10542 results about "Firmware" patented technology

A wireless electronic-ink based display device for use in indoor and outdoor environments characterized by low and / or dynamic ambient lighting conditions. The wireless electronic-ink based display device has an ambient light level sensor for sensing ambient lighting conditions about the wireless electronic-ink based display device, and generating a drive control signal in response to sensed ambient lighting conditions. The wireless electronic-ink based display device also has an edge-lit LED-based illumination module, responsive to the drive control signal generated by the ambient light level sensor, for illuminating the display surface of its addressable electronic-ink display module during low-illumination ambient lighting conditions detected by the ambient light level sensor, under the control of a processor. In the illustrative embodiment, the processor runs a firmware routine which analyzes detected ambient light conditions made by the ambient light level sensor, and automatically generates the drive control signal provided to the edge-lit LED illumination module.

The invention enables digital music content to be downloaded to and used on a portable wireless computing device. An application running on the wireless device has been automatically adapted to parameters associated with the wireless device without end-user input (e.g. the application has been configured in dependence on the device OS and firmware, related bugs, screen size, pixel number, security models, connection handling, memory etc. This application enables an end-user to browse and search music content on a remote server using a wireless network; to download music content from that remote server using the wireless network and to playback and manage that downloaded music content. The application also includes a digital rights management system that enables unlimited legal downloads of different music tracks to the device and also enables any of those tracks stored on the device to be played so long as a subscription service has not terminated.

A system for remotely updating software on at least one electronic device connected to a network. The electronic devices have a non-volatile rewritable storage unit divided into at least two partitions, one of which will contain core firmware and the other of which will contain auxiliary software. When an update is received at the device, the updated core firmware is written to overwrite the partition in the rewritable storage unit that contained the auxiliary software. When this is completed and verified, the previous version of the core firmware stored in the storage unit is disabled from execution by the device. Next, the updated auxiliary software is written to overwrite the old version of the core firmware. When this write is complete, the device determines a suitable time for it to be rebooted to execute the updated software. In another embodiment, the present core firmware in the device is copied from the partition it is in to the other partition, overwriting the auxiliary software stored there. The new core firmware received to update the device is overwritten into the first partition, the old copied core firmware being present in case of an upgrade failure, and upon a successful update of the first partition, the auxiliary software is written to the second partition, overwriting the copied old core firmware. In this manner, the position of the core firmware and auxiliary software within the partitions is preserved during normal operation of the device.

According to certain aspects, the invention allows a person to manage some of the functions of a cell phone without having to actually have the phone in her hands. For example, the invention allows the user to know of the incoming call and further allows the user to send a user-specified message to the caller and / or otherwise manage how the call should be handled through a remote device. In certain embodiments, the invention is comprised of: a decorative watch-like or bracelet-like case; a decorative wrist band; a vibrating incoming call indicator; a partial or full face display; touch screen input capability, accelerometer for wrist flick input capability, and / or side buttons for user inputs; a Bluetooth antenna; a Bluetooth transmitter and receiver; a rechargeable battery; a connector or wireless charging element; a display / general purpose control unit with firmware; and standard Bluetooth link and application software on an associated cellular phone.

An electroporation device which may be used to effectively facilitate the introduction of a macromolecule into cells of a selected tissue in a body or plant. The electroporation device comprises an electro-kinetic device (“EKD”) whose operation is specified by software or firmware. The EKD produces a series of programmable constant-current pulse patterns between electrodes in an array based on user control and input of the pulse parameters and allows the storage and acquisition of current waveform data. The electroporation device also comprises a replaceable electrode disk having an array of needle electrodes, a central injection channel for an injection needle, and a removable guide disk.

The present invention relates to an electronic module used for secure transactions. More specifically, the electronic module is capable of passing information back and forth between a service provider's equipment via a secure, encrypted technique so that money and other valuable data can be securely passed electronically. The module is capable of being programmed, keeping track of real time, recording transactions for later review, and creating encryption key pairs.

A device client that supports customer care and distribution of update packages to electronic devices makes it possible to efficiently manage and update firmware and software in electronic devices. A terminal management / device management server employs extensions to an industry standard device management protocol to update configuration information, to provision the electronic device, and to manage the electronic device, for example. The electronic device may receive update packages, and update agent(s) in the electronic device may update the firmware and / or software of the electronic device. A diagnostic client in the electronic device facilitates remote diagnosis and a traps client facilitates setting traps and retrieving collected information. A terminal management server may remotely invoke control actions within the electronic device using management objects not supported by the industry standard device management protocol. A user of the electronic device may use a self-care portal to administer self-care and to conduct diagnostics. A subsequent customer-care call may use such information collected during self-care.

A method and system are provided for consolidating and distributing information. Implementation of system functionalities for both restricted local and unrestricted system-wide uses are permitted. Open standards for hardware, software and firmware components and standardized medical codes, definitions and formats are supported. The preferred embodiment of the invention provides an integrated health care system. The invention can also be used to allow secure access to Social Security, annuity, retirement account, and benefit information, allowing individuals a unified view of their benefit and payment status. A centralized host maintains, consolidates, and redistributes information generated at all networked locations. Information is electronically transferred among the system components to link an individual's local records to those stored remotely. The individual information device, centralized host computer, and any other computers or networks linked to the system can therefore be automatically updated. An individual information device stores a service recipient's insurance information, a emergency records and critical health care histories. This information is accessed by the system for use in managing any aspect of the service recipient's health care. Portable terminals can be used to access the system. A portable terminal can also be used independently from the system to perform health care functions. Unrestricted system-wide, or restricted local uses are supported. Insurance coverage for services and treatments can be determined and the information transmitted directly from the carrier(s) to the service recipient and service provider(s). Supported features include service authorization, messaging, diagnostic services,coverage determination, billing, and electronic payment.

In some embodiments, the invention is a personal digital network (“PDN”) including hardware (sometimes referred to as Ingress circuitry) configured to transcrypt encrypted content that enters the PDN. Typically, the transcryption (decryption followed by re-encryption) is performed in hardware within the Ingress circuitry and the re-encryption occurs before the decrypted content is accessible by hardware or software external to the Ingress circuitry. Typically, transcrypted content that leaves the Ingress circuitry remains in re-encrypted form within the PDN whenever it is transferred between integrated circuits or is otherwise easily accessible by software, until it is decrypted within hardware (sometimes referred to as Egress circuitry) for display or playback or output from the PDN. Typically, the PDN is implemented so that no secret in Ingress or Egress circuitry (for use or transfer by the Ingress or Egress circuitry) is accessible in unencrypted form to software or firmware within the PDN or to any entity external to the PDN. Other aspects of the invention are methods for protecting content in a PDN (e.g., an open computing system) and devices (e.g., multimedia graphics cards, set top boxes, or video processors) for use in a PDN.

Digital cameras and methods that employ location and time data to automatically select and / or adjust stored profiles used when taking photographs at different geographic locations. The digital camera comprises a user interface that is coupled to processing circuitry. A plurality of predetermined profiles are stored in the camera. Firmware is configured to run on the processing circuitry and process geographic location and time data entered into the camera, such as by way of the user interface, for example, to select one or more profiles based upon the geographic location and time data that were entered.

A serial flash integrated circuit is provided with an integrated error correction coding ("ECC") system that is used with an integrated volatile page memory for fast automatic data correction. The ECC code has the capability of correcting any one or two bit errors that might occur on a page of the flash memory array. One bit corrections are done automatically in hardware during reads or transfer to the page memory, while two-bit corrections are handled in external software, firmware or hardware. The ECC system uses a syndrome generator for generating both write and read syndromes, and an error trapper to identify the location of single bit errors using very little additional chip space. The flash memory array may be refreshed from the page memory to correct any detected errors. Data status is made available to the application prior to the data. The use of the ECC is optional.

The present invention provides a bar-code driven, completely automated, microplate-based analyzer system for performing chemical, biochemical or biological assays. The analyzer is a modular, bench-top instrument that compactly integrates subsystems for sample dispensing, liquid handling, microplate transport, thermal incubation, vortexing, solid phase separation and optical reading. An internal processor is included for automating the instrument, and a user interface to facilitate communication with the operator via a touch-sensitive liquid-crystal display (LCD), and communicating with a remote network via multiple protocols. The analyzer includes firmware resident within the processing system and the user interface allows the operator to select pre-defined assay batch protocols and the user interface is configured in such as way so as to restrict an operator from programming the firmware.

An intelligent network processor is disclosed that provides a PCI express (PCIe) host bus adapter with firmware selectable hardware capabilities and firmware enabled emulation of capabilities not supported by hardware. Support for Fibre Channel (FC) and Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) protocols are provided through the same fabric ports, including multiple port trunking for both protocols. On chip protocol conversion is provided for switching and routing between FC and GbE ports. Switching using the same crossbar module is provided for both FC and GbE protocols. The crossbar module is coupled to directly access external DDR memory so that messages from FC, GbE, and PCIe interfaces may be switched directly to the DDR memory.

A method and an apparatus are disclosed for scoring the quality of sleep experienced by a subject wearing the apparatus for a specified period. This sleep monitoring apparatus includes a motion sensor that quantifies the temporal variation in the subject's motion, an analog to digital converter to sample the sensor data, a microprocessor with embedded programmable memory to store control and processing firmware, a memory device for data storage, a display means, and a switch for staring and resetting the device. The firmware for this apparatus: (i) directs the microprocessor to sample sensor output at a prescribed time interval and to temporarily store this data in the memory device, (ii) directs the microprocessor to analyze the temporarily stored data to compute a sleep score based on the magnitude of movements recorded during the monitoring period, and (iii) controls the operation of the display means. Upon termination of the sleep period, the apparatus' display means will display a sleep score based on a scale of 0 to 100. A high score indicates restful sleep (very low movements), while a low score indicates excessive restlessness during the monitored sleep period.

Aspects of the present invention may be seen in a system and method for downloading update packages into an electronic device communicatively coupled to a carrier network. The system may facilitate the update of firmware / software in the electronic device. Different protocols may be utilized for discovery and download of update packages. Also, different protocols may be utilized for provisioning and for subsequent downloading of update packages.

A method for providing a secure firmware update. A first authentication credential is securely stored on a platform in an encrypted form using a key generated by a secure token, such as a trusted platform module (TPM). Typically, the authentication credential will identify a manufacture and the operation will be performed during manufacture of the platform. A configuration of the platform is “imprinted” such that an identical configuration is required to access the key used to decrypt the first authentication credential by sealing the key against the platform configuration. During a subsequent firmware update process, a firmware update image containing a second authentication credential is received at the platform. If the platform configuration is the same as when the key was sealed, the key can be unsealed and used for decrypting the first authentication credential. A public key in the first authentication credential can then be used to authenticate the firmware update image via the second authentication credential.

The discovery and configuration of devices of interest connected to the Ethernet by an Ethernet port is disclosed. To perform discovery, Client software in a management interface transmits packets including the address of the management interface and a port identifier to a known broadcast address, requesting the MAC address for all devices of interest. Server software in the devices of interest parse the broadcast packets and broadcast a packet containing a MAC address that uniquely identifies the devices of interest back to the Client. Once the MAC addresses are returned to the Client, the Client can then broadcast protocol packets requesting the configuration of a specific device of interest such as a new IP address. Once a device of interest is configured with at least an IP address, the device of interest can communicate using TCP / IP, and it can thereafter be managed using higher level tools and firmware.

Methods and systems for processing financial market data using reconfigurable logic are disclosed. Various functional operations to be performed on the financial market data can be implemented in firmware pipelines to accelerate the speed of processing. Also, a combination of software logic and firmware logic can be used to efficiently control and manage the high speed flow of financial market data to and from the reconfigurable logic.

A method and apparatus for web caching is disclosed. The method and apparatus may be implemented in hardware, software or firmware. Complementary cache management modules, a coherency module and a cache module(s) are installed complementary gateways for data and for clients respectively. The coherency management module monitors data access requests and or response and determines for each: the uniform resource locator (URL) of the requested web page, the URL of the requestor and a signature. The signature is computed using cryptographic techniques and in particular a hash function for which the input is the corresponding web page for which a signature is to be generated. The coherency management module caches these signatures and the corresponding URL and uses the signatures to determine when a page has been updated. When, on the basis of signature comparisons it is determined that a page has been updated the coherency management module sends a notification to all complementary cache modules. Each cache module caches web pages requested by the associated client(s) to which it is coupled. The notification from the cache management module results in the cache module(s) which are the recipient of a given notice updating their tag table with a stale bit for the associated web page. The cache module(s) use this information in the associated tag tables to determine which pages they need to update. The cache modules initiate this update during intervals of reduced activity in the servers, gateways, routers, or switches of which they are a part. All clients requesting data through the system of which each cache module is a part are provided by the associated cache module with cached copies of requested web pages.

A method and system for obtaining a network address stored in a peripheral device, and accessing a remote device at the network address to obtain information related to the peripheral device. When the peripheral device is connected to a host computer, the stored network address is read by the host computer. The network address is preferably determined by the host computer when a peripheral device, such as a USB device, is initially connected to the host device, or when the host device with a newly connected USB is energized. The network address is then used by the host device to communicate with a remote device so that information pertaining to the peripheral device, such as a device driver for the peripheral device, can be accessed by the host device at the remote device. In addition, the host device can download or automatically execute a program stored at the remote device, download and install an application program relating to use of the peripheral device, display a Web page that includes information pertinent to the peripheral device, download documentation for the peripheral device, access help information, download and install firmware into the peripheral device and / or access other material related to the peripheral device. Access of the remote device can be fully automated or can optionally be implemented only with the permission of the user.

Systems and methods are disclosed for storing the firmware and other data of a flash memory controller, such as using a RAID configuration across multiple flash memory devices or portions of a single memory device. In various embodiments, the firmware and other data used by a controller, and error correction information, such as parity information for RAID configuration, may be stored across multiple flash memory devices, multiple planes of a multi-plane flash memory device, or across multiple blocks or pages of a single flash memory device. The controller may detect the failure of a memory device or a portion thereof, and reconstruct the firmware and / or other data from the other memory devices or portions thereof.

Described herein are systems and methods for controlling an illumination area as a function of time, location, or position. The systems and methods may generate illumination patterns having aesthetic effects or conveying information. In one example, a device for selectively controlling a projected illumination beam pattern of visible or non-visible illumination includes a mirror for receiving and reflecting light from an illumination source, where the mirror is operable to move in an oscillating motion, and a controller for generating time varying signals for causing the illumination source to vary a characteristic of the light (e.g., color, intensity, shape, or combinations thereof) from the illumination source and produce a predetermined illumination pattern. The controller (which may include suitable logic such as software, firmware, hardware, or combinations thereof) may operate to modulate a characteristic of the illumination source over time based on the orientation of the mirror and the predetermined illumination pattern.

Disclosed herein is an electronic device network for lifecycle management of firmware and software in electronic devices. The electronic device network may also be adapted to manage configuration parameters in the electronic devices. Lifecycle management provided by the electronic device network may include firmware and software downloading, firmware and software updating, and remote locking and remote enabling of electronic device capability. An update store module in the electronic device network may be adapted to dispense update packages to requesting electronic devices. The electronic devices may employ one or a plurality of update agents to update software and firmware therein. A boot loader in the electronic device is capable of determining whether an update agent is to be invoked or whether a previous backup copy of the update agent in non-volatile memory is to be invoked upon determining, based upon status information, that an update is to be conducted, rather than a normal startup operation without updates.

Disclosed herein is a network communicating with a plurality of mobile electronic devices. The network and the mobile electronic devices may support rollback of updated firmware / software from an updated version to a previous version. The previous version may be stored in non-volatile memory in the mobile electronic device. The non-volatile memory may be, for example, a NAND-type flash memory. In an embodiment according to the present invention, a backup zone of non-volatile memory may be employed to backup firmware / software to be updated in the mobile electronic device. An update agent may be provided to update firmware / software in the mobile electronic device. The update agent may include updating software stored in the mobile electronic device. In an embodiment according to the present invention, automatic rollback may be supported. In another embodiment according to the present invention, a user-initiated hard rollback may also be supported.

A secure firmware update method includes receiving a firmware update image, for example, firmware code including corrected or updated functionality. Next, the firmware update image and the source of the firmware update image are authenticated. After the firmware update image and the source of the firmware update image have been authenticated, the current firmware image is replaced by the firmware update image. If either of the new firmware image or the firmware update module is not authorized, the memory remains locked; thereby, preventing the unauthorized firmware image from being flashed into the memory. An electronic device includes a processor and a memory. The memory maintains instructions that when executed by the processor, causes the processor to receive a firmware update image. Next, the instructions cause the processor to authenticate the firmware update image and the source of the image. After the firmware update image and the source of the firmware update image have been authenticated, the current firmware image is replaced by the firmware update image.

The present disclosure is related to separately upgrading or modifying a remote software in a machine to machine (M2M) communication. Particularly, in the case of upgrading or modifying firmware of an M2M device or an M2M gateway, the present disclosure relates to separating an M2M service provider domain and a manufacturer domain, and independently upgrading or modifying each of the separated domains.

A computer implemented method for updating one or a combination of the system software, operating systems, device configuration, application software and firmware of electronic devices via geographically located local communication points likely to be proximate to the electronic device being updated. The communication points are connected to local servers which communicate stored update packages to the electronic device which are pre-provided by the device manufacturers, or customize update packages to the device subsequent to a query response as to the state of software, firmware, and configuration of the device to be updated.

Methods, systems and computer program products which provide secure updates of firmware (i.e. data stored in a programmable memory device of a processing system) are disclosed. Updates of a programmable memory of a device may be controlled by providing an update window of finite duration during which the programmable memory may be updated. Access to the programmable memory may be based on the state of an access latch. The access latch may be set to allow access after a hardware reset of the device. An update control program may be executed to control access to the programmable memory and the latch reset to prevent access upon completion of the update control program. Verification of the update may be provided through encryption techniques and rules incorporated in certificates for application of updates to provide for selectively updating devices. Also disclosed are methods of securely providing differing functionality to generic devices.

Provided is a method, system, and program for updating the firmware in a nodal system. The nodal system includes at least two nodes, wherein each node includes a processing unit and a memory including code. The nodes communicate over a communication interface. At least one querying node transmits a request to at least one queried node in the nodal system for a level of the code at the node over the communication interface. At least one node receives a response from the queried node receiving the request indicating the level of code at the queried node over the communication interface. The node receiving the response determines whether at least one queried node has a higher code level.