The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 09, 2006
Filed:
Oct. 31, 2002
John Herbert Chiloyan, Woodinville, WA (US);
John Herbert Chiloyan, Woodinville, WA (US);
Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA (US);
Abstract
A method and system for automatically detecting invalid or superseded firmware and replacing at least a portion of the firmware stored in rewritable, nonvolatile memory of an electronic device. Boot code of the device firmware checks whether any portion of the device firmware is corrupt or superseded by a later version. The boot code stores a status indication of the firmware, and communicates the status to a host device over a bus or network. If the firmware is corrupt or superseded, the host accesses a replacement firmware that is stored on a local or remote storage. The replacement firmware may comprise the entire firmware or a portion of the firmware. The host then communicates at least a portion of the replacement firmware to the electronic device. Upon receipt, the electronic device overwrites at least a portion of the existing firmware with the replacement firmware in the rewritable, nonvolatile memory.