FIRMWARE UPGRADE ERROR DETECTION AND AUTOMATIC ROLLBACK

• US 20140189335A1
• Filed: 12/27/2012
• Published: 07/03/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 12/27/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: General Electric Company
• Original Assignee: General Electric Company
• Inventors: Ladeau, Bruce Robert, Liu, Zhan, Zhang, Bin
• Granted Patent: US 9,081,964 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 713/2
• CPC Class Codes: G01D 4/002 Remote reading of utility meters
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0736 in functional embedded systems, i.e. in a data processing system designed as a combination of hardware and software dedicated to performing a certain function testing or monitoring of automated control systems G05B23/02
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0793 Remedial or corrective actions recovery from an exception in an instruction pipeline G06F9/3861; by retry G06F11/1402; for recovering from a failure of a protocol instance or entity H04L69/40
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1417 Boot up procedures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1433 during software upgrading
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/572 Secure firmware programming, e.g. of basic input output system [BIOS]
• CPC Class Codes: Y02B 90/20 Smart grids as enabling technology in buildings sector smart grids supporting the management or operation of end-user stationary applications in general, or like technologies with no associated climate change mitigation effect Y04S20/00
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 20/30 Smart metering, e.g. specially adapted for remote reading

Abstract

A system includes a utility meter. The utility meter includes a network interface and a processor. The processor is configured to determine whether the network interface is operational subsequent to a bootup of the utility meter. The processor is also configured to initiate a reboot of the utility meter using known valid firmware instruction set of the utility meter if the network interface is determined to be non-operational.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a utility meter, comprising;

a network interface; and

a processor configured to determine whether the network interface is operational subsequent to a bootup of the utility meter, wherein the processor is configured to initiate a reboot of the utility meter using known valid firmware instruction set of the utility meter if the network interface is determined to be non-operational.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the network interface is configured to receive data comprising an upgraded firmware instruction set.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the processor is configured to perform the bootup of the utility meter utilizing the upgraded firmware instruction set.

4. The system of claim 1, comprising memory, wherein the memory is configured to store the known valid firmware instruction set of the utility meter.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the memory is configured to store an indication of a first time instance related to when a last communication signal is received by the network interface.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the memory is configured to store an indication of a second time instance related to when current communication signal is received by the network interface.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the memory is configured to store a maximum time interval between two consecutively received communication signals.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the maximum time interval is assigned a set value during the bootup of the utility meter.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein the processor is configured to

calculate a time interval corresponding to a difference between the second time instance and the first time instance whenever their values are updated;

and

update the maximum time interval with the calculated time interval value if the calculated time interval value is greater than the current value of the maximum time interval.

10. The system of claim 6, wherein the processor is configured to generate an indication of a third time instance related to when the bootup of the utility meter is undertaken and transmit the indication of the third time instance to the memory for storage therein.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the processor is configured to determine whether the network interface is operational based on a determination of whether a communication signal is received by the network interface before a fourth time instance that occurs subsequent to the third time instance.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the processor is configured to determine the fourth time instance as a multiple of a difference between the third time instance and the second time instance.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the processor is configured to determine the fourth time instance as a multiple of the maximum time interval.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein the processor is configured to determine the fourth time instance as a larger value between:

a multiple of a difference between the second time instance and the first time instance; and

a multiple of the maximum time interval.

15. The system of claim 1, wherein the utility meter comprises an advanced meter infrastructure (AMI) smart meter.

16. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having computer executable code stored thereon, the code comprising instructions for:

initiating a bootup of a utility meter;

determining whether a network interface in a utility meter is operational subsequent to the bootup of the utility meter; and

rebooting the utility meter using known valid firmware instruction set of the utility meter if the network interface is determined to be non-operational.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the code comprises instructions for:

initiating the bootup of the utility meter subsequent to the receiving of data comprising an upgraded firmware instruction set at the network interface.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the code comprises instructions for:

initiating the bootup of the utility meter utilizing the updated firmware instruction set.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the code comprises instructions for:

storing an indication of a first time instance related to when last communication signal is received by the network interface;

storing an indication of a second time instance related to when current communication signal is received by the network interface;

storing an indication of a third time instance related to when the bootup of the utility meter is undertaken;

determining whether the network interface is operational based on a determination of whether a second communication signal is received by the network interface before a fourth time instance that occurs subsequent to the third time instance.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the code comprises instructions for:

determining the fourth time instance as a multiple of a difference between the second time instance and the first time instance.

21. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the code comprises instructions for:

determining the fourth time instance as a multiple of the maximum time interval.

22. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19, wherein the code comprises instructions for:

determining the third time instance as a larger value between;

a multiple of a difference between the second time instance and the first time instance; and

a multiple of the maximum time interval.

23. A utility meter, comprising:

a memory configured to store a known valid firmware instruction set of the utility meter received at a first time; and

a processor configured to;

boot the utility meter based on a firmware instruction set of the utility meter received at a second time;

determine whether the boot is successful; and

reboot the utility meter utilizing the known valid firmware instruction set if the boot is determined to be non-successful.

24. The utility meter of claim 23, comprising a network interface, wherein the processor is configured to determine whether the boot is successful based on whether an indication that the network interface receives a communication signal is received by the processor within a determined time period.