Abstract

Firmware upgrades in live wireless networks are essential for maintaining security, performance, and functionality. However, in multi-hop mesh-based networks operating on narrowband open-license bands, these upgrades present significant challenges, including bandwidth limitations, network congestion, and node synchronization complexities. This paper addresses the unique constraints of firmware upgrades in a proprietary multi-node mesh network, where each node maintains redundancy with one or two parent nodes and connects to a maximum of four child nodes. We propose an efficient firmware distribution strategy that minimizes network disruption while ensuring high reliability. Our approach leverages a structured upgrade scheduling mechanism, redundancy-aware data dissemination, and power-efficient synchronization techniques to maintain network stability during updates. Security considerations, including data integrity verification and rollback mechanisms, are integrated to prevent system failures due to faulty upgrades. Experimental evaluations demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach in reducing update latency, mitigating congestion, and maintaining reliable connectivity. We present key performance metrics, including network load distribution, energy efficiency, and update success rates, comparing them with existing solutions. The findings highlight the feasibility of implementing live firmware upgrades in constrained mesh-based wireless networks with minimal operational overhead.