Patent Abstract:
A firmware burning method applied in a target device, which includes a storage unit, a target circuit, and a peripheral controller, connected to the storage circuit via a first communication link, is provided. The method include steps of: providing a test fixture having a first node, a second node, and a switch circuit connected across the first and second nodes, the first and second nodes being respectively coupled to the storage circuit and the target circuit; determining whether firmware of the target circuit satisfies a condition; if not, providing a second communication link between the target circuit and the storage circuit via the first and second nodes by turning on the switch circuit, and switching the peripheral controller to a disabled state; and updating the firmware of the target circuit according to to-be-burned firmware stored in the storage circuit via the second communication link.

Full Description:
[0001]    This application claims the benefit of Taiwan application Serial No. 100147518, filed Dec. 20, 2011, the subject matter of which is incorporated herein by reference. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0003]    The invention relates in general to a manufacturing system and a firmware burning method thereof, and more particularly to a manufacturing system capable of concurrently burning firmware during a hardware manufacturing process and a firmware burning method thereof. 
         [0004]    2. Description of the Related Art 
         [0005]    In the current world where the technology continuously progresses, integrated circuits prevail in various electronic products. For example, an integrated circuit is generally provided with a firmware unit, e.g., an embedded flash memory, for storing firmware required for operations of the integrated circuit. In a current technique, a firmware burning operation of an integrated circuit may be selectively exercised by an integrated circuit manufacturer before delivering the integrated circuit to a system manufacturer, or by a system manufacturer after delivering the integrated circuit. 
         [0006]    However, when the firmware burning operation is handled by an integrated circuit manufacturer, a system manufacturer may encounter issues of the system manufacturer mixing the firmware with other firmware or firmware incompatibility among different projects. On the other hand, when the firmware burning operation is handled by a system manufacturer, the system manufacturer is also faced with problems of costs of firmware burning fixture acquisition and time. Therefore, there is a need for a more ideal solution for firmware burning of an integrated circuit having a firmware storage unit. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0007]    According to an aspect of the present invention, a manufacturing system including a target device and a test fixture is provided. The target device includes a storage circuit, a target circuit and a peripheral controller. The storage circuit stores a setting code and to-be-burned firmware. The target circuit determines whether firmware of the target circuit satisfies a condition, and enables a control signal when the condition is not satisfied. The peripheral controller, connected to the storage circuit via a first communication link, switches to a disabled state in response to the enable control signal. The test fixture includes a first node, a second node and a switch circuit. The first and second nodes are respectively coupled to the storage circuit and the target circuit. The switch circuit, connected across the first and second nodes, is turned on in response to the enable control signal to form a second communication link for connecting the target circuit and the storage circuit via the first and second nodes. After providing the control signal, the target circuit further accesses the storage circuit via the second communication link to update the firmware according to the to-be-burned firmware. 
         [0008]    According to another aspect of the present invention, a firmware burning method applied in a target device is provided. The target device includes a storage unit, a target circuit, and a peripheral controller that is connected to the storage circuit via a first communication link. The method include steps of: providing a test fixture having a first node, a second node, and a switch circuit connected across the first and second nodes, the first and second nodes being respectively coupled to the storage circuit and the target circuit; determining whether firmware of the target circuit satisfies a condition; if not, providing a second communication link between the target circuit and the storage circuit via the first and second nodes by turning on the switch circuit, and switching the peripheral controller to a disabled state; and updating the firmware of the target circuit according to to-be-burned firmware stored in the storage circuit via the second communication link. 
         [0009]    The above and other aspects of the invention will become better understood with regard to the following detailed description of the preferred but non-limiting embodiments. The following description is made with reference to the accompanying drawings. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0010]      FIG. 1  is a block diagram of a manufacturing system according to one embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0011]      FIG. 2  is a flowchart of a firmware burning method according to one embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0012]      FIG. 3  is a block diagram of a manufacturing system according to another embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0013]      FIG. 4  is a detailed flowchart of the firmware burning method in  FIG. 2 . 
           [0014]      FIG. 5  is another detailed flowchart of the firmware burning method in  FIG. 2 . 
           [0015]      FIG. 6  is yet another detailed flowchart of the firmware burning method in  FIG. 2 . 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0016]      FIG. 1  shows a block diagram of a manufacturing system according to one embodiment of the present invention. A manufacturing system  1  includes a target device  10 . The target device  10  includes a storage circuit  101 , a target circuit  103  and a peripheral controller  105 . The peripheral controller  105  is connected to the storage device  101  via a communication link C 1 . For example, the communication link C 1  is a Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) compliant interface. 
         [0017]    For example, the target device  10  is a motherboard of a notebook computer, and the target circuit  103  and the peripheral controller  105  are respectively an embedded controller (CE) and a south-bridge chip in the motherboard. The storage circuit  101  is an SPI read-only memory (ROM) for storing basic codes of the south-bridge chip, and is for storing a basic input/output system (BIOS) code corresponding to the south-bridge chip. The storage circuit  101  further stores to-be-burned firmware corresponding to the target circuit  103 . 
         [0018]    According to current firmware, the target circuit  103  exercises a firmware burning method according to one embodiment, so as to perform a firmware burning operation of the target circuit  103 . 
         [0019]      FIG. 2  shows a flowchart of a firmware burning method according to one embodiment of the present invention. Steps of the method are to be described below. In Step (a), the target circuit  103  is coupled to the storage circuit  101  via a test fixture  20 . The test fixture  20  includes a node N 1 , a node N 2  and a switch circuit SW. The switch circuit SW is connected across the nodes N 1  and N 2 , and the nodes N 1  and N 2  are respectively coupled to the storage circuit  101  and the target circuit  103 . 
         [0020]    In one embodiment, the test fixture  20  is an auto function test equipment for testing peripheral input/output ports of the target device  10 . Taking a motherboard of a notebook computer as the target device  10  for example, the test fixture  20  includes several peripheral bus test units respectively corresponding to the peripheral input/output ports of the target device  10 . During a test operation, a central processor and a RAM as well as the test fixture  20  are disposed on the target device  10 , such that the peripheral bus test units of the test fixture  20  are respectively coupled with the peripheral input/output ports of the target device  10 . Accordingly, through the peripheral bus test units of the test fixture  20 , a user is allowed to carry out function tests on the peripheral input/output ports of the target device  10 . 
         [0021]    Further, wirings between the nodes N 1  and N 2  of the test fixture  20  and the corresponding storage circuit  101  and the target circuit  103  is a spatial mapping relationship. Thus, when the test fixture  20  is disposed on the target device  10 , the nodes N 1  and N 2  of the test fixture  20  are respectively coupled to the storage circuit  101  and the target circuit  103  via physical paths such as thimbles, jumper wires or switches.  FIG. 3  shows a block diagram of the manufacturing system  1 . 
         [0022]    In Step (b), the target circuit  103  determines whether the firmware of the target circuit  103  satisfies a condition. When the condition is not satisfied, Step (c) is performed in which the target circuit  103  provides an enable control signal Sc. The enable control signal Sc correspondingly turns on the switch circuit SW to form a communication link C 2  between the target circuit  103  and the storage circuit  101  via the node N 1 , the switch SW and the node N 2 . The enable control signal Sc further controls the peripheral controller  105  to switch to a disabled state, such that a connection point of the peripheral controller  105  and the communication link C 1  is in high impedance. 
         [0023]    For example, the condition is whether a checksum of the current firmware of the target circuit  103  equals a predetermined value. When the checksum of the current firmware does not equal to the predetermined value, it means that firmware burning for the target circuit  103  is yet incomplete, and the current firmware is a factory default version, for example. 
         [0024]    In Step (d), via the communication link C 2  formed through the node N 1 , the switch SW and the node N 2 , the target circuit  103  accesses the storage circuit  101  and updates firmware according to the to-be-burned firmware. 
         [0025]      FIG. 4  shows a detailed flowchart of the firmware burning method in  FIG. 2 . Conversely, when the firmware in the target circuit  103  satisfies the condition (e.g., when the checksum of the current firmware in the target circuit  103  equals the predetermined value), it means that firmware burning in the target circuit  103  is completed in previous operations. The firmware burning method according to the embodiment then proceeds to Step (e), in which the target circuit  103  provides a disable control signal Sc to turn off the switch circuit SW and to correspondingly disconnect the communication link C 2 . Further, the disable control signal Sc also drives the peripheral controller  105  to switch to a normal state, so as to allow the peripheral controller  105  to access of the storage circuit  101  via the communication link C 1  and to perform a normal boot procedure according to a setting code in the storage circuit  101 . 
         [0026]    In conclusion, at the time when the auto function test equipment is implemented to perform function tests on the peripheral input/output ports of the target device  10 , the manufacturing system  1  according to the embodiment further determines whether firmware burning in the target circuit  103  is completed via the target circuit  103 . When the firmware burning in the target circuit  103  is not yet completed, the target circuit  103  provides the enable control signal Sc corresponding switch the peripheral controller  105  to a disabled state, and enables the communication link C 2  provided by the test fixture  20  to update the firmware according to the to-be-burned firmware in the storage circuit  101 . Conversely, when the firmware burning in the target circuit  103  is completed, the target circuit  103  provides a disable control signal Sc to correspond the peripheral controller  105  to a normal state, and disconnects the communication link C 2  between the target circuit  103  and the storage device  101 . Therefore, the manufacturing system  1  according to the embodiment stores the firmware of the target circuit  103  in the storage circuit  101  corresponding to the peripheral controller  105 , and at the same time performs the firmware burning operation of the target circuit  103  when testing the peripheral input/output ports. 
         [0027]      FIG. 5  shows a detailed flowchart of the firmware burning method in  FIG. 2 . For example, the firmware burning method according to this embodiment further includes Step (f) after Step (d). In Step (f), the target circuit  103  again determines whether the updated firmware satisfies the condition. When the condition is satisfied, the firmware burning method according to the embodiment ends. Conversely, when the updated firmware of the target circuit  103  does not satisfy the condition, the firmware burning method according to the embodiment proceeds to Step (g). In Step (g), the target circuit  103  triggers an error event to inform a user of a firmware burning failure in the target circuit  103 . 
         [0028]      FIG. 6  shows a detailed flowchart of the firmware burning method in  FIG. 2 . For example, before Step (a), the firmware burning method according to this embodiment further includes Step (h). In Step (h), the storage circuit  101  is programmed to concurrently store the setting code and the to-be-burned firmware. 
         [0029]    In conclusion, the manufacturing system according to the embodiment includes the target device and the test fixture. The target device includes the storage circuit, the target circuit and the peripheral controller. The storage circuit is for storing the to-be-burned firmware for the target circuit and the setting code of the peripheral controller. In response to a power-on event, the target circuit is enabled and determines whether the firmware of the target circuit satisfies the condition. When the condition is not satisfied, the target circuit enables the control signal to switch the peripheral controller to a disabled state. The test fixture includes the first and second nodes and the switch circuit. In response to a user operation, the test fixture is disposed on the target device, such that the first and second nodes are respectively coupled to the storage circuit and the target circuit. The switch circuit is connected across the first and the second nodes, and forms a communication link between the target circuit and the storage circuit. Accordingly, the target circuit is allowed to correspondingly access the storage circuit and to update the firmware according to the to-be-burned firmware. In other words, during the manufacturing process of the target device, the manufacturing system according to the embodiment is capable of selectively providing the communication link between the target circuit and the storage circuit by use of the test fixture, and performs the firmware burning operation on the target circuit according to the to-be-burned firmware in the storage circuit. Accordingly, compared to a conventional firmware burning method, the manufacturing system and the firmware burning method according to the embodiment offer advantages of reduced firmware burning work time and costs. 
         [0030]    While the invention has been described by way of example and in terms of the preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited thereto. On the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements and procedures, and the scope of the appended claims therefore should be accorded the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements and procedures.

Technology Classification (CPC): 6