Method for loading U3V camera firmware

Abstract

The invention relates to the technical field of electric digital data processing, and discloses a method for loading U3V camera firmware, which comprises the following steps of: presetting a basic firmware mirror image containing an invalid serial number and a locking enable bit in a nonvolatile memory, and only establishing physical connection when equipment is electrified by the mirror image; in response to a request of the upper computer, loading and operating the number writing agent firmware to the volatile memory, and enumerating the device as a configuration interface device; receiving serial number data through the number writing proxy firmware, executing a direct addressing operation on the nonvolatile memory, writing a serial number and overwriting an enable bit to be in a valid state; according to the method, logic decoupling of firmware function codes and identity data is achieved through a volatile memory agent mechanism, and the batch production efficiency and the flexibility of version management are improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to a method for loading firmware for a U3V camera, belonging to the field of electronic digital data processing technology. Background Technology

[0002] Currently, in industrial machine vision systems, U3V standard imaging equipment uses a universal serial bus controller as the core data processing unit. Its operation relies on a firmware image in non-volatile memory. The firmware image contains a communication protocol stack, an executable instruction stream for image acquisition logic, and a unique device identifier to distinguish hardware entities. The existing data processing flow statically embeds the serial number into the firmware source code during the code compilation stage to generate a binary image file that uniquely corresponds to the hardware.

[0003] To optimize camera operating efficiency, for example, Chinese invention patent CN112099859A discloses an industrial camera firmware system and implementation method based on gigabit network. This improves the camera's response speed to network events and image data during operation by constructing a firmware architecture including a main loop, interrupt services, and driver modules. However, existing technologies focus on optimizing task scheduling and data flow during device operation, failing to address the core pain points of production-state firmware deployment. Data processing still follows the traditional paradigm of statically embedding identity data such as serial numbers into the firmware source code, generating a binary image file uniquely corresponding to the hardware during code compilation. While this method satisfies the protocol's device uniqueness requirement, it causes contradictions in digital production and device initialization data processing logic. Executable instruction streams, as general data entities, must remain consistent across devices of the same model, and device identifiers... To differentiate data entities, they need to be mutually exclusive at the physical device level. Existing technologies couple these two aspects during the compilation phase, resulting in the need to generate, store, and verify independent binary large object files for each physical device. In large-scale configuration scenarios, this mode of generating independent firmware for a single physical device has limitations: data redundancy and version management conflicts; a large number of image files that differ only in identifier address bits occupy storage resources; all images need to be recompiled and verified when the code logic is updated, increasing the difficulty of maintaining consistency in version iteration; rigid memory initialization logic; write operations require the data stream to be ready at once; lack of a dynamic identity binding interface based on a general image after device assembly; and risks associated with mapping physical entities and logical images. The write process requires hardware and logical file timing synchronization; data stream misalignment leads to identification errors, and correction requires erasing and rewriting storage sectors.

[0004] Therefore, how to improve the firmware image data structure and loading timing, and achieve decoupling and step-by-step residence of general instruction code and independent device identifier in non-volatile memory without changing the hardware architecture, is the technical problem to be solved by this invention. Summary of the Invention

[0005] To address the problems mentioned in the background art, the technical solution of the present invention is as follows: A method for loading U3V camera firmware, the method being applied to a digital data processing terminal including a universal serial bus controller, non-volatile memory, and volatile memory, the method comprising the following steps: A base firmware image is pre-installed in non-volatile memory. The base firmware image contains a serial number placeholder field pointing to an invalid value and a boot enable verification field in a locked state. The base firmware image is configured to establish a physical layer connection when the system is powered on, but not to be enumerated as a U3V functional device. In response to the configuration request signal issued by the host computer, a write-agent firmware is loaded into the volatile memory through the universal serial bus controller, and the system instruction pointer is jumped to the address space of the volatile memory to enumerate the digital data processing terminal as a configuration interface device based on the write-agent firmware. The serial number agent firmware receives the unique serial number data and activation instructions sent by the host computer. The write agent firmware performs a direct addressing operation on the non-volatile memory, writes the unique serial number data to the physical address of the serial number placeholder field, and overwrites the boot enable verification field with a valid status value. In response to the system reset signal, the Universal Serial Bus controller loads the base firmware image containing unique serial number data based on the boot enable check field that has been overwritten with a valid status value in the non-volatile memory, and enumerates the system as a U3V functional device with a unique identity.

[0006] Preferably, the steps for pre-setting the basic firmware image include: compiling the original code to generate a binary object file; locating the memory-mapped address segment in the binary object file used to store the serial number; using preset mask data to fully fill and overwrite the memory-mapped address segment to form an invalid value; locating the flag address in the binary object file used to control the boot process jump, modifying the data at the flag address to a blocking state that blocks the boot process; and using the modified binary object file as the basic firmware image to write it in batches to non-volatile memory through a general programming interface.

[0007] Preferably, the write proxy firmware is a lightweight bootloader independent of the base firmware image. The write proxy firmware only contains the control endpoint logic of the Universal Serial Bus communication protocol stack and the low-level read / write driver logic for non-volatile memory. The write proxy firmware does not contain the image sensor driver logic or the U3V stream transport protocol stack. The step of enumerating the system as a configuration interface device based on the write proxy firmware includes: the Universal Serial Bus controller uses the specific vendor identifier and product identifier defined in the write proxy firmware to report the device descriptor to the host computer and establish a control transmission channel used only for configuration data.

[0008] Preferably, after the step of the writing agent firmware receiving the unique serial number data and activation command issued by the host computer, the step of verifying the integrity of the unique serial number data is further included. The integrity verification step includes: the writing agent firmware calculates the verification feature value of the received unique serial number data according to a preset verification algorithm, and compares the verification feature value with the reference verification value issued by the host computer; when the verification feature value matches the reference verification value, the writing agent firmware triggers an erase / write operation for the non-volatile memory.

[0009] Preferably, in the integrity verification step, the write agent firmware calculates the verification feature value according to the following formula. : ,in, This indicates the first unique serial number in the data. A value in bytes, The total length of the unique sequence number data in bytes. This represents the preset modulus reference value; the write-number proxy firmware will calculate the obtained value. An equality check is performed with a reference check value to determine the validity of the data transmission process.

[0010] Preferably, the step of overwriting the boot enable verification field to a valid status value is configured as an atomic operation to be performed after the unique serial number data is successfully written to the non-volatile memory; after confirming that the unique serial number data has been successfully written, the write proxy firmware locks the status register of the non-volatile memory, sends a programming instruction to the sector where the boot enable verification field is located, and flips the locked state to a valid status value that indicates the boot program to jump to the main function entry point; if the unique serial number data writing fails, the write proxy firmware keeps the boot enable verification field in a locked state, so that the system will still fall back to the restricted boot state defined by the basic firmware image after the next power-on reset.

[0011] Preferably, the digital data processing terminal further includes an encryption authentication module. The method further includes: during the operation of the writing agent firmware, the host computer issues an identity verification command (crypto), a key slot number, and a password (challenge); the writing agent firmware accesses the camera's encryption authentication module through the internal bus, inputs the key slot number (slot) and password (challenge) sent by the host computer, and after the encryption component completes the calculation, reads the ciphertext (digest) output by the encryption authentication module and uploads it to the host computer through the universal serial bus controller; the host computer calculates and outputs ciphertext based on its stored key and the current password, and compares the output ciphertext with the received ciphertext. If they match, the writing agent firmware host is considered a legitimate product; otherwise, it is considered an illegitimate product. The key is pre-set in the encryption authentication module, but the password changes each time to ensure that an unauthorized camera cannot intrude into the writing system.

[0012] Preferably, the system reset signal is triggered in the following ways: after the write agent firmware completes the overwrite operation of the boot enable verification field, it actively writes a reset instruction to the reset register of the universal serial bus controller to trigger a soft reset; or after the host computer receives the write success confirmation message from the write agent firmware, it sends a power-off restart instruction to the digital data processing terminal to trigger a hard reset.

[0013] Preferably, the method is applied to a large-scale parallel production environment, where the host computer connects to multiple digital data processing terminals simultaneously; for each connected digital data processing terminal, the host computer executes the step of loading the write agent firmware in parallel; based on the enumerated port physical topology address of each digital data processing terminal when configuring the interface device, the host computer assigns unique serial number data that does not conflict to each digital data processing terminal, and sends the unique serial number data and activation command.

[0014] Preferably, the base firmware image includes direct memory access control logic for processing image data; after the system enumerates the device as a U3V functional device with a unique identifier, the method further includes: the Universal Serial Bus controller starts the direct memory access control logic based on a valid status value to establish a data transmission link from the image sensor interface to the Universal Serial Bus interface; the Universal Serial Bus controller reads the unique serial number data in the non-volatile memory and fills it into the device information field of the U3V boot protocol packet in response to the host's enumeration request.

[0015] Compared with the prior art, the beneficial effects of the present invention are: 1. In the U3V camera firmware, the valid bits and serial number data segments in the basic firmware are pre-configured with specific mask features. This forces the hardware to remain in a waiting state logically even though the complete code has been physically written. The data processing method constructs a physically existing but logically suspended intermediate state in non-volatile memory, so that the batch copying of general code images is not limited by the conflict of device unique identifiers. This solves the data maintenance bottleneck caused by the strong coupling between executable code and device identity data in traditional embedded systems.

[0016] 2. By using the Universal Serial Bus interface to directly load temporary control logic into volatile memory, and during the logic failure window of non-volatile memory, an independent runtime environment from the main memory is constructed. The mechanism is based on the external host's ability to directly address and manipulate the device's underlying storage space. Without erasing or rewriting the entire firmware image, specific configuration data segments can be accurately located and modified, avoiding the time overhead and storage media damage risks caused by full disk erasure and rewriting in traditional embedded firmware update methods.

[0017] 3. The operation of writing the device's unique serial number and activating the firmware enable flag are merged into a single atomic processing flow. When the valid serial number data is successfully written to the specified address, the control flag is flipped to the established state, releasing the hardware boot permission. The state linkage design ensures that the device can only enter the executable mode after the identity is established, avoiding the risk of unidentified devices entering the network due to production configuration interruptions or data loss, thus establishing the determinism of the device boot process. Based on the default invalid state of the basic firmware, a default fallback path for system reset is established. If a communication interruption or data abnormality occurs during the identity writing or configuration process, the control bit in the non-volatile memory will still retain its initial invalid characteristic. The device will automatically fall back to the boot waiting mode on the next power-on, instead of entering an uncontrollable error running state. Based on the security mechanism of the data state itself, no additional hardware monitoring circuit is needed to ensure the recoverability of the device in the case of abnormal configuration. Attached Figure Description

[0018] Figure 1 This is a schematic diagram of the firmware step-by-step loading and state transition based on the write agent of the present invention; Figure 2 A statistical chart showing the time consumption distribution and comparison of key nodes in the firmware configuration process of this invention; Figure 3 This is a schematic diagram illustrating the interaction principle between the production line configuration environment and the terminal internal storage architecture of this invention. Detailed Implementation

[0019] The purpose of this specific embodiment is to clearly and completely describe the technical solution of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only a part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of them. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0020] This invention provides a method for loading U3V camera firmware, comprising a Universal Serial Bus controller, non-volatile memory, and a digital data processing terminal with volatile memory. In terms of hardware architecture, the Universal Serial Bus controller serves as the core processing unit, responsible for USB protocol parsing and direct memory access operations; the non-volatile memory stores the firmware code image; and the volatile memory serves as a cache space for runtime instructions and data. This method achieves step-by-step loading and logical decoupling of firmware function code and device unique identification data by pre-setting a basic firmware image in a logically locked state in the non-volatile memory, and coordinating with a write-agent firmware dynamically loaded into the volatile memory. During the initialization phase before the device leaves the factory, the pre-setting operation of the basic firmware image is performed. The compiler compiles the general source code containing the U3V protocol stack, image sensor driver, and direct memory access control logic into a binary object file. During the linking process, the system defines two specific control areas in the memory mapping: a serial number placeholder field for storing the device's unique identifier and a boot enable verification field for characterizing the firmware's legitimacy. The boot enable verification field has a fixed bit width (preferably 8 bytes). Its value is automatically calculated and filled by the compiler based on the cyclic redundancy check algorithm of the firmware code segment when generating the binary target file. The post-processing tool performs bit operations on the generated binary target file and uses preset mask data to fully fill and overwrite the serial number placeholder field to form an invalid value. At the same time, the data of the boot enable verification field is forcibly overwritten to a specific invalid sequence that blocks the boot process. The modified basic firmware image is written to non-volatile memory through a general programming interface. In this state, when the digital data processing terminal is powered on, the bootloader reads the latch state value, prevents the program pointer from jumping to the U3V function entry, and only initializes the USB physical layer connection, so that the digital data processing terminal enumerates the basic USB device on the host side, rather than the U3V function device.

[0021] After the digital data processing terminal establishes a connection with the host computer, the host computer recognizes the basic USB device and initiates a configuration request. The Universal Serial Bus controller responds to this request, receiving the write proxy firmware data transmitted by the host computer through the control endpoint and directly writing it into the instruction address space of the volatile memory. The write proxy firmware does not contain image acquisition and streaming logic, but only the USB control transmission protocol stack and the low-level read / write driver for non-volatile memory. After the data transmission is completed, system control is transferred, completing the reconstruction of the operating environment from basic boot mode to configuration interface mode. At this time, the device disconnects from the original connection and is re-enumerated as a dedicated configuration interface device based on the write proxy firmware, establishing a control transmission channel for data configuration. The host computer uses the control transmission channel to send the pre-assigned unique serial number data and activation command to the write proxy firmware running in the volatile memory. Before performing the write operation, the write proxy firmware performs integrity verification on the received data according to a preset algorithm. Let the received unique serial number data sequence be... It contains byte, the first The value of each byte is denoted as The firmware for writing the serial number calculates the verification feature value according to the following formula. : ,in, For the index of data bytes, The write agent firmware will calculate the value based on the preset modulus reference value. The data is compared with the reference check value sent by the host computer along with the data packet. When the two values ​​match, the data transmission is deemed valid and the subsequent writing process is initiated.

[0022] The write process follows atomic operation procedures to ensure data consistency. The write proxy firmware calls the underlying driver to unlock the write protection of non-volatile memory, performs programming operations on the physical address corresponding to the serial number placeholder field, and writes the verified unique serial number data. After confirming the successful execution of the write instruction and returning a status confirmation signal, the write proxy firmware performs a state flip operation. For modifications to critical status bits of non-volatile memory, the write proxy firmware performs a three-stage atomic transaction including write enable setting, data programming, and permission locking. The system sends a write enable instruction to unlock the hardware-level programming lock, and then writes the establishment status identifier data to the physical address of the boot enable verification field and continuously polls the busy / idle flag bit of the status register. Detecting the busy / idle flag bit flip indicates the end of the programming cycle, and the write status register reactivates the block protection function. Through the write-then-lock timing logic, it ensures that the boot enable verification field modification is always in a hardware write-protected state outside the microsecond window. The firmware writes the boot enable verification field to the address where it is located, overwriting the original latched state value with a valid state value indicating firmware validity. If the serial number data writing fails, the boot enable verification field is not overwritten, ensuring that the boot enable verification field remains latched. After completing the above data configuration, the write agent firmware writes a reset instruction to the global reset register of the Universal Serial Bus controller, triggering a system soft reset. The system then executes the power-on boot process again. The bootloader reads the boot enable verification field in the non-volatile memory, detects that the bit has been changed to a valid state value, releases the latch logic, loads the complete basic firmware image from the non-volatile memory into memory, and fills the device information descriptor of the U3V boot protocol packet with the unique serial number data that has been written. The Universal Serial Bus controller starts the U3V protocol stack, establishes an image data transmission link, and enumerates the system as a U3V industrial camera with a unique identifier.

[0023] Example 1: This example is applied to a large-scale U3V camera automated production line configuration scenario. In this scenario, the production system faces the challenge of high throughput demand and data consistency for producing thousands of terminals per day. The traditional production mode requires compiling and burning a firmware image containing an independent serial number for each hardware entity, which leads to complex binary file version management and maintenance costs of regenerating the image and erasing it one by one when recalling firmware defects. In order to solve the contradiction between general code maintenance and independent identity identification, the production process pre-places a single version of the basic firmware image without specialization in batches in non-volatile memory. The boot enable verification field in the image is in a locked state, so that the terminal only establishes a basic physical connection after power-on without occupying U3V protocol stack resources, thereby logically anchoring the physical device to a unified waiting-to-activate reference state.

[0024] When a terminal connects to the configuration station, the host computer uses the bandwidth of the universal serial bus to load a write-number proxy firmware containing only low-level read / write logic into the terminal's volatile memory. The host computer then controls the system instruction pointer to jump to that volatile memory address, constructing a runtime environment dedicated to identity configuration without erasing the main data in the non-volatile memory. Within this environment, the write-number proxy firmware receives a unique serial number dynamically assigned by the host computer. According to the formula Real-time verification is performed. After the verification is successful, the write agent firmware performs atomic operations. First, the serial number is written to the reserved placeholder field, and then the boot enable verification field is flipped to a valid state. This ensures that only devices with valid identity data are recognized as valid U3V functional devices by the bootloader after reset. The reset terminal is enumerated as an industrial camera with a unique identity based on the activated base firmware image. This process compresses the firmware production time to the second level and achieves physical layer decoupling between functional code and identity data. When the firmware version is iterated, only the general base image needs to be updated without touching the identity data area.

[0025] Example 2: This example is based on an industrial vision system R&D verification environment. The test platform consists of a high-performance industrial control computer as the host computer and one hundred U3V camera prototypes with pre-installed basic firmware images as terminals to be configured. During the test, the host computer is connected to the terminals under test through an industrial-grade USB 3.0 hub to simulate batch parallel configuration conditions. To realistically reflect the complexity of the factory's electromagnetic environment, an intensity of [insert intensity here] is applied around the test signal cables. Frequency coverage to The test was conducted to detect radio frequency electromagnetic interference and verify the stability of the writing process; the core parameter of the test was the data packet verification modulus reference value. The setting follows the engineering trade-off logic: if Value too small If the collision probability of the verification feature value is high, it is difficult to detect multi-bit flip errors; if While a large value can improve the error detection rate, it also increases the overhead of calculating the checksum on the embedded side, affecting write efficiency. This is based on the USB transmission error rate (typically lower than...). ) and the timeliness of writing the number (the configuration time for a single device must be less than Taking into account all factors, this experiment will Set as That is, a 16-bit checksum is used. This value ensures that the error detection capability is sufficient to cover common sudden errors, while controlling the check calculation time to the microsecond level.

[0026] After the experiment started, the host computer concurrently sent the writing proxy firmware to the connected terminals. Observation revealed that in a strong electromagnetic interference environment, some terminals had CRC check errors in the initial data packets transmitted. However, thanks to the automatic retransmission mechanism at the bottom layer of the USB protocol and the integrity verification logic built into the writing proxy firmware, all terminals eventually successfully loaded and ran the writing proxy firmware. The host computer sent a unique 12-byte serial number and activation command to each terminal. In this critical stage, after receiving the data, the writing proxy firmware did not immediately perform the writing, but first followed the formula... Calculate the verification feature value; to quantitatively evaluate the reliability of this method, two control groups were specifically set up in the experiment: one group was the sample group of this invention, which enabled the above verification and atomic writing mechanism; the other group was the traditional control group, which used the direct writing method without atomic protection. Table 1 below shows the results in continuous... Key data comparison in the high-intensity interference cycle test.

[0027] Table 1: Comparison of Write Reliability Data under Different Configuration Strategies

[0028] See Table 1. The data clearly show that under disturbed operating conditions, the traditional control group experienced [a certain event / effect]. A write error can cause the device serial number to become garbled or the boot bit to be incorrectly set, ultimately leading to... Secondary function failures, such as device bricking or inability to enumerate, are contrasted with the successful interception of this invention's sample group through a verification mechanism. The erroneous data transmission caused by the interference (including successful retransmissions) ultimately achieves... Second write error and The secondary function failed, although the average configuration time increased slightly. .

[0029] Example 3: This example combines Figures 1 to 3 A method for loading firmware for a U3V camera is described, such as... Figure 1 As shown, during the system power-on startup phase, the device runs based on the pre-installed basic firmware image and is in an initial state. At this time, the serial number placeholder field in the non-volatile memory is an invalid sequence filled with a mask, and the boot enable verification field is in a locked state, causing the system to only establish a physical layer connection. In the locked state, it is not enumerated as a U3V functional device. Responding to the configuration request initiated by the host computer, the system executes the step of loading the write-number proxy firmware to write the firmware into the volatile memory RAM and completes the pointer jump, causing the device to enter an intermediate state. In this state, the memory is in a write-protected state, and the physical layer has direct addressing capability through the proxy firmware. The system enumerates it as a configuration interface device and establishes a control transmission channel. Then, it enters the data interaction phase. The write-number proxy firmware receives the serial number data to obtain the unique serial number and reference verification value, and executes the formula as follows: The system performs integrity verification; if the verification passes, the system performs atomic operations on the non-volatile memory, sequentially writing the serial number data and overwriting the boot enable verification field to a valid state, thereby enabling the device to reach the final state, that is, having unique serial number data and the boot enable verification field indicating boot jump, and finally triggering a system reset, including a soft reset or a hard reset. The device is enumerated as a U3V functional device with a unique identity based on the modified state.

[0030] like Figure 2 As shown, the vertical axis of this statistical chart represents the time elapsed in milliseconds (ms), and the horizontal axis sequentially arranges the five key stages: idle state, verification state, programming state, validation state, and active state. The chart uses a legend to distinguish between average and maximum time elapsed. The bar chart for the programming state shows the highest amplitude, indicating that both the average and maximum time elapsed in this stage are dominant. The verification state's time elapsed next, followed by the validation state, while the active and idle states have the lowest time elapsed. This distribution is intuitively reflected in atomic operations: physical programming and readback verification for non-volatile memory are time-sensitive critical paths, while pure logic computation and state transitions maintain microsecond-level response efficiency. Figure 3 As shown, the left side of the architecture is the production line control center host computer, which is responsible for executing batch configuration logic and parallel task scheduling, managing the unique serial number pool as a data source, and providing the write proxy firmware as a transmission payload. In the middle of the architecture, the host computer is connected to the U3V camera terminal on the right via a USB 3.0 data link. The terminal integrates a universal serial bus controller, which is connected to volatile memory (dynamic operation area) and non-volatile memory (static storage area). The volatile memory is used to build a temporary running environment for the write proxy firmware, while the non-volatile memory resides the basic firmware image. This image contains a serial number placeholder field and a boot enable verification field. Through the direct addressing write path shown by the dotted line in the figure, the write proxy firmware can cross the physical boundary of the storage medium and modify specific configuration fields in the static storage area without affecting the main body of the basic firmware image.

[0031] Example 4: This example addresses extreme boundary conditions that may be encountered during the U3V camera firmware loading process, such as abnormal power outages, physical bad blocks in Flash memory, or write timing races. It constructs a series of exception handling procedures based on a deterministic state machine and a dual verification mechanism. During the execution of the write proxy firmware, to ensure that the programming operations on the non-volatile memory meet industrial-grade reliability standards, the write proxy firmware integrates a finite state machine logic containing idle, verification, programming, verification, and active states. The transitions of this state machine depend on polling the physical state register and determining the time window. When the write proxy firmware receives the serial number data from the host computer, the system enters the verification state, completing the aforementioned steps... After verification, a write command is not initiated directly. Instead, a storage medium health pre-check is performed. This pre-check step checks the status register of the non-volatile memory to confirm whether the Write In Progress (WIP) bit is cleared and whether the Write Enable Latch (WEL) bit can be set. When the physical medium is in a ready state, the state machine transitions to the programming state. In the programming state, the physical write operation for the serial number data is encapsulated in a timing-controlled closed-loop process, and a maximum programming wait time parameter is introduced. This parameter is set based on the worst-case programming time of the non-volatile memory's physical characteristics. (usually) to and system clock jitter coefficient (Values) According to the formula The calculation yielded the result.

[0032] Under the SPI Flash chip specification used in this embodiment, Set as After issuing the page programming command, the write agent firmware starts a hardware timer and... Continuously poll the status register within the time window; if in If the status register returns a completion signal before exhaustion, the system enters the verification state. If a timeout occurs, the operation is aborted, and a media timeout error code is returned to the host computer. The boot enable verification field remains locked to prevent system hangs or data corruption. After entering the verification state, to eliminate the risk of false success (i.e., data bit flipping caused by successful programming instruction transmission but incorrect physical charge injection), the write proxy firmware performs a read-back and comparison operation: using a read instruction, it directly reads the data just written from the physical address of the serial number placeholder field in the non-volatile memory and compares it byte-by-byte with the original data in the volatile memory cache. When the read-back data matches the original data... When bit-level consistency is achieved, the state machine is allowed to transition to the active state. In the active state, the write agent firmware performs a final single-byte programming operation on the address where the boot enable verification field is located, overwriting the latched state value with a valid state value. Furthermore, to address the risk of transient power loss during the overwriting of the boot enable verification field, this solution utilizes the physical characteristics of Flash memory to establish a fail-safe default fallback mechanism. This is because Flash programming involves logical... Transform into logic (Or vice versa, depending on the chip manufacturing process), the preset latch state value in the base firmware image is configured as the erase default level state of the storage medium, such as... The valid state value is configured as a specific non-default value that can only be formed through programming actions, such as... If a power outage occurs within the microsecond window of overwriting the boot enable verification field, the physical bit will remain or partially remain locked, ensuring that the bootloader reads an invalid state after the system is powered on and reset. This causes the device to revert to the basic USB enumeration mode and wait for reconfiguration, eliminating the possibility of the device entering an uncontrollable operating state due to an undefined flag state. Through the above-mentioned multiple logical constraints including timing confirmation, readback verification, and physical default state locking, this embodiment extends the deterministic boundary of firmware loading from the software logic layer to the physical media layer, ensuring the predictability of system behavior when any single point of failure occurs.

[0033] Example 5: This example addresses the firmware loading instability issue caused by batch differences in hardware components or fluctuations in environmental factors in large-scale industrial production environments. It provides a standardized engineering pre-calibration procedure. Before the firmware loading process is formally deployed on the production line, sampling characteristics of the current batch of non-volatile memory (Flash chips) are calibrated, and statistically representative sample chips are selected. These chips are then subjected to a set extreme operating temperature, such as... Up to 70 and the range of power supply voltage fluctuations, such as Within the test chamber, frequent erase and write stress tests are performed to determine the worst-case page programming time. Based on this measured data, engineers determined the coverage area according to statistical principles. Working conditions Set a security threshold and hardcode this threshold into the configuration header file of the write agent firmware.

[0034] Furthermore, to address potential timing differences between different production batches, this embodiment constructs an adaptive debugging logic before field deployment. When each new digital data processing terminal is powered on for the first time and the write proxy firmware is loaded, the system automatically performs a microsecond-level handshake delay detection operation: the write proxy firmware sends a specific set of no-operation (NOP) instruction sequences to the non-volatile memory and measures the response delay of the status register. Based on the measured delay data, the firmware dynamically fine-tunes the clock frequency division coefficient of subsequent read and write operations to ensure that the SPI bus communication rate does not exceed the physical medium's tolerance limit while maximizing data throughput. This pre-calibration step serves as an implicit prelude to the firmware loading process and can automatically adapt to subtle hardware differences without manual intervention.

[0035] Example 6: This example addresses the issue of implicit firmware integrity degradation that may occur during long-term operation of U3V cameras in complex industrial environments. It constructs an adaptive health monitoring and data refresh procedure based on non-volatile memory lifecycle management. The core of this procedure is to dynamically adjust the refresh strategy by periodically detecting the physical characteristic drift of the memory cells to eliminate the risk of bit flipping caused by electron escape. The system establishes a health benchmark model that includes both error correction code (ECC) verification failure rate and read operation latency. During system idle periods, the firmware background process periodically performs a full scan of the non-volatile memory, recording the frequency of ECC error correction events and read response time for each sector.

[0036] When the frequency of ECC error correction in a certain sector exceeds the preset safety threshold, For example, per million reads If the read response time deviates from the factory baseline value more than once, the system determines that there is a risk of reduced data retention in the sector. At this time, the firmware automatically triggers a sector refresh operation: reads the data of the risky sector completely into the volatile memory, performs real-time verification and error correction reconstruction, finds a spare healthy sector in the non-volatile memory for data remapping and writing, and updates the logical address mapping table.

[0037] It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention is not limited to the details of the exemplary embodiments described above, and that the present invention can be implemented in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics of the present invention.

[0038] Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention and are not intended to limit it. Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to preferred embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that modifications or equivalent substitutions can be made to the technical solutions of the present invention without departing from the spirit and scope of the technical solutions of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method for loading firmware for a U3V camera, the method being applied to a digital data processing terminal comprising a universal serial bus controller, non-volatile memory, and volatile memory, characterized in that, The method includes the following steps: A base firmware image is pre-installed in non-volatile memory. The base firmware image contains a serial number placeholder field pointing to an invalid value and a boot enable verification field in a locked state. The base firmware image is configured to establish a physical layer connection when the system is powered on, but not to be enumerated as a U3V functional device. In response to the configuration request signal issued by the host computer, a write proxy firmware is loaded into the volatile memory through the universal serial bus controller. The system runs the loaded write proxy firmware and temporarily enumerates the digital data processing terminal as a configuration interface device. The serial number agent firmware receives the unique serial number data and activation instructions sent by the host computer. The write agent firmware performs a direct addressing operation on the non-volatile memory, writes the unique serial number data to the physical address of the serial number placeholder field, and overwrites the boot enable verification field with a valid status value. In response to the system reset signal, the Universal Serial Bus controller loads the base firmware image containing unique serial number data based on the boot enable check field that has been overwritten with a valid status value in the non-volatile memory, and enumerates the system as a U3V functional device with a unique identity.

2. The method for loading U3V camera firmware according to claim 1, characterized in that, The steps for pre-configuring the base firmware image include: compiling the original code to generate a binary object file; locating the memory-mapped address segment in the binary object file used to store the serial number; filling and overwriting the memory-mapped address segment with pre-defined mask data to create invalid values; locating the flag address in the binary object file used to control the boot process jump, modifying the data at the flag address to a blocking state that prevents the boot process from starting; and using the modified binary object file as the base firmware image to write it in batches to non-volatile memory through a general programming interface.

3. The method for loading U3V camera firmware according to claim 1, characterized in that, The write proxy firmware is a lightweight bootloader independent of the base firmware image. The write proxy firmware only contains the control endpoint logic of the Universal Serial Bus communication protocol stack and the low-level read and write driver logic for non-volatile memory. The write proxy firmware does not contain the image sensor driver logic and the U3V stream transmission protocol stack. The steps for enumerating the system as a configuration interface device based on the write agent firmware include: the Universal Serial Bus controller uses the specific vendor identifier and product identifier defined in the write agent firmware to report the device descriptor to the host computer and establish a control transmission channel used only for configuration data.

4. The method for loading U3V camera firmware according to claim 1, characterized in that, After the step of the writing agent firmware receiving the unique serial number data and activation command issued by the host computer, it also includes a step of verifying the integrity of the unique serial number data; The integrity verification steps include: the writing agent firmware calculates the verification feature value of the received unique serial number data according to the preset verification algorithm, and compares the verification feature value with the reference verification value sent by the host computer. When the verification feature value matches the reference verification value, the write agent firmware triggers an erase / write operation for the non-volatile memory.

5. A method for loading U3V camera firmware according to claim 4, characterized in that, In the integrity verification step, the write agent firmware calculates the verification feature value according to the following formula. : ,in, This indicates the first unique serial number in the data. A value in bytes, The total length of the unique serial number data in bytes. This represents the preset modulus reference value; the write-number proxy firmware will calculate the obtained value. An equality check is performed with a reference check value to determine the validity of the data transmission process.

6. The method for loading U3V camera firmware according to claim 1, characterized in that, The step of overwriting the boot enable verification field to a valid status value is configured as an atomic operation to be performed after the unique serial number data is successfully written to the non-volatile memory; after confirming that the unique serial number data has been successfully written, the write agent firmware locks the status register of the non-volatile memory, sends a programming instruction to the sector where the boot enable verification field is located, and flips the locked state to a valid status value that indicates the boot program to jump to the main function entry point. If the unique serial number data writing fails, the write agent firmware keeps the boot enable verification field in a locked state, so that the system will still fall back to the restricted boot state limited by the base firmware image after the next power-on reset.

7. The method for loading U3V camera firmware according to claim 1, characterized in that, The digital data processing terminal also includes an encryption authentication module. The method further includes: during the operation of the writing agent firmware, the host computer issues an identity verification command, a key slot number, and a password; the writing agent firmware accesses the encryption authentication module of the digital data processing terminal through the internal bus, inputs the key slot number and password sent by the host computer, and after the encryption component completes the calculation, reads the ciphertext output by the encryption authentication module and uploads it to the host computer through the universal serial bus controller; the host computer calculates and outputs ciphertext based on its own stored key and the current password, and compares the ciphertext with the received ciphertext. If they match, the writing agent firmware host is considered a legitimate product; otherwise, it is considered an illegitimate product. The key is pre-set in the encryption authentication module, but the password changes each time to ensure that an unauthorized camera cannot intrude into the writing system.

8. A method for loading U3V camera firmware according to claim 1, characterized in that, The system reset signal can be triggered in the following ways: after the write agent firmware completes the overwrite operation of the boot enable verification field, it actively writes a reset command to the reset register of the universal serial bus controller, triggering a soft reset; or after the host computer receives the write success confirmation message from the write agent firmware, it sends a power-off restart command to the digital data processing terminal, triggering a hard reset.

9. A method for loading U3V camera firmware according to claim 1, characterized in that, The method is applied to a large-scale parallel production environment where a host computer connects to multiple digital data processing terminals simultaneously. For each connected digital data processing terminal, the host computer executes the steps of loading and writing the proxy firmware in parallel. Based on the enumeration of the port physical topology address of each digital data processing terminal when configuring the interface device, the host computer assigns a unique serial number data that does not conflict to each digital data processing terminal and sends the unique serial number data and activation command.

10. A method for loading U3V camera firmware according to claim 1, characterized in that, The base firmware image contains direct memory access control logic for processing image data; After the system enumerates the U3V functional devices with unique identifiers, the method also includes: the Universal Serial Bus controller starts the direct memory access control logic based on the valid status value to establish a data transmission link from the image sensor interface to the Universal Serial Bus interface. The Universal Serial Bus controller reads the unique serial number data from the non-volatile memory and fills it into the device information field of the U3V boot protocol packet in response to the host's enumeration request.

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