Fragmented firmware storage system and method therefor

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10860307-B2
Application number	US-201916392854-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 24, 2019
Priority date	Apr 24, 2019
Publication date	Dec 8, 2020
Grant date	Dec 8, 2020

Abstract

A method includes providing a runtime service to receive a payload containing a basic input-output system (BIOS) image and to generate a firmware storage policy. The firmware storage policy identifies a data storage device to store first firmware instructions of the BIOS image, and identifies another data storage device to store second firmware instructions of the BIOS image. The method further includes providing a boot service to store the BIOS image according to the firmware storage policy.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
receiving a firmware update package at an information handling system (IHS), the package including a payload containing a basic input-output system (BIOS) image;
in response to executing the firmware update package and determining that a fragmented firmware storage protocol is enabled, generating a firmware storage policy identifying first firmware instructions of the BIOS image to be stored at a first non-volatile data storage device, and identifying second firmware instructions of the BIOS image to be stored at a second non-volatile data storage device;
invoking an initialization procedure at the IHS;
determining that a firmware update flag is asserted; and
storing the first firmware instructions at the first non-volatile data storage device, and
storing the second firmware instructions at the second non-volatile data storage device according to the firmware storage policy.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first nonvolatile data storage device is a Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) flash memory device that is configured to store initial boot block firmware instructions, and further comprising storing the firmware storage policy at the SPI flash memory device.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising storing the payload at a third non-volatile data storage device accessible during initialization of the information handling system.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first non-volatile data storage device is a Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) flash memory device that is configured to store initial boot block firmware instructions.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the second non-volatile data storage device is not the SPI flash memory device.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
providing a BIOS configuration setup interface accessible during initialization of the IHS; and
providing, at the BIOS configuration setup interface, configuration options to:
enable the fragmented firmware storage protocol;
identify the second non-volatile data storage device; and
specify a size of a region at the second non-volatile data storage device available for storing the second firmware instructions.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising providing an Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) service during initialization of the IHS, the ACPI service configured to generate the firmware storage policy in response to execution of the firmware update package at the IHS.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
parsing the firmware update package to identify a first firmware component, the first firmware component including information identifying a fragmenting policy corresponding to the first firmware component; and
generating the firmware storage policy based on the parsed information.

9. An information handling system (IHS) comprising:
a central processing unit (CPU);
a Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) flash memory device configured to store initial boot block firmware instructions;
a second flash memory device; and
a system memory device to store program instructions executable by the CPU to:
receive a firmware update package at the IHS, the package including a payload containing a basic input-output system (BIOS) image;
in response to executing the firmware update package and determining that a fragmented firmware storage protocol is enabled, generate a firmware storage policy identifying first firmware instructions of the BIOS image to be stored at SPI flash memory device, and identifying second firmware instructions of the BIOS image to be stored at a second flash memory device;
invoke an initialization procedure at the IHS; determine that a firmware update flag is asserted; and
store the first firmware instructions at the SPI flash memory device, and storing the second firmware instructions at the second flash memory device according to the firmware storage policy.

10. The information handling system of claim 9 , the program instructions further to store the firmware storage policy at the SPI flash memory device.

11. The information handling system of claim 9 , the program instructions further to store the payload at the system memory device.

12. The information handling system of claim 9 , the first firmware instructions to:
provide a BIOS configuration setup interface accessible during initialization of the IHS; and
provide, at the BIOS configuration setup interface, configuration options to:
enable the fragmented firmware storage protocol;
identify the second flash memory device; and
specify a size of a region at the second flash memory device available for storing the second firmware instructions.

13. The information handling system of claim 9 , the first firmware instructions to provide an Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) service during initialization of the IHS, the ACPI service configured to generate the firmware storage policy in response to execution of the firmware update package at the IHS.

14. The information handling system of claim 9 , the first firmware instructions to
parse the firmware update package to identify a first firmware component, the first firmware component including information identifying a fragmenting policy corresponding to the first firmware component; and
generate the firmware storage policy based on the parsed information.

15. A method comprising:
providing a runtime service to:
receive a payload containing a basic input-output system (BIOS) image; and
generate a firmware storage policy identifying first firmware instructions of the BIOS image to be stored at a first non-volatile data storage device, and identifying second firmware instructions of the BIOS image to be stored at a second non-volatile data storage device; and
providing a boot service to:
determine that a firmware update flag is asserted; and
store the first firmware instructions at the first non-volatile data storage device and store the second firmware instructions at the second non-volatile data storage device according to the firmware storage policy.

16. The method of claim 15 , wherein the first non-volatile data storage device is a Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI) flash memory device that is configured to store initial boot block firmware instructions, and wherein the second non-volatile data storage device is not the SPI flash memory device.

17. The method of claim 15 , wherein the boot service is further to:
provide a BIOS configuration setup interface accessible during initialization of the IHS; and
provide, at the BIOS configuration setup interface, configuration options to:
enable the fragmented firmware storage protocol;
identify the second non-volatile data storage device; and
specify a size of a region at the second non-volatile data storage device available for storing the second firmware instructions.

18. The method of claim 15 , wherein the runtime service is further to:
parse the firmware update package to identify a first firmware component, the first firmware component including information identifying a fragmenting policy corresponding to the first firmware component; and
generate the firmware storage policy based on the parsed information.

Assignees

• Dell Products Lp

Inventors

• Suryanarayana Shekar Babu
• Joshi Anand P

Classifications

• G06F21/572

  Secure firmware programming, e.g. of basic input output system [BIOS] · CPC title

• G06F2221/033

  Test or assess software · CPC title

• G06F8/654

  using techniques specially adapted for alterable solid state memories, e.g. for EEPROM or flash memories · CPC title

• G06F8/65 Primary

  Updates (security arrangements therefor G06F21/57) · CPC title

• G06F13/1668

  Details of memory controller · CPC title