US 9,870,161 B2Granted

Computation processing device and control method thereof

AssigneeNEC Corporation

InventorsYukihide Tsuji, Yukikazu Nakamoto

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Abstract

In order to ensure that a normally-off computer connected to a volatile component operates normally and rapidly after operation of turning-on/off of a power supply is executed, a computation processing device which has nonvolatile registers and which is able to continue processing of data retained in the device after the power supply is turned off/on without retracting the data to an external device includes at least: a central processing unit including the nonvolatile registers; a connection unit for a volatile component which saves internal information in a volatile storage element thereof; a nonvolatile storage unit for saving a return program from a power-off state of the volatile component; and an inspection unit notifying that a potential of the power supply in the computation processing device has reached an operation potential at a time of return. The central processing unit loads the return program from the nonvolatile storage unit in response to a notification signal from the inspection unit and executes it.

Claims13

Dependent claims

A computation processing device which comprises nonvolatile registers and which is able to continue processing data retained in the computation processing device after a power supply is turned off/on without retracting the data to an external device, the computation processing device comprising at least:

a central processing unit including the nonvolatile registers;
a plurality of connectors for each of a respective plurality of volatile components, each of the volatile components configured to save internal information in a volatile storage element thereof;
a nonvolatile storage configured to store a program and data so as to serve as a main memory and configured to save a plurality of return programs corresponding to the plurality of volatile components, each of the plurality of return programs to resume from a turning-off state of the power supply in a respective one of the volatile components;
and
a power supply voltage monitor configured to notify that a potential of the power supply in the computation processing device has reached an operation potential at a time of return,
wherein the central processing unit loads the return program from the nonvolatile storage in response to a notification signal from the power supply voltage monitor and executes the return program,
and
wherein the plurality of return programs are equal in number to or less than the plurality of volatile components.

5 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 14/777,690Filed 24 Mar 2014
Priority: JP 2013-06198225 Mar 2013
Published: US 2016/0274804 A122 Sep 2016
Granted: 16 Jan 2018
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification21 codes

G06F 3/0619
Improving the reliability of storage systems: in relation to data integrity, e.g. data losses, bit errors
G06F 1/24
Details not covered by groups G06F3/00 - G06F13/00 and G06F21/00: resetting means
G06F 1/26
Details not covered by groups G06F3/00 - G06F13/00 and G06F21/00: power supply means, e.g. regulation thereof
G06F 1/3203
Means for saving power: power management, i.e. event-based initiation of a power-saving mode