Nokia 6310i software update

Richard Colton wrote:
> requires the phone to be physically connected to a computer. I can't
> see how OTA flashing would work to be brutally honest.

My source close to Nokia let me understand that this would be still be R&D
stuff, but I don't see how it should so dificult, since some manufacturers
already seem to be doing FOTA:

http://www.google.com/search?q=Firmware+Over+The+Air

And for example Nokia's digital TV STBs (set-top-boxes) are already being
updated OTA. There are many other DVB-T STBs supporting this too.

--
Tero Lehto
http://lehto.net/tero/

---

› See More: Nokia 6310i software update

"Tero Lehto" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Richard Colton wrote:
>> requires the phone to be physically connected to a computer. I can't
>> see how OTA flashing would work to be brutally honest.
>
> My source close to Nokia let me understand that this would be still be R&D
> stuff, but I don't see how it should so dificult, since some manufacturers
> already seem to be doing FOTA:
>
> http://www.google.com/search?q=Firmware+Over+The+Air
>
> And for example Nokia's digital TV STBs (set-top-boxes) are already being
> updated OTA. There are many other DVB-T STBs supporting this too.

That's all well and good, but an STB works a little differently to a phone.
At present you've got 3 main areas on a Nokia phone that can be flashed.
Two of them have to match (version number), and flashing any of them will
render reception inoperative whilst they are being flashed. If Nokia are
genuinely thinking of doing OTA flashing, it'll need a major rethink on the
way the frimware is laid out and how it operates, and I'll bet it would end
up costing them a fortune in warranty claims where the signal has been lost
part way through flashing.

--
>>> Unlock Your Phone's Potential <<<
>>> www.uselessinfo.org.uk <<<
>>> www.thephonelocker.co.uk <<<

Richard Colton wrote:
> flashed. If Nokia are genuinely thinking of doing OTA flashing,
> it'll need a major rethink on the way the frimware is laid out and
> how it operates, and I'll bet it would end up costing them a fortune
> in warranty claims where the signal has been lost part way through
> flashing.


I'm not a software engineer or a radio network specialist, but couldn't this
be avoided by first downloading the firmware update to the phone memory and
then running it offline? Thus the loss of signal from GSM network wouldn't
present problems, am I correct?

--
Tero Lehto
http://lehto.net/tero/

"Tero Lehto" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Richard Colton wrote:
>> flashed. If Nokia are genuinely thinking of doing OTA flashing,
>> it'll need a major rethink on the way the frimware is laid out and
>> how it operates, and I'll bet it would end up costing them a fortune
>> in warranty claims where the signal has been lost part way through
>> flashing.
>
>
> I'm not a software engineer or a radio network specialist, but couldn't
> this
> be avoided by first downloading the firmware update to the phone memory
> and
> then running it offline? Thus the loss of signal from GSM network wouldn't
> present problems, am I correct?

In theory, yes - but it would need a considerable amount of memory, and said
memory would need to be mapped in such a way that it wasn't affected by the
firmware upgrade (which it currently does affect). To be honest, anything
is possible, but OTA firmware upgrading seems unlikely (IMHO) in the near
future due to the practicalities of firmware flashing.

--
>>> Unlock Your Phone's Potential <<<
>>> www.uselessinfo.org.uk <<<
>>> www.thephonelocker.co.uk <<<

> In theory, yes - but it would need a considerable amount of memory, and
> said memory would need to be mapped in such a way that it wasn't affected
> by the firmware upgrade (which it currently does affect). To be honest,
> anything is possible, but OTA firmware upgrading seems unlikely (IMHO) in
> the near future due to the practicalities of firmware flashing.

I cannot agree. Judging with statistics I've seen the biggest problem of
Nokia phones is firmware, which in turn causes, money to be lose. Is simply
a question of being profitable or not, which IMHO is the point. And being a
software engineer, I am sure they will find a good solution and implement
it.

"Romulus Marius Mare" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>> In theory, yes - but it would need a considerable amount of memory, and
>> said memory would need to be mapped in such a way that it wasn't affected
>> by the firmware upgrade (which it currently does affect). To be honest,
>> anything is possible, but OTA firmware upgrading seems unlikely (IMHO) in
>> the near future due to the practicalities of firmware flashing.
>
> I cannot agree. Judging with statistics I've seen the biggest problem of
> Nokia phones is firmware, which in turn causes, money to be lose.

I wouldn't argue with that assesment, but I'd be surprised if the number of
phones that require warranty work for dodgy firmware comes close to 0.5% of
those that are sold.

> Is simply a question of being profitable or not, which IMHO is the point.
> And being a software engineer, I am sure they will find a good solution
> and implement it.

No, It's a question of how firmware flashing currently works. To enable OTA
flashing would require non-volatile memory on the handset that isn't
affected by the flashing process in the way it is now. Given how large MCU
& PPM's are becoming, it would also require a sizeable amount of memory, and
would take quite a while to download to the phone OTA. This would be a
massive departure from how firmware flashing takes place now, and would
require sizeable investment from Nokia in a new platform for the handset
itself, software development and infrastructure. As I said, it's not
inconceivable, but I strongly believe that in the short term it's highly
unlikely.

--
>>> Unlock Your Phone's Potential <<<
>>> www.uselessinfo.org.uk <<<
>>> www.thephonelocker.co.uk <<<