Hardware and file system agnostic mechanism for achieving capsule support
Methods and apparatus relating to a hardware and file system agnostic mechanism for achieving capsule support are described. In one embodiment, content associate with a capsule are stored in a non-volatile memory prior to a cold reset. A capsule descriptor may also be constructed, prior to the reset, which includes information about the physical location of the capsule content on the non-volatile memory. Other embodiments are also described and claimed.
1. An apparatus comprising:
a non-volatile memory to store content corresponding to a capsule; and
a processor to:
detect a capsule update request;
store the content corresponding to the capsule in the memory;
construct a capsule descriptor, wherein a capsule variable is to be defined for the capsule descriptor to comprise: a list of one or more physical locations of the content corresponding to the capsule stored on the non-volatile memory and a NV (Non-Volatile) attribute, wherein the NV attribute is to indicate whether the capsule variable is to survive a platform reset; and
generate a signal to cause a volatile memory destructive reset in response to storage of the capsule descriptor.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a firmware, wherein the firmware is to be updated in accordance with the content corresponding to the capsule.
3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor is to access the one or more physical locations on the non-volatile memory to read the content corresponding to the capsule in response to a platform initialization caused by the volatile memory destructive reset.
4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the capsule descriptor is file system agnostic.
5. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a capsule update request flag, wherein the processor is to detect the capsule update request based on a value stored in the capsule update request flag.
6. The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the processor is to store a value in the capsule update request flag in response to a request by an operating system.
7. The apparatus of claim 6 , further comprising a volatile memory to store the operating system.
8. The apparatus of claim 1 , further comprising a computer system that comprises the processor and the non-volatile memory, wherein the computer system is incapable of supporting a memory non-destructive reset.
9. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor comprises a plurality of processor cores.
10. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the capsule variable is to be defined for the capsule descriptor to comprise: the list of one or more physical locations of the content corresponding to the capsule stored on the non-volatile memory and one or more attributes comprising: the NV (Non-Volatile) attribute, a BS (Boot Service) attribute, and an RT (Run-Time) attribute, wherein the BS and RT attributes are to indicate when the capsule variable is accessible.
11. A method comprising:
receiving a request to generate a capsule;
storing content corresponding to the capsule in a non-volatile memory;
constructing a capsule descriptor having a capsule variable to be defined for the capsule descriptor to comprise: a list of one or more physical locations of the content corresponding to the capsule stored on the non-volatile memory and a NV (Non-Volatile) attribute, wherein the NV attribute is to indicate whether the capsule variable is to survive a platform reset; and
performing a volatile memory destructive reset in response to storage of the capsule descriptor.
12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising updating a firmware in accordance with the content corresponding to the capsule.
13. The method of claim 11 , further comprising accessing the one or more physical locations on the non-volatile memory to read the content corresponding to the capsule in response to a platform initialization caused by the volatile memory destructive reset.
14. The method of claim 11 , wherein receiving the request comprises determining a value stored in a capsule update request flag.
15. The method of claim 14 , further comprising updating a value stored in the update request flag based on a request by an operating system.
16. The method of claim 11 , further comprising loading the content corresponding to the capsule from the non-volatile memory in response to a request to process the capsule.
17. The method of claim 16 , further comprising performing one or more operations corresponding to the loaded capsule content.
18. The method of claim 11 , wherein the capsule variable is to be defined for the capsule descriptor to comprise: the list of one or more physical locations of the content corresponding to the capsule stored on the non-volatile memory and one or more attributes comprising: the NV (Non-Volatile) attribute, a BS (Boot Service) attribute, and an RT (Run-Time) attribute, wherein the BS and RT attributes are to indicate when the capsule variable is accessible.
19. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising one or more instructions that when executed on a processor configure the processor to perform one or more operations to:
receive a request to generate a capsule;
store content corresponding to the capsule in a non-volatile memory;
construct a capsule descriptor, wherein a capsule variable is to be defined for the capsule descriptor to comprise: a list of one or more physical locations of the content corresponding to the capsule stored on the non-volatile memory and a NV (Non-Volatile) attribute, wherein the NV attribute is to indicate whether the capsule variable is to survive a platform reset; and
perform a volatile memory destructive reset in response to storage of the capsule descriptor.
20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19 , further comprising one or more instructions that when executed on a processor configure the processor to update a firmware in accordance with the content corresponding to the capsule.
21. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19 , further comprising one or more instructions that when executed on a processor configure the processor to access the one or more physical locations on the non-volatile memory to read the content corresponding to the capsule in response to a platform initialization caused by the volatile memory destructive reset.
22. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19 , further comprising one or more instructions that when executed on a processor configure the processor to determine a value stored in a capsule update request flag.
23. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19 , further comprising one or more instructions that when executed on a processor configure the processor to define the capsule variable for the capsule descriptor to comprise: the list of one or more physical locations of the content corresponding to the capsule stored on the non-volatile memory and one or more attributes comprising: the NV (Non-Volatile) attribute, a BS (Boot Service) attribute, and an RT (Run-Time) attribute, wherein the BS and RT attributes are to indicate when the capsule variable is accessible.