1. Radiocommunication module of the type hosting and executing a main software that in particular performs radiocommunication functions, the said main software comprising means of executing driver commands sent to the main software by at least one client driver software and belonging to a predetermined set of driver commands,
characterised in that the said radiocommunication module also hosts and executes at least one client software, called the client embedded software,
and in that the client embedded software and the main software comprise means of enabling the client embedded software to perform at least one of the following two roles:
the role of a client driver software sending driver commands to the main software, and receiving responses from the main software resulting from the execution of some of the driver commands;
the role of a client supervision software, managing execution of driver commands sent by a client driver software, called the client external software, hosted on and executed by terminal equipment cooperating with the radiocommunication module.
2. Radiocommunication module according to claim 1, characterised in that the following features are provided to enable the client embedded software to act as client driver software:
the client embedded software comprises means of sending driver commands to execution means included in the main software;
the main software comprises means of sending responses resulting from the execution of some driver commands by the execution means included in the main software, to the client embedded software;
the client embedded software comprises means of processing responses sent to it by the main software.
3. Radiocommunication module as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that the following features are provided to enable the client embedded software to act as client supervision software:
the main software comprises means of preparsing commands as a function of a determined preparsing policy, so as to transmit driver commands from the client external software to the client embedded software andor to execution means contained in the main software;
the client embedded software includes means of processing driver commands switched to it by the said preparsing means.
4. Radiocommunication module according to claim 3, characterised in that the client embedded software comprises means of selecting the command preparsing policy applied by the said preparsing means, among a set of preparsing policies such as:
driver commands originating from the client external software are sent only to execution means within the main software;
driver commands originating from the client external software are sent only to the client embedded software;
driver commands originating from the client external software are sent to the execution means within the main software and to the client embedded software.
5. Radiocommunication module as claimed in claim 3, characterised in that the said command processing means comprise at least one decision for each command, belonging to the group including:
send the driver command to the execution means included in the main software, the client embedded software comprising means of sending driver commands to the execution means for this purpose;
supply or do not supply a response, only as a function of at least one item of information about the command, without executing the command, the client embedded software comprising means of sending the response to the client external software for this purpose through the main software.
6. Radiocommunication module as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that in order to enable the client embedded software to act as client supervision software:
the main software comprises means of preparsing responses as a function of a determined response preparsing policy, so as to transmit responses resulting from the execution of some driver commands by execution means included in the main software, to the client embedded software andor to the client external software;
the client embedded software comprises means of processing responses switched to it by the said response preparsing means.
7. Radiocommunication module according to claim 6, characterised in that the client embedded software comprises means of selecting the response preparsing policy applied by the said response preparsing means, among a set of response preparsing policies such as the following:
responses originating from execution means are transmitted only to the client external software;
responses originating from execution means are transmitted only to the client embedded software;
responses originating from execution means are transmitted to the client embedded software and to the client external software.
8. Radiocommunication module as claimed in claim 6, characterised in that it is included within a device belonging to the following group:
radiocommunication terminals;
devices other than radiocommunication terminals necessitating a wireless communication feature;
modems.
9. Radiocommunication module as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that the said main software comprises at least one main application particularly based on a set of execution functions, each enabling the execution of at least one of the said driver commands,
in that the said client embedded software comprises a client application particularly based on a set of source functions, each enabling sending or receiving driver commands or responses to driver commands, to or from the main application,
and in that the main software andor the said client embedded software comprise an application interface used to interface the said source functions with the said execution functions.
10. Radiocommunication module as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that the said client embedded software comprises a client application, particularly based on a set of source functions, each enabling sending or receiving driver commands or responses to driver commands, to or from the main application,
and in that the said set of source functions particularly comprises a function (wm_apmAppliParser) for processing a message originating from the main software, the said message being a parameter of the said processing function.
11. Radiocommunication module according to claim 10, characterised in that the structure of the said message forming a parameter of the said processing function comprises:
a first field containing information related to the type of the said message;
a second field containing the specific body of the said message.
12. Radiocommunication module according to claim 11, characterised in that the said message type belongs to the group comprising:
message containing a response to a driver command previously sent to the main software by the client embedded software;
message containing an unsolicited driver command;
message containing a driver command sent by a client external software through the main software;
message containing a response resulting from execution of a driver command by the main software;
message sent on expiration of a timeout.
13. Radiocommunication module as claimed in claim 10, characterised in that the said set of source functions also comprises at least a source function belonging to the following group:
a (wm_atSendCommand) function for sending at least one driver command to the main software, a first parameter of the said sending function being the said at least one driver command, a second parameter of the said sending function indicating the destination software to which the response resulting from execution of the said driver command is sent, namely the client embedded software, andor the client external software;
a (wm atUnsolicitedSubscription) registration function with the main software to a service for reception of unsolicited driver commands, one parameter of the said registration function indicating the destination software to which each of the unsolicited driver commands is to be redirected, namely the client embedded software, andor the client external software;
a (wm atCmdPreParserSubscribe) registration function with the main software to a driver command preparsing service, in which a parameter of the said registration function indicates the destination application(s), namely the main software andor the client embedded software to which each driver command originating from the client external software must be directed;
a (wm atRspPreParserSubscribe) registration function with the main software to a response preparsing service, in which a parameter of the said registration function indicates the destination application(s), namely the client external application andor the client embedded software to which each response resulting from the execution of a driver command by the main software, must be directed;
a (wm atSendRspExternalApp) function for sending at least one response to the client external software, through the main software, a parameter of the said sending function being the said at least one response.
14. Radiocommunication module as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that the client embedded software and the main software each use a distinct part of a RAM, and an attempt by one of the two software programs to access part of the RAM reserved for the other software will stop operation.
15. Radiocommunication module as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that the said set of driver commands is a set of standard AT commands.
16. Radiocommunication module according to claim 15, characterised in that the said set of driver commands comprises an additional AT command for loading a client software (ATWDWL), enabling the client external software to load a new client software into the radiocommunication module, in addition to standard AT commands.
17. Radiocommunication module as claimed in claim 15, characterised in that the said set of driver commands comprises an additional AT command called the deactivate command (ATWOPEN) enabling the client external software to deactivate the client embedded software, in addition to standard AT commands.
18. Process for implementing a client software for driving a radiocommunication module, the said radiocommunication module being of the type hosting and executing a main software that in particular performs radiocommunication functions, the said main software comprising means of executing driver commands sent to the main software by the said client driver software and belonging to a predetermined set of driver commands,
characterised in that the said Radiocommunication module also hosts and executes at least one client software, called the client embedded software,
and in that the client embedded software and the main software dialogue with each other such that the client embedded software performs at least one of the following two roles:
the role of the said client driver software sending driver commands to the main software, and receiving responses from the main software resulting from the execution of some of the driver commands;
the role of a client supervision software, managing execution of driver commands sent by the said client driver software, the said client driver software called the client external software being hosted on and executed by terminal equipment cooperating with the radiocommunication module.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A system comprising:
a processor;
a storage coupled to said processor, said storage storing instructions that enable the selection of one of at least two selectable processor abstraction layer B components within one basic inputoutput system program.
2. The system of claim 1 wherein said storage also stores a basic inputoutput system.
3. The system of claim 1 wherein said storage is a hard disk drive.
4. The system of claim 1 wherein said storage stores a catalog of selectable processor abstraction layer components.
5. The system of claim 1 wherein said selectable processor abstraction layer components are part of a file system partition.
6. The system of claim 5 wherein said file system partition is an accessible firmware interface partition.
7. The system of claim 1 wherein said storage stores instructions that enable an authentication service to be invoked to authenticate a selected one of said processor abstraction layer components.
8. The system of claim 1 wherein said storage stores instructions to shadow a selected one of said at least two processor abstraction layer components.
9. The system of claim 1 wherein said storage stores instructions to shadow a firmware interface table stored in said storage.