Patent Publication Number: US-8531309-B2

Title: Quantification indicating circuit

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
     This application is a continuation application of and claims the priority benefit of U.S. application Ser. No. 12/190,598, filed on Aug. 13, 2008, which has been allowed and has Ser. No. 8,199,026, which claims the priority benefit of Taiwan application serial no. 96134024, filed on Sep. 12, 2007. The entirety of each of the above-mentioned patent applications is hereby incorporated by reference herein and made a part of this specification. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The invention relates to a quantification indicating circuit and, more particularly, to a quantification indicating circuit applied to a motherboard. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     For a user using a computer, if he wants to adjust the operation frequency and the voltage of a motherboard, he has to set via a basic input output system (BIOS) or control software applied to a windows interface. Setting values are displayed on a screen during a setting process to allow the user to know the present setting state of the motherboard. 
       FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram showing the coupling relationship of a motherboard monitoring circuit in a conventional motherboard. As shown in  FIG. 1 , a reference number  100  denotes a motherboard, a reference number  102  denotes a motherboard monitoring circuit, and a reference number  110  denotes a screen. Taking the adjustment of the frequency as an example, when the user sets the operation frequency of the motherboard  100  via the BIOS or the control software, the motherboard monitoring circuit  102  can receive a numerical signal IN generated by the motherboard  100 , and the numerical signal IN denotes the value of the present operation frequency of the motherboard  100 . Afterward, the motherboard monitoring circuit  102  allows the value denoted by the numerical signal IN to be displayed on the screen  110 . In this way, the user can know the present operation frequency of the motherboard  100  via the value displayed by the screen  110 . 
     The value is only displayed by the screen in the conventional method. A computer game player often works in an over-frequency state, and every player does not remember to adjust the operation frequency back to a normal value after he finishes playing a game, and every player does not remember to check whether an over-frequency setting exists via the BIOS or the control software after he boots a computer up. Then, the motherboard is often operated in the over-frequency state, and then it is easy to be overheated, which may affect its performance and even damage the motherboard. In the mode of displaying the value via the screen, the user needs to switch images to obtain data. For a user handling other work, he cannot know states of the frequency, the temperature and the voltage of the motherboard in real time, which is inconvenient. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The objective of the invention is to provide a quantification indicating circuit, and the invention provides a further humanization quantification indicating design to allow a user to conveniently inspect the usage state of a motherboard. 
     Based on the above and other objectives, the invention provides a quantification indicating circuit which is suitable to be disposed on a circuit board. The quantification indicating circuit includes an indicating lamp set, a converting circuit and an indicating lamp control circuit, and the indicating lamp set has a plurality of indicating lamps. The converting circuit receives a numerical signal of the circuit board. After the numerical signal is compared with a plurality of threshold values in the converting circuit, a combination bit signal is generated by a plurality of control bits and is outputted. The indicating lamp control circuit determines and controls the number of the brightened indicating lamps of the indicating lamp set according to the combination bit signal. 
     In the invention, the converting circuit compares the numerical signal with a plurality of predetermined threshold values, and then, a comparison result is converted to outputs of a plurality of control bits, and finally, the indicating lamp control circuit brightens the indicating lamps in the indicating lamp set according to the outputs of the control bits. The number of the brightened indicating lamps is used as a response to the value denoted by the numerical signal. In this way, a user can know the present usage state of a circuit board or a motherboard when he knows the number of the brightened indicating lamps, which achieves a further humanization quantification indication. 
     These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with regard to the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram showing the coupling relationship of a motherboard monitoring circuit in a conventional motherboard. 
         FIG. 2  is a block diagram showing a quantification indicating circuit according to one embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 3  is a schematic diagram showing an indicating lamp control circuit and an indicating lamp set in one embodiment of the invention. 
         FIG. 4  shows a truth table of the circuit shown in  FIG. 3 . 
         FIG. 5  is a schematic diagram showing a mode of disposing indicating patterns. 
         FIG. 6  is a schematic diagram showing the arrangement of the indicating patterns. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS 
       FIG. 2  is a block diagram showing a quantification indicating circuit according to one embodiment of the invention. The quantification indicating circuit is suitable to be disposed on a circuit board, and the circuit board is, for example, a motherboard or an element support plate for any electronic products. As shown in  FIG. 2 , a reference number  200  denotes a circuit board. The quantification indicating circuit includes a converting circuit  202 , an indicating lamp control circuit  204  and an indicating lamp set  206 , and the indicating lamp set  206  has a plurality of indicating lamps (such as  361  to  365  shown in  FIG. 3 ). The converting circuit  202  is used to receive a numerical signal IN from the circuit board  200 , and the numerical signal IN may be a frequency value, a voltage value or a temperature value. The converting circuit  202  may be designed as, for example, a plurality of comparators which cooperate with a plurality of threshold values of the converting circuit  202  to compare or determine whether the numerical signal IN is greater or less than the threshold values. Then, according to all comparison results, the converting circuit  202  output the control bits to the indicating lamp control circuit  204 . However, the method of obtaining the comparison result is not limited by the above method. For example, when the numerical signal IN is between two closest threshold values, a corresponding comparison result may be generated by the two closest threshold values. Then, the two closest threshold values are converted to the control bits. The indicating lamp control circuit  204  is coupled between the indicating lamp set  206  and the converting circuit  202 . The indicating lamp control circuit  204  brightens the indicating lamps according to the control bits, and the number of the brightened indicating lamps is used as a response to the value denoted by the numerical signal IN. 
     To further illustrate the indicating lamp control circuit  204  and the indicating lamp set  206 ,  FIG. 3  shows implementing methods of the indicating lamp control circuit and the indicating lamp set. Assume that the number of the control bits is three, and the control bits are a first control bit C, a second control bit B and a third control bit A, respectively. Assume that the number of the indicating lamps is five. The above numbers can be adjusted according to a practical situation. As shown in  FIG. 3 , VDD and GND denote a high voltage and a ground potential, respectively. The indicating lamp control circuit  204  includes five logic circuits  310  to  350 . The first logic circuit  310  includes three diodes  311  to  313  and a resistance  314 , and input terminals (namely, P terminals of the diodes) of the three diodes  311  to  313  are connected to the first control bit C, the second control bit B and the third control bit A, respectively. The second logic circuit  320  includes two diodes  321  and  322  and a resistance  323 , and input terminals (P terminals) of the two diodes  321  and  322  are connected to the first control bit C and the second control bit B, respectively. The third logic circuit  330  includes a diode  331  and a resistance  332 , and the input terminal (the P terminal) of the diode  331  is connected to the first control bit signal C. The fourth logic circuit  340  includes diodes  341  and  342  and a resistance  343 , and output terminals (namely, N terminals of the diodes) of the two diodes  341  and  342  are connected to the first control bit C and the second control bit B, respectively. A high voltage VDD is provided for the input terminals of the two diodes  341  and  342 . The fifth logic circuit  350  includes diodes  351  to  353  and a resistance  354 , and output terminals (N terminals) of the three diodes  351  to  353  are connected to the first control bit C, the second control bit B and the third control bit A, respectively. The high voltage VDD is provided for the input terminals of the three diodes  351  to  353 . 
     Certainly, a user can determine whether to utilize the above resistances according to a practical requirement. In the embodiment, the indicating lamps in the indicating lamp set  206  may be, for example, light emitting diodes. The first indicating lamp  361  is connected to a first common output terminal (N terminal) of the three diodes  311  to  313  of the first logic circuit  310  via the resistance  314 . The second indicating lamp  362  is connected to a second common output terminal (N terminal) of the two diodes  321  and  322  of the second logic circuit  320  via the resistance  323 . The third indicating lamp  363  is connected to the output terminal (N terminal) of the diode  331  of the third logic circuit  330  via the resistance  332 . The fourth indicating lamp  364  is connected to a first common input terminal (P terminal) of the two diodes  341  and  342  of the fourth logic circuit  340 . The fifth indicating lamp  365  is connected to a second input terminal (P terminal) of the three diodes  351  to  353  of the fifth logic circuit  350 . 
     A truth table is shown in  FIG. 4  to illustrate the operation mode of the circuit shown in  FIG. 3 . C, B and A denote the control bits, and L1 to L5 denote the indicating lamps  361  to  365 , respectively. In the truth table, x denotes that the light emitting diode does not conduct and is in an off state; ∘ denotes that the light emitting diode conducts and is in an on state. The operation mode of the logic circuit  310  is performing an OR logic operation on the control bits A, B and C. So long as the value of one of the control bits A, B and C is one, the light emitting diode  361  is brightened. That is, the output formula Y(L1)=A+B+C is obtained according to the logic operation Similarly, a output formula Y(L2)=B+C is obtained according to the operation mode of the second logic circuit  320 , a output formula Y(L3)=C is obtained according to the operation mode of the third logic circuit  330 , a output formula Y(L4)=B*C is obtained according to the operation mode of the fourth logic circuit  340 , and a output formula Y(L5)=A*B*C is obtained according to the operation mode of the fifth logic circuit  350 , wherein * denotes an AND logic operation. 
     Assume that the converting circuit  202  in  FIG. 2  has five predetermined values, namely, 100 MHz, 120 MHz, 140 MHz, 160 MHz and 180 MHz. When the numerical signal IN is 95 MHz, the converting circuit  202  compares the numerical signal IN with the five predetermined values and determines their magnitude relationship. Since the numerical signal (95 MHz) is smaller than the five predetermined values, the corresponding control bits C, B, A which are (0, 0, 0) are obtained by conversion. Thus, the logic outputs Y(L1˜L5) in  FIG. 4  are all zero (x in  FIG. 4  denotes that a light emitting diode does not conduct). Then, the output result of the circuit in  FIG. 3  is obtained. The light emitting diodes  361  to  365  do not conduct, that is, the light emitting diodes  361  to  365  are in the off states. 
     In  FIG. 2 , when the numerical signal IN shown is 145 MHz, the converting circuit  202  compares the numerical signal IN with the five predetermined values and determines their magnitude relationship. Since the numerical signal IN (145 MHz) is greater than three predetermined values and is smaller than the other two predetermined values, the converting circuit  202  outputs the corresponding control bits C, B, A which are (1, 0, 0) or (1, 0, 1). Since each of the first logic circuit  310 , the second logic circuit  320  and the third logic circuit  330  in  FIG. 3  has one input terminal connected to the first control bit signal C, the control bits C, B, A which are (1, 0, 0) or (1, 0, 1) allows the three light emitting diodes  361  to  363  in  FIG. 3  to be brightened. That is, as shown in  FIG. 4 , the logic outputs Y(L1˜L3) are one (in  FIG. 4 , ∘ denotes that a light emitting diode conducts). The output terminals of the two diodes  341  and  342  of the fourth logic circuit  340  are connected to the first control bit C and the second control bit B, respectively. So long as one of the control bit B or C is zero, the output of the fourth logic circuit is zero, and then the indicating lamp  364  is off. The N terminals of the three diodes  351  to  353  of the fifth logic circuit  350  are connected to the first control bit C, the second control bit B and the third control bit A, respectively. So long as one of the control bit A, B or C is zero, the output of the fifth logic circuit is zero, and the indicating lamp  365  is off. Therefore, the control bits C, B, A which are (1, 0, 0) or (1, 0, 1) may be selected to allow the three light emitting diodes  361  to  363  to be brightened. 
     In  FIG. 2 , when the numerical signal IN is 185 MHz, since the value of the numerical signal IN (185 MHz) is greater than the five predetermined values, the converting circuit  202  outputs the corresponding control bits C, B, A which are (1, 1, 1). The corresponding logic outputs Y(L1˜L5) are all one, and they allow all the light emitting diodes  361  to  365  to be brightened. 
     Along with the adjustment of the operation frequency, the number of the light emitting diodes which are brightened is changed. A user can make the number of the light emitting diodes which are brightened increase along with the increase of the frequency, and then, the user can directly know the magnitude of the practical operation frequency. The number of the predetermined values can be adjusted according to the practical number of the indicating lamps or a practical operation situation. The user can increase or decrease the number of the light emitting diodes and change the number of the light emitting diodes which are brightened according to a practical requirement, and then he can correspondingly design the logic circuits in the indicating lamp control circuit according to the truth table. In this way, the indicating lamps can realize an indicating function according to the design of the user. The implementing method of the logic circuits  310  to  350  are correspondingly designed according to the truth table in  FIG. 4 , and it does not limit the invention. 
     If a user wants to make a quantification indicating effect further intuitive, he can dispose a plurality of indicating patterns on the circuit board. Each indicating pattern is corresponding to one of the light emitting diode and is lightened by the corresponding light emitting diode. The above light emitting diodes may be a side emitting type light emitting diodes to ensure that light sent out really lightens the corresponding indicating patterns.  FIG. 5  is a schematic diagram showing the mode of disposing the indicating patterns. As shown in  FIG. 5 , a reference number  501  denotes a top view diagram of the side emitting type light emitting diode, and a reference number  502  denotes one example of the indicating patterns such as a triangle. For example, the indicating patterns may be provided under the indicating lamps and be arranged in a row to generate a further intuitive quantification indicating effect and show an effect of increasing a speed.  FIG. 6  is a schematic diagram showing the arrangement of the indicating patterns. Along with the increase of the number of the light emitting diodes which are brightened, the number of the indicating patterns which are lightened increases, so that the user can directly know the scope within which the present operation frequency of the circuit board is. Certainly, the style of the indicating patterns and the mode of arranging the indicating patterns can be changed according to a practical requirement, and they are not limited by the content shown in  FIG. 5  and  FIG. 6 . 
     In the above embodiments, the value denoted by the numerical signal IN may be a voltage value, a temperature value or other setting values. A user can dispose a plurality of quantification indicating circuits on a circuit board or a motherboard at the same time to show states of the operation frequency, the voltage and the temperature of the circuit board or the motherboard, respectively. Certainly, the indicating lamps can be exposed outside the host of a computer or any electronic products according to a practical situation. The user can know the present usage state of the circuit board or the motherboard when he knows the number of the indicating lamps which are brightened. Thus, a further humanization quantification indicating effect is achieved. 
     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.