Direct-display driving system, direct-display driving apparatus, automobile, display system and display method

Abstract

A direct-display driving system, which is used for driving monochromatic or RGB direct display of vehicle-mounted LEDs. The system comprises a central computing platform, a regional controller and a vehicle-mounted LED module, wherein the regional controller comprises an MCU module; the vehicle-mounted LED module comprises a plurality of LED lamps and an LED driving chip; the central computing platform is used for generating a first control command and sending the first control command to the MCU module; the MCU module is connected to the LED driving chip by means of a QSPI / OSPI protocol; the MCU module generates a first data command on the basis of the received first control command and sends the first data command to the LED driving chip; and the LED driving chip receives the first data command and then controls the grayscale of each LED lamp in the vehicle-mounted LED module.

Description

Direct display drive system, direct display drive device, automobile, display system, and display method

[0001] CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0002] This application claims priority to the Chinese patent application filed with the China Patent Office on March 25, 2024, with application number 2024205908248 and application name “Direct display drive system, direct display drive device and automobile” and the Chinese patent application filed with the China Patent Office on March 25, 2024, with application number 2024103399534 and application name “Display system and display method”, the entire contents of which are incorporated by reference into this application. Technical Field

[0003] The present application relates to a direct display drive system, a direct display drive device, a car, a display system, and a display method. Background Art

[0004] With the development of intelligent and interactive vehicles, more and more automotive components are undergoing intelligent innovation to keep pace with this trend. In exterior design, a growing number of products with intelligent interaction are emerging, including digital projection headlights, intelligent interactive taillights, and intelligent interactive welcome lights. Combined with the increasing number of cameras and radars in vehicles, as well as more user-friendly and personalized graphic displays, the development of intelligent interaction has entered a new chapter. To better achieve human-computer interaction, higher requirements are being placed on display brightness, color, and detail.

[0005] However, the inventors found that traditional outdoor miniLED direct displays are mainly based on FPGAs. After being applied to vehicles, the cost pressure, application scenarios and scalability of automotive-grade FPGAs are limited.

[0006] Therefore, proposing a new miniLED direct display solution to better solve the above problems has become a technical problem that technical personnel in this field urgently need to solve. Summary of the Invention

[0007] According to various embodiments disclosed herein, a direct display driving system is provided for driving a monochrome or RGB direct display of an on-board LED lamp under the control of a central computing platform, comprising:

[0008] A zone controller and an on-board LED module; the zone controller includes one or more first MCU modules; the on-board LED module includes a plurality of LED lamps and LED driver chips;

[0009] The first MCU module is controlled by the central computing platform to generate a first data instruction; one or more of the first MCU modules are connected to the LED driver chip via a corresponding QSPI / OSPI protocol; the QSPI / OSPI protocol is used to send the first data instruction generated by the corresponding first MCU module to the LED driver chip; and

[0010] The LED driver chip is used to control the grayscale of the corresponding LED lamp in the vehicle-mounted LED module according to the received first data instruction.

[0011] In one embodiment, the first MCU module is connected to the LED driver chip via a first data line, and the first data line is used to transmit communication information of the QSPI / OSPI protocol, so that the first MCU module is connected to the LED driver chip via the QSPI / OSPI protocol.

[0012] In one embodiment, each of the first data lines includes 8 data lines.

[0013] In one embodiment, the number of the first MCU modules is adapted to the number of the LED lamps in the vehicle-mounted LED module.

[0014] In one embodiment, the vehicle-mounted LED module further comprises: an LED scanning chip;

[0015] The one or more first MCU modules are connected to the LED line scanning chip via a corresponding SPI protocol;

[0016] The first MCU module is controlled by the central computing platform to generate a second data instruction and a first storage address signal; the SPI protocol is used to send the second data instruction and the first storage address signal generated by the corresponding first MCU module to the LED row scanning chip; and

[0017] The LED scanning chip is used to scan the corresponding LED lights in the vehicle-mounted LED module according to the received second data instruction and the first storage address signal, so as to light up or turn off the corresponding LED lights.

[0018] In one embodiment, the zone controller further includes: an MCU driver chip;

[0019] The MCU driver chip is used to receive the first control instruction sent by the central computing platform, and drive the corresponding first MCU module to generate the first data instruction according to the received first control instruction; and

[0020] The MCU driver chip is used to receive the second control instruction sent by the central computing platform, and according to the received second control instruction, drive the corresponding first MCU module to generate the second data instruction and the first storage address information.

[0021] In one embodiment, it further includes:

[0022] DC-DC module; the DC-DC module is connected to a plurality of the LED lamps, and the DC-DC module is used to provide a constant voltage and current to the LED lamps.

[0023] A direct display driving device includes the direct display driving system described in any one of the above embodiments.

[0024] An automobile comprises the direct display driving device described in any one of the above embodiments.

[0025] A display system comprising:

[0026] A regional controller, the regional controller comprising at least one MCU module, the MCU module being controlled by an onboard control platform;

[0027] An FPGA executor, wherein the input of the FPGA executor is connected to the output of the MCU module via a corresponding QSPI / OSPI protocol, wherein the QSPI / OSPI protocol is used for the MCU module to send an image or video to the FPGA executor;

[0028] At least one driver chip, the input of the driver chip is connected to the output of the FPGA executor through an I / O port; the driver chip is used to receive a scanning drive instruction from the FPGA executor; and

[0029] The vehicle-mounted LED module is respectively connected to at least one of the driver chips, and the vehicle-mounted LED module is controlled by the driver chip to display a corresponding grayscale.

[0030] In one embodiment, the system further comprises:

[0031] an external storage module, the external storage module being connected to the MCU module and being used to pre-store videos; and

[0032] The MCU module is used to obtain the video pre-stored in the external storage module and send the pre-stored video to the FPGA executor when the image sent by the vehicle control platform is not received.

[0033] In one embodiment, the system further comprises:

[0034] a sleep module, one end of which is connected to the regional controller;

[0035] a power supply module, the power supply module being connected to the other end of the sleep module and the vehicle-mounted LED module, respectively, for supplying power to the zone controller and the vehicle-mounted LED module; and

[0036] The sleep module is controlled by the vehicle control platform to wake up the MCU module in sleep.

[0037] In one embodiment, the number of the driver chips is determined based on the brightness of the vehicle-mounted LED module.

[0038] In one embodiment, the MCU module and the FPGA executor are located on the same PC board, and the distance between the MCU module and the FPGA executor is less than a distance threshold.

[0039] A display method, applied to the display system in any one of the above embodiments, comprising:

[0040] The FPGA executor receives the image or video from the MCU module through the QSPI / OSPI protocol, generates the line scan drive instruction based on the image or video, and sends the line scan drive instruction to the corresponding driver chip through the I / O port;

[0041] The driver chip is used to drive the vehicle-mounted LED module to display the corresponding grayscale.

[0042] In one embodiment, the method further comprises:

[0043] When the MCU module does not receive the image sent by the vehicle control platform, it obtains the video pre-stored in the external storage module and sends the pre-stored video to the FPGA executor.

[0044] In one embodiment, the method further comprises:

[0045] The number of the driver chips is determined based on the brightness of the vehicle-mounted LED module.

[0046] In one embodiment, the method further comprises:

[0047] The FPGA executor receives an initial configuration frame sent by the MCU module, wherein the initial configuration frame includes the number of line scans, the refresh frequency, and the number of LED lights, and adjusts the driving mode of the driver chip based on the number of line scans, the refresh frequency, and the number of LED lights.

[0048] In one embodiment, the method further comprises:

[0049] The dormant module receives a wake-up instruction from the vehicle control platform and wakes up the dormant MCU module based on the wake-up instruction.

[0050] The details of one or more embodiments of the present application are set forth in the accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features and advantages of the present application will become apparent from the description, drawings, and claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0051] In order to more clearly illustrate the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present application, the following briefly introduces the drawings required for use in the embodiments. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present application. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without creative work.

[0052] FIG1 is a first schematic diagram of a module of a direct display driving system according to one or more embodiments of the present application;

[0053] FIG2 is a second schematic diagram of a module of a direct display driving system according to one or more embodiments of the present application;

[0054] FIG3 is a third schematic diagram of a module of a direct display driving system according to one or more embodiments of the present application;

[0055] FIG4 is a fourth schematic diagram of a module of a direct display driving system according to one or more embodiments of the present application;

[0056] FIG5 is a schematic diagram of a direct display driving device when the number of the first MCU module is one according to one or more specific embodiments of the present application;

[0057] FIG6 is a line scan waveform diagram of the QSPI protocol when the number of the first MCU module is one in the direct display driving device provided according to one or more specific embodiments of the present application:

[0058] FIG7 shows product parameters when the number of the first MCU module is one in a direct display driver system according to one or more specific embodiments of the present application;

[0059] FIG8 is a schematic diagram of a display system according to one or more embodiments of the present application;

[0060] FIG9 is a flow chart of a display method according to one or more embodiments of the present application.

[0061] Description of reference numerals:

[0062] 10-Direct display drive system; 101-Regional controller; 1011-First MCU module; 102-Onboard LED module; 1021-LED driver chip; 1022-LED lamp; 1023-LED scanning chip; 11-Central computing platform. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0063] In order to make the technical solutions and advantages of this application more clearly understood, the present application is further described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are only used to explain this application and are not intended to limit this application.

[0064] Traditional outdoor miniLED direct displays are mainly based on FPGAs. After being applied to vehicles, the cost pressure, application scenarios and scalability of automotive-grade FPGAs are limited.

[0065] In light of this, the applicants of this application propose replacing the commonly used serial communication or SPI control methods on the market with the existing QSPI protocol and MCU used in flash chips. Through repeated experiments and demonstrations, the applicants have found that using an MCU and the QSPI protocol to control LED driver chips can significantly increase communication bandwidth, accommodate the data output after the MCU's rapid calculations, and enhance LED driving capabilities. Therefore, they propose an MCU-based QSPI / OSPI communication protocol to achieve direct monochrome or RGB color display for tens of thousands of miniLEDs.

[0066] It can be seen that this driving solution is a low-cost new driving solution based on line scanning. It can realize monochrome or RGB color direct display of miniLEDs above 10,000 levels through the QSPI or OSPI communication method of MCU.

[0067] The technical solution provided in this application greatly increases the communication bandwidth, can carry the data output after rapid calculation of the MCU, and increase the LED driving capability; at the same time, while meeting the requirements of automotive regulations, since the MCU and QSPI protocol proposed in this technical solution are relatively low in price, it not only solves the cost requirements, but also can effectively increase the application scenarios of miniLED direct display based on the scalability of MCU functions.

[0068] The following paragraphs describe the present application in more detail by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings. The advantages and features of the present application will become more apparent from the following description and claims. It should be noted that the drawings are greatly simplified and not to exact scale, and are intended solely to facilitate and clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present application.

[0069] Please refer to Figures 1-7 , in which LED lights 1022 are coupled to each other. In Figures 1-4 , the LED lights 1022 are divided into different parts for purposes of illustration. According to one embodiment of the present application, a direct display driving system 10 is provided for driving a single-color or RGB direct display of the vehicle-mounted LED lights 1022 under the control of a central computing platform 11, including:

[0070] A zone controller 101 and an onboard LED module 102; the zone controller 101 includes one or more first MCU modules 1011; the onboard LED module 102 includes a plurality of LED lamps 1022 and an LED driver chip 1021;

[0071] The first MCU module 1011 is controlled by the central computing platform 11 to generate a first data instruction; one or more of the first MCU modules 1011 are connected to the LED driver chip 1021 via a corresponding QSPI / OSPI protocol; the QSPI / OSPI protocol is used to send the first data instruction generated by the corresponding first MCU module 1011 to the LED driver chip 1021;

[0072] The LED driver chip 1021 is used to control the grayscale of the corresponding LED lamp 1022 in the vehicle-mounted LED module 102 according to the received first data instruction, as shown in Figure 1 or Figure 2.

[0073] In one embodiment, when the number of the first MCU module 1011 is one, the first MCU module 1011 is controlled by the central computing platform 11 to generate a first data instruction; the first MCU module 1011 is connected to the LED driver chip 1021 via a corresponding QSPI / OSPI protocol; the QSPI / OSPI protocol is used to send the first data instruction generated by the corresponding first MCU module 1011 to the LED driver chip 1021;

[0074] The LED driver chip 1021 is used to control the grayscale of the corresponding LED lamp 1022 in the vehicle-mounted LED module 102 according to the received first data instruction, as shown in FIG1 .

[0075] In another embodiment, when there are multiple first MCU modules 1011, multiple first MCU modules 1011 are synchronously controlled by the central computing platform 11 to generate first data instructions; more than two first MCU modules 1011 are connected to the LED driver chip 1021 via corresponding QSPI / OSPI protocols; the QSPI / OSPI protocol is used to synchronously send the first data instructions generated by the corresponding multiple first MCU modules 1011 to the LED driver chip 1021;

[0076] The LED driver chip 1021 is used to control the grayscale of the corresponding LED lamp 1022 in the vehicle-mounted LED module 102 according to the received first data instruction, as shown in FIG. 2 .

[0077] The other number of first MCU modules 1011 are not shown in the figure, and their structures are similar to the aforementioned structures of this application, and are not described in detail in this application.

[0078] The present application provides a direct display drive system 10, which replaces the common serial communication or SPI control on the market with the QSPI protocol to control the LED driver chip 1021 to drive the monochrome or RGB color direct display of the vehicle-mounted LED lamp 1022; this technical solution meets the requirements of vehicle regulations. Since the first MCU module 1011 and the QSPI protocol proposed in the technical solution are relatively inexpensive, it not only solves the cost requirements, but also can effectively increase the application scenarios of miniLED direct display based on the scalability of the functions of the first MCU module 1011.

[0079] It can significantly increase the communication bandwidth, carry the data output after MCU fast calculation, and increase the LED driving capability.

[0080] In one embodiment, the first MCU module 1011 and the LED driver chip 1021 are connected via a first data line, and the first data line is used to transmit communication information of the QSPI / OSPI protocol, so that the first MCU module 1011 and the LED driver chip 1021 are connected via the QSPI / OSPI protocol.

[0081] In one embodiment, each of the first data lines includes 8 data lines, which greatly increases the communication bandwidth, can carry the data output after the MCU quickly calculates, and increases the LED driving capability.

[0082] In one embodiment, the number of the first MCU modules 1011 is adapted to the number of the LED lamps 1022 in the vehicle-mounted LED module 102, so as to achieve 10,000-level and 100,000-level control.

[0083] In one embodiment, the vehicle-mounted LED module 102 further includes: an LED scanning chip 1023;

[0084] The one or more first MCU modules 1011 are connected to the LED scanning chip 1023 via a corresponding SPI protocol;

[0085] The first MCU module 1011 is controlled by the central computing platform 11 to generate a second data instruction and a first storage address signal; the SPI protocol is used to send the second data instruction and the first storage address signal generated by the corresponding first MCU module 1011 to the LED line scanning chip 1023;

[0086] The LED scanning chip 1023 is used to scan the corresponding LED light 1022 in the vehicle-mounted LED module 102 according to the received second data instruction and the first storage address signal, so as to light up or turn off the corresponding LED light 1022.

[0087] In one embodiment, when the number of the first MCU module 1011 is one, the first MCU module 1011 and the LED line scanning chip 1023 are connected via a corresponding SPI protocol;

[0088] The first MCU module 1011 is controlled by the central computing platform 11 to generate a second data instruction and a first storage address signal; the SPI protocol is used to send the second data instruction and the first storage address signal generated by the first MCU module 1011 to the LED line scanning chip 1023;

[0089] The LED scanning chip 1023 is used to scan the LED lights 1022 in the vehicle-mounted LED module 102 according to the received second data instruction and the first storage address signal, so as to light up or turn off the corresponding LED lights 1022; as shown in FIG3;

[0090] When there are multiple first MCU modules 1011, the multiple first MCU modules 1011 are connected to the LED line scanning chip 1023 via a corresponding SPI protocol;

[0091] The first MCU modules 1011 are all controlled by the central computing platform 11 to generate corresponding second data instructions and first storage address signals; the SPI protocol is used to send the corresponding second data instructions and first storage address signals generated by the first MCU modules 1011 to the LED line scanning chip 1023;

[0092] The LED scanning chip 1023 is used to scan the corresponding LED light 1022 in the vehicle-mounted LED module 102 according to the received second data instruction and the first storage address signal to light up or turn off the corresponding LED light 1022, as shown in Figure 4.

[0093] In one embodiment, the regional controller 101 further includes: an MCU driver chip (not shown in Figures 1-4);

[0094] The MCU driver chip is used to receive the first control instruction sent by the central computing platform 11, and drive the corresponding first MCU module 1011 to generate the first data instruction according to the received first control instruction;

[0095] The MCU driver chip is used to receive the second control instruction sent by the central computing platform 11, and according to the received second control instruction, drive the corresponding first MCU module 1011 to generate the second data instruction and the first storage address information.

[0096] In one embodiment, it further includes:

[0097] DC-DC module (not shown in Figures 1-4); the DC-DC module is connected to several of the LED lamps 1022, and the DC-DC module is used to provide a constant voltage and current to the LED lamps 1022 to ensure the current stability of the LED lamps 1022.

[0098] According to an embodiment of the present application, a direct display driving device is further provided, comprising the direct display driving system 10 described in any one of the aforementioned embodiments of the present application.

[0099] In a specific embodiment, the specific structure of the direct display driving device is described by taking the case where the number of the first LED module is one as an example; the direct display driving device further includes: an Ethernet drive IC, an LDO, and an external flash IC (flash chip driver) are all provided in the regional controller 101 for controlling or driving the first LED module;

[0100] LDO is used to implement the sleep and wake-up scheme of MCU, so that the whole system can maintain the lowest power consumption when not working, thus saving energy. KL30 is used to provide power supply voltage to LDO.

[0101] External flash IC (flash chip driver) can realize the pre-stored video function, and can display fixed video images in real time without downloading and waiting, which increases the stability and timeliness of the system;

[0102] The LED driver chip 1021 is an LED Drive IC, the LED line scan chip 1023 is a lineScan IC, and the DC-DC module is a DC-DC IC for providing a 4.5V voltage to the LED lamp 1022 board; the first MCU module 1011 and the LED driver chip 1021 are connected via the QSPI protocol;

[0103] The central computing platform 11 and the first MCU module 1011 communicate via the vehicle-mounted CANFD / Ethernet, thereby flexibly controlling the image display of the LED screen, displaying different effects under various working conditions, and achieving personalization and intelligence, as shown in FIG5 .

[0104] According to one embodiment of the present application, a car is also provided, comprising the direct display driving device described in the aforementioned embodiment of the present application.

[0105] The specific structure of the direct display driving device composed of multiple first MCU modules 1011 is similar to that of the specific embodiment, and will not be described in detail in this application.

[0106] As shown in FIG6 , in the direct display driving device provided by the present application, when the number of the first MCU module 1011 is 1, the row scanning waveform of the QSPI protocol is:

[0107] As can be seen from the figure, the QSPI protocol is used by the first MCU module 1011 to perform double-edge sampling and send the sampled signals to the central computing platform 11, which generates control command signals based on the received sampled information. Using a line-scanning drive solution can reduce the number of LED driver chips 1021 while ensuring visual quality, increase the LED driving capability of the entire system, and significantly reduce solution costs.

[0108] FIG7 shows product parameters in a specific example when the number of the first MCU module 1011 in the direct display driver system provided by the present application is one.

[0109] Based on the advantages of cost and technology, it is foreseeable that in the future automotive miniLED direct display field, new products that are more in line with the development of automotive intelligent interaction will be born.

[0110] An embodiment of the present application provides a display system, as shown in Figure 8, which includes a regional controller, an FPGA executor, at least one driver chip and an on-board LED module. The regional controller includes at least one MCU module, which is controlled by an on-board control platform; the input of the FPGA executor and the output of the MCU module are connected through the corresponding QSPI / OSPI protocol, and the QSPI / OSPI protocol is used for the MCU module to send images or videos to the FPGA executor; the input of the driver chip and the output of the FPGA executor are connected through the I / O port; the driver chip is used to receive the line scanning drive instructions of the FPGA executor; the vehicle is connected to at least one driver chip respectively, and the on-board LED module is controlled by the driver chip to display the corresponding grayscale.

[0111] Specifically, the regional controller includes at least one MCU module. The regional controller is shown in FIG8 as an ECU controller including one MCU module. In other embodiments, the regional controller may include at least two MCU modules, each MCU module controlling a corresponding FPGA actuator, which in turn controls a corresponding driver chip, which in turn drives corresponding lamp beads in the vehicle-mounted LED module. For ease of understanding, for example, the lamp beads of the vehicle-mounted LED module are divided into three parts, each of which corresponds to two driver chips, each of which corresponds to one FPGA actuator, which in turn corresponds to one MCU module. Thus, the display system includes three MCU modules and three FPGA actuators. In other embodiments, the number of MCU modules, FPGA actuators, and driver chips can be dynamically selected based on the vehicle-mounted LED module, and no specific limitation is given here.

[0112] Each MCU module communicates with the vehicle control platform via the vehicle Ethernet or CANFD bus. The MCU module receives communication data from the vehicle control platform, which is required for traditional vehicle-mounted technology, such as vehicle-to-vehicle communication, network management, power management, fault diagnosis, and data storage. The MCU module performs these functions, while the FPGA module handles line scanning and display.

[0113] The FPGA actuator communicates with the corresponding MCU module via the QSPI / OSPI protocol. A low-resource FPGA acts as an actuator, receiving commands from the MCU and driving the LEDs for line scanning. The advantage of this solution is that the control logic is handled by the MCU, allowing the use of common automotive technology to meet requirements. This overcomes the difficulty and long development cycle of FPGAs. Serving solely as an actuator reduces selection requirements. While ensuring sufficient resources for driving the LED lines, selecting an FPGA with fewer resources can significantly reduce costs. FPGAs of varying performance have a fixed number of logic cells, and all logic operations consume logic cells. Therefore, FPGAs with more logic cells are naturally more expensive. In this solution, the MCU carries the bulk of the logic algorithms, while the FPGA only needs to fulfill the single function of driving the LED lines. Therefore, selecting an FPGA with fewer resources and a lower price tag is essential.

[0114] In addition, the FPGA's switch control can flexibly and quickly output the digital signals required by the LED driver chip at high frequency, which can significantly increase the bandwidth and enhance the LED driving capability. Specifically, when there are a large number of high-speed scanning lamp beads, a high-frequency communication clock is required to send the brightness parameters of each lamp bead to each LED driver chip within a fixed time. However, the MCU's pins are often not capable of outputting such a high frequency, and the number of pins provided is limited. Due to the characteristics of the FPGA itself (the FPGA is composed of a large number of logic gate circuits), the pin flip frequency is much higher than that of the MCU, and in theory, each output pin of the FPGA can independently and simultaneously output at high frequency, so the FPGA has a great advantage in output data bandwidth and LED driving capability. The number of FPGA executors can be determined based on needs, and the number of FPGAs can be increased. Through the synchronization signal theory, it is possible to drive more than one million miniLED light panels.

[0115] Communication between the MCU and the FPGA uses the QSPI / OSPI protocol. OSPI's eight data lines and dual-edge mode easily transmit millions of LED grayscale data. High-frequency interference can be addressed by shortening the physical distance between the MCU and FPGA. Specifically, compared to standard SPI communication, OSPI can transmit data simultaneously over eight data lines. Enabling dual-edge mode multiplies this rate by two. For example, assuming the OSPI clock frequency is set to 20MHz and dual-edge mode is enabled, 40,000 bytes of data can be transmitted over eight data lines in 1ms. Assuming the brightness data for each LED is 1 byte (255 grayscale levels), at a 30Hz refresh rate (33ms period), the data volume transmitted in 33ms is equivalent to data for 1.32 million LEDs.

[0116] The driver chip is a chip used for line scanning. In an optional embodiment, the number of driver chips is determined based on the brightness of the on-board LED module. Using a line scanning drive solution on an FPGA can reduce the number of LED driver chips while ensuring visual effects, increase the LED driving capability of the entire system, and significantly reduce the cost of the solution. Specifically, the number of lamp beads driven by an LED driver chip in a 2-line scanning solution is twice that of a solution without line scanning, and 4-line scanning is twice that of 2-line scanning, and so on. However, the disadvantage of line scanning is that it will reduce the brightness of the lamp beads accordingly, so increasing the number of line scans under the premise of appropriate lamp bead brightness can improve the driving capability of each LED driver chip.

[0117] In this way, the MCU is used as a controller to meet traditional in-vehicle technical requirements such as workshop communication, network management, power management, fault diagnosis, and data storage; a small-resource FPGA is used as an actuator, responsible for receiving instructions from the MCU and driving the LED for line scanning and display. The control logic is thus operated by the MCU, and general in-vehicle technology can be used to meet the requirements, solving the problem of difficult and long FPGA development cycles. If the FPGA is only used as an actuator, the selection requirements can be reduced. Selecting an FPGA with fewer resources while ensuring sufficient resources for the LED line scanning drive can greatly reduce costs.

[0118] In an optional embodiment, the display system also includes: an external storage module, the external storage module is connected to the MCU module, and the external storage module is used to pre-store videos; the MCU module is used to obtain the pre-stored videos in the external storage module when the image sent by the vehicle control platform is not received, and send the pre-stored videos to the FPGA executor.

[0119] In this embodiment, the use of on-board CANFD / Ethernet communication on the MCU module can flexibly control the image display of the LED screen, display different effects under various working conditions, and achieve personalization and intelligence; the use of an external flash module can realize the pre-stored video function. For example, during the development stage, fixed animation materials are stored in the external flash module, and the fixed video image function can be displayed in real time without downloading and waiting, which increases the stability and timeliness of the system.

[0120] In an optional embodiment, the above-mentioned display system also includes: a sleep module, one end of the sleep module is connected to the regional controller; a power module, the power module is respectively connected to the other end of the sleep module and the vehicle-mounted LED module, and is used to supply power to the regional controller and the vehicle-mounted LED module; the sleep module is controlled by the vehicle-mounted control platform to wake up the MCU module in sleep.

[0121] This embodiment uses a DC-DC board to provide a 4.5V regulated constant current power supply to the LED board to ensure stable LED current; an LDO is used to implement the MCU sleep wake-up solution, so that the entire system can maintain minimum power consumption when not working, thereby saving energy.

[0122] In an optional embodiment, the MCU module and the FPGA executor are located on the same PC board, and the distance between the MCU module and the FPGA executor is less than a distance threshold.

[0123] In this embodiment, by rationally configuring and reducing the coupling between the MCU and FPGA, high scalability can be achieved without modifying the FPGA's hardware or software. This allows for flexible switching of the LEDs, row scan count, and frame rate by simply changing the MCU configuration. For example, an initial configuration frame is added to the communication between the MCU and FPGA. This frame includes information such as the number of LEDs, row scan count, and refresh rate. Upon receiving this configuration frame, the FPGA automatically adjusts the driving mode based on this information.

[0124] In an exemplary embodiment, as shown in FIG9 , a display method is provided, including the following steps 902 to 906:

[0125] S902: The FPGA executor receives the image or video from the MCU module through the QSPI / OSPI protocol, generates a line scan drive instruction based on the image or video, and sends the line scan drive instruction to the corresponding driver chip through the I / O port.

[0126] The MCU module first receives data corresponding to each function from the vehicle control platform through the vehicle Ethernet or CANFD bus. Optionally, the function includes the display function of the vehicle LED module. After receiving the data of the function, the MCU module sends the data to the corresponding FPGA executor through the QSPI / OSPI protocol. The FPGA executor generates a line scan drive instruction based on the image or video, and sends the line scan drive instruction to the corresponding driver chip through the I / O port, so that the driver chip can drive the corresponding vehicle LED module to display the corresponding grayscale.

[0127] The regional controller includes at least one MCU module. FIG8 shows an ECU controller including one MCU module. In other embodiments, the regional controller may include at least two MCU modules, each of which controls a corresponding FPGA actuator, which controls a corresponding driver chip, which drives the corresponding LED in the vehicle-mounted LED module.

[0128] The regional controller includes at least one MCU module. FIG8 shows an ECU controller including one MCU module. In other embodiments, the regional controller may include at least two MCU modules, each of which controls a corresponding FPGA actuator, which controls a corresponding driver chip, which drives the corresponding LED in the vehicle-mounted LED module.

[0129] S904: The driver chip is used to drive the vehicle-mounted LED module to display the corresponding grayscale.

[0130] The driver chip is a chip used for line scanning. In an optional embodiment, the number of driver chips is determined based on the brightness of the on-board LED module. Using a line scanning drive solution on an FPGA can reduce the number of LED driver chips while ensuring visual effects, increase the LED driving capability of the entire system, and significantly reduce the cost of the solution. Specifically, the number of lamp beads driven by an LED driver chip in a 2-line scanning solution is twice that of a solution without line scanning, and 4-line scanning is twice that of 2-line scanning, and so on. However, the disadvantage of line scanning is that it will reduce the brightness of the lamp beads accordingly, so increasing the number of line scans under the premise of appropriate lamp bead brightness can improve the driving capability of each LED driver chip.

[0131] In an optional embodiment, the method further includes: when the MCU module does not receive the image sent by the vehicle control platform, obtaining the video pre-stored in the external storage module, and sending the pre-stored video to the FPGA executor.

[0132] In an optional embodiment, the MCU module and the FPGA executor are located on the same PC board, and the distance between the MCU module and the FPGA executor is less than a distance threshold.

[0133] In this embodiment, by rationally configuring and reducing the coupling between the MCU and FPGA, high scalability can be achieved without modifying the FPGA's hardware or software. This allows for flexible switching of the LEDs, row scan count, and frame rate by simply changing the MCU configuration. For example, an initial configuration frame is added to the communication between the MCU and FPGA. This frame includes information such as the number of LEDs, row scan count, and refresh rate. Upon receiving this configuration frame, the FPGA automatically adjusts the driving mode based on this information.

[0134] In an optional embodiment, the method further includes: the FPGA executor receives an initial configuration frame sent by the MCU module, the initial configuration frame includes the number of line scans, the refresh frequency and the number of LED lights, and adjusts the driving mode of the driver chip based on the number of line scans, the refresh frequency and the number of LED lights.

[0135] In an optional embodiment, the MCU module and the FPGA executor are located on the same PC board, and the distance between the MCU module and the FPGA executor is less than a distance threshold.

[0136] In this embodiment, by rationally configuring and reducing the coupling between the MCU and FPGA, high scalability can be achieved without modifying the FPGA's hardware or software. This allows for flexible switching of the LEDs, row scan count, and frame rate by simply changing the MCU configuration. For example, an initial configuration frame is added to the communication between the MCU and FPGA. This frame includes information such as the number of LEDs, row scan count, and refresh rate. Upon receiving this configuration frame, the FPGA automatically adjusts the driving mode based on this information.

[0137] In an optional embodiment, the method further includes: the sleep module receiving a wake-up instruction from the vehicle control platform, and waking up the sleep MCU module based on the wake-up instruction.

[0138] The sleep command is implemented through an LDO. This embodiment uses a DC-DC board to provide a 4.5V constant-current power supply to the LED board, ensuring stable LED current. The LDO also implements the MCU's sleep and wake-up scheme, allowing the entire system to maintain minimal power consumption when not in operation, thus saving energy.

[0139] It should be understood that, although the steps in the flowcharts of the above embodiments are shown in sequence as indicated by the arrows, these steps are not necessarily performed in the order indicated by the arrows. Unless otherwise specified herein, there is no strict order restriction on the execution of these steps, and these steps can be performed in other orders. Moreover, at least a portion of the steps in the flowcharts of the above embodiments may include multiple steps or multiple stages, and these steps or stages are not necessarily performed at the same time, but can be performed at different times. The execution order of these steps or stages is not necessarily to be performed in sequence, but can be performed in turn or alternately with other steps or at least a portion of steps or stages in other steps.

[0140] In an exemplary embodiment, a computer device is provided, including a storage module and a processing module. The storage module stores computer-readable instructions, and the processing module implements the steps of the above-mentioned method embodiments when executing the computer-readable instructions.

[0141] In one embodiment, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, on which computer-readable instructions are stored. When the computer-readable instructions are executed by a processor, the steps in the above-mentioned method embodiments are implemented.

[0142] In one embodiment, a computer-readable instruction product is provided, comprising computer-readable instructions, which implement the steps in the above-mentioned method embodiments when executed by a processor.

[0143] Those skilled in the art will understand that all or part of the processes in the above-mentioned embodiment methods can be implemented by instructing related hardware through computer-readable instructions. The computer-readable instructions can be stored in a non-volatile computer-readable storage medium. When the computer-readable instructions are executed, they can include the processes of the embodiments of the above-mentioned methods. Any reference to memory, storage, database or other media used in the embodiments provided in this application may include non-volatile and / or volatile memory. Non-volatile memory may include read-only memory (ROM), programmable ROM (PROM), electrically programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM) or flash memory. Volatile memory may include random access memory (RAM) or external cache memory. By way of illustration and not limitation, RAM is available in many forms, such as static RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDRSDRAM), enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), Synchronous Link DRAM (SLDRAM), Rambus direct RAM (RDRAM), direct memory bus dynamic RAM (DRDRAM), and memory bus dynamic RAM (RDRAM), etc.

[0144] The technical features of the above embodiments can be combined arbitrarily. To make the description concise, not all possible combinations of the technical features in the above embodiments are described. However, as long as there is no contradiction in the combination of these technical features, they should be considered to be within the scope of this specification.

[0145] The above-described embodiments merely represent several implementation methods of the present application. While the descriptions are relatively specific and detailed, they should not be construed as limiting the scope of the present invention. It should be noted that a person skilled in the art could make various modifications and improvements without departing from the spirit of the present application, all of which fall within the scope of protection of the present application. Therefore, the scope of protection of the present patent application shall be determined by the appended claims.

Claims

1. A direct display driving system for driving a monochrome or RGB color direct display of a vehicle-mounted LED light under the control of a central computing platform, wherein: include: Zone controller and vehicle-mounted LED module; The regional controller includes one or more first MCU modules; The vehicle-mounted LED module includes a number of LED lamps and LED driver chips; The first MCU module is controlled by the central computing platform to generate a first data instruction; one or more of the first MCU modules are connected to the LED driver chip via a corresponding QSPI / OSPI protocol; the QSPI / OSPI protocol is used to send the first data instruction generated by the corresponding first MCU module to the LED driver chip; and The LED driver chip is used to control the grayscale of the corresponding LED lamp in the vehicle-mounted LED module according to the received first data instruction.

2. The direct display driving system according to claim 1, wherein: The first MCU module is connected to the LED driver chip via a first data line, and the first data line is used to transmit communication information of the QSPI / OSPI protocol, so that the first MCU module is connected to the LED driver chip via the QSPI / OSPI protocol.

3. The direct display driving system according to claim 2, wherein: Each of the first data lines includes 8 data lines.

4. The direct display driving system according to claim 3, wherein: The number of the first MCU modules is adapted to the number of the LED lamps in the vehicle-mounted LED module.

5. The direct display driving system according to claim 4, wherein: The vehicle-mounted LED module further includes: an LED line scanning chip; the one or more first MCU modules are connected to the LED line scanning chip via a corresponding SPI protocol; the first MCU module is controlled by the central computing platform to generate a second data instruction and a first storage address signal; the SPI protocol is used to send the second data instruction and the first storage address signal generated by the corresponding first MCU module to the LED line scanning chip; and The LED scanning chip is used to scan the corresponding LED lights in the vehicle-mounted LED module according to the received second data instruction and the first storage address signal, so as to light up or turn off the corresponding LED lights.

6. The direct display driving system according to claim 5, wherein: The regional controller further includes: an MCU driver chip; the MCU driver chip is used to receive the first control instruction sent by the central computing platform, and drive the corresponding first MCU module to generate the first data instruction according to the received first control instruction; and The MCU driver chip is used to receive the second control instruction sent by the central computing platform, and according to the received second control instruction, drive the corresponding first MCU module to generate the second data instruction and the first storage address information.

7. The direct display driving system according to claim 6, wherein: Also includes: DC-DC modules; The DC-DC module is connected to a plurality of the LED lamps, and is used to provide a constant voltage and current to the LED lamps.

8. A direct display driving device, wherein: Comprising the direct display drive system according to any one of claims 1-7.

9. A car, wherein Including the direct display driving device according to claim 8.

10. A display system, wherein: The display system comprises: A regional controller, the regional controller comprising at least one MCU module, the MCU module being controlled by an onboard control platform; An FPGA executor, wherein the input of the FPGA executor is connected to the output of the MCU module via a corresponding QSPI / OSPI protocol, wherein the QSPI / OSPI protocol is used for the MCU module to send an image or video to the FPGA executor; at least one driver chip, wherein the input of the driver chip is connected to the output of the FPGA executor via an I / O port; the driver chip is used to receive a scanning drive instruction from the FPGA executor; and The vehicle-mounted LED module is respectively connected to at least one of the driver chips, and the vehicle-mounted LED module is controlled by the driver chip to display a corresponding grayscale.

11. The display system according to claim 10, wherein: The system further comprises: an external storage module, the external storage module being connected to the MCU module and being used to pre-store videos; and The MCU module is used to obtain the video pre-stored in the external storage module and send the pre-stored video to the FPGA executor when the image sent by the vehicle control platform is not received.

12. The display system according to claim 10, wherein: The system further comprises: a sleep module, one end of which is connected to the regional controller; a power supply module, the power supply module being connected to the other end of the sleep module and the vehicle-mounted LED module, respectively, for supplying power to the zone controller and the vehicle-mounted LED module; and The sleep module is controlled by the vehicle control platform to wake up the MCU module in sleep.

13. The display system according to any one of claims 10 to 12, wherein: The number of the driver chips is determined based on the brightness of the vehicle-mounted LED module.

14. The display system according to any one of claims 10 to 12, wherein: The MCU module and the FPGA executor are located on the same PC board, and the distance between the MCU module and the FPGA executor is less than a distance threshold.

15. A display method, wherein: The display system according to any one of claims 10 to 14, wherein the method comprises: The FPGA executor receives the image or video from the MCU module through the QSPI / OSPI protocol, generates the line scan drive instruction based on the image or video, and sends the line scan drive instruction to the corresponding driver chip through the I / O port; and The driver chip is used to drive the vehicle-mounted LED module to display the corresponding grayscale.

16. The method according to claim 15, wherein The method further comprises: When the MCU module does not receive the image sent by the vehicle control platform, it obtains the video pre-stored in the external storage module and sends the pre-stored video to the FPGA executor.

17. The method according to claim 15, wherein: The method further comprises: The number of the driver chips is determined based on the brightness of the vehicle-mounted LED module.

18. The method according to claim 15, wherein The method further comprises: The FPGA executor receives an initial configuration frame sent by the MCU module, wherein the initial configuration frame includes the number of line scans, the refresh frequency, and the number of LED lights, and adjusts the driving mode of the driver chip based on the number of line scans, the refresh frequency, and the number of LED lights.

19. The method according to claim 15, wherein The method further comprises: The dormant module receives a wake-up instruction from the vehicle control platform and wakes up the dormant MCU module based on the wake-up instruction.

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