Patent Application
20080253357
This application claims the priority benefit of Taiwan application serial no. 95137674, filed on Oct. 13, 2006. All disclosure of the Taiwan application is incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a computer system and, more particularly, to a computer system with internet phone functionality and can wake up quickly.
2. Description of Related Art
With the progress of technology, the computer system (e.g. personal computer) has already been widely used in our lives. Furthermore, along with the popularity of the Internet, the internet phone appeared and gradually replaced the traditional telephone to be a cheap and convenient communication device.
Thus, some users is used to keeping personal computer (PC) 13 on in order to wait for incoming calls of the internet phone. However, electric power consumption of computer is huge comparing to other household appliances, so this practice is costly at present with high energy price.
In order to save electricity, some users turn on the PC 13 when they need to make an internet phone call and turn off the PC 13 after finishing the internet phone call. However, the PC 13 could not receive incoming calls of the internet phone, and the user would get tired waiting for the power-on procedure of the PC 13. Generally speaking, time for turning on the PC 13 is about 30 seconds long which is much longer than the other household appliances. It is considerably inconvenient for users to wait so long for turning on the PC nowadays.
Therefore, users may set the PC 13 to automatically enter the sleep mode when there is no incoming call. There are a normal operating state S0 and sleep states S1, S3, S4, and S5 in the sleep mode. At state S0, all devices are turned on and operated normally. At state S1, the setting value of all devices (e.g. central processing unit, chipset, and other devices) would not be lost; only the display and the audio-source-output device of the computer system would be turned off so that the operating state would be restored quickly. At state S3, all of the setting values of the devices are stored in the random access memory (RAM) and restored to the devices when returning to the operation state. At this state, devices are turned off except for some devices such as standby-power-source and RAM. At state S4, setting value of all the devices is stored in the hard disk and restored to the devices from the hard disk when returning to the operation state. The state S5 is the power-off state. Generally speaking, to restore from the sleep mode S1 or S3 to normal operating state, operation system of PC 13 must wake up the PC through other devices or System Management Interrupt (SMI)/System Control Interrupt (SCI) event. Caller of the internet phone sometimes hangs up or the receiver misses the moment to answer the phone because of so long time waited for during the PC enter the normal operating state from the sleep mode. For example, when Skype or other instant communication software (e.g. Google Talk, Windows Live Messenger, etc.) is used on the PC 13 and the PC 13 is at the sleep mode, users may often miss the moment to answer the incoming call of the internet phone because of the long time cost to enter the normal operating state from the sleep mode.
Moreover, when making an internet phone call, users must further operate the PC (e.g. move the mouse, press the keyboard, etc.) to wake up the PC if it is at the sleep mode.
In view of these, all the relevant manufacturers of the computer are eager to find suitable solution to solve problems illustrated above.
The objective of the invention is to provide a computer system with internet phone functionality. When a call is coming, the computer system may wake up immediately to prevent missing the call. Moreover, when making an internet phone call by a telephone, a user may wake up the host at the sleep mode immediately.
To achieve the above or other objectives, the invention provides a computer system with internet phone functionality; the computer system includes an Internet module, a host, and a telecom adapter module. The Internet module is used for providing the computer system connecting to the Internet and transmitting data. The host couples to the Internet module and may run an internet phone application program, wherein, when the host enters to the sleep mode, the setting value of the central processing unit (CPU) therein is stored in the memory and the internet phone application program is kept running on the host. When the internet phone application program receives a communication request message, the host restores setting value in the memory to the CPU and turns the processing rate and the voltage of the CPU up.
According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the computer system further includes a telecom adapter module, which includes a Data Access Arrangement (DAA) unit, a Subscriber Line Interface Circuit (SLIC) unit, an audio codec, and a switch. The audio codec couples to the DAA unit, the SLIC unit, and the connection interface, to transform analog voice signals into digital voice signals or digital voice signals into analog voice signals. The switch of the telecom adapter module connects with the first connection port, the second connection port, the DAA, and the SLIC unit. The connection status among the first connection port, the second connection port, DAA unit, and the SLIC unit may be switched by control of the telecom adapter module.
According to the embodiment of the invention, the computer system with internet phone functionality also may wake up by other events such as users operating the telephone.
As illustrated above, because the invention applies a computer system with internet phone functionality, the computer system keeps running the internet phone application programs when it turns the processing rate and the voltage of the CPU lower. When there is an incoming call from the internet phone or the traditional telephone, the computer system may wake up quickly to prevent missing the call. Moreover, when users need to make an internet phone by a telephone, the computer system may wake up the host from the sleep mode by the motion of operating the traditional telephone instead of other computer devices.
These and other objectives, features, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with regard to the following description, claims, and accompanying drawings.
In the embodiments of the following description, when an element is described as “connecting” or “coupling” to another element, it may connect or couple to another element directly or with other element(s) existing between them (indirectly).
The chipset 500 further includes a north bridge chip 501 and a south bridge chip 502. The north bridge chip 501 couples between the CPU 530 and the south bridge chip 502. The memory in the host 50 couples to the north bridge chip 501 and is used for saving data and application programs during the operation of the CPU. The north bridge chip 501 is used for communicating with the CPU 530, controlling reading and/or writing of the memory 520, controlling the bus (not shown), and transmitting data to/from the south bridge chip, etc. the south bridge chip 502 couples to the telecom adapter module 40, the Internet module 60, and the storage device 510, respectively. The south bridge chip 502 is mainly used for communicating with the output/input interface and peripheral devices. The CPU 530 may execute varies kinds of application program instructions. Moreover, the storage device of the host 50 couples to the south bridge chip 502. The storage device 510 may be other nonvolatile storage device, such as flash memory. The storage device 510 may store an operating system (OP), image and audio data, internet phone software, an application program relevant to a telecom adapter module 40, or other application programs.
The Internet module 60 may connect to the Internet 70 wiredly or wirelessly to provide the host 50 with the function of accessing Internet. In the embodiment, the Internet module 60 may be an Ethernet card. In other embodiments, the Internet module 60 also could be a wireless network card. Therefore, the host 50 may access Internet 70 through the Internet module 60, and run the internet phone application program (e.g. Skype) and/or the application programs relevant to the telecom adapter module 40 (e.g. ASUS TalkyGuru), such that users may make or receive the internet phone through the telephone 20.
In the embodiment, the DAA unit 430 may provide functions of power charging and analog-telephone simulating to receive a PSTN phone call. The SLIC unit 440 may provide power and dialing tones, detect the close loop formed by the telephone 20, and transfer the data packets of the internet phone into the analog signals of the telecom network 30.
In the embodiment, the audio codec 450 couples to the DAA unit 430, SLIC unit 440, and the connection interface 42 to transfer analog voice signals into digital voice signals or transfer digital voice signals into analog voice signals. The switch 420 of the telecom adapter module 40 connects to the first connection port 400, the second connection port 410, the DAA unit 430, and the SLIC unit 440. The switch 420 switches the connection status among the second connection port 410, the DAA unit 430, and the SLIC unit 440 according to the control of the audio codec 450.
In the embodiment, the telecom adapter module 40 is an expansion card inserted on the motherboard of the computer device. In other embodiments, the telecom adapter module 40 also may be integrated on the motherboard. In the embodiment, the connection interface 42 is a USB. In other embodiments, the connection interface 42 also may be IEEE 1394 interface, a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI), PCI Express, AC97, or Azalia interface.
In traditional telephone mode, the first connection port 400 electrically connects to the second connection port 410 after the switching of the switch 420, so that the telephone 20 may make a phone to the telecom network 30 or receive an incoming call from the telecom network 30. In the internet phone mode, the first connection port 400 electrically connects to the DAA unit 430 after the switching of the switch. The telephone 20 connected to the Internet 70 may make an internet phone through the telecom adapter module 40, the connection interface 42, the host 50, and the Internet module 60. In the internet phone mode, the first connection port 400 electrical connects the SLIC unit 440, the telephone 20 connected to the Internet 70 may make an internet phone through the telecom adapter module 40, the connection interface 42, the host 50, and the Internet module 60. The following will specify an embodiment of making and/or receiving a phone when the host 50 enters the sleep mode.
After the host 50 enters the sleep mode, the step S504 stores the setting value of the CPU 530 of the host 50 in the memory 520 and turns the processing rate and the voltage of the CPU 530 lower (step S506). At the state of the sleep mode, the telecom adapter module 40 still has normal power supply, such as the 5V voltage supplied by USB. Persons having ordinary skill in the art may change the mode of practice according to the spirit of the invention and indication of the embodiments described above in view of the actual needs. For example, when the host 50 enters the sleep mode, the setting values of peripheral devices such as the fan and the clock generator are stored in the memory 520. After saving the setting value of the devices, the host 50 turns their rate lower. The function of the fan is heat dissipation, and the CPU 530 is one of the main heat sources. After the processing rate of the CPU 530 is turned down, the need of heat dissipation is lower, too. Therefore, the rate of the fan may be turned down according to the processing rate of the CPU 530 to not only dissipate heat but also save electricity and reduce noise. When entering the sleep mode, the host 50 may store the setting value of the audio output device and the display in the memory 520, and turn off these devices after saving the setting value or keep them alive in view of actual needs.
According to the embodiment of the invention, the computer system enters the sleep mode as the embodiments illustrated above. They will not be described for concise purpose. When picking up the telephone 20, users may send an event, utilizing the telecom adapter module 40 and the ASUS Talky Guru software through the connection interface 42 (USB interface), to the south bridge chip 502. Users may wake up the computer system at the sleep mode as illustrated above through directly operation to make the internet phone call instead of using the peripheral devices, such as the mouse, the keyboard, wherein also including making a traditional phone call. Persons having ordinary skill in the art also may run the relevant application programs by the host 50 to add some extra functions in view of the actual needs. For example, display the phone book; provide scheduler and notepad; whether run the record program to provide users to record contents of the conversation on the hard disk. They will not be described for concise purpose.
In summary, because the invention uses a computer system with internet phone functionality, the computer system may keep the application programs running when turning the processing rate and the voltage of the CPU lower. Therefore, the telephone may receive and/or make the internet phone even when the computer enters the sleep mode. When there is an incoming call from the internet phone or the traditional telephone, the computer system may wake up quickly to prevent missing the call. Moreover, when users need to make an internet phone call by a telephone, the computer system may wake up the host from the sleep mode by motion of operating the traditional telephone instead of other computer devices.
Although the present invention has been described in considerable detail with reference to certain preferred embodiments thereof, the disclosure is not for limiting the scope of the invention. Persons having ordinary skill in the art may make various modifications and changes without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Therefore, the scope of the appended claims should not be limited to the description of the preferred embodiments described above.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 95137674 | Oct 2006 | TW | national |
