TWI489261B - Electronic apparatus and power management method - Google Patents

Description

Electronic device and power management method

The present invention relates to a power management method, and more particularly to an electronic device including a power management module and a power management method thereof.

In recent years, with the continuous development of technology, the functions that can be achieved by a single electronic device are becoming more and more diversified. For example, printing, audio and video display, touch input, sound effects, wireless communication transmission and many other functions and corresponding electronic components are often integrated into a single multi-function electronic device, in order to ensure a stable power supply for the electronic device. Under normal operation, even reaching the goal of energy saving, good power management is very important.

For example, the commodity logistics industry often uses a dedicated point-of-sale (POS) system to manage or assist in the sale of storefront products. Common applications include electronic cash registers and interactive sales systems (such as ibon, Interactive sales machines such as FamiPort).

After the specification of the commodity bar code was established in the 1970s, the manufacturer printed the bar code directly at the factory, and the store owner could use the bar code to manage the product, which is one of the applications of the POS system. Recently, POS intelligence systems have gradually become similar to personal computer functions, using the structure of personal computers to do file processing, inventory and customer data management, card swiping, verification, and so on.

In the current POS system, it usually includes a printing module for printing documents (thermal printer), a wireless transmission module for transmitting goods or order information, a display, a touch panel, and an audio player. , processor, barcode recognition module and various other necessary electronic components.

In practical applications, in order to cope with the current energy saving trend or design safety, the power supply of an electronic device (such as a POS system) usually has a rated maximum power (for example, about 350 W to 400 W in a general computer architecture). In the case where the system voltage is fixed, if various components in the electronic device (such as a printer module, a wireless transmission module, a sound effect player, etc.) are simultaneously activated, the total load current of the electronic device may be instantaneously amplified. When the instantaneous total load current is greater than the rated value, it may cause the electronic device to crash or cause permanent damage.

Accordingly, the present invention provides a portable electronic device to solve the above problems.

One aspect of the present invention is to provide a power management method. The power management method is for an electronic device.

According to a specific embodiment, the electronic device includes a first high power module, a second high power module, and a plurality of load modules. In this embodiment, the power management method includes the following steps:

1) monitoring the first high power module and the second high power module;

2) when it is determined that the first high power module and the second high power module are simultaneously in an activated state, sequentially stopping power supply to the at least one load module until a total load current of the electronic device is less than one Reference value.

According to another embodiment, the electronic device includes a printing module, a wireless communication module, and a plurality of load modules. In this embodiment, the power management method includes the following steps:

1) monitoring the printing module and the wireless communication module;

2) When it is determined that the printing module and the wireless communication module are simultaneously in an activated state, power supply to the at least one load module is sequentially stopped until a total load current of the electronic device is less than a reference value.

Another aspect of the present invention is to provide an electronic device.

According to a specific embodiment, the electronic device includes a printing module, a wireless communication module, a plurality of load modules, and a power management module. The power management module is coupled to the printing module, the wireless communication module, and the load module, and the power management module detects the status of the printing module and the wireless communication module, and the The power management module monitors a total load current of the electronic device. When the power management module determines that the printing module and the wireless communication module are simultaneously in an activated state, sequentially stopping power supply to at least one of the load modules. Group until the total load current is less than a reference value.

Compared with the conventional electronic device, the electronic device with the power management module and the power management method thereof are automatically based on a priority comparison table or a case when two or more high power modules are simultaneously activated The algorithm stops power supply of other lower priority load modules in sequence to temporarily close part of the load module, so that the total load current returns below a rated reference value, thereby ensuring stable operation of the electronic device.

The details and spirit of the present invention will be further understood from the following detailed description of the invention.

Please refer to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of an electronic device 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The electronic device 1 includes at least a first high power module, a second high power module, a plurality of load modules, and a power control module 13. In this embodiment, the two high-power modules in the electronic device 1 can be the print module 10 and the wireless communication module 12, respectively, and the plurality of load modules can include the sound effect module 14 and the display module. 15. A load module having different application functions, such as a backlight module 16, a memory module 17, an input/output interface module 18, and a system module 19, but the invention is not limited thereto.

The power control module 13 in the electronic device 1 and the printing module 10, the wireless communication module 12, and the load modules (the sound module 14, the display module 15, the backlight module 16, and the memory module) 17. The input/output interface module 18 and the system module 19) are coupled. The power control module 13 is configured to manage power supply conditions of the various modules, such as power on, standby or off state, and power, voltage or current. In this embodiment, the power management module 13 can simultaneously detect and monitor the working status of the printing module 10 and the wireless communication module 12, such as the printing module 10 warming up, printing, or standby, and The wireless communication module 12 starts transmitting, interrupting or stopping transmission, and the like.

For example, in practical applications, the printing module 10 can be a thermal printer, and the wireless communication module 12 can be a codec, such as a universal packet wireless service. (General Packet Radio Service, GPRS) codec, Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) codec and Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) codec. In general, the printing module 10 and the wireless communication module 12 are generally modules that consume relatively high power in the electronic device. That is to say, when the system voltage is fixed, when the printing module 10 and the wireless communication module 12 are activated, it also brings a large load current.

In practical applications, the current consumption of various electronic components in an electronic device in an operating example is as shown in Table 1 below:

As shown in Table 1, in the general case, the printing module 10 and the wireless communication module 12 are generally modules that consume relatively high power in the electronic device. If both enter the startup state at the same time, it is possible to greatly increase the instantaneous total load current of the electronic device 1. For example, when the electronic device 1 is starting up and operating the printing module 10 (such as a thermal printer) to print a receipt or form of the consumer, and simultaneously recording the consumption record through the wireless communication module 12 (eg When the codec is transmitted to an external server, there is a possibility that the total load current of the electronic device 1 is greatly increased, and the system is unstable. The power management module of the present invention can be used to avoid instability.

In this embodiment, when the power management module 13 determines that the printing module 10 and the wireless communication module 12 are simultaneously in an activated state, sequentially stopping power supply to at least one of the load modules until the total The load current is less than a reference value.

For example, when the printing module 10 is activated and starts printing, the printing module 10 can generate a hardware interrupt, and the power management module 13 can determine the printing die. Whether the group is in the startup state.

In this embodiment, the power management module 13 can further stop supplying power to at least one load module according to a priority lookup table (the sound effect module 14, the display module 15, the backlight module 16, and the memory). The module 17, the input/output interface module 18 and the system module 19) until the total load current is less than a reference value.

For example, the power management module 13 may temporarily stop supplying power to the sound module 14 (such as a sound processing chip) and detect the total load current of the adjusted electronic device 1. If the total load current is still greater than the reference value, the power supply can be further stopped to the input/output interface module 18 (such as a USB hub), and so on, until the total load current is stable less than the reference value.

In the above embodiment, the module that consumes relatively high power in the electronic device is exemplified by the printing module 10 and the wireless communication module 12, but the invention is not limited thereto. In other embodiments, the power supply The management module 13 can also be used to detect and monitor any first high power module and second high power module, and can achieve similar effects.

In addition, the present invention also provides a power management method for managing power supply in an electronic device. Referring to FIG. 2, FIG. 2 is a flow chart of a method for power management according to another embodiment of the present invention.

In this embodiment, the power management method can be applied to the electronic device in the foregoing embodiment. The electronic device 1 can include a first high power module, a second high power module, a plurality of load modules, and the power control module. For detailed internal structure, refer to the foregoing embodiments.

As shown in FIG. 2, the power management method of the present invention first performs step S100, and monitors the first high power module and the second high power module by using the power control module.

Then, step S102 is performed to determine whether the first high power module and the second high power module are all in an activated state. When the power control module determines that the first high power module and the second high power module are simultaneously in an activated state, step S104 may be performed to stop supplying power to one of the load modules. In an actual application, the step S104 of the power management method may sequentially stop supplying power to the load modules according to a priority comparison table.

Then, in step S106, the power control module determines whether the total load current of one of the electronic devices is less than a reference value. If it is still greater than the reference value, the step S104 is performed again, thereby stopping the supply of power to the other load module; until step S106, it is determined whether the total load current of one of the electronic devices has fallen below a reference value. In this way, the power management method can prevent the electronic device from being activated at the same time by a plurality of high-power modules, so that the instantaneous total load current is too large.

In addition, when one of the first high power module and the second high power module ends the startup state, the power management method can further restore power to the load modules.

In one embodiment, the first high power module and the second high power module are respectively a print module and a wireless communication module. In an actual application, the power management module can generate a hardware interrupt program according to the printing module to determine whether the printing module is in the startup state. The load module can include at least one of a sound effect module, a display module, a backlight module, a memory module, an input/output interface module, and a system module.

In summary, the electronic device with the power management module and the power management method thereof according to the present invention automatically generate a priority comparison table or an algorithm when two or more high power modules are simultaneously activated. The other lower priority load modules sequentially stop supplying power to temporarily turn off part of the load module so that the total load current returns below a nominal reference value to ensure stable operation of the electronic device.

The scope of the present invention is not limited by the specific embodiments disclosed herein. On the contrary, the intention is to cover various modifications and equivalents within the scope of the invention as claimed.

1. . . Electronic device

10. . . Print module

12. . . Wireless communication module

13. . . Power control module

14. . . Sound module

15. . . Display module

16. . . Backlight module

17. . . Memory module

18. . . Input and output interface module

19. . . System module

S100~S106. . . step

FIG. 1A is a schematic diagram showing the appearance of a front side of a portable electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 1B is a schematic diagram showing the appearance of the back side of the portable electronic device in FIG.

FIG. 1C is a schematic diagram showing the appearance of the flashing light module of the portable electronic device in FIG.

FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the portable electronic device in FIG.

S100~S106. . . step

Claims (13)

A power management method for an electronic device, the electronic device includes a first high power module, a second high power module, and a plurality of load modules, the power management method includes the following steps: monitoring the first high The power module and the second high-power module; and when it is determined that the first high-power module and the second high-power module are simultaneously in an activated state, sequentially stopping power supply to at least one according to a priority comparison table The load module is until the total load current of one of the electronic devices is less than a reference value. The power management method of claim 1, further comprising the step of: when the first high power module and the second high power module end the startup state, restoring power to the load Module. The power management method of claim 1, wherein the first high power module and the second high power module are a print module and a wireless communication module, respectively. The power management method of claim 1, wherein the load module comprises an audio module, a display module, a backlight module, a memory module, an input/output interface module, and a system. At least one of the modules. A power management method for an electronic device, comprising: a printing module, a wireless communication module, and a plurality of load modules, the power management method comprising the steps of: monitoring the printing module and the wireless communication a module; and when it is determined that the printing module and the wireless communication module are simultaneously in an activated state, sequentially stopping power supply to at least one according to a priority comparison table The load modules are until the total load current of one of the electronic devices is less than a reference value. The power management method of claim 5, further comprising the step of: restoring power to the load modules when one of the printing module and the wireless communication module ends working. The power management method according to claim 5, wherein the step of determining whether the printing module is in the startup state is determined according to a hardware interrupt program generated by the printing module. The power management method of claim 5, wherein the load module comprises an audio module, a display module, a backlight module, a memory module, an input/output interface module, and a system. At least one of the modules. An electronic device comprising: a printing module; a wireless communication module; a plurality of load modules; and a power management module, the power management module and the printing module, the wireless communication module, and the like The power module manages the status of the printing module and the wireless communication module, and the power management module monitors a total load current of the electronic device, when the power management module determines When the printing module and the wireless communication module are simultaneously in an activated state, the power supply to the at least one load module is sequentially stopped according to a priority comparison table until the total load current is less than a reference value. The electronic device of claim 9, wherein the printing module is A thermal printer, the wireless communication module is a codec. The electronic device of claim 9, wherein the power management module restores power to the load modules when one of the printing module and the wireless communication module ends working. The electronic device of claim 9, wherein the power management module generates a hardware interrupt program according to the printing module to determine whether the printing module is in the activated state. The electronic device of claim 9, wherein the load module comprises a sound effect module, a display module, a backlight module, a memory module, an input/output interface module, and a system module. At least one of the groups.