KR101889942B1 - Apparatus and method for controlling video processing unit - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a device and a method for controlling a video processing unit (VPU), and more particularly, to a device including a VPU operated in an operating system, which is Windows Embedded Compact 2013 or Windows Embedded Compact 7. To this end, the present invention is to provide a VPU driver for controlling a VPU under an operating system of Windows Embedded Compact 2013 and Windows Embedded Compact 7. According to an aspect of the present invention, the device for controlling a VPU comprises an application which is executed in any one operating system of Windows Embedded Compact 2013 and Windows Embedded Compact 7; and a VPU driver which is a stream driver communicating with the application to control an operation of a VPU.

Description

[0001] Apparatus and method for controlling a video processing unit [0002]

And more particularly, to an apparatus and a method including a video processing unit operating in an operating system such as Windows Embedded Compact 2013 or Windows Embedded Compact 7.

For Android and Linux operating systems, a VPU driver is provided, and codecs for video decoding and encoding using the driver are provided by NXP.

However, there is no VPU driver for the Windows Embedded Compact 2013 operating system, and codecs using it are not available.

The Windows Embedded Compact 2013 and Windows Embedded Compact 7 operating systems are the latest versions of Microsoft's real-time operating system and are highly reliable and real-time operating systems. The Windows Embedded Compact 2013 and Windows Embedded Compact 7 operating systems enable fast booting and are used in a variety of industries due to the small operating system capacity.

Therefore, it is necessary to provide a VPU driver for controlling VPU under Windows Embedded Compact 2013 and Windows Embedded Compact 7 operating system.

One challenge for the proposed invention is to provide a VPU driver for controlling the VPU under Windows Embedded Compact 2013 and Windows Embedded Compact 7 operating systems.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.

In an aspect, an apparatus for controlling a video processing unit is an application running on an operating system that is either Windows Embedded Compact 2013 or Windows Embedded Compact 7; And a VPU driver that is a stream driver that controls the operation of a VPU (Video Processing Unit) by communicating with the application.

In another aspect, the application transmits an initialization command to the VPU driver in accordance with an operation including at least one of video reproduction and video recording, and the VPU driver supplies power to the VPU and controls the VPU to input a clock signal .

In another aspect, the VPU driver allocates a virtual shared memory to be used by the VPU according to a virtual shared memory allocation command of the application.

According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a device management method comprising the steps of: loading a VPU driver registered in a registry when the device manager is loaded; calling the VPU_Init function; The driver calls the VPU_Init function and initializes a user event, a kernel event, a thread, a clock, a mutex, a physical memory management list list initialization and initialization of a video processing unit register access variable (VPU Register Access).

Wherein the VPU driver calls the VPU_Init function and calls the CreateEvent function to generate an event for the VPU driver to transfer to the application. The VPU driver calls the VPU_Init function and the CreateThread function So that the thread is ready to receive the VPU interrupt.

The application calls the VPU driver with the CreateFile function, allocates the physical contiguous memory using the DeviceIoControl function, sets the memory access right of the application, and when the VPU completes the decoding or encoding operation, The application executes the CloseHandle function to release all memory resources allocated to the application.

Upon completion of the decoding or encoding operation, the VPU outputs an interrupt to the VPU driver. When the VPU driver receives the interrupt, the VPU driver transmits the interrupt to the application via an event.

The proposed invention can provide a VPU driver for controlling the VPU under the Windows Embedded Compact 2013 and Windows Embedded Compact 7 operating systems.

Video encoding and decoding can be performed using the VPU driver.

The effects of the present invention are not limited to the above-mentioned effects, and various effects can be included within the range that is obvious to a person skilled in the art from the following description.

1 shows an overall configuration of an apparatus for controlling a video processing unit according to an embodiment.
2 shows a flow of functions performed by an apparatus for controlling a video processing unit according to an embodiment.
3 shows a flow of functions performed by an apparatus for controlling a video processing unit according to an embodiment.
4 shows a flow of functions performed by an apparatus for controlling a video processing unit according to an embodiment.
5 shows a flow of functions performed by an apparatus for controlling a video processing unit according to an embodiment.

The foregoing and further aspects are embodied through the embodiments described with reference to the accompanying drawings. It is to be understood that the components of each embodiment are capable of various combinations within an embodiment as long as no other mention or mutual contradiction exists. Furthermore, the proposed invention may be embodied in many different forms and is not limited to the embodiments described herein.

In order to clearly illustrate the claimed invention, parts not related to the description are omitted, and like reference numerals are used for like parts throughout the specification. And, when a section is referred to as "including " an element, it does not exclude other elements unless specifically stated to the contrary.

In addition, throughout the specification, when a part is referred to as being "connected" to another part, it is not limited to a case where it is "directly connected", but also an "electrically connected" . Further, in the specification, a signal means a quantity of electricity such as a voltage or a current.

As used herein, the term " block " refers to a block of hardware or software configured to be changed or pluggable, i.e., a unit or block that performs a specific function in hardware or software.

Figure 1 shows an apparatus for controlling a video processing unit.

2 shows a flow of functions performed by an apparatus for controlling a video processing unit according to an embodiment.

3 shows a flow of functions performed by an apparatus for controlling a video processing unit according to an embodiment.

4 shows a flow of functions performed by an apparatus for controlling a video processing unit according to an embodiment.

5 shows a flow of functions performed by an apparatus for controlling a video processing unit according to an embodiment.

1, the operating system 10 may include both the application 20, the file system 30, the device manager 50, and the VPU driver 40. In the embodiment shown in FIG.

The video processing unit is a device that performs a video codec-related operation process with a video processing unit (VPU). The device for controlling the video processing unit may be one chipset or a portable terminal device on which the chipset is mounted. The apparatus for controlling the video processing unit may be a single apparatus integrated with the video processing unit, and may be a separate apparatus that is separate from the video processing unit.

In one embodiment, the device controlling the video processing unit is an application running on an operating system that is either Windows Embedded Compact 2013 or Windows Embedded Compact 7; And a VPU driver that is a stream driver that controls the operation of a VPU (Video Processing Unit) by communicating with the application.

In one embodiment, the application runs on an operating system that is either Windows Embedded Compact 2013 or Windows Embedded Compact 7. Applications can be video playback, editing, or recording applications in a variety of applications running on the operating system, either Windows Embedded Compact 2013 or Windows Embedded Compact 7. Windows Embedded Compact 2013 and Windows Embedded Compact 7 are Microsoft's real-time operating systems and operating systems for embedded systems.

In one embodiment, the VPU driver is a stream driver that communicates with the application to control the operation of a VPU (Video Processing Unit). Windows Embedded Compact 2013 or Windows Embedded Compact 7 operating systems can not directly control hardware such as VPU in an application. The application can control the VPU through the VPU driver.

  Conventional Windows Embedded Compact 2013 or Windows Embedded Compact 7 operating systems do not provide a VPU driver. Therefore, the VPU driver that controls the VPU needs to be implemented in Windows Embedded Compact 2013 and Windows Embedded Compact 7 operating systems.

The VPU driver is implemented as a stream driver and is executed by the Device Manager of the Windows Embedded Compact 2013 and Windows Embedded Compact 7 operating system. The VPU driver is used in the application through the file system. Can be controlled.

The VPU driver, which is a stream driver, controls hardware such as the VPU through open, close, read, and write functions. The VPU driver controls hardware such as VPU through functions of PowerUp, PowerDown, IOControl, Init, and DeInit.

The file system refers to a system in which the name of the data stored in the storage device is specified, read, written, or retrieved. A typical example of a file system is an NT (New Technology) file system, a FAT (File Allocation Table) file system, and the Linux system has an EXT (Extended) file system and a Raiser file system.

The application can issue commands or receive data to the VPU driver using the file system.

An application is an API that includes functions such as CreateFile and DeviceIOControl and controls the VPU driver through the file system.

The device that controls the video processing unit defines functions and functions for controlling the VPU driver under the operating system of either Windows Embedded Compact 2013 or Windows Embedded Compact 7.

The function includes at least one of VPU_Init, VPU_Open, VPU_Close, VPU_DeInit, VPU_PowerUp, VPU_PowerDown, VPU_Read, VPU_Write, and VPU_IOControl.

In the function, the VPU located in the front side is not limited to the VPU as the prefix, but can be variously set. The type of function is not limited to the above example.

VPU_Init is a function that is executed first after booting the device controlling the video processing unit, and initialization for the VPU is performed through this function. Initialization includes memory setting and register setting. When the device manager loads the VPU driver, the VPU driver calls the VPU_Init function, and the VPU driver sets the memory and registers to be used by the VPU.

Specifically, when the VPU driver calls the VPU_Init function, the VPU driver performs the initialization function.

The initialization function includes initialization of a user event, initialization of a kernel event, initialization of a thread, initialization of a clock, initialization of a mutex, initialization of a physical memory management list, Video processing unit register access variable (VPU Register Access) initialization function.

3 shows a flow of functions performed by an apparatus for controlling a video processing unit according to an embodiment.

When the operating system of the system (WEC2013 operating system) is reset (S100), the device manager is loaded (S110), the device manager loads the VPU driver registered in the registry, and the VPU driver calls the VPU_Init function. When the device manager calls the VPU_Init function, the VPU device driver initialization operation is performed.

A user event is an event in which the VPU performs decoding and encoding according to an application request and informs the application that the VPU has been completed. That is, the VPU driver transmits a decoding or encoding command to the VPU in response to an application request. When the VPU driver receives a decoding or encoding completion message from the VPU, it sends a decoding or encoding completion message to the application. The completion message is a user event.

In order for the VPU driver and the application to perform event communication, the VPU driver calls the VPU_Init function and calls the CreateEvent function to generate an event for the VPU driver to deliver to the application.

The kernel event is an event for notifying the VPU driver when the VPU completes decoding and encoding. That is, the VPU driver transmits a decoding or encoding command to the VPU in response to an application request. When the VPU driver completes decoding or encoding, the VPU driver receives a kernel event, which is a VPU interrupt, from the kernel.

Kernel event initialization is to cause the kernel event to be registered with the kernel along with the VPU interrupt, so that the kernel can send VPU interrupts to the VPU driver when the VPU is interrupted. That is, the VPU driver is put in a state in which VPU interrupts can be received.

In a state where the VPU driver can receive the VPU interrupt, the VPU driver confirms that the VPU interrupt occurs, and transmits it to the application.

When the VPU completes encoding or decoding, or an exception occurs in the VPU, the VPU generates an interrupt and transmits it to the kernel. The exception is an error or the like.

When the kernel receives an interrupt from the VPU, it transfers the VPU interrupt to the VPU driver. That is, in order for the VPU driver to receive the VPU interrupt generated by the kernel receiving the interrupt from the VPU, one event must be registered in the kernel. The event is a kernel event. This process is called kernel event initialization.

The VPU driver initializes kernel events by calling functions such as CreateEvent, KernelIoControl, and InterruptInitialize.

A thread receives and processes the kernel event. The thread is executed in the VPU device driver. The executed thread waits for a VPU interrupt and receives and processes a VPU interrupt when it occurs.

The thread is executed first when the VPU_Init function is called in the VPU driver. The thread waits for a VPU interrupt. Receiving and processing a kernel event means that a thread executed in the VPU driver waits for a VPU interrupt and, when an interrupt occurs, the interrupt is received.

Thread initialization is performed so that the thread can receive VPU interrupts. That is, the VPU driver calls the VPU_Init function and calls the CreateThread function, so that the thread is ready to receive the VPU interrupt.

The clock is a signal input to the VPU to operate the VPU. The application sends an IOCTL command to the VPU driver. The VPU driver receiving the IOCTL command enables or disables the clock input to the VPU

In the clock initialization, the VPU driver calls the VPU_Init function to enable or disable the input clock of the VPU.

A mutex allows multiple programs (or threads) to be multi-instance processed, allowing multiple applications or libraries to access the VPU driver.

In the mutex initialization, the VPU driver calls the VPU_Init function and calls the CreateMutex function to generate the mutex.

The application or library requests the VPU driver to allocate memory (eg, a frame buffer), and the VPU driver allocates memory. The request may be continuously generated depending on the number of applications and libraries. The physical memory management list is for managing the memory allocated according to the request. Here, the physical memory management list manages only a physical memory. Since the VPU is accessible only to the physical memory, the physical memory management list manages only the physical memory.

That is, the physical memory management list is used to confirm the size of the memory allocated by the VPU driver or to deallocate the allocated memory. In the physical memory management list initialization, the VPU driver calls the VPU_Init function to generate the physical memory management list.

The WEC2013 operating system has a user area and a kernel area. In the user area, the register of the VPU can not be accessed. That is, the application can not access the register of the VPU directly. To access the VPU registers, the VPU driver at the same kernel level must do so. The application makes a request to the VPU driver, and the VPU driver controls the register of the VPU. As a result, controlling at the kernel level means that the VPU driver controls the registers of the VPU.

The video processing unit register access variable (VPU Register Access) is a register access variable for controlling the VPU operation at the kernel level.

Initialization of the video processing unit register access variable (VPU Register Access) is such that the application calls the VPU_Init function, and calls a function such as MmMapIoSpace, INREG32BF, etc., to assign a register access variable. When a variable for register access is assigned, the VPU driver can access the VPU register.

The device manager 50 manages all the device drivers executed in the WEC operating system including the VPU driver. Since the VPU driver is registered in the operating system, the device manager 50 loads the VPU driver when the system is booted.

4 shows a flow of functions performed by an apparatus for controlling a video processing unit according to an embodiment.

When the system (WEC2013 operating system) is booted (S100), the device manager is executed, that is, loaded (S110), the device manager loads the VPU driver registered in the registry, and the VPU driver calls the VPU_Init function. When the device manager calls the VPU_Init function, the VPU device driver initialization operation is performed.

The system on (S120) is a state in which the WEC2013 operating system is normally booted and the application can be executed.

The device manager is executed, and the application is loaded (S130) or not loaded after the system-on state.

When the application is loaded (S130), the application calls the VPU driver with the CreateFile function, and uses the DeviceIoControl function to allow the VPU driver to allocate the physical contiguous memory. When the application calls the VPU driver with the CreateFile function and calls the DeviceIoControl function, the VPU driver allocates physical continuous memory using VPU_IOControl (S140). That is, the VPU driver sets the access authority so that the physical continuous memory can be accessed and used by the application.

When the application executes the CreateFile function, the VPU driver executes the VPU_Open function. When the VPU driver executes the VPU_Open function, a variable for accessing the VPU register is generated using the MmMapIoSpace function for the first time, and the VPU clock is enabled.

When the physical continuity memory allocation and the memory access right setting required by the application are completed, the application controls the VPU to perform the decoding or encoding operation (S150).

When an application requests consecutive physical memory from the VPU driver through the DeviceIoControl function, the VPU device driver allocates contiguous physical memory.

Allocating physical contiguous memory means creating a frame buffer and creating a bit work memory area.

By the memory allocation request of the application, the VPU driver executes the AllocPhysMem function to allocate the required physical contiguous memory.

The frame buffer may be a piece of video image buffer that the VPU decodes into a physically contiguous memory area necessary for the VPU to perform decoding and encoding, or the VPU may be a video image buffer necessary for encoding.

The bit work memory stores the target image compression data to be decoded by the VPU.

The application requests the memory access privilege to use the memory created by the VPU driver through the DeviceIoControl function. The VPU driver sets the memory access permissions so that the application can use contiguous memory.

Since the VPU driver is a memory area of the kernel level and the application is a user level memory area, the application can not use the physical contiguous memory created by the VPU driver.

However, if the VPU driver sets the memory access privilege, the application can also use the physical contiguous memory created by the VPU browser.

The VPU driver executes GetCallerVMProcessId, VirtualAllocEx, and VirtualCopyEx functions to set the memory access privileges of the application.

When the VPU completes the decoding or encoding operation and the application is reloaded (S160), the application controls the VPU to perform the decoding or encoding operation.

If the VPU completes the decoding or encoding operation and the application is not loaded (S160), the application executes the CloseHandle function and the VPU driver releases all the memory allocated for the application.

If an application does not load, it means the application has finished playing or recording, or the application has terminated.

When the CloseHandle function is executed, the VPU_Close function of the VPU driver is executed, and the VPU driver deallocates all of the memories allocated for the application (S170).

When the VPU_Close function is executed, the VPU driver releases physical continuous memory allocation. The VPU driver allocates necessary contiguous physical memory according to the memory allocation requested by the application, and manages the memory area by storing the memory area in the linked list by Address. When the VPU driver receives a release request from the application or when the VPU driver terminates, the VPU driver performs memory deallocation using the memory address stored in the connection list.

When the application releases the interaction with the VPU driver by executing the CloseHandle function, the VPU driver executes the VPU_Close function and releases the allocated physical contiguous memory by using the FreePhysMem function.

When the VPU_Close function is executed, the VPU driver releases the memory access right of the application. The application must use all resources for the VPU and then release the memory access privilege when terminated. Otherwise, a memory leak may occur and cause a serious error in the system.

The VPU driver executes the VPU_Close function and executes the VirtualFreeEx function to release the memory access right acquired by the application.

Running a function can mean the same thing as calling a function.

5 shows a flow of functions performed by an apparatus for controlling a video processing unit according to an embodiment. In detail, the apparatus for controlling the video processing unit further performs detailed functions between performing the decoding or encoding step and the application loading step according to FIG.

When the system (WEC2013 operating system) is booted, the device manager is executed and the device manager loads the VPU device driver registered in the registry, calls the VPU_Init function, and the VPU device driver initialization operation is performed through this function.

When the WEC2013 operating system is normally booted, the system is in a system-on state where the application can be executed. After the system-on state, the application is invoked.

The application calls the VPU driver with the CreateFile function, uses the DeviceIoControl function to allocate the physical contiguous memory, and sets the memory access privilege of the application.

The VPU library is synonymous with the application. When the user executes the application, the VPU library is loaded.

 When the application or the VPU library completes the physical consecutive memory allocation and memory access permission setting, the application controls the VPU to perform the decoding or encoding operation.

When the VPU completes the decoding or encoding operation, the application executes the CloseHandle function to release all the memory resources allocated for the application by the VPU driver.

When the application executes the CloseHandle function, the VPU_Close function of the VPU driver is executed. At this time, the VPU driver releases all memory resources allocated for use by the application.

When the VPU driver decodes or encodes the physical continuity memory and sets the memory access right of the application, the VPU driver reads the VPU register from the VPU register (S151) IOCTL commands are provided to the application so that it can do so.

The description related to the tact or the function call described below is omitted.

When the VPU_IOControl function is called in the VPU driver, the VPU driver provides an IOCTL instruction so that the application can read or write the register of the VPU (S151). The VPU driver does not participate in the decoding or encoding of the VPU, and all the operation is performed in the application. The VPU driver provides a control IOCTL that can control the VPU.

The application sends a control command to the VPU driver through an IOCTL command, and the VPU driver controls the VPU by executing the functions INREG32 and OUTREG32 with arguments VPU_IOC_READ_REG and VPU_IOC_WRITE_REG in accordance with the application control command.

The VPU driver transfers the interrupt generated from the VPU to the application.

The application waits for completion of VPU decoding or encoding operation. When the VPU completes the decoding or encoding operation, the VPU driver outputs an interrupt (S152). When the VPU driver receives the interrupt, the interrupt is transmitted to the application through an event. The application verifies that the VPU has completed the interrupt processing according to the IOCTL command.

If the VPU does not output an interrupt to the VPU driver (S152), the VPU driver receives a reset request from the application.

The application receives the interrupt output status of the VPU from the VPU driver through the VPU_IOC_WAIT4INT IOCTL command. The VPU device driver receives VPU interrupts using functions such as WaitForSingleObject, INREG32, OUTREG32, and InterruptDone, and performs operations according to the interrupts.

When the application or the VPU driver controls the VPU, if an exception occurs (S153), the VPU can be reset.

Exception is the situation where the VPU performs an abnormal operation or the VPU generates an interrupt due to decoding or encoding completion.

The reset operation (S154) is for activating the VPU and initializing the VPU as needed when an exception occurs. This operation is requested by the application with the VPU driver. The present invention is not limited to this, and the VPU driver may reset the VPU alone.

When the application or the VPU driver controls the VPU, there is no exception, and when the application is reloaded (S160), the application controls the VPU to perform the decoding or encoding operation. If the application is not loaded (S160), the application executes the CloseHandle function and the VPU driver releases all the memory allocated for the application.

The application is not loaded because the application no longer uses the VPU driver or the application is terminated.

When the VPU requests reset according to an exception, the VPU driver receives a Reset request from the application.

When the application passes the VPU_IOC_SYS_SW_RESET IOCTL command to the VPU device driver using the DeviceIoControl function, the VPU driver resets the VPU.

The VPU driver accesses the VPU register and calls the INREG32 and OUTREG32 functions to reset the VPU.

VPU_Open is a function that is executed when an application calls the VPU driver with CreateFile. When the VPU_Open function is executed, a VPU instance is created. If the VPU_Open function is executed for the first time after booting the device controlling the video processing unit, the VPU driver turns on the VPU and sets the clock.

When the application calls VPU_IOControl function with VPU_IOC_PHYMEM_ALLOC IOCTL value as argument, the VPU driver allocates the physical memory to be used by the VPU and creates a buffer for data transfer.

When an application calls the VPU_IOControl function with the VPU_IOC_PHYMEM_FREE IOCTL value as an argument, the VPU driver releases the physical memory allocated for use by the VPU.

When the application calls the VPU_IOControl function with the VPU_IOC_WAIT4INT IOCTL value as an argument, the VPU driver transfers the interrupt generated from the VPU to the application.

When the application calls the VPU_IOControl function with the VPU_IOC_IRAM_SETTING IOCTL value as an argument, the VPU driver passes the IRAM setting in the chipset such as the device controlling the video processing unit, for example i.MX6, to the application.

When the application calls the VPU_IOControl function with the VPU_IOC_CLKGATE_SETTING IOCTL value as an argument, the VPU driver enables / disables the VPU clock. Enable VPU clock is to input VPU clock signal. Disabling the clock of the VPU means not inputting the clock signal of the VPU.

When the application calls the VPU_IOControl function with the VPU_IOC_REQ_VSHARE_MEM IOCTL value and the memory size as arguments, the VPU driver allocates the memory so that VSHARE_MEM (shared memory) can be accessed from the kernel area and user area and transfers the information to the application. If memory is already allocated, the memory is not reallocated and only the information is passed to the application. Where VSHARE_MEM is a memory space that allows applications and VPUs to share Codec instance, encoding, and decoding related information and data.

When the application calls the VPU_IOControl function with the VPU_IOC_GET_SHARE_MEM IOCTL value and the memory size as arguments, the VPU driver allocates the contiguous memory so that BitWork_Mem (bit work memory) can be accessed in the kernel area and user area, and transfers the information to the application. If memory is already allocated, the memory is not reallocated and only information is passed to the application. Bitwork_Mem is a memory space that allows the VPU to use the code buffer, the parameter buffer, and the Temp buffer. The start address and the memory size are specified so that the application or the VPU library can share the memory used in the VPU, in which the start address corresponds to the memory shared location.

 When the application calls the VPU_IOControl function with the VPU_IOC_SYS_SW_RESET IOCTL value as an argument, the VPU driver resets the VPU. Reset means reboot.

When the application calls the VPU_IOControl function with the VPU_IOC_REG_DUMP IOCTL value as an argument, the VPU driver reads the VPU register.

When the application calls the VPU_IOControl function with the VPU_IOC_PHYMEM_DUMP IOCTL value as an argument, the VPU driver reads the physical memory of the VPU.

When the application calls the VPU_IOControl function with the VPU_IOC_PHYMEM_CHECK IOCTL value as an argument, the VPU driver checks whether the physical memory of the VPU is valid. To check whether physical memory is valid is to check whether data is stored in memory.

When an application calls the VPU_IOControl function with the VPU_IOC_LOCK_DEV IOCTL value as an argument, the VPU driver locks or unlocks the mutex. Mutex means that when a shared resource such as a file needs to be dedicated to a running program or thread, it locks it so that it can not be accessed by another process or thread, unlocks it and ends up occupying resources, .

In other words, an application or VPU library locks the VPU driver to mutex locks to access shared resources used for the VPU, making it inaccessible to other applications or libraries. In addition, when access to the shared resource is completed, an unlock is made so that another application or library can use the shared resources used for the VPU.

In one embodiment, the VPU driver under the Windows Embedded Compact 2013 or Windows Embedded Compact 7 operating system calls the VPU_Init function to set and initialize the memory and registers to be used by the VPU. If the VPU driver exists in the WEC2013 operating system registry, the VPU driver is loaded using the prefix and initialized.

In one embodiment, the application transmits an initialization command to the VPU driver in accordance with an operation including at least one of video reproduction and video recording, and the VPU driver supplies power to the VPU and controls the VPU to input a clock signal . In detail, the application calls the CreateFile function to execute the VPU_Open function. When the VPU_Open function is executed for the first time after booting the device controlling the video processing unit, the VPU driver turns on the VPU and sets the clock.

In one embodiment, the VPU driver allocates a virtual shared memory to be used by the VPU according to a virtual shared memory allocation command of the application. When the VPU driver receives a shared memory allocation instruction by the application calling the VPU_IOControl function with the VPU_IOC_GET_SHARE_MEM IOCTL value as an argument, the VPU driver generates a shared memory to be used by the VPU and transfers the generated shared memory address to the application.

In one embodiment, the VPU driver locks or unlocks a mutex according to a mutex lock or unlock command of the application. The VPU driver locks or unlocks the mutex of the VPU in response to a mutex lock or unlock command resulting from calling the VPU_IOControl function with the VPU_IOC_LOCK_DEV IOCTL value of the application as an argument.

The device controlling the video processing unit may mutex lock or unlock to access the shared resources of the VPU.

In one embodiment, the VPU driver synchronizes the clock of the VPU with the clock included in the CPU or deactivates the clock of the VPU according to a clock activation or deactivation instruction of the application. The VPU driver synchronizes the VPU clock with the clock included in the CPU or deactivates the VPU clock in accordance with the clock activation or deactivation command by calling the VPU_IOControl function with the VPU_IOC_CLKGATE_SETTING IOCTL value of the application as an argument.

In one embodiment, the VPU driver transfers an interrupt output from the VPU to an application. When the application calls the VPU_IOControl function with the VPU_IOC_WAIT4INT IOCTL value as an argument, the VPU driver transfers the interrupt output by the VPU to the application.

In one embodiment, the VPU driver allocates a physical shared memory to be used by the VPU according to a physical memory allocation command of the application. VPU_IOC_PHYMEM_ALLOC VPU_IOC_PHYMEM_ALLOC The VPU driver allocates the physical memory to be used by the VPU according to the physical memory allocation instruction by calling the VPU_IOControl function with the IOCTL value as an argument.

In one embodiment, the VPU driver resets the VPU according to a VPU reset command of the application. The VPU driver resets the VPU according to the VPU reset command for calling the VPU_IOControl function with the VPU_IOC_SYS_SW_RESET IOCTL value of the application as a parameter.

In one embodiment, the VPU driver releases the allocation of the physical memory allocated for the VPU in accordance with the physical memory deallocation command of the application. According to the VPU_IOC_PHYMEM_FREE IOCTL value of the application as a parameter, the VPU driver releases the physical memory allocated for use by the VPU in response to the physical memory deallocation command following the VPU_IOControl function call.

2 is a flow diagram of a method of controlling a video processing unit in accordance with one embodiment.

In one embodiment, a method for controlling a video processing unit includes: executing an application (S610) for executing an application in an operating system that is one of Windows Embedded Compact 2013 and Windows Embedded Compact 7; And a VPU driver control step (S620) for controlling a VPU driver that is a stream driver that controls the operation of a VPU (Video Processing Unit) by communicating with the application.

In one embodiment, in the application execution step S610, the application transmits an initialization command to the VPU driver in accordance with a job including at least one of video reproduction and video recording, and in the VPU driver control step S620, The driver supplies power to the VPU and controls the VPU to input a clock signal.

In one embodiment, in the VPU driver control step (S620), the VPU driver allocates a virtual shared memory to be used by the VPU according to a virtual shared memory allocation instruction of the application.

The VPU driver control step (S620) may include a VPU initialization step, a VPU control step, and a VPU end step.

In the VPU initialization step, the application opens the VPU driver via CreateFile. At this time, the VPU driver supplies power and clock to the VPU and sets necessary registers. The application calls the DeviceIOControl function through a specific IOCTL argument. The VPU driver receives the IOCTL argument via the VPU_IOControl function and communicates with the application. The VPU driver communicates with the application and sets the memory setting, clock ON / OFF, reset, Mutex management, and so on.

If the VPU outputs a special event while the application reproduces or records the moving picture in the VPU control step, the VPU driver senses the output event and delivers the detected result to the application. For example, when the encoding or decoding of one frame is completed or an error occurs during playback of the moving picture, an interrupt is generated by the VPU, the VPU driver detects this, and the application receives the interrupt occurrence event.

The VPU control step periodically turns on / off the clock of the VPU to manage the power and operation of the VPU.

And when the application completes the movie reproduction or recording in the VPU termination step, the VPU driver returns the control right and the memory used by the VPU driver. The application closes the connection with the VPU driver via CloseFile, and the VPU driver terminates the VPU as the application calls the VPU_Close function. If there is no other application connected to the VPU driver at the time of termination, the VPU driver turns off the power of the VPU.

In one embodiment, the computer-readable medium stores a program for performing a method of controlling a video processing unit.

Thus, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. It is therefore to be understood that the above-described embodiments are illustrative only and not restrictive of the scope of the invention. It is also to be understood that the flow charts shown in the figures are merely the sequential steps illustrated in order to achieve the most desirable results in practicing the present invention and that other additional steps may be provided or some steps may be deleted .

The technical features and implementations described herein may be implemented in digital electronic circuitry, or may be implemented in computer software, firmware, or hardware, including the structures described herein, and structural equivalents thereof, . Also, implementations that implement the technical features described herein may be implemented as computer program products, that is, modules relating to computer program instructions encoded on a program storage medium of the type for execution by, or for controlling, the operation of the processing system .

The computer-readable medium can be a machine-readable storage device, a machine-readable storage substrate, a memory device, a composition of matter that affects the machine readable propagation type signal, or a combination of one or more of the foregoing.

In the present specification, the term " apparatus "or" system "includes all apparatuses, apparatuses, and machines for processing information, including, for example, a processor, a computer or a multiprocessor or a computer. The processing system may include, in addition to the hardware, all of the code that forms an execution environment for the computer program upon request, such as code comprising the processor firmware, a protocol stack, an information base management system, an operating system, .

A computer program, known as a program, software, software application, script or code, may be written in any form of programming language, including compiled or interpreted language or a priori, procedural language, Routines, or other units suitable for use in a computer environment.

On the other hand, a computer program does not necessarily correspond to a file in the file system, but may be stored in a single file provided to the requested program or in a plurality of interactive files (for example, one or more modules, File), or a portion of a file holding another program or information (e.g., one or more scripts stored in a markup language document).

A computer program may be embodied to run on multiple computers or on one or more computers located at one site or distributed across a plurality of sites and interconnected by a wired / wireless communication network.

On the other hand, computer readable media suitable for storing computer program instructions and information include, for example, semiconductor memory devices such as EPROM, EEPROM and flash memory devices, for example magnetic disks such as internal hard disks or external disks, And any type of non-volatile memory, media and memory devices, including CD and DVD discs. The processor and memory may be supplemented by, or incorporated in, special purpose logic circuits.

Implementations that implement the technical features described herein may include, for example, a back-end component such as an information server, or may include a middleware component, such as, for example, an application server, Or a client computer having a graphical user interface, or any combination of one or more of such backend, middleware or front end components. The components of the system may be interconnected by any form or medium of digital information communication, for example, a communication network.

Hereinafter, more specific embodiments capable of implementing the configurations including the systems and methods described herein will be described in detail.

The methods herein may be used, in part or in whole, through means for executing computer software, program code or instructions on one or more processors included in a server or server associated with a client device or a web-based storage system. The processor may be part of a computing platform, such as a server, a client, a network infrastructure, a mobile computing platform, a fixed computing platform, and the like, and may specifically be a type of computer or processing device capable of executing program instructions, code, In addition, the processor may further include a memory for storing the method, the instruction, the code and the program, and the method, the instruction, the code and the program according to the present invention may be stored in a CD-ROM, A DVD, a memory, a hard disk, a flash drive, a RAM, a ROM, a cache, and the like.

Further, the systems and methods described herein may be used, in part or in whole, through a server, a client, a gateway, a hub, a router, or an apparatus executing computer software on network hardware. The software may be executed in various types of servers such as a file server, a print server, a domain server, an Internet server, an intranet server, a host server, a distributed server, A storage medium, a communication device, a port, a client, and other servers via a wired / wireless network.

Also, the methods, instructions, code, etc., according to the present invention may also be executed by the server, and other devices needed to implement the method may be implemented as part of a hierarchical structure associated with the server.

In addition, the server can provide an interface to other devices including, without limitation, clients, other servers, printers, information base servers, print servers, file servers, communication servers, distributed servers, It is possible to facilitate remote execution of the program via the network.

Also, the central processor of the server may include instructions, code, etc., to be executed on different devices, and may further include at least one storage device capable of storing methods, instructions, codes, etc., To be stored in the storage device.

On the other hand, the method herein may be used partly or entirely through a network infrastructure. The network infrastructure may include both a device such as a computing device, a server, a router, a hub, a firewall, a client, a personal computer, a communication device, a routing device, etc. and a separate module capable of performing each function, In addition to one device and module, it may further include storage media such as a story flash memory, buffer, stack, RAM, ROM, and the like. Also, methods, commands, code, etc. may be executed and stored by any of the devices, modules, and storage media included in the network infrastructure, and other devices required to implement the method may also be implemented as part of the network infrastructure .

In addition, the systems and methods described herein may be implemented in hardware or a combination of hardware and software suitable for a particular application. Herein, the hardware includes both general-purpose computer devices such as personal computers, mobile communication terminals, and enterprise-specific computer devices, and the computer devices may include memory, a microprocessor, a microcontroller, a digital signal processor, an application integrated circuit, a programmable gate array, Or the like, or a combination thereof.

Computer software, instructions, code, etc., as described above, may be stored or accessed by a readable device, such as a computer component having digital information used to compute for a period of time, such as RAM or ROM Permanent storage such as semiconductor storage, optical disc, large capacity storage such as hard disk, tape, drum, optical storage such as CD or DVD, flash memory, floppy disk, magnetic tape, paper tape, Memory such as storage and dynamic memory, static memory, variable storage, network-attached storage such as the cloud, and the like. Here, the commands and codes can be classified into information-oriented languages such as SQL and dBase, system languages such as C, Objective C, C ++, and assembly, architectural languages such as Java and NET and application languages such as PHP, Ruby, Perl and Python But it is not so limited and may include all languages well known to those skilled in the art.

In addition, "computer readable media" as described herein includes all media that contribute to providing instructions to a processor for program execution. But are not limited to, non-volatile media such as information storage devices, optical disks, magnetic disks, and the like, transmission media such as coaxial cables, copper wires, optical fibers, etc. that transmit information to volatile media such as dynamic memory and the like.

On the other hand, configurations implementing the technical features of the present invention, which are included in the block diagrams and flowcharts shown in the accompanying drawings, refer to the logical boundaries between the configurations.

However, according to an embodiment of the software or hardware, the depicted arrangements and their functions may be implemented in the form of a stand alone software module, a monolithic software structure, a code, a service and a combination thereof and may execute stored program code, All such embodiments are to be regarded as being within the scope of the present invention since they can be stored in a medium executable on a computer with a processor and their functions can be implemented.

Accordingly, the appended drawings and the description thereof illustrate the technical features of the present invention, but should not be inferred unless a specific arrangement of software for implementing such technical features is explicitly mentioned. That is, various embodiments described above may exist, and some embodiments may be modified while retaining the same technical features as those of the present invention, and these should also be considered to be within the scope of the present invention.

It should also be understood that although the flowcharts depict the operations in the drawings in a particular order, they are shown for the sake of obtaining the most desirable results, and such operations must necessarily be performed in the specific order or sequential order shown, Should not be construed as being. In certain cases, multitasking and parallel processing may be advantageous. In addition, the separation of the various system components of the above-described embodiments should not be understood as requiring such separation in all embodiments, and the described program components and systems are generally integrated into a single software product, It can be packaged.

As such, the specification is not intended to limit the invention to the precise form disclosed. While the present invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to exemplary embodiments thereof, it is evident that many alternatives, modifications, and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims. It is possible to apply a deformation.

The scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims rather than the foregoing description, and all changes or modifications derived from the meaning and scope of the claims and equivalents thereof are deemed to be included in the scope of the present invention. .

10: Operating system
20: Application
30: File system
40: VPU driver
50: Device Manager
60: VPU
70: The kernel

Claims (7)

An apparatus for controlling a video processing unit, the apparatus for controlling the video processing unit comprising an i.MX6 chipset,
An operating system that is either Windows Embedded Compact 2013 or Windows Embedded Compact 7, the Windows Embedded Compact 2013 and Windows Embedded Compact 7 do not include the VPU driver for the operating system; And
A VPU driver that is a stream driver that communicates with the application and controls the operation of a VPU (Video Processing Unit)
Including,
The application transmits an initialization command to the VPU driver according to a job including at least one of video playback and video recording,
Wherein the VPU driver supplies power to the VPU and inputs a clock signal to the VPU, and allocates a virtual memory to be used by the VPU according to a virtual memory allocation command of the application,
When the application calls the VPU_IOControl function with the VPU_IOC_PHYMEM_ALLOC IOCTL value as an argument, the VPU driver allocates a physical memory to be used by the VPU, generates a buffer for data transmission,
If the application calls the VPU_IOControl function with the VPU_IOC_PHYMEM_FREE IOCTL value as an argument, the VPU driver releases the physical memory allocated for use by the VPU,
When the application calls the VPU_IOControl function with the VPU_IOC_WAIT4INT IOCTL value as an argument, the VPU driver transfers an interrupt generated from the VPU to the application,
When the application calls the VPU_IOControl function with the VPU_IOC_IRAM_SETTING IOCTL value as an argument, the VPU driver transfers the IRAM setting of the chipset controlling the VPU to the application,
When the application calls the VPU_IOControl function with the VPU_IOC_CLKGATE_SETTING IOCTL value as an argument, the VPU driver enables / disables the clock of the VPU,
When the application calls the VPU_IOControl function with the VPU_IOC_REQ_VSHARE_MEM IOCTL value and the memory size as arguments, the VPU driver allocates a memory so that the shared memory can be accessed in the kernel area and the user area,
When the application calls the VPU_IOControl function with the VPU_IOC_GET_SHARE_MEM IOCTL value and the memory size as a factor, the VPU driver allocates a continuous memory so that the bitwork memory (Bitwork_Mem) can be accessed in the kernel area and the user area, Lt; / RTI >
When the application calls the VPU_IOControl function with the VPU_IOC_SYS_SW_RESET IOCTL value as an argument, the VPU driver resets the VPU,
When the application calls the VPU_IOControl function with the VPU_IOC_REG_DUMP IOCTL value as an argument, the VPU driver reads the register of the VPU,
When the application calls the VPU_IOControl function with the VPU_IOC_PHYMEM_DUMP IOCTL value as an argument, the VPU driver reads the physical memory of the VPU,
If the application calls the VPU_IOControl function with the VPU_IOC_PHYMEM_CHECK IOCTL value as an argument, the VPU driver checks whether the physical memory of the VPU is valid,
Wherein the VPU driver controls a video processing unit that locks or unlocks when a VPU_IOC_LOCK_DEV IOCTL value is used as an argument by the application to call the VPU_IOControl function.
delete delete The method according to claim 1,
And a device manager loaded when the operating system is booted,
When the device manager is loaded, it loads a VPU driver registered in the registry, and the VPU driver calls a VPU_Init function,
The VPU driver
A VPU_Init function, a user event initialization, a kernel event initialization, a thread initialization, a clock initialization, a mutex initialization, a physical memory management list, Initialization, video processing unit register access variable (VPU Register Access) initialization,
An apparatus for controlling a video processing unit.
5. The method of claim 4,
The user event initialization
The VPU driver calls the VPU_Init function and calls the CreateEvent function to generate an event for the VPU driver to deliver to the application,
The thread initialization
The VPU driver calls the VPU_Init function and calls the CreateThread function to determine that the thread is ready to receive the VPU interrupt
An apparatus for controlling a video processing unit.
The method according to claim 1,
The application calls the VPU driver with the CreateFile function, allocates the physical contiguous memory using the DeviceIoControl function, sets the memory access right of the application,
When the VPU completes the decoding or encoding operation, the application executes the CloseHandle function to release all the memory resources allocated for the application by the VPU driver,
An apparatus for controlling a video processing unit.
The method according to claim 1,
The VPU outputs an interrupt to the VPU driver when the decoding or encoding operation is completed. When the VPU driver receives the interrupt, the VPU driver transmits the interrupt to the application via an event.
An apparatus for controlling a video processing unit.

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