An apparatus for detecting a type of fan and controlling the fan, the fan providing during operation a tachometer signal indicating a speed of the fan, the apparatus includes: a direct current (DC) generator for coupling to the fan and configured to provide a first voltage to the fan; a resistor for providing, while the DC generator provides the first voltage, a sensed voltage relating to the type of the fan, wherein the resistor is connected to a reference voltage and for coupling to a pulse-width modulation (PWM) control terminal of the fan; an input judgment component coupled to the resistor to receive the sensed voltage, the input judgment component being configured to determine whether the fan is a 4-wire PWM fan with an internal pull-up resistor based on the sensed voltage and to provide a judgment signal indicating the determination; a PWM generator coupled to the input judgment component to receive the judgment signal, the PWM generator being configured to provide to the fan a PWM control signal to control the fan if the judgment signal indicates that the fan is the 4-wire PWM fan with an internal pull-up resistor; and a tachometer coupled to the DC generator and the PWM generator, the tachometer being configured to receive the tachometer signal to detect a change in the speed of the fan.
A receiver includes a single infrared (IR) sensor, which is coupled to sense an IR signal carrying data and to produce an electrical signal responsively to the IR signal. The receiver further includes multiple receiver channels arranged to accept the electrical signal from the single IR sensor, each receiver channel configured to process the electrical signal in accordance with a different, respective IR remote control protocol so as to extract the data, and to output the extracted data to a host system.
A computing apparatus includes a network interface, a Central Processing Unit (CPU), an auxiliary controller and an activation controller. The CPU has active and switched-off operational states and is arranged, when operating in the active operational state, to accept data from a communication network using the network interface. The auxiliary display module is connected to the CPU and is arranged, when the CPU is in the switched-off operational state, to display auxiliary information to a user based on the data accepted by the CPU. The activation controller is coupled to intermittently switch the CPU to the active operational state and to cause the CPU to update the data from the communication network, so as to update the auxiliary information displayed by the auxiliary display module.
Methods and related computer program products, systems, and devices for auto-focusing in an image-capturing system includes sampling output signals from an auto-focusing circuit in a first interval of lens distances and determining a first lens distance and a second lens distance corresponding to the two highest values of the sampled output signals in the first interval of lens distances.
A computing apparatus includes a primary keyboard and a primary display, which are respectively arranged to accept input from a user and to display information to the user. An auxiliary display is arranged to display auxiliary information to the user when the apparatus is in a switched-off operational state, and to hide the auxiliary information when deactivated. An activation controller is arranged to monitor the primary keyboard when the auxiliary display is deactivated, to detect an activation code comprising one or more keystrokes entered using the primary keyboard, and to activate the auxiliary display responsively to detecting the activation code.