Information processing apparatus and power consumption method

Abstract

According to one embodiment, there is provided an information processing apparatus including a control portion to change the operation mode to the first power consumption mode when a remaining capacity of the battery is reduced to a first capacity if the action of changing the operation mode to the first power consumption mode is set, and change the operation mode to the second power consumption mode when the remaining capacity of the battery is reduced to a second capacity lower than the first capacity if the action of changing the operation mode to the second power consumption mode is set.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

A general architecture that implements the various feature of the invention will now be described with reference to the drawings. The drawings and the associated descriptions are provided to illustrate embodiments of the invention and not to limit the scope of the invention.

FIG. 1 is an exemplary front view showing a state in which a display unit of a computer according to an embodiment of the invention is opened;

FIG. 2 is an exemplary block diagram showing a system configuration of the computer;

FIG. 3 is an exemplary diagram showing part of information stored in an EEPROM in the battery;

FIG. 4 is an exemplary diagram showing the relationship between a battery voltage and a discharge ratio;

FIG. 5 is an exemplary block diagram showing an example of the configuration of elements concerned with a process of detecting a low battery level;

FIG. 6 is an exemplary diagram for explaining a register in an embedded controller (EC);

FIG. 7 is an exemplary diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of a utility controlled by an operating system (OS);

FIG. 8 is an exemplary diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of a BIOS;

FIG. 9 is an exemplary diagram showing an example of the setting screen implemented by the utility;

FIG. 10 is an exemplary flowchart showing an operation of a power supply controller (PSC) and the EC; and

FIG. 11 is an exemplary flowchart showing an operation of a basic input/output system (BIOS) and the OS.

Claims

1. An information processing apparatus, comprising: a battery;a setting portion to set an action of changing an operation mode of the information processing apparatus to a first power consumption mode in which the information processing apparatus is operated at a first power consumption or to a second power consumption mode in which the information processing apparatus is operated at a second power consumption lower than the first power consumption; anda control portion to change the operation mode to the first power consumption mode when a remaining capacity of the battery is reduced to a first capacity if the action of changing the operation mode to the first power consumption mode is set, and change the operation mode to the second power consumption mode when the remaining capacity of the battery is reduced to a second capacity lower than the first capacity if the action of changing the operation mode to the second power consumption mode is set.

2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control portion changes the operation mode to the first power consumption mode based on a value obtained by subtracting a first predetermined value from the first capacity if the action of changing the operation mode to the first power consumption mode is set, and changes the operation mode to the second power consumption mode based on a value obtained by adding a second predetermined value to the second capacity if the action of changing the operation mode to the second power consumption mode is set.

3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the value obtained by subtracting the first predetermined value from the first capacity is equal to the value obtained by adding the second predetermined value to the second capacity.

4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the first power consumption mode is a standby mode and the second power consumption mode is a hibernation mode.

5. An information processing apparatus, comprising: a battery;a setting portion to set an action of changing an operation mode of the information processing apparatus to a first power consumption mode in which the information processing apparatus is operated at a first power consumption or to a second power consumption mode in which the information processing apparatus is operated at a second power consumption lower than the first power consumption;a mode changing portion to change the operation mode to the first power consumption mode or the second power consumption mode; anda notifying portion to notify the mode changing portion of a value obtained by subtracting a first predetermined value from a first capacity when a remaining capacity of the battery is reduced to the first capacity if the action of changing the operation mode to the first power consumption mode is set, and notify the mode changing portion of a value obtained by adding a second predetermined value to a second capacity lower than the first capacity when the remaining capacity of the battery is reduced to the second capacity if the action of changing the operation mode to the second power consumption mode is set,the mode changing portion being configured to change the power consumption mode based on the value notified from the notifying portion.

6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the value obtained by subtracting the first predetermined value from the first capacity is equal to the value obtained by adding the second predetermined value to the second capacity.

7. The information processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein the first power consumption mode is a standby mode and the second power consumption mode is a hibernation mode.

8. A power consumption control method applied to an information processing apparatus having a battery, the method comprising: setting an action of changing an operation mode of the information processing apparatus to a first power consumption mode in which the information processing apparatus is operated at a first power consumption or to a second power consumption mode in which the information processing apparatus is operated at a second power consumption lower than the first power consumption; andchanging the operation mode to the first power consumption mode when a remaining capacity of the battery is reduced to a first capacity if the action of changing the operation mode to the first power consumption mode is set, and changing the operation mode to the second power consumption mode when the remaining capacity of the battery is reduced to a second capacity lower than the first capacity if the action of changing the operation mode to the second power consumption mode is set.

9. The power consumption control method according to claim 8, wherein the changing the operation mode includes changing the operation mode to the first power consumption mode based on a value obtained by subtracting a first predetermined value from the first capacity if the action of changing the operation mode to the first power consumption mode is set, and changing the operation mode to the second power consumption mode based on a value obtained by adding a second predetermined value to the second capacity if the action of changing the operation mode to the second power consumption mode is set.

10. The power consumption control method according to claim 9, wherein the value obtained by subtracting the first predetermined value from the first capacity is equal to the value obtained by adding the second predetermined value to the second capacity.

11. The power consumption control method according to claim 8, wherein the first power consumption mode is a standby mode and the second power consumption mode is a hibernation mode.