Embedded Firmware Online Upgrade System Based on Infrared Communication

1. Background Significance

To address the after-sales maintenance issue of frequently disassembling product enclosures and upgrading on-site by professionals, the method ofIAP firmware upgrades is often adopted. Although this method solves the after-sales maintenance problem, it requires the embedded system to have interfaces such as serial ports, USB, and network ports, relying on computers, U disks, and networks for remote upgrades. For a large number of small embedded systems, adding such interfaces significantly increases product costs. To address this issue, an embedded firmware online upgrade system based on infrared communication is proposed. This system has advantages such as simple circuit design, strong anti-interference capability, no wiring required, and low cost..

2. Theoretical Principles

The embedded system includes an embeddedCPU, power module1, functional module, and infrared receiving module; the portable upgrade module includes an infrared transmitting module, microcontroller, power module2, human-computer interaction module, and storage module. The embeddedCPU mainly consists of the main control chipSTM32F103RCT6 and its peripheral circuits, responsible for coordinating the overall functionality of the embedded system; the functional module is mainly responsible for implementing the basic functionalities of the embedded product; the power module1 is responsible for powering the embedded system; the infrared receiving module is mainly responsible for receiving the firmware to be upgraded; the infrared transmitting module is primarily responsible for sending the firmware to be upgraded; the microcontroller is mainly responsible for sending and storing the firmware to be upgraded; the power module2 provides power to the portable upgrade module; the human-computer interaction module mainly consists of1 button (upgrade button) and1 LED light (status indicator) that triggers the firmware upgrade function and indicates the upgrade status; the storage module includesTF card andTF card driver circuit, mainly used for storing the firmware to be upgraded..

3. Experimental System and Conditions

To verify the reliability and accuracy of the embedded firmware online upgrade system based on infrared communication, a bin file of size13.7 kB was used as the test firmware. The time taken for firmware upgrades and success rates were tested at different distances between the portable upgrade module and the embedded system (10 tests for each distance). The test data is listed in Table1. From Table1, it can be seen that as the distance increases, the average time for firmware upgrades increases, and the success rate decreases. The reason for the increased average time is thatIAP communication has a redundancy design of 3 erroneous frames, requiring a re-send of a frame of data for each erroneous frame processed; the more erroneous frames, the longer the time taken. The decrease in upgrade success rate is due to the fact that infrared communication transmits signals using infrared light, and as the distance increases, the intensity of the light reaching the embedded system’s infrared receiving module decreases, increasing the error rate and causing the upgrade success rate to decrease.

4. Experimental Results and Analysis

From the experimental results, it can be seen that during firmware upgrades, the optimal distance between the portable upgrade module and the embedded system should not exceed10cm. If any issues arise during the upgrade process, such as unsuccessful upgrades or excessive upgrade times, adjustments can be made to the distance between the portable upgrade module and the embedded system for improvement..

5. Conclusion

With the development of science and technology, embedded products have permeated various aspects of daily life, from smart homes to smart wearable products, from smart agriculture to smart medical devices. However, the large number of devices often requires regular or irregular updates of embedded firmware to adapt to different working conditions. Many embedded products have low-cost versions that lack expansion interfaces or human-computer interaction, making firmware upgrades a troublesome task. Therefore, an embedded firmware online upgrade system based on infrared communication is proposed, which requires only a minimal cost increase to achieve online firmware upgrade functionality, greatly enhancing the convenience of product maintenance. Thanks to the excellent characteristics of infrared communication, this system also has advantages such as simple circuit design, strong anti-interference capability, no additional wiring required, and low cost, making it worthy of promotion.

References:

[1] Qu Peng, Guo Jiayong, Li Shengyong. Embedded Firmware Online Upgrade System Based on Infrared Communication[J]. Automation Applications, 2024, 65(18):251-254.

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