Abstract:
The present invention relates to a method of installing a device driver capable of driving a peripheral device installed in an slot of a PC after receiving the device driver from a server located in a global network. When a PC card device including a memory in which both a network address of a server providing the device&#39;s driver and information identifying the device driver have been stored is inserted into a slot, network address and the device driver identifying information is read from the memory. Using this information, a request of a download of the device driver from the server with reference to the read-out information is made. The PC then receives the device driver downloaded from the server, and executes the received device driver to enable the peripheral device. With this method, no floppy disk need be supplied with the driver and the URL information is continued in the device, eliminating installation and updating steps by the user.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0002]    The present invention relates to a device driver installing method, and more particularly, to a method of installing a device driver after downloading the device driver from a server located in a global network.  
           [0003]    2. Background of the Related Art  
           [0004]    [0004]FIG. 1 illustrates a simplified network system in which a plurality of PCs are connected to a server through a network. In the network system of FIG. 1, many PCs  1   a ,  1   b,    1   c, . .  . each have a network accessing card, such as LAN card, and are able to be connected to a server  5  which can provide a variety of information and programs over the network. The information and programs on the servers can be searched for easily and conveniently by a user through an application program such as a Web browser executed by the individual PC. In addition to such searches, other programs or information on the server can be downloaded to the PCs.  
           [0005]    As computer technology has matured, various peripheral devices for supporting additional and enhanced computer functions such as multimedia processing functions have been developed. Additionally, the functions of such peripheral devices are being constantly improved. Therefore, there frequently occurs a case that a device driver capable of driving a video or an audio chipset embedded in a peripheral device should be upgraded or updated in order to improve its function or to resolve unexpected errors in operation. For this reason, manufacturers of the peripheral devices usually maintain servers in order that users may obtain upgraded device drivers easily by downloading the necessary device driver from the server over a global network such as the Internet.  
           [0006]    When a user of a PC wants to install a peripheral device in his or her PC for the first time, he or she inserts the peripheral device card into an I/O slot equipped in the PC. After installation, the user places a floppy diskette or an optical disk provided by the manufacturer of the peripheral device, into a floppy disk drive or a CD-ROM drive of the PC. The user may then the install program step by step in accordance with installation instructions displayed through pop-up windows on the PC&#39;s monitor.  
           [0007]    Referring to FIG. 1, if a new device driver with improved functions or error fixes is to be installed in place of a previously installed driver, a user requests a download of the new device driver from the server  5 . The downloaded device driver can then be temporally stored on a hard disk or other storage device. The stored device driver is then installed into a kernel of O/S (Operating System) of the PC by the user in accordance with installation instructions displayed through pop-up windows on the PC&#39;s monitor.  
           [0008]    The related art method of updating drivers has various problems. For example, because the new device driver must be located on the network before it can be downloaded, a user must search the network for a sever providing a necessary or upgraded device driver. Because searching a network can be slow, a user can speed up the process by knowing the address such as the URL (Uniform Resource Locator) of the server in advance. However, it is unlikely that all users will know the address of the server.  
           [0009]    Another problem with driver download is that a user might install the wrong device driver for a peripheral device because users are not aware of the exact requirements of his or her installed hardware and cannot choose the appropriate device driver from the many stored on the server.  
           [0010]    In addition, a floppy diskette or an optical disk provided for installation of a device drive is not used after the first successful installation, therefore, resources are wasted, which unnecessarily increases expenses.  
           [0011]    The above references are incorporated by reference herein where appropriate for appropriate teachings of additional or alternative details, features and/or technical background.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0012]    An object of the invention is to substantially solve at least the above problems and/or disadvantages and to provide at least the advantages described hereinafter.  
           [0013]    Another object of the present invention is to provide a device driver installing method which automatically downloads a device drive suitable for a new peripheral device inserted into an I/O slot of a PC from a server connected to a network and conduct installation operations of the downloaded device driver.  
           [0014]    Another object of the present invention is to reduce the probability that a PC user will install the wrong device in a peripheral device.  
           [0015]    Another object of the present invention is to reduce the amount of wasted resources provided to a PC user in relation to a new peripheral device.  
           [0016]    In order to achieve at least the above objects in whole or in part, there is provided a method of installing a device driver in a computer, including the steps of checking whether or not a new device is inserted in an I/O bus of the computer, reading out from the new device information required to download a device driver for the new device if a new device is detected, requesting download of the device driver to a server having the device driver with reference to the read-out information, receiving the device driver downloaded from the server, and executing the received device driver to enable the new device.  
           [0017]    To further achieve at least the above objects in whole or in parts, there is provided a device to which a device driver installing method in accordance with the present invention is applicable including a memory in which both a network address of a server providing a device driver suitable for the device and information identifying the device driver have been stored.  
           [0018]    To further achieve at least the above objects in whole or in parts, there is provided a method of installing a device driver for a peripheral device, including reading out from a peripheral device information required to download a device driver for the peripheral device, requesting download of the device driver from a prescribed server having the peripheral device driver in accordance with the read-out information, receiving the device driver from the server, and executing the received device driver to enable the peripheral device.  
           [0019]    To further achieve at least the above objects in whole or in parts, there is provided a peripheral device to be inserted in an I/O slot of a personal computer, including a memory configured to store a network address of a server that provides a device driver suitable for the device and information identifying the device driver, wherein the peripheral device is configured to use a network address information identifying a device driver to select a proper driver from the server.  
           [0020]    To further achieve at least the above objects in whole or in parts, there is provided a method of enabling a newly installed peripheral on a device in communication with a network, including reading first prescribed information from the newly installed peripheral, locating a prescribed server on the communication network in accordance with the first prescribed information, downloading second prescribed information from the prescribed server, and enabling the newly installed peripheral in accordance with the second prescribed information.  
           [0021]    To further achieve at least the above objects in whole or in parts, there is provided a method of updating a driver of a peripheral installed on a device in communication with a network, including reading first prescribed information from the peripheral, locating a prescribed server on the communication network in accordance with the first prescribed information, downloading second prescribed information from the prescribed server, and updating the peripheral driver in accordance with the second prescribed information.  
           [0022]    To further achieve at least the above objects in whole or in parts, there is provided a peripheral configured to couple to a network device, including a memory to store network address and device driver information, and an interface to couple to a network device wherein the peripheral is configured to download a device driver from the network device.  
           [0023]    To further achieve at least the above objects in whole or in parts, there is provided a computer-readable medium encoded with executable instructions that can cause a client device with a newly installed peripheral device to perform functions including reading out from the newly installed peripheral device first prescribed information, locating a prescribed server on the network in accordance with the first prescribe information, downloading from the prescribed server second prescribed information, and enabling the newly installed peripheral device in accordance with the second prescribed information.  
           [0024]    To further achieve at least the above objects in whole or in parts, there is provided a peripheral device, including a non-volatile memory comprising computer executable code, which when executed by a computer will configure the computer to locate a prescribed server on a network and cause information to be downloaded from the prescribed server to the computer.  
           [0025]    Additional advantages, objects, and features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and in part will become apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned from practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of the invention may be realized and attained as particularly pointed out in the appended claims.  
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0026]    The invention will be described in detail with reference to the following drawings in which like reference numerals refer to like elements wherein:  
         [0027]    [0027]FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a network system in which a plurality of personal computers are connected to a server through a global network;  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a PC in which a device driver installing method in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention is embedded;  
         [0029]    [0029]FIGS. 3A and 3B are flow charts of a device driver installing method in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;  
         [0030]    [0030]FIG. 4 shows an example of URL information and device driver identifying information stored in a read-only memory of a hardware device supporting a device driver installing method according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention; and  
         [0031]    [0031]FIG. 5 is a flow chart of a device driver installing method drawn from the standpoint of an O/S of a PC according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       [0032]    A preferred embodiment of the invention includes a device driver download method which configures the PC into which the device is installed to download the device driver from a prescribed server over a global network.  
         [0033]    [0033]FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a PC in which a device driver installing method in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention is embedded. The PC of FIG. 2 preferably includes a CPU  10  conducting ordinary well-known operations and controlling overall functions of the PC. The CPU  10  is connected to a North Bridge  12  through a host bus  100 . The North Bridge  12  functions to both assist operations of the CPU  10  and control functions of a PCI (Peripheral Component Interconnect) bus  300 . The PC  10  also includes a video chipset  11  for processing video data and outputting the processed data for video presentation. The video chip set  11  is preferably connected to a AGP (Accelerator Graphics Port) bus  200  which is connected to the North Bridge  12 . A memory  13  for storing data and programs is also connected to the North Bridge  12 . An audio device  14  for processing audio data and sound is connected to the PCT bus  300 . Also connected to the PCT bus  300  is a network card  15  for interfacing the PC with the global network, a USB (Universal Serial Bus) controller  18  for communicating with a USB device  20  connected through a USB, and a South Bridge  16  for controlling a high storage capacity device such as a hard disk drive and managing an ISA bus. A hard disk drive  17  and a disk drive  19  for reading and/or writing data to and/or from a CD-ROM disk or a DVD-ROM disk is connected to the ISA bus  400 . A flash ROM  21 , and an I/O chipset  23  are connected to the ISA bus  400 . A microprocessor  22  for controlling I/O operations of devices such as a keyboard or mouse  24  is connected to the I/O chipset  23 .  
         [0034]    The North Bridge  12  is connected to the CPU  10  through a host bus  100  as shown in FIG. 2, and connects the AGP bus  200  to the video chipset  11 . The North Bridge  12  is also connected to the memory  13  and controls reading/writing operations from/to the memory  13 . The South Bridge  16  is connected to the North Bridge  12 , the audio device  14 , the network card  15 , and the USB controller  18 , through the PCI bus  300 . The South Bridge  16  is also connected to the flash ROM  21 , the microprocessor  22 , and the I/O chipset  23  through the ISA bus  400 .  
         [0035]    The PC configured as shown in FIG. 2 can preferably detect which devices are connected to the buses  200 ,  300 , and  400  through the North Bridge  12  and the South Bridge  16  when the system is booted or rebooted. Such device detection occurs when the system is booted or rebooted either by switching the power on or off or by a system reset. When the PC is booted or rebooted, it reads the respective device drivers suitable for each detected device from the hard disk drive  17  and executes them one by one. As a result, each detected device is initialized to an enabled state.  
         [0036]    During a boot or reboot, the CPU  10  carries out booting and POST process functions. While the PC is being booted or rebooted, if a device, for example, the audio device  14 , is detected for the first time on one of the buses, for example, on the PCI bus  300 , the CPU  10  conducts a device driver installation operation for the audio device  14  where the audio device  14  has not been registered in a Registry.  
         [0037]    The newly detected device, for example, the audio device  14 , has stored in its internal ROM either or both a device identifier or/and device driver identifier, and a global network address of a server. The server is preferably capable of providing a device driver compatible with the audio device  14 . The device driver is provided in accordance with a device driver installing method in accordance with the preferred embodiment.  
         [0038]    [0038]FIGS. 3A and 3B are flow charts showing an example of installing an audio device  14  in accordance with the preferred embodiment. Referring to FIGS. 2 and 3A, when the PC is booted or rebooted by cycling the power switch or by a system reset, the CPU  10  loads an O/S (Operating System), for example, Windows 98 through a booting process. After the O/S is loaded, a CM (Configuration Management) program included in the O/S calls a BE (Bus Enumerator) program (S 10 ) to check whether a new device has been installed on one of the buses.  
         [0039]    The BE program called by the O/S scans the PCI and the ISA bus (S 11 ) and reads the individual unique device IDs stored in the ROMs of all the detected devices. The BE program then returns the read device IDs to the CM program. After the CM program receives the IDs, the CM program checks whether a prescribed Registry written on the hard disk drive  17  has information matched with each of the returned (i.e., detected) device IDs (S 12 ).  
         [0040]    Upon boot or reboot, if there are no newly-installed devices, all device IDs returned from the BE program are matched with information in each Registry Entry (S 13 ). Therefore, the CM program can read each Registry Entry to determine the location of each device driver on the hard disk drive  17  or the file name of each device driver (S 15 ). For each device driver at the location pointed by the Registry Entry or with a recognized file name (S 15 ), the CM program loads the device driver into the memory  13  and executes it.  
         [0041]    If there is no a device driver at the location pointed by the Registry Entry, or there is no device driver matching a file name listed in a pre-specified system directory (S 15 - 1 ), the CM program proceeds to subroutine C in FIG. 3B which includes the steps of S 25 , S 26 , S 27  and S 24 . Subroutine C is a device driver installing procedure and uses information written in the ROM of a newly installed device to download the device driver.  
         [0042]    When the CM program executes subroutine C, the device installing routine reads either a device or device driver identifier and an Internet address of a prescribed server from a ROM of the newly-added audio device  14  (S 25 ). The prescribed server has a device driver of which the filename has been associated with the device or device driver identifier. For example, if the prescribed server is the server  5  in the global network system of FIG. 1, server  5  would have a device driver suitable for the audio device  14 . Thus, assuming that the URL indicating a directory of the suitable device driver on server  5  is “www.creative.com/drivers/,” and the device or device driver identifier is “m9060_driver.dll,” the URL and the identifier which are stored in the ROM of the audio device  14  would be “www.creative.com/drivers/” and “m9060_driver.dll,” respectively.  
         [0043]    The URL information of the prescribed server and the device or device driver identifier may be written in a field starting at the third byte and running to the N th  byte in ‘ANSI Identifier String Descriptor Format,’ as defined in the standard capable of supporting Plug &amp; Play as shown in FIG. 4. The information is written in text type and may be up to 64K bytes long.  
         [0044]    In the second step of subroutine C, the device installing routine requests download of the suitable device driver from server  5  (S 26 ) using the URL information and the device or device driver identifier retrieved from the ROM of the newly-added audio device  14 . Then, the PC( 1   a ) may download a file identified by the URL and the identifier, namely, “m9060_driver.dll.” When the download is received, the device installing routine being run in the PC stores the downloaded file temporarily on the hard disk drive  17 .  
         [0045]    After download is completed, the device installing routine copies the downloaded file from its temporary location on the hard disk drive  17  to a pre-specified system directory (S 27 ). The device installing routine also creates and writes a Registry Entry indicating the location the file is copied to or the filename of the copied file.  
         [0046]    For each device drivers referenced in the Registry Entry and loaded into the memory  13 , initializing codes are preferably executed (S 16 ). The initializing code uniquely allocates resources such as I/O address range and memory access range to a corresponding hardware device. The initializing code also writes information on the allocated resource into a register set of the hardware device. Additionally, the initializing code conducts an interrupt hooking (S 17 ). After the initializing codes are completely executed, the corresponding hardware device is enabled (S 18 ).  
         [0047]    According to the assumption that the audio device  14  is newly installed as shown in FIG. 2, the device IDs returned by the BE program are not matched one-to-one with the Registry Entries stored in the hard disk drive  17  (S 13 ). In this case, the CM program calls and executes a device installing subroutine illustrated subroutine as A in FIG. 3B as steps S 20 -S 24 .  
         [0048]    Subroutine A begins with a device installing routine included in the O/S (S 20 ). Next, the subroutine checks whether an “Inf” file used for installing the audio device  14  exists on the hard disk drive  17  (S 21 ).  
         [0049]    If the “Inf” file is found on the hard disk drive  17 , the device installing routine selects the proper device driver from among the device drivers included in the “Inf” file, and copies it to the pre-specified system directory (S 23 ). The device installing routine also creates a Registry Entry pointing to the location to which the chosen device driver is copied, and writes the created Registry Entry on the hard disk drive  17  (S 24 ). After the device installing routine has finished writing the created Registry Entry to the hard disk drive  17 , the subroutine is completed and it returns control to the CM program.  
         [0050]    After the Registry Entry referencing the newly installed device is created, the CM program is able to access the device driver written on the hard disk drive  17  with reference to the Registry Entry. Accordingly, the CM program loads the device driver suitable for the audio device  14  into the memory  13  and executes it. When the CM program executes the device driver, successive initializing operations (S 16 -S 18 ) enabling the audio device  14  are conducted to finish installation of the newly-added device.  
         [0051]    If the corresponding ‘Inf’ file for the audio device  14  is not found (S 22 ) on the hard disk drive  17  or a recording medium inserted in the disk drive  19 , subroutine C, described above, is executed.  
         [0052]    Once the device driver has been downloaded to the hard disk drive  17 , the CM program is able to access it with reference to the Registry Entry created and written as explained above. Accordingly, the CM program loads the device driver suitable for the audio device  14  into the memory  13  and executes it (S 15 ). When the device driver is executed, successive initializing operations (S 16 -S 18 ) enabling the audio device  14  are conducted to finish installation of the newly-added hardware.  
         [0053]    [0053]FIG. 5 is a flow chart of the above-explained hardware installation procedures redrawn from the standpoint of the O/S of the PC shown in FIG. 2. When a new PC card, such as a LAN, Modem, PC memory, audio device, etc., is inserted into an I/O slot of the PC (S 30 ), the O/S detects the presence of the new PC card. The new PC card can be detected through a PC card service which is a BIOS function for managing PC card slots (S 31 ). Next, the O/S receives information such as vendor, device ID, etc. about the inserted PC card from the PC card service (S 32 ). The O/S then searches the file system of the PC for a device driver matched with the received information (S 33 ).  
         [0054]    If the device driver is found in the PC&#39;s file system, the O/S installs the device driver in its kernel (S 35 ), and allocates the appropriate free resources such as interrupt address and I/O port addresses (S 36 ). The O/S also initializes the inserted hardware device (S 37 ) associated with the new PC card. As a result, the inserted PC card is enabled and its installation is completed (S 38 ).  
         [0055]    If the device driver is not found at step S 33 , the O/S preferably searches the nonvolatile memory of the inserted PC card for the URL information and device or device driver identifier and reads out them (S 40 ). After that, the O/S makes a connection to a web site referenced by the URL using the information from the PC card memory (S 41 ), and requests a download of the corresponding device driver from the web site (S 42 ). After the download is complete, the O/S returns to step S 33  to enable the inserted PC card by installing the downloaded device driver into the O/S&#39;s kernel. After the driver is installed into the O/S, the PC card and its device driver are completely installed.  
         [0056]    The peripheral device driver method of the preferred embodiment has many advantages. For example, when a new peripheral device is added to an I/O bus of a PC, device driver software can be installed without a floppy diskette, an optical disk, or other memory media holding a copy of the device driver.  
         [0057]    In addition, when a new version of a device driver, such as a version with upgrades and/or error fixes, for an installed hardware is needed, a user may delete the Registry information associated with the installed hardware or a device driver. Accordingly, if Registry information or old device driver is deleted, the above-explained device driver installing procedure is conducted. Thus, the CM program reads URL information and device or device driver identifier from a ROM of the installed hardware, obtains the device driver of the latest version using the read information, and installs the obtained device driver into O/S kernel without any commands from the operator. Therefore, if device drivers of the latest version have been stored in a server, a device driver for an installed hardware can be automatically updated without operator invention.  
         [0058]    Alternatively, if a ROM of an installed hardware device does not have information on the URL and device driver, the device installing routine conducts a conventional installation method. Conventional driver installation methods typically include a pop-up requesting a floppy diskette provided by the hardware vendor be inserted. After the floppy diskette is inserted, it is searched for the device driver to be installed.  
         [0059]    Moreover, using the device driver installing method of the present invention makes it unnecessary for the hardware manufacturer to provide an additional floppy diskette or other memory media containing the device driver. Also, by relying on this method, a user need not memorize the URL information of a server storing the necessary device driver and need not manually conduct a download operation from a server.  
         [0060]    The foregoing embodiments and advantages are merely exemplary and are not to be construed as limiting the present invention. The present teaching can be readily applied to other types of apparatuses. The description of the present invention is intended to be illustrative, and not to limit the scope of the claims. Many alternatives, modifications, and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art. In the claims, means-plus-function clauses are intended to cover the structures described herein as performing the recited function and not only structural equivalents but also equivalent structures.