How do you judge "automatic mode"?Lenovo Yamato Research Institute staff's secret of power management of "ThinkPad" (page 1/2)

　In daily articles and interviews, carried laptops are indispensable.I use Lenovo Japan's "ThinkPad X1 Carbon" as a personal notebook PC (reference article).Since purchasing in 2017, it has become a "partner", mainly on business trips in Japan and overseas.

　Like this X1 Carbon, ThinkPad has a "airplane power supply mode" that automatically enables "in -flight mode" when you release sleep or turn on power on aircraft.If you use ThinkPad on an airplane, there are quite a few people who are surprised that "Oh, it has become an in -flight mode!"The author is one of them.

　In addition, various ideas have been elaborated in the power management of ThinkPad (power management).We asked a person in charge of the company's "Yamato Research Institute" (Nishi -ku, Yokohama), which led the development of ThinkPad.

[Correction: 18:20 on July 15] At the first appearance, there was an error in a part of the explanation of the airplane power supply mode.I will make corrections.

THINKPAD's utility is "Commercial Vantage"

　Lenovo PC, which contains ThinkPad, has pre -installed its own utility software "Lenovo Vantage".Lenovo Vantage is an essential software for Lenovo PCs, including confirmation and settings for hardware and security, and many of the later THINKPAD power management functions will be provided with this Lenovo Vantage.

　Lenovo Vantage also includes many functions that assume home use.Therefore, if you use a PC mainly in business, there will be many "unnecessary" elements.Therefore, in 2021, Lenovo has abbreviated the functions for home, and released the new utility software "Lenovo Commercial Vantage" that supports collective management using offline installation (installation without using Microsoft Store) and "ActiveDirectory".did.

　Commercial Vantage is a black -based design that matches the product of the Think brand.Since only home functions are omitted, it supports the power management function of ThinkPad like Lenovo Vantage.

　Although it is "excretion", Commermercial Vantage can be used with ThinkPad, which pre -install Lenovo Vantage ( *).Conversely, Lenovo Vantage can be used with ThinkPad, which pre -install CommermerCial Vantage.Use the one you like according to the functions and environment you use.

( *) Includes "Lenovo Settings", the predecessor of the app

Simple but deep "airplane power supply mode"

　I thought that the airplane power supply mode would automatically enable the aircraft mode in aircraft, but as long as I heard from the person in charge of the Yamato Research Institute, it was not the right interpretation.

　ThinkPad uses various output AC adapters depending on the model.In particular, the "ThinkPad X1 EXTREME" and "ThinkPad P Series" equipped with a powerful independent GPU (GeForce RTX / Quadro series) come with an AC adapter of 90W or more.

　On the other hand, recent outlets in aircraft seats are limited to around 60W per output (power consumption).If an AC adapter that demands more output is connected to an output of 60W output, it will be loaded on the aircraft power supply.

　That's where the airplane power supply mode appeared.When this mode is enabled, the maximum current of the power input of ThinkPad is limited.Even if you use an AC adapter of 90W or more, you can connect to an airplane outlet with confidence.

　The automatic effectiveness of the in -flight mode was the "auxiliary function" of the airplane power supply mode, not the main function.

　The airplane power supply mode allows you to switch on / off from the settings of Lenovo Vantage / Commermercial Vantage.When "Automatic inspection" is enabled, the user is turned on when the user gets on the plane, and when it gets off, it is automatically switched off.

　The question here is how to judge the airplane on the plane and "get off".According to the person in charge of the Yamato Research Institute, it uses "Windows 10 in-flight mode" and "airplane Wi-Fi (wireless LAN) access point".

　When the in -flight mode is manually enabled in Windows 10, the airplane power supply mode is enabled in conjunction with it.Even if you forget to switch to an in-flight mode, if you detect access points for the in-flight Wi-Fi service, the airplane power supply mode will be automatically enabled.If you get off the plane and stop detecting the Wi-Fi access point of the plane, the airplane power supply mode will be automatically released.

　Here is a new question, "How are you detected in-flight Wi-Fi access points?"It is said that this is equipped with a database of the access point name (SSID) in Lenovo Vantage / Commermercial Vantage, and is realized by collecting it with the SSID detected by Windows 10.

　The access point name of the in-flight Wi-Fi is surprisingly limited.For example, in-flight Wi-Fi systems that use the US GOGO system use SSID called "GOGOINFLIGHT" regardless of airline.Even if you register one by one in the database, it does not take any trouble.

　Lenovo staff around the world are involved in collecting SSID.If you recognize a new SSID, you will be contacted by the Lenovo Vantage / Commermercial Vantage development team, and the database will be updated when the app is updated.Surprisingly, there are some parts that are supported by analog work.

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