Methods and articles of manufacture for hosting a safety critical application on an uncontrolled data processing device

Abstract

Methods and articles of manufacture for hosting a safety critical application on an uncontrolled data processing device are provided. Various checks and combinations of checks including installation, functional, host integrity, coexistence, interoperability, power management, and environment checks are performed at various times to determine if the safety critical application operates properly on the device. The operation of the SCA on the UDPD may be controlled accordingly.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method for an uncontrolled data processing device (UDPD) to perform a determination whether a safety critical application (SCA), configured to receive a glucose measurement from an external device, is functioning properly on the UDPD, the method comprising:
 executing instructions with the UDPD to detect a change in a current environment of the UDPD, wherein the current environment includes at least one of a software environment of the UDPD and a hardware environment of the UDPD and wherein the change in the current environment represents a change to at least one of the software environment of the UDPD or the hardware environment of the UDPD;   determining, with the UDPD, that a functional check is to be performed responsive to detecting the change in the current environment; and   permitting, with the UDPD, the SCA to operate freely while the functional check is being performed, wherein the SCA is a glucose monitoring application.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the change in the software environment represents a change to a software program installed on the UDPD. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the change to the software program installed on the UDPD is a new revision update. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the change to the software program installed on the UDPD is a new revision update of the software program. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the change to the software program installed on the UDPD is a software fix to the software program. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the change in the software environment represents a firmware update to the software program. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , further comprising preventing the SCA from operating freely on the UDPD responsive to the functional check determining that the SCA is not functioning properly based on the change in the current environment of the UDPD. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the functional check is performed by a test harness installed on the UDPD. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein to detect the change in the current environment, the method further comprising:
 retrieving a saved current environment from a memory of the UDPD associated with a time when the SCA was permitted to operate freely on the UDPD;   comparing the saved current environment with the current environment of the UDPD; and   detecting the change in the current environment of the UDPD based on the comparing.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the saved current environment includes at least one of a saved software environment of the UDPD and a saved hardware environment of the UDPD. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the saved current environment includes information about a previous version of a software program installed on the UDPD. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the saved current environment includes information about a previous firmware version of a software program installed on the UDPD. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the saved current environment is recorded before the determination of whether the SCA is functioning properly on the UDPD. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the determination of whether the SCA is functioning properly on the UDPD occurs upon occurrence of a predetermined event. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the determination of whether the SCA is functioning properly on the UDPD occurs at a predetermined time interval. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the predetermined event is when the SCA is launched. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein to operate freely, the SCA is configured to receive a glucose measurement from an external device. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the UDPD is a mobile phone. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the functional check comprises determining whether the SCA performs an accurate computation based on the change in the current environment. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the computation comprises computing a glucose measurement.