SYSTEM ON A CHIP HARDWARE BLOCK FOR TRANSLATING COMMANDS FROM PROCESSOR TO READ BOOT CODE FROM OFF-CHIP NON-VOLATILE MEMORY DEVICE

摘要

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.

主权项

1. 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;