Method and system of switching between two or more images of firmware on a host device

TLDR: In this paper, the authors propose a method of switching between two or more images of firmware on a host device, which includes storing a boot code module and at least one firmware image in the non-volatile memory unit of the host device.

Abstract: A method of switching between two or more images of firmware on a host device includes storing two or more images of firmware in non-volatile memory of the host device and loading one of the images upon startup in response to a user-controllable indicator A host device that runs firmware during operation may include a non-volatile memory unit that stores a boot code module and is configured to hold two or more firmware images, a processor for executing the boot code module and firmware, said processor being in communication with the non-volatile memory and a switch in communication with the processor, where the boot code module is configured to cause the processor to execute a particular firmware image in response to a position of the switch Alternatively, a host device that runs firmware during operation may include a non-volatile memory unit that stores a boot code module and at least one firmware image, a processor for executing firmware that communicates with the non-volatile memory unit and a digital flag associated with each firmware image in the non-volatile memory unit, where the boot code module is configured to execute a particular firmware image in response to the digital flags