Optimized UEFI reboot process
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A computer system comprising:
- a processor;
a non-volatile memory configured to store a firmware image comprising code used to boot the computer system;
a volatile random-access memory comprising a first reserved region and one or more additional regions available for use by an operating system, wherein the first reserved region comprises an extended memory region that is reserved during an initial system boot but is not used to store code during the initial system boot performed by the firmware image, the first reserved region configured to be available to store code from an updated firmware image following a system reboot; and
instructions executable by the processor to perform a firmware update that comprises a type of reboot with the updated firmware image that reformats the first reserved region while preserving the operating system and application context in the one or more additional regions by skipping memory initialization code in the updated firmware image.
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Abstract
Systems and methods are disclosed for an initialization process that selectively reloads part or all of the UEFI when called by the operating system. The reload skips platform initialization and enables the selective loading of UEFI modules with tailored dependencies. A special protected region of memory is reserved and is not available for use by the host operating system. Once initialized, the UEFI will use the reserved memory region to execute code that initiates or loads UEFI modules. The host operating system will await the UEFI reload and then re-initialize the functions, structures and variables it receives from the UEFI.
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Citations
15 Claims
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1. A computer system comprising:
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a processor; a non-volatile memory configured to store a firmware image comprising code used to boot the computer system; a volatile random-access memory comprising a first reserved region and one or more additional regions available for use by an operating system, wherein the first reserved region comprises an extended memory region that is reserved during an initial system boot but is not used to store code during the initial system boot performed by the firmware image, the first reserved region configured to be available to store code from an updated firmware image following a system reboot; and instructions executable by the processor to perform a firmware update that comprises a type of reboot with the updated firmware image that reformats the first reserved region while preserving the operating system and application context in the one or more additional regions by skipping memory initialization code in the updated firmware image. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A method for booting a computer system, comprising:
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configuring computer system hardware using a firmware image stored in non-volatile memory; configuring a volatile random-access memory to reserve a protected memory area, wherein memory outside the protected memory area is available for use by an operating system, wherein the protected memory area comprises a standard memory region and an extended memory region, and wherein the extended memory region is not used to store code during an initial system boot performed by the firmware image but is configured to be available to store code from an updated firmware image following a system reboot; and performing a firmware update that comprises a type of reboot with the updated firmware image that reformats the protected memory area while preserving the operating system and application context in the memory outside the protected memory area by skipping memory initialization code in the updated firmware image. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A method for rebooting a computer system, comprising:
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loading an updated firmware image into a protected memory area, wherein the protected memory area comprises an extended memory region that was not used to store code during an initial computer system boot performed by a previous firmware image; rebooting the computer system using the updated firmware image while maintaining an existing operating system context in regions of volatile random-access memory outside the protected memory area by skipping memory initialization code in the updated firmware image; and subsequent to the rebooting, storing updated Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) or Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) code from the updated firmware image in a reserved memory area that was protected during the initial computer system boot. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15)
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Specification