JP2007306476A - Electronic equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve power saving efficiency in an electronic equipment comprising an operation panel for receiving the operation by a user and a main controller for controlling wholly the electronic equipment. <P>SOLUTION: The electronic equipment comprises the main controller 100 and the operation panel 200. The main controller 100 comprises: a panel I/F 113 for communicating with an operation panel 200 via a serial bus 300; and a CPU112 for controlling the clock supply to the panel I/F part 113, while receiving the operation by a user which the operation panel 200 received via the panel I/F 113. A signal wire 301 is connected between the operation panel 200 and the CPU112. When the operation panel 200 receives the operation by a user, the operation panel transmits an interrupt signal to the CPU112 via the signal wire 301. In the case of a power saving mode, the CPU stops the clock supply to the panel I/F 113. When an interrupt signal is received via the signal wire 301, the CPU starts the clock supply to the panel I/F 113. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a technique for power saving control of an electronic device.

  Many electronic devices such as printers and facsimiles are provided with a power saving mode in order to reduce power consumption during standby. In these electronic devices, an operation panel unit that receives an operation from a user and a main control unit that controls the operation of the entire electronic device are configured as separate modules, and the operation panel unit and the main control unit are provided inside the apparatus. Some are located at a distance. In recent years, the number of LEDs (light emitting diodes) and SWs (switches) on the operation panel has been increasing due to the enhancement of user interface (UI) functionality. Since the amount of information communicated between the operation panel unit and the main control unit increases due to the higher functionality of the UI, the number of models that use the serial bus for communication between the operation panel unit and the main control unit has increased. is doing. In such a model, the main control unit is provided with an interface (panel I / F unit) for transmitting and receiving data via the serial bus.

  Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2004-228561 includes an electronic device that includes a main control unit (main controller) and an operation panel unit (operation panel), and has a panel I / F unit (operation panel interface) that communicates with the operation panel unit in the main control unit. A technology for power saving control of devices is disclosed. Specifically, the main control unit described in Patent Document 1 includes a CPU, a panel I / F unit, and various internal modules. When the CPU of the main control unit shifts from the normal operation mode (normal mode) to the power saving mode, the CPU stops supplying the operation clock to the internal modules other than the panel I / F. Note that the main control unit supplies an operation clock to the panel I / F unit in order to accept an operation for returning to the normal mode even in the power saving mode.

JP 2005-269096 A

  However, said patent document 1 has the following problems. Specifically, in the method of Patent Document 1, in order to monitor the user's operation for returning to the normal mode even in the power saving mode, the operation of the signal line and the panel I / F communicating with the operation panel unit The clock cannot be stopped. The inability to stop the operation clock of the operation panel I / F hinders power saving.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to save power in an electronic device including an operation panel unit that receives an operation from a user and a main control unit that controls the operation of the entire electronic device. To increase efficiency.

  In order to solve the above problems, one embodiment of the present invention is applied to an electronic device having a power saving mode in which some functions are stopped and a normal operation mode.

  The electronic device includes an operation panel unit that receives various operations from a user and a main control unit that controls the operation of the entire electronic device, and the main control unit is connected to the operation panel unit via a serial line. And a panel interface unit that communicates with the operation panel unit via the serial line, and accepts an operation from the user accepted by the operation panel unit via the panel interface unit, and corresponds to the accepted operation. And a control unit that controls supply of a clock to the panel interface unit, and the operation panel unit and the control unit are connected by a signal line, and the operation panel When receiving an operation from a user, the unit transmits an interrupt signal to the control unit via the signal line, and the control unit When the clock is supplied, the supply of the clock to the panel interface unit is stopped, and when the interrupt signal is received through the signal line, the supply of the clock to the panel interface unit is started and the normal operation mode is restored. To do.

  Further, in the electronic device, the main control unit includes a clock control unit that supplies a clock to the panel interface unit in accordance with an instruction from the control unit, and the control unit is configured to start the normal mode from the normal mode. When shifting to the power saving mode, the clock control command is output to the clock control unit, the supply of the clock to the panel interface unit is stopped, and the interrupt signal is received in the power saving mode. The clock supply command may be output to the unit, and the clock supply to the panel interface unit may be resumed.

  Further, in the electronic device, the operation panel unit is connected to the panel interface unit via the serial line, and is connected to the control unit via a signal line, and the panel control unit In accordance with an instruction from a plurality of display means for turning on and off, and a plurality of input means for accepting an operation from a user and outputting the accepted operation content to the panel control unit. Receiving an instruction from the main control unit via the serial line, controlling lighting / extinguishing of the display unit, outputting operation contents received by the input unit to the main control unit, and the operation panel In the unit, when an operation is received from a user, the interrupt signal may be transmitted to the control unit via the signal line.

  As described above, in this aspect, the signal line for notifying the control unit of the main control unit of the interrupt signal separately from the serial line communicating with the operation panel unit between the main control unit and the operation panel unit. Is provided. Then, using this signal line, an interrupt signal is notified to the control means. Therefore, even when the supply of the clock to the panel interface unit that receives data from the serial line is stopped in the power saving mode, it is possible to notify the control unit of an interrupt signal and return to the normal mode. That is, according to this aspect, since the clock to the panel interface unit of the main control unit can be stopped in the power saving mode, a higher power saving effect can be achieved.

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

  First, a schematic configuration of an electronic apparatus to which an embodiment of the present invention is applied will be described with reference to FIG. The present embodiment relates to a technique for controlling power consumption during standby of an electronic device. Therefore, in the following, the description will focus on the configuration related to the control of power consumption, and the description of the other configuration will be omitted.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an electronic apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. Here, the electronic device refers to an information processing apparatus such as a printer, a copier, or a facsimile machine.

  As illustrated, the electronic device includes a main control unit 100 that controls the operation of the entire electronic device, and an operation panel unit 200 that accepts various operations from the user and presents various information to the user. Note that the electronic device of the present embodiment consumes when the “normal operation mode (normal mode)” and the non-use state of the operation panel unit 200 (hereinafter simply referred to as “non-use state”) continue for a certain period of time. In order to suppress electric power, a “power saving mode” is provided in which only certain functions are operated and some functions are stopped.

  The main control unit 100 includes an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) 110. The ASIC 110 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 112, a clock control unit 111, and a panel interface unit (hereinafter referred to as “panel I / F unit”) 113.

  The CPU 112 controls the operation of the main control unit 100. Further, the CPU 112 includes a clock oscillation circuit (not shown) inside, and operates by an internal clock oscillated by the internal clock oscillation circuit. In the present embodiment, the CPU 112 stops the internal clock during the power saving mode.

  Further, the CPU 112 displays an image on an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) 220 of the operation panel 200 (to be described later) or controls lighting / extinguishing of an LED (Light Emitting Diode) 230 via the panel I / F unit 113. To do. The CPU 112 receives data from the SW (switch) 240 of the operation panel unit 200 and performs processing corresponding to the received data. Further, the CPU 112 reads data from a memory card (not shown) attached to the memory card I / F 250 of the operation panel unit 200 or writes data to the memory card.

  The clock control unit 111 controls the supply of a clock to each block (block other than the CPU 112) in the ASIC 110. Specifically, the clock control unit 111 supplies a clock to each block in the ASIC 110 according to an instruction from the CPU 112. Further, the clock control unit 111 stops the clock supplied to each block in the ASIC 110 in accordance with an instruction from the CPU 112.

  Panel I / F unit 113 controls transmission / reception of data performed with panel control unit 210 of operation panel unit 200. Specifically, the panel I / F unit 113 is connected to the panel control unit 210 via the serial bus 300 and communicates with the panel control unit 210 via the serial bus 300.

  Thus, the reason why the panel I / F unit 113 and the panel control unit 210 are connected by the serial bus 300 is to cope with the higher functionality of the operation panel unit 200 that functions as a user interface. That is, when the function of the operation panel unit 200 is increased (the number of LEDs 230 and SW 240 is increased or the LCD 220 is provided, etc.), the amount of data transmitted and received between the panel I / F unit 113 and the panel control unit 210 Will increase. In the present embodiment, since a high-performance operation panel unit 200 is used, communication between the panel I / F unit 113 and the panel control unit 210 is performed via the serial bus 300.

  The panel I / F unit 113 receives data (for example, data received via the SW 240) transmitted by the panel control unit 210 via the serial bus 300, and transmits the data to the CPU. Further, the panel I / F unit 113 transmits various data (for example, a lighting command for the LED 230) transmitted by the CPU 112 to the panel control unit 210 via the serial bus 300.

  The operation panel unit 200 includes a panel control unit 210, an LCD 220, a plurality of LEDs 230, a plurality of SWs 240, and a memory card I / F 250. In the present embodiment, the number of LEDs 230 and SW 240 is not particularly limited.

  Panel control unit 210 controls the operation of operation panel unit 200. The panel control unit 210 is connected to the panel I / F unit 113 of the main control unit 100 via the serial bus 300. In addition to the serial bus 300, a dedicated signal line 301 connected to the CPU 112 of the main control unit 100 is connected to the panel control unit 210.

  Panel control unit 210 receives data for displaying LCD 220, data for instructing to turn on / off LED 230, and data for accessing memory card I / F 250 via serial bus 300. The panel control unit 210 also receives data received by the SW 240 from the panel I / F unit 113 via the serial bus 300 and data from the memory card I / F 250 (from the memory card attached to the memory card I / F 250). Read data).

  Further, the panel control unit 210 transmits an interrupt signal to the CPU 112 via the signal line 301 when any one of the plurality of SWs 240 is operated. When the CPU 112 receives the interrupt signal in the power saving mode, the CPU 112 returns the electronic device to the normal mode.

In the present embodiment, the configuration of the panel control unit 210 is not particularly limited. For example, the panel control unit 210 may use an ASIC designed exclusively for realizing the above-described functions. For the serial bus 300, for example, I ² C or USB (Universal Serial Bus) can be used.

  Next, an operation in the normal mode and an operation in the power saving mode of the electronic device of the present embodiment will be described. In the following, the operation in the normal mode and the operation when shifting from the normal mode to the power saving mode will be described first, and then the operation when returning from the power saving mode to the normal mode will be described.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining operations in the normal mode and the power saving mode of the electronic apparatus of the present embodiment.

  First, the operation of the electronic device in the normal mode will be described. In the normal mode, the CPU 112 of the main control unit 100 operates with an internal clock oscillated by an internal clock oscillation circuit (not shown). Further, the clock control unit 111 supplies a clock to the panel I / F unit 113 in accordance with an instruction from the CPU 112.

  The panel I / F unit 113 regularly scans the panel control unit 210 (S10). Specifically, the panel I / F unit 113 inquires of the panel control unit 210 about the operation status (status) received from the user via the serial bus 300 at predetermined intervals.

  When the panel control unit 210 receives a status inquiry from the panel I / F unit 113, the panel control unit 210 responds to the inquiry (S11). Specifically, panel control unit 210 transmits the status of operation panel unit 200 (data received from SW 240, etc.) to panel I / F unit 113 via serial bus 300.

  Further, the CPU 112 polls the panel I / F unit 113 (S20) and confirms the status received from the panel control unit 210. Specifically, the CPU 112 inquires of the panel I / F unit 113 about the status received from the panel control unit 210.

  The panel I / F unit 113 returns the status received from the panel control unit 210 in response to the polling from the CPU 112 (S21). For example, if the panel I / F unit 113 receives data from the SW 240 from the panel control unit 210 (data input by the user operating the SW 240), the panel I / F unit 113 transmits the data to the CPU 112. If the status received from panel control unit 210 is data indicating a non-use state (data indicating that operation panel unit 200 has not been operated), panel I / F unit 113 returns the data to CPU 112. To do.

  As described above, in the normal mode, the main control unit 100 periodically executes the polling process and the regular scan process, receives an operation from the operation panel unit 200, and performs a process corresponding to the operation. And the main control part 100 transfers to a power saving mode, when a non-use state continues for a fixed time in normal mode.

  Specifically, the CPU 112 determines whether or not the non-use state of the panel operation unit 200 has continued for a predetermined time by polling processing. When the CPU 112 determines that the non-use state of the panel operation unit 200 has continued for a certain period of time, the CPU 112 transmits a clock stop command to the clock control unit 111 (S30).

  When receiving the clock stop command from the CPU 112, the clock control unit 111 stops the clock supply to the panel I / F unit 113 (S31).

  Further, the CPU 112 stops the internal clock after transmitting a clock stop command to the clock controller 111 (S32). By the processes of S30, S31, and S32, the main control unit 100 transitions from the normal mode to the power saving mode. Note that the operation panel unit 200 performs the same operation as that in the normal mode in order to accept an operation from the user even in the power saving mode.

  Next, an operation when returning from the power saving mode to the normal mode will be described with reference to FIG.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining an operation when the electronic apparatus of the present embodiment returns from the power saving mode to the normal mode. In the present embodiment, a case will be described as an example in which when any one of the plurality of SWs 240 in the operation panel unit 200 is operated, the mode is returned from the power saving mode to the normal mode.

  Specifically, when panel control unit 210 detects that any of a plurality of SWs 240 in operation panel unit 200 has been operated, it transmits an interrupt signal to CPU 112 via signal line 301 (S40). ).

  When the CPU 112 receives the interrupt signal from the panel control unit 210, the CPU 112 starts oscillation of the internal clock (S41), and performs a return operation to the normal mode.

  Specifically, when starting the oscillation of the internal clock, the CPU 112 transmits a clock supply command to the clock controller 111 (S50). When receiving the clock supply command from the CPU 112, the clock control unit 111 starts clock supply to the panel I / F unit 113 (S51). Then, the main control unit 100 returns from the power saving mode to the normal mode by the processes of S40, S41, S50, and S51.

  In the normal mode, the same processing as in FIG. 2 described above is performed. That is, in the normal mode, the polling process by the CPU 112 and the regular scan process by the panel I / F unit 113 are each periodically performed.

  As described above, in the present embodiment, an interrupt signal is notified to the CPU 112 of the main control unit 100 between the main control unit 100 and the operation panel unit 200 separately from the serial bus 300 that communicates with the operation panel unit 200. For this purpose, a dedicated signal line 301 is provided. Then, the signal line 301 is used to notify the CPU 112 of an interrupt signal. Therefore, even when the operation of the panel I / F unit 113 for receiving data from the serial bus 300 is stopped in the power saving mode, it is possible to notify the CPU 112 of an interrupt signal and return to the normal mode. Become. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the clock for the panel I / F unit 113 that communicates with the operation panel unit 200 can be stopped in the power saving mode, so that a higher power saving effect can be achieved.

  The present invention is not limited to the embodiment described above, and various modifications can be made within the scope of the gist of the present invention. In the above description of the embodiment, the transition to the power saving mode is made when the non-use state continues for a certain time, but this is merely an example. For example, a dedicated SW (power saving mode SW) for accepting the transition to the power saving mode is provided in the plurality of SW 240, and when the power saving mode SW is operated, the mode is shifted to the power saving mode. You may make it do.

  Also, a dedicated SW (normal mode SW) for accepting the transition to the normal mode is provided in the plurality of SWs 240. When the normal mode SW is operated in the power saving mode, the normal mode You may make it transfer to.

  In the above embodiment, the operation panel unit 200 is provided with a plurality of LEDs 230 and a plurality of SWs 240, but the LEDs 230 and SW240 may be singular.

  Moreover, in the said embodiment, although it decided to accept operation from a user by SW240, it does not specifically limit to this. A touch panel, a keyboard, or the like may be used instead of the SW 240 as input means for receiving a request from the user.

It is a block diagram of the electronic device of the embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure for demonstrating operation | movement of the electronic device of this embodiment. It is explanatory drawing of operation | movement at the time of returning from power saving mode to normal mode.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 100 ... Main control part 110 ... ASIC 111 ... Clock control part 112 ... CPU, 113 ... Panel I / F part, 200 ... Operation panel part, 210 ... Panel control part, 220 ... LCD, 230 ... LED, 240 ... SW, 250 ... Memory card I / F, 300 ... Serial bus, 301 ... Signal line

Claims (3)

An electronic device having a power saving mode for stopping some functions and a normal operation mode,
An operation panel unit that receives various operations from a user, and a main control unit that controls the operation of the entire electronic device,
The main control unit
A panel interface unit connected to the operation panel unit via a serial line, and communicating with the operation panel unit via the serial line;
A control unit that receives an operation from the user received by the operation panel unit via the panel interface unit, performs a process corresponding to the received operation, and controls supply of a clock to the panel interface unit; Have
The operation panel unit and the control unit are connected by a signal line,
When the operation panel unit receives an operation from a user, the operation panel unit transmits an interrupt signal to the control unit via the signal line,
When the control unit is in the power saving mode,
Stop supplying the clock to the panel interface unit,
When receiving the interrupt signal through the signal line, the electronic device starts supplying a clock to the panel interface unit and returns to a normal operation mode. The electronic device according to claim 1,
The main control unit
In accordance with an instruction from the control unit, a clock control unit that supplies a clock to the panel interface unit,
The controller is
When shifting from the normal mode to the power saving mode, a clock stop command is output to the clock control unit, and supply of the clock to the panel interface unit is stopped,
In the power saving mode, when the interrupt signal is received, an electronic device outputs a clock supply command to the clock control unit and resumes clock supply to the panel interface unit. The electronic device according to claim 1 or 2,
The operation panel unit is
A panel control unit connected to the panel interface unit via the serial line and connected to the control unit via a signal line;
In accordance with an instruction from the panel control unit, a plurality of display means for turning on / off,
A plurality of input means for receiving an operation from a user and outputting the received operation content to the panel control unit;
The panel control unit
Receives an instruction from the main control unit via the serial line, controls lighting / extinguishing of the display unit, outputs the operation content received by the input unit to the main control unit,
In the operation panel unit, when an operation is received from a user, the interrupt signal is transmitted to the control unit via the signal line.

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