Today, a new class of field software updates is arising that has been fueled by security concerns but also allows engineers to add new features and fix bugs.
With regards to embedded devices, the firmware update mechanism must be not only secure, but also reliable in that it either succeeds in the update or fails to a recoverable state. In no way should the software update brick a device, and it should be able to happen unattended. Most updates must also preserve the previous device state, although on some occasions recovering a device could involve resetting to a default state.
There is also the question of atomicity. The Linux server world is used to performing package-based updates, and everything seems to work just fine. But an embedded device is not a server.
Read more at Embedded Computing Design
