WO2020062887A1

WO2020062887A1 - Firmware upgrading method and system based on flash micro-controller, and flash micro-controller

Info

Publication number: WO2020062887A1
Application number: PCT/CN2019/086802
Authority: WO
Inventors: 林云胜; 王树东
Original assignee: 深圳市慧嘉智科技有限公司
Priority date: 2018-09-26
Filing date: 2019-05-14
Publication date: 2020-04-02
Also published as: CN109284117A

Abstract

A firmware upgrading method and system based on a flash micro-controller (30), and the flash micro-controller (30). The method comprises: after the flash micro-controller (30) is powered on, running a bootstrap upgrade program (34), and determining whether an instruction for entering an upgrade is received; if an instruction for entering an upgrade is not received, further determining whether a specific code is stored in a specific address of a flash memory (31); and if an instruction for entering an upgrade is received or the specific code is not stored in the specific address of the flash memory (31), upgrading an application program (33), and when the upgrade is about to be completed, writing the specific code into the specific address of the flash memory (31). The upgrade integrity is indicated by means of storing a specific code in a specific address of the flash memory (31); therefore, if the upgrade fails due to something unexpected, it can be ensured that an upgrade process is entered after powering on again so as to continuously complete the upgrade. The problem of it not being possible to restore normal use after an upgrade is interrupted can be effectively avoided, thereby improving the security, stability and practicability of a product.

Description

Firmware upgrading method and system based on flash microcontroller and flash microcontroller

Technical field

The present invention relates to the technical field of firmware upgrading, and in particular, to a method and system for upgrading firmware based on a flash microcontroller, and a flash microcontroller.

Background technique

With the increase of user demand, in order to increase the competitiveness of the shipped products and reduce the production cost of the product, it is necessary to open more resources to the original product to the user, allowing the user to upgrade the original product. However, the firmware written in the original product may not meet the needs of the current product upgrade. For example, when a user upgrades a USB device, forcing an unexpected situation such as unplugging or powering off the USB device, the upgrade will fail, which will cause the entire device firmware to become unusable. This means that the product's safety and stability functions are poor, which also increases the production cost of the product.

The prior art urgently needs a technology that can continue to upgrade normally without damaging the hardware in the scenario where the USB device is arbitrarily plugged or inserted or other interrupted upgrade operations are performed.

Summary of the Invention

Embodiments of the present invention provide a flash microcontroller-based firmware upgrade method and system, and a flash microcontroller, which are used to solve various unexpected situations that a USB device cannot normally upgrade during the firmware upgrade process, causing firmware damage and The product cannot be used normally.

A first aspect of the present invention provides a firmware upgrade method based on a flash memory microcontroller. The flash memory microcontroller includes a processor and a flash memory. The flash memory stores an application program and a boot upgrade program. The boot upgrade program is used for Starting or upgrading the application program; the method comprises: running the boot upgrade program after the flash microcontroller is powered on to determine whether an upgrade instruction is received; if the upgrade instruction is not received, further determining the Whether a specific code is stored in a specific address of the flash memory; if an upgrade instruction is received or a specific code is not stored in the specific address of the flash memory, the application program is upgraded, and the specific address of the flash memory is to be updated when the upgrade is about to be completed Write specific code.

In a possible implementation manner, the method further includes: if the upgrade instruction is not received and a specific code is stored in a specific address of the flash memory, starting the application program.

In a possible implementation manner, the application program is upgraded, and a specific code is written in a specific address of the flash memory when the upgrade is about to be completed, including: communicating with a host computer through a USB port to obtain the application program ’s Update data; in pages, erase application programs stored in the flash memory page by page and write the update data.

In a possible implementation manner, in a step of erasing an application program stored in the flash memory and writing update data page by page, first erase a specific page containing the specific code, and then rewrite other pages page by page, and finally Write the specific page, and write a specific code to a specific address when the specific page is written.

The above-mentioned upgrade is about to be completed, which means that only the last page, that is, the specific page has not been written with the update data, and the other pages have been written with the update data.

In a possible implementation manner, erasing an application program stored in the flash memory and writing update data page by page includes: executing an erase command to erase the original data of the current page; executing a write command to write on the current page Enter the update data; execute the verification command, read the update data written in the current page, calculate the verification code, and send the verification code to the upper computer so that the upper computer can verify the verification code. If the verification fails, The user will be prompted to upgrade again.

A second aspect of the present invention provides a flash memory microcontroller, including a flash memory and a processor. The flash memory stores an application program and a boot upgrade program. When the flash microcontroller is powered on, the processor runs the flash memory. Guide the upgrade program and perform the following steps: determine whether an upgrade instruction is received; if the upgrade instruction is not received, further determine whether a specific code is stored in a specific address of the flash memory; if an upgrade instruction is received or a If the specific address does not store the specific code, the application is upgraded, and when the upgrade is about to be completed, the specific code is written in the specific address of the flash memory.

In a possible implementation manner, the processor further executes the following steps: if the upgrade instruction is not received and a specific code is stored in a specific address of the flash memory, the application program is started.

In a possible implementation manner, the boot upgrade program is specifically stored in a few pages of memory area including a processor reset address for implementing an online programming ISP function, and the size of the memory area can be dynamically adjusted according to processor performance, or The storage space of the boot upgrade program is a default execution space after the flash microcontroller is powered on.

A third aspect of the present invention provides a USB-based firmware upgrade system, including: a flash memory microcontroller and a host computer, wherein the flash microcontroller communicates with the host computer through a USB port; the flash microcontroller includes a processor and Flash memory, which stores an application program and a boot upgrade program, the boot upgrade program is used to start or upgrade the application program; the flash microcontroller is used to: run the boot upgrade program after power-on to determine whether Receive the entry upgrade instruction; if no entry upgrade instruction is received, further determine whether a specific code is stored in the specific address of the flash memory; if receive the upgrade instruction or the specific address of the flash memory does not store a specific code, The application program is upgraded, and a specific code is written in a specific address of the flash memory when the upgrade is about to be completed; the host computer is used to transmit the update data of the application program to the flash microcontroller, and according to the upgrade steps A control instruction is issued to control the boot upgrade program to upgrade the application program.

A fourth aspect of the present invention provides a firmware upgrade device, which is deployed in a flash microcontroller. The flash microcontroller includes a flash memory and a processor, the flash memory stores an application program, and the device includes a judgment module. After the flash microcontroller is powered on, it is judged whether an upgrade instruction is received; if the upgrade instruction is not received, it is further judged whether a specific code is stored in a specific address of the flash memory; a processing module is used to When the upgrade instruction or the specific address of the flash memory does not store specific code, the application program is upgraded, and when the upgrade is about to be completed, the specific code is written in the specific address of the flash memory.

It can be seen from the above technical solutions that the embodiments of the present invention have the following advantages:

The integrity of the upgrade is indicated by checking during the upgrade process, and the integrity of the application is verified by storing specific code in the specific address of the flash memory. Even if the upgrade fails due to unexpected conditions such as power failure, plugging, etc. during the upgrade process, power on again Later, due to the inability to detect specific data, the application is incomplete, and the incomplete application will not be started. Instead, it will enter the upgrade process and continue to complete the upgrade to ensure the integrity of the application firmware in the flash microcontroller. It can be seen that the solution of the invention improves the stability of the upgrade, can effectively avoid the problem that the normal use cannot be restored after the upgrade is interrupted, and improves the safety, stability and practicability of the product.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order to explain the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention more clearly, the drawings used in the description of the embodiments are briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings in the following description are only some embodiments of the present invention. Those skilled in the art can also obtain other drawings according to these drawings without paying creative labor.

FIG. 1 is a schematic flowchart of a firmware upgrade method according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of implementing firmware upgrade in an application scenario embodiment of the present invention; FIG.

3 is a schematic structural diagram of a flash memory microcontroller according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a schematic structural diagram of a firmware upgrade device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

detailed description

In order to enable those skilled in the art to better understand the solutions of the present invention, the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only The embodiments are part of the present invention, but not all the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by a person of ordinary skill in the art without creative efforts should fall within the protection scope of the present invention.

The terms "including" and "having" and any variations thereof in the description and claims of the present invention and the above-mentioned drawings are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process, method, system, product, or device containing a series of steps or units is not limited to the listed steps or units, but optionally also includes steps or units that are not listed, or optionally also includes Other steps or units inherent to these processes, methods, products or equipment.

Detailed descriptions are respectively provided below through specific embodiments.

Please refer to FIG. 1, an embodiment of the present invention provides a firmware upgrade method based on a flash microcontroller. This method can be used to upgrade firmware in a USB device such as a flash microcontroller. The flash microcontroller includes a processor and a flash memory. The flash memory stores firmware such as an application program and a boot upgrade program, and the boot upgrade program is used to start or upgrade the application program. The method may include:

S1. After the flash microcontroller is powered on, run the boot upgrade program to determine whether an upgrade instruction is received; if yes, go to step S3; if not, go to step S2;

S2. It is further determined whether a specific code is stored in a specific address of the flash memory; if not, proceed to step S3; if yes, proceed to step S4;

S3. Upgrade the application program and write specific code at a specific address in the flash memory when the upgrade is about to be completed;

S4. Start the application.

Optionally, upgrading the application and writing specific code at a specific address of the flash memory when the upgrade is about to be completed may include: communicating with a host computer through a USB port to obtain update data of the application; The application program stored in the flash memory is erased page by page and written with updated data.

The step of erasing the application program stored in the flash memory and writing updated data page by page may specifically include: executing an erase command to erase the original data of the current page; executing a write command to write in the current page Update data; execute the check command, read the updated data written in the current page, calculate the check code, and send the check code to the host computer so that the host computer can verify the check code. After the upper computer passes the verification, it transmits the updated data of the next page to the flash microcontroller, and the flash microcontroller performs the erase and write operations on the next page, and so on, until the data of all pages is rewritten. Complete all upgrades.

In particular, in a step of erasing an application program stored in the flash memory and writing update data page by page, first erase a specific page containing the specific code, then rewrite other pages page by page, and finally write the specific page And write a specific code to a specific address when writing the specific page.

The specific code of a specific page is used to indicate the integrity of the firmware upgrade. Once it is erased or deleted, it means that the application is no longer complete and needs to be upgraded. In this way, once the upgrade process is interrupted unexpectedly, you can determine whether the current application is incomplete by detecting whether it contains specific data after the power is turned on again, and you need to upgrade without jumping to the code area of the application and starting the incomplete application. , Throwing various errors. Only when the entire application is upgraded, a specific address will be written into a specific code. When the specific code is detected after power-on, it means that the current application is complete and can be started. As a result, the upgrade efficiency is improved, the problem that normal use cannot be resumed after the upgrade is interrupted can be effectively avoided, and the safety, stability and practicability of the product are improved.

The method of the present invention is described in further detail below in combination with specific application scenario embodiments:

In this embodiment, two parts of firmware or program are programmed in a Flash microcontroller unit (Microcontroller Unit, MCU), one is a boot upgrade program, and the other is an application program (APP). When an application problem occurs and needs to be upgraded, switch to the boot. The upgrade program is used to guide the upgrade program to cooperate with the software of the host computer such as APP to upgrade or update the application program. The host computer is, for example, a personal computer (PC) or a server. The boot upgrade program is, for example, a boot loader program.

As shown in Figure 2, the overall implementation process includes: placing the user code of the application to be upgraded into the host computer software. After the MCU is powered on, the boot code in the upgrade boot program is first run to select the mode, that is, to determine whether to enter Upgrade, if not enter the upgrade, execute the normal application program, otherwise execute the upgrade code in the upgrade boot program. In the upgrade code, the MCU communicates with the host computer software through the USB port, so that the user code in the host computer software is transmitted to the MCU, the MCU writes to Flash, and sends the check code to the host computer software as judged by the host computer APP The check code is correct, so it is executed page by page.

The specific implementation process is divided into the following parts:

1. Memory configuration for user code and boot code.

For some MCUs, there is a memory area specifically for implementing the ISP (In-System Programming) function, and the boot code can be placed in this area.

For MCU without ISP function, you need to configure the flash space for the boot code. If the boot code requires 4K space, the boot code is placed in the first 4K space of the Flash, and the user code is placed in the space starting from the 4K. In other words, the storage space of the boot upgrade program is a default execution space after the flash microcontroller is powered on.

2. Jump selection of boot code.

As far as the boot code is concerned, there is only one function, which is to determine whether to enter the upgrade. If it does not enter the upgrade, the program must jump to the user code area, otherwise, execute the upgrade code and enter the upgrade process.

The judgment condition is usually determined by the actual situation, and it is generally whether or not an upgrade instruction is received. For example, if a keystroke instruction is detected to indicate that the upgrade is to be entered.

As mentioned above, for an MCU with a dedicated ISP memory area, if you want to enter the user code area, you need to set to start from the user code, and then issue an MCU reset instruction.

For MCUs without ISP function, you need to set manual jump instructions, such as function pointer, whose address is set to the user code area.

3, USB upgrade-MCU part.

The host computer and MCU implement data exchange through the USB port. In order to ensure the integrity and confidentiality of the data, the data needs to be encrypted and verified. The user code is upgraded in units of pages, that is, to erase a page and write a Page, check one page, and after confirming that it is correct, proceed to the next page.

This process can be implemented with the "set port" and "getreport" commands of USB. In order to ensure the orderly progress of the process, the following protocol can be defined:

(1) get report [1] = 0xE1, MCU returns information such as version number.

(2) get report [1] = 0xE2, reserve the command.

(3) get report [1] = 0xE3, the MCU executes the erase command.

(4) get report [1] = 0xE4, the MCU decodes the data and writes it to Flash.

(5) get report [1] = 0xE5, the MCU reads the content of the specified page and calculates the check code, and returns it to the upper computer APP.

(6) get report [1] = 0xE6, the upgrade is completed.

Among them, getreport [1] refers to the first byte of data received by the get command.

4, USB upgrade-APP part.

The APP part is written in C ++, and the process is similar to the above process. The difference is that the APP communicates with the MCU as the initiator of the command and controls the MCU to perform the upgrade process.

5. USB upgrade stability.

Such a problem occurs during the USB upgrade process. If the user has not accidentally disconnected the USB connection or the USB connection error has occurred before the upgrade is completed, the user code written into Flash is incomplete, which may lead to unexpected results.

This situation is resolved as follows:

A specific data, such as 32 bits, is written in advance at a fixed address / specific address in the flash area of the user code, and the data is used to indicate the completeness of the upgrade, or the integrity of the application. For example, it can be written during the last upgrade.

The APP needs to do the corresponding processing. After entering the upgrade, the APP should first erase the page so that the specific data is erased; if the data is erased, it means that the user code is incomplete.

Next, for pages other than the specific page, the APP erases page by page and writes page by page;

After all other pages have been written, the code for that page is finally written, including writing specific code. The writing of specific code indicates that the upgrade is complete and the application is complete.

Processing is needed in the boot code of the MCU's boot upgrade program. It is judged that if the specific data does not exist, it can only enter the upgrade and cannot jump to the user code area.

In this way, even if the upgrade fails due to a power outage during the upgrade process, since the 32-bit specific data cannot be detected after the power is turned on again, you can only enter the upgrade and continue to complete the upgrade; you cannot start incomplete applications, Avoid causing unintended consequences.

Because if the upgrade fails, the application is wrong or incomplete, which will cause an unpredictable error in the application. If there is no such limitation, that is, the data is incomplete, it can only be upgraded and cannot enter the application; users will mistake it as an application problem, because the incomplete data may have most of the functions, and it will not be manually upgraded again. An error occurs.

The method provided by the present invention has been described above.

To facilitate the implementation of the present invention, corresponding devices / systems are also provided below.

Referring to FIG. 3, an embodiment of the present invention provides a flash memory microcontroller 30 including a flash memory 31 and a processor 32. The flash memory 31 stores an application program 33 and a boot upgrade program 34. After the controller 30 is powered on, the processor 32 runs the boot upgrade program and performs the following steps:

Determine whether an upgrade instruction is received; if no upgrade instruction is received, further determine whether a specific code is stored in a specific address of the flash memory; if a specific code is stored in a specific address of the flash memory, The application program is upgraded, and a specific code is written in a specific address of the flash memory when the upgrade is about to be completed.

Optionally, the processor 32 further executes the following step: if the upgrade instruction is not received and a specific code is stored in a specific address of the flash memory, the application program is started.

Optionally, the boot upgrade program is specifically stored in a page memory area containing a processor reset address for implementing the ISP function, and the size of the memory area can be dynamically adjusted according to the performance of the processor.

Optionally, the storage space of the boot upgrade program is a default execution space after the flash microcontroller is powered on, that is, the storage space of the boot upgrade program is located before the storage space of the application program.

Please refer to FIG. 4. According to an embodiment of the present invention, a firmware upgrade device 40 is further provided, which is deployed in a flash memory microcontroller. The flash microcontroller includes a flash memory and a processor, and the flash memory stores an application program. The device 40 includes:

A judging module 41 is configured to determine whether an upgrade instruction is received after the flash microcontroller is powered on; if the upgrade instruction is not received, further determine whether a specific code is stored in a specific address of the flash memory;

The processing module 42 is configured to upgrade the application program if an upgrade instruction is received or the specific address of the flash memory does not store the specific code, and write the specific code at the specific address of the flash memory when the upgrade is about to be completed. .

An embodiment of the present invention further provides a USB-based firmware upgrade system, including: a flash memory microcontroller and a host computer, wherein the flash microcontroller communicates with the host computer through a USB port;

The flash memory microcontroller includes a processor and a flash memory. The flash memory stores an application program and a boot upgrade program. The boot upgrade program is used to start or upgrade the application program. The flash microcontroller is used to: After power-on, the boot upgrade program is run to determine whether an upgrade instruction is received. If the upgrade instruction is not received, it is further determined whether a specific code is stored in a specific address of the flash memory; if an upgrade instruction is received or the flash memory is received The specific address does not store the specific code, then upgrade the application, and write the specific code at the specific address of the flash memory when the upgrade is about to be completed;

The host computer is configured to transmit the update data of the application program to the flash microcontroller, and issue a control instruction according to the upgrade step to control the boot upgrade program to upgrade the application program.

The embodiments of the present invention provide a firmware upgrade method based on a flash microcontroller, a firmware upgrade device, a flash microcontroller, and a USB-based firmware upgrade system. By adopting the above technical solution, the following technologies are obtained: Effect: The specificity of the code is stored in the specific address of the flash memory to indicate the integrity of the upgrade. Even if the upgrade fails due to unexpected conditions such as power failure, plugging, etc., the specific data will not be detected after the power is turned on again, and it will not start Incomplete applications will instead enter the upgrade process and continue to complete the upgrade to ensure the integrity of the application firmware in the flash microcontroller. It can be seen that the solution of the present invention improves the upgrade efficiency, can effectively avoid the problem that normal use cannot be restored after the upgrade is interrupted, and improves the safety, stability and practicability of the product.

In the above embodiments, the description of each embodiment has its own emphasis. For a part that is not described in detail in one embodiment, reference may be made to related descriptions in other embodiments.

The above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention, rather than limiting them. Those of ordinary skill in the art should understand that they can still modify the technical solutions described in the above embodiments, or modify some of the technical features. Equivalent replacements are made; and these modifications or replacements do not deviate the essence of the corresponding technical solutions from the spirit and scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention.

Claims

A firmware upgrade method based on a flash microcontroller, characterized in that the flash microcontroller includes a processor and a flash memory, the flash memory stores an application program and a boot upgrade program, and the boot upgrade program is used to start or Upgrading the application; the method includes:

After the flash microcontroller is powered on, run the boot upgrade program to determine whether an upgrade instruction is received;

If no entry upgrade instruction is received, further determining whether a specific code is stored in a specific address of the flash memory;

If an upgrade instruction is received or a specific address of the flash memory does not store a specific code, the application program is upgraded, and the specific code is written in a specific address of the flash memory when the upgrade is about to be completed.
The method according to claim 1, further comprising:

If no upgrade instruction is received and a specific code is stored in a specific address of the flash memory, the application program is started.
The method according to claim 2, wherein upgrading the application program, and writing specific code at a specific address of the flash memory when the upgrade is about to be completed, comprises:

Communicate with a host computer through a USB port to obtain update data of the application program;

The application program stored in the flash memory is erased page by page and written with updated data.
The method according to claim 3, wherein:

In the step of erasing the application program stored in the flash memory page by page and writing update data, first erase a specific page containing the specific code, then rewrite other pages page by page, and finally write the specific page, and then A specific code is written to a specific address when the specific page is written.
The method according to claim 3, wherein erasing the application program stored in the flash memory page by page and writing the update data comprises:

Execute the erase command to erase the original data of the current page;

Execute a write command to write updated data on the current page;

Execute the check command to read the updated data written in the current page, calculate the check code, and send the check code to the host computer so that the host computer can verify the check code.
A flash microcontroller includes a flash memory and a processor. The flash memory stores an application program and a boot upgrade program. When the flash microcontroller is powered on, the processor runs the boot upgrade. Procedure to perform the following steps:

Determine whether to receive the upgrade instruction;

If no entry upgrade instruction is received, further determining whether a specific code is stored in a specific address of the flash memory;

If an upgrade instruction is received, or a specific address of the flash memory does not store a specific code, the application program is upgraded, and a specific code is written in a specific address of the flash memory when the upgrade is about to be completed.
The flash memory microcontroller according to claim 6, wherein the processor further performs the following steps:

If no upgrade instruction is received and a specific code is stored in a specific address of the flash memory, the application program is started.
The flash memory microcontroller according to claim 6, wherein:

The boot upgrade program is specifically stored in a few pages of memory area including a processor reset address for implementing online programming, and the size of the memory area can be dynamically adjusted according to the performance of the processor.
The flash memory microcontroller according to claim 6, wherein:

The storage space of the boot upgrade program is a default execution space after the flash microcontroller is powered on.
A USB-based firmware upgrade system, comprising:

A flash microcontroller and a host computer, the flash microcontroller communicates with the host computer through a USB port;

The flash memory microcontroller includes a processor and a flash memory. The flash memory stores an application program and a boot upgrade program. The boot upgrade program is used to start or upgrade the application program. The flash microcontroller is used to: After power-on, the boot upgrade program is run to determine whether an upgrade instruction is received. If the upgrade instruction is not received, it is further determined whether a specific code is stored in a specific address of the flash memory; if an upgrade instruction is received or the flash memory is received The specific address does not store the specific code, then upgrade the application, and write the specific code at the specific address of the flash memory when the upgrade is about to be completed;

The host computer is configured to transmit the update data of the application program to the flash microcontroller, and issue a control instruction according to the upgrade step to control the boot upgrade program to upgrade the application program.