Privacy protection circuit and notebook computer

Abstract

The utility model relates to the technical field of computers, and discloses a privacy protection circuit and a notebook computer. The privacy protection circuit comprises an input detection module, an embedded control module, a first peripheral module, a second peripheral module and a system control module, the input detection module outputs a control signal to the embedded control module, and the embedded control module outputs a first switching signal to the first peripheral module according to the control signal so as to control a switch of the first peripheral module; the embedded control module also outputs the control signal to the system control module; and the system control module outputs a second signal to the second peripheral module according to the control signal so as to control the initialization of the second peripheral module. Through the hierarchical control mechanism, effective management of different peripheral modules is realized, so that peripherals are closed when a user needs, and privacy is protected.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The utility model relates to the technical field of computers, in particular to a privacy protection circuit and a notebook computer. Background Art

[0002] Protecting personal privacy has become an issue that everyone must seriously address. Electronic devices, especially laptops, are commonly used today. People often use their wireless Wi-Fi to surf the internet, Bluetooth to transmit data, and cameras and microphones for social networking, live streaming, and other entertainment activities. These behaviors often lead to privacy leaks, especially when people forget to turn off these devices or think they are not turned on, but these devices have been controlled by hackers, Trojans, or viruses, automatically transmitting private data such as users' audio, video, and confidential documents.

[0003] While implementing the embodiments of this application, the inventors discovered that existing solutions employ physical pressure to protect the camera's privacy, ensuring that even when the camera is activated through background software, no images can be captured, thereby protecting privacy. Another existing solution uses a physical button to toggle airplane mode on and off, thereby preventing hackers from threatening the user's privacy through wireless networks. These existing solutions suffer from the following shortcomings: They lack comprehensive privacy protection. While they physically protect some key peripherals, they fail to physically protect the security of data within the system and fail to fundamentally eliminate the possibility of privacy leaks. Utility Model Content

[0004] In response to the above problems, the embodiments of the present utility model mainly solve the technical problem that the existing technology does not provide comprehensive privacy protection for devices.

[0005] In order to solve the above technical problems, a technical solution adopted by the present invention is: to provide a privacy protection circuit, which includes: an input detection module, an embedded control module, a first peripheral module, a second peripheral module and a system control module, the input detection module is electrically connected to the embedded control module, the system control module is electrically connected to the embedded control module, the first peripheral module and the second peripheral module respectively, and the embedded control module is also electrically connected to the first peripheral module; the input detection module outputs a control signal to the embedded control module, and the embedded control module outputs a first switching signal to the first peripheral module according to the control signal to control the switch of the first peripheral module; the embedded control module also outputs the control signal to the system control module; the system control module outputs a second signal to the second peripheral module according to the control signal to control the initialization of the second peripheral module.

[0006] Optionally, the embedded control module is provided with a first input pin, a first output pin and a second output pin, the first input pin is electrically connected to the input detection module, and the first output pin and the second output pin are electrically connected to the first peripheral module.

[0007] Optionally, the first peripheral module includes a Bluetooth unit and a camera unit, the system control module includes a USB unit, the USB unit is provided with a first interface and a second interface, the Bluetooth unit is electrically connected to the first output pin and the first interface respectively, and the camera unit is electrically connected to the second output pin and the second interface respectively.

[0008] Optionally, the second peripheral module includes a wireless network card unit and a wired network card unit, and the system control module also includes a PCIe unit, the PCIe unit is provided with a first Root Port interface and a second Root Port interface, the wireless network card unit is electrically connected to the first Root Port interface, and the wired network card unit is electrically connected to the second Root Port interface.

[0009] Optionally, the system control module further includes a communication interface unit, and the communication interface unit is electrically connected to the embedded control module.

[0010] Optionally, a BIOS system is provided on the system control module.

[0011] Optionally, the first Root Port interface and the second Root Port interface are high-speed serial computer expansion bus ports.

[0012] In order to solve the above technical problem, another technical solution adopted by the present invention is: providing a laptop computer, wherein the laptop computer is provided with the above-mentioned privacy protection circuit.

[0013] Different from the prior art, the present invention provides a privacy protection circuit and a laptop computer. The privacy protection circuit includes: an input detection module, an embedded control module, a first peripheral module, a second peripheral module, and a system control module. The input detection module is electrically connected to the embedded control module, the system control module is electrically connected to the embedded control module, the first peripheral module, and the second peripheral module respectively, and the embedded control module is also electrically connected to the first peripheral module. The input detection module outputs a control signal to the embedded control module, and the embedded control module outputs a first switching signal to the first peripheral module based on the control signal to control the switching of the first peripheral module. The embedded control module also outputs the control signal to the system control module. The system control module outputs a second signal to the second peripheral module based on the control signal to control the initialization of the second peripheral module. Based on this, the input detection module sends a high-level signal (control signal) to the embedded control module. After reading the high-level signal, the embedded control module shuts down the power to the first peripheral module and sends the same high-level signal to the system control module. The system control module reads the high-level signal and outputs a second signal to the second peripheral module, thus skipping the initialization of the wired and wireless network cards. This hierarchical control mechanism enables effective management of different peripheral modules, allowing users to shut down peripherals when needed and protect privacy. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0014] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present application, the following is a brief introduction to the drawings required for use in the embodiments of the present application. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present application. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on the drawings without creative work.

[0015] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a privacy protection circuit provided by an embodiment of the present utility model;

[0016] Figure 2 Schematic diagram of a privacy protection circuit provided by another embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0017] In order to facilitate understanding of the present invention, the present invention is described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and specific embodiments. It should be noted that when an element is described as being "connected" to another element, it can be directly connected to the other element, or there can be one or more intermediate elements therebetween.

[0018] Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used in this specification have the same meanings as those commonly understood by those skilled in the art in the art of the present invention. The terms used in this specification are only for the purpose of describing specific embodiments and are not intended to limit the present invention.

[0019] See also Figure 1 , Figure 1 A schematic diagram of a privacy protection circuit provided by an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the privacy protection circuit 100 includes: an input detection module 10, an embedded control module 20, a first peripheral module 30, a second peripheral module 40, and a system control module 50. The input detection module 10 is electrically connected to the embedded control module 20, the system control module 50 is electrically connected to the embedded control module 20, the first peripheral module 30, and the second peripheral module 40, respectively. The embedded control module 20 is also electrically connected to the first peripheral module 30.

[0020] The aforementioned input detection module 10 detects input signals via a physical toggle switch. In this embodiment, the physical toggle switch controls the high and low level states (i.e., high or low signal levels) of the corresponding pins, thereby providing clear switch status feedback to the system. The primary function of this module is to capture and transmit changes in external operations or device status, enabling the system to monitor in real time whether the device is connected, disconnected, or in other specified states.

[0021] The embedded control module 20 described above is an embedded controller (EC), primarily responsible for managing and controlling peripheral devices in a computer system. It plays a crucial role in modern computers, laptops, and other electronic devices, typically embedded on the motherboard and working in conjunction with the system's main processor (CPU). Independent of the CPU, the EC can continue to operate even when the system is shut down or in hibernation, responsible for device management and status maintenance in low-power environments. In this embodiment, the embedded controller is typically a standalone microcontroller with its own independent processing unit, memory, and I / O ports. Even when the main processor (CPU) is off, the EC can continue to operate, ensuring that some basic system functions remain effective. The EC can receive input signals from within and outside the system (such as switches and level changes) and output signals to devices based on logical control, performing operations such as power management and device control. Furthermore, the EC can communicate and interact with the BIOS to exchange information.

[0022] For the first peripheral module 30 described above, in this embodiment, the first peripheral module 30 includes Bluetooth and camera. Bluetooth is mainly used to provide wireless communication function, allowing the device to transmit data with other Bluetooth-supported devices. For example, it can be used for wireless earphone, mouse, keyboard connection in notebook computer. The camera is used for video and image acquisition, mainly for video call, photo and video shooting, etc. It can be understood that the first peripheral module 30 can control the power supply of the Bluetooth module through the Bluetooth power switch, allowing the system to turn on or off the Bluetooth function as needed, and also can control the power state of the camera through the camera power switch. The system enables the camera when needed, and closes it when not needed, to protect privacy and save power. The embedded control module 20 (EC) usually controls these power switches through GPIO, so as to flexibly manage the opening and closing of the first peripheral module 30 according to the system requirements.

[0023] For the second peripheral module 40 described above, in this embodiment, the second peripheral module 40 includes wired network card and wireless network card, mainly used for network connection and data transmission. The wired network card, also known as Ethernet card, is a network interface device that connects to the network through physical cable. It is usually connected to a router, switch or local area network (LAN) port through an Ethernet cable (such as a RJ-45 interface network cable), has high bandwidth, low delay and stable connection, is not affected by wireless signal interference, and is suitable for scenarios with high requirements for network speed and stability, such as online games, video streaming, data transmission, etc. The wireless network card is a network interface device that connects to the network through wireless radio frequency signals (usually Wi-Fi). Without a network cable, it connects to a wireless router or access point (AP) through Wi-Fi standards to access a local area network or the Internet, has flexibility and portability, and is suitable for mobile devices and portable devices such as notebook computers, smartphones, tablets, etc.

[0024] For the system control module 50 described above, the system control module 50 refers to the SoC (system on chip) in the system, which undertakes core tasks such as calculation, control and management. SoC is a chip that integrates multiple functional modules, and integrates computing core, memory, peripheral interface and other functional modules on a single chip through integrated design. SoC chip is widely used in modern devices because it can provide high performance and low power consumption while miniaturizing. In this embodiment, the system control module 50 (SoC) communicates with the embedded control module 20 (EC) to receive control signals sent by the EC. The SoC manages and controls the second peripheral module 40 (including wired network card and wireless network card) by analyzing and executing these signals. When the system starts or needs to initialize network connection, the SoC will control and configure the second peripheral module 40 to enter the working state or complete the network connection management of the device during the device startup process.

[0025] The privacy protection circuit 100 described above operates as follows: When a user operates the input detection module 10 (e.g., a toggle switch), the input detection module 10 generates a control signal (e.g., a high-level signal or a low-level signal) and transmits it to the embedded control module 20 (EC). After receiving the control signal, the embedded control module 20 generates two output signals: a first switch signal, which is transmitted to the first peripheral module 30 (e.g., Bluetooth, camera), to control its power switch and, in turn, to turn the device on and off; and a control signal, which is transmitted to the system control module 50 (SoC). Based on the received control signal, the system control module 50 generates a second signal, which is sent to the second peripheral module 40 (e.g., a wired network card or a wireless network card), to determine whether to perform an initialization operation on the second peripheral module 40. The second peripheral module 40 is initialized when the system starts, and whether or not to perform the initialization operation is determined by a control signal sent by the input detection module 10 to the system control module 50 via the embedded control module 20. It is understandable that when the user wants to fundamentally eliminate the possibility of privacy leakage, the high-level signal (control signal) is sent to the embedded control module 20 through the input detection module 10. After reading the high-level signal, the embedded control module 20 turns off the power of the first peripheral module 30 on the one hand, and sends the high-level signal to the system control module 50 on the other hand. After reading the high-level signal, the system control module 50 outputs a second signal to the second peripheral module 40, thereby skipping the initialization operation of the wired network card and the wireless network card, that is, shutting down all communications, and there is no need for additional operations such as unplugging the network cable and turning off the router, thereby eliminating the possibility of hacker intrusion.

[0026] Through this hierarchical control mechanism, the privacy protection circuit 100 can effectively manage the first peripheral module 30 and the second peripheral module 40, thereby shutting down the peripherals when the user needs to protect privacy.

[0027] Specifically, see Figure 2 , Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of a privacy protection circuit provided by another embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 As shown, the embedded control module 20 is provided with a first input pin (GPI), a first output pin (GPO), and a second output pin (GPO). The first input pin is electrically connected to the input detection module 10, and the first and second output pins are electrically connected to the first peripheral module 30. The GPI is used to receive signals from an external physical switch. The GPI port receives level status signals and transmits them to the EC. The GPO is used to output control signals to peripheral devices, such as controlling the power switch of Bluetooth or a camera. The EC is responsible for reading input signals from the GPI, such as the status of a physical switch, and performing corresponding operations according to the instructions of the BIOS.

[0028] The first peripheral module 30 includes a Bluetooth unit and a camera unit. The system control module 50 includes a USB unit, which has a first interface (Port 0) and a second interface (Port 1). The Bluetooth unit is electrically connected to the first output pin and the first interface, respectively, and the camera unit is electrically connected to the second output pin and the second interface, respectively. USB Port 0 and USB Port 1 are both USB interfaces provided by the SoC and are used to connect external USB devices, such as a camera, Bluetooth, or other external storage devices.

[0029] The second peripheral module 40 includes a wireless network card unit and a wired network card unit. The system control module 50 also includes a PCIe unit. The PCIe unit is provided with a first root port interface (Root Port 0) and a second root port interface (Root Port 1). The wireless network card unit is electrically connected to the first root port interface, and the wired network card unit is electrically connected to the second root port interface. Root Port 0 and Root Port 1 are the root ports of the PCIe unit. That is, the first and second root ports are high-speed serial computer expansion bus ports used to connect to external PCIe devices (such as wireless network cards and wired network cards). These ports are initialized by the BIOS, and their operating status is managed by the BIOS.

[0030] The system control module 50 also includes a communication interface unit, which is electrically connected to the embedded control module 20. This communication interface unit utilizes LPC / eSPI, a low-speed communication interface used for data transmission and status synchronization between the BIOS and the EC. This interface enables the BIOS to collaborate with the EC to perform system initialization, monitoring, and management. Furthermore, the system control module 50 also includes a BIOS system. By embedding the BIOS into the SoC, hardware initialization can be performed more quickly, allowing the boot process to be handled directly on the SoC, thereby improving boot speed.

[0031] It should be noted that the privacy protection circuit 100 provided in the embodiment of the present invention has the following working principle: First, a physical toggle switch is added to control the high and low level states of the corresponding pins. EC obtains the current state of the physical toggle switch by reading the high and low level states of the corresponding pin (GPI). If the high level indicates that privacy protection is turned on, the low level indicates that privacy protection is turned off. At the same time, when the BIOS is started, it will check the user's privacy protection settings in the BIOS Setup, synchronize them to the EC chip, and obtain the current level state of the physical switch from the EC (this process is described byFigure 2 The SoC communicates with the EC via LPC / eSPI. This ensures the consistency of privacy protection by synchronizing the EC's state even when the operating system changes. The actual activation of privacy protection depends on two conditions: the level of the physical switch: the user can directly control the activation and deactivation of privacy protection through the physical switch; and the privacy protection status set in the BIOS: the privacy protection function must be explicitly enabled in the BIOS Setup. This dual confirmation mechanism prevents the privacy protection function from being accidentally disabled due to misoperation or failure in a single link. Privacy protection is only activated when both conditions are met. The EC controls the power supply of the camera and Bluetooth. By shutting down the power, these devices cannot operate when privacy protection is enabled. The BIOS disables the network card by shutting down the corresponding PCIe port (ensuring that the PCIe port is not initialized when the network card is disabled). This ensures that communication devices (including wired and wireless network cards) cannot operate even if the system is not fully shut down, thus preventing any hacker intrusion. Additionally, the user can confirm the status of privacy protection through BIOS Setup or system notifications. At the hardware level, the state of the toggle switch provides immediate feedback, while the operating system or BIOS interface provides detailed information to inform the user whether privacy protection is enabled.

[0032] This embodiment of the utility model provides a privacy protection circuit that physically enhances the privacy protection of a laptop computer, completely shutting down both wired and wireless networks, and thus fundamentally eliminating the possibility of hacker intrusion. Furthermore, even if a virus was implanted in the camera or Bluetooth device before the network was shut down, the device cannot capture any further image information or transmit any information externally.

[0033] An embodiment of the present invention further provides a laptop computer, which includes the above-mentioned privacy protection circuit 100. The specific structure and function of the privacy protection circuit 100 can be found in the above-mentioned embodiment and will not be described in detail here.

[0034] It should be noted that the preferred embodiments of the present invention are given in the specification and drawings of the present invention. However, the present invention can be implemented in many different forms and is not limited to the embodiments described in this specification. These embodiments do not serve as additional limitations on the content of the present invention. The purpose of providing these embodiments is to make the understanding of the disclosure of the present invention more thorough and comprehensive. In addition, the above-mentioned technical features continue to be combined with each other to form various embodiments not listed above, which are all considered to be within the scope of the description of the present invention; further, it is obvious to those skilled in the art that improvements or changes can be made based on the above description, and all such improvements and changes should fall within the scope of protection of the claims attached to the present invention.

Claims

1. A privacy protection circuit, characterized in that: The privacy protection circuit includes: an input detection module, an embedded control module, a first peripheral module, a second peripheral module, and a system control module, wherein the input detection module is electrically connected to the embedded control module, the system control module is electrically connected to the embedded control module, the first peripheral module, and the second peripheral module respectively, and the embedded control module is also electrically connected to the first peripheral module; The input detection module outputs a control signal to the embedded control module, and the embedded control module outputs a first switching signal to the first peripheral module according to the control signal to control the switch of the first peripheral module; the embedded control module also outputs the control signal to the system control module; the system control module outputs a second signal to the second peripheral module according to the control signal to control the initialization of the second peripheral module.

2. The privacy protection circuit according to claim 1, wherein: The embedded control module is provided with a first input pin, a first output pin and a second output pin, the first input pin is electrically connected to the input detection module, and the first output pin and the second output pin are electrically connected to the first peripheral module.

3. The privacy protection circuit according to claim 2, wherein: The first peripheral module includes a Bluetooth unit and a camera unit, the system control module includes a USB unit, the USB unit is provided with a first interface and a second interface, the Bluetooth unit is electrically connected to the first output pin and the first interface respectively, and the camera unit is electrically connected to the second output pin and the second interface respectively.

4. The privacy protection circuit according to claim 1, wherein: The second peripheral module includes a wireless network card unit and a wired network card unit. The system control module also includes a PCIe unit. The PCIe unit is provided with a first Root Port interface and a second Root Port interface. The wireless network card unit is electrically connected to the first Root Port interface, and the wired network card unit is electrically connected to the second Root Port interface.

5. The privacy protection circuit according to claim 1, wherein: The system control module further includes a communication interface unit, and the communication interface unit is electrically connected to the embedded control module.

6. The privacy protection circuit according to claim 1, wherein: The system control module is provided with a BIOS system.

7. The privacy protection circuit according to claim 4, characterized in that: The first Root Port interface and the second Root Port interface are high-speed serial computer expansion bus ports.

8. A notebook computer, characterized in that: The laptop computer is provided with the privacy protection circuit according to any one of claims 1 to 7.

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