Providing firmware updates to portable media devices
First Claim
1. A system for providing a firmware upgrade to a portable media device wherein the portable media device includes a firmware and an identifier, said firmware including a version number, and said identifier associated with a model of the portable media device, said system comprising:
- one or more firmware upgrade servers for providing the firmware upgrade for the portable media device, said firmware upgrade including a version number, said firmware upgrade associated with the identifier of the portable media device;
a firmware link server for receiving firmware upgrade requests, said firmware link server including a firmware database, said firmware database including the identifier of the portable media device, the version number of the firmware upgrade, and an address where the firmware upgrade may be accessed, said firmware link server executing a redirector that intercepts requests for XML documents containing firmware upgrade information and generating the requested XML documents based on parameters included in the requests; and
a computing device executing a multimedia management application, said multimedia management application being logically connected to the portable media device, said multimedia management application including functionality for;
receiving the installed firmware version number and a device identifier from the portable media device;
sending a request to the firmware link server for an XML document containing firmware update information, said request including the device identifier from the portable media device;
receiving the requested XML document from the firmware link server, said XML document including the firmware upgrade version number and the location of the firmware upgrade;
selectively applying the firmware upgrade to the connected portable media device as a function of the firmware upgrade version number and the installed firmware version number including determining if the firmware upgrade should be applied to the connected portable media device as a function of the firmware upgrade version number and the installed firmware version number;
wherein if it is determined that the firmware upgrade should be applied to the portable media device, then;
retrieving the firmware upgrade from the received location;
copying the retrieved files to the portable media device player; and
providing a notification to the portable media device to apply the copied firmware upgrade.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A system for providing a firmware upgrade to a portable media device by comparing a version number of the firmware on the portable media device to the version number of an available firmware upgrade. The available firmware upgrade is provided by the manufacturer of the portable media device or some other trusted source and compiled in a firmware database. The firmware database is accessed when the portable media device is connected to the personal computing device. Additionally, a digital signature may be associated with a certified version of the media device firmware and used by a multimedia management application to verify the functionality of the portable media device.
200 Citations
17 Claims
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1. A system for providing a firmware upgrade to a portable media device wherein the portable media device includes a firmware and an identifier, said firmware including a version number, and said identifier associated with a model of the portable media device, said system comprising:
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one or more firmware upgrade servers for providing the firmware upgrade for the portable media device, said firmware upgrade including a version number, said firmware upgrade associated with the identifier of the portable media device; a firmware link server for receiving firmware upgrade requests, said firmware link server including a firmware database, said firmware database including the identifier of the portable media device, the version number of the firmware upgrade, and an address where the firmware upgrade may be accessed, said firmware link server executing a redirector that intercepts requests for XML documents containing firmware upgrade information and generating the requested XML documents based on parameters included in the requests; and a computing device executing a multimedia management application, said multimedia management application being logically connected to the portable media device, said multimedia management application including functionality for; receiving the installed firmware version number and a device identifier from the portable media device; sending a request to the firmware link server for an XML document containing firmware update information, said request including the device identifier from the portable media device; receiving the requested XML document from the firmware link server, said XML document including the firmware upgrade version number and the location of the firmware upgrade; selectively applying the firmware upgrade to the connected portable media device as a function of the firmware upgrade version number and the installed firmware version number including determining if the firmware upgrade should be applied to the connected portable media device as a function of the firmware upgrade version number and the installed firmware version number;
wherein if it is determined that the firmware upgrade should be applied to the portable media device, then;retrieving the firmware upgrade from the received location; copying the retrieved files to the portable media device player; and providing a notification to the portable media device to apply the copied firmware upgrade. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A method for upgrading a firmware of a portable media device, the portable media device including a firmware and an identifier, said firmware for operating said portable media device, said firmware including a version number, and said identifier associated with a hardware identifier of the portable media device, said portable media device being connected to a computing device executing a multimedia management application, said method comprising:
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receiving, by the multimedia management application, the firmware version number and the identifier from the portable media device, said portable media device being logically connected to the multimedia management application; sending, by the multimedia management application, a request to a firmware database, said request including the identifier from the portable media device; receiving, by the multimedia management application, a firmware upgrade version number and a location of the firmware upgrade, said firmware upgrade version number being associated with the firmware upgrade wherein the location indicates an address where the firmware upgrade may be accessed; determining, by the multimedia management application, if the firmware upgrade should be applied to the connected portable media device as a function of the firmware upgrade version number and the installed firmware version number; and in response to determining that the firmware upgrade should be applied to the portable media device; retrieving, by the multimedia management application, the firmware upgrade files from the received location; copying, by the multimedia management application, the retrieved files to the portable media device player; providing , by the multimedia management application, a notification to the portable media device to apply the copied firmware upgrade, said multimedia management application thereafter logically reconnecting to the portable media device; storing the date of the last request sent to the firmware database in a device table in a media library of a multimedia management application of the computing device; and sending a request to the firmware database as a function of the number of days since the last sent request. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method for verifying at a computing device the functionality of a firmware installed on a portable media device produced by a manufacturer, said portable media device associated with a hardware identifier and a manufacturer identifier, said manufacturer identifier associated with the manufacturer, said manufacturer having installed the firmware and a generated digital signature on the portable media device, said method comprising:
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testing, at the computing device, the firmware for a required functionality, said firmware being associated with a version number, said firmware being installed on the portable media device; in response to the tested firmware having the required functionality; connecting the portable media device to the computing device, said computing device managing multimedia for the portable media device; receiving, by the computing device, the digital signature, the hardware identifier and the firmware version number associated with the portable media device from the portable media device;
selectively enabling features, by the computing device, as a function of the digital signature, the hardware identifier and the firmware version number; andselecting enabling the upgrade of the firmware of the portable media device as a function of the digital signature, the hardware identifier and the firmware version number. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17)
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Specification