JP2003076567A - Firmware update method of image processor and image processor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a firmware update method enabling exact update of firmware while considering a load of a network. SOLUTION: An image processor is made to update the firmware (S54 to S56) by transmitting the firmware after performing a pre-processing (S50 to S53). After that, rewrite related time of the firmware is received (S57), the time is larger than prescribed time T (No in S58), a counter i is increased (S60) after waiting for a prescribed time (S59) and a processing is proceeded to a processing of the next information processor (S54 and afterward). When the time is equal to or less than T, the counter i is immediately increased (S61) and the processing is proceeded to the processing of the next image processor (S62 to S66). In the case of No in S54 or S62, the processing is terminated.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for downloading firmware for controlling the operation of an image processing apparatus from a remote location to the image processing apparatus via the Internet.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, a technique for downloading and rewriting firmware from a service center via a public line has been put into practical use for facsimiles. On the other hand, a technique has been developed in which the communication cost is reduced and the time required for the download is shortened by downloading the firmware using the Internet instead of the public line.

[0003]

However, the firmware of an image processing apparatus such as a facsimile is highly functional,
As the number of functions increases, the number has increased to around 10 Mbytes, and the load on the network during download cannot be ignored. Further, the firmware is generally downloaded to a large number of image processing apparatuses of the same model number, and if the network load is particularly high, the firmware may be collectively downloaded and congestion may occur in the network.

Further, even if the model numbers are the same, if the specifications are changed due to customization, the performance may be deteriorated by updating the firmware. The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a firmware update method that enables accurate firmware update while considering the load on the network.

[0005]

In order to achieve the above object, a firmware updating method according to the present invention is a firmware updating method executed by a management device for instructing a plurality of image processing devices to update firmware via a network. Therefore, a time information receiving step of receiving time information related to the update from the image processing apparatus that has updated the firmware, and instructing a predetermined image processing apparatus other than the image processing apparatus to update the firmware according to the received time information. And an update timing determining step for determining a timing to perform.

With this configuration, when it takes a long time to update the firmware of any one of the image processing apparatuses due to the network congestion, the other image processing apparatuses wait for the network congestion to be resolved. Since the instruction to update the firmware is made, the image processing apparatus can be made to update the firmware while reducing the load on the network.

Here, the timing for instructing the update of the firmware may be the time for instructing the update of the firmware or the time zone for instructing the update of the firmware. Further, the timing may be the day of the week. In fact, the day of the week on which work is closed differs depending on the type of business, so the present invention is effective even if the day of the week is determined.

Further, in the above, the method includes a time information determining step of determining whether the time information indicates a time shorter than a predetermined time, and the updating timing determining step includes If it is determined that even a short time is used as an index, the timing may be determined so as to immediately instruct a predetermined image processing apparatus other than the image processing apparatus to update the firmware.

With the above arrangement, especially when a plurality of image processing apparatuses targeted for firmware update exist at the same user site, in addition to the network congestion, the situation unique to the user site, For example, when there is a time zone in which the image processing apparatus is frequently used, and it takes a long time to update the firmware during that time, it is possible to instruct to update the firmware while avoiding such a time zone. .

In this case, the “predetermined image processing device other than the image processing device” is more preferable if it is an image processing device at the same or related user site as the “image processing device”. Further, even if the image processing apparatus is not on the user site, the image processing apparatus can be grouped by the attribute related to the update of the firmware, and the effect can be obtained.

For example, if the image processing apparatuses are grouped by longitude and time zone, a time zone (eg, for example) suitable for updating the firmware of the image processing apparatus for each time zone.
Since “midnight” is divided, “predetermined image processing device” may be selected for each range. Other examples of grouping methods include the type of user's business type and the type of image processing apparatus.

A firmware updating method according to the present invention is a firmware updating method executed by a management device for instructing a plurality of image processing devices to update firmware via a network. , A time information receiving step of receiving time information related to the update, and an update number determining step of determining the number of image processing apparatuses to instruct to update the firmware next according to the received time information. .

Just because the firmware can be updated quickly in one image processing apparatus does not mean that the firmware can be updated quickly in all the other image processing apparatuses. Therefore, if the firmware update is instructed while the number of image processing devices is adjusted, a large number of image processing devices are instructed to update the firmware during a time period when the firmware update is unsuitable due to an unexpected situation. Such a situation can be avoided.

Further, in the above, a time information judging step for judging whether or not the time information indicates a time shorter than a predetermined time is included. In the updating number determining step, the time information is more than a predetermined time. If it is determined that the short time is also used as an index, the number of image processing apparatuses that instruct to update the firmware next is increased, and
When it is determined that the time information does not indicate a time shorter than a predetermined time, the number of image processing apparatuses that instruct to update the firmware next is further reduced.

The firmware updating method according to the present invention is
A method executed by an image processing apparatus that updates firmware by receiving an instruction to update firmware,
The performance index acquisition step to acquire the performance index indicating the performance of the user, the performance index comparison step to compare the performance index before the firmware update and the performance index after the firmware update, and the performance index comparison step before the firmware update Also, when it is determined that the performance after the firmware update is lower, the update canceling step of returning to the firmware before the update is included.

In this way, the optimum operating condition can be maintained by selecting the optimum firmware according to the operating condition of the image processing device and causing the image processing device to execute processing in accordance with such firmware. . In particular, since the image processing apparatus is actually caused to execute the latest version of the firmware and the performance achieved thereby is verified in practice, the optimum firmware can be selected more reliably.

Further, in the above, the method includes a firmware holding step of holding the firmware before updating, and the updating canceling step uses the firmware held in the firmware holding step to restore the firmware before updating. To do. If you do this,
If it turns out that the older version of the firmware that was running before the firmware was updated was more suitable, it can be returned to the preferred firmware more quickly and restored to a better operating state.

Alternatively, in the update canceling step, the firmware before update is acquired via the network,
The feature is to restore the firmware before update. With this configuration, the firmware of the old version does not have to be stored in the image processing apparatus, so that the storage capacity of the storage device such as the nonvolatile memory mounted in the image processing apparatus can be small. Therefore, it is possible to reduce the cost because the storage capacity is small, and it is possible to realize the downsizing of the image processing apparatus.

The firmware updating program according to the present invention is characterized by causing a computer to execute the above-described firmware updating method. Here, the computer refers to, for example, a server machine for managing the image processing apparatus, a microprocessor incorporated in the image processing apparatus, or a controller externally attached to the image processing apparatus.

An image processing apparatus according to the present invention is an image processing apparatus that receives an instruction to update firmware and updates the firmware, and includes a performance index acquisition unit that acquires a performance index that indicates its own performance, and firmware. If the performance index comparing unit that compares the performance index before updating with the performance index after updating the firmware and the performance index comparing unit determines that the performance after updating the firmware is lower than that before updating the firmware, And an update canceling means for returning the firmware to the firmware.

[0021]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of a firmware updating method according to the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings, taking an image processing apparatus management system as an example. [1] Overall Configuration of Image Processing Device Management System Image processing device management system according to the present embodiment (hereinafter,
It is simply called "management system". ) Will be described. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a system configuration of a management system according to this embodiment. In FIG. 1, a management system 1 has a configuration in which a service center 2 and a user site 4 of an image processing system are connected via the Internet 3.

Although the service center 2 can provide the management service of the image processing apparatus to a plurality of user sites, the management service provided to any of the user sites is the same regarding the firmware update. Therefore, in this embodiment, the user site 4 will be described as an example, and description of other user sites will be omitted.

The service center 2 is connected to the Internet 3 via a router 25, and a firewall 24 is installed for the purpose of security protection. Host computer 21 of service center 2
Is connected to a firewall 24 via a local area network (LAN) 22, and a mail server 23
Send and receive e-mail with each user site via.

The user site 4 is connected to the Internet 3 via the router 45, and a firewall 44 is installed for security protection like the service center 2. A client PC that uses the image processing apparatus 42 or the like is provided in the local area network 47 connected to the Internet 3 via the firewall 44 and the router 45.
(Personal Computer) 43 and the like are connected.

Further, each image processing apparatus is connected to the local network 47 via the management unit. For example, the image processing apparatus 42 is connected to the local network 47 via the management unit 41. Note that this is merely an example of the configuration of the user site, and the number of image processing devices and client PCs varies depending on the user site. Therefore, some user sites may not have a client PC.

The mail server 46 of the user site 4 is connected to the firewall 44, and the client PC
An e-mail transmission / reception service is provided to the management unit 43 and the management unit 41. A client PC or management unit at a user site that does not have a mail server may be a mail server outside the user site, such as an ISP (Internet Ser
vice provider) mail server may be used.

In any form, the user site in this embodiment is required to be able to send and receive firmware by exchanging electronic mail with the host computer 21 of the service center 2. SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol:
RFC821) and POP3 (Post Office Protocol version)
3: Use standard protocols such as RFC1725).

[1-1] The hardware configuration of the image processing apparatus managed by the hardware configuration management system 1 of the image processing apparatus will be described. The management system 1 is an MFP (Multi-Func) that also has functions such as copier and printer.
Other than the conventional printer, a facsimile, a copier, a scanner, a printer, or the like, which is capable of updating firmware through a management unit or without a management unit, is a management target.

Here, the hardware configuration of the image processing device 42 will be described as a typical example of the image processing device managed by the management system 1. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a hardware configuration of four control modules for controlling the operation of the image processing device 42 by executing firmware among the hardware configuration of the image processing device 42 and a connection state of these control modules. is there.

The image processing device 42 is a so-called MFP, and although the four control modules play their respective unique roles, the hardware is almost the same and the CP
U, memory, etc. are connected by an internal bus, and serial communication is performed with other control modules by a serial I / F (interface) also connected to the internal bus. In addition, a GA (Gate Array) or the like corresponding to individual functions is connected to the internal bus.

More specifically, a flash ROM (Read Only Mem) storing firmware for each control module.
mory), SRAM (Static Rando) as working memory
NVRAM (Non-Volatile RAM) that stores parameters such as m Access Memory) and operation settings is connected to an internal bus, and CPU (Central Processi)
ng Unit) reads the firmware from the flash ROM and executes the processing according to the firmware.

The control module 421 has a hardware configuration as described above, and the CPU 421
1, a flash ROM 4212, an SRAM 4213, and an NVRAM 4214. Further, serial I / Fs 4215 and 4216 for serial communication with the control modules 422 and 423 and serial I / F 4217 for communication with the management unit are also connected to the internal bus, and the operation panel 4218 also controls the control module 421. Below.

The control module 421 having such a hardware configuration is used in the management unit 41 and the operation panel 4.
A print job, a copy job, or a firmware update job is received from the control unit 218, and processing necessary for executing the job is performed by the other control modules 422, 423, 424.
It is responsible for the overall control function of allocating to, and instructing the order and timing of each process.

The control module 422 also has a CPU 4221,
Flash ROM 4222, SRAM 4223, and N
It has a hardware configuration in which the VRAM 4224 is connected via an internal bus, and further, the control modules 421, 424.
Serial I / F 4225 and 4 for serial communication with
226 is provided. Further, a print load control I / OGA for controlling the print load is provided.

The control module 422 forms a latent image on the photosensitive drum, develops it, and transfers it to a recording sheet.
Based on an instruction from the control module 421, the control of turning on the laser diode, the driving of the polygon mirror and the conveyance roller, etc., relating to a series of printing operations until the transferred toner image is fixed and the recording sheet is discharged is executed.

The control module 423 also has a CPU 423.
It has a hardware configuration in which 1 etc. are connected by an internal bus, and further has an IR load control I / OGA for controlling the operation of an image reader (IR: Image Reader) for reading a document image. . In addition, the control module 4
21 is connected to the internal bus.

The control module 423 controls the IR load control I
Via / OGA, it controls the conveyance motor that feeds the document, and controls the drive motor that drives the image reader and the lighting of the lamp that illuminates the document surface. And
This control is executed according to a control command issued by the control module 421 based on an instruction input on the operation panel 4218.

The hardware configuration of the control module 424 is also the one in which the CPU 4241 and the like are connected by the internal bus, and the serial I / F 4245 for communicating with the control module 422 is provided. Further, the image correction control GA is connected to the internal bus, and the CPU 4
Under the control of 241, the function specific to the control module 424 is executed.

That is, the control module 424 receives image data relating to a print job from the control module 421, or receives image data relating to a copy job from the control module 423, and performs shading correction and gamma correction on these image data. And the like, and the processed image data is processed by the control module 4
22 to print out.

[1-2] Hardware Configuration of Management Unit Next, the hardware configuration of the management unit will be described. Some of the image processing apparatuses constituting the management system 1 have an external management unit, such as the image processing apparatus 42, and some of the image processing apparatuses have a function corresponding to the management unit. Here, a typical hardware configuration of the management unit will be described taking the management unit 41 externally attached to the image processing device 42 as an example.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the hardware configuration of the management unit 41. In FIG. 3, the management unit 4
1 is an EPROM (Erasable that stores a control program)
andProgrammable ROM) 418, working memory S
A RAM 417 and an NVRAM storing various set values are connected by an internal bus, and the CPU 419 reads out and executes the control program.

The various setting values stored in the NVRAM 4214 are the IP addresses of the management unit 41 itself and the mail server 46, the netmask, or the electronic mail from the mail server 46, which are necessary when accessing the local network 47. An account name and password required for downloading, an access cycle value defining a time interval for accessing the mail server 46, and the like.

The internal bus has a NIC (Network Inte
rface card), which is connected to the Internet 3 via the local network 47 or the like to send and receive e-mail or the like. Further, the serial I / F 42 of the control module 421
The serial I / F 411 is also connected to the internal bus by serial cable (cross type) 17 for serial communication.

A power supply IO41 also connected to the internal bus
Reference numeral 3 is an IO for controlling an electromagnetic switch that turns on and off the power supply to the image processing device 42 to restart the image processing device 42. It should be noted that instead of controlling the power supply, the CPUs 4211, 422 of the respective control modules are
The image processing apparatus 42 may be restarted by connecting to the reset terminals of 1, 4231 and 4241.

Further, the management unit temporarily stores the image data related to the print job and the firmware related to the firmware update job in the fixed storage device 416.
, Which is also connected to the internal bus. Although not shown, the fixed storage device 416 is connected to the internal bus through the fixed storage device connection I / F, and C
The PU 419 accesses the fixed storage device 416 by instructing the fixed storage device connection I / F.

Further, the management unit has a timer 414, and for example, determines the timing of accessing the mail server 46 in order to confirm whether or not the electronic mail is received and download the electronic mail, or send / receive the electronic mail. T in TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) which is a lower layer protocol of SMTP and POP3 used for
It is used to detect a timeout necessary for CP packet retransmission control.

The management unit also includes an operation panel 420. The operation panel 420 is a so-called color liquid crystal touch panel, and the management unit is the operation panel 420.
For example, the setting input is accepted and an error is displayed using. [1-3] Hardware configuration of host computer 21 Host computer 2 that is installed in the service center 2 and manages the image processing apparatus installed in the user site 4 or the like.
The hardware configuration of No. 1 will be described. Although a single processor configuration will be described here,
A multiprocessor configuration may be used when high performance is required due to the large number of image processing devices to be managed.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the hardware configuration of the host computer 21. In FIG. 4, the host computer 21 includes a main body 214, peripheral devices such as a display 211, a keyboard 212,
And a mouse 213. Also, the main body 214
Is a CPU 2144, a ROM 2145, a RAM 2146
Etc. are connected by an internal bus.

The main body section 214 serves as a connection interface with peripheral devices, and a display control section 2141 for outputting an image to the display 211, a keyboard 212 and a mouse 2.
Input control unit 2142 for accepting input from
And these are also connected to the internal bus. Also, L
The NIC for connecting to the AN 22 is also connected to the internal bus.

The fixed storage device 2147 connected to the internal bus via the interface unit (not shown) is an electronic mail for sending an electronic mail with firmware attached to the image processing device under the control of the host computer 21.
In addition to storing a customer information database for each image processing apparatus including an address, all versions of firmware corresponding to the model and model are stored.

The host computer 21 is, for example, an RD.
A BMS (Relational Data Base Management System) is installed, and the operator of the host computer 21 can access the customer database by issuing a request to the RDBMS. Of course, the customer database may be accessed by means other than the RDBMS.

[2] Basic Operation of Management System 1 Next, the operation of the management system 1 will be described with reference to a flowchart. [2-1] Operation of Host Computer 21 (Part 1) First, the operation of the host computer 21 installed in the service center 2 will be described with particular attention to the part relating to the firmware update. FIG. 5 is a flowchart of the main routine of the host computer 21, and particularly the flowchart focusing on the part relating to the firmware update processing of the image processing apparatus.

In FIG. 5, the host computer 21
Starts processing when the power is turned on. Then, first, according to the boot program read from the ROM 2145, the internal bus is initialized and the hardware such as clearing the RAM 2146 is initialized. And OS (Oper
(Aating System) and necessary application programs are started, and initialization processing is executed until the initial screen is finally displayed on the display 211 (step S
1).

When the initialization process is completed, the host computer 21 goes into an input waiting state. In this input waiting state, the host computer 21 issues an input relating to firmware update, that is, each instruction of “communication setting”, “registration of image processing apparatus”, and “rewriting firmware”.
It is accepted by the function keys F1 to F3 arranged on the keyboard 212.

When the host computer 21 detects that the F1 key has been pressed (Yes in step S2).
s), the communication setting is accepted (step S3). That is, the host computer 21 accepts the setting of the parameters required to send the e-mail. For example,
It accepts the IP address of the mail server 23 and the electronic mail address of the computer 21 connected to the LAN 22 on the service center 2 side, and stores them in the fixed storage device 21.
It stores in 47.

In the case of No in step S2, when it is detected that the F2 key has been pressed (Yes in step 4), the registration processing of the image processing apparatus is executed (step S5). That is, the model name and e-mail address of the image processing apparatus, the name of the user of the image processing apparatus, the address or whereabouts, and the input of information such as a telephone number are accepted and stored in the customer database of the fixed storage device 2147. To do.

The host computer 21 is the fixed storage device 2
The customer database held on 147 is a tabular database. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the structure of the customer database. The customer database manages data by assigning item numbers to each image processing apparatus that the host computer 21 manages. The "model" and "e-mail address" of the image processing apparatus are stored in each data record.

Further, in each record, information such as the name, address or whereabouts of the user of the image processing apparatus, and the telephone number is stored as text data as "other information". In the present embodiment, these data are collectively set as one item, but may be set as separate items. That is, "user name", "address or whereabouts", etc. may be treated as separate items from "other information".

In the case of No in step S4, when it is detected that the F3 key has been pressed (Yes in step S6), the firmware rewriting subroutine is activated, and the model of the image processing device and the firmware The specification of the version and the like is accepted, the firmware is sent to the image processing apparatus, and the rewriting of the firmware is prompted (step S7).

In the case of No in step S6, or after returning from the firmware rewriting subroutine of step S7, the host computer 21 proceeds to step S2 and repeatedly checks the pressing of the function keys F1 to F3. [2-1-1] Firmware rewriting process (step S7) Firmware rewriting process subroutine (step S7)
7) will be described in more detail. FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the processing flow of the firmware rewriting processing subroutine.

In FIG. 7, the host computer 21
First, the designation of the model of the image processing apparatus for which the firmware is to be rewritten is accepted. More specifically, the host computer 21 accepts a model, a model, and an identification code for identifying the control module when there are a plurality of control modules constituting the image processing apparatus, as the information for designating the firmware rewriting target (step). S10).

The operator of the service center 2 inputs the above data using the keyboard 212 and the mouse 213 while confirming the contents displayed on the display 211 in order to specify the target model and the like. The host computer 21 refers to the customer database using the above data as a key, and reads the record containing the registration information corresponding to the data (step S11).

The host computer 21 that has read the registration information counts the number of read records in order to specify the number n of registered image processing apparatuses whose firmware is to be rewritten, and sets the obtained number of records as the registered number n. Yes (step S12). Then, the host computer 21
Counts the number of processed records while sequentially processing the read records as follows, and repeats the process until the number of processed records reaches the registered number n.

To start processing the read record, the host computer 21 first sets 1 in the loop counter i. Next, the value of the loop counter i is compared with the previously registered number of registered vehicles n. If the value of the loop counter i is equal to or smaller than the number of registered vehicles n, the value of the loop counter i is compared. Process the record corresponding to.

Each record read previously is sequentially assigned a record number from 1 to n when the number of registered vehicles is counted, and the record number is referred to when processing each record. That is, each record is processed as follows in the order of the record numbers. First, the host computer reads an e-mail address from the record corresponding to the loop counter i, and creates an e-mail addressed to the e-mail address (step S15). The designated firmware is attached to this e-mail. Note that an upper limit (for example, 1 Mbytes) may be set for the size of the data attached to the e-mail, and the data may be divided so as not to exceed this size before being attached to the e-mail.

When the data is divided and attached to the electronic mail, the data attached to the electronic mail must be combined on the side receiving the electronic mail to restore the original data. How to restore the divided data will be described later. Also, the upper limit size of the attached data may be determined collectively by the service center 2, or the upper limit size is stored as other information for each record.
You may follow it.

The host computer 21 transmits the e-mail message with the firmware thus attached to the mail server 23 (step S16). That is, the mail server 23 is referred to by referring to the IP address of the mail server 23 set in advance (step S3).
And establishes a TCP session between them and sends an e-mail message to the mail server 23 according to SMTP.

When the processing for one record is completed in this way, the value of the loop counter i is incremented by 1 each time (step S17). Then, after incrementing the value of the loop counter i by 1, step S1
In step 4, the value of the loop counter i is compared with the registered number n. As a result of the comparison, if it is determined that the value of the loop counter i exceeds the registered number n (N in step S14)
o), the process is terminated and the process returns to the main routine. On the contrary, the value of the loop counter i is the registered number n.
If it is determined that it is equal to or smaller than the registered number n (No in step S14), the process proceeds to step S15 to process the next record.

The above is the main processing executed by the host computer 21 in the firmware rewriting processing. The present invention aims to achieve the intended purpose by adding the control described below to this process. [2-1-2] E-mail Message with Firmware Attached Here, a method of attaching the firmware to the e-mail message will be described in detail. In this embodiment, the email format is RFC822.
Comply with (Request for Comment # 822). FIG. 8 is a diagram mainly showing a portion that defines processing of an electronic mail message such as a header field in the structure of the electronic mail message to which the firmware is attached.

In FIG. 8, the message field of the electronic mail message is composed of a message header part and a message body part in accordance with the regulations of RFC822, and the message header part and the message body part are further defined. It is partitioned by NULL rows.
A NULL line means CRLF (Carriage Return and
Line Feed) means a line containing only.

The message header section has a plurality of header fields. That is, "From", "To", "Date", "Su" defined in RFC822.
In addition to "bject", "MIME-Versio
n ”,“ Content-Type ”, and“ Content
It has three header fields of "ent-Description". Each header field consists of a field name and field body separated by a colon (:).

The field-body portion of the Content-Type field is "multipart / mixe".
"D" indicates that the message body part is divided into a plurality of parts. Following this, a semi-colon (;) is followed by a "bound" that indicates the boundary of the part.
A predetermined character string as the “ary” parameter (“5 in FIG.
kvrZF / hrA ") is displayed. Also, Co
In the field-body of the content-Description field, "Firmware" is displayed. This means that the firmware is attached to the email message.

FIG. 8 shows the case where the firmware is divided and transmitted. At the end of the field body of the Subject field, the denominator (in FIG. 8, " 4 ")
And the number (“1” in FIG. 8) indicating the number of data from the beginning of the divided firmware of the attached data attached to the email message is the fraction (“1 /” in FIG. 8). 4 ”) is displayed.

RFC 822 stipulates that an electronic mail consists of a text line, and when attaching binary data such as firmware, it must be converted into text data. Therefore, RFC2045 to RFC20
MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail E
xtensions) extension to convert the firmware to text data.

Next, the structure of the message body will be described. In the message body part, the message
The boundary parameter displayed in the Content-Type field of the header part (“5 kv in FIG. 8”
The character string in which "-" is inserted at the beginning of "(rZF / hrA") ("-5kvrZF / hrA" in FIG. 8) indicates that it is the start part of each part.

In the line following the character string of the boundary parameter, "Content-Type" and "Content-Transfer-Encode" are displayed in order to display the attributes of the data stored in the part.
Two header fields "g" are arranged. C
The field body of the ontent-Type field contains "appli" indicating that the data stored in the part is typically uninterpreted binary data or information processed by an application.
“Cation” is displayed.

Subsequent to the slash (/) following this, the subtype name "octe" indicating that the data is binary data which is not interpreted by the mailer.
"t-stream" is displayed. Further, after the semicolon, a file containing the attached binary data, that is, the file name of the firmware data is displayed (in FIG. 8, "firmware" is displayed).
1. dat ”. ).

Content-T placed in the next line
In the field body of the transfer-Encoding field, "base64" indicating the encoding method of the data stored in the part is displayed. As a result, the firmware data is Base6
It can be seen that the characters are converted into US-ASCII characters according to the four methods.

The lines following these two header fields are in US-ASCII according to the Base64 system.
The firmware data converted into data is stored. Needless to say, other methods such as Uuencode method and BinHex method instead of Base64 method are used.
The firmware data using the method US-ASCI
It may be converted into I data.

As described above, in order to indicate that the boundary is displayed and the necessary header field is added to the beginning of each part, and the end of the last part is the end of the entire body part. , Bounda of the Content-Type field of the message header
ry parameter (“5 kvrZF / hrA” in FIG. 8)
A character string in which "-" is added before and after "(" -5kvrZF / hrA-- "in FIG. 8) is displayed.

[2-2] Operation of Management Unit Next, with respect to the operation of the management unit 41 installed in the user site 4, a process executed especially when receiving an electronic mail message will be described. FIG. 9 is a flow chart showing the main routine of the processing executed by the management unit 41, particularly the part relating to the reception of an electronic mail message. The management unit 41 starts the processing when the power is turned on, and executes initialization processing such as memory initialization and parameter initialization (step S20).

The management unit 41 checks whether the setting key on the operation panel 420 has been pressed.
Then, if the setting key is pressed (step S21
Yes), the management unit 41 uses the operation panel 420 to receive the setting of the parameters required for the reception management unit 41 to send and receive the electronic mail message (step S21).

That is, the management unit 41 uses the operation panel 420, the IP address of the mail server 46, the e-mail account name and password, the mail server 4
A time interval or the like for periodically checking whether or not an e-mail message has arrived at 6 is received and stored in a predetermined address of NVRAM 4214. In the case of No in step S21, or after finishing the process of step S22, the management unit 41 refers to the timer 414 to check whether or not a predetermined time has elapsed since the mail server 46 was last accessed. When it is detected that a predetermined time has passed (step S
23, Yes), electronic mail reading process (step S
24) Start the subroutine.

If No in step S23, or after finishing the process of step S24, the management unit 41 proceeds to step S21, and repeatedly executes the process described above. [2-2-1] E-mail reading process (step S
24) FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing details of the electronic mail reading process (step S24) executed by the management unit 41. In FIG. 10, the management unit 41 establishes a TCP connection with the mail server 46 before reading an electronic mail message from the mail server 46 (step S30).

When the TCP connection is established, the POP
3, the mail server 46 is inquired whether a new message, that is, an electronic mail message has newly arrived. If it is found as a result of the inquiry that there is a new message (Yes in step S31)
s), the mail server 46 to send the message.
(Step S32).

When the management unit 41 receives a new message, it measures the current time and stores it in a predetermined address of NVRAM 4214. Then, the management unit Context of the message header part of the new message received
Refer to the t-Description field and check if "Firmware" is displayed in the field body.

[Firmw] is added to the field body portion.
If "are" is displayed, the management unit 41 determines that the firmware has been attached to the message (Yes in step S33), and the status of the US-ASCII data from the part storing the data attached to the message. To take out the firmware (step S3
4).

The retrieved US-ASCII data is B
It is decoded by the as64 method (inverse Base64 conversion) and returned to the original binary data (step S3).
5). Next, the Subject of the message header
By referring to the field body of the field, it is determined whether or not the decoded data is the divided data, and if it is the divided data, the division number is determined and stored in a predetermined address of NVRAM 4214.

Furthermore, the management unit 41 calculates the checksum of the binary data, which is also the NVRAM 421.
It is stored at a predetermined address of 4. At this time, if the binary data is divided data, it is stored in association with the divided number (step S36). After that, if the binary data is not the divided data, the number of the control module shown in the field body of the Subject field is added, and the binary data is sent to the image processing apparatus 42 via the serial I / F 411.

If the binary data is divided data, all the divided data are received, the original firmware is restored, and then the image data is sent to the image processing apparatus 42. In this case as well, the control module number designated in the Subject field is added and sent via the serial I / F 411 (step S37). After sending the firmware to the image processing device 42, the downloaded e-mail message is deleted from the mail server 46 according to POP3 (step S38). In the case of divided data, even if all the related divided data are not available and therefore the firmware related to the divided data has not been sent to the image processing device 42, the e-mail message related to the divided data is mailed. It may be deleted from the server 46.

No in step S31 or step S33
In the case of, or after finishing the processing of step S38, the TCP connection with the mail server 46 is disconnected (step S39), the electronic mail reading processing is finished, and the process returns to the main routine. [2-3] Operation of Image Processing Device 42 (1) The operation of the image processing device 42 will be described with particular attention to the firmware rewriting process. FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a main routine executed by the image processing device 42. The image processing device 42 starts processing when the power is turned on, and executes initialization processing such as memory clearing and standard mode setting (step S40). It should be noted that this initialization processing is performed from the control module 421 to the control module 4
24 respectively performed separately.

When the initialization process is completed, the image processing device 4
2 repeatedly executes normal processing until the management unit 41 instructs to rewrite the firmware. That is, the image processing device 42 receives an input of a signal from the operation panel 4218, each sensor in the image processing device 42, or a print job transmitted from the management unit 41 (step S41).

When the image processing device 42 receives an input,
Following this, copy control is executed (step S4).
2). Here, the copy control is a general term for processing necessary for image forming operation and the like, and for example, control of various operation unit groups such as paper feed control, scanning control, photosensitive drum control, developing device control, or the management unit 41. Processing such as a print job from the. The control unit 421 to the control unit 424 cooperate to execute this copy control.

Further, the control module 421 executes the step S
Parameters relating to the performance of the image processing device 42 are measured at any time through the processes of 41 and S42 and stored in the NVRAM 4214. In addition, "parameter related to performance" here
Is an index used for evaluating the performance of the image processing apparatus 42, such as print speed, toner consumption, and power consumption.

After the normal processing (steps S41 and S42) is completed, the image processing device 42 checks whether or not a firmware rewriting instruction has been received from the management unit 41. Then, when it is determined that the firmware rewriting instruction has not been received (No in step S43), the image processing apparatus 42 proceeds to step S41 and repeatedly executes the above-described normal processing.

As a result of the check, if it is determined that the firmware rewriting instruction has been received (step S
43, Yes), the firmware rewriting process subroutine is executed based on the instruction (step S4).
4). After completing the firmware rewriting processing subroutine, the image processing apparatus 42 restarts itself to operate with the new firmware (step S45).

At the time of this restart, the image processing device 42 sets True to a predetermined address of the NVRAM 4214 (hereinafter referred to as "rewrite flag"). this is,
This is because the image processing device 42 determines whether or not the restart is caused by the rewriting of the firmware after the restart. The image processing apparatus 42 terminates all the processes after the restart process.

[2-3-1] Firmware Rewriting Process (Step S44) The firmware rewriting process (step S44) executed by the image processing device 42 when the firmware rewriting instruction is received from the management unit 41 will be described. FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing the operation of the image processing device 42 in the firmware rewriting process.

Control module 421 of image processing device 42
Refers to the control module number designated in the firmware rewriting instruction from the management unit 41,
When it is determined that the number indicates the control module 421 (Yes in step S50), the firmware received from the management unit 41 is stored in the predetermined address of the flash ROM 4212 of the control module 421 (step S51).

If it is determined that the designated control module number is not the control module 421 (No in step S50) and the control module 422 is indexed (Yes in step S52), the control module 421 is selected.
Sends the firmware to the control module 422 via serial communication. At this time, the control module number is also sent to the control module 422.

The control module 422 that has received these
Refers to the received control module number, and if it is determined that the number indicates the control module 422 itself, the received firmware is stored in the flash ROM.
It is stored in 4222 (step S53). If it is determined that the designated control module number is not the control module 422 (No in step S52) and the control module 423 is indexed (Y in step S54).
es), the control module 421 sends the firmware to the control module 423 by serial communication. The control module 423 stores the received firmware in the flash ROM 4232 (step S55).

When it is determined that the designated control module number is not the control module 423 (No in step S54), the control module 421 sends the firmware and the control module number to the control module 422 by serial communication. At this time, the data is also sent to the control module 422. The control module 422 that has received them sends a firmware to the control module 424 by serial communication when it is determined that the received control module number is an index of the control module 424. Then, the control module 424 stores the received firmware in the flash ROM 4242 (step S56).

Steps S51, S53, S55, S56
When the processing of (1) is completed, the image processing device 42 ends the firmware rewriting processing and returns to the main routine. After returning, the image processing apparatus 42 restarts and ends the processing as described above. [3] Procedure for Divided Transmission of Firmware Here, a communication procedure for rewriting the firmware of a plurality of control modules and transmitting / receiving the firmware in units of control modules will be described. When the rewriting order of the firmware is the order of the control modules 421, 422, 423, and 424 in advance, the management unit 41 sets the rewriting order to the NVR.
It is stored in AM415.

FIG. 13 is a sequence diagram showing a communication procedure executed among the service center 2, the mail server 46, and the management unit 41 when dividing and transmitting the firmware. The management unit 41 regularly checks whether the mail server 46 has an incoming email message, as indicated by the dashed arrow. Then, if the firmware of the control module 421 (denoted as “F / W block # 1” in FIG. 13) has arrived in the mail server 46, it is downloaded.
Then, the firmware rewriting process is executed for the control module 421. When the control module 421 completes the firmware rewriting process, the flash R
The contents of the OM4212 are read out, the checksum is calculated, and this is transmitted to the management unit 41.

When the management unit 41 receives the firmware from the service center 2, it also receives the checksum value, and compares the checksum value received from the control module 421 with the checksum value received from the service center 2. If these checksum values match, an e-mail message requesting the next firmware is sent to the host computer 21 of the service center 2.

FIG. 14 is a diagram showing the contents of an electronic mail message sent by the management unit 41 to the service center 2. In the message body portion of the e-mail message, the model of the rewritten firmware, the control module number, and the version information (in FIG. 14, “model1_module1_v10”, that is, model name “model1”, control module number “1”,
The version number is "10". ) Is displayed.

In the following two lines, the requirements for the service center 2 (in FIG. 14, "FW_do"
wnload ”, that is, a request to send the next firmware. ), And the result of the firmware rewriting process (in FIG. 14, “OK”, that is, rewriting is successful, and when rewriting is unsuccessful, “NG” is displayed). Further, these data are represented by a predetermined character string (“#XX” in FIG. 14).
"XXXX_start", etc. ) Separates from the rest of the email message.

If the two checksum values do not match, the rewriting result is "rewriting failure".
Sends an e-mail message to the service center 2. Therefore, regardless of whether the checksum values match or not, the management unit 41 sends the electronic mail message to the service center 2. The electronic mail message is delivered to the service center 2 via the mail server 46. When the service center 2 receives this e-mail message and the rewriting result is "rewriting successful", the control module 422
Firmware (in FIG. 13, “F / W block #
2 ”. ) Is sent to the management unit 41.

Although not shown in the figure, referring to the message body of the electronic mail message, if the rewriting result is "rewriting failure", the electronic mail message with the firmware of the control module 421 attached is displayed. It is sent again to the management unit 41. This is because it corresponds to the case where the checksum values do not match due to garbled data in the previous transmission.

Also during this period, the management unit 41 regularly accesses the mail server 46 to check the electronic mail message. Then, when the management unit 41 confirms that the e-mail message attached with the firmware of the control module 422 has arrived, it downloads it and executes the firmware rewriting process.

In accordance with the procedure as described above, the firmware of the control modules 421 to 424 is sequentially sent from the service center 2 to the management unit 41. By doing so, it is possible to save the capacity of the storage device mounted in the management unit 41 as compared with the case where the firmware of the control modules 421 to 424 is collectively sent.

Further, the mail server for relaying the electronic mail message is generally provided with a limit on the total capacity of the electronic mail messages held for each mail account, and the mail server 46 also displays an image. Processor 4
There is an upper limit on the amount of data that can be stored in e-mails and messages addressed to 2 On the other hand, if the firmware is divided and transmitted according to the above-described procedure, only the firmware of one control module is stored in the mail server 46 at the same time. It is possible to avoid a situation in which the accumulation of is rejected. It is also possible to effectively use the message buffer of the mail server 46 by suppressing the upper limit of the data amount.

[4] Time related to firmware rewriting process When the management unit 41 finishes receiving the firmware from the service center 2, the time related to the firmware rewriting process (hereinafter referred to as "rewriting related time").
As a result, the time (hereinafter, referred to as “firmware delivery time”) from when the e-mail message with the attached firmware is transmitted from the host computer 21 of the service center 2 until it reaches the management unit 41 is measured.

The firmware delivery time is measured as follows. That is, the message header portion of the email message contains time information associated with the transmission of the email message. That is, the time information is read from the header fields other than the "Date" header field in the message header section to obtain the mail transmission time.

Then, the NVR is measured when the mail is received.
The firmware delivery time is calculated by calculating the difference between the reception time stored in the AM 4214 and the transmission time. The value of the firmware delivery time calculated in this way is notified to the service center 2 by an electronic mail message in the same manner as the checksum comparison result. still,
As the rewriting-related time, instead of the above-mentioned firmware delivery time, after the service center 2 sends an e-mail message with the firmware attached, the management unit 41 completes the firmware rewriting process from the image processing device 42. The time until receiving the notification (hereinafter, referred to as "rewriting completion time") may be adopted.

When the time required for the image processing device 42 to rewrite the firmware changes due to some factors such as the number of print jobs,
If the service center 2 selects a time zone in which the rewriting completion time is shorter and sends the firmware to the management unit 41, the rewriting completion time can be shortened, which is more efficient.

Incidentally, in order to measure the rewriting-related time more accurately, the host computer 21 and the management unit 4
It is necessary to set the time between 1 and 2. As a method of adjusting the time, for example, SNTP (Simple Network)
If Time Protocol (RFC2030) is used, the host computer 21 and the management unit 41 are connected via the Internet.
You can set the time between.

[5] Operation of Host Computer 21 (Part 2) The host computer 21 of the service center 2 having received the rewriting-related time from the management unit 41 determines the firmware of another image processing apparatus according to the received rewriting-related time. Determine the best rewriting process. FIG. 15 is a diagram showing the flow of processing regarding the firmware rewriting processing (step S7).
It is a figure equivalent to.

In FIG. 15, the host computer 21
First accepts the setting related to firmware rewriting (step S50) and executes preprocessing (step S50).
51-S53). Then, the electronic mail message with the firmware attached in the order of the registration numbers is transmitted (steps S54 to S56), and the rewriting related time of the firmware is received (step S57).

If the received rewriting-related time is longer than the predetermined time T (N in step S58)
o), since it is considered that the current time zone is not suitable for rewriting the firmware, the host computer 21 waits for a predetermined time (step S59). After that, the loop counter i is incremented by 1 (step S6
0), the host computer 21 proceeds to the process of step S54.

When the rewriting-related time is equal to the time T or smaller than the time T, it is considered that the current time zone is suitable for rewriting the firmware, and therefore the loop counter i is immediately incremented by one. From (step S61), the host computer 21 proceeds to the processing of steps S62 to S66. Steps S62 to S6
The process of 6 is substantially the same as the process of steps S54 to S60.

However, in the processing of steps S62 to S66, as in step S59, the host computer 2
Do not let 1 wait. Because it is considered that the current time zone is suitable for rewriting the firmware,
This is because the firmware is rewritten without missing this time zone. In the case of No in step S54 or step S62, since the rewriting of the firmware has been completed for all the designated image processing apparatuses, the host computer 21 exits the firmware rewriting processing subroutine and returns to the main routine.

[6] Operation of Image Processing Device 42 (Part 2) The image processing device 42 measures parameters relating to its own performance after the firmware rewriting process is completed and restarted, and the performance is improved by rewriting the firmware. Check if it is not degraded. This processing is executed in the initialization processing (step S40) described above. FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing the processing executed by the image processing apparatus 42 after restarting.

In FIG. 16, the image processing device 42 first checks the rewrite flag by referring to a predetermined address of the NVRAM 4214, and if the rewrite flag is True (True in step S70), measures a parameter relating to performance. (Step S71). Then, the parameter before rewriting the firmware and the parameter newly obtained by measurement are compared.

As a result of the comparison, when it is determined that the performance is deteriorated (Yes in step S72), the image processing device 4
2 returns the firmware to the version before rewriting (step S73). By doing so, the performance of the image processing device 42 can be maintained in a better state without requiring human labor. At this time, you may restore the firmware of all control modules to the old version,
Only the control module that caused the performance degradation,
It is also possible to revert the firmware to the old version.

The NVRAM 4214 has two areas for storing parameters relating to performance, one of which stores parameters before firmware rewriting,
The parameter before rewriting the firmware is stored in the other. Also, these areas have the same data structure (configuration of parameters) to enable comparison of these parameters.

As a method of returning the firmware to the version before rewriting, when updating the firmware to the new version in each control module,
There is a method in which the firmware of the old version is saved in either the flash ROM or NVRAM, and the saved old version is written to a predetermined address of the flash ROM to restore the version.

By the way, in the case of No at step S72, or after the processing of step S73, the image processing device 42 becomes N
The rewriting flag is set to False by accessing a predetermined address of the VRAM 4214 (step S7).
4). Then, in the case of False in step S70, or after the processing of step S74, the image processing device 42 ends the processing.

According to the above, it is possible to achieve the intended object of providing a firmware updating method that enables accurate firmware updating while considering the load on the network. In recent years, due to the increasing security awareness of communication via the Internet, a firewall that acts as a "protection wall" is installed at the connection port of each user who is connected to the Internet with the Internet, and the Internet is connected to the user's internal system. It is widely practiced to deal with unauthorized access of the.

One of the functions of this firewall is to limit the communication protocol that can pass between the Internet and the user's internal system, but SMTP is a typical communication protocol that is set to pass. By sending the e-mail message with the firmware attached as described above, the firmware rewriting process can be executed without being obstructed by the firewall.

Although the present invention has been described above based on the embodiments, the present invention is not limited to the above embodiments, and the following modifications can be implemented. (Modification) (1) Divided Transmission (Part 2) In the above embodiment, the case where the firmware is divided for each control module and sent from the service center 2 to the management unit 41 has been described. You may do like this.

That is, instead of dividing each control module, the firmware may be divided into a predetermined data size and sent. At this time, the divided firmware must be recombined by the management unit 41 on the receiving side so that the original firmware can be restored. For this reason, you should add the following information to your email message:

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing the main part of the contents of an electronic mail message to which the firmware divided into a predetermined data size is attached. In FIG. 17, among the header fields included in the message header part of the e-mail message, Subje
At the end of the field body of the ct field, "(1 /
4) ”is displayed.

This is because the original firmware is divided into four parts, and the data attached to the e-mail message having the subject field is the first part of the firmware divided into four parts. It means that there is. Following this, the service center 2 sends an e-mail message with the respective second to fourth parts of the firmware attached.

In the same manner as described above, these electronic mail messages also have the character strings "(2/4)" and "(3 /
4) ”and“ (4/4) ”are added. The management unit 41 confirms that all parts of the divided firmware have been received, and then starts the firmware writing process.

In the case of recombining the divided firmware, in the above embodiment, the respective parts are converted into binary data and then combined, but instead of this, in the state of US-ASCII data. It is also possible to combine them and then convert them back to binary data. By doing so, it is possible to reduce the memory capacity required when the management unit stores the divided data.

A mail server that collects and distributes e-mail messages generally sets a limit on the size of an e-mail message that it receives. This limit size is around 1 Mbyte. Often set. Therefore, by dividing the firmware according to such a limit size, the mail server that relays the electronic mail message does not reject the reception, and the firmware can be rewritten smoothly.

(2) Batch Transmission In the above embodiment, the case where the service center 2 dividedly transmits the firmware has been described. However, when the data size of the firmware to be transmitted is not so large, instead of the above, You can attach all the firmware in one email message. Here, two such attachment methods will be described.

The first method is a method in which the firmware of a plurality of control modules is collected and attached as a single file to an electronic mail message. In this case, the service center 2 attaches the data indicating which part of the file is the firmware of the control module together with the file to the e-mail message and sends it to the management unit 41.

As such data, for example, the information designating the control module, the start position and the end position in the file of the firmware of the control module as one set are stored in the file transmitted by the service center 2. You may want to attach this data to your email message for all included firmware.

Specifically, the start position of the firmware of the control module number 1 is 0H and the end position is 7FFF.
It is sufficient to specify the control module by the control module number such as the address 8H, the start address of the firmware of the control module number 2 is 80000H, and the end address is A07C0H, and the start position and the end position are specified by the addresses in the file. .

By doing so, the management unit 41 can divide the attached file and retrieve the firmware of each control module while referring to this data. Once the firmware is removed,
The rewriting of the firmware can be started by the retrieved firmware and the control module number.

Next, the second method is to attach the firmware to each electronic module as a separate file for each control module. When rewriting the firmware of the four control modules, attach four files to the e-mail message, and display a code so that the firmware of which control module can be identified by referring to the file names, for example. .

In this way, when extracting a plurality of firmware from the attached data, it is only necessary to extract the file from the attached data of each part according to the regulations of MIME. A type of firmware can be attached. (3) Rewriting Process (Part 2) In the above embodiment, the firmware rewriting process executed by the host computer 21 of the service center 2 has been described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. You may do it.

That is, when the rewriting related time of the image processing device received from the management unit is shorter than the predetermined time, it is determined that the current time zone is appropriate for rewriting the firmware, and more image processing devices are processed. Instruct to rewrite the firmware. If the rewriting-related time is longer than the predetermined time, it may be determined that the current time zone is inappropriate for rewriting the firmware, and the rewriting instruction may be refrained.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing the processing contents of the firmware rewriting processing subroutine for the host computer which performs such control. The host computer performs the same preprocessing as described above (steps S80 to S84). At this time, the value of the number k of image processing apparatuses that collectively issue the firmware rewriting instruction is set to an initial value, that is, 1.

Then, the firmware rewriting instruction is issued (steps S88, S89) while counting the number of image processing apparatuses that collectively issue the firmware rewriting instruction (step S87). Then, the notification of the rewriting-related time is received from the management unit of the image processing apparatus which is the target of the firmware rewriting instruction, and the number k of the image processing apparatuses is increased or decreased according to the size (steps S92 to S94). .

That is, if the received rewriting-related time is longer than the predetermined time (No in step S92),
It is determined that the current time zone is unsuitable for performing the firmware rewriting process, and the number k is decreased by one. If the rewriting-related time is shorter than the predetermined time (Yes in step S92), it is determined that the current time zone is appropriate for executing the firmware rewriting process, and the number k is incremented by one.

It is assumed that the minimum value of the number k is 1, and it cannot be smaller than 1. Therefore, step S94
When the number k is 1 when executing the process of 1, the number k is kept at 1 without decreasing. In this way, when the firmware rewriting process is completed for all the image processing devices for which designation has been accepted in step S80 (No in step S85), the process is terminated and returns to the main routine.

By doing so, it is possible to further reduce the load given to the network connecting the host computer of the service center and the image processing apparatus such as the Internet. (4) Selection of Optimum Version (Part 2) In the above-described embodiment, after the firmware is rewritten, if the performance-related parameter is measured and it is determined that the performance is deteriorated, before the firmware is rewritten. Although it has been described that the saved old version of the firmware is written to a predetermined address of the flash ROM to improve the deterioration of performance, the following may be performed instead.

That is, if the old version is obtained from the service center 2 instead of saving the old version of the firmware in the image processing apparatus, the storage capacity of the memory or the like in the image processing apparatus can be saved. FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing the processing of the image processing apparatus 42 according to the present modification, and the processing is the same as the processing of FIG.
It is executed as a part of 0).

In FIG. 19, the image processing device 42 first refers to the rewriting flag and sets the rewriting flag to Tr.
If it is determined to be ue (True in step S100), parameters related to performance are measured (step S101). The measurement result thus obtained is sent to the service center 2 via the management unit 41 (step S102). At this time, a predetermined time is also set in the timer.

Host computer 2 of service center 2
1 indicates the image processing device 42 based on the received measurement result.
It is determined whether the performance of is deteriorated or improved by rewriting the firmware. Then, when it is determined that the performance is deteriorated, the host computer 21 sends the firmware of the old version to the image processing apparatus 42 via the management unit 41.

After sending the measurement result, the image processing device 42 checks whether or not the old version of the firmware is received. Then, as a result of the check, if the firmware of the old version is not received (step S
No in 103), and checks whether a timeout has occurred by referring to the timer. If the time-out has not occurred, the process returns to step S103 to check whether the old version of the firmware is received.

As a result of the confirmation, when the old version of the firmware is received, the firmware rewriting process is executed using the received firmware (step S104). After that, the image processing device 42 sets the rewrite flag to False and ends the process. Also,
When it is determined that a timeout has occurred by referring to the timer, the image processing device 42 sets the rewrite flag to False and ends the process.

In this way, the firmware of various versions is not stored as an old version in each image processing apparatus, and the old version is complemented only in the service center 2, so that the entire management system 1 can use the flash ROM and It is possible to reduce the amount of memory required for saving the firmware such as NVRAM. (5) Rewriting-related time In the above embodiment, the firmware delivery time and the rewriting completion time are listed as the rewriting-related time, but other times may be used as the rewriting-related time. Further, in the above embodiment, the host computer 21 that received the rewriting completion time compares it with the predetermined time, but instead of this, the image processing device 42 or the management unit 41 compares the rewriting completion time with the predetermined time. The time may be compared and only the comparison result may be notified to the host computer 21.

(6) Determination of Firmware Rewriting Time Zone In the above embodiment, if the received rewriting related time is longer than the predetermined time T (No in step S58), the host computer 21 Although the above described waits for a predetermined time (step S59), the following may be performed instead.

That is, in step S59, the timing for instructing the next image processing apparatus to update the firmware is determined, and whether or not the timing has come before the processing in step S55 or S56 is executed next. You may check and wait until that timing. Also, in determining this timing,
The time may be designated, or 24 hours may be divided into some time zones and the time zones may be designated. Also, the day of the week may be specified.

[0159]

As described above, according to the present invention,
The firmware can be rewritten in a time zone suitable for rewriting the firmware, such as when the network load is low. In addition, the parameter related to the performance before rewriting the firmware is compared with the same parameter after rewriting the firmware, and if necessary, the rewriting process of restoring the firmware version is executed. Can work.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a system configuration of an image processing device management system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows a hardware configuration of an image processing device 42,
In particular, it is a diagram showing a hardware configuration of four control modules for controlling the operation of the image processing apparatus 42 by executing firmware, and a connection state of these control modules.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a hardware configuration of a management unit 41.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a hardware configuration of a host computer 21.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart of a main routine of the host computer 21, and particularly a flowchart focusing on a portion related to firmware update processing of the image processing apparatus.

FIG. 6 is a fixed storage device 214 of the host computer 21.
7 is a diagram showing a configuration of a customer database stored in FIG.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the processing contents of a firmware rewriting processing subroutine of the host computer 21.

FIG. 8 is a diagram mainly showing a portion that defines processing of an electronic mail message such as a header field and the like regarding a structure of an electronic mail message to which firmware is attached.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a main routine of a process executed by the management unit 41, particularly a part relating to reception of an electronic mail message.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing details of an electronic mail reading process (step S24) executed by the management unit 41.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a main routine executed by the image processing apparatus, and particularly a diagram showing a flow of processing relating to firmware rewriting processing.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a processing flow of firmware rewriting processing executed by the image processing apparatus 42.

FIG. 13 shows the service center 2, the mail server 46, and the management unit 4 when the firmware is divided and transmitted.
FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram showing a communication procedure executed during No. 1;

14 is a diagram showing the content of an electronic mail message sent by the management unit 41 to the service center 2. FIG.

FIG. 15: Firmware rewriting process (step S
It is a figure showing the flow of processing about 7), and is a figure equivalent to Drawing 7.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing processing executed by the image processing apparatus after the firmware has been rewritten and restarted.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing the main part of the contents of an electronic mail message to which firmware divided into a predetermined data size is attached.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing the processing contents of a firmware rewriting processing subroutine for a host computer that executes control according to modification (3).

FIG. 19 is a process of the image processing device according to the modification (4), which is an initialization process of the image processing device (step S4).
It is the flowchart which showed the content of the process performed as a part of 0).

[Explanation of symbols]

1 Image processing device management system 2 service centers 3 Internet 4 User site 21 Host computer 41 Management Unit 42 image processing device 23,46 Mail server

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    F term (reference) 5B076 AB18 AB20 AC01 AC03 BB06                       EB00 EB09

Claims (9)

[Claims] 1. A firmware update method executed by a management device for instructing a plurality of image processing devices to update firmware via a network, wherein time information related to the update is received from the image processing device that has updated the firmware. A firmware update method comprising: a time information receiving step; and an update timing determining step of determining a timing to instruct a predetermined image processing apparatus other than the image processing apparatus to update the firmware according to the received time information. . 2. A time information determination step of determining whether or not the time information indicates a time period shorter than a predetermined time period, and the update timing determination step includes a time period of which the time information period is shorter than the predetermined time period. The firmware update according to claim 1, wherein the timing is determined so that a predetermined image processing apparatus other than the image processing apparatus is instructed to immediately update the firmware when it is determined that the index is indexing. Method. 3. A firmware update method executed by a management device for instructing a plurality of image processing devices to update firmware via a network, wherein time information related to the update is received from the image processing device that has updated the firmware. A firmware update method comprising: a time information receiving step; and an update number determining step for determining the number of image processing apparatuses that next instruct to update the firmware according to the received time information. 4. A time information determination step of determining whether or not the time information indicates a time period shorter than a predetermined time period, and the updated number-of-units determination step includes a time information period period shorter than the predetermined time period. If it is determined that the number of image processing apparatuses that instruct to update the firmware is increased, and that the time information does not indicate a time shorter than the predetermined time, 4. The firmware updating method according to claim 3, wherein the number of image processing apparatuses that instruct to update the firmware next is reduced. 5. A method executed by an image processing apparatus that receives a firmware update instruction and updates the firmware, comprising: a performance index acquisition step of acquiring a performance index indicating the performance of the image processing apparatus; When the performance index comparison step of comparing the performance index and the performance index after the firmware update, and the performance after the firmware update is determined to be lower than that before the firmware update in the performance index comparison step, the firmware before the update is displayed. And a step of canceling the update. 6. A firmware holding step of holding firmware before updating, wherein the step of canceling update uses the firmware held at the firmware holding step to restore the firmware before updating. The firmware update method described in 5. 7. The firmware updating method according to claim 5, wherein in the update canceling step, the firmware before updating is acquired via the network and returned to the firmware before updating. 8. A firmware updating program, which causes a computer to execute the firmware updating method according to claim 1. Description: 9. An image processing apparatus that receives an instruction to update firmware and updates the firmware, wherein the image processing apparatus acquires a performance index that indicates its own performance, and a performance index and firmware before updating the firmware. A performance index comparing means for comparing the performance indexes after updating, and when the performance index comparing means determines that the performance after updating the firmware is lower than that before updating the firmware, the update canceling means for returning to the firmware before updating An image processing apparatus comprising: