System and method for remotely managing memory in a portable information device from an external computer

A system and method are provided for remotely managing memory in a programmable portable information device, such as a programmable watch, from an external computer. The portable information device has an optical sensor and a rewritable data memory. The computer has a frame-scanning graphics display device and a memory with a capacity larger than that of the device memory. The device memory is mapped into a portion of the computer memory to create a virtual device memory therein. An input device for the computer is provided to permit a user to enter programming changes to be made to the information device,. The programming changes alter the virtual device memory within the computer memory from an initial arrangement to a modified arrangement. Upon modification, a memory manager resident in the computer determines what memory transactions are effective to change the virtual device memory from its initial arrangement to its modified arrangement. An optical pattern generator in the computer produces a sequence of changing optical patterns which represents a serial stream of data indicative of the memory transactions. The graphics display device displays the sequence of changing optical patterns to optically transmit a serial stream of data that can be detected by the optical sensor of the portable information device. The memory transactions are then used by the portable information device to update its memory.