Abstract:
An information processing device includes an acceleration sensor that detects an acceleration; a processor that is coupled to the acceleration sensor and configured to: cause a storage that is included in the information processing device to execute crash-proof processing based on the acceleration detected by the acceleration sensor, and cause the storage to terminate the crash-proof processing when the processor detects that an external device is mechanically coupled to the information processing device.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION 
       [0001]    This is a continuation application of International Application PCT/JP2011-001657, filed on Mar. 18, 2011, and designated the U.S., the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
     
    
     FIELD 
       [0002]    The embodiments discussed herein are related to an information processing device, an information processing method, and a storage medium. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0003]    There is a function that executes, for example, crash-proof processing of mechanically retracting a head of a hard disk drive (HDD) at the time of fall of an information processing device or the like. The detection of fall is performed by an acceleration sensor or the like, and it is determined that the device is falling when the acceleration of the device becomes a certain value or more. 
         [0004]    In the method of detecting fall using the acceleration sensor, in a case in which a shake due to touching or the like is merely given to the information processing device, fall is detected by mistake when the acceleration becomes a certain value or more. 
         [0005]    For example, there is a technology by which a fall determination condition is controlled in accordance with an operation mode of a recording device (for example, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2005-44435). 
         [0006]    In addition, for example, there is a technology by which a fall state of a device is detected from an output signal of the acceleration sensor (for example, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2007-95182). 
         [0007]    In a case in which the sensitivity for detection of an impact is high in the device, the crash-proof processing is undesirably executed when an external device is coupled to the device. In addition, it takes time for return of the HDD because a warning is displayed on a screen, for example, so that a user feels the inconvenience. In addition, when the sensitivity for detection of an impact is reduced and it is set that the crash-proof processing due to the false detection is not executed, detection of an impact to be originally detected such as the fall of the device is undesirably delayed. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0008]    According to an aspect of the invention, an information processing device includes an acceleration sensor that detects an acceleration; a processor that is coupled to the acceleration sensor and configured to: cause a storage that is included in the information processing device to execute crash-proof processing based on the acceleration detected by the acceleration sensor, and cause the storage to terminate the crash-proof processing when the processor detects that an external device is mechanically coupled to the information processing device. 
         [0009]    The object and advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by means of the elements and combinations particularly pointed out in the claims. 
         [0010]    It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are not restrictive of the invention, as claimed. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
         [0011]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram illustrating a first example of a hardware configuration of an information processing device; 
           [0012]      FIG. 2  is a diagram illustrating an appearance of the information processing device; 
           [0013]      FIG. 3  is a block diagram illustrating a first example of a configuration of a central processing unit (CPU) and a peripheral device; 
           [0014]      FIG. 4  is a diagram illustrating a method of detecting connection of an external device; 
           [0015]      FIG. 5  is a diagram illustrating a first example of an output of an acceleration sensor; 
           [0016]      FIG. 6  is a diagram illustrating a warning message; 
           [0017]      FIG. 7  is a flowchart illustrating a first example of processing according to an embodiment; 
           [0018]      FIG. 8  is a block diagram illustrating a second example of the configuration of the CPU and the peripheral device; 
           [0019]      FIG. 9  is a diagram illustrating a second example of the output of the acceleration sensor; and 
           [0020]      FIG. 10  is a flowchart illustrating a second example of the processing according to the embodiment. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS 
       [0021]    An information processing device according to an embodiment is described below. 
       First Embodiment 
       [0022]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of an information processing device  200  according to the embodiment. The whole information processing device  200  is controlled by a CPU  101 . 
         [0023]    A system controller  103  is coupled to the CPU  101  and a random access memory (RAM)  102 . The system controller  103  controls data transfer between the CPU  101  and the RAM  102  and data transfer between the CPU  101  and a bus  104 . In addition, a graphics controller  105 , a read only memory (ROM)  106 , an audio controller  108 , a micro processing unit (MPU)  111 , a keyboard controller  50 , and a hard disk drive (HDD)  112  are coupled to the system controller  103  through the bus  104 . 
         [0024]    At least a part of an application program or a program of an operating system (OS) that the CPU  101  is caused to execute is temporarily stored in the RAM  102 . Various pieces of data that are desired for processing by the CPU  101  are stored in the RAM  102 . 
         [0025]    A monitor  114  such as a liquid crystal monitor (LCD) is coupled to the graphics controller  105 . The graphics controller  105  causes an image to be displayed on a screen of the monitor  114  in response to an instruction from the CPU  101 . 
         [0026]    For example, a basic input/output system (BIOS) program is stored in the ROM  106 . 
         [0027]    A speaker  115  is coupled to the audio controller  108 . The audio controller  108  causes sound to be generated from the speaker  115  in response to the instruction from the CPU  101 . 
         [0028]    The MPU  111  is coupled to an acceleration sensor  109 . The MPU  111  transmits a value that is obtained from the acceleration sensor  109 , to the CPU  101 . The acceleration sensor  109  detects variation in an acceleration that is applied, for example, on each of two axes (X and Y axes) or three axes (X, Y, and Z axes), and performs analogue output. 
         [0029]    A keyboard  20  and a mouse  30  are coupled to the keyboard controller  50 . The keyboard controller  50  transmits a signal that is transmitted from the keyboard  20  or the mouse  30 , to the CPU  101  through the bus  104 . 
         [0030]    The HDD  112  includes a hard disk that is a medium and a head that is used to perform access for reading from the hard disk and writing to the medium. In the hard disk, an OS, a program of an application, and various pieces of data are stored. 
         [0031]    By using such hardware configuration, a processing function of the information processing device  200  may be realized. 
         [0032]      FIG. 2  is a diagram illustrating an appearance of the information processing device  200  according to the embodiment. The information processing device  200  includes a direct current (DC)-IN connector  202 , a cathode ray tube (CRT) connector  204 , and a Universal Serial Bus (USB) connector  206 . The DC-IN connector  202 , the CRT connector  204 , and the USB connector  206  are connectors to and from which the external device may be mechanically attached and detached. 
         [0033]      FIG. 3  is a block diagram illustrating in outline an example of a configuration of the CPU  101  and the peripheral device according to the embodiment. 
         [0034]    The CPU  101  functions as an acceleration reading unit  1012 , a determination unit  1014 , a connector connection detection unit  1016 , and an HDD I/O unit  1018 . 
         [0035]    The acceleration reading unit  1012  obtains an acceleration value from the acceleration sensor  109  and transfers the data to the determination unit  1014 . 
         [0036]    The determination unit  1014  determines whether the read acceleration value is a certain value or more, and instructs the HDD I/O unit  1018  to retract the head, on the basis of the determination result. The determination unit  1014  instructs the HDD I/O unit  1018  to return the head. 
         [0037]    The connector connection detection unit  1016  detects connection of an external connector  113 . The connector connection detection unit  1016  detects the connection of the external connector  113  at the time of rise/fall of a signal that is used to detect the connection of the connector. 
         [0038]    The HDD I/O unit  1018  controls the I/O of the HDD  112 . When the HDD I/O unit  1018  receives an instruction of retraction of the head from the determination unit  1014 , the HDD I/O unit  1018  issues a command to cause the head to be retracted, to the HDD  112 , and executes the retraction of the head. When the HDD I/O unit  1018  receives an instruction of return of the head from the determination unit  1014 , the HDD I/O unit  1018  issues a command to cause the head to be returned, to the HDD  112 , and executes the return of the head. 
         [0039]      FIG. 4  is a diagram illustrating a method of detecting external device connection according to the embodiment. When the external connector  113  is coupled to an information processing device side connector  116 , for example, a detection signal is changed from “High” to “Low”. “High” of the detection signal indicates that the external device is not coupled to the information processing device  200 . “Low” of the detection signal indicates that the external device is coupled to the information processing device  200 . The detection signal is input to the connector connection detection unit  1016 . The connector connection detection unit  1016  determines whether or not the external device is coupled to the information processing device  200  by determining whether the detection signal is “High” or “Low”. 
         [0040]      FIG. 5  is a diagram illustrating a relationship between change in an output of the acceleration sensor  109  that is included in the information processing device  200  according to the embodiment, voltage that is detected by the connector connection detection unit  1016 , and timing at which the CPU  101  performs warning display. 
         [0041]    First, for example, as illustrated in the section A of  FIG. 5 , when the information processing device  200  is in a regular movement state in which the user holds the information processing device  200 , an output of the acceleration sensor  109  is changed relatively smoothly. Next, as illustrated in the section B of  FIG. 5 , the information processing device  200  is in a gravity-free state as the information processing device  200  falls, the acceleration is rapidly changed, an output level of the acceleration sensor  109  is also rapidly changed. In addition, as illustrated in the section C of  FIG. 5 , the acceleration in a case of free fall becomes substantially even. In the sections B and C, when the acceleration value exceeds a certain value, the determination unit  1014  outputs a retraction instruction to the HDD I/O unit  1018  and causes the HDD I/O unit  1018  to execute processing of retracting the head of the HDD  112  in order to execute the crash-proof processing of the information processing device  200 . The determination unit  1014  displays a message that indicates that retraction of the head of the HDD has been performed, on the monitor  114  through the graphics controller  105 .  FIG. 6  is an example of a warning message that is displayed on the monitor  114 . 
         [0042]    After that, as illustrated in the section D of  FIG. 5 , for example, when the fall of the device is avoided by the user before the information processing device  200  falls on a floor, the output level of the acceleration sensor  109  rises rapidly. After that, until the information processing device  200  is caused to become the static state by the user, the output level of the acceleration sensor  109  moves up and down repeatedly. At that time, the head of the HDD  112  is not damaged because the head has been moved to the retraction location already. The determination unit  1014  terminates the display of the message that indicates that the head retraction of the HDD has been performed, on the monitor  114  through the graphics controller  105 . 
         [0043]    In a case in which the information processing device  200  becomes, for example, in the static state when the information processing device  200  is put on a desk, or the like by the user, the acceleration sensor  109  becomes in a state in which gravity force alone is applied to the acceleration sensor  109 . Subsequently, as illustrated in the section E of  FIG. 5 , the output level of the acceleration sensor  109  becomes substantially even. 
         [0044]    In addition, when the external device is mechanically coupled to the information processing device  200  by the user, as illustrated in the section F of  FIG. 5 , the output level of the acceleration sensor  109  rises rapidly due to an impact that is applied to the information processing device  200 , at the time of connection of the external device. After that, until the information processing device  200  becomes in the static state, the output level of the acceleration sensor  109  moves up and down repeatedly. At the time of connection of the external device, the determination unit  1014  determines that the external device is mechanically coupled to the information processing device  200  on the basis of the voltage that is detected by the connector connection detection unit  1016 . The determination unit  1014  does not perform the display of the message that indicates that the head retraction of the HDD has been performed on the monitor  114  through the graphics controller  105 . 
         [0045]      FIG. 7  is a flowchart of the processing according to the embodiment. 
         [0046]    In S 101 , the acceleration reading unit  1012  obtains an acceleration value from the acceleration sensor  109  and transfers the obtained acceleration value to the determination unit  1014 . The flow proceeds to S 102 . 
         [0047]    In S 102 , the determination unit  1014  determines whether or not the acceleration value that is transferred from the acceleration reading unit  1012  is a certain value or more. As illustrated in the section C of  FIG. 5 , when the acceleration value is the certain value or more, the flow proceeds to S 103 . In addition, as illustrated in the section A of  FIG. 5 , when the acceleration value is less than the certain value, the flow ends. 
         [0048]    In S 103 , the determination unit  1014  instructs the HDD I/O unit  1018  to retract the head of the HDD  112 . When the HDD I/O unit  1018  receives the instruction of the head retraction from the determination unit  1014 , the HDD I/O unit  1018  retracts the head of the HDD  112 . The flow proceeds to S 104 . 
         [0049]    In S 104 , the determination unit  1014  determines whether or not the connector connection detection unit  1016  detects connection of the external connector  113 . As illustrated in the section F of  FIG. 5 , when the connector connection detection unit  1016  detects the connection of the external connector  113 , the flow proceeds to S 111 . In addition, as illustrated in the section D of  FIG. 5 , when the connector connection detection unit  1016  does not detect the connection of the external connector  113 , the flow proceeds to S 105 . 
         [0050]    In S 105 , the determination unit  1014  displays the warning message on the monitor  114  through the system controller  103  and the graphics controller  105 . The warning message is illustrated in  FIG. 6 . The flow proceeds to S 106 . 
         [0051]    In S 106 , the HDD I/O unit  1018  causes the head of the HDD  112  to stand by at the refraction location. The flow proceeds to S 107 . 
         [0052]    In S 107 , the acceleration reading unit  1012  obtains an acceleration value from the acceleration sensor  109  again after a certain time elapses, and transfers the obtained acceleration value to the determination unit  1014 . The flow proceeds to S 108 . 
         [0053]    In S 108 , the determination unit  1014  determines whether or not the acceleration value that is transferred from the acceleration reading unit  1012  is a certain value or more. As illustrated in the section C of  FIG. 5 , when the acceleration value is the certain value or more, the information processing device  200  is not in the static state, so that it is probable that the crash occurs when the head is returned. Therefore, the flow returns to S 105 . In addition, as illustrated in the section E of  FIG. 5 , when the acceleration value is less than the certain value, the information processing device  200  is in the static state, so that there is no possibility that the crash occurs even when the head is returned. Therefore, the flow proceeds to S 109 . 
         [0054]    In S 109 , the determination unit  1014  instructs the HDD I/O unit  1018  to return the head of the HDD  112 . When the HDD I/O unit  1018  receives the instruction of return of the head from the determination unit  1014 , the HDD I/O unit  1018  returns the head of the HDD  112 . The flow proceeds to S 110 . 
         [0055]    In S 110 , the CPU  101  terminates the display of the warning message that has been displayed on the monitor  114  through the system controller  103  and the graphics controller  105 . The flow ends. 
         [0056]    Here, a case is described in which the connector connection detection unit  1016  detects the connection of the external connector  113  in S 104 ,. As illustrated in the section F of  FIG. 5 , even in a case in which the acceleration value exceeds the certain value, when the connector connection detection unit  1016  detects that the external device is mechanically coupled to the information processing device  200 , the determination unit  1014  determines that an impact is applied to the information processing device  200  because the external device is mechanically coupled to the information processing device  200 . The determination unit  1014  terminates the crash-proof processing of the information processing device  200 . 
         [0057]    In S 111 , the determination unit  1014  instructs the HDD I/O unit  1018  to return the head of the HDD  112 . When the HDD I/O unit  1018  receives the instruction of return of the head from the determination unit  1014 , the HDD I/O unit  1018  returns the head of the HDD  112 . After the processing in S 111 , the processing according to the embodiment ends. 
         [0058]    As described above, in the first embodiment, in the case in which an impact is temporarily applied to the information processing device  200 , when it is detected that the external device is mechanically coupled to the information processing device  200 , the return of the HDD from the protected state is advanced. Therefore, a head retraction time period may be reduced. In the first embodiment, even when the function of protecting the HDD is excessively performed for an impact that occurs at the time of mechanical connection of the external device, the head is returned immediately. Therefore, the user will not feel the inconvenience. 
         [0059]    In the first embodiment, the case is described above in which the acceleration sensor  109  is not built into the HDD  112 , however as illustrated in  FIG. 8 , the acceleration sensor  109  may be built into the HDD  112 . In this case, the HDD I/O unit  1018  obtains an acceleration value from the acceleration sensor  109 , and transfers the data to the determination unit  1014 . 
         [0060]    In the first embodiment, the case is described above in which the mechanical connection of the external device to the information processing device  200  is detected, however, for example, the connection of the external device to the information processing device  200  may be detected using the plug-in function. 
       Second Embodiment 
       [0061]    In the first embodiment, the case is described above in which the external device is mechanically coupled to the information processing device  200 . In a second embodiment, a case is described in which the external device is mechanically disconnected from the information processing device  200 . 
         [0062]      FIG. 9  is a diagram that illustrates a relationship between change of an output of the acceleration sensor  109  that is included in the information processing device  200  according to the embodiment, voltage that is detected by the connector connection detection unit  1016 , and timing at which the CPU  101  performs warning display. 
         [0063]    First, when the information processing device  200  is, for example, in the regular movement state in which the user holds the information processing device  200 , as illustrated in the section A of  FIG. 9 , an output of the acceleration sensor  109  is changed relatively smoothly. After that, when the information processing device  200  becomes in the gravity-free state due to the fall, as illustrated in the section B of  FIG. 9 , an acceleration is rapidly changed. The output level of the acceleration sensor  109  is rapidly changed. In addition, as illustrated in the section C in  FIG. 9 , an acceleration in the free fall is kept substantially even. In the sections B and C, when an acceleration value exceeds a certain value, the determination unit  1014  outputs a retraction instruction to the HDD I/O unit  1018  and causes the HDD I/O unit  1018  to execute the head retraction processing for the HDD  112  in order to execute the crash-proof processing of the information processing device  200 . The determination unit  1014  displays a message that indicates that the head retraction of the HDD has been performed, on the monitor  114  through the graphics controller  105 . 
         [0064]    After that, for example, when the fall of the information processing device  200  is avoided before the information processing device  200  falls on a floor, as illustrated in the section G of  FIG. 9 , the output level of the acceleration sensor  109  repeatedly moves up and down until the information processing device  200  becomes in the static state in which the fall of the information processing device  200  is stopped by the user after the output level of the acceleration sensor  109  rises rapidly. At that time, the head of the HDD  112  has been already moved to the refraction location, so that the head is not damaged. The determination unit  1014  terminates the display of the message that indicates that the head retraction of HDD has been performed on the monitor  114  through the graphics controller  105 . 
         [0065]    In addition, when the external device is mechanically coupled to the information processing device  200  by the user, the output level of the acceleration sensor  109  rises rapidly by an impact that is applied to the information processing device  200  at the time of connection of the external device as illustrated in the section H in  FIG. 9 . After that, until the information processing device  200  becomes in the static state, the output level of the acceleration sensor  109  moves up and down repeatedly. At the time of connection of the external device, voltage that is detected by the connector connection detection unit  1016  is changed from “High” to “Low”. Therefore, the determination unit  1014  determines that the external device is mechanically coupled to the information processing device  200 . In addition, the determination unit  1014  does not display the message that indicates that the head retraction of the HDD has been performed on the monitor  114  through the graphics controller  105 . 
         [0066]    When the external device is mechanically coupled to the information processing device  200  and the information processing device  200  becomes in the static state, the acceleration sensor  109  is in a state in which gravity force alone is applied, and the output level of the acceleration sensor  109  is kept substantially even as illustrated in the section I of  FIG. 9 . In addition, when the external device is mechanically disconnected from the information processing device  200  by the user, the output level of the acceleration sensor  109  rises rapidly by an impact that is applied on the information processing device  200  at the time of disconnection of the external device as illustrated in the section J of  FIG. 9 . After that, until the information processing device  200  becomes in the static state, the output level of the acceleration sensor  109  moves up and down repeatedly. At the time of disconnection of the external device, the voltage that is detected by the connector connection detection unit  1016  is changed from “Low” to “High”. Therefore, the determination unit  1014  determines that the external device is mechanically disconnected from the information processing device  200 . In addition, the determination unit  1014  does not perform the display of the message that indicates that the head retraction of the HDD has been performed on the monitor  114  through the graphics controller  105 . 
         [0067]      FIG. 10  is a flowchart illustrating the processing according to the embodiment. Here, the same description as that of the processing described above using  FIG. 7  is omitted. 
         [0068]    In S 201 , the acceleration reading unit  1012  obtains an acceleration value from the acceleration sensor  109  and transfers the obtained acceleration value to the determination unit  1014 . The flow proceeds to S 202 . 
         [0069]    In S 202 , the determination unit  1014  determines whether or not the acceleration value that is transferred from the acceleration reading unit  1012  is a certain value or more. As illustrated in the section I of  FIG. 9 , when the acceleration value is the certain value or more, the flow proceeds to S 203 . In addition, as illustrated in the section J in  FIG. 9 , when the acceleration value is less than the certain value, the flow ends. 
         [0070]    In S 203 , the determination unit  1014  instructs the HDD I/O unit  1018  to retract the head of the HDD  112 . When the HDD I/O unit  1018  receives the instruction of the head retraction, from the determination unit  1014 , the HDD I/O unit  1018  retracts the head of the HDD  112 . The flow proceeds to S 204 . 
         [0071]    In S 204 , the determination unit  1014  determines whether or not the connector connection detection unit  1016  detects disconnection of the external connector  113 . As illustrated in the section J of  FIG. 9 , when the connector connection detection unit  1016  detects the disconnection of the external connector  113 , the flow proceeds to S 211 . In addition, as illustrated in the section I of  FIG. 9 , when the connector connection detection unit  1016  does not detect the disconnection of the external connector  113 , the flow proceeds to S 205 . In the second embodiment, a case is described in which voltage that is detected by the connector connection detection unit  1016  is changed from “Low” to “High”. As illustrated in the section J of  FIG. 9 , even in the case in which the acceleration value exceeds the certain value, when it is detected that the external device is mechanically disconnected from the information processing device  200 , it is determined that an impact is applied to the information processing device  200  in order to disconnect the external device from the information processing device  200  mechanically. The determination unit  1014  terminates the crash-proof processing of the information processing device  200 . 
         [0072]    In S 211 , the determination unit  1014  instructs the HDD I/O unit  1018  to return the head of the HDD  112 . The HDD I/O unit  1018  returns the head of the HDD  112  when the HDD I/O unit  1018  receives the head return instruction from the determination unit  1014 . The flow ends. 
         [0073]    As described above, in the second embodiment, when it is detected that the external device is mechanically disconnected from the information processing device  200  with respect to a temporary impact that is applied to the information processing device  200 , the return of the HDD from the protected state is advanced. Therefore, a time period of false detection may be reduced. In the second embodiment, even when the function of protecting the HDD is excessively performed for the impact that occurs at the time of mechanical disconnection of the external device, the head is returned immediately. Therefore, the user does not feel the inconvenience. 
         [0074]    As described above, the information processing device according to the embodiments is exemplarily described above, however, the embodiments are not limited to the above-described specific embodiments, and various modifications and alternations can be made without departing from the scope of claims. 
         [0075]    All examples and conditional language recited herein are intended for pedagogical purposes to aid the reader in understanding the invention and the concepts contributed by the inventor to furthering the art, and are to be construed as being without limitation to such specifically recited examples and conditions, nor does the organization of such examples in the specification relate to a showing of the superiority and inferiority of the invention. Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail, it should be understood that the various changes, substitutions, and alterations could be made hereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.