Firmware upgrade using address conversion
OwnerJohn P. Lambino, John V. Lovelace +2inventors
InventorsJohn P. Lambino, John V. Lovelace, David I. Poisner, Andrew W. Martwick
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A system and method for upgrading a boot block of a firmware program is disclosed. A copy of a replacement boot block is transferred to a firmware device, and then the execution address is changed to point to this new location. The replacement boot block is then copied over the original boot block. Once the copying is complete, the execution address is restored to the original location in the firmware program.
Claims28
A method comprising:
- receiving a boot block into a secondary location;
- pointing an execution address to the secondary location, wherein the execution address is the address from which a processor executes instructions when a system is turned on;
- copying the boot block from the secondary location to a primary location;
- and
- pointing the execution address to the primary location.
A system comprising:
- a processor;
- a flash memory comprising a primary location and a secondary location;
- and
- a boot block executed from the primary location, wherein the boot block further:
- receives a second boot block into the secondary location;
- points an execution address to the secondary location;
- copies the second boot block to the primary location;
- and
- points the execution address to the primary location.
An article comprising a medium storing instructions for enabling a processor-based system to:
- receive a new boot block into a secondary location;
- point an execution address to the secondary location, wherein the execution address is the address from which a processor executes instructions when the processor-based system is turned on;
- copy the new boot block from the secondary location to a primary location;
- and
- point the execution address to the first location.
A method comprising:
- copying a boot block from a primary location to a secondary location;
- pointing an execution address to the secondary location, wherein the execution address is the address from which a processor executes instructions when a system is turned on;
- copying a new boot block to the primary location;
- and
- pointing the execution address to the primary location.
A system comprising:
- a processor;
- a flash memory comprising a primary location and a secondary location;
- and
- a boot block executed from the primary location, wherein the boot further:
- is copied to the secondary location;
- points an execution address to the secondary location;
- copies a new boot block to the primary location;
- and
- points the execution address to the primary location.
An article comprising a medium storing instructions for enabling a processor-based system to:
- copy a boot block from a primary location to a secondary location;
- point an execution address to the secondary location, wherein the execution address is the address from which a processor executes instructions when a system is turned on;
- copy a new boot block to the primary location;
- and
- point the execution address to the primary location.
A method comprising:
- receiving an upgrade program into a secondary location;
- executing instructions from the secondary location by a processor;
- copying the upgrade program from the secondary location to a primary location;
- and
- executing instructions from the primary location.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.