Embedded controller: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 06:03, 23 September 2022

Revision as of 14:39, 5 October 2022

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An '''Embedded Controller''' ('''EC''') is a [[microcontroller]] in [[computer]]s that handles various system tasks. Now it is mostlyusually merged with '''SuperI/O''', especially on mobile platforms（suchplatforms (such as laptop）laptop).

== Tasks ==

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An embedded controller can have the following tasks:

*Receiving and processing signals from the keyboard<ref name="ps2kbc">http://www.computer-engineering.org/ps2keyboard/</ref> and the touchpad (including touchpad disable)

*otherOther buttons and switches (e.g., power button, laptop lid switch (received from hall sensor))<ref name="amikey">{{Cite web |url=http://www.ami.com/ami_downloads/Embedded_Controller_Data_Sheet.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2014-12-28 |archive-date=2016-03-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304032338/http://www.ami.com/ami_downloads/Embedded_Controller_Data_Sheet.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

*Controlling access to the [[A20 line]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.win.tue.nl/~aeb/linux/kbd/A20.html|title=A20 - a pain from the past}}</ref>

*Thermal measurement (CPU, GPU, Motherboard) and response including [[fan control]], [[Dynamic frequency scaling|CPU and GPU throttling]], and emergency shutdown in response to rising temperatures

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*[[Bluetooth]] toggle

*Display backlight toggle

*Can act as a bridge between [[BIOS]] chip and [[chipset]]

*[[USB]] OC (overcurrent) (USB disable)

*whether [[Alternating current|AC]] is present

*Display power toggle

*Controls RGB lighting

*eSATA toggle

*[[Wake-on-LAN]]

*Debug Card Interface (Enables repair centers to monitor the boot process with a special device in an attempt to fix problems (only few several hundred codes))

*SCI from the Embedded Controller to inform the ACPI driver (in the {{abbr|OS|Operating system}}) of an ACPI Event

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== Common Brands ==

===* Nuvoton Technology ===

* Winbond Electronics (Now merged into Nuvoton)

=== Nuvoton Technology ===

===* ITE tech. Inc. ===

=== Winbond Electronics（Now merged into Nuvoton） ===

=== ITE tech. Inc. ===

== See also ==