Code replacement for irrigation controllers
First Claim
1. A modular irrigation controller comprising:
- a housing;
a control unit within the housing, the control unit including a first microcontroller for executing stored irrigation programs and a first set of code of the control unit;
a plurality of module mounting locations within the housing adapted to removably receive modules, each module mounting location communicationally coupled to the first microcontroller; and
a module removably mounted to a first module mounting location and contained within the housing, the module communicationally coupled to the first microcontroller and the module comprises memory storing a second set of code to replace at least a portion of the first set of code of the control unit and allows a copy of the second set of code to be transferred to the control unit to overwrite at least a portion of the first set of code of the control unit, wherein the first set of code of the control unit comprises a bootloader that when implemented writes the copy of the second set of code over the first set of code of the control unit with the exception of the bootloader that is not written over.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Described herein are several embodiments relating to modular irrigation controllers. In many implementations, methods of implementing irrigation control are provided that detect a presence of a first module coupled with a control unit of an irrigation controller, the control unit operating in accordance with a bootloader set of code and a first set of code to implement irrigation control, identify that the first module stores a second set of code, and activate the bootloader set of code to replace the first set of code with the second set of code. Also described are various different types of modular controllers, expansion modules that may be coupled to the modular controller, having as variety of functions and features, as well as related methods of use and configuration of the controller and these modules in the controller.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. A modular irrigation controller comprising:
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a housing; a control unit within the housing, the control unit including a first microcontroller for executing stored irrigation programs and a first set of code of the control unit; a plurality of module mounting locations within the housing adapted to removably receive modules, each module mounting location communicationally coupled to the first microcontroller; and a module removably mounted to a first module mounting location and contained within the housing, the module communicationally coupled to the first microcontroller and the module comprises memory storing a second set of code to replace at least a portion of the first set of code of the control unit and allows a copy of the second set of code to be transferred to the control unit to overwrite at least a portion of the first set of code of the control unit, wherein the first set of code of the control unit comprises a bootloader that when implemented writes the copy of the second set of code over the first set of code of the control unit with the exception of the bootloader that is not written over. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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Specification