JP2007202068A - Control device, radio base station and program updating method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To update a program without stopping services. <P>SOLUTION: In a control device which controls a predetermined object to be controlled based on a first control program stored in a first storage region of a storage unit and comprises a program switching means for switching the first control program to a second control program stored in a second storage region of the storage unit, the program switching means rewrites a return address after control processing based on the first control program from a top address of the first control program to a top address of the second control program during the relevant control processing and further exchanges an address in the first storage region and an address in the second storage region to switch the first control program to the second control program. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2007,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a control device, a radio base station, and a program update method.

  Conventionally, in a device that operates based on a program, the program may be updated to add a function or correct a failure. As such an example, there is a technique described in Patent Document 1 below.

The technique described in Patent Document 1 attempts to update a program in a wireless terminal device safely and without the need for a large-capacity memory. A program B for performing replacement work to be replaced with 'is prepared, and after the part a ′ of the program A ′ corresponding to the part a to be updated under the control of the program A is downloaded, the control of the program B is performed. Below, the part a of the program A is updated with the part a ′, the program A is changed to the program A ′, and then the control is returned from the program B to the program A ′.
In this technique, the control by the program A is stopped while the control by the program B is being executed.

Similarly, in a radio base station such as a PHS base station, the program may be updated to add a function or correct a failure. When updating a program related to the operation of this PHS base station in the current PHS base station, the service provided by the PHS base station to each PHS terminal is stopped and started after the program is replaced with a new one. fix. The service stop time for such a program update is about 10 minutes. During this time, the surrounding base stations act on behalf of services that should be performed by the PHS base stations that have been stopped.
JP 2005-100428 A

  As described above, if the service is stopped and the program is updated, the services that should be performed by the PHS base station that has stopped the service are performed on behalf of the surrounding PHS base stations. For PHS base stations that have a relationship acting on behalf of, the programs cannot be updated all at once. Therefore, for PHS base stations within a predetermined range, program update is performed sequentially with a time difference of about 10 minutes, which is extremely inefficient.

  In addition, PHS base stations around the PHS base station being updated provide services to more PHS terminals than usual, which increases the load. Some PHS base stations that are currently installed and operating have a relatively high CPU capacity and high memory capacity, but they are resistant to loads, but the CPU capacity is low and the memory capacity is small. Some of them are still vulnerable to load, and new and old are mixed. Especially in an old PHS base station that is vulnerable to a high load, when the load increases and exceeds the processing capacity, there is a high possibility that the system will be down.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described circumstances, and an object thereof is to make it possible to update a program without stopping a service. It also aims to improve the efficiency of program update.

  In order to solve the above problems, in the present invention, as a first means related to the control device, a predetermined control object is controlled based on a first control program stored in a first storage area of a storage unit. And a control device comprising a program switching means for switching the first control program to the second control program stored in the second storage area of the storage unit, wherein the program switching means includes the first control program. During the control process based on the program, the return address after the control process is rewritten from the start address of the first control program to the start address of the second control program, and further, the address of the first storage area and the first address The first control program is switched to the second control program by exchanging the addresses of the two storage areas.

  Further, as the second means related to the control device, in the first means, the first and second control programs are OS (Operating System) installed in the control device.

  Furthermore, in the present invention, as the first means related to the radio base station, the control device according to claim 1 or 2 is provided, and the higher-level communication system and the communication terminal device in the communication area are controlled by the control device. Adopting a relay for communication.

  Further, as a second means related to the radio base station, in the first means, the control device downloads the second control program from the upper communication system upon receiving a switching instruction from the upper communication system. The program switching means is configured to switch the first control program to the second control program when the second control program is stored in the second storage area. It was adopted.

  Furthermore, in the present invention, as the first means related to the program update method, the first control program stored in the first storage area of the storage unit is stored in the second storage area of the storage unit. In the program update method for switching to the second control program, during the control process based on the first control program, the return address after the control process is changed from the start address of the first control program to the start of the second control program. A method is adopted in which the first control program is switched to the second control program by rewriting the address, and further switching the address of the first storage area and the address of the second storage area.

  Further, as a second means related to the program update method, in the first means, when the switching instruction is received from the upper communication system, the second control program is downloaded from the upper communication system and stored in the second storage area. When the second control program is stored in the second storage area, the first control program is switched to the second control program.

  According to the present invention, during service operation by executing the first control program, the return address after the control processing by the first control program being executed is changed from the first address of the first control program to the first address. Since the start address of the second control program that replaces the first control program is rewritten, the control process by the second control program can be shifted to the control process by the second control program following the control process by the first control program. Since the address of the second storage area and the address of the second storage area are interchanged, the influence on other programs related to the first and second control programs can be eliminated. Thereby, the program can be updated without stopping the service.

Hereinafter, a PHS base station A according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration of the PHS base station A. As shown in the figure, the PHS base station A includes first and second transmission / reception devices 1 and 2, a modem unit 3, a control unit 4, and a DSU (Digital Service Unit) 5. The control unit 4 includes a CPU 4a (program switching means), a DPRAM (Dual Port RAM (Random Access Memory)) 4b, an audio / image conversion unit 4c, and an SDRAM (Synchronous DRAM (Dynamic Random Access Memory)) 4d (storage unit). , A flash ROM (Flash Read Only Memory) 4e, an SRAM (Static Random Access Memory) 4f, a BOOTROM (Boot Read Only Memory) 4g, an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) 4h, and a USB unit 4i.

The first and second transmission / reception devices 1 and 2 are high-frequency circuits (including antennas) that perform wireless communication with a PHS terminal (communication terminal device), and output a received signal received from the PHS terminal to the modem unit 3. At the same time, the transmission signal input from the modem unit 3 is transmitted to the PHS terminal.
The modem unit 3 decodes the received signal or generates (encodes) a transmission signal. The modem unit 3 decodes a signal (decoded audio signal or decoded image signal) obtained by demodulating the received signal. In addition to outputting to the image conversion unit 4c, the audio signal and image signal for transmission input from the audio / image conversion unit 4c are encoded to generate an encoded audio signal and an encoded image signal, and the first transmitting / receiving device 1 or Output to the second transceiver 2.

  The control unit 4 includes the CPU 4a, the DPRAM 4b, the audio / image conversion unit 4c, the SDRAM 4d, the Flash ROM 4e, the SRAM 4f, the BOOTROM 4g, the FPGA 4h, and the USB unit 4i connected by a bus line. Based on this, the exchange of data between the modem unit 3 and the DSU 5 is controlled.

  The CPU 4a includes a DPRAM 4b that can independently write and read control program codes (instructions), and is capable of apparently performing a plurality of processes in parallel.

  Under the control of the CPU 4a, the audio / image conversion unit 4c converts the decoded audio signal or decoded image signal into an ISDN line audio signal or image signal, outputs the signal to the CPU 4a, and is input from the CPU 4a. The ISDN line audio signal or image signal is converted into a PHS terminal audio signal or image signal and output to the modem unit 3.

  The SDRAM 4d stores a control program executed by the CPU 4a. The control program stored in the SDRAM 4d is expanded for execution by the CPU 4a, and the Flash ROM 4e stores the control program before expansion downloaded from the upper control system via the DSU 5.

  The SRAM 4f temporarily stores the processing result of the CPU 4a. The BOOTROM 4g stores a boot program (startup program) that is executed by the CPU 4a when the PHS base station A is started up. The FPGA 4h is a programmable logic circuit provided for controlling hardware such as the modem 3 and the DSU 5. The USB unit 4i is an interface circuit for exchanging data with an external device such as a maintenance computer.

  Here, the addresses of the DPRAM 4b, SDRAM 4d, FlashROM 4e and BOOTROM 4g are set in advance as shown in FIG. That is, the SDRAM 4d is set so that the address 0x00000 is the start address, the FlashROM 4e is the address 0x40000, the DPRAM 4b is the address 0x80000, and the BOOTROM 4g is the address 0x90000.

  The CPU 4a sets and manages a plurality of storage areas for the SDRAM 4d and the Flash ROM 4e as shown in the figure. That is, the FlashROM 4e is managed by dividing into an area C starting from address 0x40000, an area F starting from address 0x55000, and the rest. In this area C, a control program (first control program) is stored as a file (old file). In the area F, the upgraded version of the control program (second control program) is stored as a new file for the old file. In the remaining area, a switching process execution program to be described later is stored as an update file, and similarly, other programs such as a program for controlling the modem unit 3 are stored.

  On the other hand, the first storage area of the SDRAM 4d starting from the address 0x00000 is an execution surface for storing the control program (first control program) obtained by expanding the old file, and the second storage starting from the address 0x15000. The area is a standby surface for storing a control program (second control program) obtained by expanding a new file. The remaining area is used to store a switching process execution program obtained by expanding the update file.

  FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the flow of the switching process execution program and the processes performed by the CPU 4a that executes this program before and after the execution of this program. FIGS. 4 and 5 are schematic diagrams showing the transition of the storage contents of the SDRAM 4d and the Flash ROM 4e, and FIG. 5 corresponds to the flowchart of FIG.

Prior to the description with reference to FIGS. 3 and 5, the operation from the power-on of the PHS base station A to the start of service will be described with reference to FIG.
First, as shown in FIG. 4A, the SDRAM 4d has an execution surface and a standby surface, and the storage area of the FlashROM 4e is divided into an area C, an area F, and a remaining area not shown here. It is managed.

The FlashROM 4e stores a file (file name is, for example, ABSM36-12-50) in which the program currently used for the operation of the service of the PHS base station A is written in the area C.
When starting up the PHS base station A, the CPU 4a first executes various initial processes by executing a BOOT program read from the BOOTROM 4g, as shown in FIG. 4B. The various initial processes include a process of developing a program written in the file ABSM36-12-50 on the execution surface of the SDRAM 4d from the Flash ROM 4e, and is executed here.
Next, the CPU 4a activates the program read from the execution surface of the SDRAM 4d as shown in FIG. Subsequently, the CPU 4a performs other boot processing, that is, processing such as reading a program for controlling the modem unit 3 from the flash ROM 4e and developing it in the SDRAM 4d. Then, the CPU 4a diagnoses whether there is an error, and if there is no error, starts the service for the PHS terminal.
At this time, the FlashROM 4e does not store anything in the area F.

Subsequently, the operation of the PHS base station A will be described with reference to FIGS. 3 and 5.
The CPU 4a operates the PHS base station A based on the execution surface program of the SDRAM 4d. During this operation, when the first transmission / reception device 1 or the second transmission / reception device 2 receives an instruction from the higher-level communication system (step S1), the CPU 4a executes the program on the execution surface of the SDRAM 4d as shown in FIG. Based on this, a new file (file name is ABSM36-13-50, for example) in which a new program for operating the service of the PHS base station A is written is downloaded and stored in the area F of the FlashROM 4e (step S2).

  Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 5E, the CPU 4a develops the new program written in the new file ABSM36-13-50 stored in the area F of the Flash ROM 4e on the standby surface of the SDRAM 4d (step S3). At the same time, the switching process execution program stored in the FlashROM 4e is expanded in the SDRAM 4d.

  Next, when the first transmission / reception device 1 or the second transmission / reception device 2 receives a file switching instruction from the higher-level communication system, the CPU 4a turns on a flag for recording the fact so that it can be referred to as needed (step S4). Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 5 (f), the CPU 4a interrupts the switching process execution program using the free port of the DPRAM 4b while keeping the service in operation based on the old file program expanded in the SDRAM 4d. Execution is started (step S5).

Subsequently, the CPU 4a sets the return address of the control based on the program of the old file expanded on the execution surface of the SDRAM 4d, from the start address 0x00000 of the execution surface where the old file is expanded, to the standby surface where the new file is expanded. The head address is changed to 0x15000 (step S6).
Further, as shown in FIG. 5G, the CPU 4a determines the address of the area where the old file is expanded (start address is 0x00000) and the address of the area where the new file is expanded (start address is 0x15000). The memory map is rewritten so that is replaced.
Then, the CPU 4a again changes the control return address from the head address 0x15000 of the area where the old file is expanded to the head address 0x00000 of the area where the new file is expanded (step S7).

  When the replacement of the execution surface and the standby surface and the replacement of the memory map are completed and the area where the new file is expanded becomes the execution surface and the area where the old file is expanded becomes the standby surface, the CPU 4a is stored in the DPRAM 4b. The switching process execution program interrupt is terminated (step S8). At this point, the operation of the PHS base station A by the CPU 4a completely shifts to control based on the new program written in the new file. Then, this new program, that is, an application on the OS can be activated (step S9).

Next, based on the new program, the CPU 4a refers to a flag that records that it has received a file switching instruction from the higher-level communication system so that it can be referred to as needed (step S10). ), The flag is turned OFF (step S11), and service operation based on the new program is started (step S12).
Here, since steps S9 to S13 are processes at the time of starting the new program, they are executed not only in the case of the current file switching. If the file is not switched, the flag is OFF in step S10 (No in step S10). Therefore, other boot processing, that is, a program for controlling the modem unit 3 is read from the flash ROM 4e and expanded in the SDRAM 4d, etc. It is diagnosed whether it is necessary to perform the process (step S13), and if necessary, the service operation is started (step S12).

  As described above, in the present embodiment, it is possible to update the program for operating the PHS base station while continuing the service to the PHS terminal performed by the PHS base station A. Moreover, since the restart is not performed in the update, the time required for the update can be shortened.

It is a block diagram which shows schematic structure of the PHS base station which is one Embodiment of this invention. It is a schematic diagram which shows the memory map which manages the address which shows each position of SDRAM, FlashROM, DPRAM, and BOOTROM with which the PHS base station which is one Embodiment of this invention is provided. It is a flowchart which shows collectively the flow of the switching process implementation program in the PHS base station which is one Embodiment of this invention, and the process which CPU which performs this program performs before and after execution of this program. It is a schematic diagram which shows transition of the memory content of SDRAM and FlashROM with which the PHS base station which is one Embodiment of this invention is provided. It is a schematic diagram which shows transition of the memory content of SDRAM and FlashROM with which the PHS base station which is one Embodiment of this invention is provided.

Explanation of symbols

  A ... PHS base station (radio base station), 1,2 ... first and second transmission / reception devices, 3 ... modem unit, 4 ... control unit (control device), 5 ... DSU, 4a ... CPU (program switching means), 4b ... DPRAM, 4c ... sound / image conversion unit, 4d ... SDRAM (storage unit), 4e ... FlashROM, 4f ... SRAM, 4g ... BOOTROM, 4h ... FPGA, 4i ... USB unit

Claims (6)

The predetermined control object is controlled based on the first control program stored in the first storage area of the storage unit, and the first control program is stored in the second storage area of the storage unit In a control device comprising program switching means for switching to the second control program,
The program switching means rewrites the return address after the control process from the start address of the first control program to the start address of the second control program during the control process based on the first control program. A control device, wherein the first control program is switched to the second control program by switching the address of the first storage area and the address of the second storage area.   The control device according to claim 1, wherein the first and second control programs are an OS (Operating System) installed in the control device.   A radio base station comprising the control device according to claim 1 or 2 and relaying communication between a host communication system and a communication terminal device in a communication area under the control of the control device. When the control device receives a switching instruction from the higher-level communication system, the control device downloads the second control program from the higher-level communication system and stores it in a second storage area,
4. The program switching unit according to claim 3, wherein when the second control program is stored in the second storage area, the program switching means switches the first control program to the second control program. Radio base station. In the program update method for switching the first control program stored in the first storage area of the storage unit to the second control program stored in the second storage area of the storage unit,
During the control process based on the first control program, the return address after the control process is rewritten from the start address of the first control program to the start address of the second control program, and further the first storage area The program update method is characterized in that the first control program is switched to the second control program by switching the address of the second storage area and the address of the second storage area.   When the switching instruction is received from the higher-level communication system, the second control program is downloaded from the higher-level communication system and stored in the second storage area, and the second control program is stored in the second storage area. The program update method according to claim 5, wherein the first control program is switched to the second control program.

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