White Papers
Case Study and Success Story: FOTA Usage in the United States
Red Bend has published its second report that examines Firmware Over-the-Air (FOTA) adoption, this time focusing on FOTA Usage in the United States. Among U.S. operators, Sprint leads in adopting FOTA. Sprint is a world pioneer in developing and implementing a device management (DM) strategy according to OMA DM standards. The operator mandates OMA DM and FOTA on all of its device types: smartphones, feature phones, tablets, modems and M2M devices. The experience and knowledge that U.S. operators offer in managing a very successful end-to-end FOTA service can be easily duplicated by other operators around the world. The report provides specific use cases for performing updates by U.S. operators, details the overall consumer experience during the FOTA updating process, and explains why U.S. operators and consumers have a high level of confidence in FOTA. It also outlines the FOTA processes between operators and device manufacturers and the effective techniques for update management.
Updating Car ECU Over-the-Air (FOTA)
FOTA technology is a proven, safe, and cost-effective method for OEMs and car manufactures to manage the car software evolution, which is turning the car from iron driven to code driven. FOTA can help auto makers to save time and costs, mitigate risk, and attract and retain customers. In addition, this can enable car manufactures to establish new ways of up-selling services and deliver new features and applications to consumers throughout the car lifecycle.
Case Study and Success Story: FOTA Usage in Japan - UPDATED, June 2011
This case study examines the successful use of firmware over the air (FOTA) in Japan. By analyzing the experience of Japanese mobile operators, service providers in other markets will understand how to effectively launch and operate a FOTA service for mobile consumers. It provides specific use cases of FOTA updates performed by Japanese operators and details the overall consumer experience during the FOTA updating process. The paper also describes why operators in Japan have a high level of confidence in FOTA technology. Finally, the FOTA processes between operators and device manufacturers and the effective techniques for update management are explained.
Background Updates: FOTA for the Always-Connected Consumer
Tens of millions of FOTA updates are performed each year in all geographies, not just to fix software defects, but to deliver valuable new features and applications to the consumer. The frequency of updates continues to rise sharply, with OS providers like Apple, Android and Microsoft publishing at least two major releases every year and as many minor updates each month. With software updates becoming more frequent, not just on mobile phones but on all the connected devices around us, it’s time to consider a FOTA update process that does not interrupt a consumer’s use of the device. The solution is to perform FOTA updates in the background.
From the Connected Car to the Managed Car
The connected car is revolutionizing the automotive industry. With more and more cars becoming connected through wireless technology, the next step for the auto industry is to focus on how to manage the connected car and its IVI system as a platform for new services. At Red Bend, we call this “the managed car,” and it constitutes one of the cornerstones in our vision of updating software and content in all the smart computing devices surrounding us in our daily lives. Based on our extensive experience in the mobile phone industry and the connected device market, the managed car can be achieved today through Mobile Software Management combined with Virtualization technology. In a new white paper, we explain how automotive companies can achieve the next generation of in-vehicle services, while keeping costs low and realizing faster time-to-market for new applications and services.
Case Study: Telit Wireless Solutions Provides FOTA Updates of M2M Modules
Read a case study on how Telit Wireless Solutions is using Red Bend's vRapid Mobile FOTA software to keep M2M modules up to date with the latest software features and performance improvement.
Position Paper: Should SCOTA Supersede FOTA?
FOTA – Firmware Over the Air, the means of updating the software of mobile devices over the mobile network, is a successful mobile technology that is being routinely used on millions of cellular phones and devices to introduce new features and fix defects. SCOTA, updating Software Components Over the Air, is a relative newcomer, but has already become a common feature in operators’ requirements and device specifications, with early adopters among some of the leading device manufacturers. This article focuses on the management of FOTA and SCOTA according to the OMA DM standard, defined by the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA), the organization responsible for mobile Device Management standards being deployed worldwide by major network operators. This article explores whether devices that support SCOTA should still use FOTA to update firmware, or whether SCOTA can and should absorb FOTA functionality, making SCOTA the sole software-managing mechanism on these devices.
Monetizing Mobile Software Management: Business Models and Benefits to the Software Value Chain
This white paper presents how Mobile Software Management revenue and business models can evolve, and highlights the business scenarios where participants in the mobile value chain can benefit from MSM.The paper introduces Mobile Software Management and describes the main market needs and use cases as well as discusses how MSM relates to similar technologies. A simple business case is then demonstrated in order to quantify the core benefits of MSM. Finally, potential MSM service models towards consumers and value chain scenarios for realistic MSM deployment are described.
Extend the Value of M2M Modules with Firmware Over-the-Air (FOTA) Updating
Firmware over-the-air (FOTA) technology offers an efficient, reliable and proven solution for updating software on machine-to-machine (M2M) wireless modules. By keeping deployed modules up to date with the latest software improvements, M2M manufacturers and service providers can ensure module quality, avoid product recalls, reduce support costs and improve customer satisfaction.
FOTA has been used widely in the mobile handset market since the early 2000s. It is proven in hundreds of millions of mobile handsets worldwide. By the end of 2010, Red Bend Software estimates that approximately 40% of new M2M module shipments will be FOTA capable. This white paper is intended for corporate adopters of M2M who want to learn more about FOTA technology and its benefits for M2M. It explores important questions to ask M2M module manufacturers when evaluating the software management capabilities of their product offerings.
A New Solution to Managing Embedded Handset Software
A new firmware update technology is being evolved to enable manufacturers and operators to manage individual software components over-the-air (SCOTA). SCOTA allows deployment of discrete software components, either updated or new, to the embedded firmware of a mobile device. A modification or feature change in a software component requires only a single updated version of the component to be deployed to all relevant handset configurations in the field. A completely new feature can be deployed and installed to applicable handsets, and previously installed features can be removed to make space for other features. With SCOTA, operators can maintain the reliability and security of tightly integrated firmware, but they gain more flexibility to efficiently update devices post-sale.
Enabling New Mobile Data Services Using Mobile Software Management
With voice services now commoditized and potentially facing declining revenues, operators and service providers are looking to introduce new and exciting mobile data services aimed at generating new revenue streams. The ability to bring these services into the market and to consumers’ handsets in a timely manner becomes crucial for success. An example of a compelling event that can trigger new revenue generating services is the Olympic Games.
But enabling new services on mass market handsets requires multiple embedded software components, with dependencies among them. To reach the mass market, there is a clear need for a post-sale, over-the-air (OTA) service delivery framework. Requirements include the ability to decouple the handset software lifecycle from the hardware lifecycle, and to distribute and manage embedded applications and middleware OTA and across multiple device platforms. Mobile Software Management (MSM) enables management of software on remote mobile devices. It allows operators and service providers to deliver new services and applications to mobile handsets in the field.
Principles of Updating Mobile Firmware Over-the-Air (FOTA)
Firmware Over-the-Air (FOTA) technology enables device manufacturers and network operators to deliver updated firmware to mobile phones in consumers' hands. Today's mobile devices contain enormous amounts of software, mainly firmware, to support advanced features such as digital cameras, music players and web browsers. There are inevitable issues with such complex software: software defects, missing features and design issues, often created by time-to-market demands in this highly competitive market.
The need to fix device software over-the-air has made FOTA mainstream, adopted by nearly every major manufacturer and operator. Much can be learned from the successful embedding of FOTA in mobile handsets. There are some software and a few hardware considerations to effectively implementing a FOTA solution. This white paper focuses on the technology behind FOTA updating in order to assist manufacturers and operators in selecting, integrating and using such a technology.
Updating Automotive Firmware Over the Air (FOTA)
As the amount of software in automobiles grows, so too does the need to effectively manage that software asset. The telecom industry has a proven solution for remotely updating software on mobile devices. The technology is called Firmware Over-the-Air (FOTA) updating. All major mobile phone manufacturers have adopted FOTA. All tier 1 mobile operators are either providing a commercial FOTA service, or using FOTA in deployment phases. Some mobile operators have already performed millions of firmware updates over the air—reducing customer care costs, avoiding product recalls and increasing consumer satisfaction. FOTA technology however, is currently not applied in the automotive industry. This paper describes the existing update methodology in the automotive industry, its pros and cons and the potential of using FOTA in automotive. The paper analyzes the benefits, challenges and several use cases.
Key Criteria for Evaluating Technologies for Effective Firmware Over-the-Air (FOTA) Updating of Mobile Phones
As mobile phones become more complex, FOTA has been widely adopted as a cost-effective solution for delivering updates to phones already in the hands of users. FOTA decreases warranty costs, speeds time to market and enhances customer satisfaction with their mobile phones.
In evaluating FOTA update technologies, handset manufacturers and mobile network operators should consider several key criteria:
- The impact on the handset bill of materials
- The impact on the network bandwidth
- The user experience
- The reliability of the update process and its associated costs
- The manageability, predictability and repeatability of the update process
The performance of the FOTA solution is, in large measure, determined by the underlying technology used to generate and install updates. FOTA solutions available today are built on three fundamentally different technologies: patching, padding, or computational. These technologies have a direct bearing on memory requirements and bill of materials, bandwidth demands, reliability, the development process, user satisfaction, and the overall success of the FOTA deployment.
This paper provides a detailed discussion of the key considerations for evaluating Firmware Over-the-Air (FOTA) updating technologies. It describes the components and basic operations of FOTA update technology and explains the constraints imposed on the update process by the mobile phone environment. It also discusses in detail the five key criteria for evaluating an effective FOTA update technology. Finally, the paper outlines three different technologies underlying commercially available solutions.
Standardizing the distribution of firmware over-the-air (FOTA) updates between update package creators and update package distributors
Interoperability standards are one of the key drivers to the successful growth of the mobile device management (MDM) market. These standards are being successfully defined and promoted by the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA) organization. In particular, the standards for the device management (DM) process between mobile device management systems used by operators and the mobile devices that implement FOTA has been rigorously defined and widely adopted by device manufacturers, mobile service providers and DM system vendors. However, there has been less focus on standardizing the distribution of FOTA update packages between update package creators (such as mobile handset manufacturers) and update package distributors (such as mobile service providers).
Having a common standard for distribution of update packages within the mobile industry is crucial for efficient FOTA updating process. A package format standard was recently proposed to OMA DM by leading companies in the device management market, among them Red Bend and Innopath. This format is called Package Ingest Container or PIC, and is described in this paper.
Addressing the Challenges of Updating Software and Firmware on Mobile Telephone Handsets Over the Air
A technology known as "firmware over-the-air" (FOTA) updating is gaining broad acceptance in the mobile telephone industry. Companies are implementing it to address the growing challenges of providing higher quality and more reliable software for mobile devices and eliminating expensive recalls, while meeting aggressive time-to-market demands.
FOTA updating enables mobile device manufacturers and carriers to remotely update the software and firmware that controls the function of the handset wirelessly. New software that patches flaws in the firmware originally installed on the handset is delivered over the air, eliminating the need for the user to bring the handset to a service facility.