Multi-electronic-device communication method and system

Abstract

The invention belongs to the technical field of electronic equipment communication control, and provides a multi-electronic equipment communication method and system, and the method comprises the steps: responding to an access request of at least one slave device; detecting the slave device through the master control device to obtain the equipment type of the slave device; and according to the equipment type of the slave device, constructing a physical communication link between the master control device and the slave device, and sending the control data and the high data volume data to the slave device through the physical communication link. The method has the beneficial effects that compatible communication of high-speed equipment and low-speed equipment is realized through dynamic access and dynamic address allocation, stable transmission of speed data streams is carried out on a plurality of high-speed electronic devices, data transmission and control are not influenced by plugging of the high-speed electronic devices, and unified control of a system layer is realized; by simulating the existing pin resources of the control or feedback signal, the transmission of data with high data volume is performed without increasing additional pin resources.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to the field of power technology, and in particular to a communication method and system for multiple electronic devices. Background Technology

[0002] With the increasing intelligence of current electronic devices, their communication and control capabilities are no longer sufficient to meet the demands.

[0003] Taking the fan interface as an example, current electronic devices face certain technical limitations when using existing control or feedback pins for communication, particularly regarding the parallel connection of multiple electronic devices, data transmission bandwidth, and system integration control. For example:

[0004] For four-pin connectors (PWM / FG / VDD / GND) such as fans and water cooling, only analog control and simple status reporting can be achieved, with limited signal quantity and slow speed; there is a bottleneck in digital control. Although I²C / SMBUS can achieve digital control, its speed is insufficient to simultaneously support high-speed control and low-speed video streaming; the connection of multi-functional devices is complicated. Water cooling heads with displays require additional USB or dedicated lines to transmit images, resulting in numerous cables, difficult installation, and high hardware costs; existing systems do not have a system-level design for plug-and-play coordination of multiple high-speed devices and low-speed video transmission on the same line. Summary of the Invention

[0005] In order to at least solve one of the technical problems existing in the prior art, the present invention provides a method and system for communication between multiple electronic devices.

[0006] One aspect of the present invention provides a multi-electronic device communication method, comprising:

[0007] In response to an access request from at least one slave device;

[0008] The slave device is detected by the master control device to obtain the device type of the slave device;

[0009] Based on the equipment type of the slave device, a physical communication link is constructed between the master control device and the slave device, and control data and high-volume data are sent to the slave device through the physical communication link.

[0010] According to the multi-electronic device communication method, the slave device is detected by the master control device to obtain the device type of the slave device, including:

[0011] The master control device sends a preset protocol to the slave device and obtains return information.

[0012] The device type of the slave device is determined based on the returned information, where the device type includes low-speed devices and high-speed devices.

[0013] According to the aforementioned multi-electronic device communication method, a physical communication link is constructed between the master control device and the slave device based on the device type of the slave device. Control data and high-volume data are sent to the slave device through this physical communication link, including:

[0014] When the equipment type is low-speed equipment, control data is sent to the subordinate device;

[0015] When the equipment type is a high-speed device, a physical communication link is established between the master control device and the slave device. Based on the data encapsulation identification bit and communication timing schedule, at least two independent logical transmission channels are established on the physical communication link to send control data and high data volume data to the slave device.

[0016] According to the multi-electronic device communication method described above, the method further includes:

[0017] The communication rate between the master control device and the slave device is searched to obtain the maximum communication rate between them.

[0018] According to the multi-electronic device communication method described above, the method further includes:

[0019] Each time a slave device is connected, the master control device dynamically assigns an address to the slave device and records the assigned address in the dynamic address list.

[0020] The master device communicates with the slave device according to the assigned address and maximum communication rate.

[0021] According to the multi-electronic device communication method described above, the method further includes:

[0022] When any slave device stops communicating or a new slave device is connected;

[0023] The maximum communication rate is re-detected, and all connected slave devices are dynamically assigned addresses again and the dynamic address list is updated.

[0024] According to the multi-electronic device communication method described above, the method further includes:

[0025] The transmission rate of control data and high-volume data is dynamically adjusted based on the maximum communication load that the main control device can bear and the number of slave devices connected.

[0026] Embodiments of the present invention also include a multi-electronic device communication system, comprising:

[0027] Master control device and slave device;

[0028] The master control device is connected to at least one of the slave devices;

[0029] The master control device detects the slave device to obtain the device type of the slave device;

[0030] The master control device is used to construct a physical communication link between the slave devices according to the device type of the slave devices, and to send control data and high-volume data to the slave devices through the physical communication link.

[0031] According to the aforementioned multi-electronic device communication system, the main control device further includes:

[0032] The system comprises a main control unit, a connection unit, and a mapping unit. The main control unit and the mapping unit (i.e., the connection unit) are connected in sequence. The mapping unit is used to map the communication information of the main control unit to the connection unit and transmit it.

[0033] According to the aforementioned multi-electronic device communication system, the slave device further includes:

[0034] The main control unit comprises a slave unit, a video data processing unit, and a display unit. The main control unit communicates with at least one of the slave units through the connection unit. The video data processing unit is used to decode the high-data-volume data. The display unit is used to play the decoded high-data-volume data.

[0035] The beneficial effects of this invention are as follows: By using dynamic access and dynamic address allocation, compatible communication between high-speed and low-speed devices is achieved, and stable transmission of speed data streams is achieved for multiple high-speed electronic devices. The insertion and removal of high-speed electronic devices does not affect data transmission and control, thus realizing unified control at the system level. By using existing pin resources of analog control or feedback signals, such as PWM pulse width modulation pins and FG feedback pins, without adding additional communication cables or connectors, these pins can carry the communication transmission of control data and high data volume data through data packet identification and communication timing scheduling configuration. Attached Figure Description

[0036] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the communication process of multiple electronic devices according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0037] Figure 2 This is a schematic flowchart of a method for dynamically adjusting the communication rate according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0038] Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram of the communication rate adjustment process between the master control device and the slave device in an embodiment of the present invention.

[0039] Figure 4 This is a schematic diagram of the dynamic address allocation process according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0040] Figure 5This is a schematic diagram of a multi-electronic device communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0041] Figure 6 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the mode switching process between the master control device and the slave device in an embodiment of the present invention. Detailed Implementation

[0042] The embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below, examples of which are shown in the accompanying drawings. Throughout the description, the same or similar reference numerals denote the same or similar elements or elements having the same or similar functions. In the following description, suffixes such as "module," "part," or "unit" used to denote elements are used only for the purpose of illustrative purposes and have no specific meaning in themselves. Therefore, "module," "part," or "unit" can be used interchangeably. Terms such as "first," "second," etc., are used only to distinguish technical features and should not be construed as indicating or implying relative importance, or implicitly indicating the number of indicated technical features, or implicitly indicating the sequential relationship of the indicated technical features. In the following description, the consecutive reference numerals for method steps are for ease of review and understanding. Adjusting the implementation order of steps, in conjunction with the overall technical solution of the present invention and the logical relationship between the various steps, will not affect the technical effect achieved by the technical solution of the present invention. The embodiments described below with reference to the accompanying drawings are exemplary and are only used to explain the present invention, and should not be construed as limiting the present invention.

[0043] refer to Figure 1 The flowchart of the multi-electronic device communication method shown includes, but is not limited to, steps S100 to S300:

[0044] S100, in response to an access request from at least one slave device.

[0045] It should be noted that each multi-electronic device communication system includes a master controller and multiple slave devices connected to it, where slave devices are passive access devices. For example, the master controller is a motherboard including an MCU / EC, and the slave devices are gaming devices connected to it, such as water cooling systems and fans.

[0046] S200 uses the master control device to detect the slave device and obtain the equipment type of the slave device.

[0047] S300 establishes a physical communication link between the master control device and the slave device based on the device type of the slave device, and sends control data and high-volume data to the slave device through the physical communication link.

[0048] In some embodiments, the device types of the slave device include low-speed devices and high-speed devices. It should be noted that the low-speed devices and high-speed devices are used to distinguish whether they can support the display of high data volumes.

[0049] In some embodiments, the high-volume data may be video data, etc.

[0050] Specifically, a low-speed device indicates that it only supports the transmission of control data, which is determined by the slave device, such as the fan speed and the power output of the power supply.

[0051] In some embodiments, the master device sends a preset communication protocol to the slave device when it is connected or restarted. The type of the slave device is determined by the preset communication protocol, that is, whether it needs to receive high data volume data.

[0052] In some embodiments, when the device type is a low-speed device, control data is sent to the slave device; when the device type is a high-speed device, a physical communication link is established between the master device and the slave device. Based on the data encapsulation identification bit and communication timing schedule, at least two independent logical transmission channels are established on the physical communication link to send control data and high data volume data to the slave device. That is, the slave device performs corresponding control processing according to the control data and displays the high data volume data through its included display unit. For example, the fan includes a display screen, which is used to display the real-time status of the fan.

[0053] Embodiments of the present invention also include searching for the communication rate between the master control device and the slave device, with reference to... Figure 2 The flowchart shown below illustrates the method for dynamically adjusting the communication rate, which includes, but is not limited to, steps S211-S213:

[0054] S211, in response to the communication rate adjustment request, the master device sends a test command to the slave device according to the first configuration information.

[0055] The communication rate adjustment request can be from the main control device or an external input.

[0056] In some embodiments, the first configuration information is used to determine whether the slave device and its communication line are capable of communication.

[0057] In some embodiments, the master device sends first configuration information to the slave device at a frequency of 400 kHz and a device identifier (such as device ID, factory identifier).

[0058] In some embodiments, when performing communication line detection using the I²C two-wire communication protocol, the lowest clock frequency of I²C, Ex: 100K Hz, is selected for detection.

[0059] S212, based on the feedback information from the slave device, the master control device tests the communication rate according to the second configuration information and gradually adjusts the second configuration information until the communication rate reaches the target value, where the target value is the maximum rate that the communication line and the slave device can support.

[0060] In some embodiments, the feedback information is normal feedback information from the slave device, indicating that the communication line is available. Therefore, the master device uses the second configuration information to test the communication line. For example, the second configuration information includes test codes 0xAA and 0x55 and a test rate of 600K Hz.

[0061] It is understandable that the test codes are determined based on the main control device. For example, the test codes 0xAA and 0x55 mentioned above represent a short 1 and short 0 architecture.

[0062] In some embodiments, the master device sends a series of clock signals plus data. If one slave device fails to respond, the master device can determine the maximum data rate supported by the slave device. In the I2C protocol, each byte transmission returns a non-acknowledgment (NACK) or acknowledgement (ACK) signal. This mechanism can be used to determine whether communication is possible and to ascertain the maximum data rate supported by the slave device.

[0063] S213 enables the master control device to communicate with the slave device according to the target value.

[0064] Understandably, the target value is the maximum communication rate when the master control device and the slave device are communicating stably.

[0065] In some embodiments, such as Figure 3 The schematic diagram of the adjustment process of the master control device and the slave device shown includes: each time feedback information is obtained from the slave device, the value of the test rate is increased until feedback information from the slave device can no longer be obtained, and the test rate of the previous adjustment is used as the target communication rate.

[0066] In some embodiments, the value of increasing the test rate can be a fixed communication rate, such as increasing by 200 kHz each time.

[0067] The method to determine the maximum speed that each slave device can support is that the master device sends the detection data in a step-by-step loop, starting with a low clock frequency and gradually increasing it. When a slave device correctly receives the detection data, it sends an acknowledgment signal (ACK signal). Then, the master device increases the speed by one level and sends the data again. During the loop, if the master device does not receive an acknowledgment signal, it records the shorthand of the last successful communication with the slave device.

[0068] In some embodiments, the frequency and magnitude of each increase in the test rate value are set according to the accuracy of the master control device; that is, the higher the accuracy, the faster the search.

[0069] In some embodiments, the method further includes: recording the real-time communication rate between the master device and the slave device, determining the line quality rate level between the master device and the slave device based on the real-time rate, and searching within the range of the line quality rate level where the previous communication rate was located when re-performing the communication rate adjustment or when the line communication environment changes.

[0070] In some embodiments, the search is performed within the range of the line quality rate level where the previous communication rate is located, including: if the slave device responds, the range of the line quality rate level where the previous communication rate is located is used as the search starting point, and the search is performed by gradually increasing the test rate; if the slave device does not respond, the range of the line quality rate level where the previous communication rate is located is used as the search starting point, and the search is performed by gradually decreasing the test rate.

[0071] In some embodiments, if the slave device responds (returns ACK), the search is performed by gradually increasing the value of the test rate until the target value is reached; if the slave device does not respond or responds with an error (returns NACK), the search is performed by gradually decreasing the value of the test rate until the target value is reached.

[0072] Understandably, if the slave device's response indicates that the target communication rate of the communication line is greater than the current communication rate, then the search needs to be performed by increasing the rate; otherwise, it needs to be reduced.

[0073] For example, the line quality rate rating adopts the LQS rating, as detailed below:

[0074] LQS0 = Basic low-speed, secure communication mode (0~100K Hz);

[0075] LQS1 = Medium speed (I2C low / fast mode range) (100K Hz ~ 1M Hz);

[0076] LQS4–LQS6 = High-speed mode (1 MHz ~ 10 MHz);

[0077] LQS7-LQSN-= The highest stable communication clock frequency (automatically searched) (≥10MHz).

[0078] In the above embodiment, LQS0 is the range of the minimum line quality rate level. Therefore, the technical solution of the present invention when re-executing communication rate adjustment or when the line communication environment changes can also adopt the range of the minimum line quality rate level as the search starting point, or directly use the minimum communication rate method for searching.

[0079] For example, each master control device can communicate with multiple slave devices at different LQS levels. Once the maximum rate supported by all slave devices has been detected, the master control device begins normal communication with the slave devices. If a slave device fails to respond with an acknowledgment signal after receiving data during normal communication, the master control device knows that the physical link characteristics have changed and needs to re-detect, thus achieving adaptive dynamic adjustment of the rate characteristics to ensure high-quality and efficient transmission.

[0080] Understandably, the master device detects the maximum speed supported by each slave device, records this maximum speed, and then uses this recorded maximum speed to communicate with the slave devices. In summary, although the three slave devices are physically connected in parallel, their communication speeds with the master device are different, achieving differentiated transmission.

[0081] In some embodiments, reference Figure 4 The diagram illustrating the dynamic address allocation process includes, but is not limited to, steps S221-S222:

[0082] S221, Each time a slave device is connected, the master control device dynamically assigns a address to the slave device and records the assigned address to the dynamic address list.

[0083] S222, the master control device communicates with the slave device according to the assigned address and maximum communication rate.

[0084] Furthermore, when any slave device stops communicating or a new slave device is connected, that is, when the status and number of slave devices controlled by the master device change, the dynamic address allocation process is re-performed and the dynamic address list is updated.

[0085] It is understood that the embodiments of the present invention complete the transmission of overall control data and high-volume data in the above embodiments by assigning a unique dynamic communication address to each slave device, as detailed below:

[0086] The data encapsulation identifier is calculated using the device identification identifier (such as MAC address) of the slave device. The master device then determines the communication timing schedule for data transmission among multiple slave devices based on the data encapsulation identifier and the dynamic communication address. This embodiment of the invention achieves transmission sequencing, differentiated communication, and improved line utilization for slave devices in this way.

[0087] In some embodiments, the transmission rates of control data and high-volume data are dynamically adjusted based on the maximum communication load that the master control device can carry and the number of slave devices connected.

[0088] It is understandable that when there are few slave devices connected to the master device (e.g., 3), the interference between multiple devices during communication is small and stable. Therefore, when the maximum communication load is 100MB / s, multiple slave devices can communicate with the master device at the maximum communication rate obtained above. However, when there are many slave devices (e.g., 30), the communication interference between devices is large. Therefore, even if the maximum communication rate can be met, the master device will reduce the communication rate with the slave devices based on communication stability.

[0089] refer to Figure 5 The schematic diagram of the multi-electronic device communication system shown includes a master control device and slave devices; the master control device is connected to at least one slave device via a BUS bus; the master control device is used to detect the slave devices and obtain the device type of the slave devices; the master control device is used to construct a physical communication link for the slave devices according to the device type of the slave devices, and send control data and high-volume data to the slave devices through the physical communication link.

[0090] In some embodiments, the slave devices are connected to the BUS bus in parallel.

[0091] The main control device includes a main control unit, a mapping unit, and a connection unit, which are connected in sequence. The mapping unit is used to map the communication information of the main control unit to the connection unit and transmit it.

[0092] The slave device includes a slave unit, a video data processing unit, and a display unit. The master control unit communicates with at least one slave unit through a connection unit. The video data processing unit is used to decode control data and video data. The display unit is used to play the decoded video data.

[0093] In some embodiments, reference Figure 6The flowchart shown illustrates the mode switching process between the master control device and the slave device. In conjunction with the aforementioned embodiments, after completing high-speed communication (such as HDR mode), the master control device and the slave device of the present invention will return to SDR mode, that is, adjust the communication rate between the master control device and the slave device. At this time, the master control device performs maximum communication rate detection and dynamic address allocation on the slave device according to the method of disconnecting / reconnecting the slave device.

[0094] In the description of this specification, references to terms such as "one embodiment," "some embodiments," "example," "specific example," or "some examples," etc., indicate that a specific feature, structure, material, or characteristic described in connection with that embodiment or example is included in at least one embodiment or example of the invention. In this specification, the illustrative expressions of the above terms do not necessarily refer to the same embodiment or example. Furthermore, the specific features, structures, materials, or characteristics described may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments or examples.

[0095] Although embodiments of the invention have been shown and described, those skilled in the art will understand that various changes, modifications, substitutions and alterations can be made to these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined by the claims and their equivalents.

[0096] The above is a detailed description of the preferred embodiments of the present invention, but the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described. Those skilled in the art can make various equivalent modifications or substitutions without departing from the spirit of the present invention, and these equivalent modifications or substitutions are all included within the scope defined by the claims of this application.

Claims

1. A communication method for multiple electronic devices, characterized in that, include: In response to an access request from at least one slave device; The slave device is detected by the master control device to obtain the device type of the slave device; Based on the equipment type of the slave device, a physical communication link is constructed between the master control device and the slave device, and control data and high-volume data are sent to the slave device through the physical communication link.

2. The multi-electronic device communication method according to claim 1, characterized in that, The step of detecting the slave device through the master control device to obtain the device type of the slave device includes: The master control device sends a preset protocol to the slave device and obtains return information. The device type of the slave device is determined based on the returned information, where the device type includes low-speed devices and high-speed devices.

3. The multi-electronic device communication method according to claim 2, characterized in that, The process involves establishing a physical communication link between the master control device and the slave device based on the device type of the slave device, and sending control data and high-volume data to the slave device through the physical communication link, including: When the equipment type is low-speed equipment, control data is sent to the subordinate device; When the device type is a high-speed device, a physical communication link is established between the master control device and the slave device. Based on the data encapsulation identification bit and communication timing schedule, at least two independent logical transmission channels are established on the physical communication link to send control data and high data volume data to the slave device.

4. The multi-electronic device communication method according to claim 2, characterized in that, The method further includes: The communication rate between the master control device and the slave device is searched to obtain the maximum communication rate between them.

5. The multi-electronic device communication method according to claim 4, characterized in that, The method further includes: Each time a slave device is connected, the master control device dynamically assigns an address to the slave device and records the assigned address in the dynamic address list. The master device communicates with the slave device according to the assigned address and maximum communication rate.

6. The multi-electronic device communication method according to claim 5, characterized in that, The method further includes: When any slave device stops communicating or a new slave device is connected; The maximum communication rate is re-detected, and all connected slave devices are dynamically assigned addresses again and the dynamic address list is updated.

7. The multi-electronic device communication method according to claim 4, characterized in that, The method further includes: The transmission rate of control data and high-volume data is dynamically adjusted based on the maximum communication load that the main control device can bear and the number of slave devices connected.

8. A multi-electronic device communication system according to any one of claims 1-7, characterized in that, include: Master control device and slave device; The master control device is connected to at least one of the slave devices; The master control device detects the slave device to obtain the device type of the slave device; The master control device is used to construct a physical communication link between the slave devices according to the device type of the slave devices, and to send control data and high-volume data to the slave devices through the physical communication link.

9. The multi-electronic device communication system according to claim 8, characterized in that, The main control device also includes: The system comprises a main control unit, a connection unit, and a mapping unit. The main control unit and the mapping unit (i.e., the connection unit) are connected in sequence. The mapping unit is used to map the communication information of the main control unit to the connection unit and transmit it.

10. The multi-electronic device communication method according to claim 9, characterized in that, The subordinate device further includes: The main control unit comprises a slave unit, a video data processing unit, and a display unit. The main control unit communicates with at least one of the slave units through the connection unit. The video data processing unit is used to decode the high-data-volume data. The display unit is used to play the decoded high-data-volume data.

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