[BC] IBOC in trouble?

[WFIFeng@aol.com]

In a message dated 07/28/2005 11:11:54 AM Eastern Daylight Time, 
richwood at pobox.com writes:

> Most of the serious computer problems I've had have been with 
>  updating firmware. There are generally dire warnings not to interrupt 
>  the process. What's the likelihood that a radio will be turned off 
>  during the upgrade? At this point another IBOC station nearby might 
>  be enough to clobber the process.

This, also, is a very good point. Obviously, the chipset would have to have 
some kind of NVRAM in it, where the downloaded code is written as it comes in, 
but it is not going to be run by the CPU. It would only be transferred into 
the CPU's program memory after it had been fully downloaded and a thorough 
checksum routine was run on it. (Possibly having downloaded the file twice, 
comparing the two. One fails, and it waits for another download.) That means the unit 
will need at *minimum* 4x the RAM space needed to hold actual CPU code. Of 
course, you may run into an issue of upgrades requiring more space, and "running 
out of room" in that scenario.

It's a sticky problem. I think the USB port would be the best way. Use either 
a direct-to-PC connection, or allow a user to put the file onto a "thumb 
drive" then plug that into the radio. That would be the most robust, safest way... 
the problem is with the average person, who is dumber than a stick when it 
comes to High Tech.

Willie...