Patent US20040103412A1 successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
US20040103412A1
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Software self-repair toolkit for electronic devices
Assignee: Qualcomm Inc
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Filing: 2003-10-28
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2023-10-28
Abstract
Abstract A device and method supporting the identification and correction of firmware and/or software errors is described. Upon the occurrence of a firmware/software error or exception, an embodiment in accordance with the present invention may gather parameters for identifying the error or exception, and the execution environment in which the error occurred, and may communicate the parameters or an identifier to a server, to retrieve update information for correcting the firmware/software error or exception. The execution environment may be single or multi-threaded, and may be a java virtual machine. The device may restart/reboot during the update process, and may log an error if update information is not available to correct the error or exception. The device may communicate the error log information to the server via the communication network. The communication network may be a wireless network.
Inventors
- 👤 Bindu Rao
- 👤 Teck Chia
- 👤 Harri Okonnen
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-07 22:12
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06F; G06F11/00; G06F11/07; G06F11/14; G06F11/1402; G06F11/1415; G06F11/1433; G06F8/00; G06F8/60; G06F8/65
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 39
Claim 1
Independent Claim
116 words
1 . An updatable electronic device comprising: a memory having at least one of firmware and software; a first firmware component for determining the occurrence of at least one of an error and an exception during the execution of the at least one of firmware and software; a second firmware component for gathering at least one parameter related to the occurrence of the at least one of an error and an exception; interface circuitry for receiving update information via a communication network, the update information based upon the at least one parameter; and a third firmware component for applying the update information to at least a portion of the at least one of firmware and software.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
116 words
1 . An updatable electronic device comprising: a memory having at least one of firmware and software; a first firmware component for determining the occurrence of at least one of an error and an exception during the execution of the at least one of firmware and software; a second firmware component for gathering at least one parameter related to the occurrence of the at least one of an error and an exception; interface circuitry for receiving update information via a communication network, the update information based upon the at least one parameter; and a third firmware component for applying the update information to at least a portion of the at least one of firmware and software.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
53 words
2 . The device of claim 1 wherein the at least one parameter comprises at least one of a type of error, an error code, an error message, a type of exception, an identifier of a component, an identifier of a module, stack trace information, a computed hash value, and a device characteristic.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
40 words
3 . The device of claim 2 wherein the device characteristic comprises at least one of a manufacture identifier, a model identifier, a firmware version number, a hardware version number, a battery level, a communication statistic, and a serial number.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
14 words
4 . The device of claim 1 wherein the device is a mobile handset.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
15 words
5 . The device of claim 1 wherein the communication network comprises a wireless network.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
35 words
6 . The device of claim 1 further comprising a fourth firmware component for generating an identifier for identifying an update information used to correct the at least one of an error and an exception.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
47 words
7 . The device of claim 1 wherein the device transmits the at least one parameter to at least one server via the communication network, the at least one server identifying the update information used to correct the at least one of an error and an exception.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
24 words
8 . The device of claim 1 wherein the update information comprises information for retrieving at least one update package via the communication network.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
40 words
9 . The device of claim 1 wherein the update information comprises a set of instructions for converting the at least a portion of the at least one of firmware and software from a first version to a second version.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
38 words
10 . The device of claim 1 wherein at least one of the first firmware component, the second firmware component, and the third firmware component initiate at least one of a restart and a reboot of the device.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
41 words
11 . The device of claim 10 wherein the device stores information related to the at least one of an error and an exception for use after at least one of a power-up, a restart and a reboot of the device.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
40 words
12 . The device of claim 10 wherein the device updates the at least a portion of the at least one of firmware and software following at least one of a power-up, a restart and a reboot of the device.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
21 words
13 . The device of claim 1 wherein the at least one of firmware and software comprises a java virtual machine.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
106 words
14 . A method of operating an updatable electronic device comprising a memory containing at least one of firmware and software, the method comprising: determining whether at least one of an error and an exception has occurred; continuing regular processing if the at least one of an error and an exception has not occurred; generating an identifier based upon at least one parameter, if the at least one of an error and an exception has occurred; receiving, via a communication network, update information based upon the identifier; and updating at least a portion of the at least one of firmware and software using the update information.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
106 words
14 . A method of operating an updatable electronic device comprising a memory containing at least one of firmware and software, the method comprising: determining whether at least one of an error and an exception has occurred; continuing regular processing if the at least one of an error and an exception has not occurred; generating an identifier based upon at least one parameter, if the at least one of an error and an exception has occurred; receiving, via a communication network, update information based upon the identifier; and updating at least a portion of the at least one of firmware and software using the update information.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
53 words
15 . The device of claim 14 wherein the at least one parameter comprises at least one of a type of error, an error code, an error message, a type of exception, an identifier of a component, an identifier of a module, stack trace information, a computed hash value, and a device characteristic.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
40 words
16 . The device of claim 15 wherein the device characteristic comprises at least one of a manufacture identifier, a model identifier, a firmware version number, a hardware version number, a battery level, a communication statistic, and a serial number.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
14 words
17 . The method of claim 14 wherein the device is a mobile handset.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
15 words
18 . The method of claim 14 wherein the communication network comprises a wireless network.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
47 words
19 . The method of claim 14 wherein the device transmits the at least one parameter to at least one server via the communication network, the at least one server identifying the update information used to correct the at least one of an error and an exception.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
24 words
20 . The method of claim 14 wherein the update information comprises information for retrieving at least one update package via the communication network.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
40 words
21 . The method of claim 14 wherein the update information comprises a set of instructions for converting the at least a portion of the at least one of firmware and software from a first version to a second version.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
22 words
22 . The method of claim 14 further comprising: initiating at least one of a restart and a reboot of the device.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
40 words
23 . The method of claim 14 further comprising: storing information related to the at least one of an error and an exception for use after at least one of a power-up, a restart and a reboot of the device.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
41 words
24 . The method of claim 23 wherein the device updates the at least a portion of the at least one of firmware and software following the at least one of a power-up, a restart and a reboot of the device.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
23 words
25 . The method of claim 14 further comprising: logging the occurrence of the at least one of an error and an exception.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
28 words
26 . The method of claim 25 further comprising: communicating, via the communication network, the logged occurrence of the at least one of an error and an exception.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
82 words
27 . A method of operating an updatable electronic device, the method comprising: determining that at least one of a firmware and a software error has occurred; gathering at least one parameter related to the at least one of a firmware and a software error; identifying update information for correcting the at least one of a firmware and a software error; receiving the update information via a communication network; and updating at least one of firmware and software using the update information.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
82 words
27 . A method of operating an updatable electronic device, the method comprising: determining that at least one of a firmware and a software error has occurred; gathering at least one parameter related to the at least one of a firmware and a software error; identifying update information for correcting the at least one of a firmware and a software error; receiving the update information via a communication network; and updating at least one of firmware and software using the update information.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
15 words
28 . The method of claim 27 wherein the communication network comprises a wireless network.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
34 words
29 . The method of claim 27 wherein the update information comprises a set of instructions for converting the at least one of firmware and software from a first version to a second version.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
108 words
30 . A network for updating at least one of firmware and software in at least one updatable electronic device, the network comprising: at least one server receiving at least one of device characteristics and an error report from the at least one updatable electronic device, the at least one server retrieving appropriate update information based on the at least one of device characteristics and an error report; the server communicating the update information to the at least one updatable electronic device using a wireless interface; and the at least one updatable electronic device using the update information to update the at least one of firmware and software.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
108 words
30 . A network for updating at least one of firmware and software in at least one updatable electronic device, the network comprising: at least one server receiving at least one of device characteristics and an error report from the at least one updatable electronic device, the at least one server retrieving appropriate update information based on the at least one of device characteristics and an error report; the server communicating the update information to the at least one updatable electronic device using a wireless interface; and the at least one updatable electronic device using the update information to update the at least one of firmware and software.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim
38 words
31 . The network of claim 30 wherein the update information comprises an update package having a set of instructions for converting the at least one of firmware and software from a first version to a second version.
Claim 36
Dependent Claim
16 words
32 . The network of claim 30 wherein the updatable electronic device comprises a mobile handset.
Claim 37
Dependent Claim
40 words
33 . The network of claim 30 wherein the device characteristics comprise at least one of a manufacture identifier, a model identifier, a firmware version number, a hardware version number, a battery level, a communication statistic, and a serial number.
Claim 38
Dependent Claim
34 words
34 . The network of claim 30 wherein the updatable electronic device further comprises a display for displaying information regarding at least one of an error, an exception, and an event to a user.
Claim 39
Dependent Claim
42 words
35 . The network of claim 34 wherein the displayed information comprises a user prompt to solicit user approval for at least one of the communication of the update information and the update of the at least one of firmware and software.
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