Input / output module, frequency conversion module, control method, and chip

Abstract

Disclosed are an input / output module, a frequency conversion module, a control method, and a chip. The input / output module comprises M input pins, a path switching device, a shift register, and a toggle flip-flop which are sequentially connected; the toggle flip-flop is provided with N output pins; the M input pins include a path pin, an instruction pin and a shift pin, the N output pins are used for being respectively connected to a plurality of devices of an apparatus, and the output levels of the N output pins are used for controlling whether the plurality of devices are powered on; the path switching device is used for, in response to an input signal of the path pin, storing an enable signal received from the instruction pin into the shift register; and the shift register is used for outputting the stored enable signal to the toggle flip-flop in response to a shift signal of the shift pin, so as to control the output levels of the N output pins. According to the technical solution of the present disclosure, when a small number of ports of an SOC are occupied, whether a large number of devices are powered on is controlled, saving resources of the SOC.

Description

Input / output module, frequency conversion module, control method and chip Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to the field of virtual reality technology, and in particular to an input and output module, a frequency conversion module, a control method, and a chip. Background Art

[0002] With the advancement of eye tracking technology, various VR (Virtual Reality) / AR (Augmented Reality) software applications have increasingly demanded higher refresh rates for eye tracking. To meet these requirements, the eye tracking systems in VR / AR headsets utilize a significant number of components, such as infrared cameras, camera driver modules, and fill lights. This, however, increases average power consumption and reduces both the operating time of the eye tracking system and the overall battery life of the device.

[0003] In related technologies, in order to reduce the average power consumption of the eye tracking system and increase the operating time and battery life of the entire system, each device in the eye tracking system is connected to the SOC (System on Chip) respectively, and a parallel control method is used to control each device so that these devices are powered on and run only when they are needed.

[0004] However, parallel control of multiple devices in the eye tracking system will cause the eye tracking system in the VR / AR headset to occupy a large amount of SOC (System on Chip) resources, which will often cause the SOC to be in a state of insufficient resources.

[0005] Summary of the Invention

[0006] The disclosed embodiments provide an input / output module, a frequency conversion module, a control method, and a chip that can control whether a large number of devices are powered on when a small number of SOC ports are occupied, thereby saving SOC resources. The technical solution is as follows:

[0007] According to one aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure, an input / output module is provided, the module comprising:

[0008] M input pins, a path switch, a shift register, and a flip-flop connected in sequence, wherein the flip-flop has N output pins;

[0009] The M input pins are used to receive input signals, the M input pins include path pins, instruction pins, and shift pins, the N output pins are used to connect to multiple devices of the device respectively, and the output levels of the N output pins are used to control whether the multiple devices are powered on, and M and N are positive integers;

[0010] The path switch is used to store the enable signal received from the instruction pin into the shift register in response to the input signal of the path pin, and the shift register is used to output the stored enable signal to the trigger flipper in response to the shift signal of the shift pin to control the output levels of the N output pins.

[0011] According to a second aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure, a control method is provided. The method is applied to the above-mentioned input / output module, and the method includes:

[0012] Sending an input signal to the path pin to control the path switch to store the enable signal received from the instruction pin into the shift register;

[0013] A shift signal is sent to the shift pin to control the shift register, and the stored enable signal is output to the trigger flip-flop to control the output levels of the N output pins.

[0014] According to a third aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure, a chip is provided, which includes the above-mentioned input and output module.

[0015] According to a fourth aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure, a virtual reality device is provided, which includes multiple cameras, each of which is connected to the above-mentioned chip, and is used to control whether each camera is powered on through the chip.

[0016] According to a fifth aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure, there is provided a frequency conversion module, the module comprising:

[0017] A resolver and a plurality of frequency multipliers, each of the frequency multipliers being connected to the resolver, and each of the frequency multipliers being connected to a device of the apparatus;

[0018] The parser is configured to parse the acquired data to be parsed to obtain multiple sets of frequency conversion data, each set of the frequency conversion data including a frequency multiplier name and a frequency conversion value; and send each set of the frequency conversion data to a matching frequency multiplier according to the frequency multiplier name in each set of the frequency conversion data;

[0019] The frequency multiplier is used to multiply the input frequency according to the received frequency conversion value to obtain a target frequency, where the target frequency represents the operating frequency of the device.

[0020] According to a sixth aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure, a control method is provided. The method is applied to the above-mentioned frequency conversion module, and the method includes:

[0021] Sending data to be parsed to the parser, controlling the parser to parse the data to be parsed, and obtaining multiple sets of frequency conversion data, each set of the frequency conversion data including a frequency multiplier name and a frequency conversion value;

[0022] Controlling the parser to send each set of the frequency conversion data to a matching frequency multiplier according to the name of the frequency multiplier in each set of the frequency conversion data;

[0023] The frequency multiplier is controlled to multiply the input frequency according to the received frequency conversion value to obtain a target frequency, where the target frequency represents the operating frequency of the device.

[0024] According to a seventh aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure, a chip is provided, which includes the above-mentioned frequency conversion module.

[0025] According to an eighth aspect of the embodiments of the present disclosure, a virtual reality device is provided, which includes the above-mentioned chip.

[0026] The technical solutions provided by the embodiments of the present disclosure have the following beneficial effects:

[0027] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, an input-output module is provided. By setting an input-output module in which the number of output pins is greater than the number of input pins at a port of an SOC, and the multiple output pins of the input-output module are respectively connected to multiple devices, it is possible to control whether a large number of devices are powered on when a small number of ports of the SOC are occupied, thereby saving resources of the SOC; in addition, since the SOC independently enables each output pin of the input-output module, it is possible to independently drive multiple devices connected to each output pin. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0028] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present disclosure, the following briefly introduces the drawings required for use in the description of the embodiments. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present disclosure. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without any creative work.

[0029] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of an implementation environment provided according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0030] FIG2 is a schematic structural diagram of an input / output module according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0031] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of the external connection structure of the input and output module according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0032] FIG4 is a flow chart of a control method applied to an input / output module according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0033] FIG5 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary flow chart of a method for controlling an input and output module according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0034] FIG6 is a schematic structural diagram of a frequency conversion module according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0035] FIG7 is a schematic structural diagram of an enabling fill light according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0036] FIG8 is a flow chart of a control method applied to a frequency conversion module according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0037] FIG9 is a schematic diagram of an exemplary flow chart of a control method applied to a frequency conversion module according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

[0038] FIG10 is a schematic structural diagram of a plurality of devices provided according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, respectively connected to a frequency conversion module and an input / output module. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0039] In order to make the objectives, technical solutions and advantages of the present disclosure more clear, the embodiments of the present disclosure will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0040] Exemplary embodiments will be described in detail herein, with examples illustrated in the accompanying drawings. In the following description, when referring to the drawings, identical numerals in different figures represent identical or similar elements, unless otherwise indicated. The embodiments described in the following exemplary embodiments are not intended to represent all possible embodiments consistent with the present disclosure. Rather, they are merely examples of apparatus and methods consistent with certain aspects of the present disclosure, as detailed in the appended claims.

[0041] In this disclosure, the terms "first," "second," and the like are used to distinguish between identical or similar items having substantially the same role and function. It should be understood that "first," "second," and "nth" do not have a logical or temporal dependency, nor do they limit the quantity or execution order. It should also be understood that although the following description uses the terms "first," "second," and the like to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms.

[0042] These terms are simply used to distinguish one element from another. For example, without departing from the scope of various examples, a first action can be referred to as a second action, and similarly, a second action can also be referred to as a first action. Both the first action and the second action can be actions, and in some cases, can be separate and different actions.

[0043] Here, at least one refers to one or more than one. For example, at least one action can be one action, two actions, three actions, or any other action that is an integer greater than or equal to one. And multiple refers to two or more than two. For example, multiple actions can be two actions, three actions, or any other action that is an integer greater than or equal to two.

[0044] It should be noted that the data (including but not limited to training data and prediction data, such as user data, terminal-side data, etc.) and signals involved in this disclosure are all authorized by the user or fully authorized by all parties, and the collection, use and processing of relevant data must comply with the relevant laws, regulations and standards of the relevant countries and regions. For example, the training data involved in this disclosure was obtained with full authorization.

[0045] FIG1 is a schematic diagram of an implementation environment provided according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, which provides a virtual reality device for simulating a three-dimensional virtual environment for a user, which can be a VR (Virtual Reality) device or an AR (Augmented Reality) device, such as VR glasses or a VR helmet. The virtual reality device includes a wearing module 101 and a display module 102. The display module 102 is used to display images on the user's head. The user can select an application icon based on the display module 102 to start any game, etc. The display module 102 includes a display screen. The wearing module 101 includes glasses legs or elastic straps for wearing the virtual reality device on the user's head.

[0046] In some embodiments, a processor and memory are integrated within the virtual reality device. The processor is used to model a three-dimensional virtual environment, generate a three-dimensional display corresponding to the three-dimensional virtual environment, and generate virtual objects within the three-dimensional virtual environment. The memory is used to store computer programs or data required by the processor to model the three-dimensional virtual environment. The processor and memory are connected to the virtual reality device via ports or flexible circuit boards. The processor is a system-on-chip (SOC).

[0047] In some embodiments, the virtual reality device further includes an eye-tracking camera, such as an infrared camera. The camera is connected to a port of the SOC and positioned above the display module to track the user's pupils and gaze movements, and to provide feedback to the SOC.

[0048] In some embodiments, the virtual reality device is also provided with a motion sensor, which is connected to the port of the SOC and is used to capture the user's head movement and feed the captured head movement back to the SOC so that the SOC changes the display screen in the display module 102 according to the user's head movement.

[0049] Figure 2 is a structural diagram of an input-output module provided according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in Figure 2, the module includes: M input pins connected in sequence, a path switcher 201, a shift register 202, and a trigger flipper 203, wherein the trigger flipper 203 has N output pins.

[0050] The input pin is used to receive an input signal or an input level, and the output pin of the trigger flip-flop 203 is used to output a level.

[0051] The path switch 201 is used to respectively turn on N different storage locations of the shift register 202 according to N input signals, and transmit the N input levels to the N different storage locations in the shift register 202 respectively.

[0052] The shift register 202 is used to store the received N input levels and transmit the N input levels to the trigger flip-flop 203 respectively.

[0053] The trigger flip-flop 203 is used to determine the output levels of the N output pins according to the N input levels.

[0054] In some embodiments, M is less than N, the M input pins are connected to the SOC, the N output pins of the trigger flipper 203 are connected to N devices respectively, and the input and output modules are powered on and started, so that the SOC controls whether the N devices are powered on based on the input and output modules.

[0055] In some embodiments, M input pins are used to receive input signals, the M input pins include path pins, instruction pins and shift pins, the N output pins are used to connect to multiple devices of the device respectively, and the output levels of the N output pins are used to control whether the multiple devices are powered on, and M and N are positive integers.

[0056] Among them, each input pin is respectively connected to a port of the SOC in the VR / AR device, and each output pin of the trigger flipper 203 is respectively connected to a device of the device, which is used to control whether the device connected to the output pin of the trigger flipper 203 is powered on through the output level of each output pin of the trigger flipper 203.

[0057] The SOC controls the timing of sending various signals to the path pins, instruction pins, and shift pins.

[0058] In some embodiments, the port is a GPIO (General-purpose input / output) port.

[0059] In some embodiments, the SOC is set inside the VR / AR device to control the working status of multiple devices in the VR / AR device.

[0060] In some embodiments, the input / output module further includes a manager 204 and a reset pin. The output of the reset pin is connected to the output of the manager 204, and the input of the reset pin is connected to one terminal of the SOC. The manager 204 is respectively connected to the path switch 201, the shift register 202, and the flip-flop 203. In response to a reset signal from the reset pin, the manager 204 controls the path switch 201, the shift register 202, and the flip-flop 203 to reset, thereby returning the path switch 201, the shift register 202, and the flip-flop 203 to their initial states. The embodiments of the present disclosure do not specifically limit the manager 204.

[0061] In some embodiments, the input / output module further includes a power pin, the input end of which is connected to any power supply device, and the output end of which is connected to the manager 204. The manager 204 supplies power to the path switch 201, the shift register 202, and the trigger flip-flop 203 based on the AC or DC power transmitted by the power pin. The embodiments of the present disclosure do not impose specific limitations on the power supply device.

[0062] In some embodiments, multiple components in a VR / AR device are cameras, M = 3, N = 12, the path pins, command pins, and shift pins are each connected to a port of the SOC, and the 12 output pins of the input / output module are each connected to 12 cameras. The embodiments of this disclosure do not specifically limit the cameras.

[0063] In some embodiments, the path switch 201 is used to store the enable signal received from the instruction pin to the shift register 202 in response to the input signal of the path pin, and the shift register 202 is used to output the stored enable signal to the trigger flipper 203 in response to the shift signal of the shift pin to control the output levels of the N output pins.

[0064] The input signal includes any one of a path switching signal, an enable signal and a shift signal.

[0065] In some embodiments, the path switch 201 stores multiple enable signals to the shift register 202 in response to the input signals of the path pin and the instruction pin. The shift register 202 outputs the stored enable signal to the trigger flipper 203 in response to the shift signal of the shift pin to control the output level of the 12 output pins of the trigger flipper 203, thereby controlling whether the camera connected to the output pin of the trigger flipper 203 is powered on through the output pin of each output pin of the trigger flipper 203, thereby realizing the control of whether the 12 cameras of the VR / AR device are powered on based on the 3 ports of the SOC, which saves 9 port resources of the SOC compared with related technologies.

[0066] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, an input-output module having a greater number of output pins than input pins is provided at a port of an SOC, and the multiple output pins of the input-output module are respectively connected to multiple devices. This allows a large number of devices to be powered on when a small number of ports of the SOC are occupied, thereby saving resources of the SOC. In addition, since the SOC independently enables each output pin of the input-output module, it is possible to independently drive multiple devices respectively connected to each output pin.

[0067] FIG3 is a schematic diagram of the external connection structure of the input / output module shown in FIG2 .

[0068] In some embodiments, as shown in Figure 3, the shift register includes multiple sub-registers, the path switch includes multiple path switches, the path switches correspond to the sub-registers one-to-one, the path switch is used to receive a path switching signal from the path pin, and turn on the sub-register corresponding to the path switch in the shift register by turning on the path switch indicated by the path switching signal; the path switch is used to receive an enable signal from the instruction pin and transmit the enable signal to the sub-register; the shift register is used to receive a shift signal from the shift pin and output the stored enable signal to the trigger flipper.

[0069] In some embodiments, the shift register includes 12 sub-registers. Each time the path switch receives a path switching signal from the path switching pin, the path switch parses the path switching signal to obtain a parsing result, turns on a path switch indicated by the parsing result, and then turns on the sub-register corresponding to the path switch in the shift register. For example, the path switch decodes the path switching signal based on a logic signal decoder. When a data packet corresponding to a path switching signal is "10101 0111 11011", where "10101" in the data packet is a packet header, "11011" is a packet tail, and "0111" is a binary "7", the parsing result is "7", indicating the 7th sub-register. The embodiments of the present disclosure do not specifically limit the logic signal decoder.

[0070] In some embodiments, the shift register includes 12 sub-registers. Each time the path switch receives the Lth path switching signal from the path switching pin, the path switch turns on the Lth path switch, thereby turning on the Lth sub-register, where L is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to 12. For example, after the input / output module is reset, when the path switch receives the first path switching signal, such as "1," from the path pin, the first sub-register is turned on. When the path switch receives the tenth path switching signal from the path pin, the tenth sub-register is turned on, and so on until all 12 sub-registers are turned on.

[0071] In some embodiments, whenever a sub-register is turned on, the path switch transmits a received enable signal to the sub-register, and the sub-register stores the received enable signal.

[0072] In some embodiments, after the enable signal is stored in each of the sub-registers in the shift register, the shift pin receives the shift signal. For example, when all 12 sub-registers in the shift register store the enable signal, the shift register receives the shift signal from the shift pin and transmits the enable signal stored in each sub-register to the trigger flipper.

[0073] In some embodiments, the path switch includes a plurality of path switches, and the path switches correspond to the sub-registers in a one-to-one manner.

[0074] In some embodiments, each time the path switch receives a path switching signal from the path switching pin, the path switch turns on a sub-register corresponding to the path switch, so that the path switch transmits an enable signal received from the instruction pin to the sub-register.

[0075] In some embodiments, the output pins included in the trigger flipper correspond one-to-one to the sub-register, and the trigger flipper is used to flip the output level of the corresponding output pin when the enable signal received from any sub-register is at a high level; or the trigger flipper is used to maintain the output level of the corresponding output pin when the enable signal received from any sub-register is at a low level.

[0076] In some embodiments, the trigger flipper includes 12 trigger paths, the input pin of each trigger path corresponds one-to-one to a sub-register, and the output pin of each trigger path of the trigger flipper corresponds one-to-one to a device. After the shift register receives a shift signal from the shift pin, the enable signal stored in each sub-register is sent to the input pin of each trigger path respectively. After each trigger path receives the enable signal from the input pin, the enable signal is transmitted to the control circuit of each trigger path of the trigger flipper respectively.

[0077] It should be noted that the output pins of each trigger path of the trigger flipper are respectively provided with a control circuit, which is used to control whether to flip the output level of the output pin. Each enable signal is only used to control the control circuit of an output pin of the trigger flipper. When the enable signal is high, the trigger control circuit flips the output level of the output pin, so that the output level of the output pin is flipped from a low level to a high level, or the output level of the output pin is flipped from a high level to a low level; when the enable signal is low, the control circuit is not triggered to flip the output level of the output pin, so that the output level of the output pin remains unchanged (that is, the output level of the output pin does not change).

[0078] In some embodiments, after the trigger flipper performs a reset, the output level of the output pin of each trigger path of the trigger flipper is in an initial state, which is a low level. When the enable signal transmitted to an output pin of the trigger flipper is a high level, the output level of the output pin of the trigger flipper is flipped, so that the output level is converted from a low level to a high level; when the enable signal transmitted to an output pin of the trigger flipper is a low level, the output level of the output pin of the trigger flipper is not flipped and remains at a low level; wherein, when the output level of the output pin of the trigger flipper is a high level, the camera connected to the output pin of the trigger flipper is controlled to be powered on, and when the output level of the output pin of the trigger flipper is a low level, the camera connected to the output pin of the trigger flipper is controlled not to be powered on.

[0079] In some embodiments, each time the output pins of the trigger flipper receive an enable signal, the output level of the output pins of the trigger flipper is flipped or not flipped, and the output pins of the trigger flipper maintain the flipped or not flipped output level until the output pins of the trigger flipper receive the next enable signal. This is used to implement that the output pins of the trigger flipper can control the cameras connected to the output pins of the trigger flipper to be powered on or not at all times based on an enable signal until the output pins of the trigger flipper receive the next enable signal respectively, thereby reducing the number of times the SOC sends the enable signal and saving SOC resources.

[0080] In some embodiments, each camera is provided with three power supply circuits, namely, AVDD (analog circuit voltage) circuit, DVDD (digital voltage) circuit and DOVDD (interface circuit voltage) circuit. The AVDD circuit, DVDD circuit and DOVDD circuit are enabled in a combined timing sequence to power on the camera. The AVDD circuit, DVDD circuit and DOVDD circuit of each camera are respectively connected to an output pin of a trigger flipper, so as to control whether the camera is powered on by controlling whether the AVDD circuit, DVDD circuit and DOVDD circuit are enabled. For example, when the trigger flipper is provided with 12 output pins, the AVDD circuit, DVDD circuit and DOVDD circuit of the first camera are respectively connected to the first output pin, the second output pin and the third output pin of the trigger flipper, the AVDD circuit, DVDD circuit and DOVDD circuit of the second camera are respectively connected to the fourth output pin, the fifth output pin and the sixth output pin of the trigger flipper, the AVDD circuit, DVDD circuit and DOVDD circuit of the third camera are respectively connected to the seventh output pin, the eighth output pin and the ninth output pin of the trigger flipper, the AVDD circuit, DVDD circuit and DOVDD circuit of the fourth camera are respectively connected to the tenth output pin, the eleventh output pin and the twelfth output pin. Therefore, the SOC can control the 12 output pins to be independently enabled, thereby independently driving the four cameras.

[0081] In some embodiments, when all four cameras are powered off, when the SOC sends 12 path switching signals "1" to the path pins in sequence, and sends 12 enable signals "1", "1", "1", "0", "0", "1", "1", "1", "0", "0" and "0" to the instruction pins in sequence, where the enable signal "1" represents a high level and the enable signal "0" represents a low level, a shift signal "1" is sent to the shift pin, so that the output levels of the first output pin, the second output pin, the third output pin, the seventh output pin, the eighth output pin and the ninth output pin of the 12 output pins of the trigger flipper are converted from low level to high level, and the fourth output pin, the fifth output pin, the sixth output pin, the tenth output pin, the eleventh output pin and the twelfth output pin remain at a low level, which is used to control the first camera and the third camera to be powered on, and the second camera and the fourth camera not to be powered on. Among them, when the input and output module is powered on, the path switcher, the shift register and the trigger flipper are reset, and the following steps are executed cyclically: when the path switcher receives the Kth (K is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to 12) path switching signal "1" from the path pin, the Kth sub-register corresponding to the Kth path switch is turned on; when the path switcher receives the Kth enable signal "1" or "0" from the instruction pin, the Kth enable signal "1" or "0" is transmitted to the Kth sub-register, and the Kth sub-register stores the Kth enable signal "1" or "0" until the twelfth sub-register stores the twelfth enable signal "0"; the shift register receives the shift signal from the shift pin, and transmits the enable signal stored in each sub-register to each input pin of the trigger flipper respectively, and the trigger flipper transmits the enable signal received from each input pin to each trigger path respectively. The output pins of the trigger flipper, when the enable signal transmitted to a certain output pin of the trigger flipper is "1", the output level of the output pin of the trigger flipper is flipped from a low level to a high level, and when the enable signal transmitted to a certain output pin of the trigger flipper is "0", the output level of the output pin of the trigger flipper remains at a low level. Therefore, the output levels of the first output pin, the second output pin and the third output pin of the trigger flipper are high levels, the output levels of the fourth output pin, the fifth output pin and the sixth output pin are low levels, the output levels of the seventh output pin, the eighth output pin and the ninth output pin are high levels, and the output levels of the tenth output pin, the eleventh output pin and the twelfth output pin are low levels, that is, the first camera and the third camera are powered on, and the second camera and the fourth camera are not powered on.For example, the first camera and the third camera are low-resolution cameras, and the second camera and the fourth camera are high-resolution cameras. When the user selects an application icon based on the gaze control menu of the VR / AR device, if the high-resolution camera does not need to be powered on, only the low-resolution first camera and the third camera can be powered on, and the high-resolution second camera and the fourth camera can not be powered on, thereby reducing power consumption.

[0082] In some embodiments, when the first camera and the third camera are powered on and the second camera and the fourth camera are not powered on, when the SOC sends 12 path switching signals "1" to the path switching pins in sequence, sends 12 enable signals "0", "0", "0", "1", "1", "1", "0", "0", "1", "1" and "1" to the instruction pins, and sends a shift signal "1" to the shift pin, so that the first output pin, the second output pin, the third output pin, the seventh output pin, the eighth output pin and the ninth output pin of the 12 output pins of the trigger flipper are maintained at a high level, and the fourth output pin, the fifth output pin, the sixth output pin, the tenth output pin, the eleventh output pin and the twelfth output pin are converted from a low level to a high level, thereby enabling the AVDD circuit, the DVDD circuit and the DOVDD circuit of each camera, which are used to control the second camera and the fourth camera of the four cameras connected to the 12 output pins of the trigger flipper to be powered on, and the first camera and the third camera remain powered on. For example, after the user enters the movie viewing application of the VR / AR device, the high-resolution camera needs to be powered on as the tracking accuracy of the gaze point becomes higher. Therefore, the low-resolution first and third cameras are controlled to continue to be powered on, and the high-resolution second and fourth cameras are also controlled to be powered on.

[0083] In some embodiments, when the first camera, the second camera, the third camera, and the fourth camera are all powered on, when the SOC sends 12 path switching signals "1" to the path switching pins in sequence, sends 12 enable signals "1", "1", "1", "1", "1", "1", "1", "1", "1", "1", and "1" to the instruction pins, and sends a shift signal "1" to the shift pin, the output levels of the 12 output pins of the trigger flipper are all converted from high to low, which is used to control the power-off of the four cameras connected to the 12 output pins of the trigger flipper. For example, when the user exits the movie viewing application and returns to the desktop of the VR / AR device, there is no need to power on any camera, and all four cameras are controlled to be powered off.

[0084] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the number of input pins of the input-output module is less than the number of output pins. Each input pin of the input-output module is connected to a port of the SOC, and each output pin of the input-output module is connected to multiple devices of the equipment. This achieves the goal of occupying only a small number of SOC ports and controlling whether a large number of devices are powered on, thereby saving SOC resources.

[0085] FIG4 is a flow chart of a control method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG4 , the present disclosure embodiment is described using the input and output module as an example. The method includes the following steps:

[0086] In step 401, an input signal is sent to a path pin to control a path switch to store an enable signal received from an instruction pin into a shift register.

[0087] In some embodiments, the path pin and the instruction pin are respectively connected to a port of the SOC, so that the SOC sends an input signal to the path pin, thereby controlling the path switch to store the enable signal received from the instruction pin into the shift register.

[0088] In step 402, a shift signal is sent to the shift pin to control the shift register to output the stored enable signal to the trigger flip-flop to control the output levels of the N output pins.

[0089] Among them, the number of input pins is less than the number of output pins.

[0090] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, an input-output module having a greater number of output pins than input pins is provided at a port of a SOC, and the multiple output pins of the input-output module are respectively connected to multiple devices. This allows a large number of devices to be powered on when a small number of ports of the SOC are occupied, thereby saving resources of the SOC. In addition, since the SOC independently enables each output pin of the input-output module, it is possible to independently drive multiple devices respectively connected to each output pin.

[0091] The embodiment shown in FIG4 is a simplified flow chart of an embodiment of the present disclosure. The technical solution of the present disclosure is further described below based on FIG5. FIG5 is a schematic flow chart of an example of a control method provided according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the method is described using the above-mentioned input and output module as an example. The method includes the following steps:

[0092] In step 501, the power supply device transmits direct current or alternating current to the power pin to control the path switcher, the shift register, and the trigger flipper to power on.

[0093] The embodiments of the present disclosure do not specifically limit the power supply equipment.

[0094] In step 502, the SOC sends a reset signal to the reset pin to control the manager to respectively control the path switch, the shift register and the trigger flipper to reset and be in the initial state respectively.

[0095] In step 503, the SOC sends a path switching signal to the path pin to control the path switch to turn on the sub-register indicated by the path switching signal in the shift register.

[0096] In some embodiments, the SOC sends multiple path switching signals to the path pins in sequence, each path switching signal is used to control the path switch to turn on a sub-register corresponding to a path switch, thereby turning on each sub-register in the shift register in sequence.

[0097] In step 504 , the SOC sends an enable signal to the instruction pin to control the path switch to transmit the enable signal to the sub-register.

[0098] In some embodiments, each time the SOC sends a path switching signal to a path pin, it waits for a preset delay to allow the path switcher to turn on a sub-register corresponding to a path switch. The SOC then sends an enable signal to the instruction pin to control the path switcher to transmit the enable signal to a sub-register. The embodiments of the present disclosure do not specifically limit the preset delay.

[0099] In step 505 , after the enable signal is stored in each sub-register, the SOC sends a shift signal to the shift pin to control the shift register to output the stored enable signal to each input pin of the trigger flip-flop.

[0100] In step 506 , the SOC controls the trigger flipper to transmit the enable signal received from each input pin to each corresponding output pin, so as to control whether the output level of each output pin is flipped.

[0101] In some embodiments, when the enable signal received by any output pin of the trigger flipper is at a high level, the output level of the output pin of the trigger flipper is controlled to flip and maintain the flipped output level. For example, when the output level of the output pin of the trigger flipper is at a high level, after flipping, the output level is converted from a high level to a low level, and the output pin of the trigger flipper is disabled; when the output level of the output pin of the trigger flipper is at a low level, after flipping, the output level is converted from a low level to a high level, and the output pin of the trigger flipper is enabled.

[0102] In some embodiments, when the enable signal received by any output pin of the trigger flipper is at a low level, the output level of the output pin of the trigger flipper is controlled not to flip and the output level is maintained. When the output level is at a low level, the output pin of the trigger flipper is not enabled. When the output level is at a high level, the output pin of the trigger flipper is enabled.

[0103] In some embodiments, the SOC sends a reset signal to a reset pin to control the path switch, the shift register, and the flip-flop reset.

[0104] In some embodiments, the power supply device transmits AC or DC power to the power pin to control whether the output pins of the trigger flip-flop are enabled. The embodiments of the present disclosure do not specifically limit the power supply device.

[0105] In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the SOC controls whether the various output pins of the input-output module are enabled by sending a path switching signal to the path pin of the input-output module, sending an enable signal to the instruction pin, and sending a shift signal to the shift pin, thereby controlling whether the various devices respectively connected to the various output pins of the input-output module are powered on; in addition, since the number of input pins of the input-output module is less than the number of output pins, the resources of the SOC are saved.

[0106] An embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a chip, which includes the above-mentioned input and output module.

[0107] An embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a virtual reality device, which includes multiple cameras, each of which is connected to the above-mentioned chip, and is used to control whether each camera is powered on through the chip.

[0108] FIG6 is a schematic structural diagram of a frequency conversion module provided according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG6 , the module includes: an analyzer 601 and a plurality of frequency multipliers, each of which is respectively connected to the analyzer 601 , and each of which is respectively connected to a device of the apparatus.

[0109] The module further includes an instruction pin, which is used by the parser 601 to obtain the data to be parsed from the instruction pin.

[0110] The module further includes a power pin, which is connected to the analyzer 601 and the multiple frequency multipliers respectively, and is used to power the analyzer 601 and the multiple frequency multipliers respectively through the AC or DC power transmitted by the power pin.

[0111] The module further includes a reset pin, which is connected to the analyzer 601 and the multiple frequency multipliers respectively. The analyzer 601 and the multiple frequency multipliers respectively receive reset signals from the reset pin and perform reset.

[0112] The module also includes a plurality of output pins, and each output pin corresponds to a device and a frequency multiplier.

[0113] In some embodiments, the parser 601 is used to parse the acquired data to be parsed to obtain multiple groups of frequency conversion data, each group of the frequency conversion data includes a multiplier name and a frequency conversion value; according to the multiplier name in each group of the frequency conversion data, each group of the frequency conversion data is sent to the matching multiplier.

[0114] In some embodiments, a port of the SOC simulates a UART (Universal Asynchronous Receiver / Transmitter) protocol to send the data to be parsed to the parser 601. The embodiments of the present disclosure do not specifically limit the parser 601 and the frequency multiplier.

[0115] In some embodiments, the SOC obtains the input frequency (reference frequency) of the synchronization signal of each device and the tracking frequency required for eye tracking. The SOC calculates the frequency conversion value of each device based on the input frequency and tracking frequency of each device, and the device and the frequency multiplier have a one-to-one correspondence. For example, the device is a camera, and the display state of the display module of the VR / AR device is associated with each camera performing eye tracking. After the user turns on the VR / AR device and the screen of the VR / AR device is illuminated, the SOC obtains the input frequency of the synchronization signal. When the user activates the application icon through the gaze control menu on the screen, the SOC obtains the tracking frequency of each camera based on the display state of the display module in combination with the tracking algorithm. The SOC calculates the input frequency and tracking frequency of each camera to obtain the frequency conversion value of each camera, and sends each frequency conversion value and the frequency multiplier name to the parser 601. In particular, when the frequency conversion value is greater than 1, it indicates that the tracking frequency is greater than the input frequency; when the frequency conversion value is equal to 1, it indicates that the tracking frequency is equal to the input frequency; when the tracking frequency is less than 1 or greater than 0, it indicates that the tracking frequency is less than the input frequency; when the frequency conversion value is equal to 0, it indicates that the tracking frequency is equal to 0.

[0116] In some embodiments, the frequency multiplier multiplies the received input frequency according to the received frequency conversion value.

[0117] In an embodiment of the present disclosure, a parser 601 is used to receive the frequency conversion values ​​of each frequency multiplier sent by the SOC, and then the parser 601 sends each frequency conversion value to each frequency multiplier respectively, thereby realizing that a parser 601 is used to control multiple frequency multipliers to multiply the input frequency respectively, thereby solving the problem of being unable to output differentiated signals to multiple devices through a single input frequency.

[0118] In some embodiments, the frequency multiplier is used to multiply the input frequency according to the received frequency conversion value to obtain a target frequency, where the target frequency represents the operating frequency of the device.

[0119] In some embodiments, each frequency multiplier transmits each target frequency (equal to the tracking frequency) to each device through each input pin, so as to control the operating frequency of each device. For example, the input frequency is P. When a user selects an application icon based on the gaze control menu of the VR / AR device to start a shooting game, after entering the game, each camera requires a higher tracking frequency. The tracking frequency of the first camera is 2P, the tracking frequency of the second camera is 3P, the tracking frequency of the third camera is 4P, and the tracking frequency of the fourth camera is 5P. The SOC obtains the frequency conversion value of each camera, which is 2, 3, 4, and 5 respectively, and sends the data to be parsed to the parser 601 for parsing, obtaining: frequency conversion value 2 and the name of the first multiplier, frequency conversion value 3 and the name of the second multiplier, frequency conversion value 4 and the name of the third multiplier, frequency conversion value 5 and the name of the fourth multiplier. The parser 601 sends the above parsing results to each multiplier. Each multiplier multiplies the input frequency based on the received frequency conversion value and outputs target frequencies of 2P, 3P, 4P, and 5P, respectively. This controls the first camera to be exposed at the target frequency of 2P, the second camera to be exposed at the target frequency of 3P, the third camera to be exposed at the target frequency of 4P, and the fourth camera to be exposed at the target frequency of 5P. When the user finishes the game and prepares to turn off the VR / AR device, the tracking frequency of each camera is set to 0. Based on the received frequency conversion value of 0, each frequency multiplier multiplies the input frequency, outputting a target frequency of 0. This controls the first, second, third, and fourth cameras to not be exposed. The disclosed embodiments achieve the goal of controlling each camera to be exposed at a specific tracking frequency at a specific time.

[0120] In some embodiments, the module further includes an input device 602, which is connected to each of the frequency multipliers respectively. The input device 602 is used to transmit the input frequency to each of the frequency multipliers respectively.

[0121] The module further includes an input frequency pin, which is used for the input device 602 to receive the input frequency from the input frequency pin.

[0122] In some embodiments, the module further includes an enabler 702, wherein an input end of the enabler 702 is connected to at least one of the devices, and an output end of the enabler 702 is connected to at least one fill light 703;

[0123] The enabler 702 is used to enable the fill light 703 .

[0124] In some embodiments, as shown in FIG7 , an enabler 702 is provided between a fill light 703 and a driving power source 701 of the fill light 703 , so that the fill light 703 is illuminated only when the enabler 702 is enabled. For example, the device is a camera. When the camera is exposed at any exposure frequency, it outputs a strobe signal. After the enabler 702 receives the strobe signal, it is enabled, and the fill light 703 is illuminated, thereby filling in the light for the camera. When the camera exposure is completed and the strobe signal is no longer output, the enabler 702 is not enabled, and the fill light 703 is turned off. The embodiment of the present disclosure controls the fill light 703 to fill in the light for the camera only when the camera is exposed, thereby reducing power consumption. The embodiment of the present disclosure does not specifically limit the enabler 702.

[0125] The embodiments of the present disclosure use a parser to control multiple frequency multipliers to multiply the input frequency respectively, thereby solving the problem of being unable to output differentiated signals to multiple devices through a single reference frequency. In addition, the operating frequency of each camera is switched according to the tracking frequency of real-time eye tracking, eliminating the need for a port of the SOC to constantly control the operating frequency of each camera, thus saving SOC resources.

[0126] FIG8 is a flow chart of a control method according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in FIG8 , the present disclosure is described using the frequency conversion module as an example. The method includes the following steps:

[0127] In step 801, data to be parsed is sent to a parser, and the parser is controlled to parse the data to obtain multiple groups of frequency conversion data, each group of which includes a frequency multiplier name and a frequency conversion value.

[0128] In step 802, the parser is controlled to send each set of the frequency conversion data to a matching frequency multiplier according to the name of the frequency multiplier in each set of the frequency conversion data.

[0129] In step 803, the frequency multiplier is controlled to multiply the input frequency according to the received frequency conversion value to obtain a target frequency, where the target frequency represents the operating frequency of the device.

[0130] In the disclosed embodiments, the SOC sends the frequency conversion values ​​of each multiplier to a parser, which then controls multiple multipliers to multiply the input frequency using each frequency conversion value, resulting in multiple target frequencies. This solves the problem of being unable to provide differentiated outputs to multiple devices using a single reference frequency. Furthermore, by switching the operating frequencies of each device based on the tracking frequency of real-time eye tracking, the SOC port no longer needs to continuously control the operating frequencies of each device, saving SOC resources.

[0131] The embodiment shown in FIG8 is a brief process of an embodiment of the present disclosure. The technical solution of the present disclosure is further described below based on FIG9. FIG9 is a schematic flow chart of an example of a control method provided according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. In the embodiment of the present disclosure, the method is described using the above-mentioned frequency conversion module as an example. The method includes the following steps:

[0132] In step 901, a power supply device transmits direct current or alternating current to a power pin to control the power on of a resolver, an inputter, and a plurality of frequency multipliers.

[0133] The power supply pins include a VDD (power supply voltage) pin and a GND (ground) pin.

[0134] The embodiments of the present disclosure do not specifically limit the power supply equipment.

[0135] In step 902, the SOC sends a reset signal to the reset pin to control the resolver, the inputter, and the plurality of frequency multipliers to reset and be in an initial state.

[0136] In step 903, the SOC sends an input frequency to the input frequency pin to control the input device to transmit the input frequency to each of the frequency multipliers.

[0137] In step 904, the SOC sends the data to be parsed to the instruction pin to control the parser to parse the data to obtain multiple groups of frequency converters, each group of the frequency converters includes a frequency multiplication name and a frequency conversion value.

[0138] In step 905, the SOC controls the frequency multiplier to multiply the input frequency according to the received frequency conversion value to obtain a target frequency, where the target frequency represents the operating frequency of the device.

[0139] In the disclosed embodiments, the SOC sends the frequency conversion values ​​of each multiplier to a parser, which then controls multiple multipliers to multiply the input frequency using each frequency conversion value, resulting in multiple target frequencies. This solves the problem of being unable to provide differentiated outputs to multiple devices using a single reference frequency. Furthermore, by switching the operating frequencies of each device based on the tracking frequency of real-time eye tracking, the SOC port no longer needs to continuously control the operating frequencies of each device, saving SOC resources.

[0140] According to a seventh aspect of an embodiment of the present disclosure, a chip is provided, which includes the above-mentioned frequency conversion module.

[0141] An embodiment of the present disclosure further provides a virtual reality device, which includes the above chip.

[0142] In some embodiments, the SOC in the VR / AR device is connected to the input / output module 1002 and the frequency conversion module 1001 respectively, and each camera is connected to the input / output module 1002, the frequency conversion module 1001 and the enabler respectively. After the input / output module 1002 controls each camera to power on, if the frequency conversion module 1001 outputs the target frequency to each camera respectively, each camera is exposed based on the target frequency (i.e., the exposure frequency). During the exposure process, each camera outputs a strobe signal to the corresponding enabler to enable the enabler, thereby turning on the fill light connected to the enabler, and filling light is used to fill light for the camera being exposed. This achieves that after the input / output module 1002 controls each camera to power on, the frequency conversion module 1001 controls the exposure of the powered-on camera, and the camera being exposed turns on the corresponding fill light, thereby only filling light for the camera being exposed, saving energy. For example, as shown in FIG10 , when the first output pin, the second output pin, the third output pin, the fourth output pin, the fifth output pin, When the output levels of the sixth output pin, the seventh output pin, the eighth output pin, the ninth output pin, the tenth output pin, the eleventh output pin and the twelfth output pin are all high levels, the AVDD circuit, the DVDD circuit and the DOVDD circuit of each camera are enabled, thereby controlling the power-on of the four cameras, and the parser transmits the frequency conversion values ​​corresponding to each frequency multiplier to the first frequency multiplier, the second frequency multiplier, the third frequency multiplier and the fourth frequency multiplier respectively, and each frequency multiplier multiplies the input frequency received from the input device based on the received frequency conversion value, and the first frequency multiplier obtains the first target frequency, the second frequency multiplier obtains the second target frequency, the third frequency multiplier obtains the third target frequency, and the fourth frequency multiplier obtains the fourth target frequency Then, the first frequency multiplier transmits the first target frequency to the first camera, and the first camera is exposed based on the first target frequency. The second frequency multiplier transmits the second target frequency to the second camera, and the second camera is exposed based on the second target frequency. The third frequency multiplier transmits the third target frequency to the third camera, and the third camera is exposed based on the third target frequency. The fourth frequency multiplier transmits the fourth target frequency to the fourth camera, and the fourth camera is exposed based on the fourth target frequency. During the exposure process of the first camera, the second camera, the third camera, and the fourth camera, the corresponding fill lights are turned on to provide fill light for the first camera, the second camera, the third camera, and the fourth camera respectively.

[0143] Those skilled in the art will understand that all or part of the steps to implement the above embodiments may be accomplished by hardware, or by a program to instruct the relevant hardware, and the program may be stored in a computer-readable storage medium, which may be a read-only memory, a disk, or an optical disk, etc.

[0144] The above description is merely an optional embodiment of the present disclosure and is not intended to limit the present disclosure. Any modifications, equivalent replacements, improvements, etc. made within the spirit and principles of the present disclosure shall be included in the scope of protection of the present disclosure.

Claims

1. An input-output module, characterized in that: include: M input pins, a path switch, a shift register, and a trigger flipper connected in sequence, wherein the trigger flipper has N output pins; Wherein, the M input pins are used to receive input signals, the M input pins include path pins, instruction pins and shift pins, the N output pins are used to be connected to multiple devices of the device respectively, the output levels of the N output pins are used to control whether the multiple devices are powered on, and M and N are positive integers; The path switch is used to store the enable signal received from the instruction pin into the shift register in response to the input signal of the path pin, and the shift register is used to output the stored enable signal to the trigger flipper in response to the shift signal of the shift pin to control the output levels of the N output pins.

2. The module according to claim 1, characterized in that M is less than N.

3. The module according to claim 1, characterized in that The shift register includes a plurality of sub-registers, the path switch includes a plurality of path switches, and the path switches correspond to the sub-registers one by one. The path switch is used to receive a path switching signal from the path pin, and turn on the sub-register corresponding to the path switch in the shift register by turning on the path switch indicated by the path switching signal; The path switch is used to receive an enable signal from the instruction pin and transmit the enable signal to the sub-register; The shift register is used to receive a shift signal from the shift pin and output the stored enable signal to the trigger flipper.

4. The module according to claim 3, characterized in that After the enable signal is respectively stored in each of the sub-registers in the shift register, the shift pin receives the shift signal.

5. The module according to claim 3, characterized in that The trigger flipper includes output pins that correspond one-to-one to the sub-registers, and the trigger flipper is used to flip the output level of the corresponding output pin when the enable signal received from any sub-register is at a high level; or the trigger flipper is used to maintain the output level of the corresponding output pin when the enable signal received from any sub-register is at a low level.

6. A control method, characterized in that: The method is applied to the input-output module according to any one of claims 1 to 4, and the method comprises: sending an input signal to the path pin to control the path switch to store the enable signal received from the instruction pin into the shift register; A shift signal is sent to the shift pin to control the shift register, and the stored enable signal is output to the trigger flipper to control the output levels of the N output pins.

7. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that The sending of an input signal to the path pin is used to control the path switch to store the enable signal received from the instruction pin into the shift register, and the sending of a shift signal to the shift pin is used to control the shift register to output the stored enable signal to the trigger flipper to control the output level of the N output pins, including: Sending a path switching signal to the path pin to control the path switch to turn on the sub-register indicated by the path switching signal in the shift register; Sending an enable signal to the instruction pin to control the path switch to transmit the enable signal to the sub-register; A shift signal is sent to the shift pin to control the shift register to output the stored enable signal to the trigger flipper to control the output levels of the N output pins.

8. The method according to claim 6, characterized in that The step of outputting the stored enable signal to a trigger flipper to control the output levels of the N output pins comprises: When the enable signal received by the trigger flipper from any sub-register is at a high level, the trigger flipper is controlled to flip the output level of the corresponding output pin; or When the enable signal received by the trigger flipper from any sub-register is at a low level, the trigger flipper is controlled to maintain the output level of the corresponding output pin.

9. A chip, characterized in that: The invention comprises an input-output module as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 6.

10. A virtual reality device, characterized in that: It comprises a plurality of cameras, each of which is respectively connected to the chip according to claim 9, and is used for respectively controlling whether each of the cameras is powered on through the chip.

11. A frequency conversion module, characterized in that: include: A resolver and a plurality of frequency multipliers, each of the frequency multipliers being respectively connected to the resolver, and each of the frequency multipliers being respectively connected to a device of the apparatus; The parser is used to parse the acquired data to be parsed to obtain multiple groups of frequency conversion data, each group of the frequency conversion data includes a frequency multiplier name and a frequency conversion value; according to the frequency multiplier name in each group of the frequency conversion data, each group of the frequency conversion data is sent to the matching frequency multiplier; The frequency multiplier is used to multiply the input frequency according to the received frequency conversion value to obtain a target frequency, where the target frequency represents the operating frequency of the device.

12. The module according to claim 11, characterized in that The module further includes an input device, which is connected to each of the frequency multipliers respectively, and is used to transmit the input frequency to each of the frequency multipliers respectively.

13. The module according to claim 11, characterized in that The module further includes an enabler, wherein an input end of the enabler is connected to at least one of the devices, and an output end of the enabler is connected to at least one fill light; The enabler is used to enable the fill light.

14. A control method, characterized in that: The method is applied to the frequency conversion module according to any one of claims 11 to 13, and the method comprises: Sending the data to be parsed to the parser, controlling the parser to parse the data to be parsed, and obtaining multiple groups of frequency conversion data, each group of the frequency conversion data including a frequency multiplier name and a frequency conversion value; Control the parser to convert each group of frequency conversion data into The frequency conversion data are respectively sent to matching frequency multipliers; The frequency multiplier is controlled to multiply the input frequency according to the received frequency conversion value to obtain a target frequency, where the target frequency represents the operating frequency of the device.

15. The method according to claim 14, characterized in that The method further comprises: The control input device sends the input frequency to each of the frequency multipliers respectively.

16. A chip, characterized in that: The method comprises a frequency conversion module as claimed in any one of claims 11 to 13.

17. A virtual reality device, characterized in that: Comprising the chip as claimed in claim 16.

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