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US 2006/0079254 A1Published application
Method and apparatus for updating a control file
OwnerTimothy Hoganinventor
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OwnerTimothy Hoganinventor
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A method of simultaneously upgrading control files in mobile devices (5) and remote devices (45) utlising Cell Broadcast messages. A control file is divided into a number of packets which are sent in the user data sections (18, 20) of a sequence of Cell Broadcasts messages. The mobile data (5) or remote device (45) reassembles the packets (18, 20) and loads the control file if it passes error-checking tests. The control file may be operating software, operational parameters, control commands or SIM card files. The remote device may be a monitoring device, a consumer appliances, a vending machine etc. The method provides simultaneous “Flash upgrades” to multiple mobile devices in a transparent manner with minimal network overhead. A system for effecting the method and a remotely updatable device are also disclosed.
A method of transferring a control file from a source device to a remote device via a cellular communication network comprising the steps of:
A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the control file is divided into a plurality of packets in step i.
A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein each packet of user data sent in each Cell Broadcast message includes error-checking data.
A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein a final message is sent containing error-checking data to enable error checking of the reassembled control file.
A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein each message includes a generic device type data section.
A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein each message includes a revision number data section.
A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the message code field of a Cell Broadcast message is used to indicate the number of a message packet in a sequence of packets.
A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein an acknowledgement is sent to the source device when updated control file has been loaded.
A system for simultaneously sending a control file to a plurality of remote devices via a cellular communications network including:
A remotely updatable device programmed to operate in accordance with a control file comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.