The present invention relates to computing, and more particularly to downloading data to devices with little or no secondary memory.
Many electronic devices have been created that reduce the cost of goods by not storing an operating system, or by storing a partial, or minimalist operating system locally. Such systems may instead store a small program that downloads an operating system over a network. This occurs every time the device is powered up.
For example, diskless personal computer (“PC”) is defined as a computer without any local storage media, i.e., no floppy or hard drive. Normally a diskless PC uses a Local Area Network, or LAN-based boot server to provide the operating system from which the diskless PC can boot. A diskless PC also may use a network adapter interface and boot Read Only Memory (“ROM”) (also known as boot PROM) to communicate with the boot server. The process of booting a diskless PC or terminal is known as remote booting or network booting (LAN boot).
Another example is the “Bobsled,” a low cost remote playback device for audio and video created by MICROSOFT®. The bobsled extends the capabilities of the Windows Media Center Edition (“MCE”) throughout the house. As a low cost device, Bobsled cannot afford to keep its operating system in local storage (both flash memory and disk memory are too expensive). Since it is on a network, however, it has the luxury of being able to download its operating system from the MCE, which functions as a server for the Bobsled.
Devices such as the diskless personal computer and the Bobsled usually follow the Bootstrap Protocol (“BOOTP”) process to obtain their operating system when powered up. The BOOTP process involves first using Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol DHCP”) to get an IP address, then using the Address Resolution protocol (“ARP”) to verify that no other device is using the IP address, and finally using the Trivial File Transfer Protocol (“TFTP”) to download an operating system.
DHCP is a communications protocol that lets network administrators manage centrally and automate the assignment of Internet Protocol (IP) addresses in an organization's (or home user) network. Using the Internet Protocol, each machine that can connect to the Internet or intranet generally requires a unique IP address. When an organization sets up its computer users with a connection to the Internet or intranet, an IP address is typically assigned to each machine. Without DHCP, the IP address would be entered manually at each computer. DHCP lets a network administrator supervise and distribute IP addresses from a central point and can automatically send a new IP address when a computer is plugged into a different place in the network.
ARP is a protocol for mapping an IP address to a physical machine address that is recognized in the local network. For example, in IP Version 4, the most common level of IP in use today, an address is 32 bits long. In an Ethernet local area network, however, addresses for attached devices are 48 bits long. (The physical machine address is also known as a Media Access Control or MAC address.) A table, usually called the ARP cache, is used to maintain a correlation between each MAC address and its corresponding IP address. ARP provides the protocol rules for making this correlation and providing address conversion in both directions. This can be used to guarantee that one and only one device is assigned a particular IP address.
For example, when ARP is used, an incoming packet destined for a host machine on a particular local area network arrives at a gateway. The gateway asks the ARP program to find a physical host or MAC address that matches the IP address. The ARP program looks in the ARP cache and, if it finds the address, provides it so that the packet can be converted to the right packet length and format and sent to the machine. If no entry is found for the IP address, ARP broadcasts a request packet in a special format to all the machines on the LAN to see if one machine knows that it has that IP address associated with it. A machine that recognizes the IP address as its own returns a reply so indicating. ARP updates the ARP cache for future reference and then sends the packet to the MAC address that replied.
The last step of the BOOTP process is the actual transfer of data from the server to the target device. To accomplish this task, a protocol is necessary for the orderly transfer of the data. A protocol, in general, provides a routine for the devices to follow when communicating with each other, and also provides a routine that will be employed when, for any reason, a failure occurs. There are, theoretically, many possible protocols that could be established to facilitate the orderly transfer of information between the two devices. In practice, the protocol that is typically used for such downloading is TFTP. TFTP is an Internet Engineering Task Force(“IETF”) standard. This protocol provides for transfer of data in discrete “packets.” The process employed by TFTP to transfer data packets from the server device to the target device is illustrated in
Referring to
A data download protocol, such as TFTP, should have a routine in place for the inevitable situation in which data is not successfully transferred from the server to the device. As illustrated in
The use of TFTP as a data download protocol has at least one major drawback: it is slow. By establishing a protocol in which the server waits for an acknowledgement from the device prior to sending the next data packet, TFTP does not allow the server and device to operate simultaneously. Also, the acknowledgement of each and every data packet by the device takes extra time. To elaborate, consider the fact that every action taken by the device and the server absorbs some small amount of time. First, the device sends the acknowledgement packet. Then the network transmits it to the server. Then the server recognizes the packet. Then the server may send it to the appropriate subroutine within the server for processing. Then the server generates a response. Then the server transmits the response, and so on. By engaging this process for every data packet, TFTP absorbs a great deal of extra time in data transmissions.
Another reason TFTP takes additional time is the way in which it deals with transmission failures. Discovery of failures through a time-out procedure absorbs additional time in the download when the server and device could otherwise be actively working on a remedy for the transmission failure.
Download time becomes an important issue when substantial amounts of data are transmitted. This is true, for example, in the case of the Bobsled. The Bobsled's operating system is quite large, approximately 8 megabytes. On 100 megabit-per-second wired networks (e.g., 100 baseT), an operating system download to the Bobsled using TFTP may take around 10 seconds. On a 10 megabit-per-second wired network (e.g., 10 baseT), an operating system download to the Bobsled using TFTP may take around 24 seconds.
Another drawback of TFTP is the way in which communications are established between the device and the server. Referring again to
The present invention provides a method and system for downloading data from one device to another. Herein, the device that includes the data to be downloaded, when referred to alone, is called the server. The device that receives the data is called the device. When referred to collectively, they are called “the devices.” The present invention provides systems and methods for using data packets that are exchanged by the server and the device. Some packets may not contain data for download, but rather may be for the purpose of communications between the devices.
In various non-limiting exemplary embodiments, device discovery and server selection processes in accordance with the invention proceed as follows. First, the device broadcasts a discovery packet that informs servers on a network that the device requests a data download. Then, available server(s) on the network can send an offer packet to the device, informing the device that the server(s) are prepared to download data to the device. Next, an offer is selected from the offer packet(s), e.g., the device chooses an offer and sends a start packet to the chosen server to request download initiation. Upon receipt of the start packet, the chosen server begins downloading data to the device.
In various non-limiting exemplary embodiments, data to be downloaded from the server is divided into packets that are identifiably ordered, e.g., numbered sequentially. The server may send a selected limit of data packets to the device before it will stop and wait for an acknowledgement from the device. Upon receiving an acknowledgement, the server may again send up to the limit of data packets to the device before again waiting for acknowledgement.
In one embodiment of the invention, the device sends acknowledgements to the server before the device has received the number of packets that the server is permitted to send. For example, if the server is permitted to send a limit of 8 packets (prior to receipt of an acknowledgement), the device may send an acknowledgement every 4 packets. In this way, the device and the server may operate simultaneously, which shortens download time.
Upon receipt of the last data packet in the sequence, the device sends a stop packet to the server, and the server returns to idle. The data download is complete.
This invention provides an improved protocol for downloading data from one device to another. In one embodiment, the present invention is used in conjunction with additional processes described herein to improve the download of operating systems to “reduced cost” devices, i.e., devices that lack sufficient local disk memory to store their own operating system. Certain specific details are set forth in the following description and figures to provide a thorough understanding of various embodiments of the invention. Certain well-known details often associated with data downloads and/or networked computing environments are not set forth in the following disclosure, however, to avoid unnecessarily obscuring the various embodiments of the invention. Further, those of ordinary skill in the relevant art will understand that they can practice other embodiments of the invention without several of the details described below.
When used in conjunction with the BOOTP process for downloading an operating system to a reduced cost device, the present invention provides a protocol that can replace TFTP. In other words, the present invention can be substituted for TFTP as the last step of the BOOTP process. As explained in the background section the BOOTP process usually involves three steps: first using DHCP to get an IP address, then using ARP to verify that no other device is using the IP address, and finally using TFTP to download an operating system. The present invention provides a tool to replace TFTP in this three-step process. For purposes of this description, the present invention will be called the Network Program Loader protocol (“NPL”). When used in conjunction with the BOOTP process, the steps for downloading an operating system include using DHCP to get an IP address, using ARP to verify that no other device is using the IP address, and using NPL to download an operating system.
With reference to
Computer 110 typically includes a variety of computer readable media. Computer readable media can be any available media that can be accessed by computer 110 and includes both volatile and nonvolatile media, removable and non-removable media. By way of example, and not limitation, computer readable media may comprise computer storage media and communication media. Computer storage media includes both volatile and nonvolatile, removable and non-removable media implemented in any method or technology for storage of information such as computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data. Computer storage media includes, but is not limited to, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology, CDROM, digital versatile disks (DVD) or other optical disk storage, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium which can be used to store the desired information and which can be accessed by computer 110. Communication media typically embodies computer readable instructions, data structures, program modules or other data in a modulated data signal such as a carrier wave or other transport mechanism and includes any information delivery media. The term “modulated data signal” means a signal that has one or more of its characteristics set or changed in such a manner as to encode information in the signal. By way of example, and not limitation, communication media includes wired media such as a wired network or direct-wired connection, and wireless media such as acoustic, RF, infrared and other wireless media. Combinations of any of the above should also be included within the scope of computer readable media.
The system memory 130 includes computer storage media in the form of volatile and/or nonvolatile memory such as read only memory (ROM) 131 and random access memory (RAM) 132. A basic input/output system 133 (BIOS), containing the basic routines that help to transfer information between elements within computer 110, such as during start-up, is typically stored in ROM 131. RAM 132 typically contains data and/or program modules that are immediately accessible to and/or presently being operated on by processing unit 120. By way of example, and not limitation,
The computer 110 may also include other removable/non-removable, volatile/nonvolatile computer storage media. By way of example only,
The drives and their associated computer storage media discussed above and illustrated in
Although not required, the invention can be implemented via an operating system, for use by a developer of services for a device or object, and/or included within application software that operates in connection with the data download techniques of the invention. Software may be described in the general context of computer-executable instructions, such as program modules, being executed by one or more computers, such as client workstations, servers or other devices. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, objects, components, data structures and the like that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. Typically, the functionality of the program modules may be combined or distributed as desired in various embodiments. Moreover, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the invention may be practiced with other computer system configurations and protocols. Other well known computing systems, environments, and/or configurations that may be suitable for use with the invention include, but are not limited to, personal computers (PCs), automated teller machines, server computers, hand-held or laptop devices, multi-processor systems, microprocessor-based systems, programmable consumer electronics, network PCs, appliances, lights, environmental control elements, minicomputers, mainframe computers and the like. The invention may also be practiced in distributed computing environments where tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a communications network/bus or other data transmission medium. In a distributed computing environment, program modules may be located in both local and remote computer storage media including memory storage devices, and client nodes may in turn behave as server nodes.
The present invention may also be applied internally to standalone computing devices, having programming language functionality, interpretation and execution capabilities for generating, receiving and transmitting information in connection with remote or local services. NPL is particularly relevant to those computing devices operating in a network environment, and thus the data download techniques in accordance with the present invention can be applied with great efficacy in those environments.
The computer 110 may operate in a networked or distributed environment using logical connections to one or more remote computers, such as a remote computer 180. The remote computer 180 may be a personal computer, a server, a router, a network PC, a peer device or other common network node, and typically includes many or all of the elements described above relative to the computer 110, although only a memory storage device 181 has been illustrated in
When used in a LAN networking environment, the computer 110 is connected to the LAN 171 through a network interface or adapter 170. When used in a WAN networking environment, the computer 110 typically includes a modem 172 or other means for establishing communications over the WAN 173, such as the Internet. The modem 172, which may be internal or external, may be connected to the system bus 121 via the user input interface 160, or other appropriate mechanism. In a networked environment, program modules depicted relative to the computer 110, or portions thereof, may be stored in the remote memory storage device. By way of example, and not limitation,
It can also be appreciated that an object, such as 110c, may be hosted on another computing device 10a, 10b, etc. or 110a, 110b, etc. Thus, although the physical environment depicted may show the connected devices as computers, such illustration is merely exemplary and the physical environment may alternatively be depicted or described comprising various digital devices such as PDAs, televisions, MP3 players, etc., software objects such as interfaces, COM objects and the like.
There are a variety of systems, components, and network configurations that support distributed computing environments. For example, computing systems may be connected together by wired or wireless systems, by local networks or widely distributed networks. Currently, many of the networks are coupled to the Internet, which provides an infrastructure for widely distributed computing and encompasses many different networks. Any of the infrastructures may be used for exemplary communications made incident to data downloads according to the present invention.
In home networking environments, there are at least four disparate network transport media that may each support a unique protocol, such as Power line, data (both wireless and wired), voice (e.g., telephone) and entertainment media. Most home control devices such as light switches and appliances may use power lines for connectivity. Data Services may enter the home as broadband (e.g., either DSL or Cable modem) and are accessible within the home using either wireless (e.g., HomeRF or 802.11 B) or wired (e.g., Home PNA, Cat 5, Ethernet, even power line) connectivity. Voice traffic may enter the home either as wired (e.g., Cat 3) or wireless (e.g., cell phones) and may be distributed within the home using Cat 3 wiring. Entertainment media, or other graphical data, may enter the home either through satellite or cable and is typically distributed in the home using coaxial cable. IEEE 1394 and DVI are also digital interconnects for clusters of media devices. All of these network environments and others that may emerge as protocol standards may be interconnected to form a network, such as an intranet, that may be connected to the outside world by way of the Internet. In short, a variety of disparate sources exist for the storage and transmission of data, and consequently, moving forward, computing devices will require ways of sharing data, such as data accessed or utilized incident to program objects, which make use of NPL in accordance with the present invention.
Thus, the network infrastructure enables a host of network topologies such as client/server, peer-to-peer, or hybrid architectures. The “client” is a member of a class or group that uses the services of another class or group to which it is not related. Thus, in computing, a client is a process, i.e., roughly a set of instructions or tasks, that requests a service provided by another program. In
A server is typically a remote computer system accessible over a remote or local network, such as the Internet or an intranet. Indeed, increasingly American families possess more than one computing device in their homes which may be networked according to a client/server architecture. The client process may be active in a first computer system, and the server process may be active in a second computer system, communicating with one another over a communications medium, thus providing distributed functionality and allowing multiple clients to take advantage of the information-gathering capabilities of the server.
Client(s) and server(s) communicate with one another utilizing the functionality provided by protocol layer(s). One such protocol layer is the NPL disclosed in this description. Other protocols are, for example, HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP), a common protocol that is used in conjunction with the World Wide Web (WWW), or “the Web.” Typically, a computer network address such as an Internet Protocol (IP) address or other reference such as a Universal Resource Locator (URL) can be used to identify the server or client computers to each other. The network address can be referred to as a URL address. Communication can be provided over a communications medium, e.g., client(s) and server(s) may be coupled to one another via TCP/IP connection(s) for high-capacity communication.
Thus,
The various techniques described herein may be implemented in connection with hardware or software or, where appropriate, with a combination of both. Thus, the methods and apparatus of the present invention, or certain aspects or portions thereof, may take the form of program code (i.e., instructions) embodied in tangible media, such as floppy diskettes, CD-ROMs, hard drives, or any other machine-readable storage medium, wherein, when the program code is loaded into and executed by a machine, such as a computer, the machine becomes an apparatus for practicing the invention. In the case of program code execution on programmable computers, the computing device generally includes a processor, a storage medium readable by the processor (including volatile and non-volatile memory and/or storage elements), at least one input device, and at least one output device. One or more programs that may implement or utilize the data download techniques of the present invention, e.g., through the use of a data processing API, reusable controls, or the like, are preferably implemented in a high level procedural or object oriented programming language to communicate with a computer system. However, the program(s) can be implemented in assembly or machine language, if desired. In any case, the language may be a compiled or interpreted language, and combined with hardware implementations.
The methods and apparatus of the present invention may also be practiced via communications embodied in the form of program code that is transmitted over some transmission medium, such as over electrical wiring or cabling, through fiber optics, or via any other form of transmission, wherein, when the program code is received and loaded into and executed by a machine, such as an EPROM, a gate array, a programmable logic device (PLD), a client computer, etc., the machine becomes an apparatus for practicing the invention. When implemented on a general-purpose processor, the program code combines with the processor to provide a unique apparatus that operates to invoke the functionality of the present invention. Additionally, any storage techniques used in connection with the present invention may invariably be a combination of hardware and software.
While the present invention has been described in connection with the preferred embodiments of the various figures, it is to be understood that other similar embodiments may be used or modifications and additions may be made to the described embodiment for performing the same function of the present invention without deviating therefrom. For example, while exemplary network environments of the invention are described in the context of a networked environment, such as a peer to peer networked environment, one skilled in the art will recognize that the present invention is not limited thereto, and that the methods, as described in the present application may apply to any computing device or environment, such as a gaming console, handheld computer, portable computer, etc., whether wired or wireless, and may be applied to any number of such computing devices connected via a communications network, and interacting across the network. Furthermore, it should be emphasized that a variety of computer platforms, including handheld device operating systems and other application specific operating systems are contemplated, especially as the number of wireless networked devices continues to proliferate.
While exemplary embodiments refer to utilizing the present invention in the context of a single server downloading data to a reduced cost device, the invention is not so limited, but rather may be implemented to provide data downloads from any computing device to any other computing device, as those terms are described herein. Still further, the present invention may be implemented in or across a plurality of processing chips or devices, and storage may similarly be effected across a plurality of devices. Therefore, the present invention should not be limited to any single embodiment, but rather should be construed in breadth and scope in accordance with the appended claims.
The present invention, referred to as NPL, provides a technique for transferring data from one device to another over a network. To that end, the present invention utilizes sequentially identified discrete data “packets,” similar to the packets used by TFTP. Those skilled in the art will recognize that the size of the data packets may vary. The present invention is not limited to any one particular size of data packets, and it is expected that data packets of various sizes will be used in accordance with the present invention.
As will soon be described, the present invention involves transfer of data packets that fit various descriptions. For example, there are OFFER packets, ACK packets, DATA packets, etc. These packets generally contain data that, when received at either the server or the device, is capable of transmitting to the recipient a message that generally corresponds to the common meaning of the word identified in the name of the data packet. Thus, the OFFER packet is capable of making known to the device that the server is prepared to download data. The ACK packet is capable of informing the server (“acknowledging”) that packets through a certain sequence identifier were successfully received. In practice, these messages are typically not in plain English, but rather carry some piece of information that is used by the receiving device in such a way that the effect is to “offer” or “acknowledge” or “transmit data,” etc. There are many ways to configure devices such that the effect of a piece of data is to “offer,” “acknowledge,” etc., and those skilled in the art will recognize that the present invention is not limited to one particular method of doing so.
The packets described above are generally arranged in sequence to facilitate their orderly transfer from one device to another. While a sequence of data packets is employed by this invention, it should be stressed that the particular method of providing a sequence identifier for the data packets may be easily varied and adapted to the needs of a particular system. For example, some methods might use numbers as identifiers and begin at zero. Others may begin at 50, 100, or some other integer or decimal value. Letters may also be used as identifiers. A sequence may be linear, e.g., 1, 2, 3, etc. or it may proceed according to some function such as 1, 4, 7, 10, 13, etc. or 0, 1, 4, 5, 8, 9, 12, 13, 16, 17, etc. While for ease of description the sequence identifier may be called a number and in may be assumed that the sequence is simply a linear count, the invention is not so limited.
Returning to
First, the device is turned on, Box 301. Next, the device broadcasts a discovery packet, Box 302. The device does this by sending a request to a broadcast address on the network (not shown here) which the device is in communication with. The discovery packet is then available to the network, and servers on the network will discover that the device has been turned on and has requested communication. Any available server can unicast an offer packet to the device, Box 303, which informs the device that the server is prepared to download data to the device. Offer packets may also provide the total number of packets in the download, Box 303. A server unicasts an offer packet by sending it to a unicast address on the network. The device may choose any of the incoming offer packets. The choice may be optimized by choosing the first offer packet that arrives, or by using other criteria to best choose which offer packet to respond to. In any case, the device picks an offer and unicasts a start packet to the chosen server, Box 4. At this point, the device and the server are in communication with each other and are proceeding with the download of data.
The download process occurs in Box 305-Box 308. In comparison with the TFTP download process of
Recall from the Background section that on 100 megabit-per-second wired networks (e.g., 100 baseT), an operating system download of 8 megabytes using TFTP may take around 10 seconds. On a 10 megabit-per-second wired network (e.g., 10 baseT), the same download using TFTP may take around 24 seconds. By substituting NPL for TFTP, the operating system download times may be increased to 1 second and 8 seconds, respectively. In tests of the invention, efficiency gains have been even greater when the communication path runs across store and forward devices, such as switches and routers.
Instead of the one packet/one acknowledgement protocol used by TFTP and illustrated in
From the perspective of the device, it begins receiving packets after unicasting its start packet, Box 304. After receiving some number of packets less than the amount of packets sent out by the server, the device may send an acknowledgment, Box 306. The interval at which the device sends acknowledgements is shown as four in Box 306, but any practical number may be selected in accordance with this invention. The acknowledgement may indicate the next packet that the device expects to receive. Following the acknowledgement, the device continues to receive packets from the server until it is time for the next acknowledgement, Box 306. Efficiency is enhanced by using this technique because the server and the device spend less time waiting for each other than in TFTP.
Note that if the device operates much slower than the server, use of NPL may result in a situation where for example, using the numbers of
When the device has received all of the packets indicated in the offer packet, Box 303, the device may send out a stop packet, Box 309, and the download process is complete.
Turning to
The table of possible events 710 provides a non-limiting list of the possible events that may occur while the device is in any given state 700. To determine how the device will react to the events 720, refer to the device state transitions table 720. The events are TIMEOUT(t) 711, in which either the device or the server made no state transitions for a specified amount of time (t); RX_DISCOVER 712, in which a DISCOVER packet is received by one of the devices; RX_OFFER 713, in which an OFFER packet is received by one of the devices; RX_START 714, in which a START packet is received by one of the devices; RX_DATA(n) 715, in which one of the devices receives a DATA packet with a sequence identifier, represented here by the variable n; RX_ACK(n) 716, in which the server receives an ACK packet that acknowledges receipt of all packets through DAT(n); RX_NACK(n) 717, in which the server receives a NACK packet that acknowledges all DATA packets up to but not including n; and RX_STOP 718, in which one of the devices receives a STOP packet.
As mentioned above, the device states 700 can be used to determine the state transitions and corresponding actions taken by the device when possible events 710 occur. The table of device state transitions 720 provides an embodiment of the invention in which a set of device states 721a and possible events 721b have been assigned a corresponding new device state 721c and any accompanying action by the device. In this embodiment, the transitions shown in the device state transitions table 720 are the only combinations of state 700 and event 710 that will result in any action or state transition. This embodiment is not intended to limit the invention to the combinations shown, but rather to demonstrate the concept that the relevant state 700 and event 720 combinations may be restricted to provide the functionality desired.
The device state transitions table 720 demonstrates that when the device is in the DISCOVERING state 724a and receives an OFFER packet 724b, the result is that the device goes into the STARTING state and sends out a start packet 724c. If the device is in the DISCOVERING state 725a and a TIMEOUT(t) event occurs 725b, the result is that the device remains in the DISCOVERING state, and sends out another DISCOVER packet 725c. When the device is in the STARTING state 726a and receives a DATA packet 726b, the result is that the device transitions into a RECEIVING(m) state, and takes no other action 726c. Usually, upon transitioning from a STARTING state 702 to a RECEIVING(m) state 703, the device will soon be receiving the first DATA packet. Because the device in this embodiment keeps track of which DATA packets were received and which DATA packets it expects to receive next, the device may begin by setting the variable m equal to zero, or may use any other identifier that indicates a starting point to both the device and the server. When the device is in a STARTING state 727a TIMEOUT(t) event occurs 727b, the result is that the device switches back into a DISCOVERING state and sends another DISCOVER packet 727c. When the device is in a RECEIVING(m) 728a state and receives a DATA(n) packet 728b, the device transitions into a RECEIVING(m) state, wherein the variable m has been updated 728c. The device also takes one or more actions, depending upon the character of the DATA(n) packet received 728c.
To determine the additional actions that the device may take upon transitioning into a new RECEIVING(m) state 728c, refer to
A representative embodiment of the server can also be illustrated (