Firmware update for consumer electronic device

• US 8,041,988 B2
• Filed: 04/09/2010
• Issued: 10/18/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Sling Media LLC (Dish Network Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Sling Media Incorporated (Dish Network Corporation)
• Inventors: Tarra, Raghuveer, Saagi, Harsha
• Primary Examiner(s): Lohn; Joshua
• Application Number:
  US12/757,714
• Publication Number:
  US 20100192007A1
• Time in Patent Office: 557 Days
• Field of Search: 714/6, 714/7, 714/36, 714/6.11, 714/6.12, 714/6.3, 714/6.32, 717/168
• US Class Current: 714/6.11
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1433 during software upgrading

Abstract

To update firmware on a consumer device intelligently, two or more application images are stored as firmware on the consumer device. If the primary application image is corrupt, the back-up application image is executed on the consumer device. The back-up application image can be updated based on the primary application image. User configuration files can be preserved during the update of an application image, or they can be overwritten. This firmware updating scheme can be advantageously implemented in a personal media broadcasting system.

Claims

1. A method to operate a consumer device having a processor, the method comprising:

initially creating user configuration data that maintains user-selected preferences for the operation of the consumer device while the processor executes a first application image;

updating the first application. image with a second application image;

determining if the updating of the first application image was successful; and

if the updating of the first image was successful, preserving the user-selected preferences contained in the user configuration data for continued use during subsequent operation of the consumer device while the processor executes the second application image; and

if the updating of the first image was not successful, resetting the user configuration data and continuing to use the first application image during subsequent operation of the consumer device.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the resetting comprises restoring default settings for the user configuration data.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the resetting comprises obtaining new user configuration data from the user.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the updating comprises simultaneously storing the first application image and the second application image on the consumer device and selecting one of the first and the second application images to execute on the processor, wherein the selecting comprises:

determining if the second application image is corrupt;

executing the second application image on the processor if the second application image is not corrupt; and

executing the first application image on the processor if the second application image is corrupt.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the updating comprises setting a flag indicating that an update of the first application image has been initiated and storing the flag in a memory of the consumer device.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the determining comprises reading the flag to determine if an update of the first application image was initiated but not completed.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the determining comprises verifying a checksum of the second application image.

8. A method to operate a placeshifting device having a processor and a network interface, the method comprising:

while the processor is executing a first application image, creating and storing user configuration data that describes user-selected preferences for the operation of the placeshifting device;

downloading a second application image via the network interface;

determining if the downloading of the second application image was successful; and

if the downloading of the second image was successful, preserving the user-selected preferences contained in the user configuration data for continued use during subsequent operation using the second application image; and

if the downloading of the second image was not successful, resetting the user configuration data and continuing to operate the placeshifting device using the first application image.

9. The method of claim 8 further comprising resetting the user configuration data when the user performs a hard reset of the placeshifting device.

10. The method of claim 8 wherein the placeshifting device processes television programming, and wherein the user configuration data comprises an indication of the television programming that is available to the placeshifting device.

11. The method of claim 8 wherein the user configuration data comprises network configuration information that allows the placeshifting device to communicate using the network interface.

12. The method of claim 8 wherein the user configuration data indicates user interface parameters for providing user inputs to the placeshifting device.

13. The method of claim 8 further comprising resetting the user configuration data and downloading the second image in response to a user-initiated hard reset of the placeshifting device.

14. A consumer device comprising:

a processor;

a network interface to the network; and

a memory, said memory configured to store a first application image, user configuration data, and a bootloader;

wherein the user configuration data maintains preferences for the operation of the consumer device based upon user inputs received while the first application image was executing on the processor; and

wherein the bootloader is configured to download a second application image via the network interface to the memory, to determine if the download of the second application image was successful, to direct the processor to continue using the user configuration data during subsequent operation of the second application image if the download was successful, and to direct the processor to reset the user configuration data and to continue using the first application image if the download was not successful.

15. The system of claim 14 wherein the memory comprises a first non-volatile portion configured to store the first application image and a second non-volatile portion configured to store the second application image.

16. The system of claim 15 wherein the memory further comprises a volatile portion configured to store a copy of one of the first and the second application images for execution by the processor.

17. The system of claim 16 wherein the bootloader is further configured to determine which of the first and the second application images to copy to the volatile portion of the memory.

18. The system of claim 16 wherein the bootloader is further configured to determine if the second application image is corrupt, to copy the second application image to the volatile portion of the memory if the second application image is not corrupt, and to copy the first application image to the volatile portion of the memory if the second application image is corrupt.

19. The method of claim 14, wherein the bootloader is further configured to determine if the download was successful by checking a flag in the memory that indicates that the download was initiated but not completed.

20. The method of claim 14, wherein the bootloader is further configured to determine if the download was successful by verifying a checksum of the second application image.