Abstract:
The invention relates to a display apparatus and related method thereof capable of preventing firmware updating failure. The display apparatus includes a first memory block for storing a first firmware; a second memory block for storing a second firmware; and a micro controller unit coupled to the first memory block and the second memory block for accessing and executing the first firmware or the second firmware to control the operation of the display apparatus.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0001]    1. Field of the Invention 
         [0002]    The invention relates to the field of display devices, and more particularly, to firmware update of display devices. 
         [0003]    2. Description of the Prior Art 
         [0004]    Display devices have become one of the most popular electronic devices in our daily lives, which broadly include personal computer monitors, adapting either CRT display technology or LCD display technology, and digital television using LCD display technology, PDP display technology, or other panel display technologies. Please refer to  FIG. 1 .  FIG. 1  is a diagram of a conventional display apparatus  10 . The display apparatus  10  comprises a microprocessor  12 , a memory  14 , a display controller  16 , and a display panel  18 . When the display apparatus  10  operates, the microprocessor  12  reads and executes a set of firmware program codes from the memory  12  to control the operation of the display apparatus  10 , and then the display controller  16  processes received image data (including synchronization signals and R/G/B signals) to drive the display panel  18  for displaying a correct image. 
         [0005]    Normally, the firmware that controls the display apparatus  10  will be recorded into the memory  14  before the display apparatus  10  is shipped to the market. The display apparatus  10 , therefore, must be sent back to the manufacturer for updating its firmware when the user desires to resolve a malfunction situation of the display apparatus  10  or add new features to the display apparatus  10  by way of a firmware update. This imposes extra burden in terms of cost and time on both the consumers and the manufacturer. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0006]    It is therefore one of the objectives of the present invention to provide a display apparatus suited for firmware update by end users and free from firmware update failure, and method thereof. 
         [0007]    The present invention provides a display apparatus capable of preventing firmware updating failure. The apparatus comprises a first memory block, a second memory block, and a micro controller unit (MCU). The first memory block is utilized for storing a first firmware; the second memory block is utilized for storing a second firmware; and the micro controller unit (MCU) coupled to the first memory block and the second memory block for accessing and executing the first firmware or the second firmware to control the operation of the display apparatus. 
         [0008]    The present invention provides a firmware updating method, applied to a display apparatus. The method comprises: reading a first firmware from a first memory block; using the display apparatus to display images according to the first firmware; reading a second firmware from a second memory block; using the display apparatus to display images according to the second firmware; and during the process of displaying images using the display apparatus according to the second firmware, updating the first firmware stored in the first memory block. 
         [0009]    These and other objectives of the present invention will no doubt become obvious to those of ordinary skill in the art after reading the following detailed description of the preferred embodiment that is illustrated in the various figures and drawings. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
         [0010]      FIG. 1  is a diagram of a conventional display apparatus. 
           [0011]      FIG. 2  is a diagram of a display apparatus which can avoid firmware update failure according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
           [0012]      FIG. 3  is a flowchart of updating firmware of the display apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION  
       [0013]    Certain terms are used throughout the following description and claims to refer to particular system components. As one skilled in the art will appreciate, consumer electronic equipment manufacturers may refer to a component by different names. This document does not intend to distinguish between components that differ in name but not function. In the following discussion and in the claims, the terms “including” and “comprising” are used in an open-ended fashion, and thus should be interpreted to mean “including, but not limited to . . . ” The terms “couple” and “couples” are intended to mean either an indirect or a direct electrical connection. Thus, if a first device couples to a second device, that connection may be through a direct electrical connection, or through an indirect electrical connection via other devices and connections. 
         [0014]    Please refer to  FIG. 2 .  FIG. 2  is a diagram of a display apparatus  100  which can avoid firmware update failure according to an embodiment of the present invention. The display apparatus  100  comprises a transmission interface  110 , a display controller  112 , a display panel  114 , a microprocessor  116 , a plurality of memory blocks  122 ,  124 , and an actuating element  118 . In this embodiment, the display controller  112  can be an LCD controller that is installed in a computer monitor, or an LCD TV controller that is installed in an LCD TV or in a digital TV; however, these examples are not meant to serve as limitation of the present invention. The display controller  112  generally provides one or more of the image processing functionalities such as scaling, video decoding, and de-interlacing, etc., for a display system. The display panel  114  can be any one of the well-known display terminals such as an LCD panel, a PDP panel, even a non-panel-type terminal such as a cathode radiation tube (CRT), or any other image output element. The microprocessor  116  can be a well-known 8051 micro processing unit or any other device(s) with similar functionality. The memory blocks  122 ,  124  can be realized with a FLASH memory or other types of memory components. Please note that, according to choices of actual implementation, the above-mentioned display controller  122  and microprocessor  116 , or the microprocessor  116  and memory blocks  122 ,  124 , can be individual stand-alone devices, or can be integrally manufactured on the same substrate as an integrated circuit device. 
         [0015]    In this embodiment of the present invention, a VGA (Video Graphic Array) connector is used as the transmission interface  110 , where the VGA connector comprises a plurality of pins for transmitting synchronization signals and R/G/B signals, respectively, and also provides a Display Data Channel (DDC). Since the detailed specification of VGA connector is well known to those skilled in this art, further description is herein omitted for the sake of brevity. Please note that the VGA connector described herein serves merely as an example and is not meant to be a limitation of the present invention. Furthermore, in the present embodiment the above-mentioned actuating element  118  is implemented by a push button positioned on the monitor housing; however, those of ordinary skill in the art can understand that any known or new electronic components or mechanical components, which are suited for manually or automatically actuating mode switching, can be used to serve as said actuating element  118 . Another example of the actuating element  118  can be found in a push button on a remote control that is designed to work with the display apparatus  100 , and its actuation can be passed on to the microprocessor  116  in a remote manner such as infrared transmission. 
         [0016]    The memory block  122  is used for storing a firmware FW 1  that serves as a primary firmware, while the memory block  124  is used for storing another firmware FW 2  that serves as a backup firmware. The actuating element  118  determines which firmware FW 1  or FW 2  is to be executed by the microprocessor  116  when the display apparatus  100  is operating. When the actuating element  118  is actuated so that the display apparatus  100  enters a first state, the microprocessor  116  reads the memory block  122  and executes firmware FW 1 . Similarly, when the actuating device  118  is actuated so that the display apparatus  100  enters a second state, the microprocessor  116  reads the memory block  124  and executes firmware FW 2 . Please note that memory blocks  122 ,  124  in this embodiment can be two different individual memories or two logically distinguishable memory blocks located in a single physical memory; however, this is not meant to be a limitation of the present invention. 
         [0017]    As a default operation, the display apparatus  100  starts out at the first state and is thus controlled by firmware FW 1 . If the user needs to update firmware FW 1  of the display apparatus  100 , then the display apparatus  100  receives firmware data through the display data channel of the transmission interface  110 , and the microprocessor  116  writes the received firmware data into the memory block  122  in an attempt to update firmware FW 1 . If any unexpected incidents (e.g., an abnormal power failure) occur during the firmware updating process that will result in an incomplete updating of firmware FW 1  or an updating failure of firmware FW 1 , the firmware FW 1  will not be able to work properly when the display apparatus  100  resumes normal operation. At this moment, the user can utilize the actuating element  118  (e.g., by pushing the button) to switch into the second state and then the display apparatus  100  reinitiates. Accordingly, the microprocessor  116  is able to execute firmware FW 2  and the display apparatus  100  will again operate normally, this time under the control of firmware FW 2 . As a result, the user is allowed to update firmware FW 1  again, and even repetitively updates firmware FW 1  until firmware FW 1  is successfully updated. After firmware FW 1  is updated successfully, the user can then utilize the actuating element  118  (e.g., by pushing the button again) to switch back to the first state and restart the display apparatus  100  to check whether firmware FW 1  can operate normally. If the firmware does not operate normally, then the user can re-select firmware FW 2  as the controlling firmware and continue updating firmware FW 1 , or even use firmware FW 2  to control the display apparatus  100  directly in spite of the failed attempt to update firmware FW 1 . Please note that in this embodiment, the display apparatus  100  only updates firmware FW 1  through the transmission interface  110  but not firmware FW 2 , because firmware FW 2  has passed quality tests before the display apparatus  100  is shipped to the market from the manufacturer, and is therefore guaranteed to function normally. 
         [0018]    In the above-mentioned embodiment, the user manually switches the actuating device  118  to determine which firmware to be executed. In order to simplify the user operation, the present invention further discloses a second embodiment. The primary difference between the second and the first embodiments is that the microprocessor in the second embodiment is implemented by a microprocessor with a watch-dog function that will automatically execute firmware FW 2  after the execution of firmware FW 1  fails. Therefore, the actuating element  118  of the first embodiment can be further saved. Please note that, the microprocessor used in the present invention is not limited to those mentioned in above embodiments. In other words, other microprocessors with error detection functionality can also be used in the present invention. 
         [0019]    Please refer to  FIG. 3 .  FIG. 3  is a flowchart of updating firmware FW 1  of the display apparatus according to a second embodiment of the present invention. The updating process comprises the following steps: 
         [0020]    Step  202 : Start; 
         [0021]    Step  204 : Execute firmware FW 1 ; 
         [0022]    Step  206 : Do any errors occur during the execution of firmware FW 1 ? If yes, go to step  208 ; otherwise, go to step  216 ; 
         [0023]    Step  208 : Stop executing firmware FW 1  and start executing firmware FW 2 ; 
         [0024]    Step  210 : Does the user instruct the microprocessor to update firmware FW 1 ? If yes, go to step  212 ; otherwise, go to step  216 ; 
         [0025]    Step  212 : Receive firmware data through a transmission interface to update firmware FW 1 ; 
         [0026]    Step  214 : Reinitiate the display apparatus and execute step  204 ; 
         [0027]    Step  216 : Stop. 
         [0028]    According to the second embodiment, the microprocessor automatically executes firmware FW 1  after power on (step  204 ). If firmware FW 1  contains errors or is corrupted/malfunction as a result of, for example, the previous firmware updating process, then problems can occur in the next execution of firmware FW 1  after the display apparatus is powered on. At this time, the microprocessor with the watch-dog function will automatically stop execution of firmware FW 1  and then execute firmware FW 2  instead (step  208 ) to control the display apparatus. Furthermore, the microprocessor can display an error message on a screen to inform the user that firmware FW 1  is damaged. In the mean time, if the user chooses to update firmware FW 1  through the transmission interface, then the display apparatus will be reinitiated after the updating is completed (step  214 ). Therefore, the microprocessor is able to execute firmware FW 1  (step  204 ) again to confirm whether the latest firmware updating is successful. If no error occurs, then the latest firmware updating is deemed successful; however, if errors occur, then the microprocessor will likewise automatically stop executing firmware FW 1 , and then execute firmware FW 2  instead (step  208 ) to control the display apparatus. 
         [0029]    The above-mentioned embodiments disclose that there are two sets of firmware data stored in the update failure-free display apparatus. When one firmware data is unable to work normally, the microprocessor in the display apparatus can execute the backup firmware to control the display apparatus. In this way, the user is allowed to download the newest firmware and there is no need to return the display apparatus to the manufacturer for firmware updating service. 
         [0030]    Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modifications and alterations of the device and method may be made while retaining the teachings of the invention. Accordingly, the above disclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes and bounds of the appended claims.