Data Hacking

Hacking the
Firmware
One guaranteed way to personalize your GPS is to update and modify
the firmware that controls the actual running of the device. In
this chapter, we’ll be looking at how you can modify your GPS at a
fundamental level.
Firmware
Firmware is the software that controls how hardware works and responds to
inputs. It’s called firmware instead of software because users generally aren’t
supposed to play around with it. But you’re not just any old user, are you?
Almost all electronic hardware contains some form of firmware. A television
remote control contains firmware that controls what signals are sent
via IR depending on what button is pressed. A cell phone contains a lot
of firmware controlling cell access, phone books, security, and much,
much more.
A GPS contains a lot of firmware controlling many of the key functions of
the device (as shown in Figure 6-1):
Reception of satellite data
Decoding of positional information
Processing of data
Conversion of data into different formats
Interpretation and display of information
External communication with devices
Storing and managing route/waypoint data
chapter
in this chapter
˛ What is firmware?
˛ Steps for safe
firmware updating
˛ How to update
firmware
˛ Hacking the
firmware