BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a circuit for updating firmware of a display apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a circuit for updating firmware of a display apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a method for updating firmware of a display apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a method for updating firmware of a display apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention; and
FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a method for updating firmware of a display apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
In order to make the structure and characteristics as well as the effectiveness of the present invention to be further understood and recognized, the detailed description of the present invention is provided as follows along with preferred embodiments and accompanying figures.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a circuit for updating firmware of a display apparatus illustrated according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. According to the present invention, a maintenance site may provide updating service of older or defected versions of firmware information by installing a new version of firmware information into the display apparatus. As shown in the figure, the circuit for updating firmware of a display apparatus includes a first display apparatus 10 and a second display apparatus 20, wherein the first display apparatus 10 is coupled with the second display apparatus 20. The first display apparatus 10 includes a first microprocessor unit 12, a first storage unit 14, and an update unit 30. The second display unit 20 includes a second microprocessor unit 22 and a second storage unit 24. The first storage unit 14 stores a first firmware information, while the second storage unit 24 stores a second firmware information. The first microprocessor unit 12 and the second microprocessor unit 22 are coupled to the first storage unit 14 and the second storage unit 24 respectively, in order to write firmware information into or to read the firmware information from the storage units 14, 24. In addition, the first microprocessor unit 12 and the second microprocessor unit 24 possess In-System Programming (ISP) function, such that updating firmware information from the first display apparatus 10 to the second display apparatus 20 can be processed directly without the need of detaching the first microprocessor unit 12 and the second microprocessor unit 22 from the first display apparatus 10 and the second display apparatus 20, respectively.
Furthermore, the update unit 30 may reside in the first display apparatus 10 in order to allow the first microprocessor unit 12 in the first display apparatus 10 to read the first firmware information, and to transmit the first firmware information to the second display apparatus 20. The first firmware information may be written into the second storage unit 24 of the second display unit 20 by the second microprocessor unit 22 of the second display apparatus 20 when updating the second firmware information.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a circuit for updating firmware of a display apparatus illustrated according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the update unit 30 illustrated according to the present embodiment resides in the second display apparatus 20. The update unit 30 enables the second microprocessor unit 22 of the second display apparatus 20 to transmit a request signal to the first display apparatus 10. After the first microprocessor unit 12 of the first display apparatus 10 receives the request signal, the first firmware information in the first storage unit 14 is read and transmitted to the second microprocessor unit 22 of the second display apparatus 20. The second microprocessor unit 22 thereby updates the second firmware information in the second storage unit 24 according to the received first firmware information. The update unit 30 can be an update key or a combination key composed of a plurality of keys for preventing errors involving update initialization. The proposed update unit 30 can also be controlled through an On-Screen Display (OSD).
Furthermore, when the update unit 30 initializes the updating procedure, the microprocessor unit(s) 10, 20 may determine whether the first firmware information is a new version or an old version. When the first firmware information is determined as the new version, the first firmware information is transmitted from the first display apparatus 10 to the second display apparatus 20 in order to update the second firmware information of the second display apparatus 20. Likewise, when the second firmware information is the new version, the second firmware information is transmitted from the second display apparatus 20 to the first display apparatus 10 in order to update the first firmware information of the first display apparatus 10.
The first display apparatus 10 and the second display apparatus 20 can be mutually coupled by a coupling interface 40 (as shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2). The coupling interface 40 can be VGA, DVI, or High-Definition Multimedia Interface (HDMI), and may include DDC for transmitting firmware information. The DDC includes a Signal Data (SDA) and a Signal Clock (SCL), wherein the SDA is used for transmitting internal data, such as model type, name, or resolution of the display apparatus, while SCL is the clock pulse that is synchronous with the SDA. Both SDA and SCL comply with the I2C communication protocol.
The trend of a system-on-chip architecture suggests that the first storage unit 14 and the update unit 30 can be jointly or separately included in the first microprocessor unit 12 that is described in the embodiments above, achieving the purpose of system minimization by miniaturizing the whole circuit. Similarly, the second storage unit 24 and the update unit 30 can be jointly or separately included in the second microprocessor unit 22.
FIG. 3 is a flowchart of a method for updating firmware of a display apparatus illustrated according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3 with FIG. 1 referenced as well, the step S10 executes the process of coupling a first display apparatus 10 with a second display apparatus 20. Then, in step S11, an update signal is transmitted from an update unit 30 (the update unit 30 is optional and may reside in any part of the hardware circuits) to a first microprocessor unit 12 of the first display apparatus 10. Next, in step S12, a first firmware information is read from a first storage unit 14 of the first display apparatus 10 in reference to the update signal. Thereafter in step S13, the first firmware information is transmitted to a second microprocessor unit 22 of the second display apparatus 20. Then, step S14 executes the updating process of a second firmware information in the second storage unit 24 according to the first firmware information.
FIG. 4 is a flowchart of a method for updating firmware of a display apparatus illustrated according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 4 with FIG. 2 referenced as well, the step S20 executes the process of coupling a first display apparatus 10 with a second display apparatus 20. Then, in step S21, an update signal is transmitted from an update unit 30 (the update unit 30 is optional and may reside in any part of the hardware circuits) to the second display apparatus 20. Next, in step S22, a request signal is transmitted from a second microprocessor unit 22 of the second display apparatus 20 to a first microprocessor unit 12 of the first display apparatus 10, which is initiated by the update signal. Afterwards, to respond the request signal, step S23 is executed such that a first firmware information is read from a first storage unit 14 of the first display apparatus 10. Thereafter, step S24 is executed to transmit the first firmware information to the second microprocessor unit 22. Then, step S25 executes the updating process of a second firmware information in the second storage unit 24 of the second display apparatus 20 according to the first firmware information.
FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a method for updating firmware of a display apparatus illustrated according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. As shown in the figure, the difference between the present embodiment and the embodiments demonstrated in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4 is that step S31 determines whether a first firmware information of the first display apparatus 10 is a new version or an old version of firmware information. When the first firmware information is the new version of firmware information, step S32 is executed in order to transmit the first firmware information to the second display apparatus 20 from the first display apparatus 10. Then step S33 is executed to update the second firmware information of the second display apparatus 20 according to the first firmware information. When the first firmware information is the old version of firmware information, step S34 is then executed in order to transmit the second firmware information of the second display apparatus 20 to the first display apparatus 10. Next, the step S35 is executed to update the first firmware information of the first display apparatus 10 according to the second firmware information of the second display apparatus 20.
To sum up, the circuit for updating firmware of a display apparatus according to the present invention includes a first display apparatus, a second display apparatus, and an update unit, wherein the first display apparatus includes a first microprocessor unit and a first storage unit; the second display apparatus includes a second microprocessor unit and a second storage unit. An optional update unit may initialize the updating procedure. When a first firmware information is a new version of firmware information, the first firmware information is read from the first storage unit and is transmitted to the second display apparatus for updating a second firmware information of the second display apparatus. After the update unit has initialized the updating process, it is also possible to determine whether the first or the second firmware information is the newer version of firmware information. Hence, the older version of firmware information is always updated by the newer version of firmware information.
Because the embodiments described above are circuits developed specifically for updating firmware information of a display apparatus by another display apparatus, it is by nature a closed-type system. The closed-type system possesses high reliability and eliminates problems regarding compatibility. Therefore, computers equipped with extra burning devices are no longer necessary, which in turn reduces extra cost. In addition, because VGA or DVI is used as the coupling interface of transmission between two corresponding display apparatuses for updating firmware information, extra terminals on the display apparatuses will no longer be necessary. However, it is to be emphasized herein that the coupling interface is not limited to VGA or DVI. All corresponding interfaces can apply.
Accordingly, the present invention conforms to the legal requirements owing to its novelty, unobviousness, and utility. However, the foregoing description is only a preferred embodiment of the present invention, not used to limit the scope and range of the present invention. Those equivalent changes or modifications made according to the shape, structure, feature, or spirit described in the claims of the present invention are included in the appended claims of the present invention.
Patent Application
20080034152
