Containerized Cellular OS Updates Without Device Restarts
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current operating system updates require device restarts, causing downtime and potential safety hazards as users cannot access their devices or data during the update process, which can take several minutes.
Innovation Solution
A container management server (CMS) is used to update cellular devices by identifying outdated containers, pushing updated containers, and managing container updates without requiring device restarts, allowing users to continue accessing their devices and data.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional operating system updates are pushed as OS revisions, then the entire operating system must be updated even for minor changes, but this causes device downtime and prevents users from accessing their devices during updates
Solution Approach 1:
The operating system is segmented into multiple independent containers, each responsible for specific functions or applications. This allows individual containers to be updated independently without requiring updates to the entire operating system, thereby maintaining device availability during updates.
Solution Approach 2:
A container management server acts as an intermediary between the update source and the device. It manages container updates by pushing only the specific outdated containers that need updating, rather than forcing a complete operating system update, thus reducing update downtime.
2Reliability
If the entire operating system is updated to fix a single component issue, then the security vulnerability is remediated, but other features unrelated to the update become unusable during the update process
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the operating system into independent containers, only the specific container containing the security vulnerability needs to be updated. This allows the device to remain usable with other containers continuing to function normally during the update process.
3Reliability
If operating system updates are pushed as OS revisions, then comprehensive updates can be deployed, but the update process takes several minutes and requires device restarts
Solution Approach 1:
The update process is segmented into individual container updates rather than updating the entire operating system at once. This significantly reduces the duration of each update operation and eliminates the need for device restarts, as only specific containers are updated while the rest of the system continues to run.
Solution Approach 2:
The container management server preliminarily identifies which containers are outdated by comparing deployed containers with the container catalog before pushing updates. This allows for targeted updates of only the necessary containers, reducing overall update duration.
Data Source
AI summary
Processes, computing systems, devices, and automated processes variously perform or include operations to update a cellular device running a container-based operating system. A container management server (CMS) of a cellular network receives a communication from the cellular device over the cellular network. The CMS retrieves a list of containers deployed on the cellular device. The CMS then compares a deployed container from the list to an updated container to identify the deployed container as invalid. The CMS may push the updated container to the cellular device in response to identifying the deployed container as invalid.