Hierarchical Firmware Update via Controller Segmentation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing firmware update methods in electronic devices with multiple controllers are inefficient, as they require the highest-level controller to individually update lower-level controllers, leading to prolonged update times and increased communication burden with the host.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a diffusion-based firmware update method where upper-level controllers update both same-level and lower-level controllers, and a broadcasting-based method where firmware is written to multiple controllers simultaneously, reducing update time and host communication.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the highest-level controller individually updates each lower-level controller, then the firmware can be updated reliably, but the update time is prolonged and the communication burden with the host increases
Solution Approach 1:
The controller hierarchy is segmented into multiple levels (first-level, second-level, third-level controllers), where each level is responsible for updating firmware to the next lower level. This segmentation distributes the update task across multiple controllers simultaneously, reducing the total update time while maintaining reliability through the structured verification process at each level.
Solution Approach 2:
The highest-level controller first updates the firmware to the second-level controllers before those controllers update the third-level controllers. This preliminary action at upper levels enables parallel propagation of firmware updates down the hierarchy, significantly reducing overall update time compared to sequential individual updates.
2Reliability
If the highest-level controller individually updates each lower-level controller, then the firmware can be updated reliably, but the communication burden with the host increases
Solution Approach 1:
The communication burden is segmented across multiple controllers in the hierarchy. Instead of the highest-level controller communicating with every lower-level controller individually, each controller communicates primarily with its immediate subordinates, distributing the communication load and reducing the burden on the host and highest-level controller.
Solution Approach 2:
Intermediate-level controllers act as mediators between the highest-level controller and lower-level controllers. The second-level controllers receive firmware from the first-level controller and then propagate it to third-level controllers, reducing direct communication requirements between higher and lower levels and simplifying the overall communication architecture.
3Ease of operation
If firmware is updated sequentially to each controller, then the update process is simple to manage, but the overall update efficiency is low
Solution Approach 1:
The firmware update process is segmented into hierarchical levels where each level independently manages updates to its subordinates. This segmentation enables parallel execution of update operations at different levels simultaneously, dramatically improving update efficiency while maintaining manageable complexity through the structured hierarchical approach.
Solution Approach 2:
The update process dynamically propagates firmware down the controller hierarchy. Once the highest-level controller updates the second-level controllers, those controllers automatically initiate updates to third-level controllers, creating a dynamic wave of updates that progresses through the system without requiring centralized coordination at each step, thus improving efficiency while maintaining simplicity.
Data Source
AI summary
An operating method of an electronic device including controllers includes updating, by a first-level controller of the controllers, a first-level firmware of the the first-level controller, writing, by the first-level controller, a second-level firmware to one of second-level controllers of the controllers having a lower level than the first-level controller, booting, by the one of the second-level controllers, by performing a reset operation, verifying, by the first-level controller or the booted second-level controller, whether there is a target second-level controller with out-of-date firmware, and writing, by the first-level controller or the booted second-level controller in response to a result of the verifying, the second-level firmware to the target second-level controller.