Abstract: Examples pertaining to a cost-effective clock structure in a digital system are described. When in a low-power mode, a digital circuit operates at a first clock rate, and a counter of a non-stop system timer is incremented using a first clock having the first clock rate. When in a normal mode, the digital circuit operates at a second clock rate greater than the first clock rate, and values of the second clock signal of the second clock between adjacent edges of the first clock signal of the first clock are interpolated using a second clock having the second clock rate. The first clock remains running in both the low-power mode and the normal mode. The second clock is powered down in the low-power mode.

Abstract: The invention relates to a command controller and a prefetch buffer, and in particular, to a command controller and a prefetch buffer for accessing a serial flash in an embedded system. An embedded system comprises a serial flash, a processor, a plurality of access devices, and a prefetch buffer. The processor and the plurality of access devices send various commands to read data from or write data to the serial flash. The prefetch buffer temporarily stores a predetermined amount of data before data being read from or written to the serial flash.

Abstract: A memory controller for accessing a serial Flash memory is disclosed. The memory controller includes a logic circuit; a bi-directional buffer, coupled to the logic circuit, for selectively reversing the direction of data flow according to a control signal generated from the logic circuit, the bi-directional buffer comprising: an input port, coupled to a data output port of the logic circuit; a control port, coupled to the logic circuit, for receiving the control signal; and an output port, coupled to a data input port of the logic circuit, the output port being utilized for coupling both an input data port and an output data port of the serial Flash memory.

Abstract: A booting system includes: a non-XIP memory, for storing a plurality of booting images, wherein the booting images comprise a source image and a plurality of duplicates of the source image; an XIP memory, coupled to the non-XIP memory; and a code shadowing module, coupled to the non-XIP memory and the XIP memory, for shadowing a specific booting image to the XIP memory if no errors are detected when carrying out error detection (EDC) checking on the specific booting image; wherein if at least a specific part of a booting image does not pass EDC checking, the code shadowing module shadows error-free parts of the booting image to the XIP memory, carries out EDC checking on at least a duplicate of the specific part, and then shadows an error-free part corresponding to the specific part to the XIP memory.

Abstract: The invention relates to an embedded system, and in particular, to an embedded system capable of compensating setup time violation. An embedded system comprises a serial flash and an access circuit. The serial flash further comprises an input pin and an output pin. The access circuit further comprises a processor, a shift register, a serial flash controller, and a time compensator. The input pin receives an adjusted input signal and the output pin sends an output signal. The processor controls the operation of the access circuit. The serial flash controller enables an operational clock of the access circuit. The time compensator compensates a timing of the output signal by referring to the operational clock. The shift register converts data in parallel form to serial form.

Abstract: The invention relates to a command controller and a prefetch buffer, and in particular, to a command controller and a prefetch buffer for accessing a serial flash in an embedded system. An embedded system comprises a serial flash, a processor, a plurality of access devices, and a prefetch buffer. The processor and the plurality of access devices send various commands to read data from or write data to the serial flash. The prefetch buffer temporarily stores a predetermined amount of data before data being read from or written to the serial flash.

Abstract: The invention relates to a command controller and a prefetch buffer, and in particular, to a command controller and a prefetch buffer for accessing a serial flash in an embedded system. An embedded system comprises a serial flash, a processor, a plurality of access devices, and a prefetch buffer. The processor and the plurality of access devices send various commands to read data from or write data to the serial flash. The prefetch buffer temporarily stores a predetermined amount of data before data being read from or written to the serial flash.

Abstract: A booting system includes: a non-XIP memory, for storing a plurality of booting images, wherein the booting images comprise a source image and a plurality of duplicates of the source image; an XIP memory, coupled to the non-XIP memory; and a code shadowing module, coupled to the non-XIP memory and the XIP memory, for shadowing a specific booting image to the XIP memory if no errors are detected when carrying out error detection (EDC) checking on the specific booting image; wherein if at least a specific part of a booting image does not pass EDC checking, the code shadowing module shadows error-free parts of the booting image to the XIP memory, carries out EDC checking on at least a duplicate of the specific part, and then shadows an error-free part corresponding to the specific part to the XIP memory.

Abstract: A booting system is disclosed for booting from a non-XIP memory utilizing a boot engine that does not have ECC capabilities during booting. The booting system includes: a non-XIP memory for storing a boot loader code and a plurality of operation system (OS) images, wherein the OS images in the non-XIP memory correspond to a same source image; an XIP memory for storing a shadowed boot loader code and OS images; a Central Processing Unit (CPU) for executing the OS images stored in the XIP memory; a code shadowing module for performing error detection checking on the OS images in the non-XIP memory and shadowing the boot loader code and OS images to the XIP memory; and a non-XIP interface for enabling the boot engine to access the non-XIP memory.

Abstract: A memory controller for accessing a serial Flash memory is disclosed. The memory controller includes a logic circuit; a bi-directional buffer, coupled to the logic circuit, for selectively reversing the direction of data flow according to a control signal generated from the logic circuit, the bi-directional buffer comprising: an input port, coupled to a data output port of the logic circuit; a control port, coupled to the logic circuit, for receiving the control signal; and an output port, coupled to a data input port of the logic circuit, the output port being utilized for coupling both an input data port and an output data port of the serial Flash memory.

Abstract: A memory controller for accessing a serial Flash memory is disclosed. The memory controller includes a logic circuit; a bi-directional buffer, coupled to the logic circuit, for selectively reversing the direction of data flow according to a control signal generated from the logic circuit, the bi-directional buffer comprising: an input port, coupled to a data output port of the logic circuit; a control port, coupled to the logic circuit, for receiving the control signal; and an output port, coupled to a data input port of the logic circuit, the output port being utilized for coupling both an input data port and an output data port of the serial Flash memory.

Abstract: A booting system is disclosed for booting from a non-XIP memory utilizing a boot engine that does not have ECC capabilities during booting. The booting system includes: a non-XIP memory for storing a boot loader code and a plurality of operation system (OS) images, wherein the OS images in the non-XIP memory correspond to a same source image; an XIP memory for storing a shadowed boot loader code and OS images; a Central Processing Unit (CPU) for executing the OS images stored in the XIP memory; a code shadowing module for performing error detection checking on the OS images in the non-XIP memory and shadowing the boot loader code and OS images to the XIP memory; and a non-XIP interface for enabling the boot engine to access the non-XIP memory.

Abstract: The invention relates to an embedded system, and in particular, to an embedded system capable of compensating setup time violation. An embedded system comprises a serial flash and an access circuit. The serial flash further comprises an input pin and an output pin. The access circuit further comprises a processor, a shift register, a serial flash controller, and a time compensator. The input pin receives an adjusted input signal and the output pin sends an output signal. The processor controls the operation of the access circuit. The serial flash controller enables an operational clock of the access circuit. The time compensator compensates a timing of the output signal by referring to the operational clock. The shift register converts data in parallel form to serial form.

Abstract: The invention relates to a command controller and a prefetch buffer, and in particular, to a command controller and a prefetch buffer for accessing a serial flash in an embedded system. An embedded system comprises a serial flash, a processor, a plurality of access devices, and a prefetch buffer. The processor and the plurality of access devices send various commands to read data from or write data to the serial flash. The prefetch buffer temporarily stores a predetermined amount of data before data being read from or written to the serial flash.

Abstract: A speed-up hardware architecture used in wireless encryption/decryption operation comprises: a plurality of operation units, that each operation unit is capable of accomplishing a designated operation independently, further comprising: a data receiving device having two inputs that a first input is used for receiving an external data signal and a second input is used for receiving a supporting signal coming from the other operation unit, wherein when an operating mode of the data receiving device is “normal”, the data receiving device will output the first input, and when an operating mode of the data receiving device is “speed-up”, the data receiving device will output the second input; and an operating device coupling to the data receiving device for processing the data from the data receiving device and outputting the processed data thereafter; and a control unit coupling to every operation unit in the architecture for enabling the operation units which are idle to assist the working operation units for da

Abstract: The present invention relates to a programmable data processing apparatus that can minimize the extent of hardware modification by using a storage unit for storing the mutable fields of the WLAN encryption standard, while the encryption standard used in wireless local area network (WLAN) is varied. The programmable data processing apparatus comprises: a first storage unit, which stores at least an auxiliary data, wherein the auxiliary data stored in the first storage unit can be renew from outside when the encryption standard is varied; a reader, coupled to the first storage unit, which is used for receiving an index so as to read a corresponding auxiliary data from the first storage unit; a processor, coupled to the reader, for receiving the auxiliary data and a data signal, wherein, the processor will processes the data signal according to the auxiliary data so as to output a processed signal.

Abstract: A speed-up hardware architecture used in wireless encryption/decryption operation comprises: a plurality of operation units, that each operation unit is capable of accomplishing a designated operation independently, further comprising: a data receiving device having two inputs that a first input is used for receiving an external data signal and a second input is used for receiving a supporting signal coming from the other operation unit, wherein when an operating mode of the data receiving device is “normal”, the data receiving device will output the first input, and when an operating mode of the data receiving device is “speed-up”, the data receiving device will output the second input; and an operating device coupling to the data receiving device for processing the data from the data receiving device and outputting the processed data thereafter; and a control unit coupling to every operation unit in the architecture for enabling the operation units which are idle to assist the working operation units for da

Abstract: An inverse key evaluation circuit for inversely generating a plurality of pre-keys in sequence according to an original key, and a crypto-system containing the inverse key evaluation circuit for decrypting a ciphered text into a plain text according to the plurality of pre-keys. The inverse key evaluation circuit includes a key-receiving module and an inverse key evaluation module. The key-receiving module includes a register for temporally receiving and storing the original key, which will be processed by the inverse key evaluation module to generate the plurality of pre-keys of the original key. The key stored in the register will then be replaced by the newly generated pre-key in sequence. The crypto-system includes a key-generating module that contains the inverse key evaluation circuit, an encryption module, and a decryption module.