TWI834418B - Electronic paper device control system and electronic paper device control method - Google Patents

Abstract

An electronic paper device control system includes a server for receiving a plurality of user information and generating an update instruction according to the plurality of user information; a microcontroller unit; at least one electronic paper device, coupled to the microcontroller unit, for displaying a display content; and a gateway, coupled to the server and the microcontroller unit, for receiving the update instruction, and instructing the microcontroller unit to control the at least one electronic paper device to update the display content according to the update instruction.

Description

Electronic paper device control system and electronic paper device control method

The present invention relates to an electronic paper device control system and an electronic paper device control method, and in particular to an electronic paper device control system and an electronic paper device control method that provide timely power supply to update display content.

E-paper devices have the advantages of no blue light, no reflection, no viewing angle restrictions, and power saving. Therefore, more and more applications choose e-paper devices as display carriers. For example, the electronic paper device can be used as a conference room door number. According to the reservation status of the conference room, the conference room door number will display the occupied time of each meeting and the information of the meeting initiator; during the meeting, the conference room door number can display "Meeting in progress". ” to remind you of the current conference room status.

On the other hand, e-paper devices can still display static images when powered off or stopped receiving power. However, the electronic paper device must automatically turn on every once in a while or at a specific time, query the server for updates, and return to the shutdown state after the update. In order to update the conference room reservation schedule in real time, the frequency of automatically turning on the device and querying for updates must be increased, which greatly reduces the power saving effect of the electronic paper device. Under this situation, how to update the display content of the electronic paper device in real time while taking into account its power saving effect has become one of the issues of concern to the industry.

One of the main purposes of the present invention is to provide an electronic paper device control system and an electronic paper device control method to solve the above problems.

The present invention provides an electronic paper device control system, including a server for receiving a plurality of user information and generating an update instruction according to the plurality of user information; a microcontroller unit; at least one electronic paper device, coupled to Connecting to the microcontroller unit, used to display a display content; and a gateway, coupled to the server and the microcontroller unit, used to receive the update instruction, and instruct the microcontroller unit according to the update instruction. Control the at least one electronic paper device to update the display content.

The present invention provides an electronic paper device control method, which includes receiving a plurality of user information by a server and generating an update instruction based on the plurality of user information; receiving the update instruction by a gateway and generating an update instruction based on the update. The instruction instructs a microcontroller unit to control at least one electronic paper device to update a display content.

1: Electronic paper device control system

2: Conference room display device control system

10: User device

20:Server

30,60:Gateway

40,70:Microcontroller unit

50: Electronic paper device

S300, S302, S304, S306: steps

Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of an electronic paper device control system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of a conference room display device control system according to Embodiment 1 of the present invention.

Figure 3 is a schematic flow chart of an electronic paper device control method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Certain words are used in the specification and subsequent patent applications to refer to specific element. It should be understood by those with ordinary knowledge in the field that hardware manufacturers may use different terms. to call the same component. This specification and subsequent patent applications do not use differences in names as a way to distinguish components, but differences in functions as a criterion for distinction. The "include" mentioned throughout the specification and subsequent patent claims is an open-ended term, and therefore should be interpreted as "include but not limited to". In addition, the word "coupling" here includes any direct and indirect means of electrical connection. Therefore, if a first device is coupled to a second device, it means that the first device can be directly electrically connected to the second device, or indirectly electrically connected to the second device through other devices or connections.

Please refer to Figure 1 , which is a schematic diagram of an electronic paper device control system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The electronic paper device control system 1 includes a user device 10 , a server 20 , a gateway 30 , a micro-controller unit 40 (Micro-Controller Unit, MCU) and at least one electronic paper device 50 . The user inputs a plurality of user information through the user device 10 . The server 20 is coupled to the user device 10 for receiving a plurality of user information and generating an update instruction based on the plurality of user information. The gateway 30 is coupled to the server 20 and the microcontroller unit 40, and is used for receiving the update instruction, and instructing the microcontroller unit 40 to control at least one electronic paper device 50 to update the display content according to the update instruction.

Specifically, when at least one electronic paper device 50 is powered off or not powered, the user can still view its display content. Therefore, when the display content does not need to be updated, at least one electronic paper device 50 can remain in the off state, or The microcontroller unit 40 does not provide power to at least one electronic paper device 50 to save power. On the other hand, when the server 20 receives a plurality of user information input by a user, it can generate an update instruction based on the plurality of user information to indicate whether the display content needs to be updated. When the update instruction indicates that the display content needs to be updated, the gateway 30 instructs the microcontroller unit 40 to provide power to at least one electronic paper device 50 . After at least one electronic paper device 50 receives power and enters the power-on state, it immediately connects to the server 20 and downloads a plurality of user information. In this way, at least one electronic paper device 50 can store the user information. Several user information is updated in the display. After the update is completed, at least one electronic paper device 50 may enter the shutdown state, or the microcontroller unit 40 stops powering the at least one electronic paper device 50 to enter the shutdown state. On the other hand, the electronic paper device control system 1 may further include a power supply unit and be coupled to at least one electronic paper device 50 through a switch. When the display content needs to be updated, the microcontroller unit 40 may control the switch to enable the power supply unit to supply power to At least one electronic paper device 50. It should be noted that the power supply unit and the switch are not shown in Figure 1. In the following embodiments, it is explained that the microcontroller unit 40 can supply power to at least one electronic paper device 50.

In an embodiment, the electronic paper device control system 1 can be applied to conference room reservation. Please refer to Figure 2, which is a schematic diagram of a conference room display device control system 2 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The conference room display device control system 2 is derived from the electronic paper device control system 1, so the same devices are represented by the same symbols. The difference is that in the conference room display device control system 2, the server 20 is coupled to a plurality of gateways 60, each gateway 60 is coupled to a plurality of microcontroller units 70, and each microcontroller unit 70 is coupled to Connect to at least one electronic paper device 50. Specifically, the server 20 may be a cloud server, such as a Microsoft 365 server. A plurality of gateways 60 may be respectively arranged on each floor and coupled to a plurality of microcontroller units 70 corresponding to a plurality of conference rooms on a respective floor. Each microcontroller unit 70 is coupled to at least one electronic paper device 50 in the corresponding conference room. Specifically, the user connects to the cloud server 20 through the user device 10 and adds a reservation record for a specific conference room. The server 20 sends an update instruction to a specific gateway corresponding to the specific conference room according to the reservation record. The specific gateway can control a specific microcontroller unit corresponding to the specific conference room to supply power to at least one electronic paper device in the specific conference room. 50. In this way, at least one electronic paper device 50 can connect to the server 20 (for example, through a wireless network) to download the reservation record and update the reservation record in the display content. After the update is completed, at least one electronic paper device 50 immediately enters a shutdown state to save power.

Furthermore, the conference room display device control system 2 can be applied when the conference room enters a meeting from being idle. For example, when a conference is about to start, the server 20 sends an update instruction to a specific gateway, and the specific gateway instructs a specific microcontroller unit to supply power to at least one electronic paper device 50 in a specific conference room. The device 50 can update and display the display content of "meeting in progress", as shown in Figure 2, but is not limited to this.

On the other hand, the operation of the electronic paper device control system 1 and the conference room display device control system 2 can be summarized as an electronic paper device control method 3. As shown in Figure 3, the electronic paper device control method 3 includes the following steps: Step S300: Start.

Step S302: The server receives a plurality of user information and generates an update instruction based on the plurality of user information.

Step S304: The gateway receives the update instruction, and instructs the microcontroller unit to control at least one electronic paper device to update the display content according to the update instruction.

Step S306: end.

For detailed description of process 3 and its derivative changes, please refer to the foregoing description and will not be repeated here.

It should be noted that the electronic paper device control system 1 and the conference room display device control system 2 are embodiments of the present invention. Those with ordinary skill in the art can combine, modify or change the above-mentioned ones according to the spirit of the present invention. Examples, but not limited thereto. All the above instructions, steps, and/or processes (including recommended steps) can be achieved through hardware, software, and firmware (that is, the combination of hardware devices and computer instructions, and the data in the hardware devices are read-only software data), Electronic system, or a combination of the above devices. Hardware can include analog, digital, and hybrid circuits (i.e., microcircuits, microchips, or silicon chips). Electronic systems can include system on chip (SoC), system in package (SiP), electronic Computer on module (CoM) and computer system. The process steps and embodiments of the present invention may exist in the form of program codes or instructions and be stored in a storage unit. The storage unit can be a computer-readable recording medium, and the storage unit can include read-only memory (ROM), flash memory (Flash Memory), random-access memory (random-access memory, RAM) , Subscriber Identity Module (SIM), hard disk or optical disc read-only memory (CD-ROM/DVD-ROM/BD-ROM), but not limited to this. The above processes and embodiments can be compiled into program codes or instructions and stored in a storage unit. The processor can be used to read and execute the program codes or instructions stored in the storage unit to implement all the aforementioned steps and functions.

In summary, the electronic paper device control system and method of the present invention can, when the display content needs to be updated, the gateway instructs the microcontroller unit to supply power to the electronic paper device, and the electronic paper device is connected to the server to download and update the display content. After the update is completed, the electronic paper device returns to the shutdown state. In this way, the electronic paper device control system and method of the present invention do not need to frequently turn on and off the electronic paper device to check whether there is updated content. Therefore, compared with the previous technology, more power can be saved. The above are only preferred embodiments of the present invention, and all equivalent changes and modifications made in accordance with the patentable scope of the present invention shall fall within the scope of the present invention.

1: Electronic paper device control system

2: Conference room display device control system

10: User device

20:Server

30:Gateway

40:Microcontroller unit

50: Electronic paper device

Claims (8)

An electronic paper device control system includes: a server for receiving a plurality of user information and generating an update instruction based on the plurality of user information; a microcontroller unit; at least one electronic paper device coupled to The microcontroller unit is used to display a display content; and a gateway is coupled to the server and the microcontroller unit, used to receive the update instruction, and instruct the microcontroller unit to control according to the update instruction. The at least one electronic paper device updates the display content; wherein when the update instruction indicates that the display content needs to be updated, the gateway instructs the microcontroller unit to supply power to the at least one electronic paper device to update the display content. The electronic paper device control system of claim 1, wherein the at least one electronic paper device is coupled to the server when receiving power to receive the plurality of user information and update the display content according to the plurality of user information. . The electronic paper device control system of claim 1, wherein after the at least one electronic paper device updates the display content, the microcontroller unit stops supplying power to the at least one electronic paper device. The electronic paper device control system of claim 1, wherein when the update instruction indicates that the display content does not need to be updated, the microcontroller unit does not provide power to the at least one electronic paper device. An electronic paper device control method, including: A server receives a plurality of user information and generates an update instruction based on the user information; a gateway receives the update instruction and instructs a microcontroller unit to control at least one electronic paper based on the update instruction. The device updates a display content; wherein when the update instruction indicates that the display content needs to be updated, the gateway instructs the microcontroller unit to supply power to the at least one electronic paper device to update the display content. The electronic paper device control method of claim 5, wherein the at least one electronic paper device is coupled to the server when receiving power to receive the plurality of user information and update the display content according to the plurality of user information. The electronic paper device control method according to claim 5, wherein after the at least one electronic paper device updates the display content, the microcontroller unit stops supplying power to the at least one electronic paper device. The electronic paper device control method according to claim 5, wherein when the update instruction indicates that the display content does not need to be updated, the microcontroller unit does not supply power to the at least one electronic paper device.

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