The present invention relates to electronic circuits, and more particularly to an electronic circuit structure that uses an analog-to-digital conversion concept for saving circuit pins.
At present, the design of a main board for a general traditional computer adopts a machine ID, such that after a basic input/output system (BIOS) on the main board obtains the machine ID, a hardware configuration represented by the machine ID is analyzed and determined for carrying out the traditional booting process. In the prior art design, each machine ID uses a combination of one pull up resistor and one pull down resistor. Referring to
In addition, each output terminal 12 is respectively further connected to a general purpose input output pin (GPIO Pin) on a control chip of the main board to send the machine ID to the control chip. However, the design requires eight GPIO pins for sending a machine ID (1 byte). In other words, the control chip uses up 8 pins for receiving a machine ID, not only wasting component costs, but also reducing the available space on the control circuit, which is incompliant to cost effectiveness. Therefore, finding a design of an electronic circuit capable of saving circuit pins and a way of reducing the cost of resistors, the number of GIPO pins and facilitating the identification of the configuration of a computer demands immediate attention and feasible solutions.
In the design of a traditional computer, a machine ID is used, and each machine ID requires a pull up resistor and a pull down resistor, and each machine ID uses up a general purpose input output pin (GPIO Pin). Therefore, the inventor of the present invention based on years of experience in the related industry to develop an electronic circuit structure that uses an analog-to-digital conversion concept for saving circuit pins. The innovative design of the present invention can save the cost of resistors and the use of GPIO as well as facilitating production lines to distinguish the configuration of a computer.
Therefore, it is a primary objective of the present invention to provide an electronic circuit structure using an analog-to-digital conversion concept for saving circuit pins. The invention installs a control circuit on a main board, and the control circuit comprises a processor, an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) circuit, a power supply circuit and an ID generator circuit; wherein the power supply circuit is connected separately to the processor, the analog-to-digital converter circuit, and the ID generator circuit for providing a stable operating power supply; the analog-to-digital converter circuit is connected to the ID generator circuit for receiving a voltage divide power produced by the ID generator circuit and converting the voltage divide power into a digital machine ID; and the analog-to-digital converter circuit is connected to the processor for sending the machine ID. After the processor obtains the machine ID, the processor can analyze and determine the hardware configuration represented by the voltage divide power for the main board to carry out the booting process.
Another objective of the present invention is to use a power input terminal, a ground terminal, a voltage output terminal, a pull up resistor, and a pull down resistor module to produce the ID generator circuit; wherein an end of the pull up resistor is connected to the power input terminal for receiving the power supply from the power supply circuit through the power input terminal, and the other end of the pull up resistor is connected to an end of the pull down resistor module, and the other end of the pull down resistor module is connected to the ground terminal to serve as a zero potential level of the ID generator circuit, and the voltage output end is connected between the pull up resistor and the pull down resistor module.
A further objective of the present invention is to use a plurality of precision resistors connected in parallel with each other, and the total resistance of these precision resistors is equal to the resistance of the pull up resistor.
Another further objective of the present invention is to arrange the precision resistors in sequence on the control circuit and set a writing area adjacent to each precision resistor, so that a control circuit manufacturer can explicitly indicate the quantity of the precision resistors during the design and development of the control circuit and facilitate production, debug and maintenance personnel to check the writing area and quickly know about the machine ID produced by the ID generator circuit when checking or maintaining the control circuit.
Referring to
Referring to
In the present invention, the pull down resistor module Rdown is a precision variable resistor (not shown in the figure) or the pull down resistor module Rdown comprises a plurality of precision resistors R1, R2, R3, . . . Rn-1, Rn connected in parallel with each other as shown in
In view of the description above, the operating power supply Vs according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention adopts a stable voltage (3 volts), and the pull up resistor Rupadopts a constant resistance (10000 ohms). The pull down resistor module Rdown of the present invention adopts three precision resistors R1, R2, R3 connected in parallel with each other, and the resistance of the precision resistors R1, R2, R3 is equal to the pull up resistor Rup (then the total resistance of the pull down resistor module Rdown is equal to 3333 ohms), and the voltage divide power Vo is equal to (Rdown/(Rup+Rdown))×(Vs−Vground) (i.e. Vo=(3333/(10000+3333))×(3−0)=0.75 volt). Therefore, it is known that the voltage divide power Vo is equal to 0.25 times of the operating power supply Vs. In addition, the pull down resistor module Rdown of this preferred embodiment only uses two precision resistors R1, R2 connected in parallel with each other. (The total resistance of the pull down resistor module Rdown is 5000 ohms). Then, the voltage divide power Vo is equal to (Rdown/(Rup+Rdown))×(Vs−Vground) (i.e. Vo=(5000/(10000+5000))×(3−0)=1 volt). Therefore, it is known that the voltage divide power Vo is equal to 0.33 times of the operating power supply Vs. Further, the pull down resistor module Rdown of this preferred embodiment uses a precision resistor R1. (The total resistance of the pull down resistor module Rdown is 10000 ohms), then the voltage divide power Vo is equal to (Rdown/(Rup+Rdown))×(Vs−Vground) (i.e. Vo=(10000/(10000+10000))×(3−0)=1.5 volts). Therefore, it is known that the voltage divide power Vo is equal to 0.5 times of the operating power supply Vs.
From the foregoing detailed description of the preferred embodiment, the total resistance of the pull down resistor module Rdown (such as 0.25 ohm, 0.333 ohm, and 0.5 ohm) can produce a change of voltage divide power Vo with a constant proportion (such as 0.75 volt, 1 volt, and 1.5 volts). After the analog-to-digital converter circuit 22 has obtained the machine ID Dcode converted from each voltage divide power Vo, the change with a constant proportion can be accomplished. For example, if the analog-to-digital converter circuit 22 sets the operating power supply Vs (which is 3 volts) as the 255th level, the zero potential level Vground (which is 0 volt) is set as the 0 level, and then the machine IDs Dcode will be set as the 63.75th level (when the voltage divide power Vo is 0.75 volt), the 85th level (when the voltage divide power Vo is 1 volt) and the 127.5th level (when the voltage divide power Vo is 1.5 volts). After the processor 23 has received the machine ID Dcode, the basic input/output system 25 will analyze and determine the hardware configuration represented by the voltage divide power V0 according to the machine ID Dcode.
It is worth to point out that the precision resistors of the invention are arranged in sequence on the control circuit 20 and a writing area (not shown in the figure, but it could be a writing form, a circular form or sticker, etc) is set at a position adjacent to each precision resistor R1, R2, R3, Rn-1, Rn, so that the control circuit 20 manufacturer can explicitly indicate the quantity of the precision resistors R1, R2, R3, Rn-1, Rn during the design and development of the control circuit 20, so as to facilitate the production, debug, and maintenance personnel to directly view the writing area and quickly know about the machine ID Dcode produced by the ID generator circuit 21 when examining or maintaining the control circuit. It is also worth to point out that the analog-to-digital converter circuit 22 can be built in the processor 23 to pack the analog-to-digital converter circuit 22 into the chip, and save cost and space.