Method and system for initializing RF module through non-volatile control

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9543996-B2
Application number	US-201514830002-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 19, 2015
Priority date	Aug 19, 2014
Publication date	Jan 10, 2017
Grant date	Jan 10, 2017

Abstract

Provided are a method and a system for initializing an RF module through non-volatile control, including: storing, by a non-volatile storage array, configuration information for initializing the RF module, and backing up the configuration information when receiving a power-down instruction (S 1 ); and reading, by an RF module initialization accelerator, the configuration information from the non-volatile storage array when receiving a power-up instruction, and transmitting the read configuration information to the RF module, thereby initializing the RF module (S 2 ). With the technical solution given in the present invention, the initialization of an RF module becomes much faster, and the power consumption of a wireless communication terminal can be reduced. In addition, the initialization of various RF modules can be supported, and meanwhile the hardware resources can be saved, thereby enhancing the extensibility of the system.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system for initializing an RF module through non-volatile control comprising:
a non-volatile storage array configured to store configuration information for initializing the RF module, and back up the configuration information when receiving a power-down instruction, wherein the non-volatile storage array includes a non-volatile register array, the non-volatile register array comprising a plurality of non-volatile flip-flops and one non-volatile read/write controller; and
a reconfigurable RF module controller configured to read the configuration information from the non-volatile storage array when receiving a power-up instruction, and transmit the read configuration information to a front-end interface circuit, wherein the front-end interface circuit is configured to transmit the configuration information to the RF module based on a given communication protocol, thereby initializing the RF module,
wherein the non-volatile read/write controller is configured to determine, when receiving the power-down instruction, a plurality of the non-volatile flip-flops that are assigned to back up the configuration information based on a data amount and/or complexity of the configuration information, and transmit the control signals in a predetermined time sequence to the assigned non-volatile flip-flops, thereby enabling the assigned non-volatile flip-flops to back up the configuration information.

2. A system for initializing an RF module through non-volatile control comprising:
a non-volatile storage array configured to store configuration information for initializing the RF module, and back up the configuration information when receiving a power-down instruction; and
a reconfigurable RF module controller configured to read the configuration information from the non-volatile storage array when receiving a power-up instruction, and transmit the read configuration information to a front-end interface circuit, wherein the front-end interface circuit is configured to transmit the configuration information to the RF module based on a given communication protocol, thereby initializing the RF module,
wherein the reconfigurable RF module controller comprises:
a non-volatile FPGA configured to be programmed based on a type of a target RF module required to be initialized so that the front-end interface circuit used and the target RF module correspond to each other; and
a non-volatile programming information memory configured to store the programming information for the non-volatile FPGA, back up the programming information when receiving the power-down instruction, and restore the programming information when receiving the power-up instruction.

3. A system for initializing an RF module through non-volatile control comprising:
a non-volatile storage array configured to store configuration information for initializing the RF module, and back up the configuration information when receiving a power-down instruction; and
a reconfigurable RF module controller configured to read the configuration information from the non-volatile storage array when receiving a power-up instruction, and transmit the read configuration information to a front-end interface circuit, wherein the front-end interface circuit is configured to transmit the configuration information to the RF module based on a given communication protocol, thereby initializing the RF module,
wherein the front-end interface circuit comprises:
a data buffer configured to store the transmission or reception data sent to or read from the RF module; and
a staticizer comprising:
a frequency divider configured to generate the clock for a serial port and an input/output shifter from a system clock;
the input/output shifter configured to generate serial or parallel signals; and
a timing controller configured to synchronize the data and clock at the serial port and shape the waveforms of data signals complying with a given communication protocol.

4. A system for initializing an RF module through non-volatile control comprising:
a non-volatile storage array configured to store configuration information for initializing the RF module, and back up the configuration information when receiving a power-down instruction;
a reconfigurable RF module controller configured to read the configuration information from the non-volatile storage array when receiving a power-up instruction, and transmit the read configuration information to a front-end interface circuit, wherein the front-end interface circuit is configured to transmit the configuration information to the RF module based on a given communication protocol, thereby initializing the RF module; and
a processor configured to write the configuration information to the non-volatile storage array based on a received write instruction, activate or stop the reconfigurable RF module controller based on a received activation instruction or a received stop instruction, and control the reconfigurable RF module controller based on a received control instruction so that the reconfigurable RF module controller performs a transmission operation or a reception operation.

5. The system for initializing an RF module through non-volatile control according to claim 4 , further comprising an RF module selector configured to transmit a selection signal to the reconfigurable RF module controller based on a selection instruction from the processor so that the reconfigurable RF module controller reads the target configuration information from the non-volatile storage array and initializes a target RF module.

6. The system for initializing an RF module through non-volatile control according to claim 4 , wherein the reconfigurable RF module controller is configured to control the front-end interface circuit to read data from the RF module and store the acquired data in the non-volatile storage array.

7. The system for initializing an RF module through non-volatile control according to claim 4 , wherein:
the non-volatile storage array includes a non-volatile register array, and the non-volatile register array comprises a plurality of non-volatile flip-flops and one non-volatile read/write controller, and
the non-volatile read/write controller is configured to determine, when receiving the power-down instruction, a plurality of the non-volatile flip-flops that are assigned to back up the configuration information based on a data amount and/or complexity of the configuration information, and transmit the control signals in a predetermined time sequence to the assigned non-volatile flip-flops, thereby enabling the assigned non-volatile flip-flops to back up the configuration information.

8. The system for initializing an RF module through non-volatile control according to claim 4 wherein the reconfigurable RF module controller comprises:
a non-volatile FPGA configured to be programmed based on a type of a target RF module required to be initialized so that the front-end interface circuit used and the target RF module correspond to each other; and
a non-volatile programming information memory configured to store the programming information for the non-volatile FPGA, back up the programming information when receiving the power-down instruction, and restore the programming information when receiving the power-up instruction.

9. The system for initializing an RF module through non-volatile control according to claim 4 wherein the front-end interface circuit comprises:
a data buffer configured to store the transmission or reception data sent to or read from the RF module; and
a staticizer comprising:
a frequency divider configured to generate the clock for a serial port and an input/output shifter from a system clock;
the input/output shifter configured t

Assignees

• Rohm Co Ltd
• Univ Tsinghua

Inventors

• Wang Yiqun
• Liu Yongpan
• Yang Huazhong
• Sheng Xiao
• Li Zewei
• Wu tongda
• Wang Zhongjun
• Naiki Takashi
• Taniuchi Koji

Classifications

• H04B1/1615 Primary

  Switching on; Switching off, e.g. remotely (battery saving circuits associated with selective call operation H04W52/00; details of power consumption reduction in a PLL, H03L7/0802, H03L7/14, H03L2207/08, H03L2207/18; muting amplifiers by gain control see H03G3/34) · CPC title

• G06F3/0679

  Non-volatile semiconductor memory device, e.g. flash memory, one time programmable memory [OTP] · CPC title

• G06F3/0619

  in relation to data integrity, e.g. data losses, bit errors · CPC title

• H04W52/50

  at the moment of starting communication in a multiple access environment · CPC title

• G06F3/0632

  by initialisation or re-initialisation of storage systems · CPC title