Partial OTA Firmware Updating with Segmented Delta Compression
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional over-the-air (OTA) firmware updates for IoT devices often result in large delta files due to inefficient comparison methods, leading to increased power consumption and communication bandwidth usage, especially in devices with limited resources.
Innovation Solution
The proposed method involves generating an intermediate firmware update by receiving delta files to create an uncompressed and compressed segment, applying these updates to baseline firmware, and then generating a final updated firmware, which reduces the size of the delta files transmitted, thereby minimizing power consumption and bandwidth usage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional delta file generation is used to update firmware OTA, then the firmware can be updated, but the delta file size becomes large, increasing power consumption and bandwidth usage
Solution Approach 1:
The firmware image is divided into multiple segments, and the comparison process is segmented to generate smaller delta files for each segment rather than generating one large delta file for the entire firmware. This segmentation reduces the amount of data that needs to be transmitted and processed at once, thereby reducing power consumption and bandwidth usage while maintaining firmware update capability.
2Reliability
If conventional delta file generation is used to update firmware OTA, then the firmware can be updated, but the delta file size becomes large, increasing communication bandwidth usage
Solution Approach 1:
The firmware comparison and update process is segmented into multiple smaller operations. Instead of comparing entire firmware images and generating a single large delta file, the system divides the firmware into segments, compares corresponding segments, and generates smaller delta files for each segment. This reduces the total quantity of data transmitted over the communication channel.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts only the necessary changed portions from the firmware comparison process. By using segmentation and comparing only relevant segments rather than the entire firmware image, the system extracts minimal necessary data for the delta file, reducing communication bandwidth usage while maintaining complete firmware update capability.
3Reliability
If the entire firmware image is transmitted for OTA updates, then complete firmware updating is achieved, but the transmission size is large, consuming more power and bandwidth
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of transmitting the entire firmware image, the patent extracts and transmits only the delta portions representing the changes between firmware versions. This is achieved through segmented comparison that identifies and extracts only the modified segments, significantly reducing transmission data size while ensuring complete firmware update capability through subsequent application of these extracted delta files.
Data Source
AI summary
Embodiments of the present disclosure include systems and methods for efficient over-the-air updating of firmware having compressed and uncompressed segments. The method includes receiving a first update to the firmware via a radio, wherein the first update includes a first uncompressed segment and a first compressed segment, receiving a second update to the firmware, wherein the second update corresponds to the first compressed segment, compressing the second update to generate a compressed second update, applying the first update to the firmware, and applying the compressed second update to the firmware to generate an updated firmware.