JPH08242538A - Power supply controller for wiring board - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: To provide a power supply controller for PWBA which can save electric power by independently deciding a standby state without receiving any instruction from a central control processor. CONSTITUTION: A power supply control circuit 2 judges whether or not a host device designates its own PWBA from a control signal 13 sent from the host device and, when the circuit judges that its own PWBA is designated, initializes a control circuit 4 by outputting an initial signal 7 to the circuit 4 and, at the same time, turns on a power switch 3. The control circuit 2, in addition, sends the data 12 and control signal 13 sent to its own PWBA to the control circuit 4 after once fetching the data 12 and signal 13 by means of a latch, etc. The control circuit 4 performs such actual processing as the development of the received picture data into image data, etc. In addition, the circuit 4 outputs a power supply interrupting signal 6 to the control circuit 2 when the circuit 4 starts idling. Therefore, the power supply to the circuit 4 is interrupted or reduced while the circuit 4 is in an idling state and the power consumption of the circuit 4 can be reduced.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

This invention relates to a wiring board PWBA (Pri
nt Wired Bord Assy) power control device, especially PW
The present invention relates to a power supply control device for a PWBA, which is capable of reducing the power consumed by the PWBA by cutting the power supply of the PWBA independently of the central control device or setting the sleep mode when the BA becomes idle.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventional controllers for printers, facsimile machines, personal computers, etc. are composed of one or a plurality of PWBAs. For example, as shown in FIG. 5, it is composed of PWBAs 21 to n, and receives commands or data from the central control processor 20 via the bus 31. PWBAn in the figure indicates a transmission / reception controller.

The central control processor 20 uses the PWBA 21
When sending control signals or data to
The ID assigned to A is sent as an address onto the bus 31. Each of the PWBAs 21 to n determines in real time whether or not the address input from the bus 31 is addressed to itself, and if it is addressed to itself, the control signal or data sent following the address is sent. To receive. On the other hand, if it is not for itself, the transmitted control signal or data is ignored.

Each PWBA having a controller of such a construction does not know when the central control processor 20 will be nominated, so it always supplies the necessary power.
When I am appointed, I am waiting so that I can respond to this in real time.

[0005]

However, since the above-mentioned controller is supplied with the electric power necessary for the operation even during the standby, there is a problem that wasteful electric energy is consumed and an unnecessary heat is generated from the controller. There was a problem that occurs.

As prior art related to the present invention,
For example, there is one disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 1-100583. In this publication, when the print request signal is not input from the host system for a certain period of time, the current flowing to the heater of the fixing unit is forcibly cut off, thereby suppressing unnecessary power consumption and extending the life of the heater. Such a laser printer is disclosed.

However, in the above-mentioned prior art, when a print request is issued from the host system, a current is re-applied to the heater of the fixing unit which has been cut off, and after the temperature of the fixing unit rises to a predetermined temperature, the printing is performed. It is a start and cannot respond in real time to a print request from the host system. Therefore, the prior art cannot be applied to the energy saving of the controller such as the printer and the facsimile device described above.

An object of the present invention is to eliminate the above-mentioned problems of the prior art, to independently determine the standby state without being instructed by the central control processor, and to stop or reduce the supplied power. It is to provide a power control device of PWBA capable of performing. Another object of the present invention is to provide a PWBA power supply control device capable of reducing the power supplied to the PWBA having a transmission / reception controller.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the invention of claim 1 executes a process instructed by a host device and outputs a process end signal when the process is completed. In a power supply control device for a wiring board having a power switch means for supplying power to the control circuit or for reducing or cutting off the supply, and turning on the power switch means upon receiving a nomination signal from the host device. By supplying power to the control circuit, and receiving a processing end signal from the control circuit to reduce or stop the supply of power to the control circuit to put it in an idle state. Is characterized by.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in a power supply control device for a wiring board having a control circuit that controls communication with a communication partner and outputs a processing end signal when transmission / reception processing ends, a power supply to the control circuit is provided. Power supply, or to reduce or cut off the supply, and to supply power to the power supply circuit by turning on the power switch means upon receiving an incoming call from the communication partner,
A power supply control circuit is provided which receives a processing end signal from the control circuit and reduces or stops the supply of power to the control circuit to put it in an idle state.

[0011]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, while the wiring board is not performing processing, the supply of electric power is stopped or reduced and the wiring board enters the idle state. The power supply control circuit of the wiring board constantly monitors whether or not there is a nomination of its own wiring board from a higher-level device, and when detecting that there is nomination, the power switch is turned on and power supply is started. . Claim 2
According to the invention of claim 1, while the wiring board is not communicating with another device, the supply of power is stopped or reduced and the wiring board enters an idle state. When the power supply control circuit of the wiring board receives an incoming call from another device, it turns on the power supply switch to start supplying power. Then, the wiring board executes communication processing with respect to another device.

According to the present invention, when the wiring board is in the idle state, the power supply can be stopped or reduced, so that the power supplied to the wiring board can be saved.
Energy saving can be achieved.

[0013]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a PWBA according to an embodiment of the present invention. PWBA is on the right side of the dotted line A-A in the figure,
The PWBA is composed of a power supply line 1, a power supply control circuit 2, a power supply switch 3, and a control circuit 4. Reference numeral 6 is a power-off signal output from the control circuit 4, 7 is an initial signal for initializing the control circuit 4, and 8 and 9 are data such as image data and control signals sent from the host device.

The power supply control circuit 2 is constantly supplied with power from a power supply 11 outside the PWBA via a power supply line 1. The power supply control circuit 2 judges whether or not the host device has designated its own PWBA based on the control signal 13 sent from the host device. Then, the power switch 3 is turned on.
Further, the power supply control circuit 2 temporarily fetches the data 12 and the control signal 13 sent to its own PWBA by a latch or the like, and then sends them to the control circuit 4. The control circuit 4 performs actual processing such as developing the received image data into image data. Further, at the start of idle, the power supply disconnection signal 6 is output to the power supply control circuit 2.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a specific example of the power supply control circuit 2. Based on the control signal 13, the address control circuit 21 determines whether or not the host device has designated its own PWBA. When it is determined that the own PWBA is designated, the address control circuit 21 outputs the initial signal 7 and the enable signal a for enabling the latch circuit 22. When the latch circuit 22 is enabled, it latches the data 12 and the control signal 13,
Then, the data 8 and the control signal 9 are output to the control circuit 4.
When the initial signal 7 is input to the D terminal, the status register 23 including a D flip-flop or the like latches it in synchronization with a clock. The transistor 24 is driven by the output of the Q terminal of the status register 23, and the power switch 3 is turned on. At the same time, since the output of the Q terminal is fed back to the D terminal, the output of the Q terminal is self-maintained and the ON state of the power switch 3 is continued until the power cut signal 6 is input to the clear terminal of the status register 23. It

Next, the operation of this embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the power supply control of the control circuit 4 of FIG. 1, and FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of the power-on monitor.

When the power switch 3 is turned on in step S1 of FIG. 3, the process proceeds to step S2, and the control circuit 4 responds to the initial signal 7 to perform initial processing. Step S3
Then, the control circuit 4 determines whether or not an error has occurred. If any error occurs, the control circuit 4 proceeds to step S4.
Proceed to step (3) to perform error processing and end. On the other hand, if no error has occurred, the process proceeds to step S5, and it is determined whether or not there is a processing request, for example, a processing request for expanding image data into image data. If there is a processing request, the process proceeds to step S6 to start the process, and then proceeds to step S7 to reset a timer flag described later.

Next, returning to step S3, an error check is performed, and it is determined whether or not there is a processing request in step S5. Once the processing is started, the above step S5
Is negative, the process proceeds to step S8. Step S
At 8, it is determined whether or not the process is being performed. If the determination is affirmative, the process returns to step S3. Thus, steps S3-S5-S8 are repeated during the process. When the processing ends and the determination in step S8 is negative, the process proceeds to step S9, and it is determined whether or not the timer flag is 1. If this determination is negative, the process proceeds to step S10, the elapsed time timer (not shown) existing in the control circuit 4 is reset, and the timer value C is set to CMAX. Succeedingly, in a step S11, the timer flag = 1 is set. In step S12, the timer value C
Is determined to be 0, and if this determination is negative, the process returns to step S3.

Next, when steps S5 and S8 are negative and the process proceeds to step S9, the determination at step S9 is affirmative, steps S10 and S11 are skipped, and the process proceeds to step S12. Then, steps S3-S5-S8-S9-S12 are repeated until step S12 becomes affirmative. After the time (= Cmax) has elapsed, step S12
If the determination is affirmative, the process proceeds to step S13, and the power supply disconnection signal 16 is output from the control circuit 4 to the power supply control circuit 2. Succeedingly, in a step S14, a power-on monitor process is performed. The control circuit 4 uses the power-off signal 16
After that, the idle state is entered and the power supply is stopped. In addition, without completely stopping the power supply,
Part of the power may be supplied to put the control circuit in the sleep state.

FIG. 4 is a flow chart for explaining the power-on monitor process of step S14. In step S21, it is determined whether or not the initial signal 21 is input. And if this decision becomes positive,
In step S22, the power supply to the control circuit 4 is turned off or the sleep mode is released, and the process after step S1 is performed after the power is turned on.

As described above, according to this embodiment, the PWB
During a period in which the controller formed on A is not processing, the control circuit 4 can be turned off or put into a sleep mode, and power can be saved. Also,
Upon receiving a designation from the host device, the power is immediately turned off or the sleep mode is released, and the processing of data and the like sent from the host device can be executed.

The present invention can also be applied to PWBAn in which the transmission / reception controller shown in FIG. 5 is formed. The power supply control circuit of the PWBAn turns on the power supply switch 3 when an incoming call from another device is detected or when a transmission command is received. For this reason, the control circuit of the PWBAn is supplied with power only when receiving a transmission signal from another device or when transmitting a signal to another device, and is in a power-off or sleep mode at other times. As a result,
The power can be reduced during the time when it does not contribute to communication with other devices.

[0023]

According to the invention of claim 1, the power supplied to the control circuit of the PWBA can be stopped or reduced when there is no operation instruction from the host device, and the power supplied to the PWBA can be saved. Can be planned. Also, PWB
A can independently save power without receiving an instruction to stop or reduce the supply of power from a host device (for example, a central control processor). Therefore, the configuration of the system including the host device and one or more PWBAs can be simplified.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, while not communicating with other devices, the PWBA in which the transmission / reception controller is formed is set in the idle state to save the power supplied to the PWBA. be able to.

[Brief description of drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a specific example of the power supply control circuit of FIG.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a main part of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an operation of a power-on monitor.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a conventional multiprocessor system.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 ... Power supply line, 2 ... Power supply control circuit, 3 ... Power supply switch, 4 ... Control circuit, 6 ... Power supply disconnection signal, 7 ... Initial signal, 8 ... Data, 9 ... Control signal, 11 ... Power supply.

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. A power supply control device for a wiring board having a control circuit that executes a process instructed by a higher-level device and outputs a process end signal when this process is completed, supplying power to the control circuit, Power switch means for reducing or cutting off the supply, and power supply to the control circuit by turning on the power switch means upon receiving a nomination signal from the host device, and the processing from the control circuit is completed. A power supply control circuit which receives a signal to reduce or stop the supply of power to the control circuit and puts it in an idle state, so that the power supply of the wiring board can be reduced or stopped independently of the upper device. A power supply control device for a wiring board characterized by the above. 2. A power supply control device for a wiring board having a control circuit for controlling communication with a communication partner and for outputting a processing end signal when transmission / reception processing is completed, for supplying power to the control circuit or supply thereof. Power supply switch means for reducing or cutting off the power supply, and for supplying power to the power supply circuit by turning on the power supply switch means upon receiving an incoming call from the communication partner, and receiving a processing end signal from the control circuit. And a power supply control circuit for reducing or stopping the supply of power to the control circuit to put it in an idle state, so that the power supply of the wiring board can be independently reduced or stopped during non-communication. Power supply control device for wiring boards.