Patent ID: 7246266

Claim:
A network connection device comprising: a network connection interface for communicatively connecting the network connection device to a host; firmware integrity checker capable of testing the integrity of network connection device firmware stored in a semi-permanent memory and generating a firmware fault signal if the firmware is found to be corrupt; firmware update unit capable of receiving a replacement network connection device firmware image from a local host and storing said image into the semi-permanent memory when it receives an active firmware fault signal and wherein the firmware update unit includes a network interrogation unit capable of searching for a firmware update server communicatively connected to the network connection device by way of the network connection interface; execution unit capable of executing the firmware stored in the semi-permanent memory if the firmware fault signal is not active; and a computer readable medium accessible by the host having imparted thereon an instruction sequence that, when executed by the host, minimally causes the host to store a replacement firmware image on the host.