Control circuit, method and electronic device

Abstract

The present application relates to the field of computer technology, and in particular to a control circuit, method and electronic device. The control circuit includes a first circuit board and a second circuit board, wherein the first circuit board includes a first chip, and the second circuit board includes M first devices; and the first chip includes a first chip interface, the first chip interface can transmit data to the M first devices based on a first transmission protocol, and the first chip interface can transmit multiple types of data to the first device D1 among the M first devices. Based on this, the first chip of the first circuit board can control multiple devices of the second circuit board using a small amount of through-axis connecting wires, thereby avoiding the problem that the interface of the main board is increasingly unable to meet the connection requirements of the devices between the main board and the sub-board.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present application relates to the field of computer technology, and in particular to a control circuit, method and electronic device. Background Art

[0002] Typically, a folding machine includes a main board and a sub-board, and the various devices on the main board can be transmitted to the various devices on the sub-board through a through-axis connecting line. For example, the main control chip on the main board and various peripherals on the sub-board of the folding machine (for example, sensors, speakers, cameras, fast charging chips and other external devices) will transmit general-purpose input / output (GPIO) control signals through a through-axis connecting line. For another example, the power management chip on the main board of the folding machine will provide power signals to various peripherals on the sub-board through a through-axis connecting line.

[0003] With the development of folding machines, there are more and more circuits on the sub-board, resulting in more and more through-axis connecting wires between the main board and the sub-board. However, since the number of interfaces that can support through-axis connecting wires in folding machines is limited, the interfaces on the main board are increasingly unable to meet the connection requirements of devices between the main board and the sub-board. Summary of the invention

[0004] In order to solve the above problems, the present application provides a control circuit, method and electronic device.

[0005] In a first aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a control circuit, which includes a first circuit board and a second circuit board, wherein the first circuit board includes a first chip, and the second circuit board includes M first devices; and the first chip includes a first chip interface, the first chip interface can transmit data to the M first devices based on a first transmission protocol, and the first chip interface can transmit multiple types of data to a first device D1 among the M first devices; M is an integer greater than 1.

[0006] It can be understood that the data transmitted between the first chip interface of the first chip of the first circuit board (for example, the main board of the folding machine) and the M first devices of the second circuit board (for example, the sub-board of the folding machine) are based on a first transmission protocol that can support the transmission of multiple types of data, that is, the first transmission protocol supports data transmission with multiple functions, avoiding the problem that the first chip on the first circuit board and each first device on the second circuit board need to provide an interface (each interface requires at least one through-axis connecting wire to be connected) to connect with the first device when each time data of a function is transmitted, resulting in insufficient number of interfaces on the first chip and large area occupied by through-axis connecting wires.

[0007] In a possible implementation of the first aspect above, it also includes a second chip located on a second circuit board, the second chip includes a second chip interface and a third chip interface; wherein the second chip interface is connected to the first chip interface of the first chip, and the second chip interface supports the first transmission protocol; the third chip interface is connected to the first device D1, wherein the interface type of the third chip interface is different from that of the first chip interface.

[0008] It can be understood that a second chip can be used on the second circuit board to switch and control the first chip on the first circuit board and the first devices on the second circuit board, so that some first devices on the second circuit board that do not support the first transmission protocol can also communicate with the first chip.

[0009] In a possible implementation of the first aspect above, the first transmission protocol includes at least one of a system power management interface protocol and a low power inter-chip serial media bus protocol.

[0010] In a possible implementation of the first aspect above, a first chip interface of a first chip on a first circuit board is connected to a second chip interface of a second chip on a second circuit board through a first through-axis connecting line and a second through-axis connecting line.

[0011] In a possible implementation of the first aspect, the second chip is used to convert first data received from the second chip interface into second data supported for transmission by the third chip interface, and send the second data to the first device D1 through the third chip interface.

[0012] In a possible implementation of the first aspect above, the second chip also includes a fourth chip interface, which is connected to the first device D2 among the M first devices, wherein the interface type of the fourth chip interface is different from the interface type of the first chip interface and the interface type of the third chip interface; and the second chip is used to: convert the third data received from the second chip interface into fourth data supported for transmission by the fourth chip interface, and send the fourth data to the first device D2 through the fourth chip interface.

[0013] In a possible implementation of the first aspect above, the third chip interface and the fourth chip interface include at least one of the following: an integrated circuit protocol interface, a serial peripheral interface, an integrated circuit built-in audio bus protocol interface, an interrupt interface, a reset interface, and a voltage interface.

[0014] In a possible implementation of the first aspect above, the second chip is a charging chip, and the second chip is also connected to N second devices on the second circuit board, where the N second devices include a battery and a system power supply unit.

[0015] The charging chip can be used as the second chip, that is, the charging chip has the control function of each first device in addition to the original charging function. At this time, the resources on the second circuit board are fully utilized, and there is no need to use an additional chip for peripheral control, which saves the number of connecting wires on the sub-board and saves space resources on the sub-board.

[0016] In a possible implementation of the first aspect above, a third chip is further included on the second circuit board, and the third chip is used to supply power to the M first devices.

[0017] In a possible implementation of the first aspect above, the third chip has a fifth chip interface, the fifth chip interface supports the first transmission protocol, and the third chip is connected to the first chip interface through the fifth chip interface, and the third chip controls the power supply to M first devices according to the fifth data received from the fifth chip interface.

[0018] It can be understood that setting the third chip that supports the first transmission protocol and needs to power the M first devices on the second circuit board on the first circuit board greatly reduces the number of through-axis connecting wires that were originally needed to connect the third chip with the M first devices.

[0019] In a second aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides a control method, which is applied to a control circuit, wherein the control circuit includes a first circuit board and a second circuit board, wherein the first circuit board includes a first chip, and the second circuit board includes M first devices; and the first chip includes a first chip interface; the method includes, the first chip interface transmitting data to the M first devices based on a first transmission protocol, wherein the first chip interface is capable of transmitting multiple types of data to a first device D1 among the M first devices.

[0020] In a third aspect, an embodiment of the present application provides an electronic device, comprising a control circuit as described in the first aspect and any one of the various possible implementations of the first aspect.

[0021] In a possible implementation of the third aspect above, the electronic device is a foldable electronic device. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0022] Figure 1 According to some embodiments of the present application, a schematic diagram of a folding machine 100 in which a main board and a sub-board are connected via a through-shaft connecting line is shown;

[0023] Figure 2A According to some embodiments of the present application, a schematic diagram of a control circuit in which a main control chip 01 on a main board and a secondary control chip 11 on a secondary board in a folding machine 100 are connected via a through-axis connecting line is shown;

[0024] Figure 2BAccording to some embodiments of the present application, a schematic diagram of a control circuit in which a main control chip 01 on a main board and a charging chip 03 on a sub-board are connected via a through-axis connecting line in another folding machine 100 is shown;

[0025] Figure 3 According to some embodiments of the present application, a schematic diagram of a software module located on the main control chip 01 and hardware modules arranged on the secondary board in a folding machine 100 when a charging chip is used as a secondary control chip is shown;

[0026] Figure 4 According to some embodiments of the present application, a schematic diagram of a process of controlling the operation of a secondary control chip by a system (software system) of a folding machine 100 is shown;

[0027] Figure 5 According to some embodiments of the present application, a schematic diagram of a control circuit in a folding machine 100 is shown;

[0028] Figure 6 According to some embodiments of the present application, another schematic diagram of a control circuit in a folding machine 100 is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0029] Illustrative embodiments of the present application include, but are not limited to, a control circuit, a method, and an electronic device.

[0030] A detailed introduction is given below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0031] Figure 1 According to an embodiment of the present application, a connection between a main board and a sub-board in a folding machine 100 through a through-axis connecting line is shown. As shown in the figure, the folding machine 100 includes a main board, a sub-board, and a folding axis. The main board includes a main control chip 01, a power management chip 02, a power management unit (Power Management Unit, PMU) 00, etc. There are various peripherals on the sub-board. For example, Figure 1 The various peripherals shown in the figure include audio equipment, display equipment, first charging equipment (for example, audio, sensor and other specific charging equipment) and sensor equipment, charging chip 03 (for example, battery charging equipment or auxiliary board system power supply equipment), etc. It can be understood that the main board and auxiliary board of the folding machine 100 also include other devices. For example, the main control chip 01 can also include other multiple or multiple power management chips, which are used to assume different functions, which will not be described here.

[0032] Specifically, the main control chip 01 on the main board can control and manage the folding machine 100 as a whole. The main control chip 01 on the main board communicates with the peripherals on the sub-board through multiple interfaces and corresponding multi-channel through-axis connecting lines. For example, the main control chip 01 provides 7 interfaces to use 7 through-axis connecting lines to realize 7-way GPIO control with the audio device; provides 4 interfaces to realize 4-way GPIO control with the display device through 4 through-axis connecting lines; provides 5 interfaces to realize 5-way GPIO control with the first charging device through 5 through-axis connecting lines; and provides 5 interfaces to realize 5-way GPIO control with the sensor device through 5 through-axis connecting lines, etc. In addition, multiple through-axis connecting lines are required between the main control chip 01 on the main board and the charging chip 03 on the sub-board for signal transmission. For example, the main control chip 01 on the main board provides three interfaces to communicate with the charging chip 03, wherein the main control chip 01 provides an integrated circuit (Inter-Integrated Circuit, IIC, also known as I2C) interface, using two through-axis connecting wires to support I2C protocol transmission, and the main control chip 01 on the main board also provides an interrupt (Interrupt, INT) interface and a reset (Reset, RST) interface respectively through a through-axis connecting wire to realize the interrupt and reset functions with the charging chip 03 on the sub-board, thereby realizing the charging chip 03 to charge the battery or the system power supply unit. It can be understood that the GPIO interface can provide GPIO control function, reset function, interrupt function, I2C function, etc., but each GPIO control can only realize one function. For the convenience of understanding, when the GPIO interface provides the corresponding function, it is used as the corresponding function interface. For example, when the GPIO interface provides GPIO control, it is used as the GPIO control interface; when the GPIO interface provides the reset function, the GPIO interface is the reset interface.

[0033] Understandably, with the development of folding machines, there are more and more circuits on the sub-boards, resulting in more and more through-axis connecting wires between the main board and the sub-board. The I2C protocol and GPIO protocol mentioned above cannot integrate interrupt and reset functions, and when transmitting, the main control chip on the main board needs at least one interface to realize each function, and each interface requires at least one through-axis connecting wire. Therefore, the main board needs to provide more interfaces, and more through-axis connecting wires are needed between the main and sub-boards. For example, Figure 1 As the types and number of peripherals in the computer increase, more through-axis connecting wires are needed between the main control chip 01 on the main board and the peripherals to provide signal transmission. However, since the area of ​​through-axis connecting wires that can be supported in the folding machine and the number of interfaces on the main control chip are limited, the interfaces on the main board are increasingly unable to meet the connection requirements of the devices between the main board and the sub-board.

[0034] To this end, the present application proposes a technical solution, which adopts a protocol that can integrate multiple functions to connect the main control chip on the main board with multiple peripherals on the sub-board. For example, the System Power Management Interface (SPMI) protocol that can integrate interrupt and reset functions is adopted to realize the connection between the main control chip on the main board and multiple peripherals on the sub-board, thereby reducing the number of connecting wires for transmitting interrupt signals and reset signals to multiple peripherals on the sub-board, and making it possible to connect to more peripherals on the sub-board while providing a smaller number of interfaces on the main control chip, thereby reducing the use of pins on the chip.

[0035] In some embodiments, a secondary control chip can be used on the secondary board to transfer and control the main control chip 01 on the main board and the peripherals on the secondary board, so that some peripherals on the secondary board that do not support the SPMI protocol can also communicate with the main control chip 01. It can be understood that the main control chip only needs to provide one SPMI interface to communicate with the secondary board. Since the SPMI interface only needs two signal connection lines for communication, the main board and the secondary board can be connected through only two through-axis connection lines, and the main control chip on the main board only needs to provide one SPMI interface to support data communication, interruption and reset of peripherals on multiple secondary boards.

[0036] For example, Figure 2AIn the control circuit schematic diagram shown, the secondary control chip 11 on the secondary board is connected to the main control chip 01 on the main board by using the SPMI interface supporting the SPMI protocol, and then the secondary control chip 11 is connected to multiple peripherals, for example, the secondary control chip 11 is connected to the audio device, display device, sensor device and charging device shown in the figure. After the main control chip 01 communicates and transmits with the secondary control chip 11 through the SPMI interface supporting the SPMI protocol transmission, the secondary control chip 11 controls the peripherals according to the received SPMI data. For example, the relevant control content of the peripherals supporting GPIO control can be obtained according to the SPMI data. For example, the secondary control chip 11 converts the SPMI data into GPIO control data, and the secondary control chip 11 uses the GPIO control interface supporting GPIO control data transmission to transmit with the GPIO control interface on the corresponding peripheral, thereby realizing the control of multiple peripherals such as audio devices, display devices, sensor devices and charging devices supporting GPIO control. It is understandable that when the secondary control chip 11 performs reset control on each peripheral that does not support the SPMI protocol, for each peripheral, the secondary control chip 11 also needs to provide a reset interface to provide reset control to the corresponding peripheral, and the secondary control chip 11 also needs to provide an interrupt interface to communicate interrupt signals with the corresponding peripheral. It is understandable that only two through-axis connecting wires are needed between the main control chip 01 on the main board and the secondary control chip 11 on the secondary board to support data transmission of multiple functions, thereby saving the area occupied by the through-axis connecting wires and the number of interfaces of the main control chip.

[0037] It is understandable that in some implementations, the charging chip can be used as a secondary control chip, and the charging chip can integrate the control function of the main control chip on various peripherals on the original charging function, and be used as a transfer control between the main control chip and various peripherals, thereby saving the number of connection lines on the secondary board. It is understandable that the charging chip in this application can provide a charging function, for example, to provide a charging function for the battery and the system power supply unit, so after the peripheral control function is integrated, it can also control multiple peripherals after receiving the control content transmitted by the main control chip using the SPMI protocol. At this time, the resources on the secondary board are fully utilized, and there is no need to use additional chips for peripheral control, saving space resources on the secondary board.

[0038] Continue to refer Figure 1 The main control chip 01 on the mainboard uses the SPMI protocol to communicate with the power management chip 02 and the power management unit 00. Figure 1 As shown, the main control chip 01 on the main board provides an SPMI0 interface to connect with the power management chip 02 and the power management unit 00. The power management chip 02 is used to provide multiple power signals to the peripherals on the sub-board. Figure 1The power management chip 02 shown in the figure provides 7 power signals to the peripherals on the secondary board. It can be understood that since the main board and the secondary board support SPMI protocol transmission, the power management chip 02 originally set on the main board for providing multiple power signals to the peripherals on the secondary board can be set on the secondary board, thereby avoiding the need for the power management chip 02 to use a through-axis connecting line to provide power signals to the peripherals on the secondary board, and reducing the number of dedicated pins used on the main board.

[0039] For example, Figure 2B According to some embodiments of the present application, a schematic diagram of a control circuit in which a charging chip is used as a secondary control chip to perform switching control on a folding machine 100 is shown. Figure 2B As shown, the main control chip 01 on the main board provides an SPMI0 interface to connect with various devices on the main board (for example, the power management unit 00 and other more devices), and also provides an SPMI1 interface to connect with the devices on the sub-board through two through-axis connecting wires. Among them, the SPMI1 interface of the main control chip 01 is connected with the interface supporting SPMI transmission (i.e., SPMI interface) of the power management chip 02 originally set on the main board and set on the sub-board, and the interface supporting SPMI transmission (i.e., SPMI interface) of the charging chip 03 with integrated peripheral control function.

[0040] Specifically, the SPMI1 interface on the main control chip 01 provides two through-axes to connect to the sub-board, and is mounted with a power management chip 02, a charging chip 03, etc. The power management chip 02 is used to provide multiple power signals to the peripherals 06. For example, an SPMI interface of the power management chip 02 is connected to the SPMI1 interface of the main control chip 01, and the power management chip 02 controls 7 power signals to supply power to each peripheral according to the SPMI data received from the main control chip 01 by the SPMI interface. For example, the power management chip 02 can be controlled to supply power to the camera, etc.

[0041] The charging chip 03 includes a three-party charging unit 031 and a peripheral control unit 032. The three-party charging unit 031 in the charging chip 03 can be used for charging. For example, the three-party charging unit 031 can be adapted to the charger, so that the voltage interface on the charging chip 03 uses the connecting line to charge the battery 04 on the sub-board and the system power supply unit 05. Among them, the three-party charging unit 031 in the charging chip 03 controls the charging of the battery 04 and the system power supply unit 05 according to the charging control content transmitted by the main control chip 01 through the SPMI protocol. The peripheral control unit 032 in the charging chip 03 can be used to generate the supported peripheral control data according to the SPMI data, and use the corresponding peripheral control interface to transmit the corresponding control data to control the connected peripheral 06. For example, the main control chip 01 transmits SPMI data with the charging chip 03 through the SPMI1 interface, and the SPMI data includes the control content of the display device. The peripheral control unit 032 in the charging chip 03 converts the received SPMI data into GPIO control data, and transmits the GPIO control data to the display device supporting GPIO control via the GPIO control interface, so that the display device operates.

[0042] Understandably, Figure 2B With the above Figure 1 Compared with the previous 21 GPIO control through-axis connecting wires, 2 I2C through-axis connecting wires, 1 INT signal through-axis connecting wire and 1 RST signal through-axis connecting wire, are reduced to 2 SPMI protocol through-axis connecting wires. In addition, the use of Figure 1 The seven through-axis connecting wires required for transmitting power signals of the power management chip 02 shown in the figure greatly reduce the number of through-axis connecting wires used, save the number of main control chip interfaces, and further reduce the number of pins used.

[0043] It is understandable that in other embodiments, in addition to supporting the GPIO functions mentioned above, the SPMI protocol can also support other functions, for example, support the transmission function corresponding to the Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) protocol and the Inter-IC Sound (I2S) protocol. Correspondingly, the secondary control chip can also convert SPMI data into I2S data, SPI data, etc., and use the corresponding I2S interface, SPI interface, etc. to control peripherals that support I2S and SPI protocols.

[0044] It can be understood that in addition to using the SPMI protocol mentioned above to support transmission between the main board and the sub-board, (Serial Low-Power Inter-Chip Media Bus, SLIMBUS) can also be used to support transmission between the main board and the sub-board, which will not be repeated here.

[0045] It can be understood that the sensor devices in the above-mentioned peripherals may specifically include pressure sensors, gyroscope sensors, air pressure sensors, fingerprint sensors, temperature sensors, cameras, etc., which will not be elaborated here. Display devices may include organic light-emitting diodes (OLED), liquid crystal displays (LCD), active-matrix organic light-emitting diodes or active-matrix organic light-emitting diodes (AMOLED), flexible light-emitting diodes (FLED), quantum dot light-emitting diodes (QLED), etc., which will not be elaborated here. Audio devices may include speakers, microphones, smart power amplifiers (Smart PA) receivers, etc., which will not be elaborated here. Charging devices may include audio fast charging chips, etc., which will not be elaborated here.

[0046] The control scheme mentioned in the present application can be applied to the folding machine 100 mentioned above, and can also include but not limited to mobile phones, tablet computers, vehicle-mounted equipment, augmented reality (AR) / virtual reality (VR) equipment, ultra-mobile personal computers (UMPC), netbooks, servers and other electronic devices, and the present invention does not make any limitation here.

[0047] It can be understood that in some embodiments, the software structure of the folding machine 100 is a multi-layer structure, which includes an application layer, a framework layer, and a kernel layer from top to bottom. The application layer may include a series of application packages. The framework layer provides an application programming interface (API) and a programming framework for the application of the application layer, and the application framework layer includes some predefined functions. The kernel layer provides the underlying control for various hardware of the folding machine 100.

[0048] It can be understood that in some embodiments, a specific software module can be constructed to receive relevant instructions of the software module corresponding to the peripheral connected to the secondary control chip, and transmit the SPMI interface on the driving main control chip and the interface supporting the SPMI protocol (i.e., SPMI interface) on the secondary control chip according to the relevant instructions, so that the secondary control chip controls each peripheral according to the received SPMI data. For example, the constructed specific software module can support the implementation of transmission functions such as GPIO, SPI, I2S data, realize charging functions, etc., thereby driving the SPMI interface to transmit SPMI data, wherein the SPMI data includes peripheral control content that can support corresponding types of data.

[0049] It can be understood that in order to avoid the situation where the main and sub-boards can still use the SPMI protocol for transmission when the electronic device is in sleep mode, the constructed specific software module can be set in the system that is still running when the electronic device is in sleep mode. For example, the constructed specific software module can be set in the Always On Processor (AOP) subsystem, so that the main control chip can use the sub-control chip to control various peripherals.

[0050] For ease of understanding, Figure 3 According to some embodiments of the present application, a schematic diagram of the software modules located on the main control chip 01 and the hardware modules set on the secondary board in the folding machine 100 is shown when the charging chip is used as the secondary control chip. Figure 3 The software modules located on the main control chip 01 shown in FIG. 1 correspond to the kernel layer in the folder 100 .

[0051] like Figure 3 As shown, each software module in the kernel layer 30 can provide bottom-level control for the SPMI interface 306 on the main board and various hardware devices (such as peripherals, etc.) on the secondary board. The secondary board includes a power management chip 02, a charging chip 03, a battery 04, a system power supply unit 05, and various peripherals 06. Among them, the peripherals 06 may include a display device, a sensor device, a first charging device, an audio device, a display device, etc. Among them, the charging chip 03 also includes a three-party charging unit 031 and a peripheral control unit 032, which are respectively used to provide a charging function and a peripheral control function.

[0052] Wherein, the kernel layer 30 includes a display module 301, an audio module 302, a sensor module 303, a charging module 304 and an AOP subsystem 305. Wherein, the display module 301, the audio module 302, the sensor module 303, the charging module 304 and the AOP subsystem 305 can be located on the main control chip of the main board, so as to control the SPMI interface on the main control chip. Wherein, the AOP subsystem 305 includes various functional modules for driving the SPMI interface to transmit corresponding content using the SPMI protocol, so as to realize the control of various peripherals on the secondary board. And, the AOP subsystem 305 is described as an example of having a GPIO control function for peripherals.

[0053] In some embodiments, the AOP subsystem 305 has an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) reading control function module 305a, a GPIO function module 305b, a charging control function module 305c, etc. The ADC reading control function module 305a is used to generate control instructions for implementing the analog-to-digital converter, and the GPIO function module 305b is used to generate control instructions related to the specific functions provided by the GPIO, and specifically can generate GPIO control instructions, reset control instructions, interrupt control instructions, etc. The charging control function module 305c is used to generate control instructions for implementing the charging function, and specifically can generate a control signal for the charging function of the three-party charging unit 031 in the secondary board. It can be understood that the ADC reading control function module 305a, the GPIO function module 305b and the charging control function module 305c can all control the SPMI interface 306, so that the SPMI interface 306 and the secondary board perform SPMI protocol transmission.

[0054] In addition, the functions of the display module 301 , the audio module 302 , the sensor module 303 and the three-party charging module 304 are introduced as follows.

[0055] The display module 301 is used to control the display device. In some embodiments of the present application, the display module 301 includes a driving module for each display screen device, which can be used to drive each display screen device in the display device with the help of the AOP subsystem 305. For example, the display module 301 includes a driving module corresponding to an organic light emitting diode, thereby driving the OLED to emit light.

[0056] The audio module 302 is used to control the operation of the audio device. In some embodiments of the present application, the audio module 302 includes driver modules for various audio devices, which can be used to drive the audio device to work with the help of the AOP subsystem 305. For example, the audio module 302 includes an audio chip driver module, a speaker driver module, a microphone driver module, etc., which are used to drive the audio chip, speaker, microphone, etc.

[0057] The sensor module 303 is used to control the operation of the sensor. In some embodiments of the present application, the sensor module 303 includes a driver module for each sensor, which can be used to drive the corresponding sensor in the sensor device to operate with the help of the AOP subsystem 305. For example, the sensor module 303 includes a pressure sensor driver module, a gyroscope sensor driver module, an air pressure sensor driver module, a fingerprint sensor driver module, a temperature sensor driver module, etc., which are respectively used to drive the pressure sensor, gyroscope sensor, air pressure sensor, fingerprint sensor, temperature sensor and other sensors to operate.

[0058] The charging module 304 is used to control the three-party charging unit 031 in the charging chip 03 and control the first charging device in the peripheral device 06 .

[0059] Specifically, in some embodiments, the display module 301, the audio module 302, the sensor module 303, and the charging module 304 can respectively call the ADC reading control function module 305a, the GPIO function module 305b, etc. in the AOP subsystem 305 to control the corresponding display device, audio device, sensor device, and first charging device. In addition, the charging module 304 can also send relevant instructions to the charging control function module 305c to drive the control of the three-party charging unit 031, so that the charging control function module 305c communicates with the three-party charging unit 031 using the SPMI interface 306, thereby enabling the battery 04 or the system power supply unit 05 to work.

[0060] Understandably, Figure 3 The specific situation of the software module located on the main board of the folding machine 100 for supporting the connection scheme and the specific structural situation of the hardware on the corresponding sub-board are only examples. In some other embodiments, more software modules and hardware situations may be included, and no specific requirements are made here.

[0061] Figure 4 According to some embodiments of the present application, a schematic diagram of the SPMI protocol transmission control process is provided, in which the peripheral software module in the system (software system) of the folding machine 100 calls each functional module corresponding to the driving SPMI interface in the AOP subsystem, so that the SPMI interface on the main control chip in the main board transmits various control signals to the secondary control chip on the secondary board using the SPMI protocol, and the secondary control chip controls various peripherals according to the control signals. The specific process is as follows:

[0062] S401, the peripheral software module in the folding machine 100 system generates corresponding control instructions using the corresponding functional module in the AOP subsystem.

[0063] It can be understood that in some embodiments, the peripheral software module may include software modules corresponding to various peripherals connected to the secondary control chip on the secondary board, for example, Figure 3 The display module 301, audio module 302, sensor module 303, charging module 304, etc. shown in FIG. The corresponding functional modules in the AOP subsystem include: Figure 3 The ADC reading control function module 305a, the GPIO function module 305b, and the charging control function module 305c are shown.

[0064] For example, Figure 3 It is shown that the display module 301 needs to control the reset of the display device. At this time, the display module 301 calls the GPIO function module 305b in the AOP subsystem 305, and then generates a reset instruction corresponding to the display device on the sub-board. It can be understood that a GPIO can provide one of multiple functions such as GPIO control, interruption, reset, etc.

[0065] For example, Figure 3 FIG. 3 shows that the audio module 302 calls the GPIO function module 305 b in the AOP subsystem 305 , and then generates a GPIO control instruction corresponding to the audio module device on the secondary board.

[0066] For another example, when the folding machine 100 is turned on, the AOP subsystem will load the charging management function, so that the power system of the folding machine 100 starts to work. When it is necessary to control the battery 04 in the charging chip 03 and the system power supply unit 05, Figure 3 FIG. 3 shows that the charging module 304 sends control instructions related to driving the three-party charging unit 031 to the charging control function module 305c in the AOP subsystem 305 using the SPMI interface.

[0067] S402, the AOP subsystem in the folder 100 drives the SPMI interface to transmit control content to the auxiliary control chip using the SPMI protocol according to the control instruction.

[0068] For example, the AOP subsystem transmits SPMI data to the charging chip 03 according to the driving SPMI interface to perform continuous control of charging.

[0069] For example, the AOP subsystem drives the SPMI interface to transmit SPMI data to the charging chip 03 according to the GPIO control instruction, wherein the SPMI data includes content for controlling the audio device, and wherein the content for controlling the audio device includes information on GPIO control.

[0070] For another example, the AOP subsystem drives the SPMI interface to transmit SPMI data to the charging chip 03 according to control instructions related to driving the three-party charging unit 031, wherein the SPMI data includes the control content of the three-party charging unit 031, wherein the control content of the three-party charging unit 031 includes the content of controlling the battery 04 or the system power supply unit 05.

[0071] S403, the auxiliary control chip of the folding machine 100 controls the corresponding peripheral device according to the control content in the received SPMI data.

[0072] For example, the peripheral control unit 032 in the secondary control chip converts the SPMI data into reset data according to the received SPMI data, and controls the display device to reset.

[0073] For example, the peripheral control unit 032 in the auxiliary control chip converts the SPMI data into GPIO control data according to the received SPMI data, transmits the data to the audio device, and controls the operation of the audio device.

[0074] For another example, the three-party charging unit 031 in the auxiliary control chip charges the battery 04 or the system power supply unit 05 according to the content of the control battery 04 or the system power supply unit 05 in the received SPMI data.

[0075] It can be understood that the execution order of the above steps S401 to S403 is only an illustration. In other embodiments, other execution orders may be adopted, and some steps may be split or combined, which is not limited here.

[0076] At this time, when the peripheral software module is used to control the peripherals on the secondary board, the corresponding peripheral software module uses the functional module corresponding to the SPMI interface in the AOP subsystem to drive the SPMI interface to communicate and interact with the corresponding peripherals on the secondary board. When a peripheral generates an interrupt, the secondary control chip will transmit the interrupt signal to the SPMI interface, and the AOP subsystem corresponding to the SPMI interface obtains the peripheral software module corresponding to the specific peripheral that generates the interrupt from the interrupt configuration table according to the interrupt identity code (ID) of the peripheral that generates the interrupt in the interrupt signal, thereby accessing the corresponding peripheral software module. The peripheral software module responds to the interrupt, transmits the response data to the secondary control chip using the SPMI interface, and then controls the corresponding peripheral that generates the interrupt through the secondary control chip to perform subsequent operations.

[0077] It can be understood that in other embodiments, since the SPMI protocol supports transmission of multiple devices, the through-axis connecting line for SPMI protocol transmission between the main control chip and the sub-control chip on the mainboard can be mounted with, in addition to the power management chip 02 mentioned above, multiple other types of charging chips, or other SPMI expansion chips, so as to save through-axis connecting lines as much as possible.

[0078] For example, Figure 5 As shown, when the charging chip 03 is used as the secondary control chip to control peripherals, the SPMI expansion chip 07 and other charging chips 08 can use the same through-axis connection line as the charging chip 03 to perform SPMI protocol transmission with the main control chip 01. It can be understood that the SPMI expansion chip 07 can also be mounted with motors, indicators, cameras, display screens, etc.

[0079] It is understandable that when the charging device, sensor device, display device, audio device and other peripherals on the sub-board can support SPMI or SLIMBUS protocol, the charging device, sensor device, display device, audio device and other peripherals can be directly connected in parallel with the main control chip 01 on the main board, and the parallel end is on the sub-board. At this time, the through-axis connection line still only needs 2 through-axis connections to enable the main control chip 01 to communicate with multiple peripherals. For example, Figure 6 As shown, the main control chip 01 and the charging device, sensor device, display device, audio device and other devices on the sub-board transmit through the SPMI protocol, and the charging device, sensor device, display device and audio device can be connected in parallel to the same SPMI interface of the main control chip 01 that supports the SPMI protocol.

[0080] The various embodiments of the mechanism disclosed in the present application can be implemented in hardware, software, firmware or a combination of these implementation methods. The embodiments of the present application can be implemented as a computer program or program code executed on a programmable system, which includes at least one processor, a storage system (including volatile and non-volatile memory and / or storage elements), at least one input device and at least one output device.

[0081] Program code can be applied to input instructions to perform the functions described in this application and generate output information. The output information can be applied to one or more output devices in a known manner. For the purposes of this application, a processing system includes any system having a processor such as, for example, a digital signal processor (DSP), a microcontroller, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or a microprocessor.

[0082] Program code can be implemented with high-level programming language or object-oriented programming language to communicate with the processing system. When necessary, program code can also be implemented with assembly language or machine language. In fact, the mechanism described in this application is not limited to the scope of any specific programming language. In either case, the language can be a compiled language or an interpreted language.

[0083] In some cases, the disclosed embodiments may be implemented in hardware, firmware, software, or any combination thereof. The disclosed embodiments may also be implemented as instructions carried or stored on one or more temporary or non-temporary machine-readable (e.g., computer-readable) storage media, which may be read and executed by one or more processors. For example, instructions may be distributed over a network or through other computer-readable media. Therefore, machine-readable media may include any mechanism for storing or transmitting information in a machine (e.g., computer) readable form, including, but not limited to, floppy disks, optical disks, optical disks, read-only memories (CD-ROMs), magneto-optical disks, read-only memories (ROMs), random access memories (RAMs), erasable programmable read-only memories (EPROMs), electrically erasable programmable read-only memories (EEPROMs), magnetic or optical cards, flash memory, or a tangible machine-readable memory for transmitting information (e.g., carrier waves, infrared signals, digital signals, etc.) using the Internet in electrical, optical, acoustic, or other forms of propagation signals. Therefore, machine-readable media include any type of machine-readable media suitable for storing or transmitting electronic instructions or information in a machine (e.g., computer) readable form.

[0084] In the accompanying drawings, some structural or method features may be shown in a specific arrangement and / or order. However, it should be understood that such a specific arrangement and / or order may not be required. Instead, in some embodiments, these features may be arranged in a manner and / or order different from that shown in the illustrative drawings. In addition, the inclusion of structural or method features in a particular figure does not mean that such features are required in all embodiments, and in some embodiments, these features may not be included or may be combined with other features.

[0085] It should be noted that the units / modules mentioned in the various device embodiments of the present application are all logical units / modules. Physically, a logical unit / module can be a physical unit / module, or a part of a physical unit / module, or can be implemented as a combination of multiple physical units / modules. The physical implementation method of these logical units / modules themselves is not the most important. The combination of functions implemented by these logical units / modules is the key to solving the technical problems proposed by the present application. In addition, in order to highlight the innovative part of the present application, the above-mentioned device embodiments of the present application do not introduce units / modules that are not closely related to solving the technical problems proposed by the present application, which does not mean that there are no other units / modules in the above-mentioned device embodiments.

[0086] It should be noted that in the examples and description of this patent, relational terms such as first and second, etc. are only used to distinguish one entity or operation from another entity or operation, and do not necessarily require or imply any such actual relationship or order between these entities or operations. Moreover, the terms "include", "comprise" or any other variants thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, so that a process, method, article or device including a series of elements includes not only those elements, but also other elements not explicitly listed, or also includes elements inherent to such process, method, article or device. In the absence of further restrictions, the elements defined by the sentence "including one" do not exclude the existence of other identical elements in the process, method, article or device including the elements.

[0087] Although the present application has been illustrated and described with reference to certain preferred embodiments thereof, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the present application.

Claims

1. A control circuit, characterized in that: The control circuit includes a first circuit board and a second circuit board, wherein the first circuit board includes a first chip, and the second circuit board includes M first components; and the first circuit board is a main board of the folding machine, and the second circuit board is a sub-board of the folding machine, and the folding machine also includes a folding axis; The first chip includes a first chip interface, the first chip interface can transmit data to the M first devices based on a first transmission protocol, and the first chip interface can transmit multiple types of data to a first device D1 among the M first devices; M is an integer greater than 1; The control circuit also includes a second chip located on the second circuit board, and the second chip includes a second chip interface and a third chip interface; wherein the second chip interface is connected to the first chip interface of the first chip, and the second chip interface supports the first transmission protocol; the first transmission protocol includes at least one of a system power management interface protocol and a low-power inter-chip serial media bus protocol, and both the system power management interface protocol and the low-power inter-chip serial media bus protocol integrate interrupt and reset functions; the first chip interface of the first chip on the first circuit board is connected to the second chip interface of the second chip on the second circuit board via a first through-axis connecting line and a second through-axis connecting line; The third chip interface is connected to the first device D1, wherein the third chip interface and the first chip interface have different interface types; The second chip is a charging chip; wherein the charging chip is integrated with a control function that provides the M first devices with functions different from the charging function, and can control the first device D1 based on the third chip interface.

2. The circuit according to claim 1, characterized in that The second chip is used for: The first data received from the second chip interface is converted into second data supported for transmission by the third chip interface, and the second data is sent to the first device D1 through the third chip interface.

3. The circuit according to claim 2, characterized in that The second chip further includes a fourth chip interface, the fourth chip interface being connected to a first device D2 among the M first devices, wherein the fourth chip interface is different in interface type from the first chip interface and the third chip interface; and The second chip is used for: The third data received from the second chip interface is converted into fourth data supported for transmission by the fourth chip interface, and the fourth data is sent to the first device D2 through the fourth chip interface.

4. The circuit according to claim 3, characterized in that The third chip interface and the fourth chip interface include at least one of the following: Integrated circuit protocol interface, serial peripheral interface, integrated circuit built-in audio bus protocol interface, general input and output control interface, interrupt interface, reset interface, and voltage interface.

5. The circuit according to claim 4, characterized in that The second chip is also connected to N second devices on the second circuit board, and the N second devices include a battery and a system power supply unit.

6. The circuit according to claim 5, characterized in that It also includes a third chip located on the second circuit board, and the third chip is used to supply power to the M first devices.

7. The circuit according to claim 6, characterized in that The third chip has a fifth chip interface, the fifth chip interface supports the first transmission protocol, and The third chip is connected to the first chip interface via the fifth chip interface, and the third chip controls power supply to the M first devices according to fifth data received from the fifth chip interface.

8. A control method, characterized in that: Applied to a control circuit, the control circuit includes a first circuit board and a second circuit board, the first circuit board is a main board of the folding machine, the second circuit board is a sub-board of the folding machine, and the folding machine also includes a folding axis; Wherein, the first circuit board includes a first chip, the second circuit board includes M first devices; and the first chip includes a first chip interface; The method comprises, The first chip interface transmits data to the M first devices based on a first transmission protocol, wherein the first chip interface can transmit multiple types of data to a first device D1 among the M first devices; Furthermore, the second circuit board further comprises a second chip, the second chip comprises a second chip interface and a third chip interface; wherein the second chip interface is connected to the first chip interface of the first chip, and the second chip interface supports the first transmission protocol; the first transmission protocol comprises at least one of a system power management interface protocol and a low-power inter-chip serial media bus protocol, and both the system power management interface protocol and the low-power inter-chip serial media bus protocol integrate interrupt and reset functions; the first chip interface of the first chip on the first circuit board is connected to the second chip interface of the second chip on the second circuit board via a first through-axis connecting line and a second through-axis connecting line; The third chip interface is connected to the first device D1, wherein the third chip interface and the first chip interface have different interface types; The second chip is a charging chip; wherein the charging chip is integrated with a control function that provides the M first devices with functions different from the charging function, and can control the first device D1 based on the third chip interface.

9. An electronic device comprising the control circuit according to any one of claims 1 to 7.

10. The electronic device according to claim 9, characterized in that: The electronic device is a foldable electronic device.

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