JP2001142839A - Information processing device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) Abstract: An object of the present invention is to provide an information processing apparatus that monitors all replaceable devices at the time of power-off and shortens the startup time. An information processing apparatus according to the present invention has a detection switch (30) in a connector or a slot of each replaceable device on a board, and has a detection monitoring device (18) for monitoring a signal from the detection switch (30). . In addition, a battery 19 for the detection and monitoring device is connected to the detection and monitoring device 18 as an auxiliary power supply in addition to the main power supply. The detection / monitoring device 18 has a register 40 indicating the state of the detection switch 30 therein, and performs processing with reference to the value of the register 40 at the time of startup or termination.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus having a suspend function.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional information processing apparatus, configuration of a memory and configuration of peripheral devices are performed as processing at the time of startup, and then an OS is started. Upon termination, all devices are released and the power is turned off. In an information processing apparatus having a suspend disk function, when a suspend process is performed during operation, an operating state such as memory contents at the time and an operating state of a device is stored in a non-volatile memory such as an auxiliary storage device provided in the apparatus, and a power supply Is disconnected. Further, at the time of resuming, since the state is restored based on the data saved at the time of suspending, it is not necessary to perform all the configuration of the memory and the device, and the startup time is shortened.

[0003]

The information processing system includes a plurality of devices that can be inserted and removed. Normally, these devices are replaced when the power is turned off.
This is because all devices are configured during the power-on startup process. On the other hand, in the suspend state, the entire use environment is stored in the auxiliary storage device before the transition to the suspend state, so that the device cannot be replaced.

In the suspend state, the operating state is stored in a nonvolatile storage device, so that power is not supplied to all devices. In other words, from the outside,
The power-off state and the suspend state are the same, and no power is supplied to each device. Actually, some devices have a mark for notifying the suspend state. However, since the apparatus main body is not operating, it is conceivable to insert or remove the device during suspend. In this case, especially when an application that is using a certain device enters the suspend state and the state is stored, when the device is removed during suspend, it may not be possible to return because there is no device at the time of resume . In addition, when such an error occurs or when a device is inserted during suspend, the system must reconfigure all devices, and it takes time to resume.

An object of the present invention is to provide an information processing apparatus that monitors the state of a device at the time of power-off and automatically shortens the start-up time when no device is inserted or removed.

[0006]

An information processing apparatus according to the present invention has switches in connectors and slots of replaceable devices on a board, and has a monitoring device for monitoring signals from the switches. . In addition, an auxiliary power supply other than the main power supply is connected to the monitoring device to constantly monitor. The monitoring device internally has a register indicating the state of the detection switch, and performs processing by referring to the value of this register at the time of startup or termination.

[0007]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS One embodiment of the present invention will be described below.

FIG. 1 shows an embodiment of the overall configuration of the present invention. The information processing apparatus 1 includes a housing 2, a board 3 provided with a plurality of connectors and expansion slots, a power supply unit 4, a plurality of removable auxiliary storage devices 5, and an input / output device 6. The board 3 includes a CPU unit 10, a memory slot 11, a video card connector 12, and a CP.
A host bridge controller 13 for communication between the U and the memory, video, and I / O system, an I / O controller 14 for bus control for connecting peripheral devices, an expansion connector 15 for connecting an external storage device, and various expansion cards There are an expansion slot 16 for assembling, a power connector 17 for supplying power to each device and the controller, and a detection / monitoring device 18 for monitoring the insertion / removal state of each device. As what the host bridge controller 13 controls,
There are CPU, memory, display, I / O, each of which
The CPU unit 10 is connected to the system bus 20, the memory slot 11 is connected to the memory bus 21, the video card connector 12 is connected to the video bus 22, and the bus control I / O controller 14 is connected to the I / O bus 23. The bus control I / O controller 14 controls an external input / output device, an expansion card, and a detection / monitoring device 18.
Each of them has an external device connected directly to the connector 15 and the bus 24, and an expansion card connected directly to the detection monitoring device 18 via the connector 16 and the bus 25. Power for each controller on the board is supplied from the power supply unit 4 through a power connector 17. Further, a battery 19 is also connected to the detection monitoring device 18. The battery 19 enables operation even when power is not supplied from the power supply unit 4. When power is supplied from the power supply unit 4, the power supply from the battery 19 is cut off. A user can attach or remove various devices to these connectors and expansion slots.

FIG. 2 shows an insertion / removal detection switch 30 provided in a connector or an expansion slot. For example, consider a desktop personal computer. In this case, all of the insertion / removal detection switches 30 are attached to internal slots such as a device connector that can be replaced by a user, a card slot and a memory slot that are not usually replaced. Also, the insertion / extraction detection switch 30 is attached to the cover of the housing. That is, the switch 30 for insertion / removal detection is
Attach. The insertion / extraction detection switch 30 includes a button 31 and a contact 32. The button 31 is separated from the contact 32 by a spring 33. When a force is applied to the button 31, the button 31 comes into contact with the contact 32. When the force is stopped, the button 31 is automatically separated from the contact 32. The tip of the button 31 is slanted so that it can be easily pressed by a lateral force. Normally, as shown in FIG.
Is open. On the other hand, when the extension device is inserted into or removed from the connector or the slot, the insertion / removal detection switch 30 is temporarily closed as shown in FIG.
That is, a current flows through the insertion / removal detection switch 30 when the extension device is inserted / removed from the connector or the slot, and the current is interrupted after the insertion / removal.

FIG. 3 shows the insertion / removal detection switch 30 connected to the connector 3.
5 is equipped. Insertion detection switch 30
Is attached to a part of the connector 35 (an end portion of the connector 35 in this example). The extension device 36 has a cut 37 in a part, and when the
6, the insertion / extraction detection switch 30 is pressed, and after the insertion is completed, the insertion / extraction detection switch 30 is positioned at the notch 37 and the insertion / extraction detection switch 30 is released.

FIG. 4 shows the insertion / removal detection switch 30 and the detection / monitoring device 18 arranged in each device. An output signal from an insertion / removal detection switch 30 arranged in each device is input to the detection monitoring device 18. In this example, the output from each device and the input of the detection monitoring device 18 are associated one-to-one so that it is possible to distinguish which device has been inserted or removed. Inside the detection monitoring device 18, there is a status flag 40, which can take on and off states. The detection monitoring device 18 has a reset terminal 41. Further, the power of the insertion / removal detection switch 30 and the power of the detection / monitoring device 18 can be stored even when the main power of the information processing apparatus 1 is cut off.
Connect. The ON state of the state flag 40 indicates a state in which each device can recognize. The OFF state of the state flag 40 is a state indicating that the corresponding device has been inserted or removed. In the ON state, the state flag becomes HIGH (voltage is applied). In the off state, the state flag is L
OW (no voltage).

When the insertion / extraction detection switch 30 is pressed in the ON state, the signal line is connected to the ground and turned OFF.
Once the status flag is turned off, the insertion / removal detection switch 3
The off state is maintained regardless of the state of 0. To return to the ON state, the reset terminal 41 of the detection monitoring device 18 is used. When a signal is sent to the reset terminal 41, all the flags of the status flag 40 are set to the ON state. That is, the state changes from the ON state to the OFF state by the insertion / removal detection switch 30, and the state changes from the OFF state to the ON state by a signal to the reset terminal 41.

FIG. 5 shows another example of FIG. In FIG. 5, the insertion / removal detection switches 30 of the detection / monitoring device 18 are connected in a row in a daisy chain, and are connected to the status flag 40. The status flag 40 changes its status when any one of the devices is inserted or removed.

The insertion / removal detection switch 30 normally uses a closed state, and uses a type that opens when the switch is pressed. When the insertion / extraction detection switch 30 is pressed in the ON state, the signal line is cut off and the state is turned OFF.
The operation of the status flag 40 is the same as that of FIG.
The transition from the off state to the on state is made by a signal to the reset terminal 41.

FIG. 6 shows a table storing the relationship between the application used and the device used. While the information processing apparatus 1 is operating, the application state storage area 51 is arranged in a part of the memory area 50. The application state storage area 51 includes an application name area 52, a device name area 53, and an application activation total storage area 54. The application name area 52 stores the name of the application being used, and the device name area 53 stores the device name used by the application. Also, the total number of applications in use is counted, and the number is stored in the total application activation storage area 54. A plurality of devices may be used for one application. In this case, a plurality of device names 53 are used. At the end of use of the application, the application state storage area 51
Delete the corresponding data from.

FIG. 7 shows the flow of processing at the time of startup. Process 100 represents the start of this process. When the start switch provided in the information processing apparatus 1 is turned on, the processing of the start processing routine starts. After the power is turned on, the status flag 40 is monitored in process 101, and the startup process is changed according to the status of the status flag 40. Status flag 4
If any one of the 0s is in the off state, the initialization is performed after startup, such as initialization of the memory in process 102, confirmation and initialization of each device in process 103, and OS startup in process 104. If the status flags 40 are all on, the device starts up with the device already initialized, and since no changes have been made to the device while the system is stopped, a series of these initialization operations is omitted, and the OS is started. Returns to the state. Thereafter, it is determined whether or not the power was turned off last time while using the application. In the process 105, the value of the application activation total storage area 54 is referred to. If the value is 0, the application is terminated in a state where no application is used, and the activation process is terminated in the process 106 to enter a standby state. Application activation total storage area 54
Refer to the value of, and if it is other than 0, it means that the application was terminated while using the application.
In step 107, the activation counter is set to the value of the application activation total storage area 54. Next, the value of the application state storage area 51 is referred to. In process 108, the device status of the status flag 40 is confirmed from the device name 53 corresponding to the application name 52. If the device has not been changed since the end, both the application and the device are operated in process 109. If the device is inserted or removed after the termination, that is, if the device used by the application of the status flag 40 is in the OFF state, the user is notified that the device has been changed in process 112, and the application is activated. Abort. After these processes, the value of the counter is reduced by 1 in process 110,
The processing is repeated until the activation counter becomes 0 in step 114.
When the activation counter becomes 0, the process proceeds to the termination of the activation of the process 106.

FIG. 8 shows the flow of the application starting process. When the application start command of process 120 is issued during operation, first, in process 121, a device used by the application is initialized. Next, processing 1
At 22, the device initialization is determined. If the initialization fails, an initialization failure error notification is issued at 126, and the startup process ends at 125. If the initialization is successful, the corresponding application name is stored in the application name area 52 of the application state storage area 51 and the corresponding device name is stored in the device name area 53 in a process 123. Then, in the processing 124, the application activation total storage area 5
The value of “4” is incremented by one, and the start-up process ends in process 125.

FIG. 9 shows the flow of the application termination processing. When the application end command of the process 130 is issued during the operation, first, in a process 131, the device used by the application is released. Next, a device release determination is made in process 132, and only when the release fails, an error notification of the release failure is issued in process 136. After the device is released, the values of the corresponding application name area 52 and device name area 53 of the application state storage area 51 are deleted in process 133. Thereafter, the value of the application activation total number storage area 54 is reduced by one in a process 134, and the termination process is ended in a process 135.

FIG. 10 shows a processing flow at the time of termination. When the power is turned off, an end command of the process 140 is issued, and the operation state of the application is confirmed. If the value of the application activation total number storage area 54 is 0 in the process 141, there is no running application, so the application interruption process is omitted, and the process proceeds to the system termination process after the process 142. If the value of the application activation total number storage area 54 is not 0, there is an application in operation, so the application information and the device information are stored in process 146 based on the information in the application state storage area 51. After that, the whole memory contents of the memory area 50 are stored in the processing 142, the state of each device is stored in the processing 143, and the state flag 4 is stored in the processing 144.
Save 0. Finally, in step 145, the power is turned off.

FIG. 11 shows the detection / monitoring device 1 when the power is turned off.
8 represents the processing by the control unit 8. Since power is always supplied to the detection / monitoring device 18, monitoring of the insertion / removal detection switch 30 is always performed in process 150. If the device is not inserted or removed in the process 151, the process proceeds to the process 150, and the monitoring of the insertion / removal detection switch 30 is continued. If a device is inserted or removed, the state flag 40 of the device is set to the off state in step 152. After that, the processing shifts to processing 150.

[0021]

As described above, according to the present invention, since the monitoring device and the detection switch which are always operating are provided, if the device is not inserted or removed when the power is turned off, that is, if the system configuration is not changed, The device initialization processing at the time of startup can be automatically omitted. Normally, the power of the apparatus is turned off in the suspended state, so that the startup processing time can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an internal block diagram of an information processing apparatus.

FIG. 2 is a detailed view of a detection switch.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing insertion and removal of a device.

FIG. 4 is a configuration diagram of a monitoring device.

FIG. 5 is another configuration diagram of the monitoring device.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a storage area in a memory.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a system activation process.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an application activation process.

FIG. 9 illustrates an application termination process.

FIG. 10 illustrates a system termination process.

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing device monitoring when power is turned off.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Information processing apparatus, 2 ... Case, 3 ... Main board, 4 ... Power supply unit, 5 ... Auxiliary storage device, 6 ... I / O device, 10
... CPU, 11 ... Memory slot, 12 ... Display slot, 13 ... Host bridge controller, 14 ... I / O
Controller, 15: expansion device connector, 16: expansion slot, 17: power supply connector, 18: detection / monitoring device, 19: battery for detection / monitoring device, 30: insertion / extraction detection switch, 40: status flag register in the detection / monitoring device, 41 ... Detection monitoring device reset signal.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (72) Inventor Nobuhiro Kato 810 Shimoimaizumi, Ebina-shi, Kanagawa F-term in PC Division, Hitachi, Ltd. F-term (reference) 5B011 DA02 FF01 JA04 MB07 MB11 5B014 EA04 EB03 GD05 GD07 GD18 GE06 HC05 HC07 HC13

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A suspend processing function for storing a system state during operation in a non-volatile storage medium when a power supply is cut off, and a resume processing function for reading out a system state stored when the power supply is turned on and reconstructing an environment when the power supply is cut off. An information processing apparatus, comprising: means for mechanically determining the insertion / removal of each device at the time of suspending; a state flag for storing the presence / absence of insertion / removal; means for resetting the state flag after resuming; and a state flag at power-on. Means for activating without processing the device initialization routine. 2. An apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a plurality of registers built-in on the main board as means for controlling the state of insertion / removal, and an insertion / removal monitoring device having a control signal line for reading or resetting the values of the registers. 3. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein a user can select whether to enable or disable the insertion / removal monitoring device. 4. An apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said means for controlling the state of insertion / removal always operates so that a plurality of power supplies are provided to the insertion / removal monitoring device. 5. The device according to claim 4, wherein the device has an independent power source such as a primary battery or a secondary battery as a power source for the insertion / removal monitoring device.