KR100722233B1 - Method and Apparatus for Linking Separate Execution Files for Embedded System - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for linking an executable file separated in an embedded system. In the method for linking an executable file, a controller in the form of an application download program receives link information from a memory in which a system program is loaded, and executes the application program. Change to a program linked with the system program and code it in a format to be downloaded to a ROM.

Executable, application, launcher, link, download

Description

Method and Apparatus for Linking Separate Executable Files for Embedded Systems {Method and Apparatus for Linking Separate Execution Files for Embedded System}

1 is a diagram illustrating a process of downloading an application program and a system program to a main memory for execution in a general computer system.

2 is a diagram illustrating a memory of a general embedded system.

3 is a diagram illustrating an executable file linking apparatus of an embedded system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of an executable file linking apparatus of FIG. 3.

5 is a diagram for explaining a process of linking a part of an application program referring to a system program.

6 is a diagram for describing a process of linking a part of a system program referring to an application program.

<Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

310: application

320: embedded system memory

330: controller

The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for downloading an executable file to a memory in an embedded system, and more particularly, to an executable file link of an embedded system that can be downloaded into a memory by separating the executable file into a system program and an application program. An apparatus and method are provided.

FIG. 1 is a diagram for describing a process of downloading an application program 110 and a system program 130 to main memory for execution in a general computer system 100. In a typical computer such as a personal computer (PC) or a supercomputer, a corresponding target program may be stored in a main memory in the form of a random access memory (RAM) in which the system program 130 is loaded to execute the application program 110. 120). The target program 120 downloaded to the main memory is changed into a new file dynamically linked with the system program 140 by predetermined linkers in the system program 130. The symbol table 130 is used to link the target program 120 of the application program 110 and the system program 140. In the symbol table 130, address information of symbols of the system program 140 to which the application program 110 refers is recorded.

The dynamic link is possible in the general computer system 100 because the application program 110 and the system program 140 operate with independent independence from each other. For example, when the application program 110 operates with reference to the system program 140, the system program 140 may be read by executing a subroutine type system file as shown in call (a). ) Returns the result to the application 110. In addition, even when the system program 140 operates with reference to the application program 110, the system program 140 reads and executes a file of the application program and returns the result to the application program 110.

In such a general computer system 100, in order for the application program 110 and the system program 140 to operate independently of each other, code that is unnecessaryly duplicated in the file structure of the application program 110 or the system program 140 There is a problem with them.

On the other hand, in a small embedded system such as a mobile phone, a digital camera, a robot, etc., the application program 210 and the system program 220 downloaded to the memory 200 in the form of a ROM (Read Only Memory) as shown in FIG. It acts as an executable program that makes complex references to each other and has no independence. Therefore, in the conventional embedded system, although the application program 210 and the system program 220 are relatively simpler than the file structure of the general computer system 100 described with reference to FIG. 1, the application program 210 and the system program 220 are downloaded to the memory 200 in the ROM form. For one executable program to be compiled, compiling, assembling, debugging, and linking operations must all be performed to be downloaded to the memory 200 as a final executable file.

However, the executable used in embedded systems can be quite large. In this case, there is a problem that burdens the developer who cycles through the compilation, assembling, debugging, and linking operations for one large executable file. In addition, because of the characteristics of the ROM that can be written only once, the dynamic link method described in FIG. 1 is separated into an application program 210 and a system program 220 that refer to executable files used in an embedded system in a complicated way. There is a problem that can not be downloaded. Thus, a new alternative is needed to link the functions or variables that are referenced to each other in the download of the executable file to the ROM.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a method of separating an executable file for operating an embedded system into an application program and a system program and linking each other at the time of download.

 Another object of the present invention is to provide a link device for downloading an executable file to be loaded into a main memory in a ROM form in an embedded system into an application program and a system program.

In order to achieve the above object of the present invention, a method of linking an executable file for an embedded system according to the present invention includes: downloading a system program to a memory; Receiving link information from the memory; Changing an application program to a program linked with the system program using the link information; And downloading the application program linked with the system program to the memory.

The memory is in ROM form, and the link information includes a start address on the memory to which the application program is to be downloaded and symbol addresses for symbols in the application program.

The method of linking an executable file for the embedded system includes: storing the start address and the symbol addresses in the memory when the system program is downloaded to the memory; Encoding symbols according to the symbol addresses for symbols that refer to the system program in the application program; And encoding the symbols referring to the application program in the system program according to the symbol addresses.

The memory may include a first memory and a second memory, and the system program may be downloaded to the first memory, and the application program may be downloaded to the second memory.

Link device of the executable file for the embedded system according to the present invention for achieving another object of the present invention as described above, the memory; And a controller that separates an executable file into an application program and a system program, and downloads it to the memory, wherein the controller links the application program with the system program according to link information received from the memory in which the system program is loaded first. And change the downloaded program to download the changed application program to the memory.

Hereinafter, preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings and the contents described in the accompanying drawings, but the present invention is not limited or limited to the embodiments. Like reference numerals in the drawings denote like elements.

3 is a diagram illustrating an executable file linking apparatus 300 of an embedded system according to an exemplary embodiment. Referring to FIG. 3, the executable file linking apparatus 300 includes a memory 320 and a controller 330.

The executable file linking apparatus 300 divides a predetermined executable file into an application program 310 and a system program 323 and downloads the predetermined executable file to the memory 320. The memory 320 in the form of a ROM, such as an EPROM or an EEPROM, operates in the form of firmware or the like according to an executable file in an embedded system such as a mobile phone, a digital camera, or a robot, and is responsible for overall control of the embedded system. Can be. In addition, various systems linked with surveillance cameras, financial systems such as automated teller machines, remote control systems, automated production systems, intelligent transportation systems, printers, scanners, fax machines, copiers, and all-in-one machines The ROM type memory 320 may be used to control the operation of the embedded system in the industry such as a DNA analyzer and a game machine.

In the ROM type memory 320, as in a general computer, an executable file cannot be downloaded by a dynamic link method, but in the present invention, the executable file can be downloaded separately from the application program 310 and the system program 323. We propose a way to link symbols such as functions or variables that are mutually referenced. In order to download one large executable file into the memory 320, a developer does not have to cycle and compile, assemble, and debug the entire file at once. Since the small files separated by the system program 323 can be performed before each download, the overhead for development is reduced.

To this end, the executable file linking apparatus 300 downloads the executable file separated into the application program 310 and the system program 323 by using the controller 330 to the memory 320. The controller 330 may be software in the form of an application download program, or may be a schedule control device supported by the application download program. The controller 330 may be mounted on a computer. Alternatively, the controller 330 may be mounted in a predetermined microprocessor of an emulator supported by a computer.

When the controller 330 receives a schedule download request, the controller 330 links the application program 310 to the system program 323 according to link information received from the memory 320 in which the system program 323 is loaded first. A program is changed to download the changed application 321 to the memory 320. The application program 310 not only has symbols 311 referring to the system program 323, but also symbols 312 to which the system program 323 refers. In addition, it may have a symbol table 313 for performing a link according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The link information received by the controller 330 includes a start address on the memory 320 to which the application program 310 is to be downloaded. In addition, the link information includes symbol addresses for symbols such as a function or a variable in the application program 310. The symbol addresses for the symbols 311 that refer to the system program 323 in the application 310 and the symbols 312 that refer to the application program 310 in the system program 323 are determined by the system. The symbol table 322 included in the program 323 may be stored and transmitted to the controller 330 at the time of linking.

The application program 310 and the system program 323 may be stored in memory 320 having different ROM types. For example, the memory 320 may be composed of two separate first and second memories, wherein the controller 330 downloads the system program 323 to the first memory, and 2 The application 310 can be downloaded to the memory.

Hereinafter, the operation of the executable file linking apparatus 300 of FIG. 3 will be described in more detail with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 4.

First, before downloading the application 310 to the memory 320, the controller 330 first downloads a system program 323 to the memory 320. In addition, the system program 323 may be downloaded to the memory 320 by another method or apparatus without using the controller 330. However, when the system program 323 is downloaded to the memory 320, the start address on the memory 320 to which the application program 310 is to be downloaded and the symbols in the application program 310, that is, the The symbol addresses for the part 311 which refers to the system program 323 in the application 310 and the part 312 which refers to the application program 310 in the system program 323 are the memory 320. Is stored in the symbol table 322.

For example, the controller 330 calculates an address in which each symbol of the system program 323 is stored in the memory 320, so that the system program 323 is executed by the application program 310 as shown in FIG. 5. The reference part 311, that is, a corresponding address for a function or variables (for example, 0xffaa for the function (a) in FIG. 5) may be stored in the symbol table 322 of the memory 320. Similarly, the controller 330 may refer to the application program 310 in the system program 323 based on the start address as shown in FIG. 6, that is, a corresponding address for each of functions or variables. For example, in FIG. 6, 0xffbb for the function (b) may be calculated and stored in the symbol table 322 of the memory 320.

As such, assuming that the system program 323 is first downloaded to the memory 320, the controller 330 in the form of an application download program or a device causes the application program 310 to be downloaded to the memory 320. Receive a schedule request for (S410). A user interface of a computer or a microprocessor on which the controller 330 is mounted may be used for the schedule request.

When the controller 330 receives a schedule download request, link information, namely, the memory 320 to which the application program 310 is to be downloaded, is downloaded from the memory 320 in which the system program 323 is loaded first. The start address of the symbol and the symbol addresses stored in the symbol table 322 are received (S420). The symbol addresses received by the controller 330 from the memory 320 may be temporarily stored in a symbol table 313 which is part of the application program 310.

Accordingly, the controller 330 may perform a ROM according to the symbol addresses received from the symbol table 322 of the memory 320 for the symbols 311 referring to the system program 323 in the application program 310. Coded in the form to be recorded in (S430).

For example, for symbol call (a) referring to the system program 323 in the application 310, as shown in FIG. 5, the function (a) starts at address 0xffaa in the system program 323. In this case, the symbol call (a) may be coded to be written to the memory 320 according to a certain rule (eg, hexadecimal) such as jump 0xffaa. As described above, the address (eg 0xffaa) for each symbol in the system program 323 calculated by the controller 330 is stored in the symbol table 322 of the memory 320. Which is transmitted to the controller 330 upon code change for a link to a symbol 311 referring to the system program 323 in the application 310 and temporarily stored in the symbol table 313. Can be used.

If the symbols 312 referencing the application program 310 appear in the system program 323 while the application program 310 is changed according to the code change method at the time of linking (S440), the controller ( The symbol 330 codes the symbols 312 referring to the application program 310 to be written in the ROM according to the symbol addresses received from the symbol table 322 of the memory 320 (S450).

For example, as shown in FIG. 6, for the symbol call (b) referring to the application 310, the function (b) in the application 310 is recorded starting at address 0xffbb on the memory 320. It may be coded according to hexadecimal notation or the like. As described above, the address (eg, 0xffbb) for the symbols referring to the application 310 in the system program 323 calculated by the controller 330 based on the start address is Stored in the symbol table 322 of the memory 320, the controller 330 upon code change for a link to a symbol 312 that references the system program 323 in the application program 310; ) May be temporarily stored in the symbol table 313 to be used.

Until the application 310 is completed as a program linked to the system program 323 (S460), the controller 330 repeatedly performs the above method (S430 ~ S460), the application ( All the codes of 310 are code-changed in the form to be written to the memory 320 in the form of ROM. Accordingly, the controller 330 downloads the application program 310 linked to the system program 323 to the memory 320 to be recorded in a predetermined area of the memory 320 (S470).

As described above, in the linkage apparatus 300 of an executable file for the embedded system according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the controller 330 in the form of an application download program may include a memory in which the system program 323 is already loaded. Receiving link information from 320, the corresponding application program 310 is changed to the program 321 linked with the system program 323 and coded in a format to be downloaded to the ROM.

The functions used in the methods and apparatus disclosed herein can be embodied as computer readable code on a computer readable recording medium. The computer-readable recording medium includes all kinds of recording devices in which data that can be read by a computer system is stored. Examples of computer-readable recording media include ROM, RAM, CD-ROM, magnetic tape, floppy disk, optical data storage, and the like, and may also be implemented in the form of a carrier wave (for example, transmission over the Internet). do. The computer readable recording medium can also be distributed over network coupled computer systems so that the computer readable code is stored and executed in a distributed fashion.

As described above, although the present invention has been described with reference to limited embodiments and drawings, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains various modifications and variations from such descriptions. This is possible. Therefore, the scope of the present invention should not be limited to the described embodiments, but should be determined not only by the claims below but also by the equivalents of the claims.

As described above, in the method and apparatus for linking an executable file for an embedded system according to the present invention, in order to download the executable file separately from an application program and a system program, the application program is linked according to link information from the system program. Since it is changed to a file, even if a system program refers to an application, the application can be easily and accurately linked and downloaded to the ROM.

Such a feature of the present invention enables developers to separately compile, assemble, and debug application programs and system programs when developing a large executable file to operate an embedded system, thereby reducing developer overhead. There is an effect that can be reduced.

Claims (10)

Downloading a system program to a memory; Receiving link information from the memory; Changing an application program to a program linked with the system program using the link information; And Downloading an application linked with the system program to the memory Link method of the executable file for an embedded system, characterized in that it comprises a. The method of claim 1, wherein the memory is in the form of a ROM. The method of claim 1, wherein the link information includes a start address in the memory to which the application program is to be downloaded and symbol addresses for symbols in the application program. The method of claim 3, When downloading the system program to the memory, storing the start address and the symbol addresses in the memory; Encoding symbols referring to the system program in the application program according to the symbol addresses received from the memory; And Coding symbols referring to the application program in the system program according to the symbol addresses received from the memory Link method of the executable file for an embedded system, characterized in that it comprises a. The method of claim 4, wherein Calculating an address for symbols referring to the application program in the system program based on the start address Link method of the executable file for an embedded system, characterized in that it further comprises. The embedded system of claim 1, wherein the memory comprises a first memory and a second memory, wherein the system program is downloaded to the first memory, and the application program is downloaded to the second memory. How to Link Executable Files A computer-readable recording medium in which a program for executing the method of any one of claims 1 to 6 is recorded. Memory; And Controller for separating executable files into application programs and system programs and downloading them to the memory Including, The controller may change the application program into a program linked with the system program according to link information received from the memory in which the system program is loaded first, and download the changed application program into the memory. Link device for executable files. 10. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the memory is in the form of a ROM. The method of claim 8, The memory consists of a first memory and a second memory, And the controller downloads the system program to the first memory, and downloads the application program to the second memory.

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