Method and apparatus for program updating
First Claim
1. A system for updating a programmed process in a computer comprisingmeans for replacing the stored object code of a programmed process in the internal memory of a computer without terminating the execution of said process, andmeans for enabling said means for replacing said stored object code from a source outside of said process with updated object code.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A computer system is disclosed in which individual executing process can be replaced with updated or corrected versions of themselves without interrupting or otherwise interfering with the operation of the computer system. In particular, embedded in the process itself is a command or function or subroutine call which operates to overlay the process code in memory with an updated version of itself, without losing or altering the relationships of the process to the other processes in the computer.
As an example, in a UNIX system, the execute command can be used to perform the replication function. The replication process can be triggered by an inter-process signal, by the occurrance of an external condition, or by a triggering signal embedded in the normal data input to the process.
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Citations
12 Claims
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1. A system for updating a programmed process in a computer comprising
means for replacing the stored object code of a programmed process in the internal memory of a computer without terminating the execution of said process, and means for enabling said means for replacing said stored object code from a source outside of said process with updated object code.
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7. A method for updating a programmed process comprising the steps of
including in the code for said programmed process a segment of code for replacing all of the code of said programmed process without terminating the execution of said process, and triggering the execution of said segment of code when said programmed process is to be updated.
Specification