Configurable Microcontroller I/O Interface for Industrial Applications
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing microcontrollers fail to efficiently meet the diverse peripheral needs of industrial applications, leading to increased costs due to the requirement of either using multiple specialized microcontrollers or supersets, which do not perfectly match customer requirements, and lack direct control over real-time processing, impacting determinism and efficiency.
Innovation Solution
A configurable microcontroller with a universal input/output interface and peripheral DMA engine, allowing for flexible configuration of peripherals and minimal intervention during data transfer, supporting various communication protocols and protocols across multiple platforms, and providing deterministic context switching and interrupt handling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a superset microcontroller is used to meet all requirements, then all application requirements are satisfied, but the cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The microcontroller employs dynamic configuration of I/O interfaces, where the same physical pins can be reconfigured to support different communication protocols (UART, SPI, I2C, CAN, etc.) through software control. This dynamic adaptability allows a single microcontroller to replace multiple specialized microcontrollers, reducing cost while maintaining versatility across different industrial applications.
2Device complexity
If multiple specialized microcontrollers are used to match specific requirements, then cost is reduced, but device complexity and inventory management become problematic
Solution Approach 1:
The microcontroller implements universal I/O interfaces that can be configured to support multiple communication protocols and peripheral functions through software programming. The configurable I/O system allows the same hardware resources to serve multiple purposes, enabling a single microcontroller model to replace what would traditionally require multiple specialized microcontrollers, thereby simplifying inventory management while maintaining broad adaptability.
3Ease of operation
If RTOS is used to manage multi-threaded processing, then software maintenance is improved, but real-time determinism is impacted
Solution Approach 1:
The microcontroller architecture segments processing into two distinct domains: a real-time execution core that handles time-critical operations with deterministic timing, and a separate configuration/management layer that handles software control and I/O configuration. This segmentation allows the real-time core to maintain precise timing control while the configuration layer provides ease of operation and maintainability through structured software interfaces.
Data Source
AI summary
A configurable application specific product with a configurable input/output interface is described. The illustrative embodiment of the invention includes a single microcontroller and a microprocessor having a configurable I/O interface that can be programmed to handle any one of a plurality of interfaces that embedded applications might have, including communication protocols and bus interfaces, data acquisition from multiple sensors and actuators, and controls of various motors.