Embedded controller: Difference between revisions

Latest revision as of 23:55, 15 January 2016

The embedded controller is a small microcontroller typically used in laptops for various purposes.

Supported by coreboot

Renesas M3885/M3886

These ECs are supported by coreboot. There are several versions, with flash and with mask ROMs. Only the flash versions are update-able. These ECs are Family 740 based. A development environment including compiler and simulator is available from Renesas.

Other ECs

ECs are supportable if you either have

interface docs for the vendor supplied closed source EC firmware or
complete docs for the EC, and docs for the hardware it should control (backlight, battery charging, power sequencing of the mainboard)
open source EC firmware

Some of the info (interface docs) can be reverse engineered to some degree, but that is very tedious.

Embedded controller table

Vendor	Model	Type	Architecture	Datasheet(s)	Comments
ENE	KB910	EC	8bit, 8051 core	?	—
ENE	KB926C	EC	8bit, 8051 core	?	—
ENE	KB926D	EC	8bit, 8051 core	?	—
ENE	KB3310	EC	8bit, 8051 core	?	—
ENE	KB3700	EC	8bit, 8051 core	[1]	—
ENE	KB3910	EC	8bit, 8051 core	?	—
ENE	KB3920	EC	8bit, 8051 core	?	—
ENE	KB3925	EC	8bit, 8051 core	?	—
ENE	KB3926	EC	8bit, 8051 core	?	—
Fujitsu	MB90378	EC	16bit, F²MC-16LX family	[2]	—
ITE	IT8500	EC & Super I/O	?	?	Source: [3]
ITE	IT8502E	EC & Super I/O	8bit, 8032 core (8051 compatible)	on request	Source: [4] [5]
ITE	IT8510E/TE/G	EC & Super I/O	8bit, 8032 core (8051 compatible)	on request	—
ITE	IT8511E/TE/G	EC & Super I/O	8bit, 8032 core (8051 compatible)	on request	—
ITE	IT8512E/F/G	EC & Super I/O	8bit, 8032 core (8051 compatible)	on request	—
ITE	IT8513E/F/G	EC & Super I/O	8bit, 8032 core (8051 compatible)	?	—
ITE	IT8516	EC & Super I/O	?	?	Source: [6]
ITE	IT8301E	External GPIO chip	?	?	—
Nuvoton	87541V	EC	16 bit, CR16B core	?	—
Nuvoton	PC97551³	EC	16 bit, CR16B core	?	—
Nuvoton	W83L951DG/FG⁴	EC	8 bit, 8051 core	on request	—
Nuvoton	W83L951ADG/AFG⁴	EC	8 bit, 8051 core	on request	—
Nuvoton	WPC8765L/WPC8769L⁴	EC	16 bit, ? core	?	—
Nuvoton	WPC8763L⁴	EC	16 bit, CR16CPlus core	?	—
Nuvoton	WPCE775x⁴	EC	16 bit, CR16CPlus core	?	—
Nuvoton	NPCE78nx	EC	?	?	—
Renesas	M38859¹	EC	8bit, 740 family	[7]	—
Renesas	M38867M8A¹	EC	8bit, 740 family	[8]	—
Renesas	H8S/2117R²	EC	16 bit, H8S family	?	Source: [9]
Renesas	H8S/2161B²	EC	16 bit, H8S family	?	Source: [10], [11], [12], [13]
Renesas	H8S/2169AV ²	EC	16 bit, H8S family	?	Source: [14], [15], [16]
Renesas	H8S/64F3169ATE10²	EC	16 bit, H8S family	?	—
NSC	PC87570	EC & Super I/O	?	?	—
SMSC	FDC37N958FR	EC & Super I/O	?	?	—
SMSC	LPC47N252	EC & Super I/O	?	?	—
SMSC	MEC1308	EC	8bit, 8051 core	?	—
SMSC	KBC1122/KBC1122P	EC & Super I/O	8bit, 8051 core	?	—
SST	SST79LF008	EC & Super I/O & BIOS flash	8bit, 8051 core	?	—

¹ Previously Mitsubishi, now Renesas.
² Previously Hitachi, now Renesas.
³ Previously National (NSC), then Winbond, now Nuvoton.
⁴ Previously Winbond, now Nuvoton.

Resources

Chromebooks

The chromebooks EC firmware project
Building the Chrome EC outside of the Chromium chroot

ENE KB3310/KB3910/KB3920

Very common ECs in netbooks are the KB3310, KB3910 and KB3920 from ENE Technology. The ENE ECs are 8051 based.

The Quanta IL1 reference design seems to use ENE3310 controller. The q1d25i.rom was examined. The EC code is on 0xFFF00000 on One Mini A110. Its 64KB big HOLE0.ROM.

More discussion and info on the ENE ECs:

ENE KB3700 datasheet.
eeeUser Discussion
Memory map of ENE KB3310
8051 simulator
OpenEC Firmware
OpenEC Project
Example code that makes use of the KB3310's "Index IO" access functions.

Renesas H8

Some ECs are H8 based.

Toolchains

TODO

I, the copyright holder of this work, hereby release it into the public domain. This applies worldwide.

In case this is not legally possible:
I grant anyone the right to use this work for any purpose, without any conditions, unless such conditions are required by law.

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
+[[File:Dell_latitude_cpi_a366xt_superio.jpg|thumb|right|SMSC FDC37N958FR]]
+[[File:Dell_latitude_c610_superio.jpg|thumb|right|SMSC LPC47N252]]
 The '''embedded controller''' is a small microcontroller typically used in laptops for various purposes.
+== Supported by coreboot ==
+=== Renesas M3885/M3886 ===
+These ECs are supported by coreboot. There are several versions, with flash and with mask ROMs. Only the flash versions are update-able. These ECs are Family 740 based. A development environment including compiler and simulator is available from Renesas.
+=== Other ECs ===
+ECs are supportable if you either have
+* interface docs for the vendor supplied closed source EC firmware or
+* complete docs for the EC, and docs for the hardware it should control (backlight, battery charging, power sequencing of the mainboard)
+* open source EC firmware
+Some of the info (interface docs) can be reverse engineered to some degree, but that is very tedious.
 == Embedded controller table ==
@@ Line 13: / Line 29: @@
 |- bgcolor="#eeeeee"
-| [http://www.ene.com.tw/en/index.asp ENE] || KB910 || EC || ? || ? || &mdash;
+| [http://www.ene.com.tw/en/index.asp ENE] || KB910 || EC || 8bit, 8051 core || ? || &mdash;
+|- bgcolor="#eeeeee"
+| [http://www.ene.com.tw/en/index.asp ENE] || KB926C || EC || 8bit, 8051 core || ? || &mdash;
 |- bgcolor="#eeeeee"
-| [http://www.ene.com.tw/en/index.asp ENE] || KB3310 || EC || ? || ? || &mdash;
+| [http://www.ene.com.tw/en/index.asp ENE] || KB926D || EC || 8bit, 8051 core || ? || &mdash;
+|- bgcolor="#eeeeee"
+| [http://www.ene.com.tw/en/index.asp ENE] || KB3310 || EC || 8bit, 8051 core || ? || &mdash;
 |- bgcolor="#eeeeee"
 | [http://www.ene.com.tw/en/index.asp ENE] || KB3700 || EC || 8bit, 8051 core || [http://wiki.laptop.org/images/a/ab/KB3700-ds-01.pdf] || &mdash;
@@ Line 31: / Line 51: @@
 |- bgcolor="#eeeeee"
-| [http://www.ite.com.tw/EN/index.aspx ITE] || IT8502E || EC & Super I/O || ? || ? || &mdash;
+| [http://www.ite.com.tw/EN/index.aspx ITE] || IT8500 || EC & Super I/O || ? || ? || Source: [http://gmb.viatech.com.cn/resource/downloads/VGTF-Autumn/ITE/ITE.pdf]
 |- bgcolor="#eeeeee"
-| [http://www.ite.com.tw/EN/index.aspx ITE] || [http://www.ite.com.tw/EN/products_more.aspx?CategoryID=3&ID=6,79 IT8510E/TE/G] || EC & Super I/O || 8bit, 8032 core (8051 compatible) || ? || &mdash;
+| [http://www.ite.com.tw/EN/index.aspx ITE] || IT8502E || EC & Super I/O || 8bit, 8032 core (8051 compatible) || on request || Source: [http://de.viatech.com/de/initiatives/spearhead/surfboard_c855/] [http://gmb.viatech.com/resource/jsp/PartnersSolutions/Partners/ITE/index.jsp]
 |- bgcolor="#eeeeee"
-| [http://www.ite.com.tw/EN/index.aspx ITE] || [http://www.ite.com.tw/EN/products_more.aspx?CategoryID=3&ID=6,80 IT8511E/TE/G] || EC & Super I/O || 8bit, 8032 core (8051 compatible) || ? || &mdash;
+| [http://www.ite.com.tw/EN/index.aspx ITE] || [http://www.ite.com.tw/EN/products_more.aspx?CategoryID=3&ID=6,79 IT8510E/TE/G] || EC & Super I/O || 8bit, 8032 core (8051 compatible) || on request || &mdash;
 |- bgcolor="#eeeeee"
-| [http://www.ite.com.tw/EN/index.aspx ITE] || [http://www.ite.com.tw/EN/products_more.aspx?CategoryID=3&ID=6,81 IT8512E/F/G] || EC & Super I/O || 8bit, 8032 core (8051 compatible) || ? || &mdash;
+| [http://www.ite.com.tw/EN/index.aspx ITE] || [http://www.ite.com.tw/EN/products_more.aspx?CategoryID=3&ID=6,80 IT8511E/TE/G] || EC & Super I/O || 8bit, 8032 core (8051 compatible) || on request || &mdash;
+|- bgcolor="#eeeeee"
+| [http://www.ite.com.tw/EN/index.aspx ITE] || [http://www.ite.com.tw/EN/products_more.aspx?CategoryID=3&ID=6,81 IT8512E/F/G] || EC & Super I/O || 8bit, 8032 core (8051 compatible) || on request || &mdash;
 |- bgcolor="#eeeeee"
 | [http://www.ite.com.tw/EN/index.aspx ITE] || [http://www.ite.com.tw/EN/products_more.aspx?CategoryID=3&ID=6,82 IT8513E/F/G] || EC & Super I/O || 8bit, 8032 core (8051 compatible) || ? || &mdash;
+|- bgcolor="#eeeeee"
+| [http://www.ite.com.tw/EN/index.aspx ITE] || IT8516 || EC & Super I/O || ? || ? || Source: [http://gmb.viatech.com.cn/resource/downloads/VGTF-Autumn/ITE/ITE.pdf]
 |- bgcolor="#eeeeee"
 | [http://www.ite.com.tw/EN/index.aspx ITE] || [http://www.ite.com.tw/EN/products_more.aspx?CategoryID=3&ID=6,84 IT8301E] || External GPIO chip || ? || ? || &mdash;
@@ Line 48: / Line 72: @@
 | [http://www.nuvoton.com/ Nuvoton] || PC97551<sup>3</sup> || EC || 16 bit, CR16B core || ? || &mdash;
 |- bgcolor="#eeeeee"
-| [http://www.nuvoton.com/ Nuvoton] || [http://www.nuvoton.com/hq/enu/ProductAndSales/ProductLines/ComputerIC/ECAndNBKeyboardController/ECAndNBKeyboardController/W83L951DG_W83L951FG.htm W83L951DG/FG]<sup>4</sup> || EC || 8 bit, 8051 core || ? || &mdash;
+| [http://www.nuvoton.com/ Nuvoton] || [http://www.nuvoton.com/hq/enu/ProductAndSales/ProductLines/ComputerIC/ECAndNBKeyboardController/ECAndNBKeyboardController/W83L951DG_W83L951FG.htm W83L951DG/FG]<sup>4</sup> || EC || 8 bit, 8051 core || on request || &mdash;
 |- bgcolor="#eeeeee"
-| [http://www.nuvoton.com/ Nuvoton] || [http://www.nuvoton.com/hq/enu/ProductAndSales/ProductLines/ComputerIC/ECAndNBKeyboardController/ECAndNBKeyboardController/W83L951ADG_W83L951AFG.htm W83L951ADG/AFG]<sup>4</sup> || EC || 8 bit, 8051 core || ? || &mdash;
+| [http://www.nuvoton.com/ Nuvoton] || [http://www.nuvoton.com/hq/enu/ProductAndSales/ProductLines/ComputerIC/ECAndNBKeyboardController/ECAndNBKeyboardController/W83L951ADG_W83L951AFG.htm W83L951ADG/AFG]<sup>4</sup> || EC || 8 bit, 8051 core || on request || &mdash;
 |- bgcolor="#eeeeee"
-| [http://www.nuvoton.com/ Nuvoton] || [http://www.nuvoton.com/hq/enu/ProductAndSales/ProductLines/ComputerIC/ECAndNBKeyboardController/AdvancedEmbeddedController/WPC8769L.htm WPC8769L]<sup>4</sup> || EC || 16 bit, ? core || ? || &mdash;
+| [http://www.nuvoton.com/ Nuvoton] || [http://www.nuvoton.com/hq/enu/ProductAndSales/ProductLines/ComputerIC/ECAndNBKeyboardController/AdvancedEmbeddedController/WPC8769L.htm WPC8765L/WPC8769L]<sup>4</sup> || EC || 16 bit, ? core || ? || &mdash;
 |- bgcolor="#eeeeee"
 | [http://www.nuvoton.com/ Nuvoton] || [http://www.nuvoton.com/hq/enu/ProductAndSales/ProductLines/ComputerIC/ECAndNBKeyboardController/AdvancedEmbeddedController/WPC8763L.htm WPC8763L]<sup>4</sup> || EC || 16 bit, CR16CPlus core || ? || &mdash;
@@ Line 65: / Line 89: @@
 | [http://eu.renesas.com/ Renesas] || [http://eu.renesas.com/fmwk.jsp?cnt=3886_root.jsp&fp=/products/mpumcu/740_family/38000_740_series/3886_group/ M38867M8A]<sup>1</sup> || EC || 8bit, 740 family || [http://documentation.renesas.com/eng/products/mpumcu/e3886g.pdf] || &mdash;
 |- bgcolor="#dddddd"
-| [http://eu.renesas.com/ Renesas] || [http://eu.renesas.com/fmwk.jsp?cnt=h8s2117_root.jsp&fp=/products/mpumcu/h8s_family/h8s2100_series/h8s2117_group H8S/2117R]<sup>2</sup> || EC || ? || ? || Source: [http://www.intelcommsalliance.com/kshowcase/view/view_item/4ddd1dbe78eb6b235cc4f07eabb79ae562ae690e]
+| [http://eu.renesas.com/ Renesas] || [http://eu.renesas.com/fmwk.jsp?cnt=h8s2117_root.jsp&fp=/products/mpumcu/h8s_family/h8s2100_series/h8s2117_group H8S/2117R]<sup>2</sup> || EC || 16 bit, H8S family || ? || Source: [http://www.intelcommsalliance.com/kshowcase/view/view_item/4ddd1dbe78eb6b235cc4f07eabb79ae562ae690e]
 |- bgcolor="#dddddd"
-| [http://eu.renesas.com/ Renesas] || H8S/2161B<sup>2</sup> || EC || ? || ? || Source: [http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Embedded_Controller_Chips]
+| [http://eu.renesas.com/ Renesas] || H8S/2161B<sup>2</sup> || EC || 16 bit, H8S family || ? || Source: [http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Embedded_Controller_Chips], [http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Embedded_Controller_Firmware], [http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=20958], [http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Renesas_H8S/2161BV]
 |- bgcolor="#dddddd"
-| [http://eu.renesas.com/ Renesas] || H8S/2169AV <sup>2</sup> || EC || ? || ? || Source: [http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Embedded_Controller_Chips]
+| [http://eu.renesas.com/ Renesas] || H8S/2169AV <sup>2</sup> || EC || 16 bit, H8S family || ? || Source: [http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Embedded_Controller_Chips], [http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Embedded_Controller_Firmware], [http://forum.thinkpads.com/viewtopic.php?t=20958]
 |- bgcolor="#dddddd"
-| [http://eu.renesas.com/ Renesas] || H8S/64F3169ATE10<sup>2</sup> || EC || ? || ? || &mdash;
+| [http://eu.renesas.com/ Renesas] || H8S/64F3169ATE10<sup>2</sup> || EC || 16 bit, H8S family || ? || &mdash;
 |- bgcolor="#eeeeee"
@@ Line 84: / Line 108: @@
 |- bgcolor="#dddddd"
 | [http://www.smsc.com/ SMSC] || [http://www.smsc.com/index.php?tid=252&pid=172 KBC1122/KBC1122P] || EC & Super I/O || 8bit, 8051 core || ? || &mdash;
+|- bgcolor="#eeeeee"
+| [http://www.sst.com/ SST] || [http://www.sst.com/about_sst/news/detail.dot?crumbTitle=NewsDetail&id=320 SST79LF008] || EC & Super I/O & BIOS flash || 8bit, 8051 core || ? || &mdash;
 |}
@@ Line 94: / Line 121: @@
 </small>
-== Embedded controller photos ==
+== Resources ==
+=== Chromebooks ===
+* [https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromiumos/platform/ec/ The chromebooks EC firmware project]
+* Building the [[Chrome EC]] outside of the Chromium chroot
+=== ENE KB3310/KB3910/KB3920 ===
+Very common ECs in netbooks are the KB3310, KB3910 and KB3920 from [http://www.ene.com.tw/en/index.asp ENE Technology]. The ENE ECs are 8051 based.
+The Quanta IL1 reference design seems to use ENE3310 controller. The q1d25i.rom was examined. The EC code is on 0xFFF00000 on One Mini A110. Its 64KB big HOLE0.ROM.
+More discussion and info on the ENE ECs:
+* [http://wiki.laptop.org/images/a/ab/KB3700-ds-01.pdf ENE KB3700 datasheet].
+* [http://forum.eeeuser.com/viewtopic.php?pid=99076 eeeUser Discussion]
+* [http://code.google.com/p/eeetune/wiki/KBMemoryMap Memory map of ENE KB3310]
+* [https://sdcc.svn.sourceforge.net/svnroot/sdcc/trunk/ 8051 simulator]
+* [http://dev.laptop.org/git?p=projects/olpcflash;a=blob;f=olpcflash.c;hb=HEAD OpenEC Firmware]
+* [http://wiki.laptop.org/go/OpenEC OpenEC Project]
+* [http://www.cagnulein.com/tmp/eee.c-20080812 Example code] that makes use of the KB3310's "Index IO" access functions.
+=== Renesas H8 ===
+Some ECs are H8 based.
-<gallery>
+* [http://www.gnuh8.org/ Port of the GNU compiler suite to the H8]
-File:Dell_latitude_cpi_a366xt_superio.jpg|SMSC FDC37N958FR
+* [http://wunderkis.de/h8-gcc/h8tools.tar.gz H8 bootloader]
-File:Dell_latitude_c610_superio.jpg|SMSC LPC47N252
+* [http://h8300-hms.sourceforge.net/ Sourceforge project for H8/300]
-</gallery>
 == Toolchains ==