Early logo display in a multiprocessor architecture

• US 10,564,984 B2
• Filed: 09/30/2016
• Issued: 02/18/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 04/02/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Continental Automotive GmbH (Continental AG)
• Original Assignee: Continental Automotive GmbH (Continental AG)
• Inventors: Honghalli Devaraju, Anil Kumar
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Phil K
• Application Number:
  US15/281,518
• Publication Number:
  US 20170031693A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,236 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 13/4282 on a serial bus, e.g. I2C bus, SPI bus on daisy chain buses G06F13/4247
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4401 Bootstrapping security arrangements therefor G06F21/57
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4403 Processor initialisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4406 Loading of operating system
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4411 Configuring for operating with peripheral devices; Loading of device drivers
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/451 Execution arrangements for user interfaces
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 1/20 Processor architectures; Processor configuration, e.g. pipelining
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 2200/28 involving image processing hardware
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/40215 Controller Area Network CAN
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/40273 the transportation system being a vehicle

Abstract

An infotainment assembly for a vehicle has a vehicle communication controller and a multimedia controller with an interchip communication bus and a serial bus connection, a message processing unit and a remote messaging interface having a one-way protocol. The multimedia controller comprises a display connection for a display device, a message receiver, and a computer readable memory with an operating system having multiple boot phases, wherein graphics drivers of the operating system for controlling the display device are loaded in a later boot phase of the operating system. A graphics driver retrieves an image or a video input and transmits a raw image during an earlier boot phase of the operating system.

Claims

1. An infotainment assembly for a vehicle, comprising

a vehicle communication controller, the vehicle communication controller comprising

a bus connection for connecting a serial bus of the vehicle,

a message processing unit,

a remote messaging interface for sending out messages using a one-way protocol,

a multimedia controller that is connected to the vehicle communication controller via an interchip communication bus, the multimedia controller comprising

a display connection for connecting a display device of the vehicle,

a message receiver for receiving messages according to the one-way protocol,

a computer readable memory with an operating system, the operating system having multiple boot phases for the multimedia controller, wherein during an earlier boot phase of the operating system, a kernel space of the operating system is loaded with drivers to access a file system of the multimedia controller and to access registry data of the operating system, and, wherein during a later boot phase of the operating system, after reading the registry data, a plurality of remaining components are loaded based on registry-configuration data, wherein graphics drivers of the operating system for controlling the display device are loaded in the later boot phase of the operating system, and

a message handler unit for activating a back light of the display device in response to a power state message received from the message receiver, the power state message indicating a powered on state of a vehicle electronics, the message handler unit being operative during the earlier boot phase of the operating system, the earlier boot phase preceding the later boot phase.

2. The infotainment assembly according to claim 1, wherein the vehicle communication controller comprises a message dispatcher unit, the message dispatcher unit being operative to send messages according to the one-way protocol.

3. The infotainment assembly according to claim 2, wherein the one-way protocol is implemented on top of an inter-chip communication protocol.

4. The infotainment assembly according to claim 3, wherein the interchip communication protocol is a protocol of a communication bus of the vehicle electronics.

5. The infotainment assembly according to claim 4, wherein the communication bus is a low speed CAN bus.

6. The infotainment assembly according to claim 2, comprising a display buffer, wherein the graphics driver causes a raw image to be copied into the display buffer.

7. The infotainment assembly according to claim 1, wherein the display device includes a display screen, the display device being connected to a video output of the infotainment assembly.

8. The infotainment assembly according to claim 7, further comprising a vehicle electronics bus being connected to an input of the infotainment assembly.

9. A method for activating a display of a car infotainment system, comprising

detecting a power state of the car electronics,

transmitting information about the power state from a vehicle communication controller to a multimedia controller using a one-way communication protocol,

receiving the power state signal, and

sending a back light command signal to the display to turn on a back light of the display on if the power state indicates a powered on state,

wherein the steps of the method are executed during an earlier boot phase of an operating system having multiple boot phases, wherein during an earlier boot phase of the operating system, a kernel space of the operating system is loaded with drivers to access a file system of the multimedia controller and to access registry data of the operating system, and, wherein during a later boot phase of the operating system, after reading the registry data, a plurality of remaining components are loaded based on registry configuration data, wherein the earlier boot phase precedes the later boot phase in which graphics drivers of the operating system are loaded.