JPH11296469A - System and device for software-update improved information processing - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable updating and installation of a device driver/utility software to be executed by a simple operation. SOLUTION: A host 9 as an information processor and peripheral equipment 10 are equipped with a readable/writable storage device 1. Installation is enabled by specifying the storage device 1 of the peripheral equipment 10 as a referred party of an installed file and by reading through the use of a user interface of file system reference. Thus, standard device driver installation is executed by specifying the drive and the directory path of a stored party of the installed file, whereas the device driver inside the peripheral equipment can be installed by the user interface of same procedure.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printer, an FA
The present invention relates to a software update improved information processing system and a software update improved information processing apparatus that can be applied to X, scanners, copiers, multifunction devices, and the like, and can be applied to multimedia devices.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, in an OA device such as a printer, a facsimile, a scanner, a copier, and a multifunction peripheral, a device driver is held in a peripheral device for installing a device driver and utility software. TECHNICAL FIELD The present invention relates to a software update improved information processing system and a software update improved information processing apparatus, and to a method of automatically installing the software update on a host when the host is connected. The method of automatic installation on the host itself is a known technique.

[0003] In addition, regarding the firmware update of a peripheral device, it is also a known technique that the update data is transferred from the host to the peripheral device via a host interface, and the firmware of the peripheral device is updated.

For example, an image forming apparatus which handles a SCSI device as a file system is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-205155.
No. 6,086,045. It is possible by a conventional technique to handle a peripheral device (device) having another host interface as a file system.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 8-161250 discloses an invention in which device driver software is provided in a peripheral device, and when a peripheral device is connected to a host, a device driver can be automatically installed in the host. Processing apparatus "and" information processing system "in JP-A-8-101803.

[0006]

However, the above-described methods of automatic installation on a host at the time of connection to the host or a method of updating a firmware of a peripheral device involve the following problems.

A known method for installing a device driver and utility software in a peripheral device and automatically installing the device driver in the host at the time of connection to the host is a special peripheral device access between the host and one peripheral device. There is a problem that functional software for the procedure and installation setup on the host side is required.

Further, the method of updating firmware by a peripheral device has a problem that a special peripheral device access procedure and a host side update function software are required between one peripheral device on the host side.

According to the present invention, a device driver and utility software for using a firmware of a peripheral device and a peripheral device from a host can be updated and installed by a simple operation, and can be easily understood in a standard user interface. An object of the present invention is to provide a software update improvement information processing system for maintenance and a software update improvement information processing apparatus.

[0010]

According to a first aspect of the present invention, a host as an information processing apparatus and a peripheral device having a readable and writable storage device are capable of two-way communication. In the software update improved information processing system, which is configured so that the storage device of the peripheral device can be accessed as a file system on the host side, a device driver and utility software of the peripheral device are stored as file data in the storage device. When the device driver and the utility software stored by the first storage means are installed by the standard method of the office system on the host side, the first storage means is referred to as file data to be installed. The designation method to be specified and the Reading means for reading out file data and utility software stored in the designated first storage means using a user interface, installing means for installing the file data and utility software read out by the reading means, And control means for controlling

According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect of the invention, setup software used for installing a device driver or utility software stored in the first storage means is stored in the first storage means. A second storage means for storing as file data, and an execution means for enabling the host to execute the setup software stored by the second storage means.

The invention described in claim 3 is the first or second invention.
In the invention described in the first aspect, an update or addition of an update of a device driver or utility software stored in the first storage means is written from the host side to the first storage means as file data using a user interface. The writing unit and an arbitrary host after the first writing unit finishes writing the file data, detects that the update has been performed when referring to the file data stored in the first storage unit as a file system. It is characterized by having an update detecting means and an installing means for enabling installation of file data when the update detecting means detects that an update has been made.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the third aspect of the invention, a second writing means for writing an update file of the control firmware software in the peripheral device as file data from the host side to the first storage means, In the control means, the update is performed by the comparison means for comparing the version obtained from the file data stored in the first storage means with the current version of each control firmware at a predetermined timing, and the update detection means And updating means for updating the corresponding control firmware software with an update file when the control firmware software is detected.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a peripheral device having a storage medium driving device accessible as a file system, a storage device readable and writable in the peripheral device, and data and peripheral data of a storage medium of the storage medium driving device. A software update improved information processing apparatus having a function capable of reading / writing and transferring data in a storage device of a device as file data and a display operation function for operating the function capable of reading / writing in a storage medium driving device Writing means for writing the update file of the control firmware software in the peripheral device as file data to the storage device of the peripheral device, and using the file data written by the writing means to update the update file of the control firmware software in the peripheral device from the host File storage on peripheral devices A first storage unit that stores the data as data, a version obtained from the file data information stored by the storage unit at a predetermined timing using the file data stored by the storage unit, and a current version of each control firmware. Means for comparing,
And updating means for enabling the control firmware software to be updated with an update file when the comparing means detects the presence of the update.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in accordance with the fifth aspect of the present invention, a second storage means for storing a plurality of types of firmware software as file data in a storage device of a peripheral device for a control firmware; An update file designating means for designating an update file of the control firmware software in response to a selection instruction from the operation unit of the peripheral device, and an updating means for updating with the update file designated by the update file designating means.

[0016]

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a software update improved information processing system and a software update improved information processing apparatus according to the present invention; FIG. 1 to FIG. 8 show an embodiment of a software update improved information processing system and a software update improved information processing apparatus according to the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a software update improvement information processing system and a software update improvement information processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. FIG. 1 is a diagram conceptually illustrating the overall configuration of an information processing system.

1 and 2, a host 9 and a peripheral device 10 are connected to a serial / parallel SC on a network.
Connected by SI. The peripheral device 10 includes the storage device 1,
It comprises a FAX control unit 2, a scanner control unit 3, a print control unit 4, an external I / F control unit 5, a system control unit 6, a storage medium driving device 7, and a display / operation control unit 8.

The peripheral device 10 having the above configuration is capable of providing functions of facsimile, scanner, printer, and copy. The host 9 is an information processing device such as a personal computer (PC).

The storage device 1 of the peripheral device 10 includes an HDD,
It is composed of a memory card, a flash ROM / RAM, and the like. The stored content is a file system having a directory configuration as indicated by reference numeral A in FIG. Then, the file system can be accessed on the host 9 side as “E: drive” as indicated by reference numeral B in FIG. On the host 9 side, the connection destination of the external I / F control unit 5 can be read and written as a file system.

The system control unit 6 and the facsimile control unit 2
Each controller control unit of the scanner control unit 3 and the printer control unit 4 has control firmware software, and can be operated by a unique processing system. System control unit 6 and FA
The procedure for updating the firmware software of each controller control unit of the X control unit 2, the scanner control unit 3, and the printer control unit 4 is determined by the system control unit 6 itself or between the system and the controller.

As a host interface of the external I / F control unit 5, a network, serial, parallel,
CSI is assumed, but file system emulation is possible in any case. Further, even if a host interface for using original functions such as a printer, a facsimile, and a scanner is different from a host interface for realizing a file system, there is no problem.

FIGS. 3, 4 and 5 show examples of screens showing the form of the operation on the host 9 side. Naturally, when the setup software is executed, the files are stored in the storage device 1, but at the time of execution, the files are read and transferred to the host side and operated on the host side system. Therefore, there is no difference from executing a file on a resource in the host.

When the peripheral device 10 is connected to the host 9 and the device driver is used, it is checked whether the device driver file of the peripheral device has been updated as one of the processes of the device driver. The location where the file in the storage device 1 to be referred to when checking is present is processed as the same as the drive directory path used at the time of driver installation. It is assumed that the drive directory path used at the time of driver installation is stored in the OS registry at the time of driver installation. The OS registry is a management file for holding various setting information of the machine.

FIG. 6 shows a flowchart of the update check by the device driver. The check when using the driver (step S1) is not performed every time, but is performed at a specified timing. Here, it is assumed to be the first use after the power is turned on.

In step S2, installation reference path information is obtained from the registry of the OS. This reference path indicates the inside of the storage device of the peripheral device. Version information is acquired from the specific file of the acquired installation reference path (step S3). Next, the version of the own program is compared (step S4). As a result of the comparison, if the own program is old, the process proceeds to step S6, in which the fact that the own program is old is displayed, and the user is asked whether to update the program.

When updating (Step S7 / Y)
es), the process proceeds to step S8, and the update software or the setup software in the installation reference path is executed according to the standard procedure of the OS. Further, it is determined that the driver check of the own program has been completed (step S9).

In the above processing procedure, when the driver has been checked (step S1 / Yes) and when the driver is not updated (step S7 / No), the processing of this flowchart ends. If the own program is new (step S5 / No), the process jumps to step S9.

FIG. 7 shows a flowchart for updating the control firmware software. As shown in FIG. 6, the system control unit 6 has an update check processing module in itself. FIG. 7 shows a module block that is not targeted for updating the system firmware software, and performs an update check and an update process of the system firmware software (steps S10 to S10).
15).

The update check and update processing of the system firmware software executed at the beginning of the processing at the time of system startup are performed according to the following procedure. Step S
At 10, the version of the system firmware software file in the storage device is obtained. Further, the software version of the current system firmware is obtained (step S11).
The old and new of the current system firmware are checked (step S
12) If it is old (step S12 / Yes), the system firmware software is updated, and automatic restart is executed (step S13), and the location of each controller is obtained (step S14). The current file version of each controller firmware software is obtained (step S15).

Each controller control unit of the FAX control unit 2, the scanner control unit 3, and the printer control unit 4 notifies the system control unit 6 of the controller identification ID and the version at the time of startup. In response to the notification, the system control unit 6 checks the version with the corresponding firmware software file in the storage device 1, and if the versions of the current controller are equal or higher (step S16 / No).
Controller startup is completed normally. If the version of the current controller is older (step S16 / Yes), the start-up of the controller is interrupted, and the system controller 6 forcibly updates the firmware of the controller. Then, the controller is restarted (step S1).
7).

FIGS. 8 to 11 show an example of an operation procedure for updating a file of the storage device 1 using the storage medium driving device 7 in the peripheral device 10. FIG. 8A shows an example of a user undisclosed operation, and FIG. 8B shows an example of an operation screen. In order to perform a file operation on the storage device 1 using the operation unit of the peripheral device 10, the operation is performed based on the operation guidance display unit on the system program mode screen of FIG. Perform in system program mode.

In the peripheral device 10, it is possible to selectively change firmware software of each controller control unit of the system control unit 6, the FAX control unit 2, the scanner control unit 3, and the printer control unit 4 to another firmware software. .
Examples of operation screens on the peripheral device 10 are shown in FIGS.

If a file with a different file name is selected as the firmware software file, the current firmware file name management file in the storage device 1 is updated, and when the update of the control firmware software is checked. The file of the above-mentioned new file name is targeted as the file of (1).

Next, operational considerations in the embodiment of the present invention will be described. Writing to a file in the storage device 1 of the peripheral device 10 can be viewed by anyone as a file system. Therefore, if the file access authority (such as supported by the OS such as a personal computer) can be set, a malfunction occurs. And abuse can be deterred.

If the system controller 6 of the peripheral device supports the decompression function of the archive file, the file of the storage device 1 of the peripheral device can be a compressed file.
The capacity of the storage device 1 is saved. In addition, it is possible to reduce the load of data transfer between the host 9 and the peripheral device 10 and to speed up file updating.

In the setup software of the device driver and the utility, the outline of the update can be understood, and it can be determined whether or not to perform the update. Suppress the update at that point, for example, when it is necessary to use the peripheral device quickly because it has nothing to do with the update content, or when the update requires restarting one of the devices and wants to avoid it can do.

The above embodiment is an example of a preferred embodiment of the present invention. However, it is not limited to this.
Various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

[0039]

As is clear from the above description, claim 1
According to the improved software update information processing system of the invention described above, a storage device of a peripheral device is designated as a reference destination of an installation file, and is read out and installed using a user interface for file system reference. Therefore, the standard device driver installation is performed by designating the drive and directory path where the installation file is stored, and the same procedure user interface can be used to install the device driver in the peripheral device. In addition, when installing the device driver, the file that is applied to each OS is stored as a file in the storage device of the peripheral device, so that a file suitable for the OS at that time can be selected by the host OS or the user. And can be installed.

According to the improved software update information processing system according to the second aspect, since the peripheral device has the setup software for installing the device driver and the utility software on the host side, the setup for a plurality of hosts is performed. When installing using software, there is no need to have setup software for each host.

According to the improved software update information processing system of the present invention, since the update and addition of the device driver and the utility software can be performed by the file copy operation in the host, the user operation and the maintenance operation can be easily understood. If there is only one update file, updating of a plurality of hosts can be automatically performed via peripheral devices. No need for update media or previous update files. The determination of whether or not the file has been updated does not require a special communication procedure or analysis processing on the host side and the peripheral device side, and a standard file I / O library or file I / O.
Since it can be performed using the / O method, there are effects of suppressing development costs and stabilizing quality. When the function of the peripheral device is changed, the firmware and the driver can be updated in synchronization with the host.

According to the improved software update information processing system of the present invention, since the update of the control firmware software of the peripheral device can be performed by the file copy operation in the host, the user operation and the maintenance operation can be easily understood.

According to the software update improved information processing apparatus of the present invention, since a readable / writable storage medium can be accessed as a file system in the peripheral device, the user can access the storage medium in a concept similar to a file copy operation. Since it can be operated, it is easy to understand the operation of the storage medium containing the update file or the maintenance operation of the contents.

In the software update improved information processing apparatus according to the present invention, since the firmware software of one control controller can be selectively installed and used from a plurality of files, a common provision of control controllers corresponding to a plurality of models is provided. In addition, by storing firmware software files in advance for custom-ordered or individualized items, it is possible to experiment with requests for specially-ordered items or individual items, or to switch between them as needed. It becomes possible.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of a software update improvement information processing system and a software update improvement information processing apparatus of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram showing an overall configuration of a system.

FIG. 3 is an example of a display screen according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an example of a display screen according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5 is an example of a display screen according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of an update check by a device driver.

FIG. 7 is an update flowchart of control firmware software.

FIG. 8 shows an example of an operation procedure for updating a file in the storage device 1.

FIG. 9 shows an example of an operation screen according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 10 shows an example of an operation screen according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 11 shows an example of an operation screen according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Storage device 2 FAX control unit 3 Scanner control unit 4 Print control unit 5 External I / F control unit 6 System control unit 7 Storage media drive unit 8 Display / operation control unit 9 Host 10 Peripheral device

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A host as an information processing device and a peripheral device having a readable / writable storage device have an interface capable of two-way communication, and the host side accesses the storage device of the peripheral device as a file system. In a software update improved information processing system configured to be capable of, a first storage unit that stores device drivers and utility software of the peripheral device as file data in the storage device, and is stored by the first storage unit. Specifying means for specifying the first storage means as a reference destination of file data to be installed when installing the device driver or the utility software on the host side by a standard method of an office system; The first specified by Reading means for reading the file data and the utility software stored in the storage means using a user interface; installing means for installing the file data and the utility software read by the reading means; And a control means for controlling the software update. 2. The software update improvement information processing system according to claim 1, wherein the setup software used to install the device driver and the utility software stored in the first storage unit is stored in the first software. A software update comprising: a second storage unit that stores file data in a storage unit; and an execution unit that enables the setup software stored by the second storage unit to be executed on the host side. Improved information processing system. 3. The software update improvement information processing system according to claim 1, wherein the update or addition of the update of the device driver or the utility software stored in the first storage means is performed from the host side. A first method of writing as file data to the first storage means using a user interface
Updating means when the first writing means refers to the file data stored in the first storage means as a file system in an arbitrary host after the writing of the file data is completed by the first writing means. Software update improvement information, comprising: update detection means for detecting that an update has been performed; and installation means for enabling installation of the file data when the update detection means detects that an update has been performed. Processing system. 4. The improved software update information processing system according to claim 3, wherein the update file of the control firmware software in the peripheral device is written as file data from the host to the first storage device. A comparison unit that compares a version obtained from the file data stored in the first storage unit with a current version of each control firmware at a predetermined timing; and the update detection unit. Updating means for updating the corresponding control firmware software with an update file when it is detected that an update has been performed. 5. A peripheral device provided with a storage medium drive accessible as a file system, a storage device readable and writable in the peripheral device, data of a storage medium of the storage medium drive, and storage of the peripheral device. In a software update improved information processing apparatus having a function capable of reading and writing data of each device as file data, and a display operation function for operating the function capable of reading and writing, the peripheral in the storage medium drive device Writing means for writing an update file of the control firmware software in the device as file data to a storage device of the peripheral device; and an update file of the control firmware software in the peripheral device using the file data written by the writing device. From the host to the peripheral First storage means for storing as file data in a storage device, and a version obtained from file data information stored by the storage means at a predetermined timing using the file data stored by the storage means, Comparing means for comparing the version of each control firmware, and when the update means is detected by the comparing means,
Updating means for enabling the control firmware software to be updated with an update file. 6. The improved software update information processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein a second storage means for storing a plurality of types of firmware software as files for a control firmware in a storage device of the peripheral device; Update file specifying means for specifying an update file of the control firmware software in accordance with a selection instruction from the operation unit of the peripheral device; and updating means for updating with the update file specified by the update file specifying means. Soft update improved information processing device.