Dynamic detection of hardware configuration in a digital terminal

• US 6,453,470 B1
• Filed: 09/30/1999
• Issued: 09/17/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 09/30/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Google Technology Holdings LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: General Instrument Corporation (CommScope Holding Company, Inc.)
• Inventors: Gazda, Robert, Torsitano, Rocky C., Prezuhy, David A., Birnbaum, Jack M., Del Sordo, Chris
• Primary Examiner(s): Morse, Gregory
• Assistant Examiner(s): Chavis, John Q.
• Application Number:
  US09/410,010
• Time in Patent Office: 1,083 Days
• Field of Search: 717/11, 717/174, 370/254-258, 709/220-222, 710/8-14, 713/100
• US Class Current: 717/174
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/61 Installation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/64 Retargetable

Abstract

A method and apparatus for detecting a hardware configuration in a digital terminal, and, in response, selecting a corresponding executable software path for initializing the hardware. All terminals in a digital communication network, such as a television network, are provided with a single common set-top firmware/software object that contains all software components required to run on all hardware platforms. The total amount of software needed at the terminals is reduced over prior art schemes since the common software object includes software that is common to the different hardware component types only once, instead of providing a different object for each hardware type which results in duplication of the common software. The software from the software object can execute on platforms with different hardware components and circuits. This provides freedom to the network operator to select terminals with reduced cost components, e.g., from different manufacturers. Additionally, the system avoids the need to provide different software to the terminals based on their hardware platform type.

Claims

1. A method for initializing a hardware component in a digital terminal in a communication network, comprising the steps of:

providing a common software object to the terminal, said common software object containing a plurality of different executable software paths corresponding to a plurality of different hardware component types;

reading data from a memory of the terminal to obtain identifying information regarding at least one hardware component of the terminal;

selecting an executable software path from the plurality of executable software paths according to the identifying information; and

executing the selected executable software path at a processor of the terminal to initialize the corresponding hardware component.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the identifying information comprises at least one of a manufacturer and a model of the hardware component.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the terminal is a television terminal.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the hardware component comprises one of a tuner, demodulator, decoder, encoder, and mixer.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the common software object includes software that is common to the different types of hardware components, and software that is specific to each of the different types of hardware components.

6. A method for initializing hardware components in a plurality of digital terminals in a communication network, wherein the terminals have different respective types of hardware components, comprising the steps of:

providing data in respective memories of the terminals that provides identifying information regarding at least one hardware component type of each respective terminal; and

providing a common software object to the terminals, said common software object containing a plurality of different executable software paths corresponding to the different hardware component types;

wherein the terminals are adapted to read their respective memories to obtain the identifying information thereof, select one of the different executable software paths according to the identifying information, and execute the selected executable software path at a respective processor of the terminal to initialize the hardware component thereof.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein:

the common software object includes software that is common to the different types of hardware components, and software that is specific to each of the different types of hardware components.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein:

the identifying information comprises at least one of a manufacturer and a model of the hardware component.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein:

the terminal is a television terminal.

10. The method of claim 6, wherein:

the hardware component comprises one of a tuner, demodulator, decoder, encoder, and mixer.

11. A digital terminal for a communication network, comprising:

a memory for storing data that provides identifying information regarding at least one hardware component of the terminal;

means for reading the data from the memory to obtain the identifying information;

means for selecting an executable software path from a plurality of available executable software paths according to the identifying information; and

means for executing the selected executable software path to initialize the hardware component;

wherein the plurality of different executable software paths are provided for a corresponding plurality of different types of hardware components using a common software object.

12. The terminal of claim 11, wherein:

the identifying information comprises at least one of a manufacturer and a model of the hardware component.

13. The terminal of claim 11, wherein:

the terminal is a television terminal.

14. The terminal of claim 11, wherein:

the hardware component comprises one of a tuner, demodulator, decoder, encoder, and mixer.

15. The terminal of claim 11, wherein:

the common software object includes software that is common to the different types of hardware components, and software that is specific to each of the different types of hardware components.

16. The terminal of claim 11, wherein:

the memory comprises a non-volatile memory.