EMBEDDED ELECTRONIC DEVICE AND FIRMWARE UPDATING METHOD THEREOF

• US 20110004871A1
• Filed: 05/25/2010
• Published: 01/06/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 07/03/2009
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Inventec Appliances Corporation (Inventec Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Inventec Appliances Corporation (Inventec Corporation)
• Inventors: Liu, Guo-Dong
• Application Number:
  US12/786,783
• Publication Number:
  US 20110004871A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 717/173
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1433 during software upgrading
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/65 Updates security arrangements therefor G06F21/57

Abstract

An embedded electronic device and a firmware updating method thereof are provided. The embedded electronic device includes a first storage unit and a second storage unit with a profile partition, a data partition and a system partition. In the method, a firmware package with a setup information file and a plurality of firmware code files is first downloaded into the first storage unit. The setup information file and the firmware code files are written in the profile partition and the data partition, respectively. The embedded electronic device is re-started, and a boot loader in the system partition is executed to sequentially read each firmware code file from the data partition for writing in the system partition. A write-in progress in the profile partition is updated upon completion of writing of each firmware code file.

Claims

1. A firmware updating method applied to an embedded electronic device including a first storage unit and a second storage unit, the second storage unit including a profile partition, a data partition and a system partition, the system partition at least storing a firmware of the embedded electronic device, the method comprising:

downloading a firmware package into the first storage unit, the firmware package including a setup information file and a plurality of firmware code files;

writing the setup information file and the firmware code files to the profile partition and the data partition, respectively; and

restarting the embedded electronic device and executing a boot loader in the system partition to execute a firmware writing operation, the firmware writing operation comprising;

sequentially reading the firmware code files from the data partition and writing the firmware code files into the system partition according to the setup information file in the profile partition; and

updating a write-in progress in the profile partition upon completion of writing of each of the firmware code files, such that after the embedded electronic device is restarted after an interruption of power supply, the boot loader continues to write the rest of the firmware code files into the system partition according to the write-in progress.

2. The firmware updating method according to claim 1, wherein the firmware writing operation further comprises:

determining whether each of the firmware code files exceeds a predetermined size;

if the firmware code file size exceeds the predetermined size, updating the write-in progress upon completion of writing of each the predetermined size, and also updating the write-in progress upon completion of writing of each entire firmware code file; and

if the firmware code file size does not exceed the predetermined size, updating the write-in progress upon completion of writing of each of the firmware code files.

3. The firmware updating method according to claim 1, wherein, after downloading the firmware package into the first storage unit, the method further comprises:

checking whether the remaining space in the first storage unit is sufficient for storing local data in the data partition;

backing up the local data in the data partition to the first storage unit if the remaining space in the first storage unit is sufficient for storing the local data; and

erasing the local data from the data partition.

4. The firmware updating method according claim 3, wherein after the step of executing the boot loader, the firmware updating method further comprises:

determining whether the setup information file in the profile partition meets a condition for updating;

executing the firmware writing operation by using the boot loader if the condition for updating is met; and

checking the write-in progress so as to determine whether the firmware code files have been all written into the system partition if the condition for updating is not met.

5. The firmware updating method according to claim 4, wherein, if it is determined that the firmware code files have been all written into the system partition, the method further comprises:

formatting the data partition;

restoring the local data backed up in the first storage unit to the data partition; and

deleting the setup information file in the profile partition.

6. The firmware updating method according to claim 4, wherein, if the setup information file in the profile partition does not meet the condition for updating and it is determined that the firmware code files have not all been written into the system partition, the method further comprises:

entering a downloading mode to re-download the firmware package.

7. The firmware updating method according to claim 1, wherein the firmware writing operation further comprises:

decrypting and initializing a partition table in the system partition.

8. The firmware updating method according to claim 1, wherein respectively writing the setup information and the firmware code files into the profile partition and the data partition comprises:

recording the setup information file into the profile partition in a binary manner;

parsing a header message of the firmware package; and

writing the firmware code files into the data partition in a binary manner according to the header message so as to transform the firmware code files into image data.

9. The firmware updating method according to claim 1, wherein after downloading the firmware package into the first storage unit, the method further comprises:

verifying a cycle redundancy check (CRC) code of the firmware package.

10. The firmware updating method according to claim 1, wherein the first storage unit is a micro secure digital (Micro SD) card, and the second storage unit is a NAND flash.

11. An embedded electronic device comprising:

a first storage unit for storing a loaded firmware package including a setup information file and a plurality of firmware code files;

a second storage unit comprising a profile partition, a data partition and a system partition, the system partition at least storing a firmware of the embedded electronic device;

a processing unit coupled to the first storage unit and the second storage unit, wherein the processing unit is used for downloading a firmware package into the first storage unit, accessing the setup information file and the firmware code files so as to write the same to the profile partition and the data partition, respectively; and

executing a boot loader in the system partition to execute a firmware writing operation if the embedded electronic device is restarted, the firmware writing operation comprising;

sequentially reading the firmware code files from the data partition and writing the firmware code files into the system partition according to the setup information file in the profile partition; and

updating a write-in progress in the profile partition upon completion of writing of each of the firmware code files, such that after the embedded electronic device is restarted after an interruption of power supply, the boot loader continues to write the rest of the firmware code files into the system partition according to the write-in progress.

12. The embedded electronic device according to claim 11, wherein the firmware writing operation further comprises:

determining whether each of the firmware code files exceeds a predetermined size;

if the firmware code file size exceeds the predetermined size, updating the write-in progress upon completion of writing of each the predetermined size, and also updating the write-in progress upon completion of writing of each entire firmware code file; and

if the firmware code file size does not exceed the predetermined size, updating the write-in progress upon completion of writing of each of the firmware code files.

13. The embedded electronic device according to claim 11, wherein, after downloading the firmware package into the first storage unit, the processing unit is further used for:

checking whether the remaining space in the first storage unit is sufficient for storing local data in the data partition;

backing up the local data in the data partition to the first storage unit if the remaining space in the first storage unit is sufficient for storing the local data; and

erasing the local data from the data partition.

14. The embedded electronic device according to claim 13, wherein, after executing the boot loader, the processing unit is further used for:

determining whether the setup information file in the profile partition meets a condition for updating;

executing the firmware writing operation by using the boot loader if the condition for updating is met; and

checking the write-in progress so as to determine whether the firmware code files have been all written into the system partition if the condition for updating is not met.

15. The embedded electronic device according to claim 14, wherein, if the processing unit determines that the firmware code files have been all written into the system partition, the processing unit is further used for:

formatting the data partition;

restoring the local data backed up in the first storage unit to the data partition; and

deleting the setup information file in the profile partition.

16. The embedded electronic device according to claim 14, wherein, if the processing unit determines that the setup information file in the profile partition does not meet the condition for updating and determines that the firmware code files have not all been written into the system partition, the processing unit is further used for entering a download mode to re-download the firmware package.

17. The embedded electronic device according to claim 11, wherein the firmware writing operation further comprises:

decrypting and initializing a partition table in the system partition.

18. The embedded electronic device according to claim 11, wherein the processing unit records the setup information file into the profile partition in a binary manner, parses a header message of the firmware package;

and writes the firmware code files into the data partition in a binary manner for transforming the firmware code files into image data according to the header message so as to write the setup information and the firmware code files into the profile partition and the data partition comprises, respectively.

19. The embedded electronic device according to claim 11, wherein after downloading the firmware package into the first storage unit, the processing unit is further used for verifying a cycle redundancy check code of the firmware package.

20. The embedded electronic device according to claim 11, wherein the first storage unit is a micro secure digital card, and the second storage unit is a NAND flash.