TWI881625B - Method and system for handling power on setting - Google Patents

Abstract

A system for handling power-on settings is provided. The system includes a non-volatile memory for storing power-on setting information indicating a first interface; and a board supporting multiple boot modes, the multiple boot modes being at least associated with the first interface and a second interface. The board being for establishing a connection between the board and a programmer in response to a connection command; during development stage, booting from the second interface and determining whether the board is connected to a host within a time period; when the board connects to the host within the time period, triggering the programmer to perform a programming process to program an image to the board; and when the board is not connected to the host within the time period, booting from the first interface according to the power-on setting information and stopping booting from the second interface.

Description

Method and system for processing power on settings

The present invention relates to a power-on technology, and more particularly to a method and system for processing power-on settings.

Some development boards on the market support multiple boot modes, such as through universal serial bus (USB), NAND, serial peripheral interface (SPI), secure digital (SD) or embedded multimedia card (eMMC) and other interfaces or devices, and each mode corresponds to its own related parameter settings, making the overall setting method extremely complicated. For this, a power-on setting is usually required to control the boot mode/operation.

The power-on setting of the known technology is hardware, such as a DIP switch. Users can use the switch to set different boot modes for different scenarios. The advantages of using hardware power-on settings include the ability to independently control the boot mode without the need for other tools or programs, and the first choice or setting is the default boot mode, so there is no additional time delay. However, the disadvantages of using hardware power-on settings include the need to remember (for example, additionally refer to the documentation of the development board) various different combinations for manual operation, which is a burden for users. In detail, due to the large number of boot scenarios and related parameters, the pins of the DIP switch are reused and represent different meanings in different scenarios. It is easier to change the power-on setting during the development phase. For a dial switch, if you want to burn (program/flash) an image for development testing, you must adjust the power-on setting twice, plus many other steps. These complex settings and operations often cause the switch to be flipped incorrectly. In order to save area, small-sized dial switches are often used, which must be flipped through tools, which is inconvenient and easy to flip incorrectly. In addition, the pin and pin direction will also increase the complexity of control. In short, the manual switching mechanism of the hardware power-on setting will hinder the realization of the automated process, thereby increasing the time cost and complexity of development testing.

Therefore, how to effectively handle the power-on setting is a problem that needs to be solved.

To solve the above technical problems, the present disclosure provides a method and system for processing power-on settings to (1) avoid manual control settings and (2) reduce development complexity to save development time.

The present disclosure provides a system for processing power-on settings, including: a non-volatile memory (NVM); memory (NVM) for storing power-on setting information indicating a first interface; and a circuit board (board) supporting multiple boot modes, wherein the multiple boot modes are at least associated with the first interface and a second interface, wherein the circuit board is used to: respond to a connection instruction to establish a connection between the circuit board and a burner; during a development stage, boot from the second interface and determine whether the circuit board is connected to a host within a time period; when the circuit board is connected to the host within the time period, trigger the burner to execute a burning procedure to burn an image to the circuit board; and when the circuit board is not connected to the host within the time period, boot from the first interface according to the power-on setting information and stop booting from the second interface.

Optionally, booting from the second interface occurs after establishing the connection between the burner and the circuit board.

Optionally, the non-volatile memory is one of an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM) and a flash memory.

Optionally, the second interface is a universal serial bus (USB) interface, and the first interface is one of a NAND interface, a serial peripheral interface (SPI) interface, a secure digital (SD) interface, and an embedded multimedia card (eMMC) interface.

Optionally, the number of bits used by the power-on setting information is related to the number of pins used by a hardware switch, and the non-volatile memory and the hardware switch share a power-on (PWRON) register.

The disclosed embodiment further provides a method for processing power-on settings, comprising: in response to a connection command, establishing a connection between a circuit board supporting multiple boot modes and a burner, wherein the multiple boot modes are at least associated with a first interface and a second interface; in the development stage, booting from the second interface, and determining whether the circuit board is connected to a host within a time period; when the circuit board When the circuit board is connected to the host during the time period, a burning procedure is executed through the burner to burn the image to the circuit board; and when the circuit board is not connected to the host during the time period, power-on setting information indicating the first interface is obtained from the non-volatile memory, the computer is started from the first interface according to the power-on setting information, and the startup from the second interface is stopped.

Based on the above, the method and system for processing power-on settings disclosed herein can simplify the hardware switching process during development and save development costs (time and complexity, etc.).

The present disclosure proposes a method and system for processing power-on settings to solve the problems mentioned in the background technology. In order to make the features and advantages of the present disclosure more obvious and easy to understand, the specific embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. The following description contains specific information related to the exemplary embodiments in the present disclosure. The drawings and the detailed descriptions attached thereto in the present disclosure are only exemplary embodiments. However, the present disclosure is not limited to these exemplary embodiments. Other variations and embodiments of the present disclosure will occur to those skilled in the art. Unless otherwise specified, the same or corresponding elements in the drawings may be indicated by the same or corresponding figure numbers. In addition, the drawings and illustrations in the present disclosure are generally not drawn to scale and are not intended to correspond to actual relative sizes.

FIG1 is a block diagram of a system for processing power-on settings according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG1 , the system 100 for processing power-on settings includes a non-volatile memory (NVM) 110 (or a control configuration) and a circuit board 120. The non-volatile memory 110 is used to store power-on setting information (such as a parameter or a value) indicating a first interface. The circuit board 120 supports multiple boot modes, which are at least associated with the first interface and the second interface. It is worth noting that although the non-volatile memory 110 and the circuit board 120 are shown separately/independently, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. For example, the non-volatile memory 110 may be disposed on the circuit board 120 .

The circuit board 120 is used to respond to a connection (e.g., attach) command to establish a connection between the circuit board and the programmer 130. During the development (testing) phase, the circuit board 120 is used to boot from the second interface (e.g., an interface supporting the programming function) and determine whether the circuit board 120 is connected to the host 140 within a time period (e.g., milliseconds such as 100 ms). It is worth noting that although the programmer 130 and the host 140 are shown separately/independently, the present disclosure is not limited thereto. For example, the programmer 130 can be configured or installed in the host 140. When the circuit board 120 is connected to the host 140 during the time period, the circuit board 120 is used to trigger the burner 130 to execute a burning procedure to burn/load an image to the circuit board 120, such as a memory or storage device associated with a third interface on the circuit board 120. In some embodiments, the third interface may be the same as the first interface. In some other embodiments, the third interface may be different from the first interface. When the circuit board 120 is not connected to the host 140 during the time period, the circuit board 120 is used to (trigger obtaining the power-on setting information from the non-volatile memory 110,) boot from the first interface according to the power-on setting information, and stop booting from the second interface (i.e., switch from the second interface to the first interface without executing the burning process). In other words, the software setting is applied (to replace the hardware power-on setting) to simplify the hardware switching process during development, thereby saving development costs (time and complexity, etc.).

It is worth noting that in the present disclosure, the circuit board may be a development board, a chip, a microcontroller unit, or a microprocessor unit, etc., but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. The burner may be a burning tool or burning software, etc., but the present disclosure is not limited thereto. Burning may refer to programming or stylization, but the present disclosure is not limited thereto.

In some embodiments, the circuit board 120 boots up (e.g., reboots) from the second interface after establishing a connection between the burner 130 and the circuit board 120. Establishing a connection between the burner 130 and the circuit board 120 allows the burner 130 to access memory on the circuit board 120 associated with the third interface.

In some embodiments, the non-volatile memory 110 can be one of an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM) and a flash memory.

In some embodiments, the second interface is a universal serial bus (USB) interface, such as a USB device (USBD) mode or a USB in-system programmer (ISP) mode. The first interface is one of a NAND interface, a serial peripheral interface (SPI) interface, a secure digital (SD) interface, and an embedded multimedia card (eMMC) interface.

In some embodiments, the time period can be implemented by a timer.

In some embodiments, a hardware (dial-up) switch (not shown in FIG. 1 ) may also be configured on the circuit board 120. The number of bits used by the power-on setting information is related to (e.g., equal to) the number of pins used by the hardware switch, and the non-volatile memory and the hardware switch share a power-on (PWRON) register.

In some embodiments, at the beginning of the development phase, the second interface can be set (e.g., switched) through a hardware switch. That is, the hardware power-on setting is first used, and then switched to the software power-on setting under certain circumstances to perform a normal boot test.

In some embodiments, during the development phase, the non-volatile memory 110 storing the power-on setting information is enabled. During the mass production phase, the hardware switch is enabled (i.e., the hardware power-on setting is used), and the non-volatile memory 110 is disabled. In other words, the user or the system can select the control method of the hardware or software power-on setting in a timely manner. In detail, during the development phase, the power-on setting usually needs to be changed, so the control method of using the software power-on setting (to replace the hardware power-on setting) can reduce the complexity of development and save development time. In the mass production stage, it is more likely to maintain a fixed startup method, so using hardware power-on settings can reduce complexity, achieve the fastest startup speed, and reduce control dependency.

According to the above embodiments, the following method for processing power-on settings can be obtained (for example, summarized as). FIG. 2 is a flow chart of a method for processing power-on settings according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG. 2 , the method includes the following steps:

In step S202, a connection between the circuit board and the burner is established.

In step S204, during the development phase, the computer is powered on from the USB interface, and it is determined whether the circuit board is connected to the host within the time period. When the circuit board is connected to the host within the time period, step S206 is executed. When the circuit board is not connected to the host within the time period, step S208 is executed.

In step S206, the burner executes a burn procedure to burn the image to the circuit board, and re-executes S204 to determine again whether the circuit board is connected to the host within the time period (i.e., whether the burn procedure is still to be executed). For example, the first image is burned to the NAND interface or device through the first burn procedure. Thereafter, the second image is burned to the SD interface or device through the second burn procedure.

In step S208, power on setting information indicating the first interface is obtained from the non-volatile memory, and the booting is switched from the USB interface to the first interface.

In summary, the method and system for processing power-on settings disclosed herein can simplify the hardware switching process during development and save development costs (time and complexity, etc.).

Although the present application has been disclosed using the above-mentioned embodiments, they are not intended to limit the present disclosure. Any person skilled in the art may make various changes and modifications to the above-mentioned embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the present disclosure, and the changes and modifications are still within the technical scope protected by the present disclosure. Therefore, the protection scope of the present disclosure shall be subject to the definition of the patent application scope.

100: System for handling power-on settings 110: Non-volatile memory 120: Circuit board 130: Burner 140: Host S202, S204, S206, S208: Steps

The accompanying drawings are provided to enable a person having ordinary knowledge in the art to which the present invention belongs to further understand the present invention, and are incorporated into and constitute a part of the specification of the present invention. The accompanying drawings show exemplary embodiments of the present invention, and are used together with the specification of the present invention to explain the principles of the present invention. Figure 1 is a block diagram of a system for processing power-on settings according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; and Figure 2 is a flow diagram of a method for processing power-on settings according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

100: System for handling power on settings

110: Non-volatile memory

120: Circuit board

130: Burner

140:Host

Claims (10)

A system for processing power-on settings, comprising: a non-volatile memory for storing power-on setting information indicating a first interface; and a circuit board supporting multiple boot modes, wherein the multiple boot modes are at least associated with the first interface and a second interface, and the circuit board is used to: establish a connection between the circuit board and a burner in response to a connection command; boot from the second interface during the development phase, and determine whether the circuit board is connected to a host within a time period; when the circuit board is connected to the host within the time period, trigger the burner to execute a burning procedure to burn an image to the circuit board; and When the circuit board is not connected to the host during the time period, the circuit board is powered on from the first interface according to the power-on setting information, and the power-on from the second interface is stopped. A system for handling power-on settings as described in claim 1, wherein booting from the second interface occurs after establishing the connection between the burner and the circuit board. A system for processing power-on settings as described in claim 1, wherein the non-volatile memory is one of an electronically erasable programmable read-only memory and a flash memory. A system for processing power-on settings as described in claim 1, wherein the second interface is a universal serial bus interface, and the first interface is one of a reverse interface, a serial peripheral interface, a secure digital interface and an embedded multimedia card interface. A system for processing power-on settings as described in claim 1, wherein the number of bits used by the power-on setting information is related to the number of pins used by a hardware switch, and the non-volatile memory and the hardware switch share a power-on register. A method for processing power-on settings, comprising: In response to a connection command, establishing a connection between a circuit board supporting multiple boot modes and a burner, wherein the multiple boot modes are at least associated with a first interface and a second interface; During the development phase, booting from the second interface, and determining whether the circuit board is connected to a host within a time period; When the circuit board is connected to the host within the time period, executing a burning program through the burner to burn an image to the circuit board; and When the circuit board is not connected to the host during the time period, a power-on setting information indicating the first interface is obtained from a non-volatile memory, the computer is started from the first interface according to the power-on setting information, and the startup from the second interface is stopped. A method for handling power-on settings as described in claim 6, wherein booting from the second interface occurs after establishing the connection between the burner and the circuit board. A method for processing power-on settings as described in claim 6, wherein the non-volatile memory is one of an electronically erasable programmable read-only memory and a flash memory. A method for processing power-on settings as described in claim 6, wherein the second interface is a universal serial bus interface, and the first interface is one of a reverse interface, a serial peripheral interface, a secure digital interface and an embedded multimedia card interface. A method for processing power-on settings as described in claim 6, wherein the number of bits used by the power-on setting information is related to the number of pins used by a hardware switch, and the non-volatile memory and the hardware switch share a power-on register.

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