Unobtrusive firmware updates for hearing assistance devices

Abstract

The present disclosure includes some examples of methods, systems, and machine readable media which deliver firmware updates to a computing device of a hearing professional while requiring little or no user interaction. For example, the firmware patches may be delivered in a way that does not require administrator access on the computer. In various embodiments, the updates may only require periodic access to a network (e.g., the Internet), the updates may not require the fitting software to be running, and/or the updates may not even require a user to be logged in to the computing device.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 executing a firmware update process on the computing device, the firmware update process executing within control of an operating system that requires elevated access privileges to install applications on a computing device, the firmware update process:   requesting from a firmware update service, over an electronic network, a firmware object, the firmware object providing instructions for performing operations on a hearing assistance device;   storing the firmware object in a file-system location in non-volatile local storage of the computing device, the file-system location not requiring the firmware update process to obtain elevated user access permissions from the operating system; and   subsequent to storing the firmware object:
 establishing a connection with a hearing assistance device that has an existing firmware installed that is not the firmware object; and 
 updating the hearing assistance device with the firmware object. 
   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , comprising: registering with the firmware update service, and requesting from the firmware update service, over the network, the firmware object responsive to receiving an update notification from the firmware update service. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , comprising:
 determining a plurality of hearing assistance devices that have firmware whose version number is less than a firmware version number received from the firmware update service that corresponds to the firmware object; and   automatically contacting owners of the plurality of hearing assistance devices that have firmware whose version number is less than the firmware version number received from the firmware update service.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein automatically contacting comprises emailing the owners. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 3 , wherein automatically contacting comprises phoning the owners and playing an automated message. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , comprising: providing a Wi-Fi access point. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the firmware update process is a service of the operating system. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein no user intervention is required to perform the method. 
     
     
         9 . A system comprising:
 one or more computer processors;   executing a firmware update process on the computing device, the firmware update process executing within control of an operating system that requires elevated access privileges to install applications on a computing device, the firmware update process:   executing a firmware update process on the computing device, the firmware update process utilizing the operating system and:   requesting from a firmware update service, over an electronic network, a firmware object, the firmware object providing instructions for performing operations on a hearing assistance device;   storing the firmware object in a file-system location in non-volatile local storage of the computing device, the file-system location not requiring the firmware update process to obtain elevated user access permissions from the operating system; and   subsequent to storing the firmware object:
 establishing a connection with a hearing assistance device that has an existing firmware installed that is not the firmware object; and 
 updating the hearing assistance device with the firmware object. 
   
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the operations comprise registering with the firmware update service, and requesting from the firmware update service, over the network, the firmware object responsive to receiving an update notification from the firmware update service. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 10 , comprising:
 determining a plurality of hearing assistance devices that have firmware whose version number is less than a firmware version number received from the firmware update service that corresponds to the firmware object; and   automatically contacting owners of the plurality of hearing assistance devices that have firmware whose version number is less than the firmware version number received from the firmware update service.   
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the operations of automatically contacting comprises emailing the owners. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein the operations of automatically contacting comprises phoning the owners and playing an automated message. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the operations comprise: providing a Wi-Fi access point. 
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the firmware update process is a service of the operating system. 
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein no user intervention is required to perform the operations. 
     
     
         17 . A non-transitory machine-readable medium, comprising instructions, which when executed by a machine cause the machine to perform operations comprising:
 executing a firmware update process on the computing device, the firmware update process executing within control of an operating system that requires elevated access privileges to install applications on a computing device, the firmware update process:   requesting from a firmware update service, over an electronic network, a firmware object, the firmware object providing instructions for performing operations on a hearing assistance device;   storing the firmware object in a file-system location in non-volatile local storage of the computing device, the file-system location not requiring the firmware update process to obtain elevated user access permissions from the operating system; and   subsequent to storing the firmware object:
 establishing a connection with a hearing assistance device that has an existing firmware installed that is not the firmware object; and 
 updating the hearing assistance device with the firmware object. 
   
     
     
         18 . The machine-readable medium of  claim 17 , wherein the operations comprise: registering with the firmware update service, and requesting from the firmware update service, over the network, the firmware object responsive to receiving an update notification from the firmware update service. 
     
     
         19 . The machine-readable medium of  claim 18 , wherein the operations comprise:
 determining a plurality of hearing assistance devices that have firmware whose version number is less than a firmware version number received from the firmware update service that corresponds to the firmware object; and   automatically contacting owners of the plurality of hearing assistance devices that have firmware whose version number is less than the firmware version number received from the firmware update service.   
     
     
         20 . The machine-readable medium of  claim 19 , wherein no user intervention is required to perform the operations.