JP2001312345A - Information processing apparatus and method, and program storage medium - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Problem] To prevent an unnecessary load from being applied to a portion that performs processing based on a program. SOLUTION: In step S1, it is determined whether software displaying a predetermined window is in a normal mode. The normal mode is an active state. If not in normal mode,
Proceeding to step S3, processing with a small load is executed.
The processing with a small load includes, for example, reducing the number of updates of the display of the image in the window that is not in the active state. In step S4, the display in the window that has been shifted to the processing with less load is displayed so as to be able to recognize that, for example, the brightness is reduced.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus and method, and a program storage medium, and more particularly, to an information processing apparatus and method for reducing the processing capability of software that is not activated among the activated software. And a program storage medium.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an operation system such as Windows 98 (trademark), it is possible to activate a plurality of software and execute processing in parallel. For example, it is possible to start a word processor and spreadsheet software and embed a table created by spreadsheet software into a sentence created using the word processor software.

[0003]

Normally, when a sentence is created by software of a word processor, a table is not created by spreadsheet software at the same time, and one of the tasks is performed. Often. However, even when the work is performed only by one piece of software, the other software places a load on a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and the like. Due to this load, there is a problem that the processing by the software in which the user is performing work is slowed, and the progress of the work of the user is hindered.

[0004] The present invention has been made in view of such circumstances, and in software in which work is not being performed, the load on the CPU and the like is reduced, and furthermore, the user is made aware of the fact. It is an object of the present invention not to hinder the progress of the work performed by the user by performing the display.

[0005]

According to the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information processing apparatus wherein, when software is not in an active state, a reducing means for reducing a processing capacity allocated to the software, and the processing capacity is reduced by the reducing means. Display control means for controlling the display so that the brightness or the saturation in the window displayed by the software is reduced.

The reduction means reduces the processing capacity assigned to the software in a stepwise manner, and the display control means responds to the stepwise reduction in the processing capacity by the reduction means, in response to the brightness or the brightness in the window displayed by the software. Saturation can be reduced.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, when the software is not in an active state, the information is displayed by a reduction step for reducing the processing capacity assigned to the software, and the software whose processing capacity is reduced by the processing of the reduction step. A display control step of controlling the display so that the brightness or the saturation in the window is reduced.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a program stored in a program storage medium, comprising: a reduction step for reducing a processing capacity allocated to the software when the software is not in an active state; and a software having a reduced processing capacity in the processing of the reduction step. A display control step of controlling the display so that the brightness or the saturation in the displayed window is reduced.

[0009] The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, claim 3,
In the information processing method according to the item (1) and the program storage medium according to the item (4), when the software is not in an active state, the processing capacity assigned to the software is reduced, and the window displayed by the software having the reduced processing capacity is displayed. The display is controlled such that the brightness or the saturation in the display is reduced.

[0010]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. 1 to 4 show the appearance of a notebook personal computer 1. FIG. The notebook personal computer 1 basically includes a main body 2 and a display section 3 having an LCD 7 which can be opened and closed with respect to the main body 2. FIG. 1 is an external perspective view showing a state where the LCD 7 is opened with respect to the main body 2. FIG. 2 is a plan view of the main body 2, and FIG.
It is an enlarged view near the jog dial 4 mentioned later. Also,
FIG. 4 is a side view of the main body 2 on the jog dial 4 side.

The main body 2 has on its upper surface a keyboard 5 operated when inputting various characters and symbols, a touch pad 6 as a pointing device operated when moving a cursor (mouse pointer), and the like. And a power switch 8, and a jog dial 4, a slot 9, an IEEE1394 port 1 on the side surface.
01, and a Memory Stick slot 115 for mounting a Memory Stick (trademark) 116. Note that, instead of the touch pad 6, for example, a stick-type pointing device can be provided.

An LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) 7 for displaying an image is provided in front of the display unit 3. The power lamp PL, the battery lamp BL, the message lamp ML as necessary, and other L
A lamp comprising an ED is provided. Further, a microphone 66 is provided above the LCD 7. In addition,
Power lamp PL, battery lamp BL, message lamp M
L and the like can be provided below the LCD 7.

Next, as shown in FIG. 2, the jog dial 4 is incorporated between the keys A and B of the keyboard 5 on the main body 2, and is mounted so as to be almost at the same height as the keys. ing. The jog dial 4 is shown in FIG.
A predetermined process is executed in response to the rotation operation indicated by the arrow a, and a process corresponding to the movement operation indicated by the arrow b is executed. The jog dial 4 may be arranged on the left side of the main body 2, or in the vertical direction between the left and right sides of the display unit 3 provided with the LCD 7 or between the G key and the H key of the keyboard unit 5. It may be arranged.

The jog dial 4 can be operated with the thumb while operating the touch pad 6 with the index finger.
It may be arranged at the center of the front surface, or may be arranged laterally along the upper edge or the lower edge of the touch pad 6,
Further, the touch pad 6 may be arranged vertically between the right button and the left button. Furthermore, the jog dial 4 is not limited to the vertical direction or the horizontal direction,
They may be arranged at a predetermined angle. In addition, the jog dial 4 can be arranged at a position operable with the thumb on the side of the mouse as a pointing device.

Next, FIG. 5 shows the personal computer 1.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing an electrical configuration of the embodiment.

A CPU (Central Processing Unit) 51 is composed of, for example, a Pentium (trademark) processor manufactured by Intel Corporation, and is connected to a host bus 52. Host bus 52
Is further connected to an AGP (Accelerated Graphics Port) 50 and a PC.
It is also connected to the I bus 56. The bridge 53 is made of, for example, 400BX manufactured by Intel Corporation.
The CPU 51 and a RAM (Random Access Memory) 54 are controlled. Further, the bridge 53 is connected to the AG
It is connected to the video controller 57 via P50. The bridge 53 and the bridge 58 form a so-called chipset.

The bridge 53 is further connected to a RAM 54 and a cache memory 55. The cache memory 55 caches data used by the CPU 51. Although not shown, the CPU 5
1 also has a primary cache memory built therein.

The RAM 54 is, for example, a DRAM (Dynamic Rando).
m Access Memory), and stores programs to be executed by the CPU 51 and data necessary for the operation of the CPU 51. At the time when the activation is completed, for example, the e-mail program 54A, the auto-pilot program 54B, the jog dial status monitoring program 54C, the jog dial driver 54D, the operating program (OS) 54E, the file content display program 54F, and the file reading program 54G _{1 are} stored in the RAM 54. and other application programs 54G ₂ to 54G _n is transferred from HDD 67, is stored.

The e-mail program 54A is connected to the modem 7
5 is a program for exchanging communication messages from a communication line such as a telephone line 76 via a network. The electronic mail program 54A has an incoming mail acquisition function as a specific function. This incoming mail acquisition function
The mail server 78 provided in the Internet service provider 77 checks whether mail addressed to the user (user) has arrived in the mail box 79, and executes processing for acquiring the mail if addressed to the user. I do.

The auto-pilot program 54B includes a plurality of preset processes (or programs) and the like.
This is a program that is started and processed sequentially in a preset order.

The OS (Operation System (basic program software)) 54E is, for example, Microsoft Windows 95 or Windows 98.
(Windows 98) (both trademarks), or Mac OS (trademark) of Apple Computer Co., Ltd., for controlling basic computer operations.

Jog dial status monitoring program 54C
Receives notification from the application programs 54F to 54Gn as to whether or not it is compatible with a jog dial,
If the application program is compatible with the jog dial, the application program operates to display an operation that can be executed by operating the jog dial 4 to the user using a user interface function of the application. The jog dial status monitoring program 54C
Normally, the jog dial 4 is waiting for an event,
It has a list for receiving notifications from application programs. The jog dial driver 54D executes various functions in response to the operation of the jog dial 4.
File contents display program 54F, and for more information about file reading program 54G _1, will be described later.

The video controller 57 includes a PCI bus 56
And the bridge 5 via the AGP 50.
3, and controls the display of the LCD 7 based on data supplied via the PCI bus 56 or the AGP 50.

A sound controller 64 is connected to the PCI bus 56 to receive an audio input from a microphone 66 or to supply an audio signal to a speaker 65. The PCI bus 56 is also connected with a modem 75, a PC card slot interface 111, and a memory stick slot interface 114.

The modem 75 can be connected to a communication network such as the Internet 80 or a mail server 78 via a telephone line 76 and an Internet service provider 77. When an optional function is added, the interface card 11 is inserted into the slot 9 connected to the PC card slot interface 111.
By appropriately mounting the device 2, data can be exchanged with an external device. For example, a drive 113 can be connected to the interface card 112, and the magnetic disk 1 mounted on the drive 113
21, data can be exchanged with the optical disk 122, the magneto-optical disk 123, the semiconductor memory 124, and the like.

A memory stick 116 is appropriately mounted in a memory stick slot 115 connected to the memory stick slot interface 114, so that data can be exchanged with the memory stick 116.

Further, a bridge 58 is also connected to the PCI bus 56. The bridge 58 is made of, for example, PIIX4E manufactured by Intel Corporation, and controls various inputs and outputs. That is, the bridge 58 has the ID
E (Integrated Drive Electronics) controller / configuration register 59, timer circuit 60,
IDE interface 61 and USB (Universal S
device connected to the IDE bus 62, a device connected to the USB port 107, or an ISA / EIO (Industry Stand)
ard Architecture / Extended Input Output) bus 63
And controls devices connected via the I / O interface 69.

The IDE controller / configuration register 59 includes two IDE controllers, a so-called primary IDE controller and a secondary IDE controller, and a configuration register (configur).
ation register).

The primary IDE controller is an IDE bus 6
2 and a connector (not shown), and an HDD 67 is connected to the connector. The secondary IDE controller can be connected to an external device via another IDE bus (not shown).

The HDD 67 has an electronic mail program 67A, an autopilot program 67B, a jog dial status monitoring program 67C, a jog dial driver 67D, and an OS (basic program software) 6.
7E, a navigation program 67F, a file reading program 54G ₁ , and a plurality of other application programs 67G _{2 to} 67G _n , and data and the like used by those programs are stored. Programs 67A to 6 stored in HDD 67
7G _n is, the booting process of the process, RAM54
Are sequentially transferred and stored.

The ISA / EIO bus 63 is further connected to an I / O interface 69. This I / O interface 69, ROM (Read Only Memory) 70, RAM
The CPU 71 and the CPU 72 are connected to each other.

In the ROM 70, for example, an IEEE1394 I / F (Inte
rface) program 70A, LED control program 70B,
Touch pad input monitoring program 70C, key input monitoring program 70D, wake-up program 70E,
And a jog dial state monitoring program 70F are stored in advance.

The IEEE1394 I / F program 70A is an IEEE1394
This is a program for inputting and outputting IEEE1394 compliant data transmitted and received via the input / output port 101. The LED control program 70B includes a power lamp PL, a battery lamp BL,
This is a program for controlling lighting of the message lamp ML and other lamps as necessary. The touchpad input monitoring program 70C includes the touchpad 6
This is a program for monitoring an input by a user using. The key input monitoring program 70D is a program for monitoring user input using the keyboard 5 and other key switches. Wake-up program 70
E checks whether or not a preset time has been reached based on the current time data supplied from the timer circuit 60 in the bridge 58, and when the preset time has been reached,
This is a program for managing each chip power supply in order to activate a predetermined process (or program). The jog dial state monitoring program 70F is a program for constantly monitoring the rotation or pressing of the rotary encoder of the jog dial 4.

Further, the ROM 70 has a BIOS (Basic Input / O
utput System) 70G is written. What is BIOS
A basic input / output system, which is a software program that controls input and output of data between an OS or application program and peripheral devices (display, keyboard, HDD, etc.).

The RAM 71 has registers for LED control, touch pad input status, key input status, and set time, an I / O register for monitoring the status of the jog dial, and an IE.
EE1394 I / F registers and the like are provided as registers 71A to 71F. For example, when the jog dial 4 is pressed, the LED control register controls lighting of a message lamp ML that indicates an instantaneous startup state of an e-mail. The key input status register stores an operation key flag when the jog dial 4 is pressed. A predetermined time can be arbitrarily set in the set time register.

The I / O interface 69 is connected to the jog dial 4, the keyboard 5, the touch pad 6, and the IEEE1394 input / output port 101 via connectors (not shown). When the user performs an operation using the pad 6 and the keyboard 5, a signal corresponding to the operation received by the jog dial 4, the keyboard 5, and the touch pad 6 is input, and the ISA / EIO bus 63 is input.
Output. Further, the I / O interface 69 transmits and receives data to and from the outside via the IEEE1394 input / output port 101. Further, the I / O interface 69 includes a power lamp PL and a battery lamp B.
L, a message lamp ML, a power control circuit 73, and other LEDs are connected.

The power supply control circuit 73 is connected to the built-in battery 74 or the AC power supply, supplies necessary power to each block, and controls the charging of the built-in battery 74 and a second battery of a peripheral device. Has been made to do. Further, the CPU 72 monitors, via the I / O interface 69, the power switch 8 operated when turning on or off the power.

The CPU 72 can always execute the IEEE 1394 I / F programs 70A to 70G by the internal power supply even when the power supply 8 is in the off state. That is, the IEEE1394 I / F program 70A to the BIOS 70G
Even if any window is not open on the LCD 7 of the CD 7, it is always operating. Therefore, CPU7
2 indicates that the power switch 8 is off and the OS 54E is
Even when the personal computer 1 is not started, the jog dial status monitoring program 70E is always executed, and the personal computer 1 has a programmable power key (PPK) function without providing a dedicated key. Is, for example, even in the power-saving state or the power-off state, just by pressing the jog dial 4,
You can launch your favorite software and script files.

When the power supply 8 is turned on, a method for inputting a command for activating the file content display program 54F may be, for example, displaying an icon indicating the activation of the file content display program on the LCD 7 in advance and using the keyboard 5 Alternatively, selection can be made using the touch pad 6 or an activation button is mounted on the keyboard 5. In addition, file reading program 54G ₁ is assumed to have been made to start at the same time as the start of the file contents display program 54F.

The file reading program 54G ₁
Recording media designated by the user (for example, HDD 64, memory stick 116 inserted in memory stick slot 115, magnetic disk 121 mounted on drive 113, optical disk 122, magneto-optical disk 123,
Alternatively, data recorded in the semiconductor memory 124 or various recording media mounted or built in an external device connected via a network cable or the like (not shown) using the IEEE1394 port 101 or the USB port 107) (For example, still image data, moving image data, audio data, etc.), the number of files, and the recording capacity, and supply them to another application (here, the file content display program 54F).

The recording medium on which data is read by the processing of the file reading program 54G _1, for example, if the memory stick 116 is inserted into the memory stick slot 115, is a memory stick 116 by default, the Memory Stick 116 is inserted into the memory stick slot 115 If not, or if the user wants to read data recorded on another recording medium, for example, the user can set the data on a display screen displayed by the processing of the file content display program 54F. It has been done.

The file content display program 54F generates, for example, thumbnail icons corresponding to the respective data recorded on the memory stick 116 or other recording medium designated by the user, and displays the thumbnail icons on the LCD 7 or reads the file. based on the read program 54G ₁ data, the attribute of data recorded on the recording medium, the number of files, and displays the recording capacity, a program for controlling the display of GUI (Graphic User Interface) 131 to be described later is there.

FIG. 6 shows a file content display program 54F and a file read program 5 stored in the RAM 54.
4G ₁ is loaded, when executed, an example of a display screen displayed on the LCD 7.

The image display window 131 in FIG. 6, an image file stored in the memory stick 116 is read by the file reading program 54G _1, the read image file is passed to the file contents display program 54F By image 1
32-1 to 132-5 are displayed. Here, for the sake of explanation, it is assumed that five images are displayed in the image display window 131, but the number of displayed images is not limited.

The images 132-1 to 132-5 displayed in the image display window 131 are displayed in response to the user's instruction from the display instruction unit 133. In the display example shown in FIG. 6, the file reading program 54G
₁ shows a state in which the read images are instructed to be displayed in a line. The images 132-1 to 132-5 displayed in the image display window 131 are
Instead of being displayed in a fixed line, the display position is moved left and right, so that the image is displayed as a kind of moving image as a whole.

Further description will be made with reference to FIG. 7 and 8, the display instruction unit 133 is not shown. 7 (A), 7 (B), 7 (C), 7
(D) and images 131-1 to 131-1 in the order of FIG.
In the case of -5, the display position is moved with the lapse of time. 7E, FIG. 7D, and FIG.
(C), FIG. 7 (B), and FIG.
The display positions of 1 to 131-5 are moved over time.

When the change from the state shown in FIG. 7A to the state shown in FIG. 7B is made one update, for example, in a state where 30 updates are made in one minute, The time for one update is 1/30 second. When the state of FIG. 7A changes from the state of FIG. 7A to the state of FIG. 7E and returns to the state of FIG. 7A again as one cycle, one cycle is configured by eight update processes. You. Here, such a state is described as a normal process as appropriate.

The display which changes the display position with the passage of time is controlled by controlling the CPU 51 based on the program of the file content display program 54F.

As shown in FIG. 7, in a state where the display position of the image changes with the lapse of time, when another software is activated or when the activated other software (hereinafter referred to as software A) is activated. when it is in an active state, CPU51 is, by the processing of the file contents of the display program 54F and file reading program 54G _1, every 1/30 seconds, is not necessary to perform the update process must not, by the update process, newly It is conceivable that the processing by the activated or activated software A is prevented.

When the software A is activated or activated, the user pays attention to the software A and does not pay attention to the image display as shown in FIG. it is conceivable that. Therefore,
The processing for the software A is performed with priority in the CPU 51. For example, this is realized by reducing the number of times of updating the display position of the image described above.

As shown in FIG. 8, for example, as shown in FIG.
7D, the update time interval can be widened. In the state shown in FIG. 7, one cycle is configured by eight update processes, but in the state illustrated in FIG. 8, one cycle is configured by four update processes. Assuming that the time required for one cycle is unchanged, the state shown in FIG. 8 is updated only half the number of times as compared with the state shown in FIG. Will not be performed.

As described above, the load on the CPU 51 is reduced by reducing the number of update processes. Note that the number of times of the update processing is not limited to the number of times (time interval) described above, and any value may be set. Also, 1
The cycle may be fixed so as to be constituted by eight update processes, and the time interval of the update process may be changed.

Next, referring to the flowchart of FIG.
Control based on the file content display program 54F will be described. In step S1, the file content display program 54F determines whether or not the mode is the normal mode. Here, the normal mode is a state in which software other than the file content display program 54F has not been activated or another software has not been activated.

Here, as shown in FIG. 10, when the e-mail program 54A (FIG. 5) is started as another software, the e-mail window 141 is opened.
It is displayed on the LED 7 but is not active.

If it is determined in step S1 that the mode is the normal mode, the process proceeds to step S2, where normal processing is executed. As described above, the normal processing is, for example, processing in which update processing is performed 30 times per second.

On the other hand, if it is determined in step S1 that the mode is not the normal mode, the process proceeds to step S3. In step S3, a process with a small load is executed. That is, the processing with a small load is, as described with reference to FIG. 8, a processing for reducing the number of updates. For example, when the state of the e-mail window 141 is changed from the state shown in FIG. 10 to the active state as shown in FIG. 11, the processing proceeds from step S1 to step S3, and processing with a small load is executed. Is done.

By reducing the capacity of the CPU 51 for processing the image display window 131 (file content display program 54F), the e-mail window 141
It is possible to increase the capacity of the CPU 51 related to the (e-mail program 54A).

When the processing with a small load is executed in step S3, in order to make the user aware of this,
The display state of the image display window 131 is changed to step S4.
Is controlled in For example, the image display window 13
For example, the brightness or the saturation in the image No. 1 is reduced to 50% or less and displayed.

The processing of the flowchart shown in FIG. 9 is repeatedly performed at predetermined time intervals. Also, a plurality of modes may be provided on the display indicating the low load. For example, at low load 1
In the case of, lightness 80%, in the case of low load 2, the lightness 50%,
In the case of 3 at low load, the brightness may be reduced stepwise, such as 20% brightness. The mode switching at the time of low load may be performed, for example, according to a continuous elapsed time of a time that is not noticed (inactive state). Also, the number of updates is changed by switching the mode.

In the embodiment described above, the display state of the image display window 131 is described as being changed. However, the display state of the window displayed when other software such as the e-mail window 141 is activated is changed as follows. Similarly, it may be changed. Also,
In the above-described embodiment, the change in the display state is described as being within a window. However, an icon or the like corresponding to the window may be similarly displayed with reduced brightness or saturation.

The above-described series of processing can be executed by software. The software is a computer in which a program constituting the software is built in dedicated hardware, or a general-purpose personal computer that can execute various functions by installing various programs. For example, it is installed from a recording medium.

As shown in FIG. 5, the recording medium is a magnetic disk 121 (including a floppy disk) on which the program is recorded, which is distributed in order to provide the user with the program separately from the computer.
22 (including CD-ROM and DVD), magneto-optical disk 123
(Including an MD), or a package medium including a semiconductor memory 124 or the like.

In this specification, the step of describing a program recorded on a recording medium may be performed not only in a time-series manner but also in a time-series manner in the order described. This also includes processing executed in parallel or individually.

[0064]

As described above, in the information processing apparatus according to the first aspect, the information processing method according to the third aspect, and the program storage medium according to the fourth aspect, when the software is not in an active state, Since the processing power allocated to the software has been reduced and the display has been controlled so that the brightness or saturation in the window displayed by the software with reduced processing is reduced, the display is activated. It is possible to increase the processing capacity required for processing by the software.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is an external perspective view of a personal computer.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a main body of the personal computer of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged view near a jog dial of the personal computer of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a right side view showing a configuration of a right side of the personal computer of FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an example of the internal configuration of the personal computer shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining a display screen displayed by processing of a file content display program.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating display of an image displayed in an image display window.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating another display of an image displayed in the image display window.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating control based on a file content display program.

FIG. 10 is a diagram for describing display of an image display window when in an active state.

FIG. 11 is a diagram for describing display of an image display window when in an inactive state.

[Description of Signs] 1 Personal computer, 51 CPU, 54
RAM, 113 drive, 124 semiconductor disk, 131 image display window, 132 image,
133 display instruction unit, 141 e-mail window

 ────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued on the front page F term (reference) 5B069 AA01 BA01 BA04 BB16 CA15 JA01 JA06 5B098 AA08 GA01 GA02 GC08 JJ09 5E501 AA02 BA05 CA02 CB02 CB05 EA14 EB05 FA06 FB03 FB23 FB29 FB43

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. An information processing apparatus that activates a plurality of software programs and executes processing by the respective software programs, wherein when the software programs are not in an active state, a reducing unit configured to reduce a processing capability assigned to the software programs; And a display control means for controlling the display so that the brightness or the saturation in the window displayed by the software whose processing capability has been reduced is reduced. 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the reducing unit reduces the processing capacity assigned to the software in a stepwise manner, and the display control unit is displayed by the software in response to the stepwise reduction in the processing capacity by the reducing unit. 2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the brightness or the saturation in the window is reduced. 3. An information processing method for an information processing apparatus which activates a plurality of software programs and executes processing by the respective software programs, the method comprising: when the software is not in an active state, reducing a processing capacity assigned to the software. A display control step of controlling the display so that brightness or saturation in a window displayed by the software whose processing capability has been reduced in the processing of the reduction step is reduced. Information processing method. 4. A program for an information processing apparatus which activates a plurality of software programs and executes processing by the respective software programs, wherein when the software programs are not in an active state, a reduction step for reducing a processing capacity assigned to the software programs. A display control step of controlling the display so that brightness or saturation in a window displayed by the software whose processing capability has been reduced in the processing of the reduction step is reduced. A program storage medium storing a computer-executable program.