Patent ID: 8107945

Claim:
A method of wireless remote recovery for a wireless device, the method comprising steps of: detecting, by either a programmable controller controlling operations of the wireless device or manual intervention, a potentially unrecoverable programming error during execution of a primary executable program causing a failure of normal communications through a wireless network serving the wireless device; verifying availability of the network for communications by the wireless device; responsive to the detected programming error and verified availability of the network, changing execution of programming by the programmable controller, from execution of the primary program over to execution of a backup executable program, wherein the backup program provides sufficient functionality to enable communications by the wireless device through the wireless network; under control of the backup program, initiating communication with a recovery server, over the air through the wireless network; receiving programming from the recovery server via the communication through the wireless network, the received programming including a replacement version for at least a portion of the primary program; correcting the primary program in storage in the wireless device by replacing the portion of the primary program with the received replacement version, to correct the programming error; and resuming normal operation of the wireless device by resuming execution by the programmable controller using the corrected primary program from storage in the wireless device.