System on a chip hardware block for translating commands from processor to read boot code from off-chip non-volatile memory device
AssigneeOracle International Corporation
InventorsErik Schlanger, Eric Devolder, Ashraf Ahmed
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Translation of boot code read request commands from an on-board processor of a system on a chip (SoC) from a bus protocol (e.g., advanced high-performance bus (AHB) protocol) into a sequence of commands understandable by a serial interface of the SoC to read boot code from an off-board (e.g., flash or other non-volatile) memory device. The serial interface of the memory device may include a relatively low pin count (e.g., 5 pins) and boot code of the memory device may be modified after tape-out of the SoC free of necessitating a subsequent tape-out of the SoC.
Claims20
A method for use with a system on a chip (SoC), comprising:
- receiving, at a hardware block of the SoC, at least one command to read information stored in an off-board memory device;
- translating, at the hardware block, the at least one command from a bus protocol into a command sequence usable by a serial interface of the SoC to read the information from the off-board memory device;
- and
- sending the command sequence from the hardware block to the serial interface;
A system on a chip (SoC), comprising:
- a chip;
- a plurality of buses disposed on the chip;
- a processing unit electrically interconnected to a first of the buses;
- a serial interface electrically interconnected to a second of the buses;
- and
- a hardware block electrically interconnected between the first and second buses, wherein the hardware block comprises a translation unit that translates commands received from the processing unit, via the first bus, to retrieve boot block code from an off-chip non-volatile memory device into a corresponding command sequence understood by the serial interface.
A method of booting a system on a chip (SoC), comprising:
- generating a command to read boot code for use in booting the SoC;
- translating, by a hardware block of the SoC, the read command into a command sequence usable by a serial interface of the SoC to obtain the boot code from an off-chip non-volatile memory device;
- sending, from the hardware block, the command sequence to the serial interface;
- and
- carrying out, by the serial interface, the command sequence to obtain the boot code from the off-chip non-volatile memory device.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.