JPH11282584A - Portable personal computer - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Problem] To provide a portable personal computer capable of knowing a battery drive possible time even in a suspended state. When a switch (103) is input by a user, a microprocessor (102) detects the input, and the battery drive time in a suspended state measured by the microprocessor (102), and the state is changed from a suspended state to an on state. Is displayed on the display panel 101.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a technique for measuring the remaining battery power of a portable personal computer that can be driven by a battery.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In a conventional portable personal computer, in a system in which a battery can be used as a power source, means for notifying a user of the remaining amount of the battery include a display using an LED, a display using an LCD panel, and the like.
Display by application software is used.

[0003]

However, when the computer is in a low power consumption state such as a suspended state, the display screen is in an off state.
Depending on the battery currently used, how long the suspended state can be maintained, and how long after returning from the suspended state the battery can be driven, it is necessary to recharge now. There was a problem that it was not possible to know whether it was easy to use.

[0004]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a suspendable time measuring means for measuring a battery drivable time in a suspended state, and an ON possible time for measuring a battery drivable time in an ON state. A time measurement unit; a storage unit that holds at least one measurement time of the measurement time of the suspendable time measurement unit and the measurement time of the on-time period measurement unit;
A display means for displaying a CD or the like; and an instruction means such as a switch for instructing the display means to display the measurement time of the storage means. In the suspend state, the battery drive time in the suspend state and the battery drive time in the ON state are possible. A portable personal computer capable of knowing at least one battery available time, which has an effect that the battery drive available time can be known even in a suspended state, and user convenience is improved.

[0005]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the present invention.
This will be described in detail with reference to FIG.

(Embodiment 1) FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a portable personal computer according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 1, reference numeral 101 denotes a display panel for displaying a drivable time by a battery; 102, a microprocessor for measuring a drivable time by a battery; 103, a switch for instructing display start of a remaining capacity of the battery; , 104 are battery packs.

[0008] The display panel 101 is used as means for notifying the user of the battery drive time.

In the present embodiment, the battery pack 104 is of a type in which the remaining battery level is measured by a controller in the battery pack and has an interface for externally acquiring battery information such as the remaining battery level. .

The microprocessor 102 has an interface for acquiring information on the remaining battery level of the battery pack 104, and has means for measuring the current consumption of the system by using an A / D converter.

Further, the microprocessor 102 obtains the information based on the interface for acquiring the remaining battery information and the measured value obtained by the means for measuring the current consumption of the system according to the processing procedure of the flowcharts shown in FIGS. The battery drivable time in the suspended state and the battery drivable time in the on state are calculated and stored.

Next, a description will be given of a process of measuring the battery drive possible time at the time of suspend.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a process for measuring the battery drive possible time of the portable personal computer according to the embodiment when the portable computer is suspended.

This measurement process is performed at regular intervals while the system is suspended. Hereinafter, each processing step will be described.

In step S21, the current consumed by the system is measured. Next, in step S22, the remaining battery level is obtained. In step S23, the battery drive time at the time of suspend is calculated from the current consumption value and the remaining battery value obtained in step S21 and step S22.

Next, a description will be given of a process for measuring the average current consumption value at the time of turning on. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a process for measuring an average current consumption value when the portable personal computer according to the embodiment is turned on.

The drivable time of the battery when the battery is switched from the suspended state to the on state is calculated from the current remaining battery level and the predicted value of the average current consumption in the on state. The average current consumption measurement process is performed at regular intervals while the system is on.
Hereinafter, each processing step will be described.

In step S31, the current consumption is measured, and in step S32, the average value of the current consumption is calculated. The average value of the calculated current consumption values is constantly updated in the ON state, and is used as a predicted value of the average current consumption value in the ON state. Note that this average current consumption predicted value is expressed by CM
It is stored in a memory that can be backed up, such as an OS (not shown).

Next, a description will be given of a process for displaying the battery drive possible time from a user's switch input.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a process of displaying the battery drive time at the time of on / suspend by a switch input by the user when the portable personal computer according to the embodiment is suspended.

Hereinafter, each processing step of FIG. 4 will be described. When the switch 103 is input by the user, the microprocessor 102 detects the input and performs a process of displaying the battery driveable time.

In step S41, the remaining battery capacity is obtained. In step S42, the average current consumption value at the time of ON calculated and stored in the flowchart of FIG.
Calculate the predicted value of the battery drivable time at the time of on, together with the remaining battery capacity obtained in step (1).

In step S43, step S42
And outputs the predicted value of the battery drive possible time at the time of ON calculated to the display panel.

In step S44, the battery drive possible time at the time of suspension, which is calculated and stored in the flowchart of FIG. 2, is output to the display panel.

As shown in steps S45 and S46, steps S41 to S44 are repeated until the input of the switch 103 is turned off. When the input of the switch 103 is turned off, the output to the display panel 101 is turned off. To

[0026]

As described in detail above, according to the present invention,
Even when the system is suspended, the user can know the time that can be maintained in the suspended state and the drivable time when the system is switched from the suspended state to the on state in the currently used battery. It is possible to easily determine the necessity of charging the battery and the necessity of replacing the battery, and the effect is great.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a portable personal computer according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a process of measuring a battery drivable time during suspension.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a process of measuring an average current consumption value at the time of ON.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a process of displaying a battery drive possible time at the time of on / suspend by a user's switch input at the time of suspend;

[Explanation of symbols]

 101 display panel 102 microprocessor 103 switch 104 battery pack

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A suspendable time measuring means for measuring a battery drivable time in a suspend state, an ON possible time measuring means for measuring a battery drivable time in an ON state, and a measuring time by the suspendable time measuring means. Storage means for holding at least one measurement time of the measurement time by the ON possible time measurement means,
A display means such as an LCD; and an instruction means such as a switch for instructing the display means to display the measurement time of the storage means. In the suspend state, the battery drive time in the suspend state and the battery drive time in the on state are provided. A portable personal computer capable of knowing at least one battery drive time of time.