Updating control software on a network-connected HVAC controller

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10761833-B2
Application number	US-201916502162-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 3, 2019
Priority date	Sep 30, 2012
Publication date	Sep 1, 2020
Grant date	Sep 1, 2020

Abstract

Apparatus, systems, methods, and computer program products are disclosed for providing software updates to client devices. A client device (such as a thermostat) executes software to perform one or more functionalities of the device. Upon receiving an indicating that a software update is available, the device waits to download the software update until pre-download conditions are satisfied. Once the software update is downloaded, the device then waits to install the software update until pre-install conditions are satisfied. If the software update is non-critical and received during an initial installation of the device, the software update may not be installed until after installation of the device is complete. If the device is a thermostat, the device may delay installation of the software update until a controlled HVAC system in inactive. Control of the HVAC system may be disabled during installation of the software update.

First claim

We claim:

1. A method for updating software on a client device from a remote server, comprising:
receiving, at the client device, a software update from the remote server while the client device operates from a primary partition;
disabling, by the client device, control of an external system by the client device;
copying, by the client device, the software update to a secondary partition on the client device;
rebooting the client device from the secondary partition after disabling control of the external system;
transferring, by the client device, the software update to the primary partition;
rebooting the client device from the primary partition; and
enabling, by the client device, the control of the external system by the client device after rebooting from the primary partition.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein disabling the control of the external system by the client device comprises preventing user control of the external system through the client device.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising, prior to disabling the control of the external system by the client device, controlling the external system to maintain a state of operation that existed prior to disabling the control of the external system.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the client device comprises a plurality of storage partitions.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the primary partition comprises an operating system and software for controlling the external system.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the client device operates from the primary partition while the software update is downloaded to the secondary partition.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the software update comprises an operating system that includes updates to an existing operating system.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the software update comprises operational software for controlling the external system.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein transferring the software update to the primary partition comprises copying at least a portion of the secondary partition to the primary partition.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein transferring the software update to the primary partition comprises installing the software update on the primary partition.

11. A client device comprising:
one or more processors;
one or more memory devices comprising:
a primary partition;
a secondary partition; and
instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
receiving a software update from a remote server while the client device operates from the primary partition;
disabling control of an external system by the client device;
copying the software update to the secondary partition on the client device;
rebooting the client device from the secondary partition after disabling control of the external system;
transferring the software update to the primary partition;
rebooting the client device from the primary partition; and
enabling the control of the external system by the client device after rebooting from the primary partition.

12. The client device of claim 11 , wherein the operations further comprise:
determining whether the client device is operating in an awake mode.

13. The client device of claim 11 , wherein the operations further comprise:
determining whether a power connection is available to the client device.

14. The client device of claim 11 , wherein the operations further comprise:
determining whether a battery of the client device has above a threshold level of charge.

15. The client device of claim 11 , wherein the client device comprises a head unit and a back plate used for installing the client device, and wherein the operations further comprise:
determining whether the head unit is connected to the back plate.

16. The client device of claim 11 , wherein the operations further comprise:
determining whether a display of the client device is active.

17. The client device of claim 11 , wherein the operations further comprise:
determining whether the external system is active.

18. The client device of claim 11 , wherein the operations further comprise:
determining whether rebooting the client device from the secondary partition was successful before transferring the software update to the primary partition.

19. A non-transitory storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
receiving a software update from a remote server by a client device while the client device operates from a primary partition;
disabling control of an external system by the client device;
copying the software update to a secondary partition on the client device;
rebooting the client device from the secondary partition after disabling control of the external system;
transferring the software update to the primary partition;
rebooting the client device from the primary partition; and
enabling the control of the external system by the client device after rebooting from the primary partition.

20. The non-transitory storage medium of claim 19 , wherein the software update comprises an update criticality indicator.

Assignees

• Google Llc

Inventors

• Gourlay Alastair R
• Bourne David A
• Erickson Grant M
• Schultz Richard J
• Sloo David
• Solnit Jonathan P

Classifications

• F24F11/63

  Electronic processing · CPC title

• F24F11/58

  using Internet communication · CPC title

• F24F11/523

  for displaying temperature data · CPC title

• F24F11/46

  Improving electric energy efficiency or saving · CPC title

• H04L67/12

  specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks · CPC title