MCU firmware upgrading method, device and system based on type-c

Abstract

The invention discloses an MCU firmware upgrading method, device and system based on type-c, and belongs to the field of MCU firmware upgrading. The method comprises the following steps of: connecting an upgraded MCU (Microprogrammed Control Unit) with an upgrading MCU containing latest firmware through a type-c line; and after the MCU is powered on, firmware upgrading is carried out on the upgraded MCU by utilizing a firmware upgrading instruction predefined in the VDM instruction set in the type-c protocol of the upgraded MCU. According to the scheme, the firmware upgrading process based on type-c transmission is simple, upper computer burning does not need to be operated on site, a network environment is also not needed, and the method is suitable for being used in a production environment.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of MCU firmware upgrade, and in particular to a MCU firmware upgrade method, device and system based on Type-C. Background Art

[0002] USB Type-C technology is widely used in various devices due to its advantages of double-sided insertion and high transmission speed. With the intelligence of devices, firmware upgrades become particularly important. Firmware upgrades can not only fix software defects, but also add new functions and improve device performance.

[0003] There are two main types of MCU firmware upgrade systems at present. First, the latest firmware is burned into the MCU through dedicated host software. This method requires the computer to run the host software, configure the IDE operating environment, and install the software driver. However, this method is only suitable for debugging by professional R&D personnel and is not suitable for use in production environments. Second, remote upgrades are performed over the network. Developers package the latest firmware version and upload it to the OTA server. The device periodically checks the network or queries the OTA server under specific conditions to download the new firmware package from the server for upgrading. Since this upgrade process requires a network environment, it is not available for MCUs that do not support the network.

[0004] Therefore, a new MCU firmware upgrade method is urgently needed. Summary of the invention

[0005] The present invention provides a type-c-based MCU firmware upgrade method, device and system, which can solve the problem that the existing upgrade method requires specific upgrade conditions and is not suitable for use in a production environment. The technical solution is as follows:

[0006] On the one hand, a type-c-based MCU firmware upgrade method is provided, the method comprising:

[0007] Connect the upgraded MCU to the upgrade MCU containing the latest firmware via a type-c cable;

[0008] After power-on, the firmware of the upgraded MCU is upgraded using the firmware upgrade instructions predefined in the VDM instruction set in the type-c protocol of the upgraded MCU.

[0009] On the other hand, a type-c-based MCU firmware upgrade device based on the method described in any embodiment of the above specification is provided, and the device includes:

[0010] An upgrade MCU pre-burned with the latest firmware, the upgrade MCU has a type-c interface, and the type-c protocol of the upgrade MCU contains predefined firmware upgrade instructions in the VDM instruction set, and the firmware upgrade instructions are used to upgrade the firmware of the upgraded MCU.

[0011] On the other hand, a type-c based MCU firmware upgrade system based on the method described in any embodiment of the above specification is provided, the system comprising: an upgraded MCU and an upgrade MCU containing the latest firmware;

[0012] The upgraded MCU is connected to the upgrading MCU via a type-c cable, and the type-c protocol of the upgrading MCU contains predefined firmware upgrade instructions in a VDM instruction set, and the firmware upgrade instructions are used to perform firmware upgrade on the upgraded MCU.

[0013] The technical solution provided by the present invention can at least bring the following beneficial effects:

[0014] The upgraded MCU is connected to the upgrade MCU with the latest firmware through the type-c cable, and the latest firmware is transmitted to the upgraded MCU by the upgrade MCU, so as to realize the firmware upgrade of the upgraded MCU, and the firmware transmission process can be controlled by the firmware upgrade instructions predefined in the VDM instruction set. Therefore, the firmware upgrade process based on type-c transmission is simple, and there is no need to run the host computer on-site for burning, and there is no need for a network environment, which is suitable for use in a production environment. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0015] In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings required for use in the embodiments or the description of the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are some embodiments of the present invention. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying creative work.

[0016] Figure 1 This is a flow chart of a method for upgrading MCU firmware based on Type-C provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0017] Figure 2 This is a schematic diagram of connection between an upgraded MCU and an upgrading MCU provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0018] Figure 3 An MCU upgrading device provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0019] Figure 4 An upgraded MCU device is provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0020] Figure 5 A firmware upgrade instruction communication process of a Type-C protocol is provided in one embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0021] In order to make the purpose, technical solutions and advantages of the embodiments of the present invention clearer, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are part of the embodiments of the present invention, rather than all the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without making creative work are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0022] The specific implementation of the above concept is described below.

[0023] Please refer to Figure 1 , an embodiment of the present invention provides a type-c-based MCU firmware upgrade method, the method comprising:

[0024] Step 100, connect the upgraded MCU with the upgrade MCU containing the latest firmware via a Type-C cable;

[0025] Step 102, after power-on, the firmware of the upgraded MCU is upgraded using the firmware upgrade instructions predefined in the VDM instruction set in the type-c protocol of the upgraded MCU.

[0026] In the embodiment of the present invention, the upgraded MCU is connected to the upgrade MCU containing the latest firmware via a type-c line, and the latest firmware is transmitted to the upgraded MCU by the upgrade MCU, so as to realize the firmware upgrade of the upgraded MCU, and the firmware transmission process can be controlled by the firmware upgrade instructions predefined in the VDM instruction set. Therefore, the firmware upgrade process based on type-c transmission is simple, and there is no need to run the host computer on site for burning, and there is no need for a network environment, which is suitable for use in a production environment.

[0027] Described below Figure 1 How the various steps are performed.

[0028] For steps 100 and 102:

[0029] In step 100, if Figure 2 As shown, the upgraded MCU and the upgrade MCU containing the latest firmware are connected via a type-c cable to transfer the firmware without on-site burning or network environment.

[0030] In some implementations, the upgrade MCU is generated by:

[0031] The firmware upgrade instructions are predefined in the VDM instruction set of the type-c protocol of the latest firmware;

[0032] Use the host computer software to burn the latest firmware to the MCU to generate an upgraded MCU.

[0033] In this embodiment, in order to facilitate the control of the firmware transmission process, VDM instructions, i.e., firmware upgrade instructions, can be added on the basis of the original type-c protocol, and then the latest firmware can be burned to the MCU using the host computer software to generate an upgraded MCU.

[0034] In some implementations, the upgrading MCU is used to upgrade the firmware of multiple upgraded MCUs.

[0035] It can be understood that the upgraded MCU can be reused and connected to each MCU to be upgraded through a type-c cable in turn, so that multiple upgraded MCUs can be upgraded in turn, which is suitable for production environments.

[0036] In some implementations, the upgrade MCU includes a power button, a reset button, a type-c interface, an upgrade start button, an upgrade process indicator light, and an upgrade completion indicator light.

[0037] In this embodiment, reference can be made to Figure 4 Since the ordinary MCU (the upgraded MCU) only has a power button, a reset button, and a Type-C interface, in order to facilitate the user to control and monitor the upgrade process, the upgrade MCU has added an upgrade start button, an upgrade process indicator, and an upgrade completion indicator. Figure 3 shown.

[0038] In some implementations, step 102 may include:

[0039] After pressing the power button, press the reset button to reset and upgrade the MCU;

[0040] After pressing the upgrade start button, the upgrade process indicator light is on, and the firmware of the upgraded MCU is upgraded using the firmware upgrade instructions predefined in the VDM instruction set in the type-c protocol of the upgraded MCU;

[0041] After the upgrade is completed, the upgrade process indicator light goes out and the upgrade completion indicator light goes on.

[0042] In this embodiment, the Reset button is used to reset the upgrade MCU to the default initial state. The user can control the upgrade MCU to transfer firmware by pressing the upgrade start button and check the transfer progress according to the indicator light for easy control and management.

[0043] In some implementations, the step of “using a firmware upgrade instruction predefined in a VDM instruction set in a type-c protocol of an upgraded MCU to perform a firmware upgrade on the upgraded MCU” may include:

[0044] Upgrade the firmware in the MCU and detect the connection status of the type-c interface through the type-c protocol;

[0045] When it is confirmed that the upgrading MCU and the upgraded MCU are connected, the Type-C protocol handshake;

[0046] The upgrading MCU sends a firmware upgrade instruction to the upgraded MCU and transmits the latest firmware to upgrade the upgraded MCU.

[0047] In this embodiment, the firmware in the upgraded MCU includes the type-c protocol. After power-on, the firmware runs and detects the connection status of the type-c interface. If a type-c device is connected, type-c connection communication will be performed, the protocol handshake will send the firmware upgrade instruction, and the latest firmware will be transmitted to upgrade the upgraded MCU.

[0048] In some implementations, the upgrading MCU sends a firmware upgrade instruction to the upgraded MCU and transmits the latest firmware to upgrade the upgraded MCU, including:

[0049] The upgrading MCU sends a VDM_FW_ENTER command to the upgraded MCU to inform the upgraded MCU to enter the upgrade phase;

[0050] After receiving the VDM_FW_ENTER command reply from the upgraded MCU, send the VDM_FW_INT command to the upgraded MCU to inform the upgraded MCU to start upgrading;

[0051] After receiving the VDM_FW_INT command reply from the upgraded MCU, the latest firmware is transmitted to the upgraded MCU;

[0052] After the latest firmware is transferred, the VDM_FW_DONE command is sent to the upgraded MCU to inform the upgraded MCU that the firmware transfer is completed;

[0053] After the upgraded MCU checks and confirms that it has received the latest firmware data packet, it replies with a VDM_FW_DONE command to the upgrading MCU to inform it that the firmware reception is complete.

[0054] This embodiment can refer to Figure 5, through predefined firmware upgrade instructions, including VDM_FW_ENTER command, VDM_FW_INT command and VDM_FW_DONE command, which respectively represent entering upgrade, starting upgrade and ending upgrade, the firmware transmission upgrade process is completed through the type-c transmission protocol, which does not rely on other hardware or software modules and the process is simple.

[0055] Please refer to Figure 3 The embodiment of the present invention provides a type-c based MCU firmware upgrade device based on any method embodiment of the specification, including:

[0056] The upgrade MCU is pre-burned with the latest firmware. The upgrade MCU has a type-c interface, and the type-c protocol of the upgrade MCU contains predefined firmware upgrade instructions in the VDM instruction set. The firmware upgrade instructions are used to upgrade the firmware of the upgraded MCU.

[0057] The above-mentioned device embodiment and method embodiment belong to the same concept, and the specific implementation process thereof is detailed in the method embodiment, which will not be repeated here.

[0058] Please refer to Figure 2 , the embodiment of the present application also provides a type-c based MCU firmware upgrade system based on any method embodiment of the specification, including: an upgraded MCU and an upgrade MCU containing the latest firmware;

[0059] The upgraded MCU is connected to the upgrading MCU via a type-c cable, and the type-c protocol of the upgrading MCU contains predefined firmware upgrade instructions in the VDM instruction set, and the firmware upgrade instructions are used to perform firmware upgrade on the upgraded MCU.

[0060] The above system embodiment and method embodiment belong to the same concept, and the specific implementation process is detailed in the method embodiment, which will not be repeated here.

[0061] It can be known from the description of the above implementation methods that those skilled in the art can clearly understand that the present application can be implemented by means of software plus a necessary general hardware platform. Based on such an understanding, the technical solution of the present application can be essentially or partly embodied in the form of a software product that contributes to the prior art. The computer software product can be stored in a storage medium such as ROM / RAM, a magnetic disk, an optical disk, etc., and includes several instructions for enabling a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute the methods of each embodiment of the present application or some parts of the embodiments.

[0062] Finally, it should be noted that, in this article, relational terms such as first, second, third and fourth 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 "comprise a ..." do not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article or device including the elements.

[0063] The above are only preferred implementations of the present application. It should be pointed out that for ordinary technicians in this technical field, several improvements and modifications can be made without departing from the principles of the present application. These improvements and modifications should also be regarded as the scope of protection of the present application.

Claims

1. A MCU firmware upgrade method based on type-c, characterized in that: include: Connect the upgraded MCU to the upgrade MCU containing the latest firmware via a type-c cable; After power-on, the firmware of the upgraded MCU is upgraded using the firmware upgrade instructions predefined in the VDM instruction set in the type-c protocol of the upgraded MCU.

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The upgrade MCU is generated in the following way: The firmware upgrade instructions are predefined in the VDM instruction set of the type-c protocol of the latest firmware; The latest firmware is burned onto the MCU using the host computer software to generate an upgraded MCU.

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The upgrading MCU is used to perform firmware upgrade on multiple upgraded MCUs.

4. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that The upgrade MCU contains a power button, a reset button, a type-c interface, an upgrade start button, an upgrade process indicator light, and an upgrade completion indicator light.

5. The method according to claim 4, characterized in that After powering on, using the firmware upgrade instruction predefined in the VDM instruction set in the type-c protocol of the upgraded MCU, the firmware of the upgraded MCU is upgraded, including: After pressing the power button, press the reset button to reset the upgrade MCU; After pressing the upgrade start button, the upgrade process indicator light is on, and the firmware of the upgraded MCU is upgraded using the firmware upgrade instructions predefined in the VDM instruction set in the type-c protocol of the upgraded MCU; After the upgrade is completed, the upgrade process indicator light goes out and the upgrade completion indicator light comes on.

6. The method according to claims 1 to 5, characterized in that The method of performing firmware upgrade on the upgraded MCU by using a firmware upgrade instruction predefined in a VDM instruction set in the type-c protocol of the upgraded MCU comprises: The firmware in the upgraded MCU runs, and the upgraded MCU detects the connection status of the type-c interface through the type-c protocol; When it is determined that the upgrading MCU is connected to the upgraded MCU, a Type-C protocol handshake is performed; The upgrading MCU sends a firmware upgrading instruction to the upgraded MCU and transmits the latest firmware to upgrade the upgraded MCU.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that The upgrading MCU sends a firmware upgrade instruction to the upgraded MCU and transmits the latest firmware to upgrade the upgraded MCU, including: The upgrading MCU sends a VDM_FW_ENTER command to the upgraded MCU to inform the upgraded MCU to enter the upgrading phase; After receiving the VDM_FW_ENTER command reply from the upgraded MCU, a VDM_FW_INT command is sent to the upgraded MCU to inform the upgraded MCU to start upgrading; After receiving the VDM_FW_INT command reply from the upgraded MCU, transmitting the latest firmware to the upgraded MCU; After the latest firmware is transmitted, a VDM_FW_DONE command is sent to the upgraded MCU to inform the upgraded MCU that the firmware transmission is completed; After the upgraded MCU checks and determines that the latest firmware data packet has been received, it replies with a VDM_FW_DONE command to the upgrading MCU to inform that the firmware reception is complete.

8. A type-c based MCU firmware upgrade device based on any of the methods described in claims 1-6, characterized in that: include: An upgrade MCU pre-burned with the latest firmware, the upgrade MCU has a type-c interface, and the type-c protocol of the upgrade MCU contains predefined firmware upgrade instructions in the VDM instruction set, and the firmware upgrade instructions are used to upgrade the firmware of the upgraded MCU.

9. A type-c based MCU firmware upgrade system based on the device described in claim 8, characterized in that: include: The upgraded MCU and the upgrade MCU containing the latest firmware; The upgraded MCU is connected to the upgrading MCU via a type-c cable, and the type-c protocol of the upgrading MCU contains predefined firmware upgrade instructions in a VDM instruction set, and the firmware upgrade instructions are used to perform firmware upgrade on the upgraded MCU.

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