Information processing apparatus

Abstract

According to one embodiment, an information processing apparatus includes memory in which first firmware is stored; a controller to execute the firmware; a storage device in which update data corresponding to second firmware that can be used to update the first firmware stored in memory; and a processing unit configured to (a) transfer the update data, and (b) indicate which regions of the memory require updating; and an updating unit configured to rewrite a region in the memory using the update data in response to the indication of which regions of the memory require updating.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an exemplary perspective view showing the appearance of a computer according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an exemplary block diagram showing the system configuration of the computer in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an exemplary diagram showing the structure of a TS packet constituting broadcast program data received by the computer in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an exemplary diagram illustrating a process of decrypting broadcast content, the process being executed by the computer in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is an exemplary block diagram showing the configuration of a copyright protection LSI provided in the computer in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is an exemplary diagram showing a method for creating an updater that updates firmware stored in a flash EEPROM in the copyright protection LSI;

FIG. 7 is an exemplary diagram showing an example of a rewrite table contained in the updater;

FIG. 8 is an exemplary block diagram showing a configuration for updating firmware; and

FIG. 9 is an exemplary flowchart showing an example of a method for updating firmware.

Claims

1. An information processing apparatus comprising: memory in which first firmware is stored;a controller to execute the firmware;a storage device in which update data corresponding to second firmware that can be used to update the first firmware stored in memory; anda processing unit configured to (a) transfer the update data, and (b) indicate which regions of the memory require updating; andan updating unit configured to rewrite a region in the memory using the update data in response to the indication of which regions of the memory require updating.

2. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the update data corresponding to the second firmware is stored in one or more regions.

3. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the storage device stores information indicating whether or not to rewrite the memory for each region.

4. The information processing apparatus according to claim 3, wherein the processing unit is configured to transfer the information indicating whether or not to rewrite the memory.

5. The information processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the updating unit comprises a rewriting unit to rewrite the memory if the information indicates that the memory is to be rewritten.

6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the memory comprises nonvolatile memory.

7. The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising a decoder that decrypts the update data, wherein the update data is obtained from the encrypted second firmware.

8. The information processing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the update data is grouped into a plurality of blocks which are encrypted using a block encryption scheme.

9. An expansion device configured to connect to an expansion slot in an information processing apparatus, the expansion device comprising: a nonvolatile memory in which firmware is stored;a controller that executes the firmware; andan updating unit for updating the firmware in the nonvolatile memory using update data having a plurality of blocks corresponding to the second firmware, the updating unit receiving the update data from the information processing apparatus for each of the blocks, and rewriting a region of the nonvolatile memory in response to an indication that the region requires updating.

10. The expansion device according to claim 9, wherein the updating unit acquires information indicating whether or not to rewrite the nonvolatile memory for each block and rewrites an appropriate region in the nonvolatile memory if the information indicates that the nonvolatile memory is to be rewritten.

11. The expansion device according to claim 10, wherein the update data is obtained by encrypting the second firmware, and the expansion device further comprises a decoder that decrypts the update data.

12. The expansion device according to claim 10, wherein the update data is grouped into a plurality of blocks which are encrypted using a block encryption scheme.

13. A method for updating firmware in an expansion device, comprising: providing update data corresponding to a second firmware for updating a first firmware stored in a plurality of regions of a memory;transferring the update data to the memory; andrewriting one or more of the plurality of regions in the memory using the update data in response to an indication that one or more of the plurality of regions requires updating.

14. The method for updating firmware according to claim 13, wherein data corresponding to whether or not to rewrite the one or more regions of the memory is transferred, and rewriting at lease one region of the memory if the data corresponding to whether or not to rewrite indicates that the memory is to be rewritten.

15. The method for updating firmware according to claim 13, wherein the update data is obtained by using a block encryption scheme to encrypt the second firmware.

16. The method for updating firmware according to claim 15, wherein the update data is grouped into a plurality of blocks which are encrypted using the block encryption scheme.