METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR REMOTE MODIFICATION OF SYSTEM CONFIGURATION

• US 20120151020A1
• Filed: 12/10/2010
• Published: 06/14/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/23/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Original Assignee: Intel Corporation
• Inventors: Bolay, Frederick H., Nalawadi, Rajeev K.
• Granted Patent: US 8,990,366 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/221
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/65 Updates security arrangements therefor G06F21/57
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0816 the condition being an adaptation, e.g. in response to network events
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/22 comprising specially adapted graphical user interfaces [GUI]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46

Abstract

A method and apparatus for updating the system configuration settings of a computer system Embodiments include a remote system configuration system that enables a user to update the system configuration of a target machine from a server machine over a network or similar communications system. Another embodiment includes a system configuration method using a bus master device to write system configuration data into a target computer system.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

a server computing device including logic to

compare an up-to-date version of a client system configuration with a current system configuration version installed on a client computing device;

send at least a portion of the up-to-date version of the client system configuration to the client computing device in response to the current system configuration being unequal to the up-to-date system configuration;

the client computing device including logic to

send the server computing device the current system configuration utilized; and

update the client system configuration using the at least portion of the up-to-date version of the client system configuration received from the server computing device.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the portion of the up-to-date system configuration is essentially equal to a set of differences in the up-to-date system configuration that are not present in the current client system configuration.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the client computing device stores the received at least portion of the up-to-date version of the client system configuration locally for a period of time prior to performing the update to the client system configuration.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the client computing device comprises a mobile device capable of sending and receiving cellular telephony communications, the client computing device being communicatively coupled to the server computing device over a cellular network.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the client computing device further comprises:

a non-volatile, rewriteable memory to store at least the client system configuration.

6. A client computing device, comprising logic to:

send a server computing device a current client system configuration utilized by the client computing device;

retrieve an up-to-date version of a client system configuration from the server computing device;

determine whether one or more settings in the up-to-date version of the client system configuration are modified from a corresponding one or more settings in the current client system configuration; and

in response to at least one of the one or more settings in the up-to-date version of the client system configuration being modified, update the client system configuration to the at least one of the one or more modified settings in the up-to-date version of the client system configuration.

7. The client computing device of claim 6, wherein the client and server computing devices communicate over a cellular network.

9. The client computing device of claim 6, wherein the client computing device further comprises:

a non-volatile, rewriteable memory to store at least the client system configuration.

8. The client computing device of claim 17, wherein the client computing device comprises a mobile device capable of sending and receiving cellular telephony communications, the client computing device being communicatively coupled to the server computing device over a cellular network.