particle-iot / particle-iot/docs

Add more guidance for OTA updates when running a multi-threaded application

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enhancement firmware
Dominant language
JavaScript
Stars
148
Forks
266
Avg merge
14h 41m
Merged PRs (30d)
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Description

Currently all that is said on this topic is here in the SYSTEM_THREAD() section:
https://docs.particle.io/reference/firmware/photon/#system-thread

the application continues to execute during OTA updates

This is a good fact to know about, but needs more guidance. Additionally user firmware that continues to run should not do anything that might interrupt an OTA update unintentionally. Ways to mitigate this are to use the System Event for OTA Updates (begin/in-progress/finished) and set an appropriate volatile flag in user firmware which notifies a user process that an OTA update has begun/in-progress/finished. This may prevent things like a System.reset() from occurring, heavy use of the network, etc..

A short example could be included as well.

Contributor guide

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First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start with the SYSTEM_THREAD() section in the linked Photon firmware documentation. Review the OTA Updates System Event guidance and the suggestion to use a volatile flag for user firmware processes. Done means adding practical guidance on avoiding interruptions during OTA updates and including a short example.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Domain
documentation, embedded-iot
Issue type
Documentation
Difficulty
3/5
Estimated time
1-2 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Mostly clear
Newbie friendliness
35/100

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