Opportunistic software updates during select operational modes

Abstract

Disclosed embodiments relate to opportunistically updating Electronic Control Unit (ECU) software in a vehicle. Operations may include receiving, at a controller in a vehicle, a wireless transmission indicating a need to update software running on at least one ECU in the vehicle; monitoring an operational status of the vehicle to determine whether the vehicle is in a first mode of operation in which an ECU software update is prohibited; delaying the ECU software update when the operational status is prohibited; continuing to monitor the operational status of the vehicle to determine whether the vehicle is in a second mode of operation in which the ECU software update is permitted; and enabling updating of the at least one ECU with the delayed ECU software update when it is determined that the vehicle is in the second mode of operations.

1 - 20 . (canceled) 
     
     
         21 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium including instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations for opportunistically updating controller software, the operations comprising:
 determining a device is in a first mode of operation;   accessing a controller software change based on the device being determined to be in the first mode of operation, the controller software change comprising a delta file; and   implementing the controller software change on the controller when the device is in the first mode of operation, wherein implementing the controller software change comprises updating a program counter of the controller, and wherein updating the program counter causes the controller to skip a portion of current controller software and to execute code of the delta file instead of the skipped portion of the current controller software.   
     
     
         22 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 21 , wherein the controller software change is implemented without rebooting the controller. 
     
     
         23 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 21 , wherein the delta file includes startup code configured to initialize a runtime library of the delta file. 
     
     
         24 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 21 , wherein the delta file includes a plurality of deltas corresponding to different memory addresses of the controller. 
     
     
         25 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 21 , the operations further comprising:
 determining that the controller is in a second mode of operation; and   based on the determination that the controller is in the second mode of operation, delaying the implementing of the controller software change.   
     
     
         26 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 21 , wherein the first mode of operation comprises a power-down status of the device. 
     
     
         27 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 21 , wherein the first mode of operation comprises a period of wireless communications strength above a threshold of strength. 
     
     
         28 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 21 , wherein the first mode of operation comprises an environmental condition of the device. 
     
     
         29 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 21 , wherein the first mode of operation comprises a network connection with an error rate below a threshold. 
     
     
         30 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 21 , the operations further comprising generating the delta file. 
     
     
         31 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 21 , wherein the device is a vehicle. 
     
     
         32 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 21 , wherein the delta file is generated based on comparisons of first dimensions of a first version of controller software and second dimensions of a second version of controller software. 
     
     
         33 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 21 , wherein implementing the controller software change on the controller comprises storing the delta file adjacent to the current controller software. 
     
     
         34 . A computer-implemented method for opportunistically updating controller software, the method comprising:
 determining a device is in a first mode of operation;   accessing a controller software change based on the device being determined to be in the first mode of operation, the controller software change comprising a delta file; and   implementing the controller software change on the controller when the device is in the first mode of operation, wherein implementing the controller software change comprises updating a program counter of the controller, and wherein updating the program counter causes the controller to skip a portion of current controller software and to execute code of the delta file instead of the skipped portion of the current controller software.   
     
     
         35 . The method of  claim 34 , further comprising:
 determining that the controller is in a second mode of operation; and   based on the determination that the controller is in the second mode of operation, delaying the implementing of the controller software change.   
     
     
         36 . The method of  claim 34 , wherein the first mode of operation comprises at least one of a power-down status of the device, a period of wireless communications strength above a threshold of strength, an environmental condition of the device, or a network connection with an error rate below a threshold. 
     
     
         37 . The method of  claim 34 , further comprising generating the delta file. 
     
     
         38 . The method of  claim 34 , wherein the device is a vehicle. 
     
     
         39 . The method of  claim 34 , wherein the delta file is generated based on comparisons of first dimensions of a first version of controller software and second dimensions of a second version of controller software. 
     
     
         40 . The method of  claim 34 , wherein implementing the controller software change on the controller comprises storing the delta file adjacent to the current controller software.