Over-the-air programming of sensing devices

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12360683-B2
Application number	US-202217869162-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 20, 2022
Priority date	Jul 21, 2021
Publication date	Jul 15, 2025
Grant date	Jul 15, 2025

Abstract

Embodiments described herein include a sensor control device configured for secure over-the-air (OTA) programming. Embodiments include a sensor control device that includes one or more processors, an analyte sensor, a communication module, and a memory. The memory includes a first set of storage blocks that are in a non-programmable state and a second set of blocks that are in a programmable state. The processors are configured to receive, using the communication module, instructions to write marking data to the memory to mark a first storage block from the first set of storage blocks as inaccessible and to write program data to a second storage block from the second set of storage blocks, causing the second storage block to be placed into the non-programmable state. The program data written to the second storage block includes instructions that cause the processors to process analyte data received from the analyte sensor.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A sensor control device comprising:
one or more processors,
a glucose sensor,
a first communication module and a second communication module, wherein the first communication module is compatible with a first communication protocol and the second communication module is compatible with a second communication protocol, and
one or more memories communicatively coupled to the one or more processors, the communication module, and the glucose sensor, wherein:
a memory of the one or more memories comprises a plurality of storage blocks, wherein the memory is a one-time programmable memory and the plurality of storage blocks includes a first set of storage blocks that have been written into and are in a non-programmable state and a second set of storage blocks that have not been written into and are in a programmable state;
the one or more processors are configured to:
receive, using the first communication module and the first communication protocol, first instructions that instruct the one or more processors to enter into a programming mode to write program data to a second storage block of the second set of storage blocks, wherein the first instructions are signed with a first digital signature token generated based on information associated with a manufacturer of the sensor control device;
validate the first instructions based on the first digital signature token generated based on information associated with the manufacturer of the sensor control device;
subsequent to validating the first instructions based on the first digital signature token, enter into the programming mode;
receive, using the second communication module and the second communication protocol, the program data, wherein the program data comprises second instructions configured for processing data received from the glucose sensor, wherein the program data is signed with a second digital signature token generated based on information associated with the manufacturer of the sensor control device;
validate the program data based on the second digital signature token generated based on information associated with the manufacturer of the sensor control device, wherein the first digital signature token is different from the second digital signature token; and
subsequent to validating the program data based on the second digital signature token, cause the program data to be written into the second storage block of the second set of storage blocks, cause the second storage block to be placed into the non-programmable state, and cause a first storage block of the first set of storage blocks to be marked as inaccessible.

2. The sensor control device of claim 1 , wherein the plurality of storage blocks of the memory are dynamically-allocated memory storage blocks.

3. The sensor control device of claim 1 , wherein the memory is integrated with the communication module.

4. The sensor control device of claim 1 , wherein the memory is separate from the communication module.

5. The sensor control device of claim 1 , wherein the one-time programmable memory is a memory in which data written into the memory cannot be overwritten.

6. The sensor control device of claim 1 , wherein the program data written to the second storage block further comprises third instructions relating to features of the sensor control device, detection and calculation algorithms, or calibration data for the glucose sensor.

7. The sensor control device of claim 1 , wherein, prior to writing the marking data to the memory, the sensor control device enters the programming mode.

8. The sensor control device of claim 1 , wherein the first instructions are received as part of a communication session secured using a shared encryption key.

9. The sensor control device of claim 1 , wherein the sensor control device receives the first instructions to enter into the programming mode prior to causing the first storage block of the first set of storage blocks to be marked as inaccessible.

10. The sensor control device of claim 1 , wherein one of the first communication protocol and the second communication protocol is Bluetooth Low Energy and one of the first communication protocol and the second communication protocol is near-field communication.

11. The sensor control device of claim 1 , wherein the one or more processors are further configured to perform one or more integrity checks of the memory prior to executing the second instructions of the program data written to the second storage block.

12. The sensor control device of claim 11 , wherein the one or more integrity checks comprise performing an integrity check on each storage block of the second set of storage blocks.

13. The sensor control device of claim 1 , further comprising a rewriteable memory communicatively coupled to the one or more processors, the first communication module, the second communication module, and the glucose sensor, wherein the program data written to the second storage block are first written to the rewriteable memory.

14. The sensor control device of claim 13 , wherein the one or more processors execute the second instructions of the program data written in storage blocks of the second set of storage blocks based on a profile stored in the rewriteable memory.

15. The sensor control device of claim 14 , wherein causing the first storage block of the first set of storage blocks to be marked as inaccessible comprises modifying the profile stored in the rewriteable memory.

16. The sensor control device of claim 1 , wherein the sensor control device is configured to, prior to causing the first storage block of the first set of storage blocks to be marked as inaccessible, re-initialize into an update-compatible state.

17. The sensor control device of claim 1 , wherein the glucose sensor is configured to generate glucose data, wherein the glucose data is indicative of levels of glucose in a fluid of a patient; and
wherein processing the glucose data received from the glucose sensor comprises:
analyzing the glucose data using the program data written to the storage blocks of the second set of storage blocks; and
transmitting the glucose data to an external device using the first communication module or the second communication module.

18. A method comprising:
receiving, by one or more processors of a sensor control device using a first communication module of the sensor control device communicatively coupled with the one or more processors, first instructions that instruct the one or more processors to enter into a programming mode to write program data to a second storage block of a second set of storage blocks of a memory, wherein the first instructions are signed with a first digital signature token generated based on information associated with a manufacturer of the sensor control device, wherein the memory is a one-time programmable memory and comprises a plurality of storage blocks, the plurality of storage blocks including a first set of storage blocks that have been written into and are in a non-programmable state and the second set of storage blocks that have not been written into and are in a programmable state, wherein the first communication module is compatible with a first communication protocol;
validating the first instructions based on the first digital signature token generated based on information associated with the manufacturer of the sensor control device;
subsequent to validating the first instructions based on the first digital signature token, entering into the programming mode;
receiving, by the one or more proc

Assignees

• Abbott Diabetes Care Inc

Inventors

• Hua Xuandong
• Leno Kurt E
• Zhang Nelson Y

Classifications

• G06F3/0679

  Non-volatile semiconductor memory device, e.g. flash memory, one time programmable memory [OTP] · CPC title

• G06F3/064

  Management of blocks · CPC title

• G06F3/0634

  by changing the state or mode of one or more devices · CPC title

• G06F3/0631

  by allocating resources to storage systems · CPC title

• G11C17/16

  using electrically-fusible links · CPC title