Vehicle Digital Instrument Display Memory Optimization
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional digital instrument display systems for vehicles face memory shortages when displaying languages with many characters, such as Chinese and Korean, due to increased font table size and internal memory usage, leading to longer search times and inefficiencies in redisplaying screens.
Innovation Solution
Generating and storing bitmap font images and font tables in external storage memory, rather than internal MCU memory, to minimize memory usage and optimize search times, allowing for efficient display of characters regardless of the number of characters in a language.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If bitmap font images and font tables are stored in internal MCU memory, then character display capability is improved, but internal memory usage increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent moves font data from internal memory (one dimension) to external storage memory (another dimension), separating the storage medium from the processing unit. This dimensional shift allows the system to access large font tables without consuming internal MCU memory, resolving the contradiction between display capability and memory usage.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts font data (bitmap font images and font tables) from the internal memory system and places it in external storage memory. This extraction removes the burden of storing large character sets from the limited internal memory, allowing the system to support languages with over 20,000 characters while maintaining efficient internal memory usage.
2Adaptability or versatility
If font table size increases to support languages with many characters, then character coverage is improved, but search time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary organization of font data by pre-generating bitmap font images and creating optimized font tables in external storage memory before runtime. This preliminary action structures the data in a way that enables efficient searching, allowing the system to handle large character sets without proportionally increasing search time.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates optimized copies of font data in external storage memory with pre-calculated positioning and sizing information. Instead of searching through raw character data, the system uses these pre-prepared copies that contain ready-to-use display parameters, significantly reducing search time while maintaining comprehensive character coverage.
3Speed
If font data is stored in internal memory, then access speed is improved, but memory capacity is exceeded
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces external storage memory as an intermediary between the MCU and the font data. This intermediary layer provides a buffer that holds large font tables without consuming internal memory resources. The system accesses this intermediary storage through controlled data transfer, maintaining efficient access patterns while overcoming internal memory capacity limitations.
Data Source
AI summary
A digital instrument display method includes generating bitmap font image and font table for font; running application module; running graphic engine module; running content module; transmitting, by sensor unit attached to vehicle, the generated signals to application module; analyzing, by application module, information received, and generating external event data; reading, by content module, external event data stored in internal memory for each frame and determining whether data are character string output; if data are character string output, transmitting, by content module, corresponding character string information to graphic engine module; acquiring, by graphic engine module, position and size information of bitmap font image that matches character string in bitmap font table; and copying, by control unit, position and size information of bitmap font image that matches character string acquired and displaying character string through instrument display unit using graphic engine module and graphic library.