This application claims priority to Taiwan Application Serial Number 112127430 filed Jul. 21, 2023, which is herein incorporated by reference.
The present disclosure relates to a controlling method for an electric paper device while the electric paper device is communicatively connecting to an external device for receiving image date.
When an electric paper display is configured to render a lossless image, such a file is larger than a distorted image, thereby requiring larger memory. With the advancement of wireless transmission technology, data transmission speeds are also increasing, resulting in that the control circuitry of the electric paper display has to process the received data rapidly. The aforementioned factors can lead to several issues. For instance, if the memory is too small, it may be incapable of storing the lossless image. In high-speed transmissions, there might be fewer system resources available, and the system might lack enough time to control the electric paper display. Additionally, to conserve power during some wireless transmissions, the system may enter a sleep state in which the electric paper display cannot be controlled. Addressing these challenges is a concern for professionals in this field.
Embodiments of the present disclosure provide an electric paper device including an electric paper display, an application circuit, and a microprocessor. The application circuit is electrically connected to the electric paper display. The microprocessor has a buffer memory and is electrically connected to the application circuit. The microprocessor is configured to establish a communication connection with an external device for continuously receive image data and store the image data into the buffer memory. The image data belongs to a portion of a frame. When the communication connection enters an idle state, the microprocessor is configured to write the image data into the electric paper display through the application circuit without initiating a refresh process of the electric paper display.
In some embodiments, when the communication connection is established, the microprocessor is configured to power on the electric paper display and perform an initialization process corresponding to the electric paper display.
In some embodiments, when the communication connection is terminated, the microprocessor is configured to sequentially perform multiple steps: switching on a panel power of the electric paper display; controlling the electric paper display to perform the refresh process; switching off the panel power of the electric paper display; and powering off the electric paper display.
In some embodiments, before the microprocessor enters a sleep state, the microprocessor is configured to determine if the electric paper display completes a display process. If the electric paper display does not yet complete the display process, the microprocessor enters the sleep state after the application circuit completes the display process.
In some embodiments, the communication connection complies with standard of Bluetooth®.
From another aspect, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a controlling method for the electric paper device. The controlling method including: establishing, by the microprocessor, a communication connection with an external device for continuously receive image data; storing the image data into a buffer memory of the microprocessor, in which the image data belongs to a portion of a frame; and when the communication connection enters an idle state, writing, by the microprocessor, the image data into the electric paper display through the application circuit without initiating a refresh process of the electric paper display.
In some embodiments, the controlling method further includes: when the communication connection is established, powering on the electric paper display and performing an initialization process corresponding to the electric paper display.
In some embodiments, the controlling method further includes: when the communication connection is terminated, sequentially performing multiple steps. The steps includes: switching on a panel power of the electric paper display; controlling the electric paper display to perform the refresh process; switching off the panel power of the electric paper display; and powering off the electric paper display.
In some embodiments, the controlling method further includes: before the microprocessor enters a sleep state, determining if the electric paper display completes a display process; and if the electric paper display does not complete the display process yet, entering, by the microprocessor, the sleep state after the application circuit completes the display process.
In some embodiments, the communication connection complies with standard of Bluetooth®.
From another aspect, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing multiple instructions which are configured to perform multiple steps: establishing, by a microprocessor, a communication connection with an external device for continuously receive image data; storing the image data into a buffer memory of the microprocessor, wherein the image data belongs to a portion of a frame; and when the communication connection enters an idle state, writing, by the microprocessor, the image data into an electric paper display through an application circuit without initiating a refresh process of the electric paper display.
In some embodiments, the steps further include: when the communication connection is established, powering on the electric paper display and performing an initialization process corresponding to the electric paper display.
In some embodiments, the steps further include: when the communication connection is terminated, sequentially performing: switching on a panel power of the electric paper display; controlling the electric paper display to perform the refresh process; switching off the panel power of the electric paper display; and powering off the electric paper display.
In some embodiments, the steps further include: before the microprocessor enters a sleep state, determining if the electric paper display completes a display process; and if the electric paper display does not complete the display process yet, entering, by the microprocessor, the sleep state after the application circuit completes the display process.
In some embodiments, the communication connection complies with standard of Bluetooth®.
In the above-mentioned electronic paper device and controlling method, image display is realized under high-speed transmission.
The invention can be more fully understood by reading the following detailed description of the embodiment, with reference made to the accompanying drawings as follows.
The electric paper display 110 includes an electric paper panel 111 and a memory 112 which is electrically connected to the electric paper panel 111. The memory 112, for instance, is a random-access memory (RAM). The electric paper panel 111 includes components such as microcapsules, substrates, thin-film transistors, electrodes, data lines, and gate lines. The aforementioned microcapsules, also known as electronic ink, can display electronic content on a plastic film. Each microcapsule contains a clear solution not only with positively charged white particles and negatively charged black particles but also can include particles of other colors, such as differently charged colored particles, to achieve color displays. When an appropriate electric field is applied, the corresponding particles will move to their respective positions within the microcapsule, resulting in the display panel showing colored content.
The application circuit 120, for instance, is an electronic paper application reference circuit, designed to control and drive the electric paper display 110. The microprocessor 130 provides communication capabilities and includes a buffer memory 131. This buffer memory 131 is, for example, a random-access memory (RAM). The microprocessor 130 establishes a communication connection with an external device 140. In this embodiment, the communication connection complies with the standard of Bluetooth®. However, in other embodiments, the communication connection can also comply with standards of cellular networks (also known as mobile networks), near-field communication (NFC), infrared communication, Wi-Fi, and other standards; the disclosure is not limited to this. The external device 140 can be a smartphone, tablet, laptop, or any electronic device.
In a use-case scenario of one embodiment, the microprocessor 130 continuously receives image data from the external device 140. The image data belongs to a portion of a frame (e.g. a lossless image). For instance, the image data includes grayscale values of multiple pixels, and the frame will be displayed through the electric paper display 110. It has to first understand the operation procedure of the electric paper display 110 in finer steps, and then these steps will be embedded into the procedure of receiving the image data. Specifically, referring to
In step 306, the communication connection is terminated. At this time, the microprocessor 130 sequentially executes the steps 205-208. With this process, there is no need to perform the refresh process during the reception of the image data. As the refresh process requires a continuous and uninterrupted time period, executing it during the reception of the image data could potentially disrupt the Bluetooth communication, leading to issues such as packet loss. Furthermore, while both steps 201 and 205 relate to power, the panel power is only switched on after the communication connection is terminated that contributes to power conservation.
In the known technology, when the microprocessor 130 enters the sleep state, the power consumption is limited to a very low level, which causes the electric paper display 110 not to operate normally. In this embodiment, a display process of the electric paper display 110 must be completed before entering the sleep state.
In the aforementioned electric paper device and its controlling method, the process for the electric paper device is broken down into more detailed steps, and these steps are embedded into the original communication process. When using a high-speed communication connection (such as Bluetooth 5.0) to receive lossless images, the communication chip (i.e., microprocessor 130) requires a significant amount of resources. The mentioned method ensures that the original transmission functionality remains unaffected while achieving image display.
From another aspect, embodiments of the present disclosure provide a non-transitory computer readable storage medium such as a random access memory, a read-only memory, a flash memory, floppy disks, hard disks, CD-ROMs, pen drives, tapes, databases accessible via the Internet. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium stores instructions that are executed by a computer to perform the controlling method.
Although the present invention has been described in considerable detail with reference to certain embodiments thereof, other embodiments are possible. Therefore, the spirit and scope of the appended claims should not be limited to the description of the embodiments contained herein. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made to the structure of the present invention without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention. In view of the foregoing, it is intended that the present invention cover modifications and variations of this invention provided they fall within the scope of the following claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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112127430 | Jul 2023 | TW | national |