KR100828252B1 - RF module control method in waking state in multiprocessor terminal and multiprocessor terminal - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a multiprocessor terminal and a method for controlling an RF module during waking in a dormant state of the multiprocessor terminal.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of controlling an RF module in a wake-up state of a multiprocessor terminal, including: entering a multiprocessor terminal into a DRX cycle, setting a sleep interval according to entering the DRX cycle, and remaining according to a sleep mode performance Determining whether there are more sleep sections than the sum of one sleep cycle and the start preparation time, and performing a wake-up operation when there are no more remaining sleep sections as a result of the determination. It features.

According to the configuration of the present invention as described above, the terminal power control is performed by the L1 processor, thereby simplifying the software configuration of the main processor and eliminating the need for inter-processor communication, thereby improving the response speed of the terminal.

Terminal power control, L1 processor, sleep section, sleep cycle, wake up operation

Description

Mobile terminal with multiprocessor and method for controlling wake up of RF module from sleep state

1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a multiprocessor terminal in which a main processor directly controls an RF module according to the related art.

2 is a timing diagram of a sleep section and a sleep cycle in a multiprocessor terminal according to the related art.

3 is a block diagram illustrating a main configuration of a multiprocessor terminal according to the present invention.

4 is a timing diagram of a sleep section and a sleep cycle in a multiprocessor terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a flowchart illustrating a method of controlling an RF module during waking in a dormant state of a multiprocessor terminal according to the present invention.

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

310: RF module 320: baseband signal processing unit

330: L1 processor 340: main processor

The present invention relates to a multi-processor terminal and a method of controlling a radio frequency (RF) module of a multi-processor terminal during wake-up in a sleep state of the multi-processor terminal.

As terminals develop into higher functionality and versatility, they have a multiprocessor configuration that includes a main processor and a subprocessor for controlling sleep states within them.

The multiprocessor terminal is composed of a main processor for controlling the entire terminal, an L1 processor for controlling Layer 1 (L1), and other processors for processing audio, video, and the like.

1 is a diagram illustrating a schematic configuration of a multiprocessor terminal in which a main processor directly controls an RF module according to the related art.

Referring to FIG. 1, a multiprocessor terminal in which a main processor directly controls an RF module according to the related art includes an RF module 110 that performs signal processing for transmitting and receiving an RF signal, and interworking with the RF module 110. A baseband signal processor 120 for processing the received signal, the L1 processor 130 for controlling the operation of the L1 and the main processor 140 for controlling the entire terminal is configured.

The baseband signal processor 120 includes a fast clock counter that provides a fast clock used in normal operation of the terminal and a slow clock counter that provides a slow clock used in the sleep mode. A counter 141 including a slow clock counter is provided to provide a corresponding clock and count the provided clock according to an operation mode of the multiprocessor terminal.

In particular, the sleep mode is a deep sleep mode in which all modules including the main processor 140 and the L1 processor 130 do not operate, and a light sleep in which only the main processor 110 wakes up for a while to check the terminal status. ) Mode.

The sleep section includes a wake up section in which the RF module 110 and other processors are woken up in the last mask mode in which the sleep section is repeated while the sleep section is repeated. When the wake up is completed, the terminal returns to the normal state and receives system information transmitted from the base station.

As shown in FIG. 1, in a multi-processor terminal in which a main processor directly controls an RF module according to the related art, the main processor 140 directly controls the RF module 110 in a state where only the main processor 140 is awake. It can be seen that a control method for operating is used. That is, since the baseband signal processing unit 120 and the L1 processor 130 are in the dormant state, it can be seen that the main processor 140 is the only component capable of operating the RF module 110 in the multiprocessor terminal.

In normal call and data transmission and reception, all modules operate with a fast clock that is normal. However, if the multiprocessor terminal is not used for call and data transmission and reception, the multiprocessor terminal enters a Discontinuous Receive (DRX) state, and thus the multiprocessor terminal is driven with a slow clock to reduce power consumption according to the DRX cycle.

2 is a diagram illustrating a timing diagram for a sleep section and a sleep cycle in a multiprocessor terminal according to the related art.

The multiprocessor terminal must maintain time synchronization with the base station during the sleep period Ts in order to receive paging indications and the like in accordance with the DRX cycle starting at time T ₀ . In accordance with time synchronization, a multi-mode terminal should drive a sleep counter and allow the terminal to receive a call command after a predetermined sleep period. That is, when the sleep counter value becomes the last mask mode by approximating the sleep interval value, the main processor 140 operates in advance so that the RF module 110 (VTCXO & PLL) can reach a normal state. Allow RF module 110 to reach a sufficient normal operating state during time DELTA Tw.

In order to operate the RF module 110 in the wake-up period, the current mask mode is referred to as the last sleep cycle in consideration of the remaining time until the end of the sleep period in each mask period and the time taken for the RF module 110 to wake up. If determined, the main processor 140 operates the RF module 130 at the time Tx.

When the wake-up of the terminal is completed at time Ty, the clock is switched from a slow clock to a fast clock and supplied to the baseband signal processor 120 and other processors. As the fast clock is driven, the terminal returns to the normal operation state and checks whether the terminal is called at the call command time. If there is no call, the terminal returns to the sleep mode.

According to the prior art configuration as described above, only the main processor 140 wakes up with a slow clock when waking up in the sleep state, there is a need for the main processor 140 to control the RF module 110. Accordingly, there is a problem that the software for controlling the L1 and the software for controlling the application are mixed, and the path for controlling the RF module 110 is also made through multiple or inter-processor communication. That is, the redundancy of the path for controlling the RF module 110 is required, or the main processor 140 receives the message for controlling the RF module 110 from the L1 processor 130 and controls the RF module 110 somewhat. Complex processing paths are required.

Meanwhile, as the control of the RF module 110 gradually evolves into a digital serial interface, most of the RF modules 110, which are conventionally controlled in an analog manner, are configured to be controlled through the digital serial interface. In particular, when a fast process such as power control and compression mode is required, the L1 processor 130 may limit the time between the two processors in order to analyze the signal received from the RF module 110 and transmit a message to the main processor 140. The conditions become larger and may cause performance degradation due to increased processing delays.

In addition, since the L1 software needs to be distributed and operated in the L1 processor 130 and the main processor 140, there are problems such as complicated software structure and many constraints in the time schedule due to increased traffic between processors.

The present invention allows the processor controlling the L1 to control the RF module and adds a weather function to the processor controlling the L1 so that the L1 processor can control the RF module even in the wake of the multiprocessor terminal and the multiprocessor terminal. It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for controlling a radio frequency module in a wake-up state.

In order to achieve the above object, a multiprocessor terminal according to the present invention includes an RF module for transmitting and receiving an RF signal, a baseband signal processor for processing a transmit and receive signal in conjunction with the RF module, L1 driving software and RF control software. An L1 processor for controlling the physical layer (L1) and the operation and power of the RF module, and a weather function is provided to control the L1 processor to control the RF module even during the weather and baseband signal processing unit And a main processor for controlling the terminal and other functions.

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According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of controlling an RF module in a wake-up state in a multi-processor terminal, the method comprising: entering a DRX cycle by a multi-processor terminal, and setting a sleep period according to entering the DRX cycle; Determining whether the remaining sleep section remains longer than the sum of one sleep cycle and the start preparation time according to the sleep mode; and performing the wake-up operation when there are no more remaining sleep sections as a result of the determination. Characterized in that comprises a step.

As a result of the determination, if there are more remaining sleep sections, the method may further include continuing the dormant cycle.

In the performing of the wake-up operation, the main processor applies a slow clock to the L1 processor to enable the L1 processor, and then outputs an RF module operation command to the L1 processor so that the L1 processor starts the RF module operation.

After performing the wake-up operation, the method further includes determining whether there is a call instruction in the received signal according to the wake-up operation, and ending the DRX cycle when there is a call instruction as a result of the determination. .

In the step of determining whether there is a call command, if there is no call command is characterized in that it further comprises the step of returning to the step of setting the sleep interval.

According to the RF module control method in the wake-up state in the multi-processor terminal and the multi-processor terminal configured as described above, power control and the like is performed by the L1 processor such as RF control software to eliminate the inter-processor communication response speed And the L1 software runs only on the L1 processor, eliminating the need for message traffic for control between the main processor and the L1 processor, which simplifies the structure of the software and therefore makes it easier to design the software structure and scheduler design. Will be easier.

Hereinafter, an RF module control method in a wake-up state in a dormant state of a multiprocessor terminal and a multiprocessor terminal according to the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

3 is a block diagram illustrating a main configuration of a multiprocessor terminal according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3, a multiprocessor terminal according to the present invention includes an RF module 310, a baseband signal processor 320, an L1 processor 330, and a main processor 340.

The RF module 310 converts a signal to be transmitted from a terminal signal-processed by the baseband signal processor 320 into a radio frequency signal, or receives an RF signal transmitted from a base station or the like, and then receives the baseband signal processor 320. Will output

The baseband signal processor 320 processes and outputs a transmitted / received signal in cooperation with the RF module 310. The baseband signal processor 320 is provided with a counter 321 including a fast clock counter for providing a fast clock used in the normal operation of the terminal and a slow clock counter for providing a slow clock used in the sleep mode. According to the operation mode of the processor terminal provides a corresponding clock and counts the provided clock.

The L1 processor 330 includes L1 driving software and RF control software to control the operation of L1 and the operation of the RF module 310.

The main processor 340 controls other operations of the baseband signal processor 320 and the terminal.

In the multiprocessor terminal according to the present invention configured as described above, the L1 processor 330 has an RF interface to control the RF module 310 directly by the L1 software in order to compensate for the problems according to the prior art. Accordingly, there is an advantage in that the software structure for driving the terminal is simplified and the scheduler can be easily designed in the normal operation state.

However, in the configuration of the multiprocessor terminal according to the present invention configured as described above, since the L1 processor 330 is in the sleep mode during the sleep mode operation, according to the conventional sleep mode control method, the RF module 330 wakes up during the wake up. There is a problem that cannot be done.

That is, when the L1 processor 330 controls the RF module 310, since the L1 processor 330 is in the sleep state in the sleep mode, even if the main processor 340 attempts to operate the RF module 310 during wake up. It will not work. Therefore, there is a problem that the sleep mode to reduce the most important power consumption in the terminal does not operate.

In order to solve the above problem, in the RF module control method in the wake-up state of the multi-processor terminal according to the present invention, the main processor 340 wakes up and operates in the current sleep mode (light sleep) in each of the slow clocks. It is determined whether the mask mode is closest to the section for the wake-up operation, and when the current mask mode is closest, the main processor 340 applies a slow clock to the L1 processor 330 to operate the L1 processor 330. To do that. This process is described in more detail.

4 is a diagram illustrating a timing diagram for a sleep section and a sleep cycle in a multiprocessor terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

When the multiprocessor terminal operates in the normal operation mode and enters the DRX mode to reduce power consumption, the multiprocessor terminal calculates the sleep interval according to the DRX cycle and sleeps at the time T0 in consideration of the current system time and the call command time. The mode is switched.

In the sleep period TS, a deep sleep mode (Deep) and a slow clock, in which a slow clock is not supplied to the main processor 340 and the main processor 340 also does not operate, are supplied to the main processor 340, thereby remaining in the state of the terminal. Repeat the mask mode (Light) to check the sleep section alternately at the time t1, t2, tn.

After the deep sleep mode and the light mode are repeatedly performed, when the current mask mode corresponds to the last cycle of the remaining sleep period, the transition to the wake up mode is performed at time Tx.

In the wake mode, the L1 processor 330 starts to operate the RF module 310.

In this case, since the L1 processor 330 operates with a slow clock, it takes a longer time to operate the RF module 310 by receiving the RF module 310 operation start command from the main processor 340. This means that the actual mask period is shortened by the time for delivering a message from the main processor 340 to the L1 processor 330. However, the clock used at this time is a slow clock, so the power consumption for the operation is negligible.

According to the wake-up operation, when a call command to the multiprocessor terminal is received, the normal operation mode by the fast clock is performed from the time Ty.

Hereinafter, an RF module control method when the multiprocessor terminal according to the present invention performs a wake-up operation in a dormant state will be described in detail.

5 is a flowchart illustrating a method for controlling an RF module during waking in a dormant state of a multiprocessor terminal according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 5, according to the RF module control method in the wake-up state of the multiprocessor terminal according to the present invention, the multiprocessor terminal first sets the DRX cycle to enter the DRX mode in order to reduce power consumption (S510). ).

In this case, the multiprocessor terminal calculates the sleep interval TS according to the DRX cycle, and switches to the sleep mode at time T ₀ in consideration of the current system time and the call command time (S520).

In order to switch to the sleep mode, the clock supply to the processor other than the main processor 340 is stopped and the normal operation of the RF module 310 and the baseband signal processor 320 is stopped.

At this time, the clock for operating the main processor 340 is switched from a fast clock to a slow clock, and a slow counter for measuring the sleep interval starts the counter.

According to the above steps, when the multiprocessor terminal enters the sleep mode at time T ₀ after the DRX cycle and the sleep interval Ts are established, the main processor 340 of the multiprocessor terminal is present in every mask mode (Light). Check if the mask mode corresponds to the last cycle of the remaining sleep period, and if the condition is satisfied, make the transition to wake up mode.

To this end, the remaining sleep interval excluding the time elapsed to the present time from the initially set sleep interval Ts, the time ΔT _L1 required to enable the L1 processor 330 and the L1 processor 330 are the RF module ( It is determined whether 310 times more time is required to add one sleep cycle to the start preparation time ΔTw, which is the sum of the time ΔT _RF required to wake up and stabilize.

As a result of the determination (S530), if more remaining sleep sections remain, the sleep cycle is continuously performed (S540).

However, when the determination result (S530), when there are no more remaining sleep intervals, the main processor 340 executes the wake-up mode (S550).

That is, when it is determined that the current mask mode corresponds to a wake-up cycle for waking up, the main processor 340 first supplies a slow clock to the L1 processor 330 to enable the L1 processor 330. And a command to wake up the RF module 310 to the L1 processor 330.

Accordingly, the L1 processor S330 operates the RF mode of the RF module 310 through a general purpose input output (GPIO) port or the like immediately after receiving the RF module 310 weather command. The RF module 310 includes a VTCXO, an RF clock loop locked lock (PLL), and the like, which are sources of fast clocks. Since these modules take a long time to reach a steady state, after a predetermined time has elapsed, the modules supply a fast clock to the baseband signal processor 320 and each of the processors. When the VTCXO is stabilized and a fast clock is supplied to the baseband signal processor 320 and the processors, the multiprocessor terminal performs time resynchronization with the base station.

According to the execution of the above process, the baseband signal processor 320 receives data including the call signal at the call command time corresponding to the multiprocessor terminal from the processed data by the baseband signal processor 320. It is determined whether the call is made to the processor terminal (S560).

If there is no call instruction as a result of the determination, the sleep mode is performed again (S520).

On the other hand, if there is a call command, and exits the DRX cycle to receive the call command data to perform the normal operation mode (S570).

Accordingly, the multiprocessor terminal performs a normal operation mode by a fast clock.

In the above, the RF module control method in the wake-up state in the dormant state of the multiprocessor terminal and the multiprocessor terminal according to the present invention has been described in detail. However, the present invention is not limited thereto, and the present invention is included in the present invention even if the present invention is carried out without change and modification without departing from the spirit of the present invention, and the fact will be apparent to those skilled in the art.

According to the RF module control method in the wake-up state in the multi-processor terminal and the multi-processor terminal according to the present invention, the response speed is reduced by eliminating the communication between the processors by allowing the power control, etc. to be performed by the L1 processor such as RF control software As the L1 software runs only on the L1 processor, there is no need for message traffic for control between the main processor and the L1 processor, which simplifies the structure of the software, making it easier to design the software structure and the scheduler design. It becomes easy.

In addition, as the automatic gain control (AGC) according to the power control and the AFC control by the time tracker (time tracker) or the like is performed by the L1 processor, fast feedback is possible.

On the other hand, it is easy to cope with the centralization of RF control to the digital serial interface, which is the evolution direction of the RF module, and the L1 software is integrated into the L1 processor, so that the L1 processor can be operated only when the module is tested and operated. have.

Claims (7)

An RF module for transmitting and receiving an RF signal; A baseband signal processor configured to process transmission and reception signals in association with the RF module; An L1 processor having L1 driving software and RF control software to control physical layer (L1) control and operation and power of the RF module; And a main processor configured to control the L1 processor to control the RF module and to control a baseband signal processor and other functions during wakeup. delete Entering the multiprocessor terminal into a DRX cycle; Setting a sleep interval according to entry into the DRX cycle; Determining whether the remaining sleep section remains longer than the sum of one sleep cycle and the start preparation time according to the sleep mode; And performing a wake-up operation when there are no more remaining sleep sections as a result of the determination. 4. The method of claim 3, further comprising continuing to perform a sleep cycle when there are more remaining sleep sections as a result of the determination. The method of claim 3, wherein performing the wake-up operation, The main processor applies a slow clock to the L1 processor to enable the L1 processor and then outputs an RF module operation command to the L1 processor so that the L1 processor starts the RF module operation. RF module control method. The method of claim 3, wherein after performing the meteorological operation, Determining whether there is a call command in the received signal according to the wake-up operation; And ending the DRX cycle if there is a call command as a result of the determination. The method of claim 6, wherein the step of determining whether there is the call command, And returning to setting a sleep section when there is no call command. The method of controlling an RF module in a wake-up state in a dormant state of a multiprocessor terminal.

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