Apparatus, system, and method for communicating a binary code image
First Claim
1. A computer readable storage medium storing a self-descriptive binary data structure executable on a computer processor for communicating binary data, the computer readable storage medium comprising:
- the self-descriptive binary data structure configured to communicate data between a source device and a target device distinct from the source device, and comprisingan image header comprising 512 bytes with a first 128 bytes and a last 128 bytes that are location, size, and content definition invariant, the first 128 and last 128 storing architecture-specific descriptors and an eight byte version indicator;
a plurality of data segments, each of the plurality of data segments comprising a segment header and a data field, the segment header descriptive of the corresponding data segment;
a target data set within the data field; and
a data structure descriptor descriptive of the self-descriptive binary data structure, the data structure descriptor identifying the location of the target data set within the data field.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus, system, and method are disclosed for communicating binary data using a self-descriptive binary data structure. The binary data structure also may be referred to as a microcode reconstruct and boot (MRB) image. The binary data structure includes a plurality of data segments, a target data set, and a data structure descriptor. Each of the data segments has a data segment header and data field. The target data set is stored within the data field and may be an executable. The data structure descriptor is descriptive of the binary data structure and identifies the location of the target data set within the data field. The binary data structure is self-descriptive in that the location of an individual target data set may be identified by the data structure descriptor.
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Citations
36 Claims
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1. A computer readable storage medium storing a self-descriptive binary data structure executable on a computer processor for communicating binary data, the computer readable storage medium comprising:
the self-descriptive binary data structure configured to communicate data between a source device and a target device distinct from the source device, and comprising an image header comprising 512 bytes with a first 128 bytes and a last 128 bytes that are location, size, and content definition invariant, the first 128 and last 128 storing architecture-specific descriptors and an eight byte version indicator; a plurality of data segments, each of the plurality of data segments comprising a segment header and a data field, the segment header descriptive of the corresponding data segment; a target data set within the data field; and a data structure descriptor descriptive of the self-descriptive binary data structure, the data structure descriptor identifying the location of the target data set within the data field. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A system for communicating binary data using a self-descriptive binary data structure capable of being stored in a computer readable storage medium, the system comprising:
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a communications channel; a source communication device connected to the communications channel and configured to transmit a self-descriptive binary data structure; a target communication device connected to the source communications device via the communications channel, the target communication device distinct from the source communication device and configured to receive the self-descriptive binary data structure from the source communication device; wherein the self-descriptive binary data structure comprises; an image header comprising 512 bytes with a first 128 bytes and a last 128 bytes that are location, size, and content definition invariant, the first 128 and last 128 storing architecture-specific descriptors and an eight byte version indicator; a plurality of data segments, each of the plurality of data segments comprising a segment header and a data field, the segment header descriptive of the corresponding data segment; a target data set within the data field; a data structure descriptor descriptive of the self-descriptive binary data structure, the data structure descriptor configured to identify the location of the target data set within the data field; and wherein the target communication device is configured to process an executable, the executable stored in the self-descriptive binary data structure. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16)
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17. A method for communicating binary data using a self-descriptive binary data structure, the method comprising:
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generating a self-descriptive binary data structure comprising an image header comprising 512 bytes with a first 128 bytes and a last 128 bytes that are location, size, and content definition invariant, the first 128 and last 128 storing architecture-specific descriptors and an eight byte version indicator; a plurality of data segments, each of the plurality of data segments comprising a segment header and a data field, the segment header descriptive of the corresponding data segment; a target data set within the data field; and a data structure descriptor to the plurality of data segments, the data structure descriptor descriptive of the self-descriptive binary data structure and identifying the location of the target data set within the data field; communicating the self-descriptive binary data structure with a communications interface from a source device to a target device distinct from the source device; and processing the target data set. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A method for communicating binary data, the method comprising:
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providing a self-descriptive binary data structure at a source communications device, the self-descriptive binary data structure having an image header comprising 512 bytes with a first 128 bytes and a last 128 bytes that are location, size, and content definition invariant, the first 128 and last 128 storing architecture-specific descriptors and an eight byte version indicator and a customizable directory descriptor, the customizable descriptor configured to provide a directory of the data stored in each of the data fields within the self-descriptive binary data structure; communicating the self-descriptive binary data structure between a source communication device and a target communication device via a communications network, the target device distinct from the source device; processing the self-descriptive binary data structure at the target communications device; and executing a bootstrap executable, the bootstrap executable configured to reference the customizable directory descriptor and to identify a location of a second target data set within the self-descriptive binary data structure using the customizable directory descriptor. - View Dependent Claims (25)
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26. A computer readable storage medium comprising computer readable code for execution on a computer processor to carry out a method for communicating binary data using a self-descriptive binary data structure, the method comprising:
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generating an image header comprising 512 bytes with a first 128 bytes and a last 128 bytes that are location, size, and content definition invariant, the first 128 and last 128 storing architecture-specific descriptors and an eight byte version indicator; generating a plurality of data segments, each of the plurality of data segments comprising a segment header and a data field, the segment header descriptive of the corresponding data segment; attaching a data structure descriptor to the image header and the plurality of data segments, the data structure descriptor descriptive of the self-descriptive binary data structure, the self-descriptive binary data structure comprising the plurality of data segments and the data structure descriptor; identifying a target data set within the data field; storing a location of the target data set in the data structure descriptor; and sending the self-descriptive binary data structure from a source device to a target device distinct from the source device. - View Dependent Claims (27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35)
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36. An apparatus for communicating binary data using a self-descriptive binary data structure, the apparatus comprising:
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means for generating an image header comprising 512 bytes with a first 128 bytes and a last 128 bytes that are location, size, and content definition invariant, the first 128 and last 128 storing architecture-specific descriptors and an eight byte version indicator; means for generating a plurality of data segments, each of the plurality of data segments comprising a segment header and a data field, the segment header descriptive of the corresponding data segment; means for attaching a data structure descriptor to the image header and the plurality of data segments, the data structure descriptor descriptive of the self-descriptive binary data structure, the self-descriptive binary data structure comprising the plurality of data segments and the data structure descriptor; means for identifying a target data set within the data field; means for storing a location of the target data set in the data structure descriptor on a storage device; and means for sending the self-descriptive binary data structure from a source device to a target device distinct from the source device.
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Specification