Power Source Control Unit for Information Processing Apparatus
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing information processing apparatuses face challenges in achieving power saving by eliminating power to unnecessary components without energizing the sub CPU, while ensuring user convenience for shifting between power states.
Innovation Solution
The information processing apparatus includes an operation acceptance unit, a control unit, a generation unit for recovery signals, and a power source control unit. This configuration allows the apparatus to shift from a first power state where the sub CPU is not energized to a second power state where it is energized, based on user operations, while ensuring power saving by limiting power supply to necessary components.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Use of energy by moving object
If the sub CPU is not energized to save power, then power consumption is reduced, but the ability to respond to user operations and shift power states is compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the information processing apparatus into multiple power-controllable units: the sub CPU, the operation acceptance unit, and the control unit. By selectively energizing only the operation acceptance unit and control unit while keeping the sub CPU de-energized in the first power state, the system achieves partial functionality that maintains user interaction capability while significantly reducing power consumption. This segmentation allows independent power management of different functional blocks.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements dynamic power state transitions between a first power state (sub CPU not energized) and a second power state (sub CPU energized). The system dynamically shifts between these states based on user operations detected by the operation acceptance unit. This dynamic approach allows the system to adapt its power consumption level to actual usage needs, maintaining low power consumption during idle periods while enabling quick transition to full functionality when needed.
2Use of energy by moving object
If power is eliminated from unnecessary components in the first power state, then power saving is achieved, but the complexity of managing power state transitions increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a control unit as an intermediary between the operation acceptance unit and the sub CPU. This control unit receives operation signals from the operation acceptance unit even when the sub CPU is not energized, processes these signals, and generates appropriate recovery signals to initiate power state transitions. This intermediary structure simplifies power state management by centralizing the transition logic in the control unit, avoiding the need for complex distributed power management across multiple components.
Solution Approach 2:
The operation acceptance unit is designed to be self-sufficient in the first power state by maintaining the capability to detect user operations and generate signals without requiring the sub CPU to be energized. This self-service capability allows the unit to autonomously initiate power state transitions by sending signals to the control unit, reducing the overall system's dependency on the sub CPU being active and simplifying the power management architecture.
Data Source
AI summary
An information processing apparatus includes an operation acceptance unit configured to accept an operation from a user, a control unit configured to accept a signal from the operation acceptance unit, a generation unit configured to accept a signal from the operation acceptance unit and generate a recovery signal, and a power source control unit configured to shift, based on the recovery signal, a power state of the information processing apparatus from a first power state in which the control unit is not energized to a second power state in which the control unit is energized, in which in the second power state, the generation unit does not generate the recovery signal even when the signal from the operation acceptance unit is accepted in the second power state, and the generation unit generates the recovery signal when the signal from the operation acceptance unit is accepted in the first power state.