JPH0423019A - information processing equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To always restart an information processor in the software executing state set in the precedent power OFF state when a power supply is turned on by resetting first a ROM after replacement of a battery at its consumption and then resetting first a RAM at non-consumption of the battery respectively. CONSTITUTION:When the battery voltage drops less than a reference level in an OFF state of a power supply, a reset terminal of a flip-flop 31 is set at an H level with the Q output set at an L level respectively. That is, an interruption A calls the data on the restart of software out of a ROM 10 when a battery is consumed. While the Q output of the flip-flop 31 is kept at an H level, an interruption B calls the data on the restart of software out of a RAM 6. The interruption A or B is produced when the power supply is turned on and then finished. Thus an end signal of the interruption A or B is returned from an interruption processor 2.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention relates to a device for restarting the software execution state at the time of power interruption when the power is turned on again in an information processing apparatus.

[Conventional technology]

In conventional devices, the method of suspending and resuming software is achieved by saving the execution state of the software in a volatile storage device when the power is turned off, and backing it up with a battery6. In order to avoid losing stored data, methods such as warning with a buzzer or using a dedicated battery for volatile storage devices were used to reduce battery consumption as much as possible. (Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication No. 1692-1692
(Publication No. 18) [Problems to be Solved by the Invention] In the above conventional technology, when the battery is exhausted during a power interruption, the user of the information processing device must back up the data or remove the battery. The drawback was that data would be lost unless measures were taken, such as replacing it.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of the present invention is to provide an information processing device that does not lose data even if the battery runs out during power interruption, and can restart software at any time by turning on the power.

[Means to solve the problem]

To achieve the above object, the present invention saves software interruption information to a volatile memory backed up by a battery and also to a rewritable non-volatile memory when the power is turned off.

A battery voltage monitoring circuit is also provided to ensure that the battery is valid during power interruptions.

[Effect]

By saving software interruption information to a rewritable non-volatile storage device when the power is turned off, even if the battery is exhausted, by replacing the battery and using the saved information in the non-volatile storage device, the information can be saved when the power is turned on. Software restart is possible.

The battery voltage monitoring circuit determines whether the battery voltage during the power interruption was at a voltage that can be backed up.

Based on this determination, if the battery is determined to be invalid when the power is turned on, the software will be restarted from the non-volatile storage device, and if it is determined to be valid, the battery will be restarted from the volatile memory backed up by the battery. Do it from the device. With this method, when the power is restarted, it is possible to always execute the software from the suspended state.

〔Example〕

An embodiment of the present invention will be described. FIG. 1 shows an example of a computer. The battery monitoring circuit 3 controls the switch 12 related to whether or not to supply power to the battery 4, monitors the 0N10FF state of the power supply ○N10FF switch 11, monitors the battery voltage, controls generation of an interrupt to the interrupt control device 2, etc. Do this. The battery monitoring circuit 3 and the switch 11 are powered by a battery 22 that is separate from the battery 4 . RAM5 indicates main memory and display memory. The volatile storage device 6 is provided to save the previous software execution state when the power is turned off. Peripheral device group A
Devices that require constant power supply, such as real-time clocks, and peripheral device group B include keyboards, mice, display devices, floppy disks, hard disks, and R523.
2-C: It is not necessary to constantly supply power, such as a printer.

The non-volatile storage device IO is used to save the previous software execution state when the power is turned off, and for example,
floppy disk, hard disk, memory card,
Indicates a magneto-optical disk, etc. Line 13 is a line for monitoring battery voltage, #i14.15 is a line for supplying battery voltage, 16 is a bus, and line 17 is a control line for switch 12. For example, a relay can be used to control the switch. Control. fi18.20 indicates an interrupt request line, and line 19.21 indicates an interrupt end signal line.

When the switch 11 is turned on, the battery voltage monitoring circuit 3
i17 turns on the switch 12, M2S supplies power to the GPU, peripheral device group 88, etc., and i! An interrupt is generated by Iis. The interrupt control device 2 generates an interrupt to the CPUI in response to the interrupt from M18. C: PU 1 receives it, executes the interrupt processing in ROM 9, and transfers the data stored in volatile storage device 6 or non-volatile storage device to RAM 5 and peripheral device group B8.
, write back to the registers of cpux, etc., and end the interrupt processing. After returning all of these software suspended states to their original states, C:PUl resumes the software.

When switch 11 is turned off, battery monitoring circuit 3 generates an interrupt through NA 28, and interrupt control device 2 generates an interrupt through line 20 to C:PU 1. C.P.
When U1 receives an interrupt, it interrupts the software being executed, executes the interrupt processing in the ROM 9, saves the interrupted state of the software in the volatile storage device 6 and the nonvolatile storage device 10, and ends the interrupt processing. When the interrupt ends, C
The PUI issues an interrupt end signal on line 21, and the interrupt controller 2 issues an interrupt end signal on M19, informing the battery monitoring circuit 3 thereof. When the battery monitoring circuit 3 learns that the interrupt has ended, it turns the switch 12 to OFF via the line 17.
FF, and turn off the power to the CPU, peripheral device B, etc.

Next, the operation of the battery monitoring circuit when the power supply is 0N10FF will be explained using FIG.

Figure 2 shows the switch 11 and battery monitoring circuit 3 in Figure 1.
An example is shown in which a comparator flip-flop 31 for comparing the battery voltage and the reference voltage selects an interrupt signal to start up the volatile storage device 6 or the non-volatile storage device 10. Control. The flip-flop 32 is a flip-flop for generating an iON transmission side, 33 is a flip-flop for generating an indexing side when the power is OFF, and 34 is a flip-flop for controlling the switch 12. In the flip-flop, T indicates a clock input, D indicates a data input, Q indicates an output, and R indicates a reset.

When the switch 11 is turned from OFF to ON and the terminal is connected to the ON side in the figure, a clock is input to the flip-flops 32 and 34, and the Q output becomes H level.

When the Q output becomes H level, the flip-flop 34 turns on the switch 12 through a relay etc., and turns on the CP.
Supply power to UI etc. The flip-flop 32 requests an interrupt when the Q output becomes H level. The flip-flop 31 controls whether to issue the power ON/N side interrupt A or the interrupt B. Q of flip-flop 31
If the output is at H level, interrupt B is enabled, and if the output is at L level, interrupt A is enabled. If the battery voltage drops below a certain reference voltage while the power is off, comparator 3
0, the reset terminal of the flip-flop 31 becomes H level and the Q output becomes L level. That is, interrupt A is enabled, but since this interrupt occurs when the battery is exhausted, interrupt A is enabled in the non-volatile storage device 1.
This is an interrupt that calls data for software restart from 0. When the Q output of the flip-flop 31 is at H level, interrupt B is enabled, and this interrupt becomes an interrupt for reading software restart data from the volatile storage device 6. When the power is turned on, an interrupt A or B is generated, and when the resulting interrupt processing is completed, the end signal of the interrupt A or B is returned from the interrupt processing device 2. 32 is reset, the Q output becomes L level, and the interrupt request ends.

When the switch 11 is turned from ON to OFF, a clock is applied to the flip-flops 31 and 33, and the Q output becomes H level. The reason why the Q output of the flip-flop 31 is set to H level is to indicate that the battery is valid when the switch 11 is turned off. When the Q output of the flip-flop 33 becomes H level, the power is turned off.
At time F, dispatching side C occurs. When the interrupt processing is completed, an interrupt C end signal is generated 2, the flip-flop 33 is reset, the Q output becomes L level, and the interrupt ends. Furthermore, the flip-flop 34 is also reset, the Q output, which has been at H level since switch 11 was turned on, becomes L level, and switch 12 is turned off through a relay or the like.

FIG. 3 shows a flowchart for interrupting/resuming software when the power is turned on/off. When the power is turned off, the registers of the CPU 1 and the registers of the peripheral device group B are saved in the volatile memory device 6, and all memory parts including the part backed up by the battery 4 are saved in the nonvolatile memory device 10.

〔Effect of the invention〕

According to the present invention, when the power is turned on, the previous power
It is possible to restart from the software execution state at time F. This is because if the battery is depleted, replacing the battery will restore the suspended state of the software from the non-volatile storage device, and if the battery is not depleted, the suspended state of the software will be restored from the volatile storage device. Because it does.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Fig. 1 is a block diagram of an information processing device according to an embodiment of the present invention, Fig. 2 is a battery monitoring circuit diagram, and Fig. 3 is a power supply of 0N10.
It is a flowchart of software interruption/resumption at the time of FF. 3; battery monitoring circuit; 6; volatile storage device; 10; non-volatile storage device; 4: battery. Crowded concave

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. In an information processing device that has a built-in battery as a power source for data retention, and is equipped with a volatile storage device and a non-volatile rewritable device, the immediately previous software execution state is saved when the power is turned off. In order to do so, the main memory and display memory are backed up with a battery, and the remaining data necessary for restarting the software is saved in the battery-backed volatile storage device, and the data necessary for restarting the software, including the main memory and display memory, is saved. an information processing device comprising: means for saving all data to the non-volatile storage device; and means for detecting whether the battery is supplying voltage capable of backup while the power is off. .