Full modem firmware update for modem v1.3.0

[AndreasPettersson]

I am working in a project where we want to be able to do full modem firmware update with FOTA for modem version 1.3.x. According to the release notes, in order to do this, we need to use the .cbor file in the zip from the release.

I have tried to follow the example in samples/nrf9160/http_update/full_modem_update. This sample however only uses v1.2.1 and v1.2.2. Can I follow the same steps for v1.3.x using the .cbor file? Or do I need to do something more? Like some digest?

I have modified the sample to fit my project. My hardware has a nrf9160 which downloads the firmware via LwM2M. The hardware also has an external flash memory which I use for the firmware update. I am currently using NCS version 1.6.1.

[AndreasPettersson]

Just as a note if anyone else finds this. The binary files from nrfconnectsdk.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com are identical to the cbor files from the zipped modem firmware releases. So they are not delta updates, but actually full updates. This maybe should be clarified in the documentation, because it mainly mentions that when updating to v1.3.x you need to have it be cbor encoded, which to me incorrectly indicated that full modem firmware updates like v1.2.x did not use cbor, but they do.

Please feel free to correct me if I am incorrect here.

[JONATHAN LL]

Hi, 

Andreas Pettersson said:

. The binary files from nrfconnectsdk.s3.eu-central-1.amazonaws.com are identical to the cbor files from the zipped modem firmware releases.

Yes this is correct. I mistakenly thought you where referring to a different bin file. 


Just to clarify:
When updating from a mf v1.2.2 to 1.2.7 then the delta update is the correct approached. 

Full modem update uses .cbor file to update from v1.2.X to 1.3.X


Thanks for the feedback, it will help us improve examples and documentation.

Regards,
Jonathan

[loumay]

Hi Jonathan,

I got from this post that Full Modem Firmware Update (FMFU) will be provided for the future release of the Modem Firmware. Would it be also the case for the v1.2.7 release?

I understand from your reply that delta updates is considered as the go-to procedure when updating from v1.2.x to v1.2.y or I guess from v1.3.x to v1.3.y (patch version update). Otherwise, FMFU should be used for update from v1.2.x to v1.3.x (minor version update).

However, using delta updates add extra constrains on the FOTA, as it implies a specific base version. E.g.: v1.2.7 requires a base version v1.2.3. v1.2.3 requires a base version v1.2.1 or v1.2.2.

A device with a v1.2.0 will have to perform multiple patch updates, instead of simply querying the latest FMFU version for an atomic, version independent update.

Should I consider a mix of delta/full modem update in my implementation? or FMFU images will be provided also for v1.2.7 and following releases?

Regards,

Louis

[JONATHAN LL]

Hi Louis,

This is related but some what a different question so it is beneficial if it had a new ticket, but i will answer here.

We do have all the mfw here https://www.nordicsemi.com/Products/nRF9160/Download?lang=en#infotabs , you can use them for full modem updates. And they include the delta updates:http://developer.nordicsemi.com/nRF_Connect_SDK/doc/1.8.0/nrfxlib/nrf_modem/doc/delta_dfu.html#delta-update-packages

loumay said:

A device with a v1.2.0 will have to perform multiple patch updates, instead of simply querying the latest FMFU version

You can use a full modem update for v1.2.7 but this will be with the programmer application and not FOTA, then delta updates will be the only way.

But a delta update has a upper limit of 250kB, but a full modem update i 2MB. So you can have more delta updates before you have the same cost as in data as a full modem update. But there will be more resets wit delta updates, so that is something to consider. And if you have to certify the application + modem version then more cost can be applied to do delta updates.

 Regards,
Jonathan

[loumay]

Hi Jonathan,

Thanks for the clarifications. I sadly wasn't sure if creating a new ticket for this was meaningful or not.

> You can use a full modem update for v1.2.7.

The mfw_nrf9160_1.2.7.zip available for download at https://www.nordicsemi.com/Products/nRF9160/Download?lang=en#infotabs doesn't contains the serialized modem firmware in `.cbor` format.

Where can I find the procedure to generate it from the content of the mfw_nrf9160_1.2.7.zip?

Regards,

Louis