings cannot be achieved in information processing devices that can be operated on batteries, and there is a limit to the extension of battery life.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and it is possible to stop the clock supply to the central processing unit, and also to stop the clock supply to the central processing unit by pressing any key. An object of the present invention is to provide an information processing device that can save power without affecting screen display and processing operations by restarting clock supply and executing processing based on key presses.

[Means to solve the problem]

In order to solve the above problems, an information processing device of the present invention includes a key input device 1 in which a plurality of keys are arranged and generates a code corresponding to the press of the key, and a code generated from the key input device 1. A code buffer 2 that stores codes, a display device 3, which retains its internal state and stops processing when the supply of the operating clock signal is stopped, and when the supply of the operating clock signal is resumed, the internal state It consists of a processor capable of restarting processing from a state, and a central processing unit 4 that controls each part of the processing device, an oscillation circuit 5 that generates an operating clock, and a , an operation clock control means 6 for controlling supply of an operation clock from the clock generation means 5 to the central processing unit 4, and an operation clock control means 6 for controlling supply of the operation clock from the clock generation means 5 to the central processing unit 4. When it is detected that there is no instruction signal from the device 1 or no key press on the key input device 1 for a certain period of time, the processor 3
At the same time, the display device 2 is controlled to shift to a state where the display contents are held, and when a key press on the key input device 1 is detected in this state, the supply of the operating clock to the processor 3 is stopped. The supply is restarted, and the central processing unit 4 reads out the information stored in the code buffer 2 in response to the key input and resumes processing.

[For production]

The present invention provides an information processing device whose central processing unit is a processor that maintains an internal state when the supply of an operating clock is stopped and can resume processing operations from the internal state when the supply of an operating clock is restarted. The operating clock control means 6 stops the clock to the central processing unit 4 if there is no time key input or based on a key input instruction.

However, on the display device 3, the display contents at the time of stop are displayed as they are.

When any key is pressed in this state, the key input device 1 notifies the operation clock control means 6 of the pressing of the key.
Based on this, the operation clock control means 6 restarts the processing operation from the internal state at the time of stop, reads the code stored in the code buffer 2 by inputting the key, and displays characters on the display device 3 based on this code. Execute actions such as

As a result, if no key input is made for a certain period of time, the supply of the operating clock to the central processing unit 4 is stopped, so it is possible to save power, and as soon as a key input is made, the operation is based on the input. Since processing is possible, display operations and processing operations of the information processing device are not affected.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of essential parts of an embodiment of the present invention.

11 is a keyboard on which a plurality of keys are arranged;
is a keyboard control unit that generates a corresponding character code or control code based on key press information sent from the keyboard. This keyboard control unit 12 monitors key presses on the keyboard 11, and if there is no key input for a certain period of time, it notifies an operation clock signal stop signal generation circuit 3, which will be described later.

A code buffer 2 stores character codes or control codes generated from the key input device.

Reference numeral 3 denotes a display device such as a CRT, which reads character codes stored in the screen buffer 31 and visually displays them.

4 is a central processing unit, which stops processing when the supply of the operating clock signal stops, but retains its internal state, and when the supply of the operating clock signal is resumed in this stopped state, the processing starts from the internal state. A processor that is restartable is used.

Reference numeral 5 denotes an oscillation circuit that generates an operating clock to be supplied to the central processing unit 4.

Reference numeral 61 denotes a generation circuit for a restoration permission signal of the operation clock signal, 62 a control circuit for stopping and restarting the operation clock of the central processing unit 4, and 63 a generation circuit for a stop permission signal for the operation clock signal.

Next, control such as clock stop of the information processing apparatus shown in FIG. 2 will be explained using the time chart of FIG. 3.

In the information processing device shown in FIG. 2, the central processing unit 4 is executing a certain process, and at that time the operating clock signal control circuit 6
Reference numeral 2 supplies an operating clock generated by an oscillation circuit 5 to the central processing unit 4 .

Here, whether a predetermined key is pressed on the keyboard 11 or
Alternatively, if it is detected that a key has not been pressed for a certain period of time, the key control circuit 12 sends a signal to notify this, and the operation clock signal stop signal generation circuit 63 controls the operation clock signal based on the signal. An operation clock signal stop signal is sent to the circuit 62. The operating clock signal control circuit 62 stops supplying the operating clock signal to the central processing unit 4.

When the supply of the operating clock signal is stopped, the central processing unit 4 stops its processing operation, and its internal state is preserved as it is. Furthermore, since the operation clock signal is supplied to each part of the information processing device other than the central processing unit 4, the operation continues.
The display device 3 displays information stored in the screen buffer 31. However, since the central processing unit 4 has stopped its processing operation, the information stored in the screen buffer 31 is not updated, so the display contents of the display device are not changed.

In this state, when a key is pressed on the keyboard 11, the keyboard control circuit 12 creates a character code or control code from the pressed information and sends it to the code buffer 2.
Store in.

Further, to the operation clock signal restoration permission signal generation circuit 3,
A key press information signal is sent from the keyboard 11 to notify that a key has been pressed.

When the keyboard control circuit 12 finishes storing the contents of the signal in the code buffer 2, it activates a data output permission signal to be sent to the operation clock signal restoration permission signal generation circuit 3.

At this time, if the keystroke information signal is still valid,
In other words, if the key continues to be pressed, the state shown in FIG. 3(a)
When the data output permission signal becomes active as shown in FIG. resumes supplying the operating clock signal to the central processing unit 4, and the central processing unit 4 continues to perform the processing that was being performed before the operating clock signal stopped.

If the data output permission signal becomes active after the keystroke information signal becomes invalid, that is, if the key press ends immediately, the operation clock signal stop signal is activated, as shown in FIG. 3(b). Based on the information signal indicating whether or not the operation clock signal has been stopped, which is output from the generation circuit 61 to the operation clock signal restoration permission signal generation circuit 3, the operation clock signal is output at the moment the keystroke information signal becomes invalid. An operation clock signal restoration permission signal is output from the restoration permission signal generation circuit 61 to the operation clock signal control circuit 62.

When the supply of the operating clock signal is resumed, the central processing unit 4 continues the processing before it was stopped, and following the content displayed on the display device, the character code and -code stored in the code buffer 2 are displayed. By reading out and writing to the screen buffer 31, following the content displayed on the display device 2,
The characters corresponding to the pressed key are displayed.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to provide an information processing device that saves power without affecting display operations or information processing operations.

For this reason, especially in portable information processing devices, the battery life can be extended to enable long-term use, which has a great practical effect.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a diagram showing the principle configuration of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a block diagram showing the main configuration of an embodiment of the invention, and Fig. 3 is a time chart for explaining the operation of the processing device shown in Fig. 2. be. In the figure, l...key input device, 2...code buffer, 3...display device, 4...central processing unit, 5...clock generation circuit, 6...operation clock control means. A block diagram showing the main structure of the present invention.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] A key input device (1) in which a plurality of keys are arranged and generates a code corresponding to the press of the key;
) Code buffer (2) that stores the code generated from
and a display device (3), which holds the internal state and stops processing when the supply of the operating clock signal is stopped, and resumes the processing from the internal state when the supply of the operating clock signal is resumed. A central processing unit (4) that controls each part of the processing device, an oscillation circuit (5) that generates an operating clock, and a processor that can respond to instructions from the key input device (1). Based on the above, a processing device comprising an operation clock control means (6) for controlling the stop and restart of supply of an operation clock from the clock generation means (5) to the central processing unit (4), The means (7) receives an instruction signal from the key input device (1) or a key input device (1) for a certain period of time.
When it is detected that there is no key press for 1), the supply of the operating clock to the central processing unit (3) is stopped, and the display device (2) is controlled to shift to a state where the display content is retained, and the state is When a key press on the key input device (1) is detected in the key input device (1), the supply of an operating clock to the central processing unit (3) is restarted to start the central processing unit, and the central processing unit (1) A control method for an information processing apparatus, characterized in that, upon input, a code stored in the code buffer (2) is read out and processing is restarted.