Code replacement for irrigation controllers
First Claim
1. An irrigation controller comprising:
- a housing;
a control panel removably coupled within the housing, the control panel including a first microcontroller configured to execute stored irrigation programs and a first set of code of the control panel; and
a removable plug-in device that removably mates with a portion of the control panel such that the removable plug-in device is communicationally coupled to the first microcontroller, wherein the removable plug-in device comprises a communication module providing communication with external devices, and a memory storing a second set of code to replace at least a portion of the first set of code of the control panel, wherein a copy of the second set of code is transferred to the control panel to overwrite at least the portion of the first set of code of the control panel.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Some embodiments provide irrigation controllers comprising: a housing; a control unit including a first microcontroller configured to execute irrigation programs and a first set of code; and a removable plug-in device that removably mates with a portion of the irrigation controller and communicationally couples to the first microcontroller, wherein the plug-in device comprises a memory storing a second set of code to replace at least a portion of the first set of code, wherein the plug-in device is configured to re-flash at least a portion of the first set of code allowing a copy of the second set of code to overwrite at least the portion of the first set of code; wherein the first set of code comprises a bootloader that writes the copy of the second set of code over the first set of code with the exception of the bootloader that is not written over.
165 Citations
22 Claims
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1. An irrigation controller comprising:
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a housing; a control panel removably coupled within the housing, the control panel including a first microcontroller configured to execute stored irrigation programs and a first set of code of the control panel; and a removable plug-in device that removably mates with a portion of the control panel such that the removable plug-in device is communicationally coupled to the first microcontroller, wherein the removable plug-in device comprises a communication module providing communication with external devices, and a memory storing a second set of code to replace at least a portion of the first set of code of the control panel, wherein a copy of the second set of code is transferred to the control panel to overwrite at least the portion of the first set of code of the control panel. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A method of implementing irrigation, the method comprising:
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storing, in a controller memory of a control panel, one or more irrigation programs and a first set of code of the control panel, wherein the control panel is removably positioned within a housing of an irrigation controller, and wherein the controller memory is communicatively coupled with a first microcontroller of the control panel and the first microcontroller is configured to implement the one or more irrigation programs and to execute the first set of code; receiving a removable plug-in device that mates to a portion of the control panel, wherein the plug-in device when mated is communicatively coupled with the first microcontroller, wherein the removable plug-in device enables communication with external devices and stores a second set of code configured to replace at least a portion of the first set of code of the control panel; and causing at least the portion of the first set of code of the control panel to be overwritten with a copy of the second set of code transferred from the removable plug-in device to the control panel. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22)
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Specification