On Fri, Jan 3, 2014 at 1:50 PM, Joseph R. Justice <jayare...@gmail.com>wrote:
> Actually... What I was thinking of here was not anything related to > preparation of the software changes or release package, but instead the > actual deployment of the software itself into the field, and particularly > into devices which cannot be reasonably expected to be ubiquitously > networked and remotely upgradeable. How does one update embedded software > in a VCR or DVD player, or a refrigerator, or a vehicle (car / ship / > aircraft)? Or, for that matter, update embedded software used in an > important industrial process, such as a power plant (nuclear or otherwise), > a chemical manufacturing or processing facility, etc where failure of the > process can potentially be catastrophic so you don't *want* it to be easy > to update the software (to avoid malicious changes by third parties)? > Our products are actually components for products of other businesses, so the details vary, but they are all designed to require a special program running on a laptop or tablet to communicate with a "flash loader" program that is nominally permanently resident in our devices. (It is possible to update the flash loader, but requires extra steps.) This special program is specific to the producer of the final product and is normally only available to authorized service businesses. (And yes, we have variations of our flash loader for each of the final product producers.) To reduce the possibility of unauthorized SW being loaded into our products, we encrypt the binary images. Our flash loader decrypts the image as it writes the image to built in "flash ROM". How a technician connects the laptop/tablet to the component devices varies based on the type of the final product and the producers' design standards. Many such products, especially modern automobiles, have (possibly hidden) service connectors that allow the service program to communicate with the products component devices via an internal diagnostic "network". Other products require the technician to plug directly into the individual components devices. While I don't know much of the details, I do know that many consumer devices like BluRay players, and even TVs, are Internet enabled, so can be updated over the Internet. For example, my BluRay player at home has an obscure menu option to start the player downloading and installing the latest SW from the producer's website. If the download or installation fails, it it will automatically retry. Since mine has an Ethernet port, I can take it anywhere I can get Internet access (If need be, I can use pocket sized Ethernet to WiFi adapter.)
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