Patent Application
20050044505
A system, such as a Personal Computer (PC), may enter a low-power state. For example, a PC might enter a low-power state during a period of relative inactivity and/or when a user turns off a display device. As a result, energy can be conserved, the PC may operate more quietly (e.g., because a fan might not need to cool a processor), and/or battery life may be extended.
Some embodiments described here are directed to a “system.” As used herein, the term “system” may refer to any apparatus that includes one or more processors. Examples of a system include a desktop PC, a mobile system, a workstation, a server, a set top box (e.g., associated with a digital television receiver), and a game system. Some embodiments are also associated with a “low-power state,” which may refer to any state in which a system consumes less power as compared to a higher-power state. For example, the system may enter a low-power state when a user turns off a display device (and return to a higher-power state when the user turns on the display device).
Moreover, some embodiments are associated with Graphical User Interface (GUI) windows. A window is an area on a display, such as an area in which a user can interface with an application program (e.g., a word processing program). The windows may be associated with an Operating System (OS), such as the WINDOWS XP® OS available from MICROSOFT CORPORATION® or the JAGUAR® OS available from APPLE COMPUTERS®.
The display area 110 includes a word processor window 120 and a spreadsheet window 130. Still another area or window 140 at the bottom of the display area 110 might include a “Start” icon and/or a time display. Note that windows may exist on different layers, referred to as the “Z order” (with Z representing the axis out of the plane of
In some cases, a GUI window may be “transparent” (e.g., semi-transparent). That is, the system may use complex graphics processing (e.g., associated with a software compositing process and/or an alpha blending transform) to let a faint image of an underlying window be visible to a user through another window that is higher in the Z order. Consider, for example,
Now consider what might happen if a user places a computer system in a low-power state in which the display unit is turned off but the system's processor still executes instructions (e.g., to digitally record a television show or to provide a stream of audio information to remote stereo device). Note that operations to generate and display a window might be performed by a main Central Processing Unit (CPU) and/or a specialized graphics engine. Moreover, applications that continue to execute when the display unit is turned off may still be associated with a window (and the operations to generate and display the window might still be performed when the display unit is turned off). For example, a user might press a button on a display monitor or on a PC case (or close the lid of a laptop computer) to place the system in a “visual off” state. In this case, the computer system might still be performing the complex graphics processing to support the transparent window 130—even though the display monitor has been turned off (and the user cannot see the result of that processing). In addition to graphics processing, supporting the transparent window 130 might place a significant load on a memory subsystem. Note that automatically closing and/or minimizing the application windows 120, 130 could degrade the performance of the applications and/or computer system.
Moreover, the processing required to support the transparent window could cause a graphics processor to generate a significant amount of heat—and a cooling fan may need to remain on to cool the graphics processor. As a result, the user will find that the computer system does not “sound like” it has been turned off even when he or she places the system into the “visual off” state.
To reduce this problem, an opaque window may be created when a display unit is to be in an “off” state according to some embodiments. For example,
Note that the opaque window 150 might occupy a substantial portion of the display area (e.g., as in
At 402, it is determined that a display unit is to be in an “off” state. For example, an OS, a driver, or a Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) might receive from a user a request to turn off the display unit. Such a request might, for example, be associated with a low-power state in which the display unit is off, the keyboard and mouse do not operate, Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) are disabled (e.g., on the PC and a hard disk drive), and the computer system's speakers are silent.
Note that the processor may still be executing instructions in the low-power state (e.g., to perform a virus scan). Also note that the display unit may be placed in the off state for reasons other than a user's affirmative request. For example, the system might automatically place the display unit in the off state during periods of relative inactivity (e.g., when there is no keyboard or mouse activity for a ten minute period in accordance with a power management policy). In addition, note that some portion of the display unit (or even the entire display unit) could still be “powered on” when the display unit is in an “off” state (e.g., the off state may be any state during which the display area is blanked).
At 404, it is arranged for an opaque GUI window to be created in response to the determination. Note that this might be performed before (or after) the display unit is actually placed in the off state.
The opaque window may be, for example, a static window that is placed at the top of the Z order (e.g., on top of any other existing windows) and that occupies substantially all of the GUI display area. The window might be established, for example, by a software application, a hardware device, an OS, a driver, and/or a BIOS. Note that the method may be performed, according to some embodiments, without making any changes to a traditional OS or application (e.g., the entire method might be performed by a driver or software filter).
The processor unit 710 may include a CPU 712 executing an OS and/or applications, a graphics processor 714, and/or graphics memory, such as graphics Random Access Memory (RAM) 716. To reduce the processing required to support a GUI display area when the display unit 720 is in an off state, any of the elements described herein may arrange for an opaque GUI window to be created.
The following illustrates various additional embodiments. These do not constitute a definition of all possible embodiments, and those skilled in the art will understand that many other embodiments are possible. Further, although the following embodiments are briefly described for clarity, those skilled in the art will understand how to make any changes, if necessary, to the above description to accommodate these and other embodiments and applications.
According to some embodiments described herein, an entirely new window is created when the display unit is in the off state (e.g., is blanked). According to other embodiments, one or more existing translucent windows are made opaque when the display unit is off (and transparency is restored when the display unit is turned back on). Moreover, although some embodiments have been described with respect to a single display unit, embodiments may also be associated with multiple display units (e.g., multiple monitors). For example, an opaque window might be created for each display unit when that display unit is to be in an off state.
The several embodiments described herein are solely for the purpose of illustration. Persons skilled in the art will recognize from this description other embodiments may be practiced with modifications and alterations limited only by the claims.
