Devices and methods for updating program code via a serial ata interface
AssigneeSamsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
InventorsHang-ro Kim, Hyung-nam Byun, Chul-min Kim, Myoung-su Song
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Abstract
An apparatus and method update a program code of an electronic device, such as an optical disk drive, using a Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA) interface. The apparatus receives SATA signals from the SATA interface and generates flash memory driving signals based on a register host-to-device FIS received from a host computer system. Furthermore, the apparatus receives program data from a data host-to-device FIS received from the host computer system and updates the program code of a flash memory in the electronic device.
Claims20
An apparatus for updating program code of an electronic device using Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA), comprising:
- a SATA interface connected to a host and configured to receive input signals comprising a register host-to-device frame information structure (FIS) and a data host-to-device FIS therefrom;
- a first memory connected to the SATA interface and configured to store program data obtained from the data host-to-device FIS;
- a command decoder connected to the SATA interface and configured to interpret information obtained from the register host-to-device FIS;
- and
- a second memory coupled to the command decoder and configured to be updated with the program data stored in the first memory responsive to an output of the command decoder.
An apparatus for updating program code in a disk drive using Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA), comprising:
- a SATA interface connected to a host and configured to receive input signals comprising a register host-to-device frame information structure (FIS) and a data host-to-device FIS therefrom;
- a first memory connected to the SATA interface and configured to store program data from the data host-to-device FIS;
- a command decoder connected to the SATA interface and configured to interpret information from the register host-to-device FIS;
- a second memory configured to be updated with the program data stored in the first memory in response to a driving signal;
- and
- a second memory interface connected to the second memory and configured to generate the driving signal responsive to an output of the command decoder based on the register host-to-device FIS,
- wherein the second memory interface comprises:
- a key generator configured to decode feature information of the register host-to-device FIS to generate an upgrade initialization key signal;
- a control signal generator configured to decode control information of the register host-to-device FIS to generate control signals;
- an address generator configured to decode sector number information of the register host-to-device FIS to generate address signals;
- and
- a data generator that is connected to the first memory and is configured to generate data signals from the program data stored in the first memory.
A method for updating program code in an electronic device using Serial Advanced Technology Attachment (SATA), comprising:
- receiving SATA signals from a SATA interface;
- decoding the SATA signals to determine whether a host computer system requests an upgrade of the program code;
- receiving a register host-to-device frame information structure (FIS) and a data host-to-device FIS from the host computer system when the host computer system requests the upgrade of the program code;
- storing data of the data host-to-device FIS in a first memory;
- generating second memory driving signals responsive to receiving the register host-to-device FIS;
- and
- writing the data of the data host-to-device FIS stored in the first memory in a second memory responsive to the second memory driving signals.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.