Wake-up management method of microcontroller and microcontroller

Abstract

The embodiment of the invention discloses a microcontroller wake-up management method and a microcontroller. The microcontroller wake-up management method is low in cost. The microcontroller includes: a core power domain powered by a first power source; and the standby power domain comprises an input interface and an output interface. When the microcontroller needs to enter a standby mode, the core power domain configuration output interface outputs a first control signal to the first power supply when the input interface receives the wake-up signal, and the first control signal is used for enabling the first power supply to restore power supply of the core power domain. After the configuration is completed, the core power domain controls the first power supply to interrupt the power supply of the core power domain so as to enter a standby mode.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to power management technologies, and particularly to a wake-up management method for a microcontroller and a microcontroller. Background Art

[0002] In automotive electronics, there are various microcontroller units (MCUs). Some MCUs have a relatively high specification, for example, they have dedicated power control pins for implementing sleep or wake-up control. Some MCUs do not have such power control pins, but instead cooperate with an external CAN transceiver or a system basic chip (SBC) to complete sleep or wake-up control. However, no matter which of the above solutions, it may not be very suitable for cost-sensitive MCUs; therefore, there is a need for improvement in the prior art. Summary of the Invention

[0003] In view of this, embodiments of the present invention provide a wake-up management method for a microcontroller and a microcontroller, which have cost advantages.

[0004] A wake-up management method for a microcontroller according to an embodiment of the present invention, the microcontroller including: a core power domain and a standby power domain, the method including: powering the core power domain by a first power supply, the core power domain including: a processor core; powering the standby power domain by a second power supply, the standby power domain including: an input interface and an output interface; when the processor core receives an instruction to switch to the standby mode, the processor core configures the standby power domain to have the following wake-up logic: when a wake-up signal is received at the input interface, the output interface outputs a first control signal to the first power supply; after the configuration is completed, the processor core controls the output interface to output a second control signal to the first power supply; the first power supply interrupts the power supply to the processor core according to the second control signal; when a wake-up signal is received at the input interface, according to the configured wake-up logic, the output interface outputs a first control signal to the first power supply; the first power supply restores the power supply to the core power domain according to the first control signal.

[0005] In some embodiments, a state machine is configured in the standby power domain such that the state machine has a function of triggering the output interface to output the first control signal when a wake-up signal is received at the input interface.

[0006] A microcontroller according to an embodiment of the present invention includes: a core power domain powered by a first power supply; and a standby power domain including: an input interface and an output interface; when the microcontroller needs to enter the standby mode, the core power domain first configures the output interface to output a first control signal to the first power supply when the input interface receives a wake-up signal, and then controls the first power supply to interrupt the power supply to the core power domain, so as to enter the standby mode; wherein, the first control signal is used to cause the first power supply to resume power supply to the core power domain.

[0007] In some embodiments, the core power domain controls the output interface to output a second control signal to the first power supply to control the first power supply to interrupt the power supply to the core power domain.

[0008] In some embodiments, the core power domain configures a state machine in the standby power domain to trigger the output interface to output a first control signal to the first power supply when the input interface receives a wake-up signal.

[0009] In some embodiments, the standby power domain is powered by a second power supply, and in the standby mode, the second power supply keeps powering the standby power domain.

[0010] In some embodiments, it further includes: other power domains powered by a third power supply, and the third power supply interrupts or resumes the power supply to the other power domains following the first power supply.

[0011] In some embodiments, after the core power domain resumes from the standby mode to the operating mode, it switches to be controlled by the core power domain to keep the output interface outputting the first control signal.

[0012] In some embodiments, according to whether the first control signal is high level or low level, the output interface is connected to the power level through a pull-up resistor or connected to the ground through a pull-down resistor.

[0013] In some embodiments, the core power domain includes a processor core, and the configuration is completed by the processor core. The standby power domain does not include a processor core, and both the input interface and the output interface are general-purpose input / output interfaces (GPIO).

[0014] Advantageous effects of the embodiments of the present invention:

[0015] In an embodiment of the present invention, before the core power domain in the microcontroller is powered off (i.e., before the microcontroller enters the standby mode), by configuring the wake-up logic in the standby power domain, that is, when a wake-up signal is received at the input interface, a control signal is output at the output interface to control the power supply recovery of the core power domain, to wake up the core power domain. This method can be implemented based on a general interface (such as GPIO) in the standby power domain. Therefore, for the microcontroller itself, there is no need to use a high-specification microcontroller with dedicated power control pins, so the microcontroller itself can use a low-cost microcontroller; in addition, the solution of this embodiment does not need to be paired with a CAN transceiver or an SBC to achieve wake-up, but is implemented based on the microcontroller itself. Therefore, it has advantages both in terms of cost and architecture complexity. Therefore, the solution of this embodiment is particularly suitable for cost-sensitive microcontrollers. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0016] Other details and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description provided below. It should be understood that the following drawings are merely illustrative and thus cannot be considered as limiting the present invention. The following will be described in detail with reference to the drawings, where:

[0017] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a solution for waking up an MCU (microcontroller) based on a CAN transceiver;

[0018] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of a solution for waking up an MCU based on an SBC;

[0019] Figure 3 is a schematic structural diagram of an embodiment of the microcontroller of the present invention;

[0020] Figure 4 is a schematic structural diagram of another embodiment of the microcontroller of the present invention;

[0021] Figure 5 is a schematic structural diagram of another embodiment of the microcontroller of the present invention; and

[0022] Figure 6 is a schematic flowchart of an embodiment of the wake-up management method of the microcontroller of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

[0023] In order to make the technical problems, technical solutions and beneficial effects to be solved by the present invention clearer and more understandable, the present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are only for explaining the present invention and are not used to limit the present invention.

[0024] In the description of the present invention, it should be understood that the terms "first" and "second" are only used for descriptive purposes and cannot be construed as indicating or implying relative importance or implicitly specifying the quantity of the indicated technical features. Thus, the features defined with "first" and "second" may explicitly or implicitly include one or more of such features. Moreover, the terms "first", "second", etc. are applicable to distinguish similar objects and do not have to be used to describe a specific order or sequence. It should be understood that such terms can be interchanged under appropriate circumstances so that the embodiments of the present invention described herein can be implemented in an order other than those illustrated or described herein.

[0025] As Figure 1 shown, it is a schematic diagram of a solution for waking up an MCU (microcontroller) based on a CAN transceiver. As shown in the figure, the solution includes: power supplies 10 and 11, an MCU 12, and a CAN transceiver 13. The MCU 12 includes: interfaces 121, 122, and 123. Among them, interface 121 is connected to power supply 10 to supply power to the standby power domain (not shown) in the MCU 12. Interface 122 is connected to power supply 11 to supply power to the core power domain (not shown) in the MCU 12. The CAN transceiver 13 has a wake-up function and includes: interface 131. Among them, both interface 131 and interface 123 are connected to the control terminal of power supply 11.

[0026] In the figure, the MCU 12 can operate in multiple modes, such as the running mode and the standby mode. In the running mode, both power supplies 10 and 11 supply power to the MCU 12. In the standby mode, power supply 11 stops supplying power while power supply 10 keeps supplying power. Since the core power domain is the most power-consuming part in the MCU 12, interrupting the power supply to the core power domain in the standby mode can save energy consumption.

[0027] In the figure, when the MCU 12 is about to switch from the running mode to the standby mode, since the core power domain has not been powered off yet, the core power domain can control interface 123 to output a disable signal to power supply 11 to control power supply 111 to stop supplying power. And when the MCU 12 switches to the standby mode, since the core power domain has been powered off, the core power domain can no longer control interface 123 to output an enable signal. At this time, the CAN transceiver 13 is responsible for waking up. Specifically, when interface 131 receives a wake-up signal, it sends an enable signal to power supply 11 to enable power supply 11 to resume power supply to the core power domain.

[0028] Figure 1 The solution of the embodiment requires the CAN transceiver 13 to support the wake-up function, so the cost is relatively high.

[0029] As Figure 2As shown, it is a schematic diagram of a solution for waking up an MCU (Microcontroller Unit) based on an SBC (System Basis Chip). Among them, the SBC is a highly integrated chip mainly used in automotive electronic systems, which includes functions such as power management, communication, monitoring and diagnosis, and security monitoring.

[0030] As shown in the figure, this solution includes: SBC20 and MCU21. Among them, MCU21 includes: interfaces 211 to 213, which are similar to Figure 1 interfaces 121 to 123 in, and will not be elaborated here. SBC20 includes: power interfaces 201 and 202, and a control interface 203. Among them, power interfaces 201 and 202 are respectively connected to interfaces 211 and 212 to supply power to the standby power domain and the core power domain in MCU21 respectively.

[0031] In the figure, when entering the standby mode, the core power domain sends a disable signal to the control interface 203 through interface 213 to make power interface 202 stop supplying power. After MCU21 enters the standby mode, the control interface 203 in SBC20 receives a wake-up signal from the outside, and then based on the wake-up signal, restores the power supply of the core power domain through power interface 202.

[0032] Figure 2 The solution of the embodiment has a relatively high cost because an SBC is used.

[0033] In Figure 1 and 2 's solutions, both rely on external chips (such as CAN transceivers, SBCs, etc.) to assist the MCU in waking up the power supply. Therefore, they do not have an advantage in terms of solution cost and the solution architecture is also relatively complex. On this basis, this embodiment directly implements the wake-up solution based on the microcontroller itself. Specifically, before the core power domain in the microcontroller is powered off (i.e., before the microcontroller enters the standby mode), by configuring the wake-up logic in the standby power domain, that is, when a wake-up signal is received at the input interface, a control signal is output at the output interface to control the restoration of the power supply of the core power domain, to wake up the core power domain. This method can be implemented based on ordinary interfaces (such as GPIO) in the standby power domain. Therefore, in terms of the microcontroller itself, there is no need to use a high-specification microcontroller with dedicated power control pins, so the microcontroller itself can use a low-cost microcontroller. In addition, the solution of this embodiment does not need to be paired with a CAN transceiver or an SBC to implement wake-up, but is implemented based on the microcontroller itself. Therefore, it has advantages both in terms of cost and architecture complexity. The solution of the embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0034] As Figure 3As shown, it is a schematic structural diagram of an embodiment of the microcontroller (MCU) 32 of the present invention. The MCU 32 can be used as a control unit for vehicle body components such as vehicle doors, vehicle lights, and windshield wipers. The MCU 32 includes: a standby power domain 320 and a core power domain 321. Among them, the standby power domain 320 refers to the part of the MCU that is not powered off in the standby mode. For example, it includes: Flash, analog-to-digital conversion module (ADC), etc. The core power domain 321 refers to the part that is powered off in the standby mode, which mainly includes: a processor core. Since the processor core in the core power domain 321 is the main power-consuming component in the MCU 32, power supply to it can be cut off in the standby mode to achieve the purpose of power consumption saving.

[0035] As shown in the figure, the MCU 32 further includes: interfaces 322 and 323, which are respectively connected to external power supplies 30 and 31 for supplying power to the standby power domain 320 and the core power domain 321 respectively. In the standby power domain 320, interfaces 324 and 325 are included. Among them, interface 324 is connected to the control terminal of power supply 31 for controlling whether power supply 31 supplies power to the core power domain 321 or not. Interface 325 is used to receive a wake-up signal from the outside. Among them, the wake-up signal can be provided by a sensor or other components, and it can be a high level.

[0036] In the above, interfaces 322 to 325 can all be GPIO (General-purpose input / output).

[0037] Among them, the working process of the MCU 32 includes:

[0038] First, the MCU 32 operates in the running mode. At this time, power supplies 30 and 31 supply power to the standby power domain 320 and the core power domain 321 respectively.

[0039] Next, when the MCU 32 receives a sleep instruction from the upper layer, the MCU 32 configures the wake-up logic.

[0040] For example, the processor core configures the standby power domain 320 to have the following wake-up logic:

[0041] When the wake-up signal is received at interface 325, interface 324 outputs an enable signal to power supply 31.

[0042] Specifically, the above-mentioned wake-up logic configuration can be achieved by configuring the state machine in the standby power domain 320 (the underlying logic of which is implemented by hardware, that is, the logic elements inside the MCU chip are configured through registers, so as to achieve the function of triggering an output signal when receiving an input signal). Through this configuration, when the interface 325 receives a wake-up signal (such as a high level), the state machine can control the interface 324 to output a high level to trigger the power supply 31 to turn on. It should be noted that the solution of the embodiment of the present invention requires the hardware in the standby power domain 320 to support the above configuration to be realized.

[0043] Next, after the above configuration is completed, the processor core controls the interface 324 to output a Disable signal to the power supply 31, for example, shorting the control interface 324 to ground to output a low-level signal to the control terminal of the power supply 31. It should be noted that since the core power domain 321 is still powered at this time, the processor core can set the output of the interface 324.

[0044] Next, after the power supply 31 receives the Disable signal, the power supply to the core power domain 321 is cut off. At this time, the MCU32 enters the standby mode. It should be noted that in the standby mode, the core power domain 321 is powered off, so the processor core does not work and cannot set the output of the interface 324, so it is impossible to achieve self-wake-up based on the processor core. And this embodiment can achieve self-wake-up according to the wake-up logic configured by the processor core before power-off.

[0045] Then, when the MCU32 is in the standby mode, if the interface 325 receives a wake-up signal, according to the pre-configured wake-up logic, the interface 324 outputs an enable signal to the control terminal of the power supply 31.

[0046] Next, the power supply 31 restores the power supply to the core power domain 321 according to the enable signal. After the power supply of the core power domain 321 is restored, the wake-up process continues until the running mode is restored.

[0047] In this embodiment, before entering the standby mode, by configuring the wake-up logic in the standby power domain 320 (which requires the hardware in the standby power domain 320 to support), the MCU32 can not only achieve self-sleep, but also achieve self-wake-up, and this configuration method can be based on ordinary interfaces. Therefore, the solution of this embodiment has low complexity in architecture and low cost in terms of cost.

[0048] As Figure 4 shown, it is a schematic structural diagram of another embodiment of the MCU32 of the present invention. In Figure 4In this case, the MCU 32 further includes: another power domain 327. For example, the other power domain 327 is a power domain related to a high-speed interface. It is powered by the power supply 31 through the interface 326. Among them, the power supply 33 follows the power supply 31 to interrupt or resume the power supply to the other power domain 327.

[0049] As Figure 5 shown, it is a schematic structural diagram of another embodiment of the MCU 32 of the present invention. In Figure 5 this case, the interface 324 is connected to the power level through the pull-up resistor R1. The purpose of such a design is: for the case where the enable signal is at a high level, after recovering from the standby mode to the operating mode, the processor core in the core power domain 321 will take over the control of the interface 324, that is, the processor core controls the interface 324 to output a high level, rather than through the previously configured wake-up logic, because in the operating mode, the states of each interface need to be determined rather than unknown for the processor core. Therefore, the processor core needs to take over the control so that when going to sleep next time, it can control the interface 324 to output a predetermined control signal. During the takeover (switching) process, there may be a situation where the output level of the interface 324 fluctuates. Therefore, through the pull-up resistor R1, the interface 324 can be made to constantly output a high level, avoiding accidental power-off of the core power domain 321 due to level fluctuations. In addition, for the case where the enable signal is at a low level, an external pull-down resistor can be connected.

[0050] As Figure 6 shown, it is a schematic flowchart of an embodiment of the wake-up management method of the microcontroller of the present invention, which includes:

[0051] Step S60: The MCU needs to enter the standby mode. For example, when the MCU receives a sleep instruction, it needs to enter the standby mode.

[0052] Step S61: Configure the following wake-up logic into the standby power domain: when a wake-up signal is received, the first interface (such as the interface 324) outputs the first control signal (such as, the enable signal).

[0053] Step S62: After completing the above configuration, control the first interface to output the second control signal (such as, the disable signal) to cut off the power supply of the core power domain, and the system enters the standby mode.

[0054] Step S63: In the standby mode, the standby power domain determines whether a wake-up signal is received. If received, execute step S64, otherwise continue to judge.

[0055] Step S64: According to the pre-configured wake-up logic, the first interface outputs the first control signal to resume the power supply of the core power domain, and the system resumes to the operating state.

[0056] It should be noted that for more details about the relevant structure of the MCU and the method flow, reference can be made to the foregoing embodiments, which will not be elaborated here.

[0057] In this embodiment, the MCU can be self-awakened in a low-cost and low-complexity manner.

[0058] It should be pointed out that the above description is only an example and not a limitation of the present invention. In other embodiments of the present invention, the method may have more, fewer, or different steps, and the order, inclusion, and functional relationships among the steps may be different from those described and illustrated. For example, usually multiple steps can be combined into a single step, and a single step can also be split into multiple steps. For those of ordinary skill in the art, without creative efforts, the sequential changes of the steps are also within the protection scope of the present invention.

[0059] The technical solution of the present invention, in essence, or the part that contributes to the prior art, or all or part of this technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product. This computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions to enable a computer device (which can be a personal computer, a server, or a network device, etc.), a processor, or a microcontroller to execute all or part of the steps of the method according to various embodiments of the present invention.

[0060] Those of ordinary skill in the art can understand that all or part of the steps to implement the above method embodiments can be completed by hardware related to program instructions. The foregoing program can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. When this program is executed, it executes the steps including the above method embodiments.

[0061] Although the present invention has been disclosed above with preferred embodiments, the present invention is not limited thereto. Any changes and modifications made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention should be incorporated into the protection scope of the present invention. Therefore, the protection scope of the present invention should be subject to the scope defined by the claims.

Claims

1. A wake-up management method for a microcontroller, the microcontroller comprising: A core power domain and a standby power domain, characterized in that the method includes: Powering the core power domain by a first power supply, the core power domain including: a processor core; Powering the standby power domain by a second power supply, the standby power domain including: an input interface and an output interface; When the processor core receives an instruction to switch to the standby mode, the processor core configures the standby power domain with the following wake-up logic: when a wake-up signal is received at the input interface, the output interface outputs a first control signal to the first power supply; After the configuration is completed, the processor core controls the output interface to output a second control signal to the first power supply; The first power supply interrupts the power supply to the processor core according to the second control signal; When a wake-up signal is received at the input interface, according to the configured wake-up logic, the output interface outputs a first control signal to the first power supply; The first power supply restores the power supply to the core power domain according to the first control signal.

2. The wake-up management method of the microcontroller according to claim 1, characterized in that, Configure a state machine in the standby power domain so that the state machine has the function of triggering the output interface to output the first control signal when a wake-up signal is received at the input interface.

3. A microcontroller, characterized in that, Including: A core power domain, powered by a first power supply; And, A standby power domain, including: an input interface and an output interface; When the microcontroller needs to enter the standby mode, the core power domain configures the output interface to output a first control signal to the first power supply when a wake-up signal is received at the input interface; after the configuration is completed, the core power domain controls the first power supply to interrupt the power supply to the core power domain to enter the standby mode; Wherein, the first control signal is used to make the first power supply restore power supply to the core power domain.

4. The microcontroller according to claim 3, characterized in that, The core power domain controls the first power supply to interrupt the power supply to the core power domain by controlling the output interface to output a second control signal to the first power supply.

5. The microcontroller according to claim 3, characterized in that, The core power domain configures the state machine in the standby power domain so that the state machine can trigger the output interface to output a first control signal to the first power supply when a wake-up signal is received at the input interface.

6. The microcontroller according to claim 3, characterized in that, The standby power domain is powered by a second power supply, and in the standby mode, the second power supply keeps powering the standby power domain.

7. The microcontroller according to claim 3, characterized in that, Further including: Other power domains, powered by a third power supply, and the third power supply follows the first power supply to interrupt or restore the power supply to the other power domains.

8. The microcontroller according to claim 3, characterized in that After the core power domain resumes from the standby mode to the operating mode, switch to control the output interface by the core power domain to keep outputting the first control signal.

9. The microcontroller according to claim 8, characterized in that, According to whether the first control signal is high level or low level, connect the output interface to the power level through a pull-up resistor or connect it to the ground through a pull-down resistor.

10. The microcontroller according to claim 3, characterized in that, The core power domain includes a processor core, and the configuration is completed by the processor core. The standby power domain does not include a processor core, and both the input interface and the output interface are general-purpose input / output interfaces.

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