JP3019335B2 - Program loading method - Google Patents

Description

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method of loading a program, and more particularly, to a method of loading a program in a peripheral device for a computer having a different architecture.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, for example, a system using a so-called emulation card that supplies an emulation program that mainly supports data processing has been put into practical use so that a printer device can be connected to a plurality of different types of personal computers.

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

However, in the method using the conventional emulation card, for example, when a page printer or the like is added as a device or an option having dedicated hardware for the rotation of font data or the expansion of graphic data, As shown in FIG. 5, one or both of the ROM of the main body and the emulation card had to be replaced.
In other words, the addition of hardware can be switched within the program using a dip switch, memory switch, etc. Instead, a method such as using firmware in the emulation card is used.

More specifically, FIG. 5A shows that the main program (MAIN) uses the one read from the emulation card, while the BIOS (basic input / output module) uses the one in the main unit ROM. In this system, the main unit ROM needs to be replaced when upgrading the version. FIG. 5 (b) shows the main program, B
Both IOS use the firmware in the emulation card and can be upgraded, but there is a problem that the old BIOS may be used depending on the shipping time even if the contents of the main unit ROM are newer. In FIG. 5, the symbol b indicates that the version is newer than the symbol a.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to solve the above-described problems in the conventional technology, and in any of the above cases, to download the latest firmware at that time. An object of the present invention is to provide a method of loading a program that can be supplied.

[Means for solving the problem]

An object of the present invention is to store a program in a device.
In a device having a ROM and having an emulation card handling unit for supplying an emulation program, a header including version-up information is added to each module of the BIOS stored in the ROM and the emulation card, and information in the header is added to the information in the header. This is achieved by a method for loading a program, wherein the module is selected based on the program.

[Action]

In the method of loading a program according to the present invention, the BIOS stored in the main body ROM and the emulation card is used.
Is divided into modules for each function (for each hardware), a header including a module identifier and a version number is added to each module, and the latest firmware module is selected based on this header information. Regardless of whether it is stored in the ROM or the emulation card, it is possible to select the latest firmware module without being influenced by this.

〔Example〕

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a block configuration of a printer device according to one embodiment of the present invention. In the figure, 11 is a CPU for controlling the main body of the printer, 12 is a ROM for storing a program used by the CPU 11, 13 is a RAM used as a work area by the CPU 11, 14 is an emulation card handling unit, 15
Denotes an interface with the host device, and 16 denotes a printer mechanism control unit. Reference numeral 17 denotes optional dedicated hardware (shown as “dedicated hardware” in the figure) used for rotating font data and expanding graphic data.

Fig. 3 shows the emulation main program (MAIN) in the emulation card and the BIOS (1-c, 1
-D, 2-c, ...) and the BIOS (1-a, 1
−b, 2-a,...), And among the symbols representing the BIOS, numerals represent module identifiers, and alphabetic characters represent combinations of resource numbers and version numbers. Further, a and c correspond to the absence of the dedicated hardware, and b and d correspond to the presence of the hardware. Here, the main unit RO
The main program (MAIN) in M is omitted because it is not used.

When registering each module of BIOS at the time of firmware startup, for example, when registering module 1,
The module is selected from the four modules 1-a, 1-b, 1-c and 1-d. If there is no hardware, the module 1-a or 1-c having the larger version number , That is, select the newer version, and if hardware is added, select the module 1-b or 1-d with the higher version number, register and use it. I do. At this time, each module of the BIOS on the emulation side is not necessarily required. In such a case, each module on the main body ROM side is unconditionally registered.

FIG. 1 shows a flowchart of the above operation. First,
Since modules having the same module identifier have the same function, the modules in the main unit ROM and the modules in the emulation card are arranged (step 21).
The hardware used by this module is determined from the resource number, and the presence or absence of dedicated hardware is determined (step 22). If there is dedicated hardware, the module having the largest version number (newest module) is selected and registered from the modules having the resource number (step 23). If there is no dedicated hardware, the module having the highest version number (newest module) is selected from the modules having the corresponding resource numbers and registered (step 24). When the above determination for all the identifiers is completed, the processing is completed. Thereafter, in this system, only the modules registered above will be used.

FIG. 4 shows a configuration example of the above-described module. A header is added to the module, and the module stores a module identifier, a resource number, a version number, and the like as described above. The module identifier indicates the function of this module, whereby one module is finally registered for one module identifier. The resource number indicates whether or not the above-described dedicated hardware is used and the type of the dedicated hardware. Therefore, it is possible to select a module to some extent depending on the presence or absence of the hardware. It will be able to handle multiple hardware with similar functions. And when there are multiple modules with the same resource number,
One will be selected according to the version number.

According to the above embodiment, a header including version-up information is added to each module of the BIOS stored in the ROM and the emulation card, and the module is selected based on the information in the header. Thus, it is possible to provide a program loading method capable of supplying the latest firmware.

It should be noted that the above embodiment is shown as an example of the present invention, and it is needless to say that the present invention is not limited to this.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above in detail, according to the present invention, in an apparatus having a ROM for storing a program in the apparatus and having an emulation card handling unit for supplying an emulation program, the apparatus stores the program in the ROM and the emulation card. A program capable of supplying the latest firmware at that time by adding a header including version-up information to each module of the BIOS and selecting the module based on the information in the header. This has a remarkable effect that the loading method can be realized.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a flow chart showing the operation of one embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a block configuration of a printer device according to the embodiment, and FIG. 3 is a main program, BIOS and main body ROM for emulation in an emulation card. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a module, and FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining a conventional technique. 11: CPU, 12: ROM, 13: RAM, 14: emulation card handling unit, 15: interface with host device, 16: printer mechanism control unit, 17: optional dedicated hardware, 21 to 24: processing steps.

Claims (2)

(57) [Claims] 1. A program loading method for an apparatus having a ROM for storing a program in the apparatus and having an emulation card handling unit for supplying an emulation program, the method comprising: loading a BIOS stored in the ROM and the emulation card;
A header including version-up information is added to each of the modules, and the module is selected based on information in the header. 2. The module according to claim 1, wherein the information in the header includes information indicating the presence or absence of dedicated hardware, and the module is selected based on the information in the header. Program loading method.