JP2002244877A - Printer device and program updating method for the same - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To execute the program updating processing in a shorter time without stopping processing of a program in operation. SOLUTION: A data receiving part 2 receives update data and writes them into an update data storing region 8. Upon a power input to a printer device 1, a system controlling part 5 copies a program to a program executing region 9 from a program storing region 6, and uses the update data stored in the update data storing region 8 to update the program in the program executing region 9. If no problems arise after execution of starting processing of the program in the program executing region 9, updated part of the program in the program storing region 6 is erased and the update data are written into the position. The program in the program executing region 9 is then executed to perform a normal operation.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printer device having a built-in program, and more particularly to a printer device that updates a program without stopping the original operation of a running program and a method of updating the program.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a method of updating a program in a printer, a program operation in operation is stopped, the mode is changed to a program update mode, the printer is restarted after a program update process, or a power supply is turned off. When the power is once turned off and the power is turned on by a predetermined operation, the mode transits to the update mode and the program is updated.

As a method of performing a program update process without stopping a running program, a plurality of storage areas for the program are provided, and a storage area not used during the operation of the program is provided. There is a method of performing writing and selecting a program by comparing the update date at the next startup.

[0004]

However, the above-mentioned prior art has the following problems.

In the first method, since the operation of the apparatus needs to be stopped or restarted, there is a problem that time cannot be secured for updating the program depending on the use situation of other users.

The second method has problems that a large storage area for the program is required and that it takes time to receive data for rewriting the entire program.

An object of the present invention is to solve the above problems,
Without stopping the original operation of the running program,
In addition, by shortening the time for receiving updates,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a printer apparatus and a program updating method for reducing the influence of a program updating process on other users.

[0008]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printer apparatus which operates according to a program and rewrites the program with update data received from an external device. A data receiving unit that stores the update data state of the update data state in the storage area and the update data state of the update data state in the storage area, and an update that copies the program stored in the program storage area to the program execution area and stores the program in the update data state storage area When the data state is no update data, the execution transitions to the program in the program execution area, and when the update data state is the update data, the program is updated by applying the update data to the program in the program storage area and the update data is updated. Execute the program with the update data status stored in the status storage area as no update data A system control unit that shifts execution to a program in the area, a program storage area that stores a program that controls print processing, an update data state storage area that stores the processing state of the update data, An update data storage area for storing the updated data, and a program execution area in which the program stored in the program storage area is copied and stored, and the stored program is executed.

In the printer device according to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the system control unit is configured to update the update data when the update data state stored in the update data state storage area includes update data when the printer device is started. Applying the data to the program copied to the program execution area, updating the program, confirming the start of the updated program, and if the update is normal, applying the update data to the program stored in the program storage area. Updating is performed.

In a third aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, the system control unit is arranged such that when an idle time is detected, the update data state stored in the update data state storage area indicates that there is update data. Checking a non-updated part of the program stored in the program storage area and the update data with a checksum, and if the result is normal, applying the update data to the program stored in the program storage area to update the program Is performed.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the printer of the second or third aspect, the system control unit updates the program by applying the update data to a program stored in the program storage area. Sometimes, the update data state stored in the update data state storage area is being updated in the program, and when the update data state stored in the update data state storage area is in the program update state when the printer device is started, the update data state is stored in the program storage area. The program is updated by applying the update data to the program to be updated, the update data status stored in the update data status storage area is determined to be no update data, and the program stored in the program storage area is copied to the program execution area. Transition execution to the program in the program execution area And butterflies.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a program updating method for a printer apparatus, comprising a data receiving unit, a system control unit, a program storage area, an update data state storage area, an update data storage area, and a program execution area, and operated by a program. And updating the program with update data received from an external device, wherein the data receiving unit receives the update data, stores the update data in the update data storage area, and stores the update data state storage area in the update data state storage area. The system control unit copies the program stored in the program storage area to the program execution area, and the update data state stored in the update data state storage area is no update data. In the case of, transition execution to the program in the program execution area, When the update data state has update data, the program is updated by applying the update data to the program in the program storage area, and the update data state stored in the update data state storage area is determined to be no update data, The execution is transited to the program in the program execution area.

[0013] In a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the program updating method according to the fifth aspect, when the update data state stored in the update data state storage area at the time of starting the printer apparatus has the update data, the update data is updated. Update the program by applying to the program copied to the program execution area, confirm the start of the updated program, if the confirmation is normal, apply the update data to the program stored in the program storage area Program update.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided the program updating method for a printer device according to the fifth aspect, wherein when the idle time is detected, the update data status stored in the update data status storage area indicates that there is update data. A part of the program stored in the storage area that is not updated and the update data are checked with a checksum. If the check is successful, the program is updated by applying the update data to the program stored in the program storage area. Is performed.

The program updating method for a printer device according to an eighth aspect of the present invention is the program updating method according to the sixth or seventh aspect, wherein the update is performed by applying the update data to the program stored in the program storage area. The update data status stored in the update data status storage area is defined as the program being updated, and the update data status stored in the update data status storage area when the printer is started is stored in the program storage area when the program is being updated. The program is updated by applying the update data to the program, the update data state stored in the update data state storage area is determined to be no update data, and the program stored in the program storage area is copied to the program execution area. Transitions execution to the program in the program execution area It is characterized in.

[0016]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The present invention relates to a printer which operates with an embedded program and which can rewrite the embedded program from the outside without stopping the processing of the running program. It is characterized in that update processing can be executed.

The first embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of the first embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, a printer 1 according to the present invention includes a data receiving unit 2 for receiving data from an external device (not shown), a system control unit 5, a program storage area 6, and an updated data status. It includes a storage area 7, an update data storage area 8, and a program execution area 9.

The data receiving section 2 receives data (including processing commands) from an external device (not shown).
Data reception is performed, for example, in units called jobs. A job is a collection of data whose start and end are clarified. By processing the program update data as a job, the program update data can be received without hindering other operations. When a job as program update data is received, the data in the job is written to the update data storage area 8, and the update data state stored in the update data state storage area 7 is set to "update data exists". The update data is update information for the program stored in the program storage area 6, and is a set of information including the update information and an application position of the program to which the update information is applied. Is created outside the printer device 1 and transmitted from the external device.

The system control unit 5 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit), and is controlled when the printer 1 is started, and controls the printer 1. The system control unit 5 performs normal copying of the program from the program storage area 6 to the program execution area 9 and shifts the execution to the copied program in the program execution area 9, and stores the program in the update data state storage area 7. If the updated data status is "updated data", the update data is applied to the program copied to the program execution area 9, the program is updated, and the updated program is started. The update data state stored in the storage area 7 is set to “program updating” and the program is updated by applying the update data to the program stored in the program storage area 6 and the update data state stored in the update data state storage area 7 Update means to set "no update data" and update when printer is started When the update data status stored in the data status storage area 7 is “program updating”, the update data is applied to the program stored in the program storage area 6 to update the program and stored in the update data status storage area 7. It includes a program update restoring unit for setting the update data state to be “no update data”, a normal processing unit for performing normal job data processing, and the like.

The program storage area 6 is an area secured in a non-volatile memory such as a ROM (Read Only Memory) and storing a program for controlling a printing process.

The update data status storage area 7 is secured in a nonvolatile memory such as a ROM and indicates the status of the update data.
The update data state is “update data exists” when valid update data is stored in the update data state storage area 7, “no update data” exists when there is no valid update data in the update data state storage area 7, When the program in the program storage area 6 is being updated with the update data, the status is “program updating”.

The update data storage area 8 is secured in a non-volatile memory such as a ROM, and stores program update data received by the data receiving unit 2.

The program execution area 9 is an area secured in a memory such as a RAM (random access memory), in which a program stored in the program storage area 6 is copied and stored, and the stored program is executed.

Regarding the operation of the first embodiment of the present invention,
This will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a flow of an operation when receiving job data.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a flow of the operation at the time of starting the power supply.

First, the operation of the printer device 1 when receiving job data will be described with reference to FIG.

Upon receiving the job data, the data receiving unit 2 determines whether or not the job data is a program update job (S11 to S12).

If the received job is not a program update job, the control is passed to the system control unit 5 to perform normal job data processing (S13), and when the processing is completed, the system waits again for job data reception (S11). .

If the received job is a program update job, the update data storage area 8 is deleted, update data of a program included in the job is stored in the update data storage area 8, and the update data state is updated. It is rewritten to "updated data exists" (S14), and upon completion of the storing process, the job data is again waited for reception (S11).

As described above, the update data is stored in the update data storage area.

When the power is turned on next time, the state of the update data is checked, and the program update process is performed.

Next, with reference to FIG. 3, the operation of the printer device 1 when the power is turned on will be described.

The system control unit 5 determines that the update data status is "
It is determined whether or not the program is being updated (S21).
It is checked whether "update data exists" (S22).

If the updated data state is "updated data exists", the program is copied from the program storage area 6 to the program execution area 9 (S23).

Subsequently, the program in the program execution area 9 is updated with the update data stored in the update data storage area 8 (S24).

When the program update is completed, the program in the program execution area 9 is started to check whether there is any problem (S25).

If there is no problem in starting the printer device 1,
The state of the update data is set to “program updating”, the part of the program storage area 6 to be updated is erased, and the update data is written to that position (S26).

When the writing is completed, the update data state is set to "no update data", the execution is shifted to the program in the program execution area 9, and the normal operation is performed (S27 to S27).
S28).

If a problem occurs in the startup processing operation by the program in the program execution area 9 (S25), the update data state is set to "no update data" (S32), and the update processing is not performed and the program is stored in the program storage area 6. Normal startup processing is performed by a certain program. That is, the program is copied from the program storage area 6 to the program execution area 9 and the execution is shifted to the copied program on the program execution area 9 (S33).

When it is determined that there is no update data in the update data presence check (S22), normal startup processing is performed by the program in the program storage area 6 (S3).
3).

If it is determined that the program is being updated during the program update check (S2)
1) During the process of updating the program in the program storage area 6 in S26, the update may not be completed due to, for example, the power of the printer device 1 being turned off. 6 (S31), and when the update processing is completed, the update data state is set to "no update data", and the normal startup processing is performed by the program in the program storage area 6 that has been updated (S33). .

As described above, in the program update method of the present invention, when update data is received, only the update data is stored in the update data storage area, and the actual program update process is performed by power-on without affecting the operation of the printer. Since the update is performed at the time, the update process can be executed without stopping the running program.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

The second embodiment of the present invention differs from the first embodiment in that the program is updated not when the power is turned on but when the printer is idle.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the configuration of the second embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 4, a printer 21 according to the present invention includes a data receiving unit 22 for receiving data from an external device (not shown), a system control unit 25, a program storage area 6, and an updated data state. It includes a storage area 7, an update data storage area 8, and a program execution area 9.

Here, a description will be given of a data receiving unit 22 and a system control unit 25 which are different from those of the first embodiment shown in FIG.

The data receiving section 22 has a function similar to that of the data receiving section 2 in the first embodiment, and is also busy with the transmission source when data is transmitted when the update data state is "program updating". Means for transmitting a signal.

The system control unit 25 has a CPU, and receives control when the printer device 21 is activated.
Control 1 The system control unit 25 performs normal copying means for copying the program from the program storage area 6 to the program execution area 9 and shifting the execution to the copied program on the program execution area 9, and stores the program in the update data state storage area 7. When the updated data status is “updated data”, the portion of the program stored in the program storage area 6 that is not updated and the update data are checked with a checksum. The update data state stored in the update data state is set to "program updating", the update data is applied to the program in the program storage area 6, the program is updated, and the update data state stored in the update data state storage area 7 is set to "no update data". Program update means to be stored in the update data status storage area 7 when the printer is started up When the update data state to be updated is “program updating”, the update data is applied to the program stored in the program storage area 6 to update the program, and the update data state stored in the update data state storage area 7 is changed to “update data”. A program update restoring unit that sets "none", a normal processing unit that performs normal job data processing, and an idle that passes control to the program updating unit by determining that the program can be rewritten when detecting an idle time during which no data is received for a certain period of time. Including time detection means.

The checksum performed by the program updating means is such that the unupdated part of the program stored in the program storage area 6 and the update data stored in the update data storage area 8 are taken out one byte at a time and the sum thereof is calculated. Then, it is checked whether it matches the checksum value transmitted in advance from the transmission source.

As described above, since the program is rewritten during the idle time, the operation of the updated program is not confirmed, but the validity of the updated program is confirmed by the checksum.

The operation of the second embodiment of the present invention will be described.

First, the operation of the printer device 21 when receiving job data will be described.

Upon receiving the job data, the data receiving section 22 determines whether or not the job data is a program update job.

If the received job is not a program update job, the control is passed to the system control unit 25 to perform normal job data processing, and when the processing is completed, the job data reception waiting is waited again.

If the received job is a program update job, the update data storage area 8 is erased, the update data of the program included in the job is stored in the update data storage area 8, and the update data state is updated. When the data is rewritten to "updated data" and the storage processing is completed, the job data reception waiting is again performed.

When data is transmitted when the update data state is "program updating", a busy signal is transmitted to the transmission source and the data is not received.

Thus, the update data is stored in the update data storage area.

Then, during the idle time, the state of the update data is checked, and the program update process is performed.

Next, the operation of updating a program performed during the idle time will be described.

When no data has been received for a certain period of time, the system control unit 25 determines that the program can be rewritten.

A checksum is made by using the program excluding the replacement part and the update data.

If the checksum is correct, the program is rewritten. The rewriting of the program is performed by applying update data to the program in the program storage area 6.

At this time, the state of the update data is set to “program updating”, the erasing process of the updated portion of the program in the program storage area 6 is performed, and the update data is written to that position.

When the writing is completed, the update data state is changed to "
There is no update data ", and the writing is completed.

Thus, at the next power-on, the updated program is executed without performing the program rewriting process. Since the program rewriting process is performed during the idle time of the printer device 21, there is no need to be aware of the time of the program rewriting process.

Next, a third embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

According to the third embodiment of the present invention, in the second embodiment, when the update data state is "program updating", the data receiving unit does not accept the transmission data and continues the program update processing. On the other hand, the difference is that the data reception unit receives transmission data, temporarily suspends the update process of the program, and processes the received data.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing the configuration of the third embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 5, the printer device 31 of the present invention includes a data receiving unit 32 for receiving data from an external device (not shown), a system control unit 35, a program storage area 6, and an updated data status. It includes a storage area 7, an update data storage area 8, and a program execution area 9.

Here, a data receiving unit 32 and a system control unit 35 different from those of the second embodiment shown in FIG. 4 will be described.

The data receiving section 32 has a function equivalent to that of the data receiving section 2 in the first embodiment, and furthermore, a system control section 35 when data is transmitted when the update data state is "program updating". Means for requesting a temporary suspension of the program update process. However, if the transmitted data is data of a program update job, a busy signal is transmitted to the transmission source.

The system control unit 35 has a CPU, and receives control when the printer device 31 is started up.
Control 1 The system control unit 35 performs a process of copying a program from the program storage area 6 to the program execution area 9 and shifts execution to the copied program in the program execution area 9, and stores the program in the update data state storage area 7. When the updated data status is “updated data”, the portion of the program stored in the program storage area 6 that is not updated and the update data are checked with a checksum. The update data state stored in the update data state is set to "program updating", the update data is applied to the program in the program storage area 6, the program is updated, and the update data state stored in the update data state storage area 7 is set to "no update data". Program update means to be stored in the update data status storage area 7 when the printer is started up When the update data state to be updated is “program updating”, the update data is applied to the program stored in the program storage area 6 to update the program, and the update data state stored in the update data state storage area 7 is changed to “update data”. A program update / recovery unit that sets "none"; a normal processing unit that performs normal job data processing; If the update data state is "temporarily suspended for program update", the idle detection means for transferring control to the program update resuming means, and the program update processing is temporarily suspended when the data reception unit 32 requests the temporary suspension of the program update processing. The processing status at that time is saved, and the update data status is set to "Program update temporarily suspended". Including normal processing and program update temporary interruption means to pass control to the means, a program updating resuming means to be "programmed Updating" to update data state resumes program update process from the processing state stored.

The operation of the third embodiment of the present invention will be described.

First, the operation of the printer device 31 when receiving job data will be described.

When receiving the job data, the data receiving section 32 determines whether or not the job data is a program update job.

If the received job is not a program update job, control is passed to the system control unit 35 to perform normal job data processing, and when the processing is completed, the system waits for reception of job data again.

If the received job is a program update job, the update data storage area 8 is deleted, the update data of the program included in the job is stored in the update data storage area 8, and the update data state is changed. When the data is rewritten to "updated data" and the storage processing is completed, the job data reception waiting is again performed.

When data (data other than the program update job) is transmitted when the update data state is “program updating”, a request is made to the system control unit 35 to temporarily suspend the program update process, and the system control unit 35 The normal job data processing is performed by temporarily suspending the program update processing, and when the processing is completed, the apparatus waits for reception of job data again.

In this way, the update data is stored in the update data storage area.

During the idle time, the state of the update data is checked, and the program update process is performed.

Next, the operation of updating the program performed during the idle time will be described.

The system control unit 35 determines that the program can be rewritten when there is no data reception for a predetermined time.

A checksum is performed using the program excluding the replacement part and the update data.

If the checksum is correct, the program is rewritten. The rewriting of the program is performed by applying update data to the program in the program storage area 6.

At this time, the update data state is set to “program updating”, the erasing process of the updated portion of the program in the program storage area 6 is performed, and the update data is written to that position.

When the writing is completed, the state of the update data is changed to "
There is no update data ", and the writing is completed.

When the data receiving unit 32 requests a temporary suspension of the program update processing, the program update processing is suspended, the processing state at that time is saved, and the update data state is set to "program update temporary suspension". Control is passed to the processing means to perform normal job data processing.

If no data has been received for a certain period of time after the end of the processing, the program update processing is restarted from the stored processing state and the update data state is set to "program updating".

Thus, the program rewriting process (program updating process) can be temporarily interrupted, and the processing of the data received by the data receiving unit can be performed with priority.

In addition to the above-described embodiment, when data (data other than the program update job) is transmitted from an external device while the program is being updated during the idle time, the data is temporarily transmitted to the data receiving unit. Receive,
After the program update processing is completed, the received data may be processed.

[0095]

The first effect is that the update of the program does not hinder other users of the printer device.

The reason is that a means for receiving the program update data without hindering the operation of the printer is provided by managing the program update data as a job. Also, a means is provided for separately receiving the program update data and applying the received update data to the program.

The second effect is that the reception of the program update data can be performed in a shorter time as compared with the case where the entire program is received, and the influence on the receiving operation of the printer device is small.

The reason is that the program update data is only an update part for the already stored program.

The third effect is that the reliability of the updated program is high.

The reason is that a means is provided for confirming that the operation of the updated program up to the start of the printer is performed normally.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a flow of an operation when receiving job data.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a flow of an operation at the time of power activation.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration of a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing a configuration of a third embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 printer device 2 data reception unit 5 system control unit 6 program storage area 7 update data status storage area 8 update data storage area 9 program execution area 21 printer device 22 data reception unit 25 system control unit 31 printer device 32 data reception unit 35 system Control unit

Continued on front page F term (reference) 2C061 AP01 HH08 HJ10 HK04 HN02 HN15 HN24 2C087 AB05 BA14 BC04 BC07 BD01 BD41 BD46 5B014 EB01 FA06 FA07 FA13 FA14 5B021 AA01 BB00 CC06 DD00 5B076 AC03 BB04 BB06 EA11 EB17

Claims (8)

[Claims] 1. A printer device that operates with a program and rewrites the program with update data received from an external device. The printer device receives update data, stores the update data in an update data storage area, and stores an update data state in the update data state storage area. A data receiving unit that has update data, and a program stored in the program storage area is copied to the program execution area, and if the update data state stored in the update data state storage area is no update data, the program execution area When the execution transitions to the program and the update data state is update data, the program is updated by applying the update data to the program in the program storage area, and the update data state stored in the update data state storage area is updated. A system control unit that transitions execution to the program in the program execution area with no A program storage area for storing a program for controlling print processing, an update data state storage area for storing the processing state of the update data, an update data storage area for storing the update data received by the data receiving unit, And a program execution area in which the program stored in the program storage area is copied and stored, and the stored program is executed. 2. The system control unit according to claim 1, wherein said update data is stored in said update data status storage area when said printer is started, and said update data is applied to the program copied to said program execution area when said update data is present. 2. The program update method according to claim 1, wherein the program update is performed, a start of the updated program is confirmed, and if the program is normal, the program is updated by applying the update data to the program stored in the program storage area. Printer device. 3. The program stored in the program storage area is not updated when an update data state stored in the update data state storage area has update data when the idle time is detected. 2. The printer according to claim 1, wherein the program is updated by applying the update data to a program stored in the program storage area if the portion and the update data are confirmed by a checksum and are normal. apparatus. 4. The system control unit according to claim 1, wherein said update data is applied to a program stored in said program storage area to update a program. If the update data status stored in the update data status storage area at the time of starting the printer device is updating the program, the program is updated by applying the update data to the program stored in the program storage area. The update data state stored in the data state storage area is determined to be no update data, and the program stored in the program storage area is copied to the program execution area, and execution is shifted to the program in the program execution area. Item 4. The printer according to item 2 or 3. 5. A data receiving unit, a system control unit, a program storage area, an update data state storage area, an update data storage area, and a program execution area. The program operates with the program, and executes the program with update data received from an external device. A method for updating a program of a printer device to be rewritten, wherein the data receiving unit receives update data, stores the update data in the update data storage area, and sets the update data state of the update data state storage area to be update data; The control unit copies the program stored in the program storage area to the program execution area, and executes the program in the program execution area when the update data state stored in the update data state storage area is no update data. If the update data status indicates that there is update data, the Updating the program by applying the update data to the program in the program storage area, setting the update data state stored in the update data state storage area to be no update data, and transiting execution to the program in the program execution area. A method for updating a program of a printer device, comprising: 6. When a status of the update data stored in the update data status storage area at the time of starting the printer apparatus is update data, the update data is applied to the program copied to the program execution area to update the program. 6. The printer according to claim 5, wherein a start of the updated program is confirmed, and if the confirmation is normal, the program is updated by applying the update data to the program stored in the program storage area. A method for updating a device program. 7. A program that is not updated in a program stored in the program storage area when an update data state stored in the update data state storage area has an update data when an idle time is detected. 6. The program according to claim 5, wherein the program is updated by applying the update data to the program stored in the program storage area if the check is normal. Update method. 8. When the program is updated by applying the update data to a program stored in the program storage area, the update data status stored in the update data status storage area is determined to be "updating the program". When the update data status stored in the update data status storage area at the time of startup is a program update, the program is updated by applying the update data to the program stored in the program storage area, and the update data status storage area is updated. Wherein the state of the update data stored in the program execution area is no update data, the program stored in the program storage area is copied to the program execution area, and execution is shifted to the program in the program execution area. 8. The method of updating a printer device program according to 6 or 7.