Patent ID: 7696641

Claim:
A power supply control circuit for controlling supply and shutoff of electrical power from a power source to a plurality of functional blocks, each of the plurality of functional blocks having a predetermined processing function, said power supply control circuit comprising: a request-receiving unit operable to receive a power shutoff-requesting signal from each of the plurality of functional blocks; a switchover unit operable to provide switchover between the supply and shutoff of the electrical power from the power source to each of the plurality of functional blocks; and a control unit operable to control said switchover unit in accordance with the power shutoff-requesting signal received from each of the plurality of functional blocks by said request-receiving unit, said control unit comprising a power shutoff-permitting unit operable to permit a start and an end of the shutoff of the electrical power in accordance with the power shutoff-requesting signal received from each of the plurality of functional blocks by said request-receiving unit, wherein said power shutoff-permitting unit permits the start of the shutoff of the electrical power to a first one of the plurality of functional blocks in accordance with the power shutoff-requesting signal from the first one of the plurality of functional blocks and the power shutoff-requesting signal from a second one of the plurality of functional blocks, the second one of the plurality of functional blocks having a processing dependent relationship with the first one of the plurality of functional blocks.