TW201416926A - Power saving device and power saving method - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a power saving device and a power saving method. The power saving device has a signal output circuit, a comparator circuit and a microprocessor. The comparator circuit connects to at least one reference signal and the signal output circuit to receive at least one output signal. When the at least one output signal is received, the comparator circuit compares the at least one output signal with the corresponding reference signal and then generates a comparing signal. The microprocessor enters a wake-up mode to execute a corresponding function according to the comparing signal. Therefore, the comparator circuit replaces that the microprocessor executes long-term scan or polling function, so a valuable output signal is determined quickly and power consumption is decreased. Further, an accumulated time error caused by firmware of the microprocessor can be eliminated.

Description

Power saving device and power saving method thereof

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Another power saving device of the present invention comprises: a touch panel comprising a driving line and a sensing line; a transmitting circuit connected to the driving line of the touch panel; and a comparison circuit connected to the touch The plurality of sensing lines of the control board receive the sensing signal, and the comparing circuit is further connected with the plurality of touch threshold signals, and after receiving the plurality of sensing signals, comparing the sensing signal and the touch threshold signal, and generating a comparison signal; An analog-to-digital conversion circuit is connected to the output of the comparison circuit and converts the comparison signal into a digital sensing signal for output; and a microprocessor is coupled to the analog-to-digital conversion circuit, the microprocessor receives the analog digital The digital sensing signal output by the conversion circuit performs corresponding functions according to the digital sensing signal.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Referring to FIGS. 2B and 3C, when the touch panel 50' is in the working mode S10 and the object 53 touches the touch panel 50', the analog signal of the sensing line 52 corresponding to the position of the object 53 is raised. S11, at this time, the comparator 11 of the comparison circuit 10' corresponding to the sensing line 52 outputs a comparison signal S12 because the analog sensing signal received by the comparator 11 is higher than the connected touch threshold signals Vr1 to Vr4 (the above is the first Stage program). Then, the second stage process is performed, wherein the analog-to-digital conversion circuit 20 and the microprocessor 30 are enabled to be woken up, and the analog-to-digital conversion circuit 20 converts the comparison signal into a digital sensing signal S13 and outputs the same The microprocessor 30, at this time, the microprocessor 30 is awakened from the sleep state, and sequentially pairs the central processing unit, the timer, the interrupt instruction unit, the read only memory, the static random access memory, and the watchdog. The timer and other components perform setting S14, and then the central processing unit of the microprocessor 30 accesses the digital sensing signal received by the read-only memory through the firmware and performs operations to obtain the position and coordinate information of the corresponding object. S15, the overall power consumption of the second-stage program is slightly increased to the second-stage power consumption L2'; finally, the third-stage program is performed, wherein the microprocessor 30 calculates the object position or coordinate information obtained according to the foregoing second-stage program. The message determines the corresponding touch function, and executes the touch function S16, and then returns to the sleep mode S17, wherein the power consumption of the third stage program is L3'.

Please also compare FIG. 3B at the same time, although the power saving device of the present invention is in the working mode. However, the object coordinates are determined and the object coordinate corresponding functions (such as output coordinates, output gesture commands, etc.) are performed, but at this time, the microprocessor 30 of the present invention does not need to wake up the central processing unit and the read-only memory to form a plurality of digits. The sensing signals R1 R R4 are compared one by one, so that the power consumption L2 ′ of the power saving device of the present invention in the second stage is still lower than the power consumption L 2 of the second stage program of the conventional touch panel driving circuit. Furthermore, the microprocessor 30 of the present invention can only wake up and perform setting, calculation and execution of the corresponding touch function only when receiving the digital sensing signal, and does not have to compare and judge the plurality of digital sensing signals one by one. Time accumulation error, causing errors in coordinate operations.

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

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

10, 10'‧‧‧ comparison circuit

11‧‧‧ Comparator

20‧‧‧ analog digital conversion circuit

30‧‧‧Microprocessor

40‧‧‧Transmission circuit

50‧‧‧ Signal output circuit

50'‧‧‧ Trackpad

51‧‧‧ drive line

52‧‧‧Induction line

53‧‧‧ objects

60‧‧‧ drive circuit

61‧‧‧Transmission circuit

62‧‧‧ receiving circuit

63‧‧‧Microprocessor

631‧‧‧Central Processing Unit

632‧‧‧Timer

633‧‧‧Interrupt command unit

634‧‧‧Read-only memory

635‧‧‧Static Random Access Memory

636‧‧‧Watchdog Timer

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Figure 5: Functional block diagram of the microprocessor.

Claims (8)

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