FRAMEWORK FOR MULTI-TYPE AND MULTI-LOCATION FIRMWARE UPDATES AND HARDWARE FEATURE UPDATES THROUGH A SINGLE INTERFACE PROTOCOL

• US 20140130034A1
• Filed: 11/06/2012
• Published: 05/08/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 11/06/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NVIDIA Corporation
• Original Assignee: NVIDIA Corporation
• Inventors: Subbu, Vijayakumar, Huang, Poyen
• Granted Patent: US 8,875,121 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 717/172
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/654 using techniques specially adapted for alterable solid state memories, e.g. for EEPROM or flash memories

Abstract

Disclosed are a method, system, and/or apparatus to enable multi-type and multi-location firmware updates and hardware feature updates through a single interface protocol. In one embodiment, a computer-implemented method of updating a platform system firmware and a component device firmware through a single interface protocol includes assigning a unique index number to each of a platform system and a component device, generating a platform system firmware payload, receiving a component device firmware payload, and generating a firmware update package comprising the platform system firmware payload and the component device firmware payload. The method also includes querying the platform payload header and the component payload header using a check image application programming interface and updating at least one of the platform system firmware and the component device firmware by passing at least one of the platform system firmware payload and the component device firmware payload to a set image API.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method of updating a platform system firmware and a component device firmware through a single interface protocol, comprising:

assigning a unique index number to each of a platform system and a component device;

generating a platform system firmware payload comprising a platform payload header and a system firmware update image;

receiving a component device firmware payload comprising a component firmware update image from a component device manufacturer;

generating a firmware update package comprising a package header, the platform system firmware payload, the component device firmware payload, and a component payload header, wherein the platform system firmware payload comprises the platform payload header having the unique index number assigned to the platform system and the component device firmware payload comprises the component payload header having the unique index number assigned to the component device;

querying the platform payload header and the component payload header using a check image application programming interface (API) for a matching unique index number; and

updating at least one of the platform system firmware and the component device firmware by passing at least one of the platform system firmware payload and the component device firmware payload as a parameter, respectively, to a set image API.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the system firmware update image, the component firmware update image, the check image API, and the set image API comply with a unified extensible firmware interface (UEFI) standard.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the platform system firmware is a firmware of the platform system stored in a non-volatile memory of the platform system; and

the component device firmware is a firmware of the component device coupled to the platform system.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein:

the component device firmware is stored in a storage memory separate from the non-volatile memory storing the platform system firmware and is accessed through a separate bus when updating the component device firmware.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the package header comprises at least one of a platform compatibility data, a package size data, and a package integrity data.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

authenticating the firmware update package using at least one of a digital signature and a digital certificate.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

permitting at least one of a factory update and an over-the-air update to at least one of the platform system firmware and the component device firmware.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

rejecting at least one of the platform payload header and the component payload header if the unique index number does not match when querying the platform payload header and the component payload header using the check image API.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the firmware update package is generated using a stand-alone application compatible with at least one of a Windows®

computing device and a Linux®

computing device.

10. A computer-implemented method of updating a plurality of component device firmwares through a single interface protocol, comprising:

assigning a unique index number to each of a plurality of component devices coupled to a platform system;

receiving a plurality of component device firmware payloads, each comprising a component firmware update image, from a plurality of component device manufacturers;

generating a firmware update package comprising a package header, a plurality of component device firmware payloads, and a plurality of component payload headers, wherein each of the plurality of component device firmware payloads comprises one of the plurality of component payload headers having the unique index number assigned to each of the plurality of component devices;

querying the plurality of component payload headers using a check image application programming interface (API) for a matching unique index number; and

updating at least one of the plurality of component device firmwares by passing at least one of the plurality of component device firmware payloads as a parameter to a set image API.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein:

the component firmware update image, the check image API, and the set image API comply with a unified extensible firmware interface (UEFI) standard.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein:

each of the plurality of component device firmwares is a firmware of each of the plurality of component devices coupled to the platform system.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein:

at least one of the plurality of component device firmwares is stored in a storage location separate from a storage memory storing at least one other of the plurality of component device firmwares and is accessed through a separate bus when updating the component device firmware.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein:

the package header comprises at least one of a platform compatibility data, a package size data, and a package integrity data.

15. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

authenticating the firmware update package using at least one of a digital signature and a digital certificate.

16. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

permitting at least one of a factory update and an over-the-air update to at least one of the plurality of component device firmwares.

17. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

rejecting at least one of the plurality of component device firmware payloads if the unique index number does not match when querying the plurality of component payload headers using the check image API.

18. The method of claim 10, wherein:

the firmware update package is generated using a stand-alone application compatible with at least one of a Windows®

computing device and a Linux®

computing device.

19. A computer-implemented method of updating a plurality of hardware features of a platform system through a single interface protocol, comprising:

assigning a unique index number to each of the plurality of hardware features;

receiving a plurality of empty payloads, each comprising a feature update command from at least one of a plurality of component device manufacturers;

generating a feature update package comprising a package header, the plurality of empty payloads, and a plurality of feature payload headers, wherein each of the plurality of empty payloads comprises one of the plurality of feature payload headers having the unique index number assigned to each of the plurality of hardware features;

querying the plurality of empty payloads using a check image application programming interface (API) for a matching unique index number; and

updating at least one of the plurality of hardware features by passing at least one of the plurality of empty payloads comprising the feature update command as a parameter to a set image API.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein:

the check image API and the set image API comply with a unified extensible firmware interface (UEFI) standard.