JP2002175237A - Relay system, program relay system, relay method, and computer readable recording medium recording relay program - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce network traffic and the consumption of a storage region of a server in downloading a program. SOLUTION: A portable terminal 20 transmits the module version information of the portable terminal 20 to a gateway 30 relaying the downloading of a program including a module from an HTTP server 40 to the portable terminal. The gateway 30 acquires from an HTTP server 40 the module version information of the HTTP server 40 corresponding to the received module version information of the portable terminal 20. The module version information of the portable terminal 20 and the module version information of the HTTP server 40 are compared to identify a module of different version between the HTTP server 40 and the portable terminal 20, and the identified module is acquired from the HTTP server 40 and transmitted to the portable terminal 20. The portable terminal 20 updates the received module.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a technique for allowing a terminal that executes a program to download the program from a server that provides the program via a relay device existing between the terminal and the server.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art For the purpose of reducing the resources of a small terminal or the trouble of installing on a terminal side, a program to be executed by the terminal is not always stored in the terminal, but is stored in a server and required by the terminal. In such a case, a method of downloading and using a program from a server is used. This method is also used when updating a program installed in the terminal in advance to a newer version.

As described above, when a program is downloaded and used, it is necessary to transmit the program using a data communication line.

However, the data communication line between the terminal and the server is not always large. For example, the communication capacity provided by the mobile phone network is currently 9600 to
14400 bps is mainly used, and it cannot be said that the capacity is large. In the future, it is expected that the communication capacity will increase, but in parallel with this, the communication capacity of the backbone network connecting the servers is also expected to increase, and the data size allowed by the terminal will increase. Since it is expected that the size of the program to be downloaded is also enlarged by the enlargement, it is expected that the capacity will be small in comparison.

Therefore, in order to increase the response time at the terminal and to save resources of the data communication line and the server, it is required to reduce the traffic required for downloading the program.

[0006] In particular, focusing attention on updating a program downloaded to the terminal in the past or a program stored in the terminal in advance to the latest program stored in the server, not downloading the entire program but only the updated part. If it is possible, the traffic required for downloading the program can be reduced.

[0007] Although not a method related to program download, when data is transmitted from a server to a terminal,
As a method of transmitting and receiving only an updated part, see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open
There is 51414 “Network communication system and method” (hereinafter referred to as Document 1).

In Reference 1, RPC (Remote Pr)
A method for reducing an increase in traffic caused by the server sending all the information to be sent to the terminal every time a processing request is sent from the terminal to the server when the server calls the server by the terminal using the “callback” function is disclosed. Have been.

In the method disclosed in Document 1, a processing request from a terminal and information transmitted by the server in response to the request are cached in each of the server and the terminal. The information to be sent to the server is compared with the contents of the cache held by the server, and if possible, a difference between them is generated and sent to the terminal. The information to be obtained can be obtained from the difference received from.

[0010] When the method according to Document 1 is applied, a program downloaded from each terminal or a program used by each terminal is stored in a cache on a server, so that the terminal has a version different from that of the terminal. When trying to download a program from the server, the server can transmit only the difference between the program of the terminal and the program on the server.

As another method for transmitting and receiving only an updated portion when data is transmitted from a server to a terminal, see, for example, Document G. Popek, et. al. , "R
application in Ficus Distr
ibued File Systems ", Proc
eatings of the IEEE Works
hop on Management of Repl
icated Data, November, 1990
(Hereinafter referred to as Document 2), a method of performing version management using an update history can be applied.

Document 2 relates to a distributed file system, in which a copy of the file system is held in all devices that use the file system, and when a file is operated on each terminal, the contents of the file system are copied between those copies. A method for maintaining the integrity of a.

In the method of Document 2, each device holds, as an update history, the update content and the version information indicating the order of the update content for the update performed on the file system. By sending an update history to be applied to another device in response to a request from the other device or in response to a request from another device, the contents of the file system are kept the same.

When the method of Reference 2 is applied to downloading a program, the server stores the contents of past updates to the program and version information indicating the order of each update on the server. The terminal retains in some form version information indicating the latest update applied to the program held by the terminal, and by transmitting the version information retained by the terminal to the server, the server obtains the version information indicated by the terminal. Can also send only new updates.

[0015]

As described above, reference 1
Is intended to be applied to a case where a processing request and its result are transmitted and received, that is, data is transmitted and received, by a server and a client in a limited range like RPC. Therefore, there are the following problems in applying this to downloading a program.

According to the method described in Document 1, the server stores, in the cache of the server, a plurality of programs each having a different version, which have been downloaded from the server in the past, or are used by the terminal attempting to download the program from the server. Will be retained. Since this increases in proportion to the number of terminals to download from the server, the number of programs to be downloaded, the number of versions of each program to be downloaded, and the size of each program, As a result, a large amount of resources of the server represented by the nonvolatile recording area and the medium is consumed.

The increase in resource consumption due to the number of terminals is due to the fact that the server does not cache each terminal individually, but only caches one and the same version of the same program. Can be mitigated by retaining only information indicating which version of which program is cached. But still,
As always, the information must be retained for each terminal. If the number of terminals to download becomes very large, the amount of cache performed for each terminal increases, and the This results in resource consumption.

On the other hand, according to the method of Document 2, in order for the terminal to receive only the updated part when downloading the program from the server, the contents of the program update must be updated in all versions (version information) as necessary. Need to be kept on the server. This increases server resources in large quantities because it increases in proportion to the number of programs available for download, the number of versions of each program available for download, and the size of the updated portion of each program. Consumption results.

Further, according to the method of Document 2, all the updates made after the version of the program held by the terminal are transmitted from the server to the terminal. This is expected to include multiple identical updates that differ only in version information, or cases where the content of one update does not make any sense at all with subsequent updates it can. This may conversely increase traffic, despite trying to reduce traffic by sending updates only.

To avoid this, for each previous version of each program, an appropriate set of updates to make that version of the program identical to the latest program is recorded for each version. There is a need. This again results in consuming server resources.

Further, in order to apply the methods described in Document 1 or Document 2 to downloading a program, it is necessary for the server to hold functions for implementing these methods. For example, according to Document 1, a server must maintain a cache and a mechanism for managing the cache as described above.

However, in general, there are many servers that provide program download. Providing a function for implementing the method of Reference 1 or 2 in all of these servers requires a great deal of labor, time, and money.

If only some of the servers have the functions for the method of Document 1 or Document 2, traffic can be reduced only when the terminal downloads programs from some of these servers. . When a program is downloaded from another server that does not have the above functions, the conventional method must be used and the traffic cannot be reduced.

An object of the present invention is to reduce traffic when a terminal that executes a program downloads the program from a server that provides the program. Another object is to reduce the consumption of server resources (storage area).

[0025]

A relay system according to the present invention is a relay system for relaying downloading of a program including a module from a server to a terminal. Module version information is input from a terminal, and module version information of a server, which is a module version information of a server indicating a version of a module included in a program included in the server, is obtained from the server, The entered module version information of the terminal is compared with the acquired module version information of the server. Based on the result of the comparison, a module included in the program included in the server and a module included in the program included in the terminal are compared. Identifying different versions of modules, it acquires the identification module from the server, and outputs the obtained module to the terminal.

The program includes a plurality of modules, and the relay system inputs module version information of a plurality of terminals indicating versions of the plurality of modules included in the program of the terminal. The module version information of a plurality of servers associated with each of the module version information is obtained, and the input module version information of the plurality of terminals is compared with the obtained module version information of the plurality of servers.

The module version information of the terminal is
The relay system includes an input unit for inputting module version information of the terminal from the terminal, and identification information extracted from the module version information of the terminal input by the input unit. Based on the information, a module version information obtaining unit that obtains module version information of the server, and compares the module version information of the terminal input by the input unit with the module version information of the server obtained by the module version information obtaining unit. An updating unit that identifies a module having a different version between a module included in a program included in a server and a module included in a program included in a terminal, based on a result of the comparison; Module acquisition unit acquired from Characterized by comprising an output section for outputting a module the module acquisition unit has acquired to the terminal.

The module version information obtaining section includes:
The server is requested to transfer module version information of the server corresponding to the extracted identification information.

The relay system further includes a module version information storage unit for storing the module version information of the server obtained by the module version information obtaining unit, and the module version information obtaining unit stores the module version information in the module version information storage unit. The server module version information of the stored server is acquired, and it is determined whether to acquire the server module version information from the server based on the acquired server module version information.

[0030] The module acquisition unit requests the server to transfer a module corresponding to the identification information.

The module version information of the terminal is
The relay system includes identification information for identifying a module and a program including the module, and the relaying method includes: an input unit for inputting module version information of the terminal from the terminal; and identification information from the module version information of the terminal input by the input unit. A program acquisition unit that acquires a program from the server based on the extracted identification information, a module version information detection unit that detects module version information of the server from the program acquired by the program acquisition unit, and the input unit The module version information of the input terminal is compared with the module version information of the server obtained by the module version information detection unit, and based on the comparison result, the module included in the program included in the server and the module included in the program included in the terminal are included. module An update unit for identifying modules having different versions, a module extraction unit for extracting the module identified by the update unit from the program acquired by the program acquisition unit, and a module extracted by the module extraction unit to the terminal. And an output unit for outputting.

The relay system further includes a program storage unit for storing the program acquired by the program acquisition unit. The program acquisition unit acquires the program accumulated in the program accumulation unit, and stores the acquired program in the acquired program. It is characterized in that it is determined whether or not to acquire a program from the server based on the information.

The relay system further includes a module version information storage unit for storing module version information of the server detected by the module version information detection unit, and the program acquisition unit is stored in the module version information storage unit. And acquiring the module version information of the server and determining whether to acquire the program from the server based on the acquired module version information of the server.

[0034] The module extracting unit extracts the module identified by the updating unit from the program stored in the program storing unit.

In the relay system, program version information of a terminal indicating a version of a program of the terminal is input from the terminal, and program version information of a server indicating a version of a program of the server. The server program version information related to the version information is obtained from the server, the input program version information of the terminal is compared with the obtained server program version information, and based on the comparison result, the program and the terminal of the server are It is characterized in that it is determined whether or not the program has a different version, and when the version of the program is different as a result of the determination, module version information of the terminal is input from the terminal.

The input unit inputs program version information of the terminal indicating the version of the program held by the terminal from the terminal. The relay system further includes server program version information indicating the version of the program held by the server. A program version information obtaining unit that obtains, from the server, program version information of the server corresponding to the program version information of the terminal, and a program version information obtaining unit that obtains the terminal program version information and the program version information obtained by the input unit. Comparing the program version information, based on the result of the comparison, comprising a program version information comparison unit to determine whether the program that the server has and the program that the terminal has is a different version, the output unit, Discriminate Outputting the result to the terminal, the input unit, if the result of the determination indicates that the version of the program of the server and the version of the program of the terminal are different, to input the module version information of the terminal from the terminal Features.

The input unit inputs from a terminal program version information indicating a version of a program possessed by the terminal, the program version information of the terminal includes program information for identifying a program, and the program obtaining unit includes: The program information is extracted from the program version information of the terminal, and a program corresponding to the extracted program information is obtained from the server.The relay method further includes a step of obtaining the version of the program that the server has from the program obtained by the program obtaining unit. A program version information detecting unit for detecting program version information of the server to be indicated, and comparing the program version information of the terminal input by the input unit with the program version information of the server detected by the program version information detecting unit. Based on the comparison result, a program version information comparison unit that determines whether the program that the server has and the program that the terminal has is a different version, the output unit outputs the determination result to the terminal The input unit inputs module version information of the terminal from the terminal when the result of the determination indicates that the version of the program of the server and the version of the program of the terminal are different.

The input unit inputs, from the terminal, program version information of a terminal indicating a version of a program possessed by the terminal. The program version information includes program information for identifying a program. Extracting program information from the program version information of the program, obtaining a program corresponding to the extracted program information from the program storage unit,
Based on the obtained program, determine whether to obtain the program from the server, based on the determination result,
A program corresponding to the extracted program information is obtained from a server, and the relay method further includes detecting program version information of a server indicating a version of a program included in the server from the program obtained by the program obtaining unit. Unit, and compares the program version information of the terminal input by the input unit with the program version information of the server detected by the program version information detection unit, and, based on the comparison result, the program that the server has and the program that the terminal has And a program version information comparing unit that determines whether or not the version is different.The output unit outputs a result of the determination to the terminal. Of the program that the terminal has If, Version indicates a different, characterized by inputting the module version information of the terminal from the terminal.

[0039] The relay system is characterized in that it is arranged in a relay device that connects the server and the terminal via a network.

The relay device is connected to a plurality of servers and a plurality of terminals.

A program relay system according to the present invention includes a server having a program including a module, a terminal having a program including a module, and a relay device relaying downloading of the program including the module from the server to the terminal. In the program relay system, the terminal extracts, from the program, module version information of the terminal indicating a version of a module included in the program included in the terminal, and outputs module version information of the extracted terminal. The module version information of the output terminal is input, and the module version information of the server indicating the version of the module included in the program held by the server, the module version information of the server related to the module version information of the terminal. Lumpur acquires version information from a server, comparing the module version information of the server acquired as module version information input terminal,
Based on the result of the comparison, between the module included in the program that the server has and the module that is included in the program that the terminal has, identify a different version of the module, obtain the identified module from the server, the obtained module Output to a terminal, wherein the terminal inputs the module output by the relay device, and incorporates the input module into a program to update the program.

The terminal receiving the module from the relay system incorporates the received module into a program.

The program is generated in the form of a single file including a module, and the terminal expands the single file to update the module.

A relay method according to the present invention is a relay method for relaying downloading of a program including a module from a server to a terminal, wherein module version information of the terminal indicating the version of the module included in the program of the terminal is transmitted from the terminal. A module version information of a server that indicates a version of a module included in a program included in the server, and obtains module version information of the server related to the module version information of the terminal from the server. Information and the acquired module version information of the server, and based on the comparison result, a version difference between a module included in the program included in the server and a module included in the program included in the terminal is determined. That module identifies, acquires the identified module from the server, and outputs the obtained module to the terminal.

A computer-readable recording medium that stores a relay program for causing a computer to implement the relay method according to the present invention is provided with a relay method that relays downloading of a program including a module from a server to a terminal. On a computer-readable recording medium that stores a relay program for realizing, a terminal module version information indicating a version of a module included in the program included in the terminal is input from the terminal, and a module included in the program included in the server is input. Module version information of the server indicating the version, the module version information of the server related to the module version information of the terminal is obtained from the server, and the module version information of the input terminal is obtained. Module version information of the server that was compared, based on the comparison result, between the module included in the program that the server has and the module that is included in the program that the terminal has identified different versions of the module, identified It is a computer-readable recording medium that stores a relay program for causing a computer to implement a relay method of acquiring a module from a server and outputting the acquired module to a terminal.

[0046]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS In this specification, the following are prerequisites. (1) The terminal is connected to the server via the relay device. (2) The terminal runs a program that has been incorporated in advance or acquired in advance from a server. (3) The program can be divided into a plurality of modules. (4) The program includes a plurality of modules, and the modules included in the program can be added, deleted, and replaced. (5) Modules included in the program can be uniquely identified in the program. (6) Each of the plurality of modules included in the program has module version information (version information for each module). (7) The version information of the program is updated when at least one of the version information for each module of each of the plurality of modules included in the program is updated. (8) On the server, the program exists in a format in which all the modules included in the program are integrated into one file. (9) A program existing in a format integrated into one file can be expanded from one file into a plurality of modules.

"Program version information" is information indicating version information of the entire program. In the following, in this specification, "program version information"
Will be described as “version information”. “Module version information” is information indicating a module version (version for each module). Module version information is provided for each module. In the following description, a “plurality of module versions” (a set of module versions) of a plurality of modules included in a program will be described as “detailed versions”. The “module version” is also referred to as a “version for each module” or a “detailed version for each module”.

Further, the detailed version does not always include a plurality of module versions corresponding to all the plurality of modules included in the program. The detailed version may include a module-by-module version (at least one module-by-module version) of some of the modules included in the program.

Embodiment 1 In the first embodiment of the present invention, the configuration and operation when the terminal and the relay device are connected by a communication line having a relatively small communication capacity and the processing capability of the terminal is low will be described. In the following, updating of the system program of the mobile phone is referred to as HTTP (Hypertext T
An example of a system performed by downloading from a transfer protocol (transfer protocol) server is shown.

FIG. 1 is a typical example of a system for providing access from a cellular phone to an HTTP server 40 on the Internet. The mobile phone 20 is a mobile phone network 1 provided by a mobile phone company that provides a mobile phone service.
1 enables connection to a gateway 30 provided by a mobile phone company. The gateway 30 is directly or indirectly connected to the backbone network 12 configured by a dedicated line or the like, and similarly can communicate with an HTTP server 40 connected to the backbone network 12. For simplicity, FIG. 1 shows the mobile phone 20, the gateway 30, and the HTTP server 4.
0 is described one by one, but in reality, there are several million mobile phones 20, there are many HTTP servers 40 that can be connected to the backbone network 12, and the gateway server 30 is physically connected. May be composed of a plurality of units.

At present, the communication capacity provided by the mobile telephone network 11 is mainly 9600 to 14400 bps, and it cannot be said that the capacity is large. In the future, it is expected that the communication capacity will increase, but in parallel with this, the communication capacity of the backbone network 12 is expected to further increase, and the data size permitted by the terminal will increase. Since the power data size is also expected to increase, it is expected that the capacity will remain small in comparison.

As a general operation example of this system, an example in which an HTTP request is issued from the mobile phone 20 to the HTTP server 40 will be described. The HTTP request issued from the mobile phone 20 is first received by the gateway 30, and is transferred by the gateway 30 to the HTTP server 40 designated as the destination of the HTTP request. The HTTP server 40 processes the received HTTP request, creates an HTTP response, and returns the HTTP response to the gateway 30. The gateway 30 transfers the returned HTTP response to the mobile phone, and the mobile phone 20 can receive the HTTP response.

An example of the configuration and an example of the operation when the present invention is applied to the system of FIG. 1 will be described below. FIG. 2 shows a portion of the configuration of the mobile phone 20 which is necessary for explanation. The mobile phone 20 operates according to a system program 21. The system program 21 includes a basic portion 23 that cannot be updated and can operate independently and an extended portion 22 that can be updated. The extension part 22 is further composed of a plurality of modules that can be clearly divided and updated independently.

The mobile phone 20 also includes an updating unit 24 for updating the system program 21 as necessary, and a version information detecting unit (program version information detecting unit) for detecting version information of the system program 21 according to an instruction from the updating unit 24. Unit) 26, a detailed version information detecting unit (module version information detecting unit) 27 for detecting detailed version information of each module constituting the system program 21 in accordance with an instruction from the updating unit 24, and a version in accordance with an instruction from the updating unit 24. A transmission / reception unit 25 that transmits information or detailed version information to the gateway 30, receives a response to the information, and provides the response to the update unit 24.

As shown in FIG. 3, the gateway 30 is provided with a relay program 31 for relaying a system program update request from the mobile phone 20. The relay program 31 transmits a program acquisition request to the HTTP server 40 and receives a program, a program acquisition unit 32, a program accumulation unit 33 for temporarily accumulating the acquired program, and detects version information from the program. Version information detecting section (program version information detecting section) 35 for detecting detailed version information from a program, and a detailed version information detecting section (module version information detecting section) 37 for detecting detailed version information from a program. Version information comparison unit (program version information comparison unit) 36
And an update detection unit 38 that compares two pieces of detailed version information to detect a module having different version information for each module from a program, a module extraction unit 39 that extracts a module from a program, and performs relay processing by integrating the above units. Management unit 34 to be executed and version information or detailed version information received from the mobile phone (input unit)
And a transmission / reception unit 41 for transmitting (outputting) a response to the mobile phone.

The HTTP server 40 is assumed to be a device having an HTTP server program that understands HTTP defined in RFC 1945 or the like, and the details are omitted here.

The mobile phone 20 attempts to update the system program 21 at an arbitrary time. The motivation for starting the update is (1) that is recorded in the mobile phone in advance,
Or, an instruction from the server during operation, or the arrival of a system program update time recorded by the judgment of the program mounted on the mobile phone, (2) reception of an explicit system program update request from the server, (3) Detection of version deviation by communication with a repeater or another mobile phone, (4) an update instruction by an operation of a mobile phone user or maintenance staff, and the like.

FIG. 4 shows an example of the outline of the operation of the system according to the present embodiment. Mobile phone 20
Is the location information of the system program to be updated,
The identification information and the version information are acquired from the extended part 22 of the system program 21 and transmitted to the relay program 31 on the gateway 30 (process P101). The relay program 31 obtains the corresponding program from the HTTP server or the program storage unit 33 of the relay program 31 according to the position information and the identification information received from the mobile phone 20, detects version information of the obtained program, and The result of comparison with the version information received from device 20 is returned to mobile phone 20 (process P102).

The mobile phone 20 refers to the comparison result received from the relay program 31, and ends the update if it indicates that the version information is equal. If the version information is different, the detailed version information of the system program to be updated is obtained from the extended part 22 of the system program 21 and transmitted to the relay program 31 (process P103). The relay program acquires the corresponding program again from the HTTP server or the program storage unit 33 of the relay program according to the position information and the identification information, detects the detailed version information of the acquired program, and receives the detailed version received from the mobile phone 20. Compared with the information, the system program 2
Only the modules having different detailed version information are extracted from 1 and transmitted to the mobile phone 20 (process P104). The mobile phone 20 replaces the extended part 22 of the system program 21 with respect to the received module, and ends the update (process P105).

In the first embodiment, since the entire program is downloaded between the gateway 30 having a large communication capacity and the HTTP server 40, it is not necessary to add a function to the server. On the other hand, a mobile phone 2 with a small communication capacity
Between 0 and the gateway 30, only the updated portion is provided for download, thereby reducing traffic.

Further, the processing required for the mobile phone 20 is only detection of version information and detailed version information, and comparison of version information and extraction of modules that need to be updated are performed on the gateway 30. Application to low mobile phones is possible.

As described above, according to the present invention, only the updated part of the program can be extracted based on only the version information and the detailed version information transmitted from the mobile phone 20 in response to the request. That is, information on downloads performed by the terminal in the past, version information of the program held by the terminal, and information on the update contents of the program on the server (for example, the HTTP server 40) in the past are transmitted to the server and the gateway. The traffic between the mobile phone and the gateway 30 can be reduced as compared with the case where the entire program is downloaded, even if it is not necessarily stored in the gateway 30.

Since the update portion is extracted only from the program existing on the server and the program held by the terminal at the time of downloading, the program actually held by the terminal is made the same as the program on the server. Only the necessary parts are transmitted.

Further, the extraction of the version information and the detailed version information and the extraction of the updated part are performed on the gateway to which the terminal is always connected. The server can be a commonly used HTTP server 40 and no changes are required to the server.

Hereinafter, the operation of the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. FIG. 5, FIG. 7, FIG.
Is a detailed example of the operation of the mobile phone 20 (process P101,
Process P103 and Process P105).
An example of the details of the operation of the gateway 30 (process P102,
Process P104).

Referring to FIG. 5, details of the operation of the mobile phone in process P101 will be described. System program 2
When the updating of the system program 21 is started, the basic part 23 of the system program 21 stops the operation of the system program 21 and instructs the updating unit 24 to update the system program 21 (step S1011). Here, an example in which updating is performed after the system program 21 is stopped will be described here, but this does not prevent application of the present invention to an updating method performed while the system program 21 is operating.

The updating unit 24 includes a version information detecting unit 26
To the extension part 22 of the system program 21.
The entire version information is detected (step S101)
2). The version information includes (1) a version name added to the entire extended portion 22 of the system program 21, (2) a total of detailed version information described later, and (3) extracted from the binary of the extended portion 22 of the system program 21. Digest information or the like can be used.

Next, the updating unit 24 acquires the position information and the identification information of the system program 21 of the mobile phone 20 (step S1013). The location information is, for example,
Server name where the system program 21 for download is located, URL (Uniform Resource)
Identifier is an ID (Ident) for uniquely identifying the system program 21.
information, a file name included in the URL, a model name of the mobile phone, and the like. Subsequently, the updating unit 24 transmits the position information, the identification information, and the version information to the gateway 30 via the transmitting / receiving unit 25 (Step S1014).

Next, referring to FIG. 6, process P102
2 shows details of the operation of the relay program 31 in FIG. The management unit 34 of the relay program 31 is
1, the location information, the identification information, and the version information transmitted by the mobile phone 20 are received (step S102).
1). Next, the management unit 34 gives the received position information and identification information to the program acquisition unit 32, and instructs acquisition of the program (step S1022).

The program acquisition unit 32 inquires of the program storage unit 33 whether a program corresponding to the given position information and identification information is stored (step S1023).

If the corresponding program has been stored and is sufficiently new, the program obtaining section 32 obtains the stored program from the program storing section 33 (step S1024). If it is not stored or old, the program acquisition unit 32 communicates with the HTTP server 40 using the given position information and identification information, and acquires a program from the HTTP server 40 (step S1025). The acquired program is stored in the program storage unit 33.

Here, it is determined whether or not the stored program is sufficiently new. (1) The HTTP server 40 determines whether or not the update has been performed since the time when the program was stored.
(2) A method for determining whether or not the server has exceeded the expiration date specified by the server (such as the date and time described in the Expires header of the HTTP response) when the program storing the current time is received (3) It can be determined by a method of determining whether or not the difference between the time at which the program is stored and the current time exceeds the time preset in the relay program.

The management unit 34 passes the program acquired by the program acquisition unit 32 to the version detection unit 35, and detects version information of the program (step S1026). Subsequently, the management unit 34 passes the version information received from the mobile phone 20 and the version information detected from the program to the version information comparison unit 36, and determines the difference (step S1027). Finally, the management unit 34 returns the determination result of the difference by the version information comparison unit 36 to the mobile phone 20 via the mobile phone 20 side transmitting / receiving unit 25 (step S1028).

Next, the process P103 will be described with reference to FIG.
2 shows details of the operation of the mobile phone 20 in FIG. Update unit 24
Receives the comparison result of the version information in the gateway 30 through the transmission / reception unit 25 (step S10).
31). The updating unit 24 refers to the comparison result received in step S1031 (step S1032). If the versions are the same, the update of the system program 21 is notified to the basic part 23 of the system program 21 (step S103).
3). The basic part 23 that has received the notification restarts the operation of the system program 21 (step S1034).

If it is indicated that the versions are different, the updating unit 24 instructs the detailed version information detecting unit 26 to detect the detailed version information of the extended part 22 in the system program 21 (step S103).
5). The detailed version information is a combination of version information for each module and module identification information for uniquely identifying the module in the system program 21.
Is collected over all the modules that make up. As the version information for each module, (1) a version name of each module, (2) digest information extracted from a binary, and the like can be used.

The updating section 24 adds the system program 2 to the detailed version information acquired in step S1035.
1 and the transmission / reception unit 25
(Step S103)
6).

Next, referring to FIG.
The details of the operation of the relay program in FIG. The management unit 34 of the relay program 31 transmits the position information, the identification information,
Receive detailed version information (step S104)
1). Next, the management unit 34 gives the received position information and identification information to the program acquisition unit 32, and instructs acquisition of the program (step S1042).

The program acquisition section 32 determines in step S10
In a manner similar to 23 to S125, a program corresponding to the given position information and identification information is obtained (steps S1043 to S145). The management unit 34 passes the program acquired by the program acquisition unit 32 to the detailed version detection unit 37, and detects detailed version information of the program (Step S1046).

The management unit 34 passes the detailed version information received from the mobile phone 20 and the detailed version information detected from the program in step S1046 to the update detecting unit 38, and the module of zero or more modules having different version information for each module The identification information is extracted (step S1047). The module identification information extracted by the update detection unit 38 includes the module identification information of the module included in the detailed version information detected in step S1046 but not included in the detailed version information received from the mobile phone 20, and Although included in the received detailed version information, step S1
The module identification information of the module not included in the detailed version information detected in 046 is also included. The former is
Represents the addition of a module, the latter represents the removal of a module.

The management unit 34 stores the module identification information extracted in step S1047 and
The program acquired in S145 is passed to the module extracting unit 39, and all the modules to be transmitted to the mobile terminal 20 are extracted from the program (Step S1048).
At this time, the module extraction unit 39 determines in step S104
For the module identification information not included in the program acquired in steps S3 to S145, information indicating module deletion (module deletion information) is generated. Also, module identification information is added to each of the extracted module and module deletion information.

Finally, the management unit 34 transmits the extracted module and module deletion information to the portable terminal 20 through the portable terminal side transmitting / receiving unit 25 (step S10).
49).

It should be noted that the HTTP server 40
When acquiring more programs, multiple modules are combined into one file (archive) for efficient transfer.
Often integrated as. In this case, in steps S1046 and S1048, the archive acquired from the HTTP server 40 is expanded to acquire each module, or the individual module is read from the archive as appropriate, thereby performing the HTTP.
It is possible to obtain detailed version information or extract a module without changing the operation of the TP server 40.

Next, the process P105 will be described with reference to FIG.
2 shows details of the operation of the mobile phone 20 in FIG. Update unit 24
Receives zero or more modules and module deletion information transmitted by the relay program 31 on the gateway 30 through the transmission / reception unit 25 (step S1051),
The received module and module deletion information are stored in the system program 21 according to the module identification information.
(Step S1052). That is, for a received module, a module that already exists in the extension part 22 is replaced, a module that does not exist in the extension part 22 is added, and a module is deleted from the extension part 22 for the received module deletion information. I do.

When the application of the module is completed, the updating unit 2
4 notifies the basic part 23 of the system program 21 that the update of the system program 21 has been completed (step S1053). The notified basic part 23 restarts the operation of the system program 21 (step S1).
054).

Embodiment 2 In the second embodiment of the present invention, the configuration and operation when the processing capabilities of both the relay device and the terminal are low will be described. In the following, a system in which a program of a device connected to a home network is updated by a download from a center server via a home server will be described as an example.

FIG. 10 is an example of a control system using the home server 60 and the home network 13. The home network 13 is constituted by communication means having a relatively small communication capacity such as short-range wireless communication in one house, and the home device 50 and the home server 60 are connected. The home equipment 50 is connected to the home network 13.
Can communicate with the home server 60. Home server 60 is connected to center server 70 by a communication means such as public telephone line 14 which also has a relatively small communication capacity.

For easy understanding, FIG. 10 shows home equipment 50, home server 60, and center server 70.
However, in reality, there are several to several tens of home devices 50 in one house, and one center server has many home servers corresponding to many customer houses. Is connected, and the public telephone line 14 is
This is an example, and any other network may be used as long as the network can communicate between the home server 60 and the center server 70. Also, the center server may be physically configured with a plurality of servers. In addition, the public telephone line 14
This is an example, and any other network may be used as long as the network can communicate between the home server 60 and the center server 70.

An example of the configuration and an example of the operation when the present invention is applied to the system of FIG. 10 will be described below. FIG.
A portion necessary for explanation is extracted from the configuration of the home appliance 50. The home device 50 is a device in which a function of monitoring and controlling under the management of the center server 70 is added to a home appliance or the like existing in the home. The home device 50 includes
A monitoring / control program 51 is installed. Also, monitoring /
The control program 51 is composed of a plurality of modules.

Similarly to the mobile phone 20 in the first embodiment, the home device 50 includes an updating unit 52 for updating the monitoring / control program 51 as necessary, and a monitoring / control program in accordance with an instruction from the updating unit 52. A version information detecting section (program version information detecting section) 53 for detecting version information 51 and a detailed version information detecting section for detecting detailed version information for each module constituting the monitoring / control program 51 in response to an instruction from the updating section 52. (A module version information detecting unit) 54 and a transmitting / receiving unit 55 that transmits version information or detailed version information to the home server 60 according to an instruction from the updating unit 52, receives a response to the home server 60, and provides the same to the updating unit. .

As shown in FIG. 12, the home server 60 is equipped with a relay program 61 for relaying a monitoring / control program 51 update request from the home device 50.

[0091] The relay program 61
A version information acquisition unit (program version information acquisition unit) 64 for acquiring version information from 0, and a detailed version information acquisition unit (module version information acquisition unit) 66 for acquiring detailed version information from the center server.
And a version information comparing unit (program version information comparing unit) 65 for comparing two version information to determine the difference, and comparing the two detailed version information to detect a module having different version information for each module from the program. An update detection unit 67, a module acquisition unit 68 that acquires a module from the center server, a relay management unit 63 that controls the above units, and executes a relay process;
The home device side transmitting / receiving unit 62 that receives (input unit) version information or detailed version information from the home device and transmits a response (output unit) to the home device, and sends version information, detailed version information, and module information to the center server. Send acquisition request (output unit) and receive response (input unit)
And a transmitting / receiving unit 69 on the center server side.

As shown in FIG. 13, the center server 70
Is loaded with a server program 71 for processing requests from the home server.

The server program 71 includes a program acquisition unit 74 for reading a program recorded in the center server 70, a version information detection unit (program version information detection unit) 75 for detecting version information from the program, and a detailed version A detailed version information detecting section (module version information detecting section) 76 for detecting information, a module extracting section 77 for extracting a designated module from a program, and a server management section for controlling the above sections and executing a request from a home server And a transmitting / receiving unit 72 for receiving a request from the home server and transmitting a response.

The home device 50 attempts to update the monitoring / control program 51 at an arbitrary time. The motivation for starting the update is (1) according to an instruction recorded in advance in the in-home device 50, an instruction from the center server 70 or the home server 60 during operation, or a judgment of a program mounted on the in-home device 50. The recorded update of the monitoring / control program arrives, (2) reception of an explicit monitoring / control program update request from the center server 70 or the home server 60, and (3) communication with the center server 70 or the home server 60. (4) Update instruction by operation of maintenance staff,
And the like.

FIG. 14 shows an example of the outline of the operation of the system according to the second embodiment. Home equipment 50
Acquires the identification information and the version information of the monitoring / control program 51 to be updated from the monitoring / control program 51, and transmits them to the relay program 61 on the home server 60 (process P201). The relay program 61 stores the version information in the server program 71 on the center server 70 according to the identification information received from the home device 50.
(Process P202).

In accordance with the request from the relay program 61, the server program 71 detects the version information of the corresponding program and returns it to the relay program 61 (Process P203). The relay program 61 stores the version information received from the server program 71 and the home device 50.
The comparison result with the version information received from the
0 (process P204). The home device 50 refers to the comparison result received from the relay program 61, and ends the update if the version information indicates that they are equal. If the version information is different, the detailed version information of the monitoring / control program 51 to be updated is obtained from the monitoring / control program 51 and transmitted to the relay program 61 (process P205).

The relay program 61 requests detailed version information from the server program 71 according to the identification information (process P206). In response to the request from the relay program 61, the server program 71 detects detailed version information of the corresponding program, and returns it to the relay program 61 (process P207). Relay program 6
1 compares the detailed version information received from the server program 71 with the detailed version information received from the in-home device 50, and requests only those modules of the monitoring / control program 51 having different module-specific version information from the server program 71 ( Process P208). In accordance with the request from the relay program 61, the server program 71 extracts a specified module from the corresponding program and returns it (process P209). Relay program 6
1 transmits the module received from the server program 71 to the home appliance 50 (Process P210). Home equipment 5
0 replaces the monitoring / control program 51 for the received module and ends the update (process P211).

In the second embodiment, in response to the fact that the communication capacity is small in all sections from the center server 70 to the home device 50, only the updated portion is downloaded in all these sections, thereby realizing a reduction in traffic. ing.

Even when the processing capacity of the relay device is low, such as the home server assumed here, the detection of the version information and the detailed version information of the program on the center server and the extraction of the module are performed on the center server. This indicates that only the updated part of the program can be extracted and downloaded.

In this case as well, information relating to downloads performed by the terminal in the past, version information of the program possessed by the terminal, and information relating to the update contents of the program performed in the past on the server are transmitted to the server and the gateway. What is not necessarily required to be held is the same as in the first embodiment.

Hereinafter, the operation of the present embodiment will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. An example of the details of the operation of the mobile phone in the process P201 will be described with reference to FIG. When the update of the monitoring / control program 51 is started, the updating unit 52 on the home appliance 50 stops the operation of the monitoring / control program 51 (Step S2011).
Here, an example in which updating is performed after the monitoring / control program 51 is stopped will be described here, but this does not prevent application of the present invention to an updating method performed while the monitoring / control program 51 is operating.

The updating unit 52 includes a version information detecting unit 53
To detect the version information of the entire monitoring / control program 51 (step S2012). Next, the update unit 52 acquires the identification information of the monitoring / control program 51 (Step S2013). Subsequently, the updating unit transmits the identification information and the version information to the home server via the transmitting / receiving unit (Step S2014).

Next, referring to FIG.
2 shows an example of details of the operation of the relay program 61 in FIG. The relay management unit 63 of the relay program 61 receives the identification information and the version information transmitted by the home device 50 through the home device transmitting / receiving unit 62 (Step S202).
1).

Next, the relay management section 63 gives the received identification information to the version information acquisition section 64, and instructs to acquire the version information (step S2022). The version information acquiring unit 64 transmits the given identification information to the server program 71 on the center server 70 through the center server-side transmitting / receiving unit 69 (Step S2023).

Next, referring to FIG.
3 shows an example of details of the operation of the server program 71 in Example 3. The server management unit 73 of the server program 70 receives the identification information transmitted by the relay program 61 via the server transmission / reception unit 72 (Step S2031). The server management unit 73 stores the received identification information in the program
4 to obtain a program (step S203).
2). Next, the server management unit 73 sets the program acquisition unit 7
The program acquired in step 4 is transferred to the server version information detecting section 75, the version information of the program is detected (step S2033), and the detected version information is returned to the relay program 61 through the server transmitting / receiving section 72 (step S2034).

Next, referring to FIG.
4 shows an example of the details of the operation of the relay program 61 in FIG. The version information acquisition unit 64 receives the version information transmitted by the center server 70 via the center server-side transmission / reception unit 69, and passes the version information to the relay management unit 63 (step S2041).

The relay management section 63 passes the version information received from the home device 50 and the version information received from the center server 70 to the version information comparison section 65,
The difference is determined (step S2042). Next, the relay management unit 63 returns the determination result of the difference by the version information comparison unit 65 to the home device 50 through the home device transmitting / receiving unit 62 (Step S2043).

Next, referring to FIG. 19, the process P20
5 shows an example of the details of the operation of the home device 50 in FIG. The updating unit 52 communicates with the home server 60 through the transmitting / receiving unit 55.
(Step S2051). The updating unit 52 refers to the comparison result received in Step S2051 (Step S2052).
If it is indicated that the versions are the same, the operation of the monitoring / control program 51 is restarted (step S
2053).

If it is indicated that the versions are different, an instruction is issued to the detailed version information detecting section 54 to monitor /
The detailed version information of the control program 51 is detected (step S2054). The updating unit 52 performs step S2
055, the identification information of the monitoring / control program 51 is added to the detailed version information acquired,
(Step S205)
5).

Next, referring to FIG.
6 shows an example of details of the operation of the relay program in FIG.
The relay management unit 63 of the relay program 61 receives the identification information and the detailed version information transmitted by the home device 50 through the home device transmitting / receiving unit 62 (Step S206).
1). Next, the relay management unit 63 gives the received identification information to the detailed version acquisition unit 66, and instructs acquisition of the detailed version (step S2062). The detailed version information acquiring unit 66 transmits the given identification information to the server program 70 via the center server side transmitting / receiving unit 69 (step S2063).

Next, referring to FIG.
7 shows the details of the operation of the server program 70 in FIG.
The server management unit 73 of the server program 70 receives the identification information transmitted by the relay program 61 via the server transmission / reception unit 72 (Step S2071).

The server management section 73 gives the received identification information to the program acquisition section 74 and acquires the program (step S2072). Next, the server management unit 73
The program acquired by the program acquiring unit 74 is passed to the server detailed version information detecting unit 76, and detailed version information of the program is detected (step S207).
3) The server transmitting / receiving unit 7 transmits the detected detailed version information.
2 to the relay program 61 (step S
2074).

Next, referring to FIG.
8 shows details of the operation of the relay program 61 in FIG. The detailed version information acquiring unit 66 receives the detailed version information transmitted by the center server 70 via the center server side transmitting / receiving unit 69, and passes it to the relay managing unit 63 (step S2081).

The relay management unit 63 passes the detailed version information received from the home device 50 and the detailed version information received from the center server 70 to the update detection unit 67, and the module of zero or more modules having different version information for each module. The identification information is taken out (Step S208)
2). The relay management unit 63 passes the received identification information and the module identification information extracted in step S2082 to the module acquisition unit 68, and instructs acquisition of a module (step S2083).

The module acquiring section 68 transmits the given identification information and module identification information to the server program 70 through the center server side transmitting / receiving section 69 (step S2084).

Next, referring to FIG.
9 shows an example of details of the operation of the server program 70 in FIG. The server management unit 73 of the server program 70 receives the identification information and the module identification information transmitted by the relay program 61 via the server transmission / reception unit 72 (Step S2091).

The server management section 73 gives the received identification information to the program acquisition section 74 and acquires the program (step S2092). Next, the server management unit 73
The program acquired by the program acquisition unit 74 and the received module identification information are passed to the module extraction unit 77, and the specified module is extracted or module deletion information is generated (step S2093),
The extracted module and module deletion information are returned to the relay program 61 via the server transmission / reception unit 72 (step S2094).

Next, referring to FIG. 24, the process P21
0 shows an example of the details of the operation of the relay program 61 at 0. The module acquisition unit 68 receives the module and module deletion information transmitted by the center server 70 via the center server
3 (step S2101).

The relay management unit 63 transmits the module and module deletion information acquired in step S2101 to the home device 50 through the home device transmitting / receiving unit 62 (step S2102).

Next, referring to FIG.
1 shows an example of details of the operation of the home device 50 in FIG. The updating unit 52 communicates with the home server 60 through the transmitting / receiving unit 55.
It receives zero or more modules and module deletion information transmitted by the above relay program 61 (step S21).
11) Apply the received module and module deletion information to the monitoring / control program 51 according to the module identification information (step S2112).

When the application of the module is completed, the updating unit 5
2 restarts the operation of the monitoring / control program 51 (step S2113).

Embodiment 3 FIG. The third embodiment is a variation of the first and second embodiments. Here, the first embodiment will be described as an example.

Relay program 81 in the third embodiment
FIG. 26 shows an example of the configuration of FIG. This is because the relay program 31 (FIG. 3) according to the first embodiment has a version information storage unit (program version information storage unit) 82 and a detailed version information storage unit (module version information storage unit) 8.
3 is added. The components denoted by the same reference numerals as those in FIG. 3 are the same as the components described in the first embodiment, and a description thereof will not be repeated. The outline of the processing in the third embodiment is the same as that in the first embodiment.

The operation different from that of the first embodiment will be described below. FIG. 27 shows a process P1 in the third embodiment.
02 is an example of the detailed operation of the relay program 81 of FIG. Step S3023 provided after step S1026
In, the management unit stores the set of the version information detected by the version information detection unit, the position information, and the identification information in the version information storage unit.
Step S1022 is provided before step S1022.
In 3021, the management unit 34 determines whether the version information corresponding to the received position information and identification information is stored in the version information storage unit 82 and is sufficiently new. If it is sufficiently new, the version information storage unit is instructed to retrieve the stored version information (step S3022), and step S1027 and subsequent steps are performed. If not, step S1022 and subsequent steps are performed.

Similarly, FIG. 28 shows an example of details of the operation of relay program 81 in process P104 in the third embodiment. Step S provided after step S1046
In 3043, the management unit 34 stores the set of the detailed version information detected by the detailed version information detection unit 37, the position information, and the identification information in the detailed version information storage unit 83. In step S3041 provided before step S1042, the management unit 34
Determines whether the detailed version information corresponding to the received position information and identification information is stored in the detailed version information storage unit 83 and is sufficiently new. If it is sufficiently new, it instructs the detailed version information storage unit 83 to retrieve the stored detailed version information (step S3042), and executes step S1047 and subsequent steps. If not, step S1042 and subsequent steps are performed.

With these changes, the gateway 30
In some cases, it is possible to perform a relay process without obtaining a program that may cause an HTTP request to the HTTP server 40 and detecting version information or detailed version information.

In S3021, the management unit 34 determines whether the version information stored in the version information storage unit 82 is sufficiently new, or S30.
At 41, the management unit 34 determines whether or not the detailed version information stored in the detailed version information storage unit 83 is sufficiently new. Regarding the processing, “determination of whether or not it is sufficiently new” is performed in step S1024.
Can be determined in a similar manner. However, in step S1024, "whether or not the program is sufficiently new"
Is directly determined, but the difference between S3021 and S3041 is that if necessary, it may be determined whether or not the program used to detect the version information / detailed version information is sufficiently new.

Specifically, the determination in the case of S3021 is as follows:
It looks like this: (1) A method of inquiring of an HTTP server whether or not a program used for detecting the stored version information has been updated since the time when the version information was stored. (2) When the current time receives the program used to detect the stored version information, the expiration date specified by the server (Expires HTTP response)
The date and time described in the header). (3) A method of determining whether or not the difference between the time at which the version information is stored and the current time exceeds the time set in the relay program in advance.

The determination in the case of S3041 is as follows. (1) It is determined whether or not the program used to detect the accumulated detailed version information has been updated since the time when the detailed version information was accumulated.
How to contact the server. (2) When the current time receives the program used to detect the accumulated detailed version information,
Expiration date specified by server (Expir of HTTP response
(e.g., date and time described in the es header). (3) A method of determining whether or not the difference between the time at which the detailed version information is accumulated and the current time exceeds the time set in the relay program in advance.

Further, in the determinations of S3021 and S3041, in the cases of (1) and (2), the program itself used to detect the stored version information / detailed version information is not necessarily stored. It is not necessary that the following information necessary for the determination be stored in a state associated with the identification information of the program. In the case of the above (1), only identification information is required. This is because the server is inquired using the identification information. In the case of the above (2), the expiration date specified by the server may be stored in a state where it is associated with the identification information of the program.

As described above, the addition of the version information storage unit 82 and the detailed version information storage unit 83 can be applied to the relay program 61 shown as an example in FIG. With these changes, the home server 60 may send the H to the center server 70 in some cases.
Acquisition of programs that may cause TTP requests,
Relay processing can be performed without detecting version information or detailed version information. This means that the relay device (gateway, home server) and the server (HT
This leads to a reduction in traffic between the TP server and the center server), and particularly works effectively in the second embodiment.

Embodiment 4 In the first to third embodiments, the function of the relay program is described as an example of the relay device.
The embodiment implemented by the gateway 30 and the home server 60 has been described. However, the relay program can be implemented in a server (for example, an HTTP server, a center server, or the like). In addition, the terminal (for example,
Mobile phones, home appliances, calculators, mobile terminals, etc.). Even in this case,
Traffic can be reduced.

Embodiment 5 FIG. The relay program described in the first to third embodiments can be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium. The relay program stored in the recording medium is transmitted to a device (for example, a gateway or a home server as a relay device, a terminal and a computer, a portable terminal, a home device, a computer or a mobile terminal, or the like, and a server as an HTTP server or a center server, for example). Can be downloaded and implemented. Further, the relay program can be transferred between devices that execute the relay program via a network and executed by each device.

The relay program is a program that includes a plurality of modules and can be updated for each module.

[0135]

According to the present invention, the updated module is extracted and downloaded from the modules included in the program, so that traffic between the terminal and the server can be reduced.

Further, a module to be updated can be acquired by a relay program (relay method).

With the relay program, a program to be updated can be obtained from the server, and a module that needs to be updated can be extracted from the obtained program.

With the relay program, module version information of a module included in the program to be updated can be detected from the stored program.

By providing a function of storing module version information in the relay program, module version information required for updating can be obtained from the module version information stored in the relay program.

By providing a function of storing a program in the relay program, a module required for updating can be obtained from the program stored in the relay program.

After confirming whether or not the version of the program is different by the relay program, if necessary,
Modules that need updating can be acquired and detected.

According to the present invention, since the program is downloaded via the relay device, the updated module can be transferred to the terminal without adding a special function to the server.

According to the present invention, since the program is downloaded via the relay device, it is possible to mediate downloading the program of the plurality of servers to the plurality of terminals.

According to the present invention, a program including a plurality of modules can be handled as one file.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a system for providing access from a mobile phone to an HTTP server 40 on the Internet.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a part of the configuration of the mobile phone 20 according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a relay program 31 installed in a gateway 30.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of an outline of an operation of the system according to the first embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of details of operation of the mobile phone according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of details of the operation of the gateway according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a diagram showing an example of details of operation of the mobile phone according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a diagram showing an example of details of the operation of the gateway according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of details of operation of the mobile phone according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an example of a control system using a home server and a home network.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an example of a part of the configuration of a home device according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 12 is a diagram illustrating an example of a relay program 61 installed in a home server 60.

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an example of a server program installed in the center server 70.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing an example of an outline of an operation of a system according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 15 illustrates an example of details of operation of the mobile phone in Embodiment 2.

FIG. 16 is a diagram showing an example of details of the operation of the relay program 61 according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing an example of details of the operation of the server program 71 according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 18 is a diagram showing an example of details of the operation of the relay program 61 according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 19 is a diagram showing an example of details of the operation of the in-home device 50 according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 20 is a diagram showing an example of details of the operation of the relay program according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 21 is a diagram showing details of the operation of the server program 70 according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 22 is a diagram showing details of the operation of the relay program 61 according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 23 is a diagram showing an example of the details of the operation of the server program 70 according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 24 is a diagram showing an example of details of the operation of the relay program 61 according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 25 is a diagram showing an example of the details of the operation of the in-home device 50 according to the second embodiment.

FIG. 26 is a diagram illustrating an example of a configuration of a relay program 81 according to the third embodiment.

FIG. 27 shows a relay program 51 according to the third embodiment.
The figure which shows an example of the operation | movement details of FIG.

FIG. 28 shows a relay program 51 according to the third embodiment.
The figure which shows an example of the operation | movement details of FIG.

[Explanation of symbols]

11 mobile telephone network, 12 backbone network, 13 home network, 14 public telephone line,
20 mobile phone, 21 system program, 22 extended part, 23 basic part, 24, 52 update part, 25,
55, 72 transmitting / receiving section, 26, 53 version information detecting section, 27, 54 detailed version information detecting section, 30
Gateway, 31, 61, 81 Relay program, 3
2 Program acquisition unit, 33 Program storage unit, 34
Management unit, 35 Version information detection unit, 36, 65
Version information comparing section, 37 Detailed version information detecting section, 38, 67 Update detecting section, 39, 77 Module extracting section, 40 HTTP server, 41 Mobile phone side transmitting / receiving section, 50 Home equipment, 51 Monitoring / control program,
60 home server, 62 home device side transmitting / receiving section, 63
Relay manager, 64 version information acquirer, 66 detailed version information acquirer, 68 module acquirer, 69
Center server side transceiver, 70 center server,
74 program acquisition unit, 75 server version information detection unit, 76 server detailed version information detection unit, 82
Version information storage unit, 83 Detailed version information storage unit.

Claims (21)

[Claims] 1. A relay system for relaying downloading of a program including a module from a server to a terminal, wherein module version information of the terminal indicating a version of a module included in a program of the terminal is input from the terminal, and the server has Module version information of the server indicating the version of the module included in the program, the module version information of the server related to the module version information of the terminal is obtained from the server, and the module version information of the input terminal and the obtained server module version information are obtained. Module version information is compared, and based on the comparison result, a module having a different version is identified between a module included in the program held by the server and a module included in the program held by the terminal. Trunking, characterized in that acquires the identification module from the server, and outputs the obtained module to the terminal. 2. The program includes a plurality of modules, and the relay system inputs module version information of a plurality of terminals indicating respective versions of the plurality of modules included in the program of the terminal. Acquiring the module version information of a plurality of servers associated with each of the module version information of the plurality of terminals, and comparing the module version information of the plurality of input terminals with the obtained module version information of the plurality of servers, respectively. The relay system according to claim 1. 3. The module version information of the terminal includes identification information for identifying a module. The relay method includes: an input unit for inputting module version information of the terminal from a terminal; and an input unit of the terminal input by the input unit. The identification information is extracted from the module version information, and based on the extracted identification information,
A module version information obtaining unit for obtaining module version information of the server; and a module version information of the terminal input by the input unit and module version information of the server obtained by the module version information obtaining unit. An updating unit for identifying a module having a different version between a module included in a program included in the server and a module included in a program included in the terminal, based on the module, and obtaining the module identified by the updating unit from the server The relay system according to claim 1, further comprising: a unit; and an output unit configured to output the module acquired by the module acquisition unit to a terminal. 4. The relay method according to claim 3, wherein the module version information acquisition unit requests the server to transfer module version information of the server corresponding to the extracted identification information. 5. The relay system further comprises a module version information storage unit for storing module version information of the server obtained by the module version information obtaining unit, wherein the module version information obtaining unit stores the module version information. And acquiring module version information of the server stored in the unit, and determining whether to acquire module version information of the server from the server based on the acquired module version information of the server. 4. The relay system according to 4. 6. The relay method according to claim 3, wherein the module acquisition unit requests the server to transfer a module corresponding to the identification information. 7. The terminal module version information includes identification information for identifying a module and a program including the module. The relay system includes: an input unit configured to input module version information of the terminal from the terminal; The identification information is extracted from the module version information of the terminal input by the unit, and based on the extracted identification information,
A program acquisition unit for acquiring a program from the server; a module version information detection unit for detecting module version information of the server from the program acquired by the program acquisition unit; a module version information of the terminal input by the input unit and the module version The information detection unit compares the module version information of the server obtained, based on the comparison result, between the module included in the program that the server has and the module that is included in the program that the terminal has, a module having a different version, An updating unit for identifying, a module extracting unit for extracting a module identified by the updating unit from a program acquired by the program acquiring unit, and an output unit for outputting the module extracted by the module extracting unit to a terminal. Special 3. The relay system according to claim 1, wherein 8. The relay system further includes a program storage unit for storing the program acquired by the program acquisition unit, wherein the program acquisition unit acquires and acquires the program accumulated in the program accumulation unit. 8. The relay system according to claim 7, wherein it is determined whether to acquire the program from the server based on the program. 9. The relay system further includes a module version information storage unit that stores module version information of the server detected by the module version information detection unit, wherein the program acquisition unit stores the module version information in the module version information storage unit. 9. The relay system according to claim 7, wherein module version information of the stored server is acquired, and it is determined whether to acquire a program from the server based on the acquired module version information of the server. 10. The module extracting unit according to claim 8, wherein the module extracting unit extracts a module identified by the updating unit from a program stored in the program storing unit.
The relay method described. 11. The relay method further comprises: inputting, from the terminal, program version information of a terminal indicating a version of a program held by the terminal, and program version information of a server indicating a version of a program held by the server. Obtain the server program version information related to the program version information from the server, compare the input terminal program version information with the obtained server program version information, and, based on the comparison result, 11. The device according to claim 1, wherein it is determined whether or not the terminal has a different version of the program. If the result of the determination is that the version of the program is different, module version information of the terminal is input from the terminal. Crab described Joint system. 12. The input unit inputs, from the terminal, program version information of a terminal indicating a version of a program of the terminal. The relay system further includes a server program version information indicating a version of a program of the server. A program version information acquisition unit for acquiring from the server the program version information of the server corresponding to the program version information of the terminal; and a program version information of the terminal and the program version information acquisition unit input by the input unit. Comparing the program version information of the server with a program version information comparing unit that determines whether or not the program of the server and the program of the terminal are different versions based on the comparison result; Is The input unit outputs the separated result to the terminal. If the determination result indicates that the version of the program of the server is different from the version of the program of the terminal, the input unit inputs the module version information of the terminal from the terminal. 7. The relay system according to claim 3, wherein: 13. The terminal according to claim 1, wherein the input unit inputs, from the terminal, program version information indicating a version of a program of the terminal, the program version information of the terminal includes program information for identifying the program, Extracts program information from the program version information of the terminal, and acquires a program corresponding to the extracted program information from a server. The relay method further includes: A program version information detecting unit for detecting program version information of a server indicating a version, a program version information of the terminal input by the input unit, and a server program version information detected by the program version information detecting unit. A program version information comparison unit that determines whether the version of the program of the server and the version of the program of the terminal are different based on the result of the comparison. The input unit inputs module version information of the terminal from the terminal when the result of the determination indicates that the version of the program of the server and the version of the program of the terminal are different. The relay system according to claim 7. 14. The input unit inputs, from a terminal, program version information of a terminal indicating a version of a program included in the terminal, the program version information includes program information for identifying a program, and the program acquisition unit includes: Extract the program information from the program version information of the terminal, obtain a program corresponding to the extracted program information from the program storage unit, based on the obtained program, determine whether to obtain a program from the server, Based on the determined result, a program corresponding to the extracted program information is obtained from the server. The relay method further includes a server program version information indicating a version of a program that the server has from the program obtained by the program obtaining unit. Detect A program version information detector that compares the program version information of the terminal input by the input unit with the program version information of the server detected by the program version information detector, and, based on the comparison result, And a program version information comparison unit that determines whether or not the program that the terminal has is a different version.The output unit outputs the determined result to the terminal, and the input unit determines the result, 9. The relay method according to claim 8, wherein when the version of the program of the server and the version of the program of the terminal are different, module version information of the terminal is input from the terminal. 15. The relay system according to claim 1, wherein the relay system is arranged in a relay device that connects the server and the terminal via a network. 16. The relay system according to claim 15, wherein said relay device is connected to a plurality of servers and a plurality of terminals. 17. A program relay system comprising: a server having a program including a module; a terminal having a program including the module; and a relay device relaying downloading of the program including the module from the server to the terminal. Extracting from the program the module version information of the terminal indicating the version of the module included in the program held by the terminal, outputting the extracted module version information of the terminal, and the relay device outputs the module version information of the terminal output by the terminal. From the server, the module version information of the server indicating the version of the module included in the program possessed by the server, which is related to the module version information of the terminal, is obtained from the server. The obtained module version information of the terminal is compared with the obtained module version information of the server. Based on the comparison result, a module included in the program included in the server and a module included in the program included in the terminal are determined. To identify the module of a different version, obtain the identified module from the server, output the obtained module to a terminal, and input the module output by the relay device, and incorporate the input module into a program. A program relay system characterized in that a program is updated by a program. 18. The relay system according to claim 17, wherein the terminal that has received the module from the relay system incorporates the received module into a program. 19. The relay method according to claim 18, wherein the program is generated in the form of a single file including a module, and the terminal expands the single file to update the module. 20. A relay method for relaying downloading of a program including a module from a server to a terminal, wherein module version information of the terminal indicating the version of the module included in the program of the terminal is input from the terminal, and the server has Module version information of the server indicating the version of the module included in the program, the module version information of the server related to the module version information of the terminal is obtained from the server, and the module version information of the input terminal and the obtained server module version information are obtained. Compares module version information and identifies modules with different versions between the modules included in the program held by the server and the modules included in the program held by the terminal based on the comparison result , The relay method characterized by retrieves the identified module from the server, and outputs the obtained module to the terminal. 21. A computer-readable recording medium for recording a relay program for causing a computer to implement a relay method for relaying downloading of a program including a module from a server to a terminal, wherein the program is included in the terminal. Module version information of a terminal indicating module version is input from a terminal, and module version information of a server indicating a version of a module included in a program included in the server, the module version of the server relating to the module version information of the terminal. Information is obtained from the server, and the module version information of the input terminal is compared with the obtained module version information of the server. A relay method characterized in that modules having different versions are identified between the module and a module included in a program of the terminal, the identified module is obtained from the server, and the obtained module is output to the terminal. A computer-readable recording medium that stores a relay program for realizing the program.