Method and apparatus for transferring firmware to a non-volatile memory

Abstract

A method of transferring firmware to a non-volatile memory of a programmable controller system comprises the steps of establishing a remote network connection and transferring the firmware to the non-volatile memory of the programmable controller system by way of the remote network connection. The remote network connection is established between a first computer system utilized by a firmware provider and the programmable controller system. The first computer system is located remotely from the programmable controller system. Alternatively, the remote network connection may also be established between the first computer system and a second computer system utilized by a user of the programmable controller system and located locally with the programmable controller system. Advantageously, using a network link, firmware upgrade can be downloaded into a processor module of a programmable controller system from a firmware provider, without any transportation delays and without any significant hardware intervention. Additionally, the network link also enables the computer to be networked to a plurality of processor modules at once, so that the firmware upgrade can be nearly simultaneously downloaded to the plurality of networked processor modules at once, without significant hardware intervention. Finally, in addition to being useful in conjunction with processor modules that have built-in communication ports, the present invention is also useful in conjunction with processor modules having a communication daughterboard.