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OEM6 Family Installation and Operation User Manual Rev 7
Chapter 8
NovAtel Firmware and Software
Each command and log can be used in abbreviated ASCII, ASCII or binary format, with the exception of
SOFTLOADDATA, which should only be used in binary format.
File Types
Firmware data is stored in *.hex and *.shex files as ASCII data in the form of S-Records, based on the
Motorola S-Record format. The *.shex file is the same as the *.hex file but includes a digital signature for
the firmware.
8.4.2
Working With S-Records
Each S-Record has a header indicating the type of information contained in the record.
Records beginning with S0, S5 and S7 contain metadata about the firmware image, such as version
information and which card types are supported by the firmware image.
Example S0 Record
S0~V~OEM060400RN0000
Example S5 Records
S50000
S503D9FE25
S5033158D5A
Example S7 Records
S70000
S70500000000FA
Records beginning with S3 contain the actual firmware image data. Aside from the header, each pair of
characters forms the ASCII representation of a binary byte. The format is as follows:
Command
Description
SOFTLOADRESET
Initiate a new SoftLoad process
SOFTLOADSREC
Send an S-Record to the receiver for the SoftLoad process
SOFTLOADDATA
Send firmware image data to the receiver for the SoftLoad process
SOFTLOADCOMMIT Complete the SoftLoad process
SOFTLOADSETUP
Send configuration information to the receiver for the SoftLoad process. This
command is not required when working with a *.hex or *.shex file
Log
Description
SOFTLOADSTATUS Provides status updates for the ongoing SoftLoad process
S3
LL
AAAAAAAA
DDDDDDDD...DDDDDDDD
CC
Check Sum.
Little Endian Data. These bytes are copied into the "data" field of the
SOFTLOADDATA
command
4 - Byte Address. Set this as the value of "offset" in the SOFTLOADDATA command
Length.This is the hexadecimal number of character pairs to follow in the record. This value
minus 4 bytes for the address and 1 byte for the check sum is copied into the "data length" field
of the
SOFTLOADDATA
command
Header
