Method to share data between semiconductors chips

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10318471-B2
Application number	US-201715618990-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 9, 2017
Priority date	Jun 9, 2017
Publication date	Jun 11, 2019
Grant date	Jun 11, 2019

Abstract

A method for sharing data between a microcontroller and a plurality of driving circuits of actuators is disclosed. A microcontroller is provided with a microsecond bus and a plurality of chip-select outputs. A plurality of driving circuits have input pins for data signals received from the microcontroller through the microsecond bus. Each of the driving circuits has an input pin receiving a signal from a chip-select output of the microcontroller and at least two configuration pins connected to the ground voltage or to a supply voltage. A data frame signal is sent on the microsecond bus. Each of the driving circuits is supplied with a portion of the data frame signal as a function of the chip-select output of the microcontroller and as a function of the voltage connection of the at least two configuration pins.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for sharing data between a microcontroller and a plurality of actuators each having a driving circuit comprising:
providing a microcontroller having a microsecond bus and a plurality of chip-select outputs;
providing a plurality of driving circuits configured to receive data signals from said microcontroller via said microsecond bus;
connecting, by a first connection, each of the driving circuits with a supply voltage;
connecting, by a second connection; each of the driving circuits with a ground voltage;
receiving, by an input pin, a signal from a chip-select output of said microcontroller to the driving circuit;
connecting, by a first configuration pin, the driving circuit with one of the supply voltage or the ground voltage;
connecting, by a second configuration pin, the driving circuit with one of the supply voltage or the ground voltage;
sending a data frame signal on said microsecond bus, wherein each of said driving circuits is supplied with a portion of said data frame signal; and
determining the portion of said data frame signal supplied to a particular one of the driving circuits as a function of:
the chip-select output of said microcontroller;
whether the respective first configuration pin is connected with the supply voltage or with the ground connection; and
whether the respective second configuration pin is connected with the supply voltage or with the ground connection.

2. The method according to claim 1 , wherein providing a plurality of driving circuits comprises providing an H-bridge circuit for driving an operation of a DC motor.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein providing a plurality of driving circuits comprises providing at least one LVDS buffer for clock and data signals.

4. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising communicating data signals between said microcontroller and at least one of said driving circuits via said microsecond bus to configure said at least one driving circuit and read back a diagnosis of said at least one driving circuit.

5. A computer program product comprising computer executable codes stored on a non-transitory computer readable medium for sharing data between a microcontroller and a plurality of actuators each having a driving circuit, wherein said microcontroller is provided with a microsecond bus and a plurality of chip-select outputs and wherein each driving circuit is provided a first connection with a supply voltage and a second connection with a ground voltage, an input pin for receiving a signal from a chip-select output of said microcontroller, a first configuration pin connected with one of the supply voltage or the ground voltage, and a second configuration pin connected with one of the supply voltage or the ground voltage, the computer program product comprising:
processor-executable instructions when executed on the processor in a device configure the device to send a data frame signal on said microsecond bus; and
processor-executable instructions when executed on the processor in the device configure the device to supply said driving circuits with a portion of said data frame signal as a function of:
the chip-select output of said microcontroller;
whether the first configuration pin is connected with the supply voltage or with the ground connection; and
whether the second configuration pin is connected with the supply voltage or with the ground connection.

6. The computer program product according to claim 5 , further comprising processor-executable instructions when executed on the processor in the device configure the device to communicate data signals between said microcontroller and at least one driving circuit via said microsecond bus to configure said at least one driving circuit and read back a diagnosis of said at least one driving circuit.

7. An electronic control unit comprising:
a microcontroller having a microsecond bus and a plurality of chip-select outputs;
a plurality of driving circuits each having a first connection coupled with a supply voltage and a second connection coupled with a ground voltage, and each having input pins configured to receive data signals from said microcontroller via said microsecond bus, wherein each of said driving circuits includes an input pin configured to receive a signal from at least one of the chip-select outputs of said microcontroller, a first configuration pin connected with one of the supply voltage or the ground voltage, and a second configuration pin connected with the supply voltage or the ground voltage;
wherein the electronic control unit is configured to send a data frame signal on said microsecond bus and each of said driving circuits is supplied with a portion of said data frame signal as a function of:
the chip-select output of said microcontroller;
whether the first configuration pin is connected with the supply voltage or with the ground connection; and
whether the second configuration pin is connected with the supply voltage or with the ground connection.

8. The electronic control unit according to claim 7 , wherein each of the driving circuits comprises a first input pin for an enable signal, a second input pin for a pulse width modulation signal, and a third pin for a direction signal of an actuator.

9. The electronic control unit according to claim 7 , further comprising a LVDS buffer for clock and data signals.

10. The electronic control unit according to claim 7 , wherein at least one of said driving circuits comprises an H-bridge circuit configured to drive a DC motor.

11. The electronic control unit according to claim 7 , wherein the data frame signal comprises a 40-bit frame, wherein the plurality of driving circuits comprises a first driving circuit configured to receive a first 1-6 bits of the 40-bit frame, a second driving circuit configured to receive a second 7-12 bits of the 40-bit frame and a third driving circuit configured to receive a third 13-19 bits of the 40-bit frame, wherein the first configuration pin of the first circuit and the second configuration pin of the second circuit are connected to the supply voltage, the second configuration pin of the first circuit and the first configuration pin of the second circuit are connected to the ground voltage and the first and second configuration pins of the third circuit are both connected to one of the supply voltage and the ground voltage to determine the portion of said data frame signal received by the first, second and third driving circuits.

12. An automotive system comprising an internal combustion engine, a plurality of actuators and the electronic control unit according to claim 7 , wherein the plurality of driving circuits drive said actuators.

13. The electronic control unit according to claim 7 wherein the plurality of drive circuits comprises six drive circuits, the plurality of chip-select outputs comprises no more than two chip-select outputs delivered by the micro-controller, and comprising twelve electric motors driven by the six drive circuits.

14. The electronic control unit according to claim 11 , wherein the chip-select output is configured for the first, second and third driving circuits to consider only a first 1-19 bits of the data frame signal.

Assignees

• Gm Global Tech Operations Llc

Inventors

• Morone Roberto
• Alpe Simone

Classifications

• H02P7/04

  by means of a H-bridge circuit · CPC title

• G06F13/4282 Primary

  on a serial bus, e.g. I2C bus, SPI bus (on daisy chain buses G06F13/4247) · CPC title

• F02D41/26

  using computer, e.g. microprocessor · CPC title

• F02D41/28

  Interface circuits · CPC title