Hardware Block Transfer for Synchronized Register Parameter Updates
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Solution Overview
Problem
Firmware in active devices, such as implantable medical devices, faces significant overhead and synchronization challenges when changing operating parameters in registers, leading to inefficiencies in controlling components like stimulation engines.
Innovation Solution
A block moving hardware-based controller is introduced to receive triggers and move blocks of operating parameter data from memory to registers, relieving firmware from this task and maintaining synchronization with component operations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If firmware is used to change operating parameters in registers, then device functionality is maintained, but firmware overhead increases and synchronization becomes complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the parameter transfer function from firmware and implements it in dedicated hardware (block moving hardware). This hardware component independently handles the transfer of parameter blocks from memory to registers, removing this burden from the firmware and reducing its overhead while maintaining reliable device operation.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces block moving hardware as an intermediary component between memory and registers. This intermediary automatically transfers parameter blocks when triggered, eliminating the need for firmware to manually manage each parameter change and simplifying the synchronization process.
2Manufacturing precision
If firmware synchronizes parameter changes with component operation, then correct timing is achieved, but firmware becomes overburdened
Solution Approach 1:
The block moving hardware is self-sufficient and autonomously handles parameter transfers when triggered. It independently reads blocks from memory, determines their size and destination, and writes them to the appropriate registers without requiring firmware intervention, thus maintaining precise timing while preserving firmware capacity for other tasks.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent replaces the software-based (firmware) parameter management mechanism with a hardware-based automatic transfer mechanism. This substitution eliminates the computational overhead of firmware synchronization while maintaining precise timing control through hardware-triggered operations.
3Adaptability or versatility
If manual firmware parameter management is used, then flexibility is maintained, but processing efficiency decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments parameters into organized blocks within memory, each with associated metadata (size, destination register address). This segmentation allows the hardware to efficiently process groups of parameters together while maintaining the flexibility to update individual parameters or blocks as needed, improving overall processing efficiency without sacrificing adaptability.
Data Source
AI summary
A hardware based block moving controller of an active device such as an implantable medical device that provides electrical stimulation reads a parameter data from a block of memory and then writes the parameter data to a designated register set of a component that performs an active function. The block of memory may include data that specifies a size of the block of memory to be moved to the register set. The block of memory may also include data that indicates a number of triggers to skip before moving a next block of memory to the register set. A trigger that causes the block moving controller to move the data from the block of memory to the register set may be generated in various ways such as through operation of the component having the register set or by a separate timer.