Abstract:
A computer system, and a method of controlling the same, including a selector to select one of a plurality of startup modes to perform different functions in the computer system, wherein at least one of the startup modes includes initializing less than an entirety of hardware components of the computer system during a booting of the computer system.

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
       [0001]     This application claims the priority of Korean Patent Application No. 2004-35428, filed on May 19, 2004, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.  
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     1. Field of the Invention  
         [0003]     The present invention relates to a computer system and a method of controlling the same, and more particularly, a computer system and a control method of selecting one of a plurality of startup modes using a jog lever unit, and thus booting the computer system from a selected startup mode while reducing booting time.  
         [0004]     2. Description of the Related Art  
         [0005]     Recently, the uses of a computer system and applications thereof have been widely extended, and have begun to require multiple operating systems or working environments to be available in one computer system. Computer systems such as this are currently commercially available.  
         [0006]     For example, the WINDOWS® series developed by MICROSOFT CORP., allows multiple users to customize their own operating systems or working environment and perform respectively in one computer system. Accordingly, the multiple users need to enter their IDs (Identifications) together with passwords when the computer system is booted. Accordingly, the computer system performs so as to present the customized working environment corresponding to the entered ID and the password.  
         [0007]     With such a conventional operating system, a booting process of the computer system is as follows. At first, each of a plurality of hardware components in the computer system is initialized by a BIOS (Basic Input Output System) stored in a ROM (Read Only Memory) BIOS. Then, the BIOS finds any errors in each of the hardware components by running a POST (Power On Self Test) process, and performs a process of launching an operating system. Then, the computer system is booted from the operating system by executing a startup program stored on a recording medium such as a floppy disk drive, a hard disk drive, or an optical disk drive.  
         [0008]     Further, the operating system requires the user to enter the ID and the password when the computer system is booted, and accordingly the computer system performs under the working environment customized by the user.  
         [0009]     However, there is a problem when the computer system is booted from the user-customized operating system or working environment through the above process. For example, if the user wants to play back a moving picture file stored in a DVD through a DVD drive, the computer system is booted through the above process. In this case, the BIOS is executed to boot the computer system from an operating system while initializing hardware components and running the POST process, but these processes are irrelevant to playing back the moving picture files. Accordingly, booting time is unnecessarily slowed down due to the initialization and POST process for hardware and software components that are not required to play back the DVD. Further, if the computer system is a portable computer operated by a battery, power is unnecessarily supplied to the hardware components that are not used in the user-customized operating system.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0010]     Accordingly, it is an aspect of the present invention to provide a control method and a computer system using the control method so that the computer system can be booted from a plurality of startup modes to perform different functionalities in one computer, and thereby reduce a booting time.  
         [0011]     In addition, the control method and the computer system using the control method provide a UI (User Interface), and thus a user can easily select one of the plurality of startup modes.  
         [0012]     Further, a unit used to select one of the plurality of startup modes in the present invention may be applied to other usages.  
         [0013]     Additional aspects and/or advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.  
         [0014]     The foregoing and/or other aspects of the present invention may be achieved by providing a computer system comprising a jog lever unit to generate a plurality of control signals to select one of a plurality of startup modes to perform different functions; and a controller to boot the computer system using the selected startup mode according to the control signals.  
         [0015]     The controller may comprise an operating system storage to store one or more operating systems from which the computer system is booted based on the selected startup mode, and a system startup part comprising a startup routine through which the computer system is booted from the selected operating system.  
         [0016]     The system startup part may comprise a startup routine storage to store the startup routine, and a microcomputer to run the startup routine to boot the computer system from the selected operating system according to the control signal.  
         [0017]     The startup routine may comprise a BIOS.  
         [0018]     The startup mode may comprise a first startup mode and a second startup mode, wherein the first startup mode requires the entire computer system to be booted from the operating system.  
         [0019]     The microcomputer may activate predetermined components of the computer system to be operated for the second startup mode in response to receiving the control signal indicating the second startup mode.  
         [0020]     The second startup mode may comprise an audio startup mode outputting audio data.  
         [0021]     The microcomputer may determine the control signal to an interrupt signal and accordingly become activated in response to receiving the control signal from the jog lever unit while in a standby mode.  
         [0022]     The microcomputer may be returned to the standby mode in response to not receiving an additional control signal from the jog lever unit during a predetermined time period after being activated by the interrupt signal.  
         [0023]     The computer system may further comprise an optical disk drive to play back data stored an optical disk, wherein the second startup mode comprises a multimedia playback mode to play back the data stored in the optical disk.  
         [0024]     The startup routine may initialize all necessary components to boot the computer system from the first startup mode.  
         [0025]     According to another embodiment of the present invention, a method of controlling a computer system comprises setting a plurality of startup modes to perform different functions; selecting one of the plurality of startup modes by operating a jog lever unit; and booting the computer system from the selected startup mode using the jog lever unit.  
         [0026]     The startup modes may comprise a first startup mode and a second startup mode, and the selecting one of the plurality of startup modes by operating the jog lever unit may comprise preparing at least one operating system to boot the computer system from the first startup mode and preparing a startup routine to boot the computer system from the at least one operating system.  
         [0027]     The booting the computer system from the startup mode may comprise activating predetermined components corresponding to the second startup mode.  
         [0028]     The booting the computer system from startup mode may comprise executing the startup routine in response to the first startup mode being selected; and booting the computer system from the operating system corresponding to the startup routine, wherein the startup routine initializes necessary components to boot the computer according to the first startup mode.  
         [0029]     According to another embodiment of the present invention, a computer system comprises a startup mode selector to select one of a plurality of startup modes to perform different functions; and a controller to comprise a plurality of startup rountines corresponding to the respective startup modes, and to initialize the computer system in response to the startup routine selected by the startup mode selector.  
         [0030]     The controller may further comprise an operating system storage to store one or more operating systems to boot the computer system from one or more startup modes; wherein one or more startup routines initialize the computer system in response to the selection of the tartup mode selector and then boot the computer system from an operating system between the operating systems stored in the operating system storage.  
         [0031]     At least one startup routine activates predetermined components only to boot the computer system according to the corresponding startup mode.  
         [0032]     The computer system further comprises a power supply to supply power to each of the components of the computer system, wherein one or more startup routines control the power supply to supply power to the predetermined components only to boot the computer system according to the corresponding startup mode.  
         [0033]     The startup mode selector may comprise a jog lever unit to output a plurality of control signals to select the startup modes.  
         [0034]     According to another embodiment of the present invention, a computer system comprises a selector to select one of a plurality of startup modes to perform different functions in the computer system; wherein at least one of the startup modes comprises initializing less than an entirety of hardware components of the computer system during a booting of the computer system.  
         [0035]     The computer system further comprises a controller to boot the computer system according to the selected startup mode.  
         [0036]     The controller may receive a control signal from the selector, and accordingly boots the computer system according to the selected startup mode.  
         [0037]     The selector may be a multi-directional unit that is manipulated by a user to select a desired startup mode.  
         [0038]     The selector may be a jog lever unit provided in a casing of the computer system.  
         [0039]     The jog lever unit may generate a control signal according to the manipulation by the user.  
         [0040]     The selector may be used as an input device to perform a predetermined function after selecting the startup mode.  
         [0041]     The input device may be used to provide input with a graphical user interface provided by the computer system.  
         [0042]     The input device may be used as a hotkey to activate software.  
         [0043]     The software may be an Internet browser.  
         [0044]     The selector may be used to activate the computer system from a standby mode.  
         [0045]     According to another embodiment of the present invention, an interrupt signal from the selector activates the computer system from the standby mode, and a control signal from the selector then indicates the selected startup mode in response to the control signal occurring within a predetermined timer after interrupt signal. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0046]     These and/or other aspects and advantages of the invention will become apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:  
         [0047]      FIG. 1  is a control block diagram of a computer system according to an embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0048]      FIG. 2  is a perspective view of one possible form of the computer system according to the embodiment of the present invention shown in  FIG. 1 ;  
         [0049]      FIG. 3  is a detailed control block diagram of the computer system according to the embodiment of the present invention shown in  FIG. 1 ;  
         [0050]      FIG. 4  illustrates a method of controlling a computer system according to an embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0051]      FIG. 5  illustrates a UI (User Interface) of a computer system according to an embodiment of the present invention; and  
         [0052]      FIG. 6  describes another application of a jog lever unit of a computer system according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0053]     Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the like elements throughout. The embodiments are described below to explain the present invention by referring to the figures.  
         [0054]     As shown in  FIG. 1 , a computer system  1  according to an embodiment of the present invention comprises a system part  10  comprised of a plurality of hardware components; a jog lever unit  30  generating a plurality of control signals to select one of a plurality of startup modes respectively supporting different functions; and a controller  50  booting the system part  10  from the selected startup mode corresponding to the control signal generated by the jog lever unit  30 . Although the jog lever unit  30  is described in the discussed embodiments, a number of other possible embodiments are available with which to choose from the plurality of startup modes respectively supporting different functions.  
         [0055]     The jog lever unit  30  is provided in a portion of the computer system  1 .  FIG. 2  is a perspective view of one possible form of the computer system  1  illustrated in  FIG. 1 . According to  FIG. 2 , the computer system  1  is a portable computer, and the jog lever unit  30  is provided in a main body thereof.  
         [0056]     As illustrated by the expanded view of the jog lever unit  30  in  FIG. 2 , a user can operate the jog lever unit  30  by adjusting it upward (Direction B), downward (Direction D), leftward (Direction C), and rightward (Direction E), and the jog lever unit  30  then generates a control signal corresponding to the user&#39;s operation. Further, if the user presses the jog lever unit  30  in a direction normal to an upper surface thereof (Direction A), the jog lever unit  30  generates a corresponding signal. Moreover, the jog lever unit  30  may generate respective control signals corresponding to diagonal directions of the Direction B, the Direction C, the Direction D, and the Direction E, as necessary.  
         [0057]     Hereinbelow, the control signals generated from the jog lever unit  30  are temporarily named as A-control signal, B-control signal, C-control signal, D-control signal and E-control signal corresponding to the respective operations toward the A Direction, the B Direction, the C Direction, the D Direction, and the E Direction, as shown in  FIG. 2 .  
         [0058]     Observing  FIG. 1 , the controller  50  according to this embodiment of the present invention comprises an OS (Operating System) storage  51  storing an operating system to boot the computer system, and a system startup unit  52  having a startup routine to run the computer system from the stored operating system through the startup routine.  
         [0059]     Herein, the system startup unit  52  comprises a startup routine storage  54  storing the startup routine, and a microcomputer  53  executing the startup routine to boot the computer system from the operating system corresponding to a control signal generated from the jog lever unit  30 . The startup routine according to this embodiment of the present invention may include a BIOS (Basic Input Output System), and accordingly the startup routine storage  54  may include a ROM BIOS  14   b  (which will be described later in reference to  FIG. 3 ).  
         [0060]     The reference numeral  60  in  FIG. 1  indicates a bus transmitting data between each of components of the computer system  1 .  
         [0061]      FIG. 3  is a detailed control block diagram of the computer system  1  according to this embodiment of the present invention. Herein, the startup routine storage  54  is the ROM BIOS  14   b , and the OS storage  51  is contained in a hard disk drive  23 .  
         [0062]     The system part  10  comprises a CPU (Central Processing Unit)  11 ; a memory  14 ; a graphics controller  15  connected to a display  16  and providing a video signal to the display  16 ; an audio controller  17  connected to an audio output part  18  and providing an audio signal to the audio output part  18 ; an IDE controller  21 ; an MCH (Memory Control Hub)  12 ; and an ICH (Input/Output Control Hub)  13 .  
         [0063]     The memory  14  comprises a RAM (Random Access Memory)  14   a , which is a non-volatile memory, the ROM BIOS  14   b  storing the BIOS and the startup routine, and a CMOS RAM  14   c.    
         [0064]     The MCH  12  is a chipset managing the RAM  14   a  as a main memory and data traveling between the CPU  11 , the RAM  14   a,  and the graphics controller  15 . Herein, the graphics controller  15  can be replaced by a GMCH (Graphic Memory Control Hub) as a chipset with the MCH  12 .  
         [0065]     As shown in  FIG. 3 , the ICH  13  manages data traveling between the RAM  14   a  connected to the MCH  12  and other hardware components such as the ROM BIOS  14   b,  the CMOS RAM  14   c,  the audio controller  17 , the microcomputer  53 , and the IDE controller  21 , excluding the graphics controller  15 .  
         [0066]     The IDE controller  21  controls the hard disk drive  23  and an optical disk drive  22  such as a DVD drive and/or CD drive. Herein, the hard disk drive  23  according to this embodiment of the present invention may store a plurality of operating systems.  
         [0067]     Meanwhile, the operating system of the computer system  1  according to this embodiment of the present invention is divided into a main operating system and a plurality of sub operating systems. Herein, the main operating system is run through normal initialization and a booting process when the computer system  1  is turned on by a power button  20 , as shown in  FIG. 3 . For example, the main operating system may be one of the WINDOWS® series developed by MICROSOFT CORP., and thus further description related thereto will be omitted.  
         [0068]     The sub operating system is run through an initialization and booting process that has been simplified by a control method according to an embodiment of the present invention when a control signal is transmitted corresponding to an operation of the jog lever unit  30 . For example, to play back multimedia contents using the optical disk drive  22  such as the DVD drive, a separate operating system may be provided to boot the computer system  1  from one of the plurality of startup modes customized to support multimedia functionality. In this case, the sub operating system requires indispensable software and related programs to play back the multimedia contents. According to this embodiment of the present invention, there are provided three sub operating systems stored on the OS storage  51 ; a first sub operating system, a second sub operating system, and a third sub operating system.  
         [0069]     The startup mode according to this embodiment of the present invention is divided into a startup mode (hereinbelow, refer to “first startup mode”) booting the computer system from the sub operating system, and a startup mode (hereinbelow, refer to “second startup mode”) booting the computer system without executing the sub operating system. Herein, the first startup mode and the second startup mode will be described in detail through the control process of the computer system  1  according to the present invention.  
         [0070]     Hereinbelow, the control process of the computer system  1  will be described.  
         [0071]      FIG. 4  illustrates a method of controlling a computer system according to an embodiment of the present invention. At first, each of the plurality of startup modes is predetermined in the computer system, and the startup modes are set to correspond to the control signals generated by operating the jog lever unit  30 , at operation S 10 . For example, the B-control signal is set to boot up the computer system  1  from a first sub operating system among a first startup mode, the C-control signal is set to boot up the computer system  1  from a second sub operating system among the first startup mode, and the D-control signal is set to boot up the computer system  1  from a third sub operating system among the first startup mode. Meanwhile, the E-control signal is set to boot up the computer system  1  from the second startup mode.  
         [0072]     Here, if the computer system  1  is powered off, the microcomputer  53  is maintained in a standby mode, at operation S 11 . If a user presses the jog lever unit  30  toward the A direction for a given time period, and thus the A-control signal is continuously generated for the given time period at operations S 12  and S 13 , the microcomputer  53  determines the A-control signal to be an interrupt signal, and accordingly becomes activated.  
         [0073]     The microcomputer  53 , having been activated by the interrupt signal, in this case, the A-control signal, waits for the B-control signal, the C-control signal, the D-control signal, or the E-control signal, at operation S 14 . Herein, if the microcomputer  53  does not receive any signal within a given time period after being activated by the A-control signal, it returns to the standby mode, at operations S 15  and S 11 .  
         [0074]     Meanwhile, if the microcomputer  53  receives one of the B-control signal, the C-control signal, the D-control signal, or the E-control after being activated by the A-control signal, the microcomputer  53  performs a predetermined process to boot the computer system from a corresponding startup mode according to the received control signal, at operations S 14  and S 16 .  
         [0075]     The following embodiments are described below in order to explain how the microcomputer respectively performs when a user selects the startup modes.  
         [0076]     At first, if the user selects the first sub operating system, of the first startup mode, as the startup mode at operation S 17  using the jog lever unit  30 , the jog lever unit  30  generates the B-control signal to be transmitted to the microcomputer  53 .  
         [0077]     Next, the microcomputer  53  controls the power supplier to supply power to the ROM BIOS  14   b  at operation S 18 . Then, the microcomputer  53  executes a corresponding startup routine stored in the ROM BIOS  14   b  to perform the first sub operating system at operation S 19 . Herein, the selected startup routine runs the POST (Power On Self Test) to initialize necessary hardware components supporting the first sub operating system. Accordingly, it reduces time that would be consumed during the conventional initialization and the POST process.  
         [0078]     Then, the startup routine boots the computer system  1  from the first sub operating system stored in the hard disk drive  23  after the initialization and POST process are completed, at operation S 20 . Herein, the first sub operating system is simplified to provide a working environment customized to a minimum amount of operating system necessary for the first startup mode.  
         [0079]     Meanwhile, if the user selects the second operating system using the jog lever unit  30  at operation S 17 , the jog lever unit  30  generates the E-control signal to the microcomputer  53 , and the microcomputer  53  activates predetermined hardware components corresponding to the second startup mode at operation S 21 . Herein, the second startup mode is preferably, but not necessarily, an audio startup mode outputting audio format data, which can be booted from the predetermined hardware components without executing an operating system.  
         [0080]     Meanwhile, the jog lever unit  30  of the computer system  1  according to another embodiment of the present invention can be used as an input device to perform a predetermined function after selecting a startup mode.  
         [0081]     For example, if the computer system  1  is booted from the first startup mode, the sub operating system for the first startup mode may not support a common input device such as a keyboard or a mouse. Herein, the sub operating system activates a UI (User Interface), and a control signal for the UI may be generated from the jog lever unit  30 . Herein, the microcomputer  53  detects the control signal from the jog lever unit  30 , and thus controls the UI corresponding to the control signal.  
         [0082]     For example, if the jog lever unit  30  continuously receives the A-control signal for a given time period after the computer system  1  is booted from the first sub operating system, the microcomputer  53  transmits the consistent A-control signal to the CPU  11 . Accordingly, the first sub operating system  53  displays the UI on the display  16 , as shown in  FIG. 5 .  
         [0083]     Herein, the UI is linked into a tree structure, and thus activates a main menu and a sub menu, which are linked to each other. Accordingly, the jog lever unit  30  may generate the A-control signal to select each of the main menus and the sub menus, and the B-control signal, the C-control signal, the D-control signal, and the E-control signal to select respectively a moving direction in and between the main menus and the sub menus.  
         [0084]     Referring to  FIG. 5 , the process of utilizing the UI by operating the jog lever unit  30  is as follows.  
         [0085]     First, when the A-control signal is generated during a predetermined time by operating the jog lever unit  30 , the main menu M is displayed on the display  16 . The main menu M may comprise a plurality of selection bars to select a certain function to be performed. At this time, the selection movement of the selection bars may be performed by the B-control signal and the C-control signal generated when the jog lever unit  30  operates. The selection of the selection bars may be performed by the A-control signal.  
         [0086]     A user operates the jog lever unit  30  to generate the E-control signal, thereby shifting from the main menu M to the sub menu S 1 . The sub menu S 1  may be displayed on the display  16  in the case that the E-control signal is generated, or displayed on the display  16  together with the main menu M.  
         [0087]     Like in the main Menu M, the selection movement of the plurality of the selection bars provided in the sub menu S 1  may be performed by the B-control signal and the C-control signal generated when the jog lever unit  30  operates. The selection of the selection bars may be performed by the A-control signal. Also, the shift from the sub menu S 1  to another sub menu S 2  may be performed by the E-control signal as described above. The shift from the sub menu S 1  or S 2  to the previous sub menu S 1  to the main menu M may be performed by the C-control signal generated when the jog lever unit  30  operates.  
         [0088]     In addition, if the computer system  1  is booted from a startup mode customized to play back a movie or a music file, the jog lever unit  30  may be used to perform corresponding functions to play back the movie or the music file, as shown in  FIG. 6 .  FIG. 6  shows an example of controlling the jog lever unit  30  when it is used to play back the movie or the music file, and the jog lever unit  30  may be applied to various other functions.  
         [0089]     Meanwhile, the jog lever unit  30  may function as an input device when the computer system  1  is booted from a main operating system. For example, the jog lever unit  30  may be used as a hotkey to activate an Internet browser or software. Further, the jog lever unit  30  may be used as the input device to control a multimedia player playing back the movie or music files in the same manner as when the computer system  1  is booted from the sub operating system.  
         [0090]     The computer system  1  can be booted from a startup mode customized to a user-preferable working environment by using the jog lever unit  30  to generate a plurality of signals to select one of various startup modes; and the controller  50  boots up the computer system  1  based on the signals corresponding to the selected startup mode.  
         [0091]     Although a few embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents.