KR20070080084A - Apparatus and method for booting in embedded system - Google Patents

Abstract

A device and a method for booting an embedded system are provided to reboot the embedded system according to states defined by a developer and effectively perform warm booting in the embedded system changing a device state of a system in every booting. A controller(220) discriminates whether a booting mode is the warm booting or not. An executor(230) executes an OS(Operating System) by setting a command pointer to a starting part of the OS stored in a main memory depending on discrimination of the warm booting. A power supply unit(210) supplies power to the main memory. If the booting mode is the warm booting, a code of an interrupt service routine included in the OS of the main memory is executed by generating an interrupt and executes an initialization function by setting the command pointer to the initialization function of the main memory.

Description

Apparatus and method for booting in embedded system

1 is a boot flowchart of a conventional embedded system.

2 is a block diagram of a boot device of an embedded system according to an exemplary embodiment.

3 is a boot flowchart of an embedded system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 4 shows the structure of a main memory in one embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a flowchart illustrating a method of booting using an interrupt during a warm boot of an embedded system according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

6 shows the structure of a main memory according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

7 is a flowchart illustrating a method of booting using an initialization function during warm booting of an embedded system according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

8 shows the structure of a main memory according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

<Explanation of symbols on main parts of the drawings>

200: boot device of embedded system

210: power supply

220: control unit

230: execution unit

The present invention relates to a booting device and method of an embedded system, and more particularly, to a booting device of an embedded system capable of reducing the boot time and various boot points during warm booting by continuously supplying power to the main memory and utilizing the same. It is about a method.

Embedded systems (also referred to as "systems") are electronic systems with microprocessors or microcontrollers in which computers are embedded in the system. Examples of embedded systems include automotive fuel injectors, aircraft pilots, communication devices, set-top boxes, camcorders, robot controllers, medical devices, industrial controllers, instruments, network routers, MP3 players, video game machines, digital cameras, printers, and more. Do.

In general, embedded systems are systems with 8-bit or 16-bit microprocessors (CPUs) or microcontrollers. Digital thermometers, for example, are simple embedded systems consisting of temperature sensors, AD converters, microprocessors, memory, and LCD modules.

1 is a boot flowchart of a conventional embedded system.

When the embedded system is powered on, booting is performed, and if no abnormality is found in the system by performing a power on self test (POST) process, the embedded system drives an operating system (OS). As such, various applications can be executed in an operating system environment. In addition, a boot image of a specific state of the system is generated from the main memory to generate a boot image to be used later, and the generated boot image is stored in a storage device such as a hard disk drive, a compact disk ROM, and a memory device.

Upon shutdown of the system, a boot image according to an initial storage state of the main memory is read from storage devices such as a hard disk drive, a compact disk ROM, and a memory device, and the read boot image is loaded into the main memory (S11 and S21).

At this time, the main power supply of the entire computer system is cut off, but the main memory is continuously supplied as an auxiliary power supply (S31). When the main memory is continuously supplied in this way, the contents in the main memory are maintained regardless of the system.

When the system is booted again, a POST process for checking the initialization and abnormality of hardware components of the system is performed (S41).

In addition, an instruction pointer of a CPU (central processing unit) is set as a specific region of the main memory to read a boot image from the set specific region to drive an operating system (S51 and S61).

However, since the prior art stores the boot image in a storage device separately, there is a delay time of copying from the storage device to the main memory at the time of booting, and even when the boot image stored in the main memory is used, the boot image is restarted at the portion where the booting is terminated. There is a problem in that there is a usage restriction in a system in which the devices in the system must be in a different state than when the devices in the system are shut down.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a booting apparatus and method for an embedded system.

The objects of the present invention are not limited to the above-mentioned objects, and other objects that are not mentioned will be clearly understood by those skilled in the art from the following description.

In order to achieve the above object, a boot device of an embedded system according to an embodiment of the present invention is a control unit for determining whether a boot mode is a warm boot and a start part of an operating system of a main memory according to whether a warm boot is determined. It includes an execution unit that executes an operating system by setting a command pointer.

In the booting method of an embedded system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, an operating system may be configured by setting a command pointer as a start of an operating system of a main memory according to determining whether a boot mode is a warm boot and determining whether the boot mode is a warm boot. The step of executing.

Specific details of other embodiments are included in the detailed description and the drawings.

Advantages and features of the present invention and methods for achieving them will be apparent with reference to the embodiments described below in detail with the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments disclosed below, but can be implemented in various different forms, and only the embodiments make the disclosure of the present invention complete, and the general knowledge in the art to which the present invention belongs. It is provided to fully inform the person having the scope of the invention, which is defined only by the scope of the claims. Like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

2 is a block diagram of a boot device of an embedded system according to an exemplary embodiment.

The boot device 200 of the embedded system includes a power supply unit 210, a control unit 220, and an execution unit 230.

The power supply unit 210 supplies power to the main memory. For example, when the embedded system is terminated, the main power is cut off while maintaining the power of the main memory through the power supply 210.

The controller 220 determines whether the current boot mode is a warm boot. For example, after the system is shut down and power is supplied to reboot, the controller 220 determines whether the current boot mode is a warm boot.

The execution unit 230 boots the system according to the determination of whether or not the controller 220 is warm booted. For example, when it is determined through the control unit 220 that the warm boot is not, the boot loader is executed to boot in the cold boot order. On the other hand, if it is determined as a warm boot, the operating system is executed by setting an instruction pointer of a CPU (central processing unit) as the start of the operating system of the main memory. It also generates an interrupt to execute code in the interrupt service routine included in the operating system of the main memory, or sets the instruction pointer of the central processing unit with the initialization function of the main memory, and executes the initialization function to execute the system shutdown state before booting. You can boot into

The state at the time of system shutdown is initialized and booted, for example, cold booting, and the state of rebooting at the time when the system is shut down. It includes the status to be. In addition, if the user changes the mode when the system (camera) is shut down in a specific state defined for each system, for example, a camera, the system checks for changes in the warm boot and boots to the state when the system is applied with the changed state. It involves doing.

The 'unit' may be expressed as a 'module', and the 'module' refers to a hardware component such as software or a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC). Play some roles However, modules are not meant to be limited to software or hardware. The module may be configured to be in an addressable storage medium and may be configured to execute one or more processors. Thus, as an example, a module may include components such as software components, object-oriented software components, class components, and task components, as well as processes, functions, properties, procedures, and subs. Routines, segments of program code, drivers, firmware, microcode, circuits, data, databases, data structures, tables, arrays, and variables. The functionality provided by the components and modules may be combined into a smaller number of components and modules or further separated into additional components and modules.

3 is a boot flowchart of an embedded system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

At the end of the embedded system, the main power is cut off while maintaining the power of the main memory through the power supply unit 210 (secondary power supply) (S301).

After the system is shut down, if power is supplied to reboot, the controller 220 determines whether the current booting mode is a warm boot (S311 and S321).

If it is not a warm boot, the boot loader (boot loader) is executed through the execution unit 230 to boot in the cold boot order (S331).

On the other hand, if it is a warm boot, it executes the operating system by setting the instruction pointer of the CPU (central processing unit) to the start of the operating system of the main memory through the execution unit 230 (S341). In this case, the contents of the operating system copied to the main memory may not be deleted or changed during the execution of the operating system. In this way, the boot loader execution time and the delay time of copying the operating system from the storage device in which the operating system is stored to the main memory can be reduced.

4 illustrates a structure of a main memory according to an embodiment of the present invention.

It describes the structure of main memory that sets the command pointer of the central processing unit as the operating system part of the main memory during the warm boot of the embedded system.

When the system is terminated, the main power is cut off while maintaining the power of the main memory 400 through the power supply 210.

After shutting down the system, if power is supplied to reboot, it is determined whether the current boot mode is a warm boot. If the boot is a warm boot, the command pointer 402 of the central processing unit is set to the beginning of the operating system 410. Run Dynamic memory can be operated dynamically by creating and using the memory when memory allocation is required and releasing it whenever it is not needed.

5 is a flowchart illustrating a method of booting using an interrupt during a warm boot of an embedded system according to a first embodiment of the present invention.

When the main memory supplies power through the power supply 210 in order to maintain and reboot the information at the end of the system through the power supply 210, the controller 220 determines whether the current boot mode is a warm boot. (S501, S511).

If it is not a warm boot, the boot loader is executed through the execution unit 230 to boot in the cold boot order (S521).

On the other hand, if it is a warm boot, it generates an interrupt through the execution unit 230 (S531). Interrupts are preferably generated according to the contents of the warm boot register by examining the warm boot register of the CPU.

When the interrupt is generated in the next step, the code in the interrupt service routine included in the operating system of the main memory is executed to boot to the state when the system is shut down (S541). The state at the time of system shutdown is initialized and booted, for example, cold booting, and the state of rebooting at the time when the system is shut down. It includes the status to be. In addition, if the user changes the mode when the system (camera) is shut down in a specific state defined for each system, for example, a camera, the system checks for changes in the warm boot and boots to the state when the system is applied with the changed state. It involves doing.

6 shows the structure of a main memory according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

This section describes the structure of main memory that executes code in interrupt service routines included in the operating system of main memory during warm boot of an embedded system.

The main memory 400 maintains the information at the end of the system through the power supply unit 210. When the power is supplied to reboot, the main memory 400 determines whether the current boot mode is a warm boot, and if it is a warm boot, generates an interrupt. The code in the interrupt service routine 610 included in the operating system of the main memory is executed to boot to the state at the time of shutdown. Dynamic memory can be created and used when memory allocation is required, and can be freely operated at any time if not needed.

7 is a flowchart illustrating a method of booting using an initialization function during warm booting of an embedded system according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

At system shutdown, a pointer to an initialization function to be performed at warm boot in the main memory is stored (S701). The initialization function is the first function executed during warm boot and reads the information when the system is shut down stored in the main memory.

Main power is cut off while maintaining the power of the main memory through the power supply 210 (S711).

After the system is shut down and power is supplied to reboot, the controller 220 determines whether the current boot mode is a warm boot (S721 and S731).

If it is not a warm boot, the boot loader is executed through the execution unit 230 to boot in the cold boot order (S741).

On the other hand, in the case of a warm boot, the execution unit 230 executes the initialization function by setting an instruction pointer of the central processing unit as an initialization function of the main memory including the state information at the end of the system (that is, step S701), and at the end of the system. Boot to the state of (S751). The state at the time of system shutdown is initialized and booted, for example, cold booting, and the state of rebooting at the time when the system is shut down, i.e., if the video or music was listened to, the system starts from the state before the booting. It includes the status to be. In addition, if the user changes the mode when the system (camera) is shut down in a specific state defined for each system, for example, a camera, the system checks for changes in the warm boot and boots to the state when the system is applied with the changed state. It involves doing.

8 shows the structure of a main memory according to a second embodiment of the present invention.

This section describes the structure of main memory that sets the instruction pointer of the central processing unit with the initialization function pointer of main memory during warm boot of the embedded system.

When the system is terminated, the main memory 400 stores a pointer of an initialization function to be performed during a warm boot. At this time, the initialization function is the first function to be executed during warm boot and reads the information when the system is shut down stored in the main memory.

In addition, the main power is cut off while maintaining the power of the main memory 400 through the power supply 210. After shutting down the system, if power is supplied for rebooting, it is determined whether the current boot mode is a warm boot, and if it is a warm boot, the central processing is performed by an initialization function of the main memory 400 including state information at the time of shutdown. The instruction pointer 402 of the device is set to execute the initialization function 810 and boot to the state upon system shutdown.

Although embodiments of the present invention have been described above with reference to the accompanying drawings, those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains may implement the present invention in other specific forms without changing the technical spirit or essential features thereof. I can understand that. Therefore, it should be understood that the embodiments described above are exemplary in all respects and not restrictive.

According to the booting apparatus and method of the embedded system of the present invention as described above has one or more of the following effects.

First, it is possible to boot with a limited boot time when the embedded system is rebooted as defined by the developer according to the needs of the developer.

Second, there is an advantage of an effective warm boot in an embedded system where the device state in the system can change at every boot.

Claims (4)

A control unit for determining whether the boot mode is a warm boot; And And an execution unit configured to execute the operating system by setting a command pointer to a start of an operating system of a main memory according to whether the warm boot is determined. The method of claim 1, The apparatus may further include a power supply unit configured to supply power to the main memory, and generate an interrupt when the boot mode is the warm boot, to execute code in an interrupt service routine included in the operating system of the main memory, or A boot device of an embedded system that executes the initialization function by setting the command pointer as an initialization function. Determining whether the boot mode is a warm boot; And And setting the command pointer to the beginning of the operating system of the main memory to execute the operating system according to the determination of whether the boot is a warm boot. The method of claim 3, wherein And supplying power to the main memory, generating an interrupt when the boot mode is the warm boot, executing code in an interrupt service routine included in the operating system of the main memory, or initializing the main memory. Booting an embedded system executing the initialization function by setting the command pointer as a function.

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