Abstract:
The present invention relates to a method of updating an operating system image of a portable information device, wherein the portable information device comprises a burn program for burning a new operating system image to a memory of the portable information device. The method first detects size of the new operating system image saved in an external device; then checks if an available capacity of the memory is sufficient for the new operating system image; if the available capacity is sufficient, proceeding to a subsequent step; further, it downloads the new operating system image from the external device; and finally starts the burn program to burn the external new operating system image to the memory.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0002]    The present invention relates to a method of updating an operation system and, more particularly, to a method of updating an operation system for a portable information device.  
           [0003]    2. Description of Related Art  
           [0004]    A prior art operation system applied in a portable information device is manufactured by directly burning an operation system image in a memory during a manufacturing process. For example, a Windows CE operation system is burned in a 32MB flash memory.  
           [0005]    However, since the prior art operation system of the portable information device is done, its content will not be modified. Therefore, if the operation system has bugs or needs to be updated, a user must remove a housing of the portable information device to take out the memory and re-burn memory to update the operation system. It is very inconvenient for the user, because the user has to repeat the above-mentioned steps, which may damage the internal parts in the portable information device and waste a lot of time.  
           [0006]    Therefore, it is desirable to provide an improved method of updating an operation system to mitigate and/or obviate the aforementioned problems.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0007]    The object of the present invention is to provide a method of updating an operation system, which makes the updating process easier.  
           [0008]    Another object of the present invention is to provide which can reduce developing cost and maintaining cost of the manufacturer.  
           [0009]    In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the method of updating an operation system applied in a portable information device wherein the portable information device comprises a burn program for burning a new operation system image to a memory of the portable information device. The method comprising following steps:  
           [0010]    (A) detecting size of the new operation system image saved in an external device;  
           [0011]    (B) checking if a valuable capacity of the memory is enough for the new operation system image; if it is enough, continuous a subsequent step;  
           [0012]    (C) downloading the new operation system image from the external device; and  
           [0013]    (D) starting the burn program to burn the external new operation system image to the memory to be updated.  
           [0014]    The execution steps can be performed by a software program, so the method of the invention can be written as a computer langue into a computer readable record medium. The computer readable record medium can be an IC chip, hard disk, optical disk or other product, but a RAM memory is preferred.  
           [0015]    Other objects, advantages, and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0016]    [0016]FIG. 1 illustrates an environment schematic drawing of the present invention.  
         [0017]    [0017]FIG. 2 is a function block drawing of an embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0018]    [0018]FIG. 3 is a flow chart of a first embodiment of the invention.  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 4 is a flow chart of a second embodiment of the invention.  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 5 is a flow chart of a third embodiment of the invention. 
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0021]    Please refer to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 illustrates an environment schematic drawing of the present invention. A portable information device  1  of this embodiment is a WebPAD  10 ; however, the portable information device  1  may also be a tablet PC, PDA, pocket PC or other similar information device. The WebPAD  10  utilizes a Windows CE.NET operating system burned into a non-volatile memory  15 .  
         [0022]    Please refer to FIG. 2. FIG. 2 is a function block drawing of an embodiment of the present invention. The WebPAD  10  contains a CF card  11 , a network link module  12 , a microprocessor  13 , a dynamic random access memory (DRAM)  14  and the non-volatile memory  15 , all of which are connected to a bus  101 . Furthermore, the CF card  11  is inserted in a slot (not shown) of the WebPAD  10 . The network link module  12  may be a wired connection, such as Ethernet, or a wireless connection, such as a WIFI network. The dynamic random access memory (DRAM)  14  may be a synchronic dynamic random access memory (SDRAM) or a double data rate (DDR) RAM. The non-volatile memory  15  is a flash memory. In order to update the operating system in the WebPAD  10  by way of an external device, the present invention provides three embodiments, any of which a user may select. In a first embodiment, the CF card  11 , which is inserted in the WebPAD  10 , performs the updating process; in a second embodiment, the portable information device  1  utilizes a UPNP communications protocol to automatically search a remote computer  20 ; in a third embodiment, the portable information device  1  utilizes the Windows Network protocol to connect to the remote computer  20 . These embodiments are detailed in the following.  
         [0023]    The First Embodiment:  
         [0024]    Please refer to FIG. 3. In this embodiment, the user utilizes the CF card  11  to perform the updating process (step S 301 ). The microprocessor  13  first checks to determine if the CF card  11  is inserted in the slot of the WebPAD  10 , and then insures that a new operating system image is stored in the CF card  11  (step S 302 ). The microprocessor  13  then detects if the non-volatile memory  15  has sufficient capacity to support the new operating system image (step S 303 ); if the available memory is sufficient, the non-volatile memory  15  is considered capable of undergoing the updating process. Next, the microprocessor  13  determines if the WebPAD  10  has enough power to perform the updating process without interruption (step S 304 ). The microprocessor  13  initiates a burn program to burn the external new operating system image into the non-volatile memory  15  (step S 305 ), and reboots the WebPAD  10  to load the new operating system image into the WebPAD  10  (step S 306 ) to complete the updating process.  
         [0025]    The Second Embodiment:  
         [0026]    Please refer to FIG. 4. FIG. 4 is a flow chart of a second embodiment of the present invention. In the second embodiment, the user utilizes a network to automatically search a remote computer  20  that will provide the new operating system image (step S 401 ). The WebPAD  10  utilizes a UPNP (universal plug and play) control point function of a UPNP communications protocol to automatically search the remote computer  20  to provide the new operating system image. Since there may be more than one remote computer  20  providing the new operating system image in one domain, when a plurality of remote computers  20  are found (step S 402 ), the user may select one remote computer  20  to perform the updating process (step S 403 ). When the WebPAD  10  and the selected remote computer  20  establish a network connection (step S 404 ), the remote computer  20  initiates a callback program to transmit the new operating system image to the WebPAD  10  to determine if this new operating system image is an acceptable operating system image for the WebPAD  10  (step S 405 ).  
         [0027]    The microprocessor  13  determines if the dynamic random access memory (DRAM)  14  has enough storage space to download the new operating system image (step S 406 ); if the DRAM  14  memory is sufficient, the new operating system image is downloaded (step S 407 ); the microprocessor  13  then determines if the non-volatile memory  15  has enough storage space to perform the updating process (step S 408 ); finally, the microprocessor  13  ensures that the WebPAD  10  has enough power to perform the updating process (step S 409 ). The microprocessor  13  starts the burn program to burn the new operating system image, which is temporarily stored in the dynamic random access memory (DRAM)  14 , into the non-volatile memory  15  (step S 410 ), and then reboots the WebPAD  10  to load the updated operating system into the WebPAD  10  (step S 411 ) to finish the updating process.  
         [0028]    The Third Embodiment:  
         [0029]    Please refer to FIG. 5. FIG. 5 is a flow chart of a third embodiment of the present invention. The third embodiment is similar to the second embodiment, except that the user selects the remote computer  20  that will provide the new operating system image, and this must be manually set up via the network (step S 501 ). The user sets a UNC (universal naming convention) name, a user account, a user password and a domain name to provide link information (step S 502 ), and connects to a specified host having the new operating system image by way of the Windows Network protocol (step S 503 ). The subsequent steps S 504  to S 509  are identical to the previously described steps S 406  to S 411 , and so no more description is required.  
         [0030]    It is preferred that the above-mentioned embodiments be performed without any power management settings, so as to insure that the updating process will not confuse the user by causing the portable information device  1  to enter into a suspend mode, or screen blanking mode. Furthermore, the portable information device  1  prohibits the user from starting other programs, such as by providing the updating program within a system modal dialog box, to insure that the updating procedure is totally completed.  
         [0031]    The method of updating an operating system of the present invention can enable the portable information device  1  to update its operating system from different sources to satisfy different user requirements. Therefore, the user can easily upgrade the operating system to provide a most up-to-date system, without excessive overhead for the manufacturer. Furthermore, the present invention does not require disassembly of the portable information device  1  to perform the updating procedure.  
         [0032]    The above-mentioned steps can be written as a software program in any suitable computer language, and be compiled or assembled for execution. The software program can be stored on any recording media that can be recognized and decoded by a processing unit, or any product comprising such a recording media. The recording media can be a hard disk, a floppy disk, an optical disk, a ZIP disk, an MO, an IC chip, RAM, or any other known product. As all of the detailed steps are completely described, there is no need for further explanation.  
         [0033]    The invention has been described using exemplary preferred embodiments. However, for those skilled in this field the preferred embodiments can be easily adapted and modified to suit additional applications without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention. Thus, it is to be understood that the scope of the invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiments. On the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and similar arrangements based upon the same operating principle. The scope of the claims, therefore, should be accorded the broadest interpretations so as to encompass all such modifications and similar arrangements.  
         [0034]    Although the present invention has been explained in relation to its preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that many other possible modifications and variations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.