At what level does hardware start needing firmware?

[Elliot77]

I know usb & display cables have no firmware. What about external USB hubs?

 

Obviously core system components (SSD, HDD, USB controller, RAM, MB, GPU, etc) all require firmware. I'm assuming PSUs also have firmware?

[Tripredacus]

Firmware is just to say code on a chip, typically writable chip, on a PCB. Non-writable chips can have firmware (technically) but obviously it can't be changed.

The point at which something needs it would be any sort of complex function that can't be handled with your typical electrical logic methods, gates, triggers and the like.

[Elliot77]

On 3/8/2023 at 9:40 AM, Tripredacus said:

Firmware is just to say code on a chip, typically writable chip, on a PCB. Non-writable chips can have firmware (technically) but obviously it can't be changed.

The point at which something needs it would be any sort of complex function that can't be handled with your typical electrical logic methods, gates, triggers and the like.

Interesting. Does anyone have more info they'd like to share about what typical consumer-level hardware starts to require firmware, and if it tends to be the writable vs non-writable type?

 

 

[Tripredacus]

The requirement happens during the design phase, far before a particular product ends up in the consumer market. Most ODMs are not going to be building a PCB 100% in-house and so they tend to use packages that already exist on the market in one way or another. And those packages may or may not have writable firmware.