Compressed bios system.

Description: TECHNICAL FIELD [Detailed description of the invention]

Compressed BIOS system Background of the invention Field of invention The present invention relates to the field of general purpose computer systems, in particular starting, resetting, and so on. Or a command to initialize such a computer system upon formation For basic input / output (BIOS) systems that supply data. Description of prior art Computers used for any purpose, as is well known in technology Even in the system, the CPU, memory device, and computer hardware such as the communication bus Must have all the air. Also, the CPU has to fulfill its role There must also be a set of directives (program / software) to follow. program The information provided (applicable software) typically depends on the CPU when needed. Stored in internal or peripheral memory devices that are accessed. Access applicable software and data to load and run programs In order to make the peripherals operational so that the computer applies to the program It must have a predetermined minimum operating ability that does not depend on it. This movement ability , Usually comes from a permanently recorded "read-only" directive set and is basic Called an input / output (BIOS) system It has been. BIOS powers up (boots) or reboots the computer When it is accessed, it initializes and tests the circuit and surroundings, and goes to the BIOS Stored routines are also accessed in operation and originate from the application Provides basic operating characteristics in response to generated commands. BIOS system and especially BIOS system for IBM compatible machines There are numerous good texts and references to address. Overall BIOS One such valid reference that covers is The by W1nn L. Rosch. Winn Rosch Hardware Bible (Simon and Schuster, Inc. of New York city) , 1989). The BIOS characteristics section on pages 159-176 In connection with the present invention, it is incorporated herein by reference. Most BIOS means in a general purpose computer are the computer's "motherboard". "Erasable and programmable non-volatile (EPR) on a single chip placed on top OM) It is installed in the memory device. However, limited to EEPROM devices Without the "flash card memory" known in the prior art, mask ROM device, CMOS RAM with battery backup, and magnetism Another suitable non-volatile memory device that has been used for some time, including air bubble memory etc. There is. EPROM (and other non-volatile memory) years using different integrated circuits To be smaller, cheaper and faster per unit storage capacity Improved and also The amount has been improved. One of the first EPROMs, the Intel 1702, It has a capacity of 256 bytes. More recent EPROMs are around 512 kilobytes It has a degree capacity and there is no physical barrier to larger capacity. However, Larger units are expensive, and as capacity increases, the number of pins increases, which This increases the cost of connection and the like. The problem is broader to increase the power and power of general purpose computers BIOS system is required, which makes it bigger and faster (and faster) (More expensive) EPROM chips are required. Therefore, it is needed Is a way to extend the BIOS code without using a large EPROM To. Outline of the invention The firmware device according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention is a CPU microprocessor. It can be programmed by supplying a BIOS routine to a general-purpose computer that has a computer. Stored on a capable non-volatile memory device and a programmable non-volatile memory device It has a BIOS routine. The BIOS routine is with the compressed part CPU to initialize random access memory in general purpose computer Load the uncompressed part and the compressed part operated by and compress it To restore from and copy the compressed and restored code to random access memory Has a compression / restore utility code that is operated by the CPU. Good In a better example The programmable memory device is an EPROM device. In certain compression methods, compression replaces a two-line token with a long sequence. Achieved by that, where long sequences are often in the BIOS For example, it is an iterative sequence. The value in the first row is a long sequence using the next row Compression that correlates with the compression and copies that long sequence restored from compression A flag for the restore routine. In the present invention, the general purpose computer has a compressed BIOS according to the present invention. And how to compress the BIOS routines for storage on EPROM Is also provided and follows the token scheme. The present invention has less line capacity than a line of code in a BIOS routine. Remember the BIOS routine and load it for the EPROM you are doing And need to work. This is generally the BIOS for computers Lower costs and a wider range of BIOs without correspondingly larger EPROMs S is provided. A brief description of the drawing FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram of a partially compressed BIOS according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 2 shows the operation of the computer from boot according to the BIOS routine according to the present invention. It is a flow chart which shows the work. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of a token compression / restoration method according to an embodiment of the present invention. Example In most BIOS systems for general purpose computers, the BIOS is on It is stored in an EPROM device as described in the prior art section described above. Upon power-up, the BIOS initializes and accesses the system to turn it on and off. Basic work such as checking the operation of the random access memory RAM Do, and typically during the initialization period, at least part of the BIOS code Copied to part of the board RAM (the BIOS copies itself). The portion of RAM reserved for the BIOS code on the computer is one Commonly referred to as "shadow" RAM. The name Shadow RAM is also known as Specific c when the spontaneous memory cell is connected to a non-volatile (EPROM type) cell It is also used in the industry that manufactures memory type memory devices. this Are more appropriately called NVRAM devices, and in the shadow RAM in this description. Therefore, it is not meant. For this disclosure, Shadow RAM RAM reserved for simply copying the BIOS code partially or wholly Is the part of. In a typical general purpose computer, as soon as the system receives power, B IOS tests and initializes system RAM, then EPROM itself Copy from to RAM (make it shadowed). BIOS in RAM Continue to work. The purpose of shadowing the BIOS in RAM is the BIOS The chord sequence smells like continuous operation CPU microphone much faster than accessing EPROM every time needed To give the processor access to the BIOS code. The present invention compresses at least the important part of the BIOS code and the compressed part. The entire BIOS code including is stored in EPROM, and the compressed code is powered. Equipped with a means to release at the time of uploading, so that all of the code is computer Be made available for. Also, when powering up, the entire code is R Shadowed by AM. FIG. 1 shows the compressed BIOS 11 according to the present invention. There And there are three different parts of the code. Part 13 initializes the system RAM And test, thereby performing all operations to enable system RAM Code to execute, a well-known part of traditional BIOS routines Is. This part of some applications is memory control and cache control. Must perform functions such as initializing and testing the device and cache memory There is a need. Part 15 is a compression / decompression utility. Part 17 is a compressed form Shows the rest of the formula's BIOS code. The compression method used and the associated pressure It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that there are several decompression routines. In FIG. 2, a computer that traces the BIOS routine according to the present invention from startup. A flow diagram showing the operation is shown. Powered typically by switching on The system RAM is initialized from the power-up signal 19 obtained by During the period, the operation proceeds to the initialization operation 21. In operation 21, the system is shown in Figure 1. Run minute 13. Next, the compression / restore utility 15 (see Figure 1) is accessed in operation 23. , Will be executed. The compression / restore utility is a bar of (compressed) BIOS code. Process the lance part, convert it into working code, and convert it to system RAM Shadow to. Such a compression / restore utility can be used, but the BIOS Shows the compressed part of and shadows the code restored from compression into RAM The code is not part of the traditional compression / decompression routine. These directives are the present invention. It is added to the BIOS of. After the BIOS is shadowed, the operation continues from the BIOS in system RAM Will be done (25). Testing and initializing the rest of the computer subsystem All remaining BIOS processes, including, are accomplished in this operating part. One way to compress the BIOS code is with many other coded directive sets. The code system in which the BIOS routine is often repeated, as is normal in -Based on the fact that it uses Kens. EPRO used for BIOS The M is typically a byte-wide device, i.e. the device is an 8-bit A word "can be stored, so a 16-bit word has two lines of B IOS code required. In this example, the often repeated code sequence has a token. In the compressed part of the BIOS Will be replaced. In this example, the token is a 2-byte code, there The first byte is the compression / decompression utility whose subsequent bytes are pointers. It is a flag for i. The pointer part is part of the compression / restore utility A specific, often repeated code sequence that is an entry into a table Is shown. In such a simple system, the table has only one entry ing. As an example, a code sequence that is often repeated in the BIOS is "call key". -Board "sequence, for this example, 8 lines of code. Token Is a two-line code in which the first line is a hexadecimal "FF" binary representation. This person In the expression, the hexadecimal FF is a hula indicating that the following byte is a pointer. It is Therefore, the pointer can be any value represented by digital bytes. It is one of 256 values. All that is needed is The compression / decompression utility often repeats pointers to the BIOS code sea Tie with Kens, replace that sequence restored from compression, and BIOS code To copy the data to RAM. In this method, it is often repeated The mode sequence is stored only once in the BIOS part, which is a compression / restoration utility. Is required. In FIG. 3, the token compression / restoration method described above is shown. Examples of the present invention After the BIOS initializes and tests the RAM, the compression restore utility Is booted and starts reading the compressed part of the BIOS at start 27 .. In 29, the compression / decompression utility is the compressed part of the EPROM BIOS. Load the 1st / next byte from the minute. If this byte is hexadecimal FF ( 31), it is recognized as a token, control goes to 33, where the system Reads the bytes following the token flag. This byte is always code sequence It is a pointer to the file. At 35, the system transfers pointer bytes from a pre-programmed table. It is associated with the input sequence and the associated sequence is loaded. At 37 The stem puts n lines of code indicated by pointer bytes into shadow RAM. Copy to the next n lines. Control then proceeds to decision point 39, where the compressed BIO Determines if the last byte loaded from S is the last byte. so If, control is predetermined in shadow RAM decompressed. Jump to the entry point and continue the BIOS routine. If not, the system Go back to 29 and load the compressed code in the next column. At decision point 31, if the hexadecimal value is not FF, from the compressed BIOS The loaded line of code is copied directly to the next line in the shadow BIOS. Many changes have been made in detail without departing from the spiritual and technical scope of the invention. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art. For example, the compressed BIOS is remembered There are numerous non-volatile memories that are retrieved, retrieved, and restored from compression, some of which Is listed above. Includes loadable compression and decompression routines Such finite non-volatile by compressing routines in the BIOS The capacity of the memory device is expanded and therefore the large amount of BIOS routines stored there Kisa is also expanded. Also, there are many compression methods used to compress parts of the BIOS. That is also true. The present invention is determined to compress the BIOS code. It is not limited by the relationship of the code of. The present invention is within the scope of the following claims. Therefore, it is limited.