JP3299863B2 - Electronic equipment - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a host computer and a terminal device connected by communication means such as a LAN.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a method of controlling the power of a terminal device according to an instruction from a host computer, one method is to provide a local CPU in the terminal device as shown in FIG.
A power control signal from a host computer is received by a LAN controller in a terminal device via a LAN cable, a received command is decoded by a local CPU, and a control signal is output from the local CPU to a power control unit. The power control unit turns on the main power,
The power of the entire device is turned on.

In this configuration, the terminal device always needs power in the power supply control unit and the local CPU, the LAN controller, and the local SRAM in the standby state.

As another method, a power control unit is provided in a host computer, connected to a power control unit in a terminal device by a cable dedicated to power control, and a power control signal from the host computer is directly transmitted to the terminal device. The power supply control unit in the terminal device controls the main power supply.

This configuration requires a power control cable and a power control unit in the host computer.

[0006] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-6356 discloses the above-mentioned FIG.
Is disclosed. In the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-6356, a firmware that constantly monitors packets flowing through a LAN is operated by a LAN control unit. That is, this corresponds to the local CPU in FIG. In the event of a power outage, there was no means for recovery after the power outage.

[0007]

In the prior art shown in FIG. 4, a power supply control unit and a local CPU are used as a constant power supply.
It is necessary to supply power to the LAN controller and the local SRAM. Further, it is necessary to provide a local CPU, which increases restrictions on hardware.

Further, in the other conventional technique, a cable for power supply control needs to be provided exclusively, which also causes an increase in hardware restrictions.

Therefore, according to the present invention, the power supply is controlled from the host computer without having to provide a local CPU in the terminal device and without requiring a cable dedicated to power supply control. Further, the power supply control is automatically set when a power failure occurs, and the power supply control from a telephone line or a serial interface (for example, an RS-232C cable) can be selectively used.

[0010]

[Means for Solving the Problems]

[Claim 1] In a host computer and a terminal device connected by a LAN line, a LAN which receives data transmitted from the host computer by the terminal device.
Controller, a local memory for temporarily storing data received by the LAN controller, and a main CPU
A main power supply for supplying power to the power supply, a power supply control unit for controlling the main power supply, and a constant power supply for constantly supplying power to the power supply control unit, the LAN controller, and the local memory, and in a standby state in which the main power supply is off. When data is received by the LAN controller, the received data is recorded in a local memory, a power control unit is started, and it is determined whether the received data is a power control signal. If so, the processing is continued, and if the signal is other than the above, the main power supply is turned off to be in a standby state.

[Claim 2] In addition to the power control by the LAN line, the power control by the serial interface and the power control by the telephone line are enabled, and the control can be selectively set.

[0013] [Means of claim 3] A backup storage means for storing the setting of the control is provided, and when a power failure occurs, when the main power is turned on after restoration of the power failure, the setting is read from the backup storage means. However, after the setting, the main power supply is turned off to be in a standby state.

[0013]

In a host computer and a terminal device connected by a LAN line,
When the power control signal is transmitted, the LAN controller of the terminal device receives the signal via the LAN line.

When the LAN controller receives the signal, it records the content of the signal in the local memory and activates the power control unit. The power control unit turns on the main power. Thereby, the main CPU, various I / Fs, etc. can also operate.

When the main CPU becomes operable, the contents of the local SRAM are checked. If the content of the local memory is a power control signal from the host computer, the power-on processing ends. If it is not the power control signal, the main power is turned off and the process returns to the standby state.

In power control using a serial interface (for example, RS-232C), whether or not a CD signal has been received from a host computer is recognized as a power control signal.

Power control using a telephone line is performed by detecting a call signal and turning on a main power supply.

In these various power supply controls, one or more factors can be selected and designated by setting a power supply rise factor setting port.

Further, after the power failure occurs, when the power failure is restored,
The main power is turned on, but since it is not a power-on request from the host computer, it is recognized that a power failure has occurred, the setting data is read from the backup memory, the settings are made, and the main power is turned off to enter a standby state. .

[0020]

FIG. 1 shows the configuration of the present invention. This embodiment shows an example in which the RS-232C standard (American Electronic Industries Association standard) is used as the serial interface. LAN controller 2H and RS-232C on host computer side
A driver 3H is provided. This LAN controller 2
H and the RS-232C driver 3H are connected to the LAN controller 2 and the RS-232C driver 3 of the terminal device via a cable. Also, a modular cable (telephone line) is connected to the terminal device, and the telephone unit 5 of the terminal device controls this.

The LAN controller 2 is a local SRAM
4 and instructs the power control unit 1 to start. The power supply control unit 1 includes the RS-232C driver 3 and the LA
The main power supply 7 is turned on by a signal from the N controller 2 and the telephone unit 5. The main power supply 7 is a power supply for the main CPU 8 and other input / output devices (not shown). The constant power source 6 is a power source that constantly supplies power only to the power control unit 1, the LAN controller 2, and the local SRAM 4. The backup SRAM 9 is a memory that stores contents for setting the power supply control unit 1 after restoration when a power failure occurs. The main CPU 8 is a processing device that controls input / output devices and performs various calculations.

In the present invention, (1) power control from a host computer via a LAN, (2) RS-2
Power control from the host computer via 32C,
(3) Power control from a host computer via a telephone line is performed. First, power control via a LAN will be described.

The power control by the LAN is realized by setting the bit of the power source setting port 10 shown in FIG. Power ON of power control section
PSO which is the output from the / OFF flip-flop 11
N signal (controls ON / OFF of main power supply)
By setting w, the main power supply is turned off. FIG. 3 shows a circuit example of the power ON / OFF flip-flop.

FIG. 5 shows the flow of power control processing by the LAN. Hereinafter, description will be made based on this figure. Step S1 is a standby state. The PSON signal is low,
The main power is off. LA in step S2
It waits for a power-on request from the host computer via the N line. The process waits until there is a request from the host, and if there is a request, the process proceeds to step S3, where the LAN controller receives the request, writes data from the host computer to the local RAM, and issues a start instruction to the power control unit.
In step S4, the PSON signal becomes High, and the main power is turned on. In step S5, the contents of the local SRAM are checked by the main CPU. If the content of the local SRAM is a power-on request from the host computer, the power control process ends in step S6. That is, the main power is kept ON. If the power supply request is not a request from the host computer, the PSON signal is set to low,
The main power is turned off and the process returns to the standby state (step S1).

The basic flow is the same for starting up the power supply using the RS-232C. This is realized by setting the bit of the power-on factor setting port shown in FIG. Step S11 in FIG. 6 is a standby state. In step S12, a power-on request from the host computer via the RS-232C is waited. The request signal from the host computer is performed, for example, by activating the CD signal. In step S13, a start instruction is issued to the power control unit. In step S14, the PSON signal becomes High, and the main power is turned on. Step S
At 15, it is determined by the main CPU whether or not it has been controlled by the RS-232C (specifically, whether or not the CD signal is active). If the request is a power-on request from the host computer, in step S16,
The CD signal is released, and the power control process ends. That is, the main power is kept ON. If it is not a power-on request from the host computer, the main power is turned off by setting the PSON signal to low, and the process returns to the standby state (step S11).

The flow of power-on using a telephone line will be described with reference to FIG. This is realized by setting the bit of the power-on factor setting port shown in FIG. Step S21 is a standby state. Step S
At 22, a call signal from the telephone line is waited. When the call signal is input, a start instruction is issued to the power control unit in step S23. In step S24, the PSON signal becomes High, and the main power is turned on. In step S25, the telephone line is captured by going off-hook, and the power control process ends.

With the above processing, the LAN line, RS-2
32C, from a host computer using a telephone line,
Power control of the terminal device can be performed. In addition, it is of course possible to set the above three methods in combination. These are set by the power rising factor setting port 10 shown in FIG.

Next, the processing when a power failure occurs will be described with reference to FIGS.
This will be described with reference to FIG. When a power outage occurs and is restored, FF
Both-(21) and FF- (22) become operable, the PSON signal becomes High, and the main power supply starts operating. When the main CPU becomes operable, the CPU checks the start-up factor but does not issue a start-up instruction from the host computer. The main CPU 8 is a backup SRAM 9
, Data is read out to the factor setting port, settings are made, the main power is turned off, and the apparatus enters a standby state.

According to the above-mentioned processing, the terminal device can automatically set the power control at the time of the power outage, and can enter the standby state.

[0030]

【The invention's effect】

[Effect of Claim 1] According to the present invention, it becomes possible to perform terminal device power control from a host computer without providing a local CPU or a dedicated line for power control.
There is no need to provide a special configuration for the device, and hardware restrictions are reduced.

[Effect of Claim 2] The power supply of the terminal device can be started up by a plurality of methods such as a LAN line, a serial interface, and a telephone line.

[Effect of Claim 3] In the event of a power failure, power supply control can be automatically reset and a standby state can be set, so that power supply control is not disabled due to a power failure. .

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of one embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a circuit example of a power supply control unit.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a circuit example of a power ON / OFF flip-flop unit.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a conventional technique.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the flow of one embodiment (LAN line) of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the flow of an embodiment (RS-232C) of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the flow of an embodiment (telephone line) of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Power supply control unit 2 LAN controller 3 RS-232C driver 4 Local SRAM 5 Telephone unit 6 Constant power supply 7 Main power supply 8 Main CPU 9 Backup SRAM

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (58) Field surveyed (Int.Cl. ⁷ , DB name) G06F 1/26-1/32 G06F 13/00 H03J 9/00-9/06 H04L 12/00-12 / 26 H04L 12/50-12/66 H04L 13/02-13/18 H04L 29/00-29/12 H04M 11/00-11/10 H04Q 9/00-9/16

Claims (3)

(57) [Claims] 1. A host computer and a terminal device connected by a LAN line, a LAN controller for receiving data transmitted from the host computer by a terminal device, and a local memory for temporarily storing data received by the LAN controller. A main power supply for supplying power to the main CPU, a power supply control unit for controlling the main power supply, a constant power supply for always supplying power only to the power supply control unit, the LAN controller, and the local memory, and the main power supply is off. In the standby state, the LAN
When data is received by the controller, the received data is recorded in a local memory, a power control unit is started, and it is determined whether the received data is a power control signal, and the data is a power control signal. If so, continue the process,
If the signal is other than the above, the electronic device turns off the main power supply and enters a standby state. 2. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein power control by a serial interface and power control by a telephone line are enabled in addition to the power control by the LAN line, and the control can be selectively set. apparatus. 3. A backup storage means for storing the control settings, wherein when a power failure occurs, when a main power supply is turned on after restoration of the power failure,
3. The electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the setting is read from the backup storage unit, and after the setting, the main power is turned off to be in a standby state.