Method for remotely upgrading FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) program on line

Abstract

The invention discloses a method for remotely upgrading an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) program on line. The method specifically comprises the following steps of: 1, downloading a basic program to a flash program storage chip in equipment in advance by adopting a traditional upgrading method; 2, the system carries out framing processing on the program upgrading data; 3, issuing a program updating instruction to the upgraded equipment; 4, the equipment receives a response instruction through the program to respond to the system; step 5, the device packs the received data until the last frame of program updating instruction is successfully received; after the FPGA program is upgraded by adopting a remote on-line upgrading method, the radio navigation equipment can be upgraded by external field staff, a company does not need to send a worker to upgrade, the labor cost is saved, and meanwhile, the program is upgraded by utilizing an original communication bus of an external system, so that extra hardware circuit resource consumption is not increased, and the cost is reduced. And the method does not depend on special equipment such as an FPGA simulator, so that the purchase cost is saved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention belongs to the technical field of radio navigation, and in particular relates to a method for remote online upgrading of FPGA programs. Background Art

[0002] In many current radio navigation devices, to complete complex logic control, most of them need to use programmable logic devices FPGA. It allows users to change the implemented functions through programming to achieve the specified goals. As an embedded chip, FPGA often needs to be upgraded and maintained in the field.

[0003] The traditional method of upgrading FPGA programs mainly relies on special cables such as emulators provided by FPGA chip suppliers to connect the host machine containing the program to be upgraded to the radio navigation device, and then download the program to the flash program storage chip that matches the FPGA chip in the device according to certain operating steps.

[0004] Although the above upgrade method is relatively simple, it requires sending a dedicated person to the site with professional tools and opening the device casing to connect to the internal FPGA chip and flash program storage chip in order to complete the final program upgrade. Summary of the invention

[0005] The purpose of the present invention is to provide a method for remote online upgrading of FPGA programs to cope with the increasingly heavy field maintenance tasks and also to reduce maintenance costs, so as to solve the problems raised in the above background technology.

[0006] To achieve the above object, the present invention provides the following technical solution: a method for remote online upgrading of FPGA program, specifically comprising the following steps:

[0007] Step 1: Use the traditional upgrade method to download the basic program to the flash program storage chip in the device;

[0008] Step 2: The system processes the program upgrade data in frames;

[0009] Step 3: Send the program update command to the upgraded device;

[0010] Step 4: The device receives the response command through the program and responds to the system;

[0011] Step 5: The device packages the received data until the last frame of program update instruction is successfully received;

[0012] Step 6: Check the entire upgrade data package, send back the verification result information through the program verification result instruction, and the system responds.

[0013] As a preferred technical solution of the present invention, in step 4, the response situations include the following three:

[0014] a. The system does not receive the program's response command or the response is "failed", and it will be resent at most twice;

[0015] b. The system receives the program receiving response command and responds "successfully", and sends the next frame program update command;

[0016] c. If the system still does not receive the program response command or responds with "failure" after resending twice, the upgrade program will exit.

[0017] As a preferred technical solution of the present invention, in step 6, when verifying the upgrade data packet, the following two situations are included:

[0018] a. If the verification is passed, the original program in the flash program storage chip is replaced through the serial bus interface to complete the online program upgrade;

[0019] b. If verification fails, exit the upgrade process.

[0020] As a preferred technical solution of the present invention, in step 1, the flash program storage chip in the device contains at least two programs, and the two programs are the original program and the program that actually needs to be upgraded.

[0021] As a preferred technical solution in the present invention, the original program is defined as a G program, and the program that actually needs to be upgraded is defined as an M program. The steps of upgrading the original program and the program that actually needs to be upgraded are as follows:

[0022] S1. After power-on, FPGA will start the M program;

[0023] S2. If the configuration is successful, the FPGA will run in the M program; if the configuration fails, the FPGA will fall back to the G program. FPGA is an embedded chip, and its specific meaning is Field Programmable Gate Array.

[0024] As a preferred technical solution in the present invention, when the M program design is changed, the M program can be updated by remote online upgrading.

[0025] As a preferred technical solution in the present invention, the G program is a basic program, which only includes the function of receiving the M program configuration file and writing it to the flash program storage chip. It is not recommended to update the G program during the subsequent upgrade process. After adopting the multi-program solution, even if the loading of the M program fails due to an external abnormality and falls back to the G program, the G program can still receive the program upgrade data from the external system to achieve another update of the M program.

[0026] Compared with the prior art, the present invention has the following beneficial effects:

[0027] After upgrading the FPGA program using the remote online upgrade method, field staff can upgrade the radio navigation equipment. The company does not need to send additional personnel to upgrade, which greatly saves human resources. At the same time, since the program is upgraded using the original communication bus of the external system, no additional hardware circuit resource consumption is added, and there is no need to rely on special equipment such as FPGA simulators, saving procurement costs. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0028] Figure 1 It is a schematic diagram of the processing flow of the present invention;

[0029] Figure 2 It is a flow chart of the original program of the present invention and the program actually in need of upgrading when being updated. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0030] The following will be combined with the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention to clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0031] See also Figure 1 and Figure 2 The present invention provides a technical solution: a method for remote online upgrading of FPGA program, specifically comprising the following steps:

[0032] Step 1: Use the traditional upgrade method to download the basic program to the flash program storage chip in the device;

[0033] Step 2: The system processes the program upgrade data in frames;

[0034] Step 3: Send the program update command to the upgraded device;

[0035] Step 4: The device receives the response command through the program and responds to the system;

[0036] Step 5: The device packages the received data until the last frame of program update instruction is successfully received;

[0037] Step 6: Check the entire upgrade data package, send back the verification result information through the program verification result instruction, and the system responds.

[0038] In this embodiment, in step 4, the response situations include the following three situations:

[0039] a. The system does not receive the program's response command or the response is "failed", and it will be resent at most twice;

[0040] b. The system receives the program receiving response command and responds "successfully", and sends the next frame program update command;

[0041] c. If the system still does not receive the program response command or responds with "failure" after resending twice, the upgrade program will exit.

[0042] In this embodiment, in step 6, when verifying the upgrade data packet, the following two situations are included:

[0043] a. If the verification is passed, the original program in the flash program storage chip is replaced through the serial bus interface to complete the online program upgrade;

[0044] b. If verification fails, exit the upgrade process.

[0045] In this embodiment, in step 1, the flash program storage chip in the device contains at least two programs, and the two programs are the original program and the program that actually needs to be upgraded.

[0046] In this embodiment, the original program is defined as the G program, and the program that actually needs to be upgraded is defined as the M program. The steps in upgrading the original program and the program that actually needs to be upgraded are as follows:

[0047] S1. After power-on, FPGA will start the M program;

[0048] S2. If the configuration is successful, the FPGA will run in the M program; if the configuration fails, the FPGA will fall back to the G program. FPGA is an embedded chip, and its specific meaning is Field Programmable Gate Array.

[0049] In this embodiment, when the M program design is changed, the M program can be updated through remote online upgrading.

[0050] In this embodiment, the G program is a basic program, which only includes the function of receiving the M program configuration file and writing it to the flash program storage chip. It is not recommended to update the G program during the subsequent upgrade process. After adopting the multi-program solution, even if the loading of the M program fails due to an external abnormality and falls back to the G program, the G program can still receive the program upgrade data from the external system to achieve another update of the M program.

[0051] Although embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described (see the above detailed description for details), it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various changes, modifications, substitutions and variations may be made to these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the present invention, and the scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

Claims

1. A method for remote online upgrading of FPGA program, characterized in that: The specific steps include: Step 1: Use the traditional upgrade method to download the basic program to the flash program storage chip in the device; Step 2: The system processes the program upgrade data in frames; Step 3: Send the program update command to the upgraded device; Step 4: The device receives the response command through the program and responds to the system; Step 5: The device packages the received data until the last frame of program update instruction is successfully received; Step 6: Check the entire upgrade data package, send back the verification result information through the program verification result instruction, and the system responds.

2. The method for remote online upgrading of FPGA program according to claim 1, characterized in that: In step 4, the response situations include the following three situations: a. If the system does not receive the program's response command or the response is "failed", it will resend the message at most twice; b. The system receives the program receiving response command and responds "successfully", and sends the next frame program update command; c. If the system still does not receive the program response command or responds with "failure" after resending twice, the upgrade program will exit.

3. The method for remote online upgrading of FPGA program according to claim 1, characterized in that: In step 6, when verifying the upgrade data package, the following two situations are included: a. If the verification is passed, the original program in the flash program storage chip is replaced through the serial bus interface to complete the online program upgrade; b. If verification fails, exit the upgrade process.

4. The method for remote online upgrading of FPGA program according to claim 1, characterized in that: In the step 1, the flash program storage chip in the device contains at least two programs, and the two programs are the original program and the program that actually needs to be upgraded.

5. The method for remote online upgrading of FPGA program according to claim 4, characterized in that: The original program is defined as a G program, and the program that actually needs to be upgraded is defined as an M program. The steps for upgrading the original program and the program that actually needs to be upgraded are as follows: S1. After power-on, FPGA will start the M program; S2. If the configuration is successful, the FPGA will run in the M program; if the configuration fails, the FPGA will fall back to the G program.

6. The method for remote online upgrading of FPGA program according to claim 5, characterized in that: When the M program design changes, the M program can be updated through remote online upgrade.

7. The method for remote online upgrading of FPGA program according to claim 5, characterized in that: The G program is a basic program, which only includes the function of receiving the M program configuration file and writing it into the flash program storage chip.

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