US5586334A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Apparatus and method for suspending and resuming software on a computer
Assignee: Panasonic Holdings Corp
•
Filing: 1995-01-20
•
Granted: 1996-12-17
•
Expires: 2015-01-20
Abstract
Abstract There is disclosed a control unit of a computer system comprising a volatile storing device for holding written data while the power is on, a non-volatile storing device for holding the written data even when the power is off, and a power-off preserving device for powering off after transferring the data held in the volatile storing device to the non-volatile storing device. The control unit of the computer system further comprising a power-on resuming device for returning the data held in the non-volatile storing device to the volatile storing device. There is also disclosed a control unit of a computer system comprising a non-resumable condition judging device for judging whether the status of the computer system meets the process non resumable condition or not when the powering off operation is directed, and a non-resumable condition informing device for informing the user that the status has been judged to meet the condition.
Inventors
- 👤 Masaya Miyazaki
- 👤 Nobuyuki Enoki
- 👤 Mitsuaki Morita
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-01 21:01
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06F; G06F9/00; G06F9/06; G06F9/44; G06F9/4401; G06F9/4418; Y; Y02; Y02D; Y02D10/00
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 17
Claim 1
Independent Claim
372 words
A computer system wherein an execution of a program can be temporarily suspended in response to a power-off operation and the execution of the program can later be restarted in response to a power-on operation, the computer system comprising: a power supply means for supplying power comprising an on and off means for selectively supplying power to the computer system; program execution means for executing the program while the power supply means is turned on and supplying power; volatile storing means for storing data related to the program being executed by the program execution means only while the power supply means is turned on and supplying power to the computer system; non-volatile non-electrically maintained storing means for storing the data even when the power supply means is turned off and not supplying power to the computer system; system status holding means for holding information indicating a status of the computer system; program execution controlling means for making the program execution means initiate and complete executing the program and for making the system status holding means hold information indicating the status of the computer system corresponding to the execution of the program; program execution resumption means for making the program execution means resume the program execution when the power supply means is turned on after having been turned off while the program execution means was executing the program; resumability condition holding means for holding data related to conditions that prohibit the program execution resumption means from resuming the program execution; resumability judging means for judging whether the computer system is in a resumable or a non-resumable condition based on the data held in the system status holding means when the power supply means is turned off; non-resumable condition informing means for informing a user when the computer system has been judged to be in the non-resumable condition; power-off preserving means for transferring the data stored in the volatile storing means to the non-volatile non-electrically maintained storing means in response to a power-off operation when the computer system has been judged to be in a resumable condition by the resumability judging means; and power-on resuming means for returning the data transferred to the non-volatile non-electrically maintained storing means back to the volatile storing means.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
372 words
A computer system wherein an execution of a program can be temporarily suspended in response to a power-off operation and the execution of the program can later be restarted in response to a power-on operation, the computer system comprising: a power supply means for supplying power comprising an on and off means for selectively supplying power to the computer system; program execution means for executing the program while the power supply means is turned on and supplying power; volatile storing means for storing data related to the program being executed by the program execution means only while the power supply means is turned on and supplying power to the computer system; non-volatile non-electrically maintained storing means for storing the data even when the power supply means is turned off and not supplying power to the computer system; system status holding means for holding information indicating a status of the computer system; program execution controlling means for making the program execution means initiate and complete executing the program and for making the system status holding means hold information indicating the status of the computer system corresponding to the execution of the program; program execution resumption means for making the program execution means resume the program execution when the power supply means is turned on after having been turned off while the program execution means was executing the program; resumability condition holding means for holding data related to conditions that prohibit the program execution resumption means from resuming the program execution; resumability judging means for judging whether the computer system is in a resumable or a non-resumable condition based on the data held in the system status holding means when the power supply means is turned off; non-resumable condition informing means for informing a user when the computer system has been judged to be in the non-resumable condition; power-off preserving means for transferring the data stored in the volatile storing means to the non-volatile non-electrically maintained storing means in response to a power-off operation when the computer system has been judged to be in a resumable condition by the resumability judging means; and power-on resuming means for returning the data transferred to the non-volatile non-electrically maintained storing means back to the volatile storing means.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
30 words
The computer system of claim 1, wherein the volatile storing means is comprised of a plurality of CPU registers a plurality of input/output control unit registers and a volatile memory.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
20 words
The computer system of claim 1, wherein the non-volatile non-electrically maintained storing means is comprised of a hard disk drive.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
22 words
The computer system of claim 1, wherein the non-volatile non-electrically maintained storing means is comprised of an electrical erasable programmable read-only memory.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
20 words
The computer system of claim 1, wherein the non-volatile non-electrically maintained storing means is comprised of a magneto-optic disk drive.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
67 words
The computer system of claim 1, further comprising: a power switch for selectively outputting an ON signal and an OFF signal according to an operation of the power switch by a user; and interrupt control means for directing the resumability judging means to judge whether the computer system is in the resumable condition or the non-resumable condition in response to the OFF signal from the power switch.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
81 words
The computer system of claim 1, further comprising: a power switch for selectively outputting an ON signal and an OFF signal according to an operation of the power switch by a user; and power-on reset means for immediately turning on the power supply to supply power to the computer system in response to the ON signal and for directing the power-on resuming means to return the data transferred to the non-volatile non-electrically maintained storing means back to the volatile storing means.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
118 words
The computer system of claim 1, further comprising: power-off non-preserving means for turning off the power supply without transferring the data stored in the volatile storing means to the non-volatile non-electrically maintained storing means; and power-off operation selecting means for selecting one of the power-off preserving means and the power-off non-preserving means according to a selection of a user, wherein the power-off preserving means sets a preserving flag in the non-volatile non-electrically maintained storing means indicating that the data held in the volatile storing means has been transferred, and wherein the power-on resuming means returns the data in the non-volatile non-electrically maintained storing means back to the volatile storing means only when it has detected the preserving flag.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
322 words
A computer system wherein an execution of a program can be suspended and restarted in response to power-on and power-off operations, respectively, the computer system comprising: a power supply means for supplying power comprising an on and off means for selectively supplying power to the computer system; volatile storing means for storing data related to a program being executed by the computer system only while the power supply means is turned on and supplying power to the computer system; non-volatile non-electrically maintained storing means for storing the data even when the power supply means is turned off and not supplying power to the computer system; system status holding means for holding information indicating a status of the computer system; program execution controlling means for controlling initiation and completion of the program execution and for making the system status holding means hold information indicating the status of the computer system corresponding to the program execution; resumability condition holding means for holding data related to conditions that prohibit resumption of the program execution when the power supply means is turned on after having been turned off during the program execution; resumability judging means for judging whether the computer system is in a resumable or a non-resumable condition based on the data held in the system status holding means when the power supply means is turned off; non-resumable condition informing means for informing a user when the computer system has been judged to be in the non-resumable condition by the resumability judging means; power-off preserving means for transferring the data stored in the volatile storing means to the non-volatile non-electrically maintained storing means in response to a power-off operation when the computer system has been judged to be in a resumable condition by the resumability judging means; and power-on resuming means for returning the data transferred to the non-volatile non-electrically maintained storing means back to the volatile storing means in response to a power-on operation.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
322 words
A computer system wherein an execution of a program can be suspended and restarted in response to power-on and power-off operations, respectively, the computer system comprising: a power supply means for supplying power comprising an on and off means for selectively supplying power to the computer system; volatile storing means for storing data related to a program being executed by the computer system only while the power supply means is turned on and supplying power to the computer system; non-volatile non-electrically maintained storing means for storing the data even when the power supply means is turned off and not supplying power to the computer system; system status holding means for holding information indicating a status of the computer system; program execution controlling means for controlling initiation and completion of the program execution and for making the system status holding means hold information indicating the status of the computer system corresponding to the program execution; resumability condition holding means for holding data related to conditions that prohibit resumption of the program execution when the power supply means is turned on after having been turned off during the program execution; resumability judging means for judging whether the computer system is in a resumable or a non-resumable condition based on the data held in the system status holding means when the power supply means is turned off; non-resumable condition informing means for informing a user when the computer system has been judged to be in the non-resumable condition by the resumability judging means; power-off preserving means for transferring the data stored in the volatile storing means to the non-volatile non-electrically maintained storing means in response to a power-off operation when the computer system has been judged to be in a resumable condition by the resumability judging means; and power-on resuming means for returning the data transferred to the non-volatile non-electrically maintained storing means back to the volatile storing means in response to a power-on operation.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
46 words
The computer system of claim 9, wherein the system status holding means holds information indicating a communication status of the computer system, and the resumability condition holding means holds data related to the non-resumable condition of the computer system being in communication with another computer system.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
41 words
The computer system of claim 9, wherein the system status holding means holds information indicating a printing operation of the computer system, and the resumability condition holding means holds data related to the non-resumable condition of the printing being in operation.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
54 words
The computer system of claim 9, wherein the system status holding means holds information indicating an access to at least one of a hard disk drive, a floppy disk drive, magneto-optic disk drive, and a magnetic tape drive; and the resumability condition holding means holds data related to the non-resumable condition of the access.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
41 words
The computer system of claim 9, wherein the system status holding means holds information indicating a predetermined program is in operation; and the resumability condition holding means holds data related to the non-resumable condition of the predetermined program being in operation.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
35 words
The computer system of claim 9 further comprising: power-off direction canceling means for canceling a power-off direction when the computer system has been judged to be in the non-resumable condition by the resumability judging means.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
67 words
The computer system of claim 9, further comprising: power-off direction confirming means for confirming whether the user wants to power off even when the computer system has been judged to be in the non-resumable condition by the resumability judging means, for powering off when the user does want to power off, and for canceling a power off direction when the user does not want to power off.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
US3959778A
Cited
US4458307A
Cited
US4096560A
Cited
EP0230351A2
Cited
US4907150A
Cited
EP0365128A2
Cited
JPH037321A
Cited
US5218607A
Cited
US5167024A
Cited
US5392438A
Cited
US5276890A
Cited
US4994934A
Cited
US5375230A
Cited
WO1992007321A1
Cited
US5339444A
Cited
USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 1999-12-17 | 2000-06-17 | 2000-12-17 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2003-12-17 | 2004-06-17 | 2004-12-17 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2007-12-17 | 2008-06-17 | 2008-12-17 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |