Mobile device

Abstract

To expand a range of data which can be stored with a limited memory capacity.SOLUTION: A device comprises: storage means 101 for storing biometric information in a volatile storage unit 103 included in a biometric information acquisition unit and transmitting the biometric information from the volatile storage unit 103 to an external device 200 via a communication unit 109; and a non-volatile storage unit 102 to which the biometric information acquisition unit is accessible. The storage means 101 is configured to: if a mobile device is not connected to the external device 200, keep storing the biometric information in a FIFO 103; if the biometric information can no longer be stored in the FIFO 103, execute a sequential write process to store the biometric information into the non-volatile storage unit 102 while sequentially switching a write location for each unit storage area of the non-volatile storage unit; and when reaching the last write location, execute the sequential write process from a unit storage area following the oldest unit storage area which is stored at the previous sequential write process.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 3

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a portable device that is worn on a user's body to acquire biological information such as body temperature, pulse wave, number of steps, sleep state, and motion.

Background Art

[0002] A portable device is required to be small and lightweight for wearing on a user's body, and it is desirable that the mounted battery and memory be as small as possible in size and have a long duration. In addition, if the power consumption of the portable device is large, the heat generation will also increase. However, in a portable device that acquires biological information, if the heat generated is transmitted to the human body, it will give the user a sense of discomfort and uneasiness. Therefore, low power consumption is required.

[0003] The biological information acquired by the portable device is transmitted to a smart device by wireless communication, and is used for applications such as stress checking by an application on the smart device side. The data is not always transferred, but can be transmitted at arbitrary intervals. Once the data is stored in the memory, read from the memory and transmitted again, different frequencies will be used at the time of storage and the time of reading.

[0004] Conventionally, the information processing apparatus of Patent Document 1 distributes the use right of the PCI bus (one of the bus architectures for communication between a computer's processor and peripheral devices) to a plurality of master devices by the CPU. The video transfer control unit masks or releases the use right of other master devices to the PCI bus control unit according to the remaining amount of the FIFO. Thereby, the video transfer control unit can efficiently occupy the PCI bus and read data at high speed.

[0005] The information processing apparatus of Patent Document 2 has a function of predicting the rewrite life according to the temperature of the flash memory and the rewrite situation, and adjusting the rewrite frequency so as to satisfy the product life.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0006] Patent Document 1 Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2005-135218 Patent Document 2 Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2020-154674 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION PROBLEMS TO BE SOLVED BY THE INVENTION

[0007] However, if data is once stored in the memory, read out from the memory, and then transmitted again, different frequencies will be used when storing and reading, resulting in increased power consumption. In addition, when the memory is full, newly acquired biometric information that is continuously obtained cannot be stored. MEANS FOR SOLVING THE PROBLEMS

[0008] In view of this problem, the mobile device of the present invention a communication unit for wireless communication with an external device; a biometric information acquisition unit for acquiring biometric information of a user; a storage means for storing the biometric information in a volatile storage unit of the biometric information acquisition unit and transmitting it from the volatile storage unit to the external device via the communication unit when the communication unit is connected to the external device; a non-volatile storage unit accessible by the biometric information acquisition unit and when the connection with the external device is not established, the storage means stores the biometric information in the volatile storage unit, and when it becomes impossible to store in the volatile storage unit, executes a sequential writing process of storing the biometric information while sequentially switching the writing location for each unit storage area of the non-volatile storage unit. When reaching the last writing location of the non-volatile memory unit in the sequential writing process, the sequential writing process is executed starting from the next unit memory area after the oldest unit memory area in the unit memory area saved in the previous sequential writing process.

Effect of the Invention

[0009] According to the present invention, the range of data that can be stored with a limited memory capacity can be expanded.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0010]

Figure 1

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Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0011] (First Embodiment) Hereinafter, the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the figures, the same reference numerals are common throughout the figures.

[0012] FIG. 1 shows the configurations of a portable device and an information processing device. The portable device 100 includes a control unit 101, a flash memory 102 accessible by the control unit 101, a first sensor 104 and a first FIFO 103 dedicated to the first sensor 104, a second sensor 106 and a second FIFO 105 dedicated to the second sensor 106, a third sensor 108 and a third FIFO 107 dedicated to the third sensor 108, a communication unit 109, and a power supply unit 110. Note that the first sensor 104, the second sensor 106, the third sensor 108, and the control unit 101 are examples of a biological information acquisition unit, and the first FIFO 103, the second FIFO 105, and the third FIFO 107 are examples of volatile storage units that store the biological information acquired by their respective sensors. Also, FIFO stands for First-In First-Out, and it is described as a particularly suitable example among examples of a type in which the stored data is read out in the same order, sequence.

[0013] The control unit 101 is configured by, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit), and is powered by the power supplied from the power supply unit 110 using a battery or the like as a power source, and is driven by a program stored in the flash memory 102 which is an example of a non-volatile storage unit. The control unit 101 also determines whether the communication unit 109 is in a connected state with an external device, which is an information processing device (host) 200, through communication. When in the connected state, the biological information acquired from the first sensor 104, the second sensor 106, and the third sensor 108 is stored in the first FIFO 103, the second FIFO 105, and the third FIFO 107, respectively. The control unit 101 issues a control signal for transmission at a predetermined timing, and controls to transmit from the first FIFO to the third FIFO to the information processing device 200 via the communication unit 109. Note that the first sensor 104, the second sensor 106, and the third sensor 108 can be of any type as long as they can acquire biological information. For example, sensors that acquire various activity amounts of the user who is the wearer of the portable device 100, such as body temperature, pulse wave, number of steps, sleep state, and motion, can be applied.

[0014] When the mobile device 100 is not connected to the information processing device 200, the biological information is stored in the first FIFO 103 to the third FIFO 107. When one FIFO corresponding to each sensor is full, it is sequentially stored in the flash memory block by block at each unit time. When the flash memory 102 is full, the oldest block is erased sequentially from the next block, and writing (overwriting) is performed. Note that the writing location of this data is managed by the block address. The method of this overwriting will be described in detail later. After that, when the mobile device 100 is determined to be in a connected state with the information processing device 200 while the biological information is stored in the flash memory 102, the control unit 101 transmits data from the flash memory 102 to the information processing device 200 via the communication unit 109.

[0015] Figure 2 shows a flowchart of the data processing method according to the embodiment of the present invention. In step S101, it is determined whether the mobile device 100 is connected to the information processing device 200 which is an external device. When the communication unit 109 is in a state of being connected to the information processing device 200 (Yes in step S101), the control unit 101 proceeds to step S102.

[0016] In step S102, the control unit 101 controls to store the biological information (data) in the FIFO.

[0017] In step S103, when the control unit 101 outputs a transmission signal, the biological information (data) is transmitted from the first FIFO 103 to the third FIFO 107 to the information processing device 200 via the communication unit 109.

[0018] When the communication unit 109 is not connected to the information processing device 200 (No in step S101), in order to determine whether to store the biological information (data) acquired from each sensor in the first FIFO 103 to the third FIFO 107, the process proceeds to step S105.

[0019] In step S105, the free capacities of the first FIFO 103 to the third FIFO 107 are determined. When one of the first FIFO 103 to the third FIFO 107 becomes full and it becomes impossible to store the biological information (data) for the next unit time (Yes in step S105), the process proceeds to step S106, and the control unit 101 stores the biological information (data) for the next unit time in the flash memory.

[0020] On the other hand, when none of the first FIFO 103 to the third FIFO 107 is full, that is, when it is possible to store the biological information (data) for the next unit time (No in step S105), the control unit 101 continues to store the biological information (data) for the next unit time in the first FIFO 103 to the third FIFO 107 (step S104).

[0021] In step S107, the control unit 101 determines whether the mobile device 100 is connected to the information processing device 200 which is an external device. When it is in a connected state with the information processing device 200 (Yes in step S107), the control unit 101 proceeds to step S103. The control unit 101 transmits the biological information from the flash memory to the information processing device 200 via the communication unit 109.

[0022] On the other hand, when it is in a state not connected to the information processing device 200 (No in step S107), the control unit 101 continues to store the biological information in the flash memory (step S106).

[0023] FIG. 3 shows a flash memory storage method of the data processing method according to the embodiment of the present invention. The flash memory is divided into n blocks (unit storage areas), and a "sequential writing process" is executed in which biological information (data) is written while sequentially switching the blocks every unit time. In each block, biological information (data) for m times of the unit time is stored. The biological information (data) is stored in each block of the flash memory every unit time (e.g., 1 second), the data of the first second is stored in the first block, the data of the second second is stored in the second block, and sequentially the data of the nth second is stored in the nth block.

[0024] The data at the (n + 1)-th second is stored after the data at the 1st second of the 1st block. Similarly, the data at the (n + 2)-th second is stored in the 2nd block. Similarly, the data at the 2n-th second is stored in the n-th block. And the data at the (m×n)-th second is stored in the n-th block. Up to this point, the first "sequential writing process" is completed.

[0025] In this embodiment, after reaching the n-th block which is the last writing location as described above, in the second "sequential writing process" when continuously storing data in the flash memory, starting from the 2nd block which is the next block after the 1st block where the oldest data in the first "sequential writing process" is stored, the oldest data is erased and new biometric information is stored. The data at the (m×n + 1)-th second is stored in the 2nd block. The data at the (m×n + 2)-th second is stored in the 3rd block. The data at the (m×n+(n - 1))-th second is stored in the n-th block. And the data at the (m×n + n)-th second is stored in the 2nd block. The data at the (m×n + n + 1)-th second is stored in the 3rd block. Similarly, the storage is repeated, and the data at the (m×n + m(n - 1))-th second is stored in the n-th block. Up to this point, the second "sequential writing process" is completed. When the 2nd block to the n-th block are filled up by the second "sequential writing process", in the third "sequential writing process", new biometric information is stored starting from the 3rd block. By repeating these, in the n-th "sequential writing process", biometric information is stored starting from the n-th block.

[0026] When storing biometric information in the flash memory, if it is determined in step S107 of FIG. 2 that the mobile device 100 is in a connected state with the information processing device 200, the control unit 101 controls to transmit the data in the FIFO to the information processing device 200 via the communication unit 109 from the old biometric information in the flash memory 102 in order.

[0027] (Second Embodiment) Hereinafter, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. Since the configuration of this embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment, the same reference numerals are used for the same configurations, and only the different parts will be described.

[0028] In this embodiment, when the mobile device 100 is in a connected state with the information processing device 200 which is an external device, in the steady state where the biological information acquired from the first sensor 104, the second sensor 106, and the third sensor 108 is stored in the first FIFO 103, the second FIFO 105, and the third FIFO 107 respectively per unit time, it is changed to store in multiples of the unit time according to the free capacity of the FIFO, and the control unit 101 performs transmission control at the transmission timing corresponding to the changed storage interval (if the storage interval becomes three times, it is three times the transmission interval in the steady state).

[0029] According to this configuration, although the sampling interval of the data becomes longer, the data range (period) that can be stored in the FIFO can be lengthened, and the transmission timing of the data can also be extended accordingly, reducing the power consumption.

[0030] Furthermore, until one of the first FIFO to the third FIFO is full, only data storage is performed without transmission, and at the timing when the biological information (data) of the next unit time cannot be stored, the control unit 101 may control to transmit from the first FIFO to the third FIFO to the information processing device 200 via the communication unit 109. Furthermore, it may be configured to transmit when the size for each communication data unit is stored.

[0031] Note that when the mobile device 100 and the information processing device 200 are not in a connected state, data may be stored in the FIFO or the flash memory 102 in multiples of the unit time as well.

[0032] When the biological information (data) is stored in the flash memory, when the flash memory becomes full and sequentially erases from the block next to the oldest block, it is also possible to erase and overwrite every other block.

[0033] That is, in the first "sequential writing process", the first block to the nth block are filled up. In the second "sequential writing process", the data in the second block is erased and new biometric information (data) is stored. The data in the next third block is not erased. After that, only the data in the even-numbered blocks is erased and new biometric information (data) is stored. When reaching the nth block, in the third "sequential writing process", the data in the fourth block is erased and new biometric information (data) is stored. After that, only the data in the blocks that are multiples of 4 is erased and new biometric information (data) is stored. New biometric information (data) is stored up to the nth block. As described above, in the kth "sequential writing process", only the data that is a multiple of 2 k-1 is erased, so that new data can be stored while keeping the old data.

[0034] In addition, when overwriting data skipping one block like this, in the kth "sequential writing process", it is preferable to store data at time intervals that are (k + 1) times the unit time. According to this configuration, when the kth "sequential writing process" is executed and data is stored, the data storage intervals can be made uniform. That is, the data intervals between the old data and the new data can be made the same, but it is not limited to this. From the perspective of increasing the importance of the new data, it may be configured such that data is always stored every unit time.

[0035] (Third Embodiment) Hereinafter, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, the following problems are solved. That is, small electronic terminals typified by wearable products such as mobile devices described in the first and second embodiments are emphasized on miniaturization and power saving, and are often designed to be smaller than a wristband, and there may not be room to mount a physical interface by buttons. When there is no external interface by a physical button, the built-in firmware must always be operating in order to always execute system control. For this reason, the firmware needs to continue operating even during the power saving mode, and there is a limit to power saving during non-use. Also, system reset by a reset button, which is a general countermeasure when the system constituting the wearable product hangs up as a result of a hardware exception or a program bug, cannot be implemented without an external interface.

[0036] As an alternative to the reset function by an external interface, there is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2021-528031 and the like a device that detects a change in the external power supply state typified by a charger and executes a reset operation. However, in this case, an operation from an external device is required for reset execution, which is troublesome, and in the case disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 6384035, since the reset is executed when removed from the cradle, the problem is that the terminal during hang-up cannot execute an operation during charging. Also, although it is a reset control aimed at substituting for a physical switch that cannot be mounted on a wearable terminal, it does not support power-on startup, and the firmware continues to drive as long as sufficient power supply is continued. This means that the firmware continues to drive even in a non-use state for a long time, so there is a limit to power saving.

[0037] In this embodiment, in response to this problem, a control method is proposed that does not require external control, executes a reset operation that serves as a hang-up countermeasure simultaneously with charging execution, executes power-on startup from a state where the firmware has stopped for power saving, and executes a return to the normal driving state.

[0038] That is, a power supply device including one or more first contacts is provided. The power supply device has a function of transmitting at least one voltage. The system further includes a wearable terminal. The wearable terminal includes one or more second contacts configured to be fitted with the first contacts to establish an electrical connection with the power supply device, and a secondary battery configured such that power supplied from the power supply device is supplied through the electrical connection. The wearable terminal has a reset circuit configured such that a reset signal is supplied to a reset terminal of a control unit. When power is supplied from the power supply device through the electrical connection, the firmware is reset based on the fact that the reset signal is supplied to the reset terminal. A power supply system for a wearable terminal is provided.

[0039] According to this configuration, in a small electronic terminal without a physical button, it is possible to start up the power supply and perform a reset operation of the small electronic terminal by using the power supply from the power supply device.

[0040] In the present embodiment, in a small electronic terminal represented by a wearable terminal, a control method for performing a reset operation and a power supply startup without requiring a physical button is proposed.

[0041] FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an example of the internal configuration of the wearable terminal 100. In the following description, components having the same configuration as those in the above-described embodiment may be denoted by the same reference numerals and the description thereof may be omitted.

[0042] The wearable terminal 100 includes an MCU 110 for controlling an internal system. The MCU 110 includes at least a RAM 102 of a volatile memory, a ROM 112 of a non-volatile memory, a CPU 101 (central processing unit), an external communication function 109, a reset terminal 115, and a GPIO 116.

[0043] The RAM 102 is used as a temporary memory during operation, and the CPU 101 performs writing and reading according to the control of the firmware as needed. The ROM 112 has at least the firmware written therein, and the CPU 101 executes control according to this. The external communication function 109 is a wireless communication function for communicating with an external terminal of the wearable terminal 100. The reset terminal 115 detects the input voltage and executes reset control for the operation of the MCU 110 based on a threshold value. In this configuration, the reset terminal 115 is exemplified as a low enable control. The GPIO 116 is a signal terminal set by the control of the firmware, and communicates and controls with an external device of the MCU 110.

[0044] The wearable terminal 100 incorporates a secondary battery 120 and a charging terminal 121 as a power source, and drives the system by the secondary battery 120 when not charging. Regarding this secondary battery 120, as long as power can be charged and discharged, for example, an article other than a battery, such as a capacitor, may be used. Further, the charging terminal 121 is a terminal portion for receiving power supply from a charging device (cradle power supply) outside the wearable terminal. As a method for receiving power from the outside, it may be contact power reception or non-contact power reception.

[0045] The charge control circuit 122 is connected to at least the secondary battery 120 and the charging terminal 121, selects the charging terminal 121 when receiving power supply from the outside via the charging terminal 121, and selects the secondary battery 120 when there is no power supply from the outside, and supplies the power from the selected power source to the entire system.

[0046] The power control circuit 130 adjusts the voltage value supplied from the charge control circuit 122 to an appropriate voltage value required by the system. Further, it has an EN signal terminal, and can control the ON / OFF of the output by an input signal from the outside. Although it is shown as the power control circuit 130 in FIG. 4, the output can be controlled, and it may be any of a PMIC, a load switch, etc. as long as there is no problem with the output voltage.

[0047] When the voltage of the charging terminal 121 is input, the reset circuit 140 is a circuit that outputs a signal to the reset terminal 115. When the voltage of the charging terminal 121 switches to a voltage corresponding to the charging state, a voltage less than the threshold value Vth of the reset terminal 115 is output to the reset terminal 115 over a period of a certain time Trst.

[0048] The voltage detection unit 150 is composed of a sequential circuit such as an R / S Flip Flop. When the voltages from the charging terminal 121 and the GPIO 116 are input, a control signal is output to the power control circuit 130. The voltage detection unit 150 is always driven, and the power ON / OFF does not switch according to the output state of the power control circuit 130. Regarding the output of the control signal to the power control circuit 130, when external power is supplied to the charging terminal 121, the output transitions so that the power control circuit 130 becomes ON. On the other hand, when an OFF control signal is output from the GPIO 116 under the control of the MCU, the output transitions so that the power control circuit 130 becomes OFF.

[0049] Figure 5 shows an example of the internal configuration of the reset circuit 140. In Figure 5, it is assumed to be a circuit composed of a resistor 141, a resistor 142, a capacitor 143, and a transistor 144. In this circuit, it is assumed that the output signal / RESET becomes Low Enable.

[0050] The resistors 141, 142, and the capacitor 143 are provided as a delay circuit. When the transistor 144 transitions from the OFF state to the ON state, a value less than the threshold value Vth is output as / RESET only for a certain time until the capacitor stores charge. After that, the output is always Vth or more. Regarding the output of / RESET, when the transistor is in the OFF state, it is Vcc, and when it is in the ON state, immediately after switching, if it becomes 0 and the steady output is the voltage divided by R1 and R2 of Vcc, that value is output. As a result, only for a certain time immediately after the start of charging, the output / RESET of the reset circuit 140 activates the reset terminal 115.

[0051] FIG. 6 shows an example of the output signal from the reset circuit 140 shown in FIG. 5. Until immediately before power reception starts, the output signal ( / RESET) is at the power supply voltage Vcc. At this time, the transistor 144 is in the OFF state, and no charge is stored in the capacitor 143. When power reception starts from the charging terminal 121, the transistor 144 transitions to the ON state, and the capacitor 143 starts charging. The time Trst during which the output voltage outputs a value equal to or less than the threshold value Vth is defined by the resistor 141, the resistor 142, and the capacitor 143. The time Trst is set to be equal to or longer than the minimum time width detectable by the reset terminal 115. That is, it is set to a time longer than the interval of the clock on the reset terminal 115 side. Also, since the voltage when a certain time (≫ time Trst) has elapsed and the output voltage has stabilized is determined by the voltage division of the resistor 141 and the resistor 142, the resistor 141 and the resistor 142 are set so that this value is larger than Vth.

[0052] FIG. 7 is an example of the control sequence of the wearable terminal 100. The behavior of the entire system including the operations according to the circuit configuration described above is described. It starts from the charging terminal 121 starting power reception in step S160. In step S161, if the power is ON, the process proceeds to the next step S163, and if the power is OFF, after performing step S162 of transitioning to the ON state, the process proceeds to step S163. In step S163, the reset operation of the system is executed. When executing this reset operation, the data stored in the RAM 102 may be transmitted to the external terminal by the ROM 112 or the communication function 114. After the start of execution of the reset operation, when a certain time shorter than Trst has elapsed and the clock timing of the reset terminal 115 arrives (step S164), the reset operation is completed (step S165), and the process returns to normal driving (step S166). This sequence ends when the connection to the charging device is disconnected and power reception ends (step S167).

[0053] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications can be applied. It is also possible to implement by combining each embodiment. By performing the reset operation described in the third embodiment, it is possible to reset the data stored in the data storage described in the first and second embodiments, and so on.

Explanation of Signs

[0054] 100 Mobile device 101 Control unit 102 Flash memory 103 First FIFO 104 First sensor 105 Second FIFO 106 Second sensor 107 Third FIFO 108 Third sensor 109 Communication unit 110 Power supply unit 200 Information processing device

Claims

1. A communication unit for wireless communication with an external device, A biological information acquisition unit for acquiring biological information of a user, When the communication unit is connected to the external device, a storage means for storing the biological information in a volatile memory unit of the biological information acquisition unit and transmitting it from the volatile memory unit to the external device via the communication unit, A non-volatile memory unit accessible by the biological information acquisition unit and comprising, When the storage means is not connected to the external device, the biological information is stored in the volatile memory unit, and when it becomes impossible to store in the volatile memory unit, a sequential writing process is executed to store the biological information while sequentially switching the writing location for each unit storage area of the non-volatile memory unit, A portable device, characterized in that when reaching the last writing location of the non-volatile memory unit in the sequential writing process, the sequential writing process is executed from the next unit storage area of the oldest unit storage area in the unit storage area stored in the previous sequential writing process.

2. The portable device according to claim 1, characterized in that when executing the sequential writing process from the next unit storage area of the oldest unit storage area in the unit storage area stored in the previous sequential writing process, the unit storage area is written skipping one at a time.

3. The portable device according to claim 1, characterized in that the timing of transmission to the external device is changed according to the free capacity of the volatile memory unit while the biological information is stored in the volatile memory unit.

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