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AssigneeNone recorded
InventorsWalter I. Wittel JR., Sunil Pai, Joseph Ghartey Dadzie, Thomas A. Sponheim
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The present invention is directed to a system and method for dynamically detecting, downloading and installing drivers on a client system. The present invention operates in a client/server architecture of a network environment. In operation, information relating to a client system is provided to a server, and that information is used to match available driver information located on the server to the received client system information.
A method for use in a networked computing environment for locating a device driver for a client computing device comprising:
A computer readable medium having computer executable instructions for performing a method for locating a device driver for a client computing device, the method comprising:
A method for use in a networked computing environment for locating a device driver for a client computing device comprising:
A computer readable medium having computer executable instructions for performing a method for use in a networked computing environment for locating a device driver for a client computing device, the method comprising:
A method for use in a networked computing environment for obtaining one or more drivers for a client computing device from one or more content servers comprising:
A computer readable medium having computer executable instructions for performing a method for obtaining one or more drivers on a client computing device from one or more content servers, the method comprising:
A system for detecting and downloading drivers from a network comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.
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Network arrangements or protocols for supporting network services or applications: involving the movement of software or configuration parameters
Protocols: based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
Digital communication
Term end not estimated
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The present invention relates to computer software. More particularly, the invention relates to a system and method for detecting, downloading and installing drivers on a client system from a server.
The present invention is described in detail below with reference to the attached drawings figures, wherein:
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a computing system environment suitable for use in implementing the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram, illustrating an architecture of the present invention along with component communications;
The present invention is directed to a system and method for detecting, downloading and installing drivers on a client system from an online service, while also allowing the aggregation of drivers from multiple manufacturers and vendors on a single site. The system of the present invention incorporates a client/server infrastructure that allows dynamic and automatic support of client system devices. According to the method of the present invention, a client system provides a specification of its environment, including installed devices, drivers and other system information. This system specification conforms to a recognizable data structure, such as an XML based schema. Within the data structure there is for example, a device element corresponding to each plug-and-play (PnP) device, such as a modem. PnP is a methodology that facilitates the recognition and identification of a hardware device that is plugged into a system, so as to facilitate automatic installation and configuration of the device within the operating system. Next, the data structure is packaged for transmission to a server. In an embodiment of the present invention, the packaging and transmission is performed utilizing Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) industry standards. By definition of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C), SOAP is a light weight protocol for the exchange of information in a decentralized, distributed environment. It is a protocol that is based on XML and consists of: (1) an envelope that defines a framework for describing what is in a message and how to process it, (2) a set of encoding rules for expressing instances of application-defined data types, and (3) a convention for representing remote procedure calls and responses.
The server utilizes the received information to identify and ascertain the need for newer or more specific drivers and sends a response back to the client. In one embodiment of the present invention, the server response is in the form of meta-data or a catalog of locations where identified drivers can be downloaded. In another embodiment, the server response is the meta-data for a single matching driver for requested device.
It would be understood by those skilled in the art that while the present invention is described with reference to a client and server, the system and method of the present invention is applicable to communications between any two or more computing environments, and such communication should be considered within the scope of the present invention. In particular, the present invention is also applicable to mobile and wireless devices where traditional driver delivery mechanisms to support new or updated drivers is cumbersome. The particular embodiments described herein are intended in all respects to be illustrative rather than restrictive. Alternative embodiments will become apparent to those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains without departing from its scope.