Abstract:
An energy-saving control interface for power-on identification utilizes a first switch to start to sense and identify data. A second switch is connected to a sensing/scanning circuit for powering off the sensing/scanning circuit when a timer has reached its count. A third switch is used to control whether to supply power to a security control unit, wherein the security control unit is supplied with power immediately when the sensing/scanning circuit completes data identification. A power supply is connected with a fourth switch controlled by a confirmation signal from the security control unit, such that the security control unit determines whether to activate the power supply.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0002]    The present invention relates to an energy-saving control interface and method for power-on identification, which enable a computer to utilize the standby power for performing an identification process to power on the computer.  
           [0003]    2. Description of Related Art  
           [0004]    Currently, a computer device is always installed with a power supply for providing the working power thereto. The conventional power supply is made by a well-known switching power technique to have the advantages of high efficiency and light weight. Such a power supply is also known as a switching power supply. However, because of the advances in computer technology, a new generation of power supply, known as ATX power supply, has been in widely spread use to meet the requirements of remote control and power management. In addition to being turned on and off by receiving signals, such a power supply is characterized in providing a standby power (5V power with a current of approximately 0.7 amps) when the power supply is off. The standby power is provided to supply power, when the computer is powered off, to various components in the computer, such as the internal modem, network card or other interface cards, so as to remotely power on the computer via the modem, network card, etc. However, such a standby power can only supply a small amount of current, and thus it can not be used as a power source for other computer devices. Accordingly, there is a serious limitation in the application of the standby power.  
           [0005]    If it is desired to use a fingerprint identification device or the like to control the power-on operation of the computer, it would be difficult to integrate the device with the computer as the standby power of the computer is too small to drive the device to work. Therefore, it is desirable to be able to control a device integrated with the computer by the low-current standby power.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0006]    The object of the present invention is to provide an energy-saving control interface and method for power-on identification, which enable a computer to utilize the standby power for performing an identification process to power on the computer.  
           [0007]    In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, the energy-saving control method of the present invention includes the steps of: (a) providing a sensing/scanning circuit for obtaining identification data; (b) providing an output interface for receiving and storing the identification data from the sensing/scanning circuit, and providing a clock signal; (c) providing a security control unit for receiving the identification data from the output interface to compare with pre-stored identification data and selectively send out a correct confirmation signal and an incorrect confirmation signal; (d) providing a control interface for receiving the clock signal from the output interface to determine whether to supply power to the security control interface; (e) providing a power supply which is triggered to supply power by receiving the correct confirmation signal from the security control unit; (f) activating a switch to supply power to the output interface; (g) supplying power to the sensing/scanning circuit for a time duration determined by a timer after the output interface is powered on; and (h) supplying power to the security control unit when the timer reaches its count, and, when the security control unit has sent the confirmation signal, the output interface and security control unit are powered off immediately.  
           [0008]    In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, the energy-saving control interface for power-on identification has a feature input device, a first switch, a second switch, a security control unit, a control interface, and a power supply. The feature input device has a sensing/scanning circuit and an output interface. The output interface has a data memory for storing data obtained by the sensing/scanning circuit, and an interface controller for transmitting data and clock signals. The first switch is connected between the feature input device and a power input for being activated to start to sense and identify data. The second switch is connected between the sensing/scanning circuit and the first switch for powering off the sensing/scanning circuit when a timer has reached its count. The security control unit has a digital signal processor and a data memory pre-stored with identification data for comparing the data sent from the output interface with the pre-stored identification data, so as to selectively send out a correct confirmation signal or an incorrect confirmation signal. The control interface has a third switch which is turned on by the clock signal from the feature input, so as to control whether to supply power to the security control unit, wherein the security control unit is supplied with power immediately when the sensing/scanning circuit completes data identification. The power supply has an input connected with a fourth switch controlled by the confirmation signal from the security control unit, such that the security control unit determines whether to activate the power supply. Other objects, advantages, and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0009]    [0009]FIG. 1 schematically illustrates the use of the energy-saving control interface for performing a power-on identification in accordance with the present invention; and  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the energy-saving control interface in accordance with the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0011]    [0011]FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a preferred embodiment of the present invention, which integrates an identification device, for example a fingerprint identification device, with a computer, so as to perform power-on and power-off operations of the computer. As shown, a security control unit  40  is provided on a computer motherboard  70  for receiving signals from a feature input device  10 . The received signal is compared with the pre-stored fingerprint data in the security control unit  40 . If matched, the security unit  40  sends an enable signal, denoted by EN, to a power supply  60  of the computer, so as to command the power supply  60  to supply various powers to the motherboard  70  for starting up the computer. As such, a computer can be powered on with the use of fingerprint identification.  
         [0012]    In order to operate the feature input device  10  and the security control unit  40  with only +5V, standby power  63  of the power supply  60 , an energy-saving control interface is provided, as shown in FIG. 2, which includes the power supply  60 , the feature input device  10  having a —sensing/scanning circuit  20  and an output interface  30 , the security control unit  40  and a control interface  50 . The power supply  60  has a main power circuit  61  and a standby power circuit  62 . The main power circuit  61  is connected to a manual-off switch SW 4  that can be turned on by the enable signal EN. The output terminals of the main power circuit provide the necessary power to operate the computer, while the power output terminal of the standby power circuit  62  is connected to the control interface  50 , so as to enable or disable the security control unit  40 , the output interface  30  and the sensing/scanning circuit  20  by controlling an electronic switch SW 3  in the control interface  50  and manual-on switches SW 1  and SW 2  in the feature input device  10 .  
         [0013]    The control interface  50  is composed of a logic gate  52 , a flip-flop  51  and the electronic switch SW 3 . The security control unit  40  is composed of an interface buffer  41 , a data memory  42 , a digital signal processor  43  and a logic gate  44 . The output interface  30  of the feature input device  10  is composed of a data memory  31 , a timer  32 , an interface controller  33 , a clock generator  34 , a flip-flop  35  and a logic gate  36 . The switch SW 1  in the output interface  30  can be manually turned on by depressing, and locked in the on status by a signal from output Q of the flip-flop  35 . The switch SW 1  is used to determine whether the power is supplied to the output interface  30  or not. Its output is connected to the power terminal (VCC) of the sensing/scanning circuit  20  via the switch SW 2 , controlled by a timer  32 , so as to determine whether the power is supplied to the sensing/scanning circuit  20 . The switch SW 3  is controlled by the flip-flop  51  in the control interface  50  to determine whether the power is supplied to the security control unit  40 .  
         [0014]    The data output from the output terminal (O/P) of the sensing/scanning is sent to the digital signal processor  43 , via the data memory  31 , the interface controller  33  and the interface buffer  41  of the security control unit  40 , for comparing with the data sent from the data memory  42  pre-stored with fingerprint data or other identification data. Thereafter, a correct (Y) or incorrect (N) confirmation signal is generated. The correct signal is provided as the enable (EN) signal for turning on the switch SW 4  in the power supply  60 , so as to achieve the purpose of activating the main power circuit  61 . The clock signals for the circuit are supplied by the clock generator  34  in the output interface  30 . In detail, the clock signals from the output of the clock generator are applied to the interface controller  33 , timer  32  and sensing/scanning circuit  20 , and also applied to the security control unit  40  and the flip-flop  51  in the control interface  50  via the logic gates  36  and  52 .  
         [0015]    In order to perform fingerprint or other kinds of identification, the user may put his/her finger on a sensor corresponding to the sensing/scanning circuit  20 . Then, the switch SW 1  is turned on manually, so as to supply the standby power of the power supply  60  to the output interface  30 . At this moment, the clock generator  34  is triggered and the timer  32  starts to count. The output of the timer  32  is a step pulse with a duration of 1˜2 seconds. Such a duration time can be adjusted based on the actual requirement. The step pulse is used to turn on the switch SW 2  and thus activate the sensing/scanning circuit  20  for 1˜2 seconds, so as to perform the operations of fingerprint identification and data transfer. The step pulse is also applied to the flip-flop  35  for locking the switch SW 1  in the on status, thereby preventing a power failure.  
         [0016]    After the above scanning process is completed, the sensed data is directly sent to the data memory  31  to be buffered. When the timer reaches its count, the sensing/scanning circuit  20  is automatically powered off by the switch SW 2  for saving energy. At this moment, the clock signal is sent to the control interface  50  via the logic gate  36 , and transferred to the security control unit  40  via another logic gate  52 . The clock signal also triggers the flip-flop  51  to turn on the switch SW 3  for supplying power to the security control unit  40 . Therefore, the security control unit  40  obtains its power and clock signal for receiving the fingerprint data sent from the output interface  30 . After the security control unit  40  has compared the received data with the pre-stored one, the confirmation signal, no matter correct or incorrect, is applied, via the logic OR gate  44 , to clear the two flip-flops  35  and  51 , so as to turn off the switch SWI and SW 3 , thereby most of the circuit elements being powered off. When another power-on identification process is initiated, the above process is repeated.  
         [0017]    When the security control unit  40  determines that the received data is matched with a pre-stored one, it automatically turns on the switch SW 4  to activate the power supply  60 , so as to power on the computer as usual. If the computer is to be powered off, as well known to those skilled in the art, the computer may be automatically powered off by its operating system, one may be manually turned off by operating the switch SW 4 .  
         [0018]    In view of the foregoing, it is appreciated that the energy-saving control interface is able to power off the unnecessary circuit elements at suitable times in performing fingerprint identification, so the entire power requirement can meet the specification of the standby power. Such an interface design can also be applied to the portable computer and battery device to have the same functions.  
         [0019]    Although the present invention has been explained in relation to its preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that many other possible modifications and variations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.