Firmware Update Discovery and Distribution

摘要

A firmware update system is described that collectively handles firmware updates for hardware resources of a computing device. The firmware update system may be configured to handle firmware updates in a consistent manner across different computing platforms/architectures. A data structure is defined to associate each updateable resource with a corresponding identifier to enumerate the updateable resources to the firmware update system. The firmware update system may reference the data structure to produce representations of the each individual resource that provide an operating system level abstraction through which detection, analysis, acquisition, deployment, installation, and tracking of firmware updates is managed. Using the representations, the firmware update system operates to discover available firmware updates collectively for the enumerated resources, match the updates to appropriate resources, and initiate installation of the updates.

主权项

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:
instantiating a data structure configured to designate a plurality of resources of a computing device for which updates to firmware are handled collectively through an operating system; generating identifiers for each of the plurality of resources that are designated; populating the data structure with entries for each of the plurality of resources that include the identifiers, including a field to identify a system firmware type and a device firmware type using different identifying type codes included in the field; and exposing the data structure to the operating system to enable collective handling of the updates to firmware through device management functionality provided by the operating system collectively with management of updates to device drivers.