Mechanism to upgrade system capability without affecting service

• US 20070067763A1
• Filed: 09/19/2005
• Published: 03/22/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 09/19/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Outdoor Wireless Networks LLC (CommScope Holding Company, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: ADC Telecommunications Incorporated (TE Connectivity Limited)
• Inventors: Schatz, Paul, Kremer, Michael, Mitchell, William, Sonbarse, Santosh, Hedin, John, Cannon, Jeffrey
• Granted Patent: US 7,797,694 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 717/168
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1433 during software upgrading
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/656 while running

Abstract

A method of upgrading the system capability of a communications network is provided. The method involves initiating a transfer of at least one set of upgraded system capability software machine-coded instructions to a host card, instructing the host card to begin an upgrade process, determining whether at least one set of system capability software machine-coded instructions on the host card is valid, and completing the transfer of at least one valid set of system capability software machine-coded instructions to the host card, wherein the system capability is upgraded without affecting operation of the network.

Claims

1. A method of upgrading system capability of a communications network, the method comprising:

initiating a transfer of at least one set of system capability software machine-coded instructions to a host card;

instructing the host card to begin an upgrade process;

determining whether at least one set of system capability software machine-coded instructions on the host card is valid; and

completing the transfer of at least one valid set of system capability software machine-coded instructions to the host card;

wherein the system capability is upgraded without affecting operation of the network.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein initiating a transfer of at least one set of system capability software machine-coded instructions to a host card further comprises loading at least one set of system capability software machine-coded instructions into at least one primary program memory of the host card.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein instructing the host card to begin an upgrade process further comprises receiving instructions to perform a reset operation from one of a network card interface and a remote card interface.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein instructing the host card to begin the upgrade process further comprises receiving instructions to perform a power cycle operation from one of a network card interface and a remote card interface.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein determining whether at least one set of system capability software machine-coded instructions on the host card is valid further comprises:

connecting to at least one primary program memory on the host card adapted to receive an upgraded set of software machine-coded instructions for operating the system;

reading a portion of the instructions back to verify the upgraded instruction set is complete; and

transferring the upgraded set of instructions into a target processor on the host card from the at least one primary program memory on the host card within a specified time frame.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the specified time frame is less than an initialization time of the host card.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein reading a portion of the instructions back to verify the upgraded instruction set is complete further comprises:

connecting to at least one secondary program memory; and

transferring, within a specified time frame, a secondary set of instructions into the target processor from the at least one secondary program memory on the host card if the upgraded instruction set is not complete.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the specified time frame is less than an initialization time of the host card.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein the secondary set of instructions further comprises a set of instructions providing enough system capability to continue to operate the system.

10. The method of claim 7, wherein the secondary set of instructions further comprises a set of instructions with an equivalent capability to what the system had before the upgrade attempt was made.

11. A system capability upgrade module, the module comprising:

an upgrade control processor, the processor adapted to receive instructions to begin a system capability upgrade process;

a programmable logic device;

at least one primary program memory storage medium adapted to receive one or more first sets of software machine-coded instructions for operating a system;

at least one secondary program memory storage medium adapted to receive one or more second sets of software machine-coded instructions for operating the system; and

a target processor, the processor adapted to receive the software machine-coded instructions for operating the system from either the at least one primary or the at least one secondary program memory storage medium;

wherein the programmable logic device is further adapted to select the contents of either the at least one primary or the at least one secondary program memory storage medium for transfer to the target processor without user intervention.

12. The module of claim 11, wherein the upgrade control processor comprises one of a field programmable gate array and a microprocessor.

13. The module of claim 11, wherein the at least one primary program memory storage medium comprises one of a flash memory, a read only memory, an electrically erasable programmable read only memory, a one time programmable memory, and other electrical, magnetic or optical memory.

14. The module of claim 11, wherein the at least one secondary program memory storage medium comprises one of a flash memory, a read only memory, an electrically erasable programmable read only memory, a one time programmable memory, and other electrical, magnetic or optical memory.

15. The module of claim 11, wherein the one or more first sets of software machine-coded instructions for operating a system and the one or more second sets of software machine-coded instructions for operating a system are identical sets of software machine-coded instructions.

16. The module of claim 11, wherein the one or more first sets of software machine-coded instructions for operating a system and the one or more second sets of software machine-coded instructions for operating a system are different sets of software machine-coded instructions.

17. The module of claim 11, wherein the target processor comprises one of a field programmable gate array and a microprocessor.

18. The module of claim 11, wherein the programmable logic device comprises one of a complex programmable logic device and a field programmable gate array, further adapted to select either the contents of either the at least one primary or the at least one secondary program memory storage medium based on the condition of the software machine-coded instructions received by either the at least one primary or the at least one secondary program memory storage medium.

19. A communications system, comprising:

a host card, the host card adapted to include one or more system capability upgrade modules;

a network card coupled to the one or more system capability upgrade modules over one or more transport mediums; and

a remote card coupled to the one or more system capability upgrade modules over one or more transport mediums;

wherein the one or more system capability upgrade modules are instructed by either the network card or the remote card to upgrade system capability without affecting the service provided by the system.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the host card further comprises:

one or more connectors, wherein the one or more connectors communicate with the system capability upgrade module over one or more interface mediums.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein one or more interface mediums includes at least one of a PCI-X interface, an ATCA interface, a PCI Express interface, a Gigabit Ethernet interface, a SCSI interface, a Rocket I/O interface, a UDP/IP link interface, a TCP/IP link interface, a Serial ATA interface, a CardBus interface, a high speed serial interface and a high speed parallel interface.

22. The system of claim 19, wherein the one or more transport mediums are one or more of twisted pair cable, optical fiber, millimeter wave, coaxial cable, and free space optics.

23. The system of claim 19, wherein the one or more system capability upgrade modules further comprise:

an upgrade control processor, the processor adapted to receive instructions to begin the system capability upgrade process;

a programmable logic device;

at least one primary program memory storage medium adapted to receive one or more first sets of software machine-coded instructions for operating the system;

at least one secondary program memory storage medium adapted to receive one or more second sets of software machine-coded instructions for operating the system; and

a target processor, the processor adapted to receive software machine-coded instructions for operating the system from either the at least one primary or the at least one secondary program memory storage medium;

wherein the programmable logic device is further adapted to select the contents of either the at least one primary or the at least one secondary program memory storage medium for transfer to the target processor without user intervention.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein the upgrade control processor comprises one of a field programmable gate array and a microprocessor.

25. The system of claim 23, wherein the at least one primary program memory storage medium comprises one of a flash memory, a read only memory, an electrically erasable programmable read only memory, a one time programmable memory, and other electrical, magnetic or optical memory.

26. The system of claim 23, wherein the at least one secondary program memory storage medium comprises one of a flash memory, a read only memory, an electrically erasable programmable read only memory, a one time programmable memory, and other electrical, magnetic or optical memory.

27. The system of claim 23, wherein the target processor comprises one of a field programmable gate array and a microprocessor.

28. The system of claim 23, wherein the one or more first sets of software machine-coded instructions for operating the system and the one or more second sets of software machine-coded instructions for operating the system are identical sets of software machine-coded instructions.

29. The module of claim 23, wherein the one or more first sets of software machine-coded instructions for operating the system and the one or more second sets of software machine-coded instructions for operating the system are different sets of software machine-coded instructions.

30. The system of claim 23, wherein the programmable logic device comprises one of a complex programmable logic device and a field programmable gate array, further adapted to select the contents of either the at least one primary or the at least one secondary program memory storage medium based on the condition of the software machine-coded instructions received by either the at least one primary or the at least one secondary program memory storage medium.

31. An apparatus for upgrading the system capability of a communications network, the method comprising:

means for initiating a transfer of at least one set of system capability software machine-coded instructions to a host card;

means for instructing the host card to begin an upgrade process;

means for determining whether at least one set of system capability software machine-coded instructions on the host card is valid; and

means for completing the transfer of at least one valid set of system capability software machine-coded instructions to the host card;

wherein the system capability is upgraded without affecting operation of the network.

32. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein means for initiating a transfer of at least one set of system capability software machine-coded instructions to a host card further comprises loading at least one set of system capability software machine-coded instructions into at least one primary program memory of the host card.

33. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein means for instructing the host card to begin an upgrade process further comprises receiving instructions to perform a reset operation from one of a network card interface and a remote card interface.

34. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein means for instructing the host card to begin an upgrade process further comprises receiving instructions to perform a power cycle operation from one of a network card interface and a remote card interface.

35. The apparatus of claim 31, wherein means for determining whether at least one set of system capability software machine-coded instructions on the host card is valid further comprises:

means for connecting to at least one primary program memory on the host card adapted to receive an upgraded set of software machine-coded instructions for operating the system;

means for reading a portion of the instructions back to verify the upgraded instruction set is complete; and

means for transferring the upgraded set of instructions into a target processor on the host card from the at least one primary program memory on the host card within a specified time frame.

36. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the specified time frame is less than an initialization time of the host card.

37. The apparatus of claim 35, wherein the means for reading a portion of the instructions back to verify the upgraded instruction set is complete further comprises:

means for connecting to at least one secondary program memory; and

means for transferring, within a specified time frame, a secondary set of instructions into the target processor from the at least one secondary program memory on the host card if the upgraded instruction set is not complete.

38. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein the specified time frame is less than an initialization time of the host card.

39. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein the secondary set of instructions further comprises a set of instructions providing enough system capability to continue to operate the system.

40. The apparatus of claim 37, wherein the secondary set of instructions further comprises a set of instructions with an equivalent capability to what the system had before the upgrade attempt was made.

41. A method of upgrading the functionality of an electronic device, the method comprising:

initiating a transfer of at least one set of operating software machine-coded instructions with upgraded functionality to the device;

instructing the device to begin an upgrade process;

determining whether at least one set of operating software machine-coded instructions on the host card is valid; and

completing the transfer of at least one valid set of operating software machine-coded instructions to the device;

wherein the functionality is upgraded without affecting operation of the device.

42. The method of claim 41, wherein initiating a transfer of at least one set of operating software machine-coded instructions to the device further comprises loading at least one set of upgraded operating software machine-coded instructions into at least one primary program memory of the device.

43. The method of claim 41, wherein instructing the device to begin an upgrade process further comprises receiving instructions to perform a reset operation from an external interface.

44. The method of claim 41, wherein instructing the host card to begin an upgrade process further comprises receiving instructions to perform a power cycle operation from an external interface.

45. The method of claim 41, wherein determining whether at least one set of operating software machine-coded instructions on the device is valid further comprises:

connecting to at least one primary program memory on the device adapted to receive an upgraded set of software machine-coded instructions for operating the system;

reading a portion of the instructions back to verify the upgraded instruction set is complete; and

transferring the upgraded set of instructions into a target processor on the device from the at least one primary program memory on the device within a specified time frame.

46. The method of claim 45, wherein the specified time frame is less than an initialization time of the host card.

47. The method of claim 45, wherein reading a portion of the instructions back to verify the upgraded instruction set is complete further comprises:

connecting to at least one secondary program memory; and

transferring, within a specified time frame, a secondary set of instructions into the target processor from the at least one secondary program memory on the host card if the upgraded instruction set is not complete.

48. The method of claim 47, wherein the specified time frame is less than an initialization time of the host card.

49. The method of claim 47, wherein the secondary set of instructions further comprises a set of instructions providing enough system capability to continue to operate the device.

50. The method of claim 47, wherein the secondary set of instructions further comprises a set of instructions with an equivalent capability to what the device had before the upgrade attempt was made.