Audio control circuit, master device and related control method

Abstract

An audio control circuit, a host device and a related control method are disclosed. The audio control circuit includes a USB interface circuit, a specific interface circuit and a processing circuit. The processing circuit receives a plurality of parameters from a host device through the specific interface circuit, and uses the plurality of parameters to perform an enumeration operation with the host device in an enumeration process with the host device through the USB interface circuit.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

[0001] The present application relates to an audio control circuit with a universal serial bus (USB) interface. BACKGROUND

[0002] In an audio control circuit with a USB interface, there are usually requirements of different customized parameters. Therefore, the audio control circuit is provided with a storage component to store various parameters for use when connected with a host device. However, the storage of various parameters requires a large storage space, which increases the cost of the storage component and the area of the printed circuit board. SUMMARY

[0003] Therefore, one of the objectives of the present application is to provide an audio control circuit which can receive multiple parameters from a host device and use the multiple parameters to perform enumeration operation with the host device, so as to solve the problems in the prior art.

[0004] In an embodiment of the present application, an audio control circuit is disclosed, which comprises a USB interface circuit, a specific interface circuit and a processing circuit. The processing circuit receives multiple parameters from a host device through the specific interface circuit and uses the multiple parameters to perform enumeration operation with the host device during the enumeration process with the host device through the USB interface circuit.

[0005] In another embodiment of the present application, a control method applied to an audio control circuit is disclosed, which comprises the following steps: receiving multiple parameters from a host device through a specific interface circuit; and performing enumeration operation with a host device through a USB interface circuit, wherein the multiple parameters are used to perform enumeration operation with the host device during the enumeration process with the host device through the USB interface circuit.

[0006] In another embodiment of the present application, a host device is disclosed, which comprises a USB interface circuit, a specific interface circuit and a core circuit. When the host device is powered on, the core circuit actively transmits multiple parameters to the audio control circuit through the specific interface circuit, wherein the multiple parameters include the contents required to be transmitted by the audio control circuit to the host device during the subsequent enumeration process with the host device. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0007] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of an electronic device according to an embodiment of the present application.

[0008] Figure 2 A flowchart of a control method according to an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0009] Figure 1 FIG. 1 shows a schematic diagram of an electronic device 100 according to an embodiment of the present application. As shown in FIG. 1, the electronic device 100 includes a main device 110 and an audio control circuit 120, wherein the main device 110 includes a core circuit 112, a USB interface circuit 114, a specific interface circuit 116, and a storage component 118; and the audio control circuit 120 includes a processing circuit 122, a USB interface circuit 124, and a specific interface circuit 126. In this embodiment, the electronic device 100 can be a computer host, a notebook computer, or any other electronic device having a sound playing function, and the audio control circuit 120 is a built-in audio device on a motherboard, i.e., the main device 110 and the audio control circuit 120 are fabricated on a motherboard. Figure 1

[0010] In this embodiment, the storage component 118 can be a flash memory, an electrically-erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), a one time programmable read only memory (OTPROM), or any other type of non-volatile storage component. In this embodiment, the storage component 118 is disposed in the main device 110, and in another embodiment, the storage component 118 can be disposed outside the main device 110.

[0011] In this embodiment, the main device 110 can be a processor chipset in the electronic device 100, which is connected to the USB interface circuit 124 of the audio control circuit 120 through the USB interface circuit 114. The main device 110 transmits audio signals to the processing circuit 122 through the USB interface circuits 114, 124, and the processing circuit 122 performs relevant processing (e.g., coding and decoding processing) on the audio signals to generate output audio signals, which are then played by a loudspeaker 106. The loudspeaker 106 can be an external loudspeaker connected to the electronic device 100, or a built-in loudspeaker in the electronic device 100.

[0012] ​In one embodiment, the particular interface circuit 116 in the host device 110 and the particular interface circuit 126 in the audio control circuit 120 conform to the Inter-Integrated Circuit (I2C) interface specification, the Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) specification, or the Universal Asynchronous Receiver / Transmitter (UART) specification, although the present application is not limited thereto. In other embodiments, the particular interface circuit 116 in the host device 110 and the particular interface circuit 126 in the audio control circuit 120 can conform to any suitable specification as long as they can transmit data to each other.

[0013] With respect to the operation of the electronic device 100, first, when the electronic device 100 is powered on to perform an initialization operation, the core circuit 112 first obtains a plurality of parameters usable by the audio control circuit 120, such as the number of supported configurations, a vendor ID, a product ID, a sample rate, a volume range, and the like, from the storage component 118 before the host device 110 has completely identified the category of the audio control circuit 120, and transmits the plurality of parameters to the audio control circuit 120 through the specific interface circuit 116, and the processing circuit 122 in the audio control circuit 120 receives the plurality of parameters through the specific interface circuit 126. Next, in the enumeration process between the host device 110 and the audio control circuit 120, the audio control circuit 120 can utilize the plurality of parameters to communicate with the host device 110 to complete the related settings. Specifically, in the enumeration process, the host device 110 transmits a USB packet to the audio control circuit 120 through the USB interface circuit 114 and assigns an address; then, the audio control circuit 120 returns the host device 110 to inform that it is a device with audio function through the USB interface circuit 124, and transmits the related information to the host device 110 through the USB interface circuit 124, and these related information includes the plurality of parameters previously received from the host device 110 through the specific interface circuit 126, that is, the number of supported configurations, the vendor ID, the product ID, the sample rate, the volume range, and the like; finally, the host device 110 identifies the category of the audio control circuit 120, transmits a USB audio class (UAC) related packet to the audio control circuit 120, and ends the enumeration process. It should be noted that since those skilled in the art should understand the detailed operation of the enumeration process, and the focus of the present embodiment is that the plurality of parameters used by the audio control circuit 120 in the enumeration process are from the host device 110, the above description only describes the main operation related to the present embodiment in the enumeration process, and other details of the enumeration process are not described here.

[0014] After completing the enumeration operation, the host device 110 can transmit audio data to the audio control circuit 120 through the USB interface circuit 114, so that the processing circuit 122 generates an output audio signal to the loudspeaker 106 for playing.

[0015] In Figure 1In the embodiment of the application, since the host device 110 actively transmits the parameters required by the audio control circuit 120 in the subsequent enumeration process to the audio control circuit 120 through the specific interface circuit 116 when the host device 110 is powered on, the audio control circuit 120 itself can not need to set a storage component to store the above-mentioned parameters, such as the number of supported configurations, the supplier identity, the product identity, the sampling rate, the volume range, and the like, so as to reduce the manufacturing cost of the audio control circuit 120. In addition, since the host device 110 is a processor chipset, it originally has a storage component 118 for storing program codes and other parameters, so that storing the parameters required by the audio control circuit 120 into the storage component 118 does not increase the manufacturing cost too much.

[0016] On the other hand, since the parameters required by the audio control circuit 120 are actively provided by the host device 110 when the host device 110 is powered on, the audio control circuit 120 passively receives the parameters, rather than actively reading them.

[0017] Figure 2 A flowchart of a control method according to an embodiment of the application. Referring to the above-mentioned embodiments, the flow is as follows.

[0018] Step 200: The flow starts.

[0019] Step 202: The host device transmits a plurality of parameters to the audio control circuit.

[0020] Step 204: The host device and the audio control circuit start the enumeration operation.

[0021] Step 206: The audio control circuit uses the parameters to perform the enumeration operation with the host device.

[0022] Step 208: The host device and the audio control circuit complete the enumeration operation.

[0023] Step 210: The host device transmits an audio signal to the audio control circuit through the USB interface circuit, so as to generate an output audio signal to a loudspeaker for playing.

[0024] Briefly summarized, in the audio control circuit, the host device, and the related control method of the application, the audio control circuit receives a plurality of parameters from the host device through a specific interface circuit during the power-on process, so as to use the parameters in the subsequent enumeration operation with the host device through a USB interface circuit. Therefore, since the parameters required by the audio control circuit during the enumeration process are provided by the host device, the audio control circuit can not need to set a storage component to store these parameters, so as to reduce the manufacturing cost of the audio control circuit.

[0025] The above merely describes preferred embodiments of the present application, and any equivalent changes and modifications made within the scope of the present application should be included in the scope of the present application.

[0026] SYMBOL DESCRIPTION

[0027] 100: electronic device

[0028] 106: speaker

[0029] 110: main device

[0030] 112: core circuit

[0031] 114: USB interface circuit

[0032] 116: specific interface circuit

[0033] 118: storage component

[0034] 120: audio control circuit

[0035] 122: processing circuit

[0036] 124: USB interface circuit

[0037] 126: specific interface circuit

[0038] 200-210: steps

Claims

1. An audio control circuit, comprising: a universal serial bus (USB) interface circuit for connecting to a host device; a specific interface circuit for connecting to the host device; and a processing circuit coupled to the USB interface circuit and the specific interface circuit, wherein the processing circuit receives a plurality of parameters from the host device through the specific interface circuit and uses the plurality of parameters to perform enumeration operation with the host device during an enumeration process with the host device through the USB interface circuit, wherein the processing circuit passively receives the plurality of parameters from the host device through the specific interface circuit after the audio control circuit is powered on and before the host device recognizes the audio control circuit.

2. The audio control circuit of claim 1, wherein the plurality of parameters comprises at least one of a number of supported configurations, a vendor identity, a product identity, a sampling rate, and a volume range, and the processing circuit transmits contents of the plurality of parameters to the host device to perform enumeration operation during the enumeration process with the host device through the USB interface circuit.

3. The audio control circuit of claim 1, wherein the specific interface circuit complies with an integrated bus circuit interface specification.

4. The audio control circuit of claim 1, wherein the specific interface circuit complies with a serial peripheral interface specification.

5. The audio control circuit of claim 1, wherein the specific interface circuit complies with a universal asynchronous receiver transmitter specification.

6. A control method applied to an audio control circuit, comprising: receiving a plurality of parameters from a host device through a specific interface circuit; and performing enumeration operation with a host device through a universal serial bus (USB) interface circuit, wherein the plurality of parameters are used to perform enumeration operation with the host device during an enumeration process with the host device through the USB interface circuit, wherein the plurality of parameters are passively received from the host device through the specific interface circuit after the audio control circuit is powered on and before the host device recognizes the audio control circuit.

7. The control method of claim 6, wherein the plurality of parameters comprises at least one of a number of supported configurations, a vendor identity, a product identity, a sampling rate, and a volume range, and the step of using the plurality of parameters to perform enumeration operation with the host device during the enumeration process with the host device through the USB interface circuit comprises: transmitting contents of the plurality of parameters to the host device to perform enumeration operation during the enumeration process with the host device through the USB interface circuit.

8. The control method of claim 6, wherein the specific interface circuit complies with an integrated bus circuit interface specification, a serial peripheral interface specification, or a universal asynchronous receiver transmitter specification.

9. A host device, comprising: a universal serial bus (USB) interface circuit for connecting to an audio control circuit; a specific interface circuit for connecting to the audio control circuit; and a processing circuit coupled to the USB interface circuit and the specific interface circuit, wherein the processing circuit receives a plurality of parameters from the audio control circuit through the specific interface circuit and uses the plurality of parameters to perform enumeration operation with the audio control circuit during an enumeration process with the audio control circuit through the USB interface circuit, wherein the processing circuit passively receives the plurality of parameters from the audio control circuit through the specific interface circuit after the host device is powered on and before the host device recognizes the audio control circuit. a core circuit coupled to the USB interface circuit and the specific interface circuit, wherein the core circuit actively transmits a plurality of parameters to the audio control circuit through the specific interface circuit when the host device is powered on, wherein the plurality of parameters include contents that the audio control circuit needs to transmit to the host device in a subsequent enumeration process between the audio control circuit and the host device, the audio control circuit includes: a USB interface circuit for connecting to a host device; a specific interface circuit for connecting to the host device; a processing circuit coupled to the USB interface circuit of the audio control circuit and the specific interface circuit of the audio control circuit, wherein the processing circuit receives a plurality of parameters from the host device through the specific interface circuit of the audio control circuit, and uses the plurality of parameters to perform an enumeration operation with the host device in an enumeration process between the audio control circuit and the host device through the USB interface circuit, wherein the processing circuit passively receives the plurality of parameters from the host device through the specific interface circuit when the audio control circuit is powered on and the host device has not yet recognized the audio control circuit.

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