Wireless local area network wakeup device and method
By embedding the type information of the wake-up event in the GPIO signal, the problem of the system circuit not knowing the reason when it is awakened is solved, and the system circuit can quickly take corresponding actions and improve the user experience.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- CN202311798388.X
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Applications(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2023-12-25
- Publication Date
- 2025-06-27
AI Technical Summary
The prior art cannot let the system circuit know the reason for the wakeup when it is awakened, and when the Wi-Fi circuit enters sleep mode, the system circuit may ignore the GPIO signal, resulting in the inability to wake up to take action.
By embedding the type information of the wake-up event in the GPIO signal, using GPIO signals of different waveforms to represent different types of wake-up events, so that the system circuit can judge the type of wake-up event based on the signal waveform and take corresponding actions.
It realizes that the system circuit can know the reason for the wake-up when it is awakened, so as to take corresponding actions quickly, improve the user experience, and avoid the situation where the system circuit ignores the wake-up signal.
Smart Images
Figure CN120224342A_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] The present invention relates to a wake-up device, and more particularly to a Wake-on-WLAN (WoWLAN) device. Background Art
[0002] Some electronic products (such as digital TVs) include not only a system circuit (such as a TV system-on-chip (TVSoC)), but also a wireless network (Wi-Fi) circuit to achieve more diverse functions. To save power, the system circuit and the Wi-Fi circuit enter a sleep mode. When both the system circuit and the Wi-Fi circuit enter the sleep mode, if the Wi-Fi circuit receives a wake-up packet (such as a magic packet from an access point or other devices like a mobile device or a computer), the Wi-Fi circuit transmits a GPIO signal to the system circuit through a general-purpose input / output (GPIO) interface to wake up the system circuit. At this time, the system circuit does not know why it is awakened; next, the system circuit executes a wake-up program based on the GPIO packet until it recognizes the Wi-Fi circuit, and then the system circuit will ask the Wi-Fi circuit the reason for waking it up. To complete the above wake-up program, a fast system (such as a laptop) will take about several hundred milliseconds, and a slow embedded system may take several seconds. Since the wake-up program takes a long time, this will cause a bad user experience.
[0003] Regarding the prior art, there are three ways to wake up a system circuit with a GPIO signal:
[0004] GPIO edge trigger: Wake up the system circuit with the rising edge or falling edge of the GPIO signal.
[0005] GPIO level trigger: Wake up the system circuit with the GPIO signal that meets a default level condition.
[0006] GPIO pulse trigger: Wake up the system circuit with a square wave as the GPIO signal.
[0007] However, none of the above three wake-up methods of the prior art can let the system circuit know the reason why it is awakened.
[0008] In addition, regarding the prior art, if the Wi-Fi circuit has entered the sleep mode but the system circuit has not entered the sleep mode, when the Wi-Fi circuit transmits the GPIO signal to the system circuit to wake up the system circuit and make it take actions (e.g., light up the screen; or in the case of not lighting up the screen, process certain special packets), the system circuit will ignore the GPIO signal; subsequently, even if the system circuit enters the sleep mode, the system circuit will not take any actions in response to the previous GPIO signal. In the above situation, the system circuit will miss the GPIO signal and cannot be woken up to take actions. Summary of the Invention
[0009] One object of the present disclosure is to provide a Wake-on-WLAN (WoWLAN) device and method to avoid the problems of the prior art.
[0010] An embodiment of the Wake-on-WLAN device of the present disclosure includes a wireless network (Wi-Fi) circuit, a general-purpose input / output (GPIO) interface, and a system circuit, wherein the Wi-Fi circuit is coupled to the system circuit via the GPIO interface. After the Wi-Fi circuit enters a waiting-to-wake-up stage, when the Wi-Fi circuit needs to wake up the system circuit according to a wake-up event, the Wi-Fi circuit generates a GPIO signal and transmits the GPIO signal to the system circuit via the GPIO interface, wherein the waveform of the GPIO signal varies with the type of the wake-up event. When the wake-up event is a first event, the waveform of the GPIO signal is a first waveform; when the wake-up event is a second event, the waveform of the GPIO signal is a second waveform, and the first waveform is different from the second waveform. After the system circuit enters the waiting-to-wake-up stage, when the system circuit receives the GPIO signal from the Wi-Fi circuit, the system circuit wakes up according to the GPIO signal and determines the type of the wake-up event according to the waveform of the GPIO signal, so as to take actions according to the type of the wake-up event.
[0011] An embodiment of the wireless local area network wake-up method of the present disclosure is executed by a Wi-Fi circuit. The method includes the following steps: After the Wi-Fi circuit enters a waiting-for-wake-up stage, when the Wi-Fi circuit needs to wake up a system circuit according to a wake-up event, make the Wi-Fi circuit generate a GPIO signal, and transmit the GPIO signal to the system circuit via a GPIO interface, where the waveform of the GPIO signal changes with the type of the wake-up event. When the wake-up event is a first event, the waveform of the GPIO signal is a first waveform; when the wake-up event is a second event, the waveform of the GPIO signal is a second waveform, and the first waveform is different from the second waveform.
[0012] An embodiment of the wireless local area network wake-up method of the present disclosure is executed by a system circuit. The method includes the following steps: After the system circuit enters a waiting-for-wake-up stage, when the system circuit receives a GPIO wake-up signal, make the system circuit wake up, and make the system circuit judge the type of a wake-up event according to the waveform of the GPIO wake-up signal, and then take actions according to the type of the wake-up event, where the waveform of the GPIO wake-up signal changes with the type of the wake-up event. When the wake-up event is a first event, the waveform of the GPIO wake-up signal is a first waveform; when the wake-up event is a second event, the waveform of the GPIO wake-up signal is a second waveform, and the first waveform is different from the second waveform.
[0013] Regarding the features, implementation, and effects of the present invention, the following provides a detailed description of the preferred embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Description of the Drawings
[0014] Figure 1 Showing an embodiment of the wireless local area network wake-up device of the present disclosure;
[0015] Figure 2 Showing an embodiment of the wireless local area network wake-up method of the present disclosure; and
[0016] Figure 3 Showing another embodiment of the wireless local area network wake-up method of the present disclosure. Detailed Description of the Embodiments
[0017] This specification discloses a wireless local area network wake-up (Wake-on-WLAN (WoWLAN)) device and a wireless local area network wake-up method. The device and the method can enable a woken system circuit to judge the reason for its wake-up according to the waveform of a general-purpose input / output (GPIO) signal, so that the system circuit can quickly take actions according to the reason.
[0018] Figure 1 Shows an embodiment of the wireless local area network wake-up device of the present disclosure. Figure 1 The wireless local area network wake-up device 100 includes a wireless network (Wi-Fi) circuit 110, a GPIO interface 120, and a system circuit 130. The Wi-Fi circuit 110 includes a GPIO signal generation circuit 112 and is coupled to the system circuit 130 via the GPIO interface 120. The system circuit 130 includes a GPIO signal detection circuit 132.
[0019] Please refer to Figure 1 . To save power, the wireless local area network wake-up device 100 can enter a waiting-for-wake-up phase, in which the system circuit 130 enters a sleep mode, the Wi-Fi circuit 110 enters a low-power mode, and wakes up periodically to check if there are packets to receive or other events. In this waiting-for-wake-up phase, when the Wi-Fi circuit 110 needs to wake up the system circuit 130 according to a wake-up event (for example: the Wi-Fi circuit 110 receives a specific packet, or the Wi-Fi circuit 110 itself has a requirement such as the Wi-Fi circuit 110 detects that the connection to an access point (AP) has been disconnected), the Wi-Fi circuit 110 commands the GPIO signal generation circuit 112 to generate a GPIO signal SGPIO with a specific waveform, and transmits the GPIO signal SGPIO to the system circuit 130 via the GPIO interface 120, where the waveform of the GPIO signal SGPIO varies with the type of the wake-up event. After the system circuit 130 enters this waiting-for-wake-up phase, when the GPIO signal detection circuit 132 receives the GPIO signal SGPIO from the Wi-Fi circuit 110, the GPIO signal detection circuit 132 commands the system circuit 130 to wake up according to the GPIO signal SGPIO, and determines the type of the wake-up event according to the waveform of the GPIO signal SGPIO, so that the system circuit 130 takes actions according to the type of the wake-up event.
[0020] Please refer to Figure 1 . When the Wi-Fi circuit 110 determines that the wake-up event is a first event, the Wi-Fi circuit 110 commands the GPIO signal generation circuit 112 to generate a GPIO signal SGPIO with a first waveform; when the Wi-Fi circuit determines that the wake-up event is a second event, the Wi-Fi circuit 110 commands the GPIO signal generation circuit to generate a GPIO signal SGPIO with a second waveform, where the first waveform is different from the second waveform. For example, the wireless local area network wake-up device 100 is a digital TV including a screen. After the Wi-Fi circuit 110 receives a wake-up packet and is woken up:
[0021] When the Wi-Fi circuit 110 determines that the wake-up event includes "processing a certain packet that the Wi-Fi circuit 110 cannot process": the Wi-Fi circuit 110 causes the GPIO signal generation circuit 112 to generate a wave (e.g., a square wave) with a first width (e.g., 20 milliseconds) as the GPIO signal SGPIO, and transmits the GPIO signal SGPIO to the system circuit 130 via the GPIO interface 120; the GPIO signal detection circuit 132 causes the system circuit 130 to wake up according to the GPIO signal SGPIO, and determines the type of the wake-up event according to the waveform of the GPIO signal SGPIO, so that the system circuit can respond to the packet that the Wi-Fi circuit 110 cannot process without turning on the screen, and then return to the waiting wake-up stage.
[0022] When the Wi-Fi circuit 110 determines that the wake-up event includes "turning on the screen": the Wi-Fi circuit 110 causes the GPIO signal generation circuit 112 to generate a wave (e.g., a square wave) with a second width (e.g., 60 milliseconds) as the GPIO signal SGPIO, and transmits the GPIO signal SGPIO to the system circuit 130 via the GPIO interface 120; the GPIO signal detection circuit 132 causes the system circuit 130 to wake up according to the GPIO signal SGPIO, and determines the type of the wake-up event according to the waveform of the GPIO signal SGPIO, so that the system circuit can turn on the screen.
[0023] When the Wi-Fi circuit 110 determines that the wake-up event includes "the connection between the Wi-Fi circuit 110 and an access point is interrupted": the Wi-Fi circuit 110 causes the GPIO signal generation circuit 112 to generate a wave (e.g., a square wave) with a third width (e.g., 80 milliseconds) as the GPIO signal SGPIO, and transmits the GPIO signal SGPIO to the system circuit 130 via the GPIO interface 120; the GPIO signal detection circuit 132 causes the system circuit 130 to wake up according to the GPIO signal SGPIO, and determines the type of the wake-up event according to the waveform of the GPIO signal SGPIO, so that the system circuit can set the Wi-Fi circuit 110 to the unconnected and access point searching mode without turning on the screen, and then return to the waiting wake-up stage.
[0024] It should be noted that the time when the Wi-Fi circuit 110 enters the waiting-to-wake-up phase may be earlier than the time when the system circuit 130 enters the waiting-to-wake-up phase. To ensure that the system circuit 130 receives the GPIO signal during the waiting-to-wake-up phase, after the Wi-Fi circuit 110 enters the waiting-to-wake-up phase, when the Wi-Fi circuit 110 needs to wake up the system circuit 130 based on the wake-up event, the Wi-Fi circuit 110 can optionally / uniformly generate a fixed number (e.g., several, more than a dozen, or dozens) of GPIO signals, or repeatedly generate the GPIO signal for a predetermined time or until the system circuit 130 responds to the GPIO signal, and transmit the plurality of GPIO signals to the system circuit 130 via the GPIO interface 120. Therefore, after the system circuit 130 enters the waiting-to-wake-up phase, the system circuit 130 will receive at least a part of the plurality of GPIO signals, wake up based on the at least a part of the GPIO signals, and determine the type of the wake-up event, so as to take actions according to the type of the wake-up event. It should be noted that if the system circuit 130 receives a part of the plurality of GPIO signals before entering the waiting-to-wake-up phase, the system circuit 130 will ignore the part or take other predetermined operations, and the / these predetermined operations can be determined according to the implementation requirements.
[0025] In one implementation example, the GPIO signal generation circuit 112 includes a known / self-developed variable-width pulse generation circuit (not shown in the figure) to generate the GPIO signal SGPIO. In one implementation example, the GPIO signal detection circuit 132 includes a central processing unit for executing firmware to determine the width of the GPIO signal SGPIO, so as to determine the type of the wake-up event. In one implementation example, the GPIO signal detection circuit 132 includes a waveform detection hardware circuit (not shown in the figure) for determining the width of the GPIO signal SGPIO, so as to determine the type of the wake-up event; for example, the waveform detection hardware circuit includes a counter that starts counting based on a first edge (e.g., falling edge / rising edge) of the GPIO signal SGPIO (e.g., square wave) and stops counting based on a second edge (e.g., rising edge / falling edge) of the GPIO signal SGPIO to generate a count value representing the width of the GPIO signal SGPIO.
[0026] In one implementation example, the system circuit 130 includes at least one of the following: a video circuit; and an audio circuit. For example, the system circuit 130 is one of the following: a television system-on-chip (TV SoC); a video set-top box (STB) integrated circuit; and a smart speaker circuit.
[0027] Figure 2 Show an embodiment of the wireless local area network wake-up method of the present disclosure. This embodiment is executed by a Wi-Fi circuit (e.g., Figure 1 Wi-Fi circuit 110), and includes the following steps:
[0028] S210: Enter a waiting-for-wake-up stage.
[0029] S220: Determine whether it is necessary to wake up a system circuit according to a wake-up event; if so, go to step S230; if not, repeat step S220.
[0030] S230: Generate a GPIO signal and transmit the GPIO signal to the system circuit via a GPIO interface, where the waveform of the GPIO signal varies with the type of the wake-up event.
[0031] When the wake-up event is a first event, the waveform of the GPIO signal is a first waveform, and when the wake-up event is a second event, the waveform of the GPIO signal is a second waveform, and the first waveform is different from the second waveform. For example, the width of the first waveform is different from the width of the second waveform, and the width difference can be detected (e.g., the width difference does not exceed Figure 1 the detection limit of the GPIO signal detection circuit 132).
[0032] Since those with ordinary knowledge in the art can refer to Figure 1 the disclosure of the embodiment to understand Figure 2 the details and variations of the embodiment, repeated and redundant descriptions are omitted here.
[0033] Figure 3 Show another embodiment of the wireless local area network wake-up method of the present disclosure. This embodiment is executed by a system circuit (e.g., Figure 1 system circuit 130), and includes the following steps:
[0034] S310: Enter a waiting-for-wake-up stage.
[0035] S320: In the waiting-for-wake-up stage, when receiving a GPIO wake-up signal from a Wi-Fi circuit, wake up according to the GPIO wake-up signal.
[0036] S330: Judge the type of a wake-up event according to the waveform of the GPIO wake-up signal, and then take actions according to the type of the wake-up event, where the waveform of the GPIO wake-up signal varies with the type of the wake-up event.
[0037] Since those with ordinary knowledge in the art can refer to Figures 1 - 2 the disclosure of the embodiment to understandFigure 3 Details and variations of the embodiments are omitted here to avoid repetition and redundancy.
[0038] It should be noted that, on the premise that implementation is possible, those with ordinary knowledge in the technical field can selectively implement some or all of the technical features of any embodiment of this specification, or selectively implement a combination of some or all of the technical features of multiple embodiments of this specification; in other words, according to this disclosure, the implementation manner of the present invention is flexible.
[0039] In summary, the wireless local area network wake-up device and method of this disclosure can enable a woken system circuit to judge the reason for its wake-up based on the waveform of a GPIO signal, so that the system circuit can quickly take action according to this reason.
[0040] Although the embodiments of the present invention are as described above, these embodiments are not used to limit the present invention. Those with ordinary knowledge in the technical field can make changes to the technical features of the present invention based on the explicit or implicit content of the present invention. All such changes may fall within the scope of patent protection sought by the present invention. In other words, the scope of patent protection of the present invention shall be subject to what is defined in the scope of patent application of this specification.
[0041]
Symbol Explanation
[0042] 100: Wireless Local Area Network Wake-up Device
[0043] 110: Wireless Network (Wi-Fi) Circuit
[0044] 112: General-Purpose Input / Output (GPIO) Signal Generation Circuit
[0045] 120: GPIO Interface
[0046] 130: System Circuit
[0047] 132: GPIO Signal Detection Circuit
[0048] SGPIO: GPIO Signal
[0049] S210~S230: Steps
[0050] S310~S330: Steps
Claims
1. A wireless local area network wake-on-WLAN (WoWLAN) device includes a wireless network (Wi-Fi) circuit, a general-purpose input / output (GPIO) interface, and a system circuit, wherein: The wireless network circuit is coupled to the system circuit via the GPIO interface; After the wireless network circuit enters a waiting-to-wake-up phase, when the wireless network circuit needs to wake up the system circuit according to a wake-up event, the wireless network circuit generates a GPIO signal and transmits the GPIO signal to the system circuit via the GPIO interface, wherein the waveform of the GPIO signal varies with the type of the wake-up event. When the wake-up event is a first event, the waveform of the GPIO signal is a first waveform; when the wake-up event is a second event, the waveform of the GPIO signal is a second waveform, and the first waveform is different from the second waveform; and After the system circuit enters the waiting-to-wake-up phase, when the system circuit receives the GPIO signal from the Wi-Fi circuit, the system circuit wakes up according to the GPIO signal and determines the type of the wake-up event based on the waveform of the GPIO signal, so as to take actions according to the type of the wake-up event.
2. The wireless local area network wake-on-WLAN device according to claim 1, wherein the first waveform includes a first square wave, the second waveform includes a second square wave, the width of the first square wave is different from the width of the second square wave, and the system circuit further includes: A central processing unit for executing firmware to determine the width of at least one square wave of the GPIO, so as to determine the type of the wake-up event.
3. The wireless local area network wake-on-WLAN device according to claim 1, wherein the first waveform includes a first square wave, the second waveform includes a second square wave, the width of the first square wave is different from the width of the second square wave, and the system circuit further includes: A waveform detection hardware circuit for determining the width of at least one square wave of the GPIO, so as to determine the type of the wake-up event.
4. The wireless local area network wake-on-WLAN device according to claim 3, wherein the waveform detection hardware circuit includes a counter, and the counter starts counting according to a first edge of the at least one square wave of the GPIO and stops counting according to a second edge of the at least one square wave of the GPIO, so as to generate a count value representing the width of the at least one square wave of the GPIO.
5. The wireless local area network wake-on-WLAN device according to claim 1, wherein: After the wireless network circuit enters the waiting-to-wake-up phase, when the wireless network circuit needs to wake up the system circuit according to the wake-up event, the wireless network circuit generates a plurality of the GPIO signals and transmits the plurality of the GPIO signals to the system circuit via the GPIO interface; and After the system circuit enters the waiting-to-wake-up phase, the system circuit receives at least a portion of the plurality of GPIO signals to wake up based on the at least a portion of the GPIO signals and determine the type of the wake-up event, and then take actions based on the type of the wake-up event.
6. The wireless local area network wake-up device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the system circuit determines whether to light up a screen according to the type of the wake-up event.
7. A wireless local area network wake-up method, which is executed by a wireless network circuit, the method comprising: After the wireless network circuit enters a waiting-to-wake-up phase, when the wireless network circuit needs to wake up a system circuit according to a wake-up event, causing the wireless network circuit to generate a general-purpose input / output (GPIO) signal and transmit the GPIO signal to the system circuit via a GPIO interface. Wherein the waveform of the GPIO signal varies according to the type of the wake-up event. When the wake-up event is a first event, the waveform of the GPIO signal is a first waveform; when the wake-up event is a second event, the waveform of the GPIO signal is a second waveform, and the first waveform is different from the second waveform.
8. The wireless local area network wake-up method as claimed in claim 7, wherein: After the wireless network circuit enters the waiting-to-wake-up phase, when the wireless network circuit needs to wake up the system circuit according to the wake-up event, causing the wireless network circuit to generate a plurality of the GPIO signals and transmit the plurality of the GPIO signals to the system circuit via the GPIO interface, so as to ensure that after the system circuit enters the waiting-to-wake-up phase, the system circuit receives at least a portion of the plurality of the GPIO signals.
9. A wireless local area network wake-up method, which is executed by a system circuit, the method comprising: After the system circuit enters a waiting-to-wake-up phase, when the system circuit receives a general-purpose input / output (GPIO) wake-up signal from a wireless network circuit, causing the system circuit to wake up, and causing the system circuit to determine the type of a wake-up event according to the waveform of the GPIO wake-up signal, and then take actions according to the type of the wake-up event. Wherein the waveform of the GPIO wake-up signal varies according to the type of the wake-up event. When the wake-up event is a first event, the waveform of the GPIO wake-up signal is a first waveform; when the wake-up event is a second event, the waveform of the GPIO wake-up signal is a second waveform, and the first waveform is different from the second waveform.
10. The wireless local area network wake-up method as claimed in claim 9, further comprising: Before the system circuit enters a waiting-to-wake-up phase, when the system circuit receives the GPIO wake-up signal from the wireless network circuit, causing the system circuit to ignore the GPIO wake-up signal.