Light-emission controller, electronic timepiece, method for controlling light emission, and program

Abstract

To provide a light-emission controller, an electronic timepiece, a method for controlling light emission, and a program which can control light emission more stably.SOLUTION: The light-emission controller for controlling light emission of a light emission unit has a control unit. The control unit controls light adjustment by interruption processing when causing the light emission unit to emit light.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to a light emission control device, an electronic clock, a light emission control method, and a program.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, when lighting a light emitting part such as an LED (Light Emitting Diode) light in an electronic device, a technique of controlling the light emission intensity using PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) has been used. By changing the duty ratio of PWM, the light emission intensity can be easily changed.

[0003] In an electronic clock with a severe requirement for power consumption reduction, a technique is disclosed in which detection of pressing of a predetermined push button switch is performed, and the light emitting part is lit for a predetermined time to illuminate the display.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] However, in an electronic clock, since the processing ability of the control unit is also low, if the process of repeatedly setting the PWM control is delayed due to the influence of other processes executed after lighting the light emitting part, the lighting time of the light emitting part may be longer than the specified time, resulting in an unnatural lighting situation.

[0006] An object of this invention is to provide a light emission control device, an electronic clock, a light emission control method, and a program capable of performing more stable light emission control.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0007] To achieve the above object, the present invention provides a control unit that performs dimming control of a light emitting unit by interrupt processing, wherein the control unit operates a monitoring function for a strong load state by a process different from the dimming control in the own device during the execution of the dimming control, and is a light emission control device. Further, the present invention provides a control unit that performs dimming control of a light emitting unit by interrupt processing, wherein the control unit starts a monitoring function for the strong load state of the own device when starting the dimming control, sets an end request for the monitoring function by the interrupt processing at the end of the dimming control, and ends the monitoring function based on the end request by normal operation control outside the interrupt processing, and is a light emission control device.

Advantages of the Invention

[0008] According to the present invention, there is an effect that light emission control can be performed more stably.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0009]

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Figure 5

Figure 6

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0010] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of the electronic clock 1 of the present embodiment.

[0011] The electronic clock 1 includes a CPU 11 (Central Processing Unit) (control unit), a RAM 12 (Random Access Memory), a storage unit 13, a communication unit 14, a light emission drive unit 15 and a light emission unit L, a battery detection unit 16, a display unit 17, an operation reception unit 18, a timekeeping unit 19, and the like.

[0012] The CPU 11 is a processor that performs arithmetic processing and comprehensively controls the operation of the electronic clock 1. The CPU 11 may be a single processor, or a plurality of processors may perform arithmetic processing in parallel or independently according to applications or the like. Further, the CPU 11 may include a microcomputer that performs a dedicated operation. The CPU 11 is included in the light emission control device and the computer of the present embodiment.

[0013] The RAM 12 provides a working memory space for the CPU 11 and stores temporary data.

[0014] The storage unit 13 is a non-volatile memory, for example, a flash memory. The program 131 and setting data are stored in the storage unit 13. The stored setting data includes a dimming setting 132.

[0015] The communication unit 14 controls communication with an external device. The communication may be performed, for example, by Bluetooth (registered trademark).

[0016] The light emission driving unit 15 performs an operation to cause the light emitting unit L to emit light. The light emission driving unit 15 can adjust the light emission intensity (dimming) by lighting the light emitting unit L at a set duty ratio by PWM (Pulse Width Modulation). The light emission intensity referred to here represents the average light emission intensity over a time sufficiently longer than the switching period of the PWM. The light emission driving unit 15 may have a circuit configuration related to a conventionally well-known PWM. For example, the light emission driving unit 15 generates a triangular wave or a sawtooth wave, and binarizes the voltage (amplifying it if necessary) according to a reference voltage determined according to the setting of the duty ratio, and applies it to the light emitting unit L to finely switch the on / off of the light emission, and the light emission period of the light emitting unit L can be made to correspond to the duty ratio. When the light emitting unit L is turned off, the light emission driving unit 15 cuts off (turns off) the power supply to the circuit related to the PWM to continuously turn off the light emitting unit L. When the light emission driving unit 15 has a microcomputer and is capable of performing a control operation, the light emission driving unit 15 is included in the control unit of the present embodiment.

[0017] The light emitting unit L has, for example, an LED (Light Emitting Diode), and emits light by the current flowing according to the voltage applied by the light emission driving unit 15 to illuminate the display surface by the display unit 17. The light emission color may be an appropriate color, but here it is substantially white (such as an electric lamp color).

[0018] The battery detection unit 16 measures the input voltage of the power supplied to the CPU 11 etc. from a battery (not shown) via a power supply unit and outputs measurement data. The battery detection unit 16 is used not only for detecting the remaining battery level but also for detecting a strong load described later.

[0019] The display unit 17 displays at least the current time based on the control of the CPU 11. The display unit 17 may have a digital display screen such as a liquid crystal display, or may have a configuration in which the date and time are indicated by a plurality of pointers. For example, it may have a gear train that rotates each pointer and a stepping motor that rotationally drives the gear train. According to an interrupt signal generated at the timing of each positive second of the current time, the CPU 11 performs a control operation related to updating the display content for the display unit 17. In addition to the current time, the display unit 17 may be able to display the day of the week, the date, the alarm notification setting, and other information.

[0020] The operation reception unit 18 receives an input operation from the outside and outputs (acquires by the CPU 11) a reception signal corresponding to the received content. The operation reception unit 18 has, for example, push button switches, and in addition to this, may have a configuration related to reception of other operations such as a dial. The number of push button switches is not particularly limited, but is, for example, about 1 to 4. Here, the operation reception unit 18 has a plurality of push button switches, and is controlled to operate such that when the push button switch S4 is pressed, the light emitting unit L emits light. The reception signal from the operation reception unit 18 is detected and acquired by the CPU 11 by an interrupt process at a certain frequency (for example, 16 Hz), although it is not particularly limited.

[0021] The timekeeping unit 19 counts the current date and time based on a clock signal input from an oscillation circuit (not shown) and outputs the current date and time to the CPU 11. The timekeeping unit 19 may have an RTC (Real Time Clock), or may be configured such that the CPU counts the current date and time.

[0022] The electronic clock 1 may also have a satellite radio wave reception processing unit that receives radio waves from positioning satellites and performs positioning calculations, a notification operation unit that outputs a buzzer sound or a beep sound and / or generates vibration, and various physical sensors such as an acceleration sensor and a geomagnetic field sensor.

[0023] Next, the lighting operation in the electronic clock 1 will be described. In the electronic timepiece 1, when the push button switch S4 of the operation reception unit 18 is pressed (a certain input operation) as described above, the light emission drive unit 15 is operated to turn on the light emission unit L. The light emission time of the light emission unit L is preset, and the set time is, for example, 1.5 seconds. In the electronic timepiece 1, the light emission unit L is subjected to dimming control. When lighting up, the light emission intensity increases from zero to the maximum intensity in a certain period of time, and when turning off, the light emission intensity decreases from the maximum intensity to zero in a certain period of time.

[0024] The light emission intensity is adjusted by changing the duty ratio in PWM as described above. In order for the change in the light emission intensity (luminance) to be visually recognized by the user naturally, a change at about 32 Hz or higher is required. The setting data of the change pattern of the duty ratio is stored and held in the storage unit 13 in advance. Based on the setting data, the CPU 11 writes and updates the setting value related to the duty ratio to the register of the light emission drive unit 15 every 1 / 32 seconds (performs dimming control), so that the duty ratio is changed and the light emission intensity of the light emission unit L also changes. In the electronic timepiece 1, the writing and updating of the setting value at 32 Hz is performed by an interrupt process.

[0025] The data of the setting value corresponding to the duty ratio updated in each interrupt process may be included in the dimming setting 132, and the CPU 11 may sequentially change the setting value with reference to the dimming setting 132. Alternatively, the setting value may be merely a count value, the dimming setting 132 is held by the light emission drive unit 15, and the light emission drive unit 15 may set a voltage value corresponding to the count value based on the dimming setting 132.

[0026] FIG. 2 is a sequence diagram showing the flow of the dimming control. When a reception signal corresponding to the pressing of the push button switch S4 by the user is input to the CPU 11, the CPU 11 detects the operation of the push button switch S4 within the normal process (normal operation control outside the interrupt process) that is loop-processed, starts the heavy load monitoring operation, sets the lighting time (1.5 seconds), and starts the circuit operation from the light emission drive unit 15 to the light emission unit L. Then, the interrupt process related to the light emission control at 32 Hz is permitted, and thereafter, the light emission control (dimming control) is performed by the interrupt process.

[0027] Here, in the case of 32 Hz for 1.5 seconds, it is only necessary to be able to execute the interrupt process 48 times, and the lighting time can also be represented by counting the number of executions of the interrupt process. That is, 48 counts may be represented by 1 byte (the set value of the lighting time is 0x2f).

[0028] Also, the heavy load monitoring is an operation (heavy load state monitoring function) that monitors the input voltage from dropping due to the execution of processes with a large load overlapping and exceeding the power supply capacity of the battery (the own device being in a heavy load state), and the battery detection unit 16 detects the input voltage to the CPU 11 (comparison with the threshold voltage) to detect abnormal voltage drops more frequently than the normal detection of the remaining battery level. Also, in this heavy load monitoring, detection may be performed with a threshold voltage different from that at the time of detecting the remaining battery level. The setting of whether to execute the heavy load monitoring may be determined, for example, simply by a 1-bit flag or the like, and when a flag for execution is set at the timing when the detection result from the battery detection unit 16 can be acquired, the detection result may be acquired.

[0029] The CPU 11 starts the interrupt process every 32 Hz, that is, every 1 / 32 second, and performs the update setting of the duty ratio while counting the lighting time. Here, the number of remaining interrupt processes is decreased by one each time the interrupt process is performed. In the light emission drive unit 15, a voltage is intermittently applied to the light emission unit L by PWM according to the updated duty ratio (reference value) to light the lamp with a light emission intensity corresponding to the duty ratio.

[0030] When the counting of the set lighting time ends, the CPU 11 makes a setting (ending of dimming control) to end the driving operation by the light emission driving unit 15 in the interrupt process, and turns off the light emission unit L by the light emission driving unit 15. Further, the light emission driving unit 15 makes a setting to request the end of the heavy load monitoring for the normal process. Then, by prohibiting the interrupt process at 32 Hz itself, the interrupt process related to the light emission control ends. In the normal process, the heavy load monitoring function is stopped based on the request for the end of the heavy load monitoring.

[0031] During the normal process, while a process (especially a process with a large load) is being executed, the loop process gets stuck, so the update process of the set value related to the duty ratio is not performed until the order of the update process comes around. Therefore, the update timing is likely to be delayed. When such delays overlap, the lighting time becomes longer than the set time, and the setting of the duty ratio also becomes at intervals longer than the 1 / 32 second interval. Not only is it impossible to obtain a natural change in the light emission intensity, but it may also look like it flickers visually.

[0032] FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining an example of the change in the light emission intensity during dimming control. When the load of the process parallel to the conventional process increases with respect to the change pattern of the light emission intensity of the thick solid line originally assumed, the update timing of the set value is delayed, and a delay occurs in the change of the light emission intensity. As a result, the change in the light emission intensity becomes slow or non-uniform, and the light emission time itself also becomes longer than originally.

[0033] On the other hand, by performing the update of the duty ratio setting at 32 Hz in the interrupt process, the process is executed promptly at the interrupt timing regardless of the processing position of the normal process. Therefore, it becomes difficult for the lighting time to be extended or the update of the duty ratio setting to be delayed, and a change in the light emission intensity as expected can be obtained, enabling natural dimming control.

[0034] FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a control procedure extracted from the interrupt handling process executed in the electronic clock 1 of the present embodiment, which relates to the lighting operation. This interrupt handling process is read from the program 131 and started when the electronic clock 1 is started, and continuously performs loop processing during operation.

[0035] When the interrupt handling process starts, the CPU 11 determines whether it is in the heavy load monitoring (step S101). If it is determined that it is in the monitoring ( "YES" in step S101), the CPU 11 acquires the monitoring data (the input voltage value from the battery or the comparison result with its threshold value) (step S102). The CPU 11 determines whether there is an abnormality in the monitoring data, that is, whether the input voltage is equal to or lower than the threshold voltage (step S103).

[0036] If it is determined that there is an abnormality ( "YES" in step S103), the CPU 11 sets the count value representing the remaining time to 0x00 (step S104). Then, the process of the CPU 11 proceeds to step S105. If it is determined that there is no abnormality ( "NO" in step S103), the process of the CPU 11 proceeds to step S105. In the determination process of step S101, if it is determined that it is not in the heavy load monitoring ( "NO" in step S101), the process of the CPU 11 proceeds to step S105.

[0037] When the process proceeds to step S105, the CPU 11 determines whether there has been an interrupt process (step S105). The CPU 11 refers to the flag set when the interrupt process is executed to determine whether there has been an interrupt process after the previous process. If it is determined that there has been no interrupt process ( "NO" in step S105), the process of the CPU 11 returns to step S101. If there are other routine processes other than the interrupt process, they may be executed before returning to the process of step S101. Also, when there is no interrupt process to be detected promptly, etc., the CPU 11 may insert a processing stop time (HALT) of a specified time for each loop of the interrupt handling process.

[0038] When it is determined that an interrupt process has occurred ( "YES" in step S105), the CPU 11 determines whether there is a detection of an operation (lighting operation) of the push button switch S4 related to the lighting of the light emitting unit L (step S106). When it is determined that there is no interrupt process related to the lighting operation ( "NO" in step S106), the process of the CPU 11 proceeds to step S108. When it is determined that there is an interrupt process related to the lighting operation ( "YES" in step S106), the CPU 11 sets the count value to 0xff (step S107). Then, the process of the CPU 11 proceeds to step S108.

[0039] When the process proceeds to step S108, the CPU 11 determines whether there is a process (presence or absence) that requires the termination of lighting (dimming control) even before the elapse of the set time due to an excessive load when executed simultaneously with the lighting operation, which is a process other than the lighting operation (step S108). When it is determined that the above other process is being executed (if necessary) ( "YES" in step S108), the CPU 11 sets the count value to 0x00 (step S109). Then, the process of the CPU 11 proceeds to step S110. When it is determined that the other process is not being executed ( "NO" in step S108), the process of the CPU 11 proceeds to step S110. Note that the operation of the light emitting drive unit 15 may be turned off within the above other process.

[0040] When the process proceeds to the process of step S110, the CPU 11 determines whether the count value is 0x00 (step S110). If it is determined that the count value is 0x00 (in step S110, “YES”), the CPU 11 cuts off (turns off) the power supply to the light emission driving unit 15 (step S111). As a result, if the light emitting unit L was lit, it will turn off. As described above, if the light emission driving unit 15 has already been turned off and the light emitting unit L has already been turned off in another process, this process becomes a safety confirmation process. The CPU 11 prohibits the setting of interrupts at 32 Hz (step S112). Then, the process of the CPU 11 proceeds to step S115.

[0041] In the determination process of step S110, if it is determined that the count value is not 0x00 (in step S110, “NO”), the CPU 11 determines whether the count value is 0xff (step S113). If it is determined that the count value is 0xff (in step S113, “YES”), the CPU 11 executes the lighting control process described later (step S114). Then, the process of the CPU 11 proceeds to step S115. If it is determined that the count value is not 0xff (in step S113, “NO”), the process of the CPU 11 proceeds to step S115.

[0042] When the process proceeds to the process of step S115, the CPU 11 determines whether a monitoring off flag that requests the end of the heavy load monitoring operation is set (step S115). If it is determined that the monitoring off flag is set (in step S115, “YES”), the CPU 11 resets the monitoring off flag (step S116) and ends the heavy load monitoring operation (step S117). Then, the process of the CPU 11 proceeds to step S118. If it is determined that the monitoring off flag is not set (in step S115, “NO”), the process of the CPU 11 proceeds to step S118.

[0043] When the process proceeds to the process of step S118, the CPU 11 determines whether the count value is 0x00 (step S118). If it is determined that the count value is not 0x00 (in step S118, "NO"), the CPU 11 permits the interrupt process at 32 Hz (step S119). Then, the process of the CPU 11 returns to step S101. If it is determined in the determination process of step S118 that the count value is 0x00 (in step S118, "YES"), the process of the CPU 11 returns to step S101.

[0044] FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the control procedure of the lighting control process executed within the above interrupt handling process. When the lighting control process is started, the CPU 11 turns on the heavy load monitoring operation (step S141). The CPU 11 sets the flag of the heavy load monitoring operation as described above, and is defined to acquire the detection result related to the input voltage from the battery detection unit 16 in each cycle of the interrupt handling process.

[0045] The CPU 11 resets the monitoring off flag (step S142). This process is a setting operation to prevent the heavy load monitoring operation from ending erroneously.

[0046] The CPU 11 sets the count value to 0x2f corresponding to the lighting time of the light emitting unit L, and also sets the initial duty ratio (step S143). Since the light emission intensity gradually increases by the dimming control as described above, the initial duty ratio is a small value.

[0047] The CPU 11 starts (turns on) the power supply to the light emission driving unit 15, and starts the dimming control (lighting) of the light emitting unit L by PWM (step S144). Then, the CPU 11 ends the lighting control process and returns the process to the interrupt handling process.

[0048] FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the control procedure by the CPU 11 of the light emission operation control process executed in the interrupt process at 32 Hz. This light emission operation control process is started and executed every 1 / 32 second while the interrupt process at 32 Hz is permitted.

[0049] The CPU 11 determines whether the count value is 0x00 or 0xff (step S171). The case where the count value is 0x00 corresponds to the case where the process such as the turning-off process is executed as described above, and the case where the count value is 0xff corresponds to the case before the lighting operation is detected and the lighting control process is performed. If the count value is 0x00 or 0xff ( "YES" in step S171), the CPU 11 ends the light emission operation control process.

[0050] In the determination process of step S171, if it is determined that the count value is neither 0x00 nor 0xff ( "NO" in step S171), the CPU 11 subtracts 1 from the count value (step S172). The CPU 11 writes and updates the setting of the duty ratio corresponding to the count value to the register of the light emission driving unit 15 (step S173).

[0051] The CPU 11 determines whether the count value is 0x00 as a result of the process in step S172 (step S174). If it is determined that the count value is 0x00 ( "YES" in step S174), the CPU 11 cuts off (turns off) the power supply to the light emission driving unit 15 and stops the light emission operation of the light emitting unit L (step S175). The CPU 11 prohibits the interrupt operation at 32 Hz (step S176). The CPU 11 sets the monitoring off flag (step S177). Then, the CPU 11 ends the light emission operation control process.

[0052] In the determination process of step S174, if it is determined that the count value is not 0x00 ( "NO" in step S174), the CPU 11 ends the light emission operation control process.

[0053] In this way, in the light emission operation control process which is an interrupt process, only processes with a low load and a short execution time, such as writing to registers like the count value, the set value related to the duty ratio, and the monitoring flag, are executed, so the process ends quickly. In the electronic clock 1, all interrupt processes including the above-described display update control at the second cycle and the detection of input operations from the operation reception unit 18 have a low load, and accordingly, each interrupt process is executed almost without delay.

[0054] Each process shown in FIGS. 4 to 6 above constitutes the dimming control means in the light emission control method and program of the present embodiment.

[0055] As described above, the light emission control device of the electronic clock 1 of the present embodiment includes the CPU 11 that performs dimming control (update setting of the duty ratio) of the light emitting unit L by an interrupt process at 32 Hz. By performing dimming control by interrupt control, it is possible to reduce the delay that occurs in setting the duty ratio even when executing other processes with a high processing load, so that an unnatural lighting state can be suppressed and the light emitting unit L can emit light more stably.

[0056] Further, the CPU 11 performs the end of the dimming control by an interrupt process. That is, by performing the end setting, particularly at the time of fade-out, when the light emitting unit L is turned off by an interrupt process, it is possible to perform dimming control until turning off without delay, thereby more appropriately reducing the occurrence of an unnatural lighting state.

[0057] In addition, when starting the dimming control, the CPU 11 activates the monitoring function for the heavy load state of its own device, sets the end request for the monitoring function by interrupt processing at the end of the dimming control, and ends the monitoring function based on the end request by normal operation control outside the interrupt processing. In electronic devices such as the electronic clock 1 where the power supply and operating power are extremely limited, when the lighting of the light emitting unit L, which has relatively high power consumption (load), is executed in parallel with other heavy load processing, the power supply may become insufficient. Therefore, during the lighting of the light emitting unit L, by executing a function to monitor whether it is in a heavy load state, the heavy load state can be detected promptly and the dimming control can be stopped. In addition, since the end of this monitoring function does not need to be done urgently, it is not performed within the interrupt processing, and the interrupt processing can be made lighter.

[0058] In addition, the CPU 11 may acquire the reception signal of the input operation to the operation reception unit 18 and perform dimming control for a set time (for example, 1.5 seconds) in response to a certain input operation to the operation reception unit 18. That is, when the user lights the light emitting unit L by an input operation as needed to make the display surface visible for a set time, since the dimming is easily recognized by the user as being unnatural in such a case, by sufficiently suppressing the delay and changing the light emission intensity naturally in such a case, the user can use the electronic clock 1 comfortably.

[0059] In addition, the CPU 11 may determine whether it is necessary to abort the dimming control before the elapse of the set time by normal operation control outside the interrupt processing, and may abort the dimming control as needed. Different from the dimming control, for a simple turning-off operation, even if there is a slight delay, the situation does not change substantially, so there is no need to perform it by interrupt processing. The processing related to aborting the dimming control etc. may be performed in order within the normal processing.

[0060] Further, the electronic clock 1 of the present embodiment includes a CPU 11 (which may include a light emission driving unit 15) as the above-described light emission control device, and a light emitting unit L whose dimming control is performed by the CPU 11. Thus, in the CPU 11 having extremely low power supply capacity and processing capacity compared to general electronic devices, by performing the dimming control by interrupt control as described above, even if the processing and operations with other high loads happen to overlap, it is possible to update and set the duty ratio related to PWM with almost no delay. Therefore, the light emitting unit L can be stably dimmed without improving the processing capacity of the CPU 11, and the change in the light emission intensity can be naturally performed.

[0061] Further, in the light emission control method of the present embodiment, the dimming control of the light emitting unit L is performed by an interrupt process. By such dimming control, even when the processing capacity of the control unit is limited, the delay in the setting timing of the duty ratio can be suppressed, and natural dimming can be easily performed.

[0062] Further, the program 131 of the present embodiment causes a computer to function as a dimming control means for performing the dimming control of the light emitting unit L by an interrupt process. By installing such a program 131 and causing the computer to execute it, appropriate dimming control can be easily performed without complicated adjustment of the control timing or improvement of the processing capacity.

[0063] Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications are possible. For example, in the above-described embodiment, the interrupt process related to the dimming control at 32 Hz has been described, but the present invention is not limited to this. An appropriate frequency that can be visually recognized by a human as a natural brightness change may be set.

[0064] Further, in the above-described embodiment, the strong load monitoring function has been described as being executed during the light emission of the light emitting unit L. However, as long as the basic operations (accurate time counting and display) of the electronic clock 1 are not hindered, the supply power may be managed by other methods. Also, as long as it is an operation such as on / off setting (flag setting) of the strong load monitoring function, it may be executed during the interrupt process.

[0065] Also, in the above embodiment, it has been described that the light emission and dimming control of the light emitting unit L are performed in response to the pressing operation of the push button switch S4 of the operation reception unit 18, but it is not limited to this. For example, when a specific function is being executed on the electronic clock 1, etc., the light emitting unit L may emit light and dimming control may be performed under the condition that a physical sensor detects a specific operation, inclination, or the like.

[0066] Also, the set time related to the light emission of the light emitting unit L shown in the above embodiment and the pattern of the change in the light emission intensity in the dimming control are not limited to those shown in the above embodiment. They may be determined as appropriate, or may be changed according to the surrounding environmental conditions (such as the amount of incident light on the display surface), etc.

[0067] Also, in the above embodiment, the description has been made on the premise of the dimming control of the light emitting unit L in the electronic clock 1, but it may be other electronic devices. In a situation where the processing load can generally become severe with respect to the processing capacity of the CPU 11, by using interrupt control for the dimming control, a more stable and natural luminance change for visual recognition can be obtained.

[0068] Also, as long as the light emitting unit L can be dimmed, it may be other than a normal LED, for example, an OLED (Organic LED), etc. Also, the light emitting unit L is not limited to illuminating the display surface of the electronic clock 1. The light emitting unit L may be configured to emit light directly in the shape of a mark (such as a character or a figure), or to emit light from a through hole in the shape of a mark.

[0069] In the above description, the storage unit 13 composed of a non-volatile memory such as a flash memory is exemplified as a computer-readable medium for storing the program 131 related to the dimming control of the present invention. However, the present invention is not limited thereto. As other computer-readable media, other non-volatile memories such as HDD (Hard Disk Drive) and MRAM, and portable storage media such as CD-ROM and DVD disks can be applied. In addition, a carrier wave is also applied to the present invention as a medium for providing the data of the program according to the present invention via a communication line. In addition, the specific configurations, details of processing operations, procedures, etc. shown in the above embodiments can be appropriately changed without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[0070] Although some embodiments of the present invention have been described, the scope of the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, but includes the scope of the invention described in the claims and its equivalent scope. The invention described in the claims first attached to the application of this application is appended below. The claim numbers described in the appendix are as in the claims first attached to the application of this application.

[0071] [Appendix] <Claim 1> A light emission control device including a control unit that performs dimming control of a light emission unit by interrupt processing. <Claim 2> The light emission control device according to claim 1, wherein the control unit performs the end of the dimming control by the interrupt processing. <Claim 3> When starting the dimming control, the control unit starts a monitoring function for the strong load state of its own device, sets an end request for the monitoring function by the interrupt processing at the end of the dimming control, and ends the monitoring function based on the end request by normal operation control outside the interrupt processing. The light emission control device according to claim 1. <Claim 4> The control unit acquires an input operation reception signal to an operation reception unit, Perform the dimming control for a set time in response to a certain input operation to the operation reception unit. The light emission control device according to claim 1. <Claim 5> The control unit determines, by normal operation control outside the interrupt process, whether it is necessary to cancel the dimming control before the elapse of the set time, and cancels the dimming control as necessary. The light emission control device according to claim 4. <Claim 6> The light emission control device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, A light emitting unit that performs the dimming control by the control unit, An electronic clock comprising: <Claim 7> A light emission control method for performing dimming control of a light emitting unit by an interrupt process. <Claim 8> A computer, Function as a dimming control means for performing dimming control of a light emitting unit by an interrupt process Program.

Description of Signs

[0072] 1 Electronic clock 11 CPU 12 RAM 13 Storage unit 131 Program 14 Communication unit 15 Light emission drive unit 16 Battery detection unit 17 Display unit 18 Operation reception unit 19 Timing unit L Light emitting unit

Claims

1. A control unit that performs dimming control of a light emitting unit by interrupt processing is provided, During the execution of the dimming control, the control unit operates a monitoring function for a strong load state by a process different from the dimming control in the own device. A light emission control device.

2. The control unit performs the end of the dimming control by the interrupt processing. The light emission control device according to claim 1.

3. A control unit that performs dimming control of a light emitting unit by interrupt processing is provided, When starting the dimming control, the control unit starts a monitoring function for the strong load state of the own device, sets an end request for the monitoring function by the interrupt processing at the end of the dimming control, and based on the end request in normal operation control outside the interrupt processing. A light emission control device that ends the monitoring function.

4. The control unit Obtains a reception signal of an input operation to the operation reception unit, Performs the dimming control for a set time in response to a certain input operation to the operation reception unit. The light emission control device according to claim 1 or 3.

5. The control unit determines whether it is necessary to cancel the dimming control before the elapse of the set time by normal operation control outside the interrupt processing, and cancels the dimming control as necessary. The light emission control device according to claim 4.

6. Further provided is a battery detection unit that detects an input voltage supplied to the control unit, Before executing the dimming control, the control unit executes the dimming control when it is determined that the input voltage detected by the battery detection unit is not lower than a predetermined threshold value. The light emission control device according to claim 1 or 3.

7. When the control unit obtains a reception signal of an input operation to the operation reception unit, the control unit causes the battery detection unit to detect the input voltage by the interrupt processing. The light emission control device according to claim 6.

8. As the dimming control, the control unit increases or decreases the light emission intensity of the light emitting unit so that the change in the light emission intensity of the light emitting unit becomes constant. The light emission control device according to claim 1 or 3.

9. The light emission control device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, A light emitting unit that is subjected to the dimming control by the control unit, An electronic clock comprising.

10. A light emission control method for performing dimming control of a light emitting unit of a light emission control device by interrupt processing, During the execution of the dimming control, a monitoring function for a strong load state by a process different from the dimming control in the light emission control device is operated. A light emission control method.

11. A light emission control method for performing dimming control of a light emitting unit of a light emission control device by interrupt processing, When starting the dimming control, start the monitoring function of the heavy load state of the light emission control device, set an end request for the monitoring function by the interrupt process at the end of the dimming control, and end the monitoring function based on the end request by normal operation control outside the interrupt process. A light emission control method.

12. The computer of the light emission control device is Function as a dimming control means for performing dimming control of the light emitting unit by an interrupt process, The dimming control means functions as a monitoring means for the heavy load state by a process different from the dimming control in the light emission control device while functioning as the dimming control means. Program.

13. The computer of the light emission control device is Function as a dimming control means for performing dimming control of the light emitting unit by an interrupt process, When starting the function as the dimming control means, the dimming control means starts the monitoring function of the heavy load state of the light emission control device, sets an end request for the monitoring function by the interrupt process at the end of the dimming control, and based on the end request by normal operation control outside the interrupt process. End the monitoring function. Program.

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