CN108052341B

CN108052341B - Software upgrading method and system and active DP cable

Info

Publication number: CN108052341B
Application number: CN201810029291.5A
Authority: CN
Inventors: 陶成; 徐希; 陈余; 蒋兵峰
Original assignee: Lontium Semiconductor Corp
Current assignee: Lontium Semiconductor Corp
Priority date: 2018-01-12
Filing date: 2018-01-12
Publication date: 2023-12-05
Anticipated expiration: 2038-01-12
Also published as: CN108052341A

Abstract

The application provides a software upgrading method, a system and an active DP cable. The wire finished product is not required to be damaged and the Re-driver chip is stripped from the wire finished product like the prior art, so that the usability of the wire finished product is ensured, and the production cost is reduced.

Description

Software upgrading method and system and active DP cable

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of communications, and in particular, to a method and system for upgrading software and an active DP cable.

Background

In order to avoid attenuation of the input signal due to transmission medium loss during transmission of the signal, active DP Cable (Active DP Cable) is now often used to transmit the signal. The signal transponder Re-driver chip is embedded in the active DP cable, and the Re-driver chip can carry out frequency characteristic compensation on the input signal attenuated due to transmission medium loss and then send the input signal out, so that the anti-interference capability and the long-distance transmission capability of the signal are enhanced.

When the signal repeater is installed into the active DP cable as part of the finished wire, and when the firmware in the signal repeater needs to be upgraded, the finished wire needs to be destroyed and the signal repeater is stripped from the finished wire, and then the signal repeater is upgraded by using the upgrade jig. The firmware refers to a program written into an EROM (erasable read only memory) or an EEPROM (electrically erasable programmable read only memory).

The upgrade method needs to destroy the wire finished product and peel the signal transponder from the wire finished product, so that the original wire finished product can not be used any more, and the production cost is increased.

Disclosure of Invention

In view of the above, the present application provides a software upgrading method, system and active DP cable, so as to solve the problems that when the signal transponder in the active DP cable needs to be upgraded, the wire finished product needs to be destroyed and the signal transponder is stripped from the wire finished product, so that the original wire finished product cannot be reused, and the production cost is increased.

In order to solve the technical problems, the application adopts the following technical scheme:

a software upgrading method is applied to an active DP cable, and comprises the following steps:

when the switch group receives a closing instruction sent by the upgrading equipment, the switch group is closed;

the data transmission port group receives the upgrade software sent by the upgrade equipment and sends the upgrade software to the signal repeater;

and the signal transponder updates the original software of the signal transponder according to the upgrading software.

Preferably, the switch group includes a first switch and a second switch;

correspondingly, when the switch group receives a closing instruction, the switch group is closed, and the method comprises the following steps:

when the switch group receives the closing instruction, the first switch and the second switch are closed.

Preferably, the data transmission port group includes a serial data transmission port and a serial clock transmission port;

correspondingly, the data transmission port group receives the upgrade software sent by the upgrade device and sends the upgrade software to the signal repeater, and the data transmission port group comprises:

the serial clock transmission port is used for transmitting serial clock data;

the serial data transmission port is used for receiving the upgrade software sent by the upgrade device according to the serial clock data transmitted by the serial clock transmission port, and sending the upgrade software to the signal repeater through the serial clock data transmitted by the serial clock transmission port and the closed first switch.

An active DP cable comprising:

a data transmission port group, a switch group and a signal repeater; the data transmission port group is connected with the signal transponder through the switch group;

the switch group is used for being closed when receiving a closing instruction sent by the upgrading equipment;

the data transmission port group is used for receiving the upgrade software sent by the upgrade equipment and sending the upgrade software to the signal repeater;

the signal transponder is used for updating the original software of the signal transponder according to the upgrading software.

Preferably, the switch group includes a first switch and a second switch;

correspondingly, the switch group is used for being closed when receiving a closing instruction sent by the upgrading equipment, and is specifically used for:

when the closing instruction is received, the first switch and the second switch are closed.

correspondingly, the data transmission port group is configured to receive the upgrade software sent by the upgrade device, and when sending the upgrade software to the signal repeater, specifically configured to:

the serial clock transmission port transmits serial clock data;

the serial data transmission port receives the upgrade software sent by the upgrade device according to the serial clock data transmitted by the serial clock transmission port, the serial clock data transmitted by the serial clock transmission port and the closed first switch to send the upgrade software to the signal repeater.

A software upgrade system includes an upgrade apparatus and an active DP cable;

the active DP cable comprises a data transmission port group, a switch group and a signal repeater; the data transmission port group is connected with the signal transponder through the switch group;

the upgrading equipment is used for sending a closing instruction and upgrading software to the active DP cable;

Preferably, the switch group includes a first switch and a second switch;

the serial clock transmission port transmits serial clock data;

Compared with the prior art, the application has the following beneficial effects:

Drawings

In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present application or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings that are required to be used in the embodiments or the description of the prior art will be briefly described below, and it is obvious that the drawings in the following description are only embodiments of the present application, and that other drawings can be obtained according to the provided drawings without inventive effort for a person skilled in the art.

Fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a passive DP cable according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 2 is a schematic structural diagram of an active DP cable according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a software upgrade system according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a method for upgrading software according to an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 5 is a schematic structural diagram of another software upgrading system according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

The following description of the embodiments of the present application will be made clearly and completely with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which it is apparent that the embodiments described are only some embodiments of the present application, but not all embodiments. All other embodiments, which can be made by those skilled in the art based on the embodiments of the application without making any inventive effort, are intended to be within the scope of the application.

The embodiment of the application provides a software upgrading method applied to an active DP cable, and in order to enable a person skilled in the art to know the DP cable more clearly, the DP cable is described with reference to FIG. 1.

The passive DP cable does not need to install a signal repeater and the active DP cable needs to install a signal repeater. Compared with the active DP cable, the passive DP cable has a simple structure, and the passive DP cable is introduced first, and the active DP cable only needs to be added with a signal transponder.

In fig. 1, 21A is a connector of DP SRC 101, and 21B is a connector of DP SNK102. The DP SRC 101 is a DP signal source, such as a personal computer PC, and the DP SNK102 is a DP signal receiving device, such as a television, a display, or the like. The Passive DP Cable is a Passive DP Cable, and there is no electronic chip in the Passive DP Cable.

01 is a standard DP cable connecting DP SRC 101 and DP SNK102, and 11A and 11B are plugs of DP SRC 101 and DP SNK102, respectively. Wherein, the 1 and 3 ports in the plug 11A and the 12 and 10 ports in the plug 11B are respectively connected and used as a main link channel 0 (ML 0); the 4, 6 ports in the plug 11A and the 9, 7 ports in the 11B are connected, respectively, as the main link channel 1 (ML 1).

The 7 and 9 ports in the plug 11A and the 6 and 4 ports in the plug 11B are connected, respectively, as the main link channel 2 (ML 2).

The 10, 12 ports in plug 11A and the 3, 1 ports in plug 11B are connected as the main link channel 3 (ML 3).

The ML 0-ML 3 channels are used to connect the connector 21A and the connector 21B, and transfer high-speed DP video data from the DP SRC 101 to the DP SNK102.

The 2, 5, 8, 11 ports in the plug 11A are connected to the 11, 8, 5, 2 ports in the plug 11B as the ground GND of the cable, and to the corresponding GND on the connectors at both ends.

The 15/17 port is an auxiliary channel (AUX) differential pair signal, which is used for controlling and managing the DP link, and comprises the steps of reading the configuration information of the DP SNK102 and the performance parameters and the receiving capacity thereof, determining a proper channel number and channel transmission rate according to the configuration information, and simultaneously retransmitting the information to the DP SNK 101; the HPD port is a hot plug signal.

The RTN ports are ML 0-ML 3 shielded wires, which are commonly used as signal return paths in standard applications to GND on both systems.

The PWR port is a 3.3V power supply for supplying power to electronic components possibly existing in the active DP cable, the PWR does not penetrate through the DP cable, namely, the PWR in plugs at two ends of the DP cable are only connected with PWR on connectors connected respectively, and the PWR is disconnected in the cable.

CFG1, CFG2 ports are typically suspended or grounded and can be used as spare lines for transmitting special signals.

The connection relationship of the ports in fig. 1 may be connected with reference to the connection relationship of the connection lines in fig. 1.

Having described the structure of the passive DP cable, the structure of the active DP cable will now be described with reference to fig. 2.

Referring to fig. 2, a signal repeater 103 is added to the passive DP cable of fig. 2.

The electronic chip signal repeater Re-driver can be embedded in any position in the active DP cable.

The application can use upgrade equipment, which can also be called upgrade jig.

Referring to fig. 3, the placement of the upgrade apparatus is shown in fig. 3. In fig. 3, after the upgrade software stored in the computer 106 is downloaded to the upgrade apparatus 104 through the USB cable 105, it is updated into the signal repeater chip of the active DP cable 02 through the DP interface.

Having described the active DP cable and signal repeater, a software upgrade method of the present application will now be described.

Referring to fig. 4, a software upgrade method is shown in fig. 4, and applied to an active DP cable, may include:

s11, when the switch group receives a closing instruction sent by the upgrading equipment, the switch group is closed;

wherein, active DP cable includes: a data transmission port group, a switch group and a signal repeater. The data transmission port group is connected with the signal transponder through the switch group.

The upgrade apparatus is used in the present application, and the structure of the upgrade apparatus and the connection relationship with the active DP cable will now be explained.

Referring to fig. 4, the connection relationship and the internal structure of the upgrade apparatus 2 and the active DP cable 2 are described in fig. 4.

In the active DP cable 2, three signals of RTN, CFG1, CFG2 in the DP plugs on two sides are first connected on a circuit board where the signal generator Re-driver 103 is located. Next, the I2C signals SDA and SCL of the Re-driver chip are connected to CFG1 and CFG2 through the first switch 12A and the second switch 12B, respectively. Finally, RTN is connected to the control signals of switches 12A and 12B.

In the upgrading device 3, RTN, CFG1 and CFG2 are respectively pulled up to a 3.3V power supply of the jig through pull-up resistors R1, R2 and R3, and the 3.3V power supply is also connected to the PWR of the connector 22A at the same time to supply power for Re-driver in the active DP cable; the upgrade apparatus 3 is provided with an electronic control unit MCU301 for storing program codes to be upgraded, i.e., upgrade software, and the I2C signals SDA and SCL of the MCU301 are connected to the CFG1 and CFG2 of the connector 22A, respectively, so that a hardware scheme of the upgrade apparatus is completed.

Note that, RTN, CFG1, and CFG2 in 22A, 12A, and 12B are sequentially connected correspondingly.

Optionally, on the basis of this embodiment, the switch group includes a first switch 12A and a second switch 12B;

when the switch group receives the close instruction, the first switch 12A and the second switch are closed 12B.

Specifically, in the standard DP signal transmission system, two ends of the active DP cable 2 are respectively connected to the DP SRC and the DP SNK, because the RTN is connected to GND of the system in the DP SRC and the DP SNK (see fig. 1) and the level is 0, the first switch 12A and the second switch 12B are opened, so that signals on the CFG1 and the CFG2 are not interfered and affected by the I2C signals SDA and SCL of the Re-driver chip, and meanwhile, any possible signal transmission on the CFG1 and the CFG2 also cannot affect the SDA and SCL, which causes the I2C control module inside the Re-driver to be also called false triggering of the upgrade module.

When the Re-driver chip in the active DP cable needs to be program-upgraded, plugs at any end of the active cables 12A and 12B are inserted into the program upgrading device 3, and because the RTN is pulled up to 3.3V high level inside the upgrading device 3, the first switch 12A and the second switch 12B in the active DP cable are opened, and the first switch 12A and the second switch 12B are closed.

S12, the data transmission port group receives upgrade software sent by the upgrade equipment and sends the upgrade software to the signal repeater;

specifically, the I2C signal of the Re-driver chip is connected with the I2C signal of the MCU on the upgrading device 3, so that the program upgrading operation can be performed through the MCU on the upgrading device.

And S13, the signal transponder updates the original software of the signal transponder according to the upgrade software.

Wherein, the original software is updated to the upgrade software.

In this embodiment, the signal transponder in the active DP cable may obtain the upgrade software through the data transmission port group and the switch group, so as to update the software. The wire finished product is not required to be damaged and the Re-driver chip is stripped from the wire finished product like the prior art, so that the usability of the wire finished product is ensured, and the production cost is reduced.

In addition, the signal transponder can be guaranteed to receive ADO upgrade software and update without damaging a wire finished product, and the used upgrade equipment is simple in structure, low in cost and convenient to operate, and can obviously reduce the test, debugging and production cost of wire manufacturers.

Optionally, on the basis of the embodiment corresponding to the "the switch group includes a first switch and a second switch", the data transmission port group includes a serial data transmission port and a serial clock transmission port;

the serial clock transmission port is used for transmitting serial clock data;

The application adopts an I2C bus transmission mode for transmission, the I2C bus is required to be composed of two signal wires, one is a serial data wire for transmitting upgrade software, and the other is a serial clock wire for transmitting clock signals.

The upgrade software is gradually transmitted to the signal transponder along with the rising edge of the clock signal, and after the upgrade software reaches the signal transponder, the upgrade software is gradually analyzed along with the serial clock, so that the upgrade software can be used for updating.

Optionally, on the basis of the foregoing embodiment of a software upgrading method, another embodiment of the present application provides an active DP cable, referring to fig. 4, including:

Further, the switch group comprises a first switch and a second switch;

It should be noted that, in the working process of each device in this embodiment, please refer to the corresponding description in the above embodiment, and no further description is given here.

the serial clock transmission port transmits serial clock data;

In the embodiment, the signal transponder can be guaranteed to receive ADO upgrade software and update without damaging a wire finished product, the used upgrade equipment is simple in structure, low in cost and convenient to operate, and the test, debugging and production cost of a wire manufacturer can be obviously reduced.

Optionally, based on the embodiments of the software upgrading method and the active DP cable, another embodiment of the present application provides a software upgrading system, referring to fig. 3 and fig. 5, including an upgrading device and the active DP cable;

Further, the switch group comprises a first switch and a second switch;

Further, the data transmission port group comprises a serial data transmission port and a serial clock transmission port;

the serial clock transmission port transmits serial clock data;

It should also be noted that the terms "comprises," "comprising," or any other variation thereof, are intended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements does not include only those elements but may include other elements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method, article, or apparatus. Without further limitation, an element defined by the phrase "comprising one … …" does not exclude the presence of other like elements in a process, method, article or apparatus that comprises an element.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that embodiments of the present application may be provided as a method, system, or computer program product. Accordingly, the present application may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, the present application may take the form of a computer program product embodied on one or more computer-usable storage media (including, but not limited to, disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, and the like) having computer-usable program code embodied therein.

The present application is described with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus (systems) and computer program products according to embodiments of the application. It will be understood that each flow and/or block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of flows and/or blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, embedded processor, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions specified in the flowchart flow or flows and/or block diagram block or blocks.

The previous description of the disclosed embodiments is provided to enable any person skilled in the art to make or use the present application. Various modifications to these embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied to other embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the application. Thus, the present application is not intended to be limited to the embodiments shown herein but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the principles and novel features disclosed herein.

Claims

1. The software upgrading method is characterized by being applied to an active DP cable, wherein three signals of RTN, CFG1 and CFG2 of a data transmission port group are connected on a circuit board where a signal transponder is located in the active DP cable; the I2C signal of the signal repeater is respectively connected to the CFG1 and the CFG2 after passing through the first switch and the second switch; RTN is connected to control signals of the first switch and the second switch; the switch group comprises the first switch and the second switch;

in the upgrading equipment, RTN, CFG1 and CFG2 are respectively pulled up to a 3.3V power supply of the upgrading equipment through pull-up resistors, and the 3.3V power supply is also connected to a connector at the same time to supply power for the signal transponder in the active DP cable; the upgrade equipment is provided with an electronic control unit for storing upgrade software, I2C signals of the electronic control unit are respectively connected to CFG1 and CFG2 of the connector, and RTN, CFG1 and CFG2 in the connector and the data transmission port group are sequentially and correspondingly connected;

the software upgrading method comprises the following steps:

2. The software upgrade method according to claim 1, wherein the switch group comprises a first switch and a second switch;

3. The software upgrade method according to claim 2, wherein the data transmission port group includes a serial data transmission port and a serial clock transmission port;

the serial clock transmission port is used for transmitting serial clock data;

4. An active DP cable, comprising:

a data transmission port group, a switch group and a signal repeater; the data transmission port group is connected with the signal transponder through the switch group; in the active DP cable, three signals of RTN, CFG1 and CFG2 of a data transmission port group are connected on a circuit board where a signal transponder is positioned; the I2C signal of the signal repeater is respectively connected to the CFG1 and the CFG2 after passing through the first switch and the second switch; RTN is connected to control signals of the first switch and the second switch; the switch group comprises the first switch and the second switch;

5. The active DP cable of claim 4, wherein the switch set comprises a first switch and a second switch;

6. The active DP cable of claim 5, wherein the set of data transmission ports comprises a serial data transmission port and a serial clock transmission port;

the serial clock transmission port transmits serial clock data;

7. A software upgrade system, comprising an upgrade apparatus and an active DP cable;

the active DP cable comprises a data transmission port group, a switch group and a signal repeater; the data transmission port group is connected with the signal transponder through the switch group; in the active DP cable, three signals of RTN, CFG1 and CFG2 of a data transmission port group are connected on a circuit board where a signal transponder is positioned; the I2C signal of the signal repeater is respectively connected to the CFG1 and the CFG2 after passing through the first switch and the second switch; RTN is connected to control signals of the first switch and the second switch; the switch group comprises the first switch and the second switch;

8. The software upgrade system of claim 7, wherein the switch set comprises a first switch and a second switch;

9. The software upgrade system of claim 8, wherein the set of data transmission ports comprises a serial data transmission port and a serial clock transmission port;

the serial clock transmission port transmits serial clock data;