Abstract:
A computer system is provided and it is capable of communicating with a blue-tooth device. The computer system includes a blue-tooth chipset which stores a media access control (MAC) address of the computer system and the blue-tooth device; and a power management system electrically connected to the blue-tooth chipset. When the blue-tooth device is out of a detectable coverage and the computer system is in a power saving mode, the blue-tooth chipset outputs a first control signal to make the power management system change the power saving mode of the computer system, if the blue-tooth device is detected in the detectable coverage.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    This application claims the priority benefit of Taiwan application serial no. 99124211, filed Jul. 22, 2010. The entirety of the above-mentioned patent application is hereby incorporated by reference herein and made a part of this specification. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0003]    The invention relates to a computer system and, more particularly, to a computer system with a blue-tooth technology. 
         [0004]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0005]    The blue-tooth technology is mainly used as a wireless communication connection between a mobile device and other accessories (such as a mobile phone connects to an earphone or a microphone) with low power consumption and a low cost. Recently, the blue-tooth technology is widely used between different electronic devices (such as a host and a printer) as the wireless communication connection. 
         [0006]      FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram showing that a computer system communicates with a mobile phone via the blue-tooth technology as a wireless connection. The computer system  10  includes a host  102 , a screen  104 , a keyboard  106 , and a mouse  108 . The host  102  includes a power button  112  and a blue-tooth chipset  110 . The mobile phone  12  includes a screen  124 , a button set  126  and a blue-tooth chipset  120 . To illustrate more conveniently, the host  102  is defined as a master device, and the mobile phone  12  is defined to be a slave device. Moreover, to illustrate the blue-tooth technology more conveniently, a wireless communication connection between the host  102  and the mobile phone  12  at the first time is taken as an example. 
         [0007]    When the user connects the host  102  and the mobile phone  12  via the blue-tooth technology at the first time, the environment parameters of the host  102  should be set up first. Generally, the blue-tooth chipset  110  in the host  102  is usually at a shut down mode to save power. Consequently, the user should enable the blue-tooth chipset  110  first. The blue-tooth chipset  110  of the host  102  may be enabled by pressing a certain button (not shown) of the host  102  or executing a program. Then, the user should set an identification name for the host  102 . Generally, the identification name of the host  102  may be set via a blue-tooth application of the host  102 . For example, if the user sets the identification name of the host  102  to be “blue-tooth master device” via the blue-tooth application, and then, in the process of the wireless communication connection between the host  102  and the mobile phone  12 , the name “blue-tooth master device” will represent the host  102 . 
         [0008]    After the blue-tooth chipset  110  of the host  102  is enabled, the host  102  continuously detects whether there is a blue-tooth device nearby. Recently, the detectable coverage of the blue-tooth technology can reach 100 meters at most. When the host  102  detects that the mobile phone  12  appears in the detectable coverage, the blue-tooth application of the host  102  shows the built-in name of the mobile phone  12  according to its original setting. For example, if the built-in name of the mobile phone  12  is “blue-tooth slave device”, the name “blue-tooth slave device” in the blue-tooth application of the host  102  represents the mobile phone  12 . When the blue-tooth application of the host  102  lists the “blue-tooth slave device”, it means the mobile phone  12  is detected by the host  102 . 
         [0009]    When the mobile phone  12  is detected by the host  102 , the host  102  and the mobile phone  12  can be connected via the blue-tooth wireless communication by the blue-tooth application for a user. When the user selects “blue-tooth slave device” as the paring device via the blue-tooth application and inputs a blue-tooth media access control (MAC) address, the screen  124  of the mobile phone  12  shows whether to accept the pairing signal. If the user accepts the pairing requirement and inputs the blue-tooth MAC address via the button set  126  of the mobile phone  12 , the pairing and the blue-tooth wireless communication connection between the host  102  and the mobile phone  12  are finished. The host  102  may store the blue-tooth MAC address of the mobile phone  12  in a driver of the blue-tooth chipset  110 . 
         [0010]    Once the blue-tooth wireless communication connection between the host  102  and the mobile phone  12  finishes at the first time, the host  102  and the mobile phone  12  are on and the distance between the host  102  and the mobile phone  12  is in the detectable coverage, so the blue-tooth, the host  102  and the mobile phone  12  can finish the pairing automatically and the blue-tooth wireless communication connection between the host  102  and the mobile phone  12 , and perform various preset profiles. 
         [0011]    Besides the function of setting the identification name of the host  102  and achieving the pairing of the mobile phone  12 , the blue-tooth application also may have other functions such as the power management. For example, in some blue-tooth applications, when the blue-tooth wireless communication connection between the host  102  and the mobile phone  12  is finished, if the mobile phone  12  is moved out of the detectable coverage of the host  102  for a while, that is, the host  102  cannot detect the mobile phone  12  in a certain time, the blue-tooth application makes the host  102  to enter a power saving mode or a shut down mode to achieve the blue-tooth remote power management to the host  102  by the mobile phone  12 . The suspend mode or the shut down mode above may be a S 3 , S 4  or S 5  mode of the host  10 . 
         [0012]      FIG. 2  is a flowchart showing a conventional blue-tooth remote power management. First, the computer system boots up (Step  20 ); the user starts to pair the computer system and the blue-tooth device (Step  22 ); the computer system stores the blue-tooth MAC address in the driver (Step  24 ); the blue-tooth application of the computer system detects whether there is a blue-tooth device according to the blue-tooth MAC address stored in the driver (Step  26 ); if the computer system cannot detect the blue-tooth device in a certain time, the blue-tooth application makes the computer system enter the suspend mode or the shut down mode (Step  28 ). 
         [0013]    As stated above, since the blue-tooth MAC address of the host  102  connected to the mobile phone  12  is stored in the driver of the blue-tooth chipset  110 , once the blue-tooth chipset  110  of the host  102  operates in the suspend mode or the shut down mode, the host  102  cannot use the blue-tooth chipset  110  to communicate with the mobile phone  12 . At the moment, even if the mobile phone  12  is moved close to the host  102 , since the host  102  is in the suspend mode or the shut down mode, the blue-tooth chipset  110  cannot communicate with the mobile phone  12 . 
         [0014]    The user should use a mouse  108 , the keyboard  106  or the power button  112  of the host  102  to wake up the host  102 , and resume the connection between the blue-tooth chipset  110  and the mobile phone  12 . 
       BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0015]    A computer system with a blue-tooth remote power management and a control method thereof are provided. 
         [0016]    A computer system adapted to communicate with a blue-tooth device includes a blue-tooth chipset, a firmware storing a blue-tooth MAC address for pairing the computer system and the blue-tooth device, and a power management system electrically connected to the blue-tooth chipset. When the blue-tooth device is out of a detectable coverage of the blue-tooth chipset and the computer system is in a power saving mode, if the blue-tooth chipset detects that the blue-tooth device is in the detectable coverage, the blue-tooth chipset outputs a first control signal to make the power management system change the power saving mode of the computer system. 
         [0017]    A blue-tooth remote power management method applied to a computer system and a blue-tooth device is provided. The computer system and the blue-tooth device are paired in a normal mode and a generated a blue-tooth MAC address is stored in a firmware. The method includes the follow steps: making the computer system enter a power saving mode if the computer system cannot detect the blue-tooth device in a detectable coverage in a certain time; detecting whether the blue-tooth device is in the detectable coverage according to the blue-tooth MAC address stored in the firmware when the computer system is in the power saving mode; and changing the power saving mode of the computer system when the blue-tooth device is detected to moves within the detectable coverage. 
         [0018]    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 DRAWINGS 
         [0019]      FIG. 1  is a schematic diagram showing that a conventional computer system communicates with a mobile phone via the blue-tooth wireless connection. 
           [0020]      FIG. 2  is a flowchart showing a conventional blue-tooth remote power management. 
           [0021]      FIG. 3  is a schematic diagram showing a computer system with a blue-tooth remote power management function in a first embodiment of the invention. 
           [0022]      FIG. 4  is a flowchart showing a blue-tooth remote power management in an embodiment of the invention. 
           [0023]      FIG. 5  is a schematic diagram showing a computer system with a blue-tooth remote power management function in a second embodiment of the invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS 
       [0024]    According to the embodiment of the invention, the blue-tooth MAC address is not only stored in the driver, but also stored in the firmware of the blue-tooth chipset. As a result, when the computer system is in the suspend mode or the shut down mode, the blue-tooth chipset also can receive the standby power and operates normally. Thus, the blue-tooth chipset may detect whether the blue-tooth device is moved close to the computer system again via the blue-tooth MAC address of the firmware, and wake up the computer system. 
         [0025]      FIG. 3  is a schematic diagram showing a computer system with a blue-tooth remote power management function in a first embodiment of the invention. The computer system  30  in the first embodiment includes a power management system  32  and a blue-tooth chipset  34 . The blue-tooth chipset includes a firmware  36 . The computer system  30  may be wirelessly connected to a blue-tooth device  38  via the blue-tooth chipset  34 . 
         [0026]    In the computer system  30  of the first embodiment, when the user start to pair the computer system  30  and the blue-tooth device  38 , the blue-tooth MAC address of the computer system  30  and the blue-tooth device  38  is stored in the driver. The blue-tooth MAC address and the detecting parameters (including a detecting time parameter and a distance parameter) are stored in the firmware  36  of the blue-tooth chipset  34 . Since when the computer system  30  is in the suspend mode or the shut down mode, the blue-tooth MAC address stored in the firmware  36  of the blue-tooth chipset  34  can be read by the blue-tooth chipset  34 . In the first embodiment of the invention, when the computer system  30  operates in the suspend mode or the shut down mode, the blue-tooth chipset  34  can detect whether the blue-tooth device  38  is nearby via the blue-tooth MAC address stored in the firmware  36  of the blue-tooth chipset  34 . The suspend mode or the shut down mode above is the S 3 , S 4  or S 5  mode of the host  102 . 
         [0027]    Moreover, when the blue-tooth device  38  is moved out of the detectable coverage of the computer system  30 , the blue-tooth application of the computer system  30  cannot detect the blue-tooth device  38  according to the blue-tooth MAC address stored in the driver of the blue-tooth chipset  34 , and thus the computer system  30  enters the suspend mode or the shut down mode. If the blue-tooth chipset  34  detects that the blue-tooth device  38  is in the detectable coverage again according to the blue-tooth MAC address stored in the firmware  36 , the blue-tooth chipset  34  outputs a first control signal to the power management system  32 . Then, the power management system  32  wakes up (resume or boot) the computer system  30  in the suspend mode or the shut down mode according to the first control signal, and makes the computer system  30  reenter the normal mode such as the SO mode. Consequently, the blue-tooth device  38  in the first embodiment of the invention can wake up the computer system  30  from the suspend mode or the shut down mode. 
         [0028]    At the moment, since the computer system  30  is woke up and operates in the normal mode, the computer system  30  can reconnected to the blue-tooth device  38  again according to the blue-tooth MAC address stored in the driver of the computer system  30  via the blue-tooth application. 
         [0029]      FIG. 4  is a flowchart showing a blue-tooth remote power management in an embodiment of the invention. First, the computer system boots up (Step  50 ). The user starts to pair the computer system and the blue-tooth device (Step  52 ). The computer system stores the blue-tooth MAC address and the detecting parameters (including the detecting time parameter and the distance parameter) both in the driver and the firmware of the blue-tooth chipset, and the detecting parameters may be parameters for setting a detecting time and a detectable coverage in the firmware of the blue-tooth chipset (Step  54 ). The blue-tooth MAC address of the driver is used to detect whether the blue-tooth device is in the detectable coverage (Step  56 ). If the blue-tooth device cannot be detected in a certain time, the blue-tooth application makes the computer system enter the suspend mode or the shut down mode (Step  58 ). When the computer system operates in the suspend mode or the shut down mode, the computer system detects whether the blue-tooth device is in the detectable coverage according to the blue-tooth MAC address stored in the firmware of the blue-tooth chipset (Step  60 ). If the blue-tooth device is detected in the detectable coverage, the blue-tooth chipset outputs the first control signal (Step  62 ). The power management system wakes up the computer system according to the first control signal (Step  64 ); At the moment, since the computer system is woke up, the blue-tooth wireless communication connection can be achieved again according to the blue-tooth MAC address stored in the driver of the blue-tooth chipset via the blue-tooth application, and whether the blue-tooth device is in the detectable coverage is detected (Step  56 ). 
         [0030]    In the first embodiment of the invention, the blue-tooth MAC address of the computer system  30  and the blue-tooth device  38  is stored in the firmware  36  of the blue-tooth chipset  34 . When the computer system  30  operates in the suspend mode or the shut down mode since the blue-tooth device  38  is out of the detectable coverage of the computer system  30 , if the blue-tooth chipset  34  detects that the blue-tooth device  38  is in the detectable coverage again according to the blue-tooth MAC address of the firmware  36  of the blue-tooth chipset  34 , the blue-tooth chipset  34  outputs the first control signal to the power management system  32  to make the computer system  30  operate in the normal mode. 
         [0031]    The distance parameter of the detecting parameters is stored in the firmware, and if the user sets the detectable coverage to be 5 meters, when the blue-tooth chipset  34  detects the distance between the blue-tooth device  38  and the computer system  30  is smaller than 5 meters according to the blue-tooth MAC address stored in the firmware  36  of the blue-tooth chipset  34 , the blue-tooth chipset  34  outputs the first control signal. Furthermore, the blue-tooth chipset  34  can determine the distance to the blue-tooth device  38  by the signal strength outputted by the blue-tooth device  38 . 
         [0032]    The detecting time parameter can also be stored in the firmware, and the time parameter defines the time for detecting the blue-tooth device by the blue-tooth chipset. If the user sets the detecting time to be 3 seconds, that is, when the computer system enters the suspend mode or the shut down mode, the blue-tooth chipset detects the signal of the blue-tooth device continuously in 3 seconds. If the signal of the blue-tooth device is detected in the predetermined time, the first control signal is outputted. If the signal of the blue-tooth device is not detected in the predetermined time, the detecting is repeated. 
         [0033]      FIG. 5  is a schematic diagram showing a computer system with a blue-tooth remote power management function in a second embodiment of the invention. The computer system  40  in the second embodiment of the invention mainly includes a power management system  32 , an embedded controller (EC)  42  and a blue-tooth chipset  34 . The EC  42  is connected between the power management system  32  and the blue-tooth chipset  34 . Compared to the computer system  30  with the remote power management function in the first embodiment, the difference is that the blue-tooth chipset  34  and the EC  42  receives the standby power to keep operating, even the computer system  40  operates in the suspend mode or the shut down mode since the blue-tooth device  38  is out of the detectable coverage of the computer system  40 . 
         [0034]    Consequently, if the blue-tooth chipset  34  detects that the blue-tooth device  38  is in the detectable coverage again according to the blue-tooth MAC address of the firmware  36 , the blue-tooth chipset  34  outputs the first control signal to the EC  42 , and after the EC  42  receives the first control signal, it outputs a second signal to the power management system  32 . The power management system  32  wakes up the computer system  40  in the suspend mode or the shut down mode according to the second signal and makes the computer system  40  enter the normal mode. Thus, the blue-tooth device  38  in the second embodiment of the invention can wake up the computer system  40  operating in the suspend mode or the shut down mode. 
         [0035]    At the moment, since the computer system  40  is already woke up, the blue-tooth application detects the blue-tooth device  38  to achieve the blue-tooth wireless communication connection again according to the blue-tooth MAC address stored in the driver. 
         [0036]    The first control signal may be a wake up signal, and the second signal may be a general purpose input/output (GPIO) signal. 
         [0037]    Similarly, in the computer system of the second embodiment, the user may also set the detectable coverage in the firmware of the blue-tooth chipset  34 , which is similar to that in the first embodiment and omitted herein. 
         [0038]    In sum, in the computer system of the embodiment, since the blue-tooth MAC address of the computer system and the blue-tooth device is also stored in the firmware of the blue-tooth chipset, when the user start to pair the computer system and the blue-tooth device, even the computer system operates in the suspend mode or the shut down mode, the blue-tooth chipset still can detect whether the blue-tooth device is in the detectable coverage continuously via the blue-tooth MAC address stored in the firmware of the blue-tooth chipset. When the blue-tooth device is detected in the detectable coverage again, the power management system is used to resume the computer system to the normal mode. 
         [0039]    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. Therefore, the scope of the appended claims should not be limited to the description of the preferred embodiments described above.