JP2009151426A - Device, method and program for update processing of software program, and portable terminal device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To perform upgrade, even if the upgrade is frequently performed, with release of only one kind of update files and only one operation confirmation operation to the one kind of update file by allowing effective use of a memory storage area of a memory storing a software program. <P>SOLUTION: In update processing of software program, a downgrade file and an update file are stored in an NAND memory 11 together with a software program of the old version number. The software program of the old version number is once downgrade processed to a software program of the initial version number using the downgrade file, and the downgraded software program is updated to the software program of the latest version number using the update file. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention is applied to, for example, a mobile phone, a PHS phone (PHS: Personal Handyphone System), a PDA device (PDA: Personal Digital Assistant), a portable game machine having a communication function, a notebook or desktop personal computer device, and the like. In particular, a software program update processing device, a software program update processing method, a software program update processing program, and a portable terminal device, in particular, a storage area of a memory that stores the software program is a version upgrade of the software program. Software program update processing device, software program update processing method, software program update processing program, and portable terminal device that prevent the inconvenience of being pressed by the update file for version upgrade About.

  2. Description of the Related Art Today, the FOTA method (FOTA: Firmware Over The Air) is known in which a software program of a mobile device such as a mobile phone is quickly corrected and updated via radio. In this FOTA method, the difference between the software program before the update and the software program after the update (= update file) is used, and the software program before the update is modified to update the version of the software program. It comes to plan.

  However, when the latest version of the software program is released, not all user portable devices have been updated to the previous version of the software program. For this reason, when releasing the latest version of a software program, it is necessary to prepare update files for upgrading all the old versions of software programs released to date to the latest version of the software program. was there.

  That is, for example, when the version number of the latest version of the software program is version V5, and the software programs of version V1 to version V4 have been released in order before releasing the software program of version V5, all users are versioned. The V4 software program is not necessarily upgraded, and there are users who have upgraded only to version V2 and version V3.

  For this reason, when releasing the version V5 software program which is the latest version in this example, an update file for upgrading the version V1 software program to the version V5 software program, and the version V2 software program Update file for upgrading the version V5 software program to version V5, update file for upgrading the version V3 software program to version V5 software program, version V4 software program to version V5 software program It was necessary to prepare each update file for uploading.

  Since update files for all versions of the software program are required in this way, if many software program upgrades are made, the number of update files increases in proportion to the number of existing versions, and each update Since it is necessary to perform operation check work for each file, there is a problem that the operation check work of the update file increases.

  Here, a patent publication (Patent Document 1) of Japanese Patent No. 397627 discloses a method for upgrading a system program that can be handled by one type of upgrade file regardless of which stage the current version is. Yes.

  In this version upgrade method, an initial version of the system program is stored in the storage device separately from the currently activated system program. Prepare a version upgrade file that upgrades the system program from the initial version to the latest version. When the upgrade is performed, a copy of the initial version of the system program is created in the free area of the storage device, and the copy of the initial version of the system program is updated to the latest version of the system program using the upgrade file. Thereafter, the system program to be started is switched to the latest version of the system program.

  As a result, the manufacturer only needs to prepare one type of upgrade file for upgrading from the initial version to the latest version, and it is not necessary to prepare multiple upgrade files corresponding to each version released so far. The operation check operation of the upgrade file can also be only the operation check operation for the upgrade file to be upgraded from the initial version to the latest version.

Japanese Patent No. 397627 (5th page, FIG. 1)

  However, in the case of the system program version upgrade method disclosed in Patent Document 1, it is necessary to store the initial version of the system program in the storage device throughout. For this reason, there is a problem that the area for storing the initial version of the system program in the storage device becomes a so-called dead space (= the storage area of the storage device is unnecessarily used for storing the initial version of the system program). .)

  Specifically, when the storage area of the internal memory of the mobile phone is 128 Mbytes, the initial version of the system program is 40 Mbytes, and the latest version of the system program is 40 Mbytes, the system program upgrade method disclosed in Patent Document 1 Of the total storage area of 128 Mbytes in the internal memory, 80 Mbytes (initial version 40 Mbytes + latest version 40 Mbytes) are used, and the remaining is 40 Mbytes. This remaining storage area is often used as a user area (storage area).

  As described above, in the system program version upgrade method disclosed in Patent Document 1, originally, 80 Mbytes can be used as the user area, but by saving the initial version of the system program, the user area can be changed. There is an inconvenience that it is reduced to 40 Mbytes.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above-described problems, and can effectively use a storage area of a memory for storing a software program. Even when the number of version upgrades reaches a large number, It is an object of the present invention to provide a portable terminal device that requires only the release of an update file and that can perform only the operation check operation for the one type of update file.

The software program update processing device according to the present invention provides a means for solving the above-described problems.
Storage means for storing software programs;
Downgrade processing means for downgrading the software program stored in the storage means to a software program having a base version number which is a predetermined lower version number than the version number of the software program;
Update file acquisition for acquiring an update file for upgrading the software program having the base version number downgraded by the downgrade processing means to a software program having a higher version number than the base version number Means,
Update processing means for updating the software program with the base version number into a software program with a predetermined higher version number based on the update file acquired by the update file acquisition means.

In addition, the software program update processing method according to the present invention provides a means for solving the above-described problems.
A step in which the downgrade processing means downgrades the software program stored in the storage means to a software program having a base version number which is a predetermined lower version number than the version number of the software program;
An update file for updating the software program of the base version number downgraded by the downgrade processing means in the above step to a software program of a higher version number than the base version number A step of acquiring by the file acquisition means;
Based on the update file acquired by the update file acquisition means in the step, the update processing means updates the software program with the base version number to a software program with a predetermined higher version number. Have.

In addition, an update processing program for a software program according to the present invention includes:
Causing the computer to function as a downgrade processing means for downgrading a software program stored in the storage means to a software program having a base version number that is a predetermined lower version number than the version number of the software program;
Acquire an update file for upgrading the software program with the base version number downgraded to a software program with a higher version number than the base version number by causing the computer to function as the downgrade processing means. So that the computer functions as an update file acquisition control means for controlling the update file acquisition means,
By causing the computer to function as the update file acquisition control means, the software program with the base version number is replaced with the software program with a predetermined higher version number based on the update file acquired by the update file acquisition means. The above-described problem is solved by causing a computer to function as an update processing means for performing update processing.

Moreover, the portable terminal device according to the present invention is a means for solving the above-described problems.
Storage means for storing software programs;
Downgrade processing means for downgrading the software program stored in the storage means to a software program having a base version number which is a predetermined lower version number than the version number of the software program;
Wireless communication means for performing wireless communication;
An update file for upgrading the software program having the base version number downgraded by the downgrade processing means to a software program having a version number higher than the base version number is provided on a predetermined network. Update file acquisition means for controlling communication of the wireless communication means so as to acquire from the server device;
Based on the update file acquired via the wireless communication means, the base version number software program is updated to a predetermined higher version number software program based on the communication control of the update file acquisition means. And update processing means.

  In the present invention, when upgrading the version of the software program stored in the storage unit, the software program stored in the storage unit is temporarily stored in a version lower than the version number of the software program. Downgrade to the software program with the base version number that is the number.

  Also, an update file for upgrading the downgraded software program with the base version number to a software program with a higher version number than the base version number is acquired. Based on the obtained update file, the software program with the base version number is updated to a software program with a predetermined higher version number.

  In the case of the present invention, a downgrade processing program for downgrading a software program having an old version number to a software program having a base version number such as an initial version number, and the downgrading processing to the software program having this base version number An update file for upgrading the software program to a software program having a higher version number than the base version number, and the software program having the higher version number from the software program having the base version number based on the update file. The software program of the higher version number updated in the software program is stored in the storage means.

  The data amount of the downgrade processing program and the update file is, for example, about several kbytes to 1 Mbyte, and is only a few tenths of the data amount of the data amount of the 40 Mbyte software program, for example. For this reason, compared with the case where both the initial version number software program (40 Mbytes) and the latest version number software program (40 Mbytes) are stored in the storage means (total 80 Mbytes), the amount of data such as programs stored in the storage means is reduced. It can be greatly reduced. Therefore, the remaining area of the storage area can be effectively used as a user area or the like.

  Also, the software program with the old version number is once downgraded to the software program with the base version number, and the software program after the downgrade process is updated to the software program with a predetermined higher version number. . For this reason, the update file to be released can be only one type of update file for updating the software program having the base version number to a software program having a higher version number such as the latest version number.

  In addition, since the update file to be released can be only the one type of update file, the operation check operation can be only the operation check operation for the one type of update file.

  According to the present invention, software program update processing can be achieved without squeezing the storage area of the storage means. For this reason, an extra area having a large storage capacity can be secured on the storage means, and this extra area can be effectively used as a user area or the like.

  In addition, even when the number of version upgrades in the past reaches a large number, it can be handled by only releasing one type of update file. Therefore, the operation check operation of the update file when releasing the latest version of the software program can be performed only for the operation check operation for this one type of update file, and the operation check operation can be greatly reduced. it can.

  The present invention can be applied to, for example, a mobile phone capable of wireless communication corresponding to a CDMA communication system (CDMA: Code Division Multiple Access).

[Configuration of mobile phone]
As shown in FIG. 1, a cellular phone according to an embodiment to which the present invention is applied includes a voice call, videophone call, e-mail, Web data (Web: World) based on the CDMA communication method with a radio base station. Antenna 1 and communication circuit 2 for performing wireless communication such as Wide Web), display unit 3 for displaying operation menus, e-mails, images (still images and moving images), and a selection operation of a desired menu An operation unit 4 for performing, a speaker unit 5 for outputting received voices, a microphone unit 6 for collecting transmitted voices, and a still image or moving image of a desired subject. It has a camera unit 7 and a light emitting unit 8 (LED: Light Emitting Diode) for notifying a user of incoming / outgoing calls or the like with light.

The mobile phone also vibrates the mobile phone casing to notify the user of incoming / outgoing calls, a timer 10 that counts the current time, a communication program, and a software program that will be described later. A NAND memory 11 (NAND: NOT-AND) in which a control program, user data, and the like are stored, an SDRAM 12 (Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory) in which the communication program read from the NAND memory 11 is expanded, and the mobile phone And a control unit 14 for controlling the operation of the entire telephone.

[NAND memory]
As shown in FIG. 2, this mobile phone is configured to execute a software program based on a so-called NAND boot system in which a software program stored in a NAND memory 11 is expanded and executed on an SDRAM 12.

  When updating (upgrading) a software program stored in the NAND memory 11, as shown in FIGS. 3A to 3C, an old version of the software program is applied from a server device on a predetermined network. An update file serving as a program indicating a difference between the latest versions of the software program is downloaded, and an old version of the software program stored in the NAND memory 11 is rewritten based on the update file so as to upgrade the version. It has become.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the NAND memory 11 includes a boot program storage area 21 in which a boot program read when the main power supply of the mobile phone is turned on and a program in which a predetermined software program such as a CDMA communication program is stored. A storage area 22; and a downgrade file storage area 23 for storing a downgrade file for downgrading the software program stored in the program storage area 22 to an initial version (or a predetermined lower version). is doing.

  The NAND memory 11 includes an update file storage area 24 for storing an update file for upgrading the software program stored in the program storage area 22 to the latest version of the software program, and an extra area. And a user data area 25.

  In the program storage area 22 of the NAND memory 11, in addition to the CDMA communication program, a communication program stored in the program storage area 22 and various application programs described below (updating) are updated. An “update control program” is stored. Further, in this program storage area 22, an e-mail management program for controlling creation and transmission / reception of e-mails, a camera control program for controlling imaging of the camera unit 7, and management of a schedule book in which user schedules are registered. Various applications such as a schedule book management program for performing, a phone book management program for managing a telephone book, a music player program for reproducing music contents, and a web browsing program for browsing a desired web page The program is memorized.

In the user data area 25 of the NAND memory 11, a schedule book in which a user's desired schedule is registered, a user name such as a user's acquaintance or friend, a still image (face photo, etc.), an address, a telephone number, an e-mail Address book, date of birth, etc. registered phone book, music content played back based on music player program, still image content and moving picture content played back based on viewer function of camera control program, e-mail sent and received Content, telephone and e-mail incoming and outgoing histories are stored.

[Software program update operation]
Next, the update operation of the software program in the mobile phone according to the embodiment having such a configuration will be described. The flowchart of FIG. 5 shows the flow of the update operation of the software program in the mobile phone of this embodiment. FIG. 6 shows a block diagram of the main part of the mobile phone at the time of software program update processing. FIG. 6 also shows a functional block when the control unit 14 operates based on the update processing program, and also shows a block diagram of a communication system that downloads an update file.

  First, as an example, when the control unit 14 detects an update instruction operation of the software program manually performed by the user, the control unit 14 executes the flowchart of FIG. 5 based on the update processing program stored in the NAND memory 11. The process shown in FIG. Alternatively, the control unit 14 automatically starts the process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 5 based on the update process program stored in the NAND memory 11 when the update notification of the software program is received from the communication center. To do.

  In step S1, the control unit 14 operates as the downgrade processing function shown in FIG. 6 based on the update processing program to search the NAND memory 11, and downloads the downgrade file to the downgrade file storage area 23 shown in FIG. Is stored, it is determined whether or not it is necessary to downgrade the software program stored in the program storage area 22 to the software program having the base version number. When the downgrade file is stored in the downgrade file storage area 23, the control unit 14 proceeds to step S2 and operates as the downgrade processing function 41, thereby causing the program storage area 22 of the NAND memory 11 to operate. Is downgraded to the software program having the base version number specified in the downgrade file, and the process proceeds to step S3.

  On the other hand, when the downgrade file is not stored in the downgrade file storage area 23 or when the downgrade process of the software program stored in the daprogram storage area 22 is completed, the control unit 14 The server device 33 connected to the network 31 such as the communication network of the mobile phone can be operated by proceeding to step S3 by operating as the update file acquisition function 43 shown in FIG. Then, the update file stored in the database 34 of the server device 33 is acquired via the base station 32, and the process proceeds to step S4.

  The control unit 14 operating as the update file acquisition function 43 stores and controls the update file acquired from the server device 33 in the update file storage area 24 of the NAND memory 11 shown in FIG. In addition, a downgrade file for designating a base version number, which is a lower version number for downgrading the software program in the downgrade process at the next update process of the software program, is added to the update file. . The control unit 14 stores and controls the downgrade file in the downgrade file storage area 23 of the NAND memory 11.

  In other words, if the software program has been updated even once in the past, the downgrade file is stored in the NAND memory 11 together with the update file at that time. On the other hand, if the software program has never been updated in the past, the software program stored in the software program storage area 22 remains the software program of the initial version number and is used for updating. The file and the downgrade file are not stored in the NAND memory 11.

  For this reason, in step S1, the control unit 14 determines whether or not a downgrade process to the software program with the base version number is necessary by determining the presence or absence of the downgrade file. . The presence of the downgrade file on the NAND memory 11 means that several update processes have been performed in the past. Therefore, in step S2, the control unit 14 stores the downgrade file in the program storage area 22. The software program that is specified in the downgrade file is the software program that is the base for the current update process, such as the initial version number or the intermediate version number. In step S4, the software program with the base version number is operated as the update processing function 42 shown in FIG. 6 to update the software program with the latest version number, for example, based on the update file.

  On the other hand, the absence of the downgrade file on the NAND memory 11 means that the current update process is the first update process, and therefore the control unit 14 determines from the server device 33 in step S3. An update file is acquired, and in step S4, based on the acquired update file, the software program stored in the program storage area 22 is updated to a software program having the latest version number, for example.

  Such update processing will be described in more detail using the specific examples shown in FIGS. 7A to 7F. Of FIG. 7A to FIG. 7F, FIG. 7A to FIG. 7C show the version number V1 which is the software program of the initial version number stored in the program storage area 22. FIG. 7 (d) to FIG. 7 (f) show an example in which the software program is updated to the software program of version number V3. FIGS. 7 (d) to 7 (f) show the software program updated to the software program of version number V3. Further, an example in which update processing is performed on the software program of version number V4 is shown.

  First, when the update process of the software program has never been performed, for example, at the time of factory shipment, the NAND memory 11 stores the software program with the version number V1 in the program storage area 22 as shown in FIG. The downgrade file and update file are not stored in the downgrade file storage area 23 and the update file storage area 24.

  In such a state, when updating from the version number V1 to the version number V3, as shown in FIG. 7B, the update file storage area 24 of the NAND memory 11 is acquired from the server device 33. An update file (V1 → V3) is stored, and a downgrade file for performing a downgrade process from the version number V3 to the version number V1 added to the update file is stored in the downgrade file storage area 23. (V3 → V1) is stored.

  The control unit 14 performs update processing of the software program using the update file (V1 → V3) acquired from the server device 33, and is stored in the program storage area 22 as shown in FIG. The software program with the version number V1 is updated to the software program with the version number V3.

  Next, when the update process from the version number V3 to the version number V4 is performed, the control unit 14 uses the downgrade file (V3 → V1) stored in the downgrade file storage area 23 as shown in FIG. ), The software program updated to the version number V3 is temporarily downgraded to the software program having the version number V1, which is the base version number in this example.

  Next, as shown in FIG. 7E, the control unit 14 downgrades from the server device 33 to the update file (V1 → V4) corresponding to the current update process, and from the version number V4 to the version number V1. A downgrade file (V4 → V1) for processing is acquired. Then, the control unit 14 uses the update file (V1 → V4) acquired from the server device 33 as shown in FIG. 7F for the software program that has been temporarily returned to the version number V1 by the downgrade process. Update. As a result, the software program in the program storage area 22 is updated to the software program of the version number V4 that is the latest version number in this example.

  The control unit 14 also shows the same operation as described above during the next update process, downgrades the software program in the program storage area 22 to the software program of the base version number indicated by the downgrade file, An update process corresponding to the update file is performed on the downgraded software program.

  As described above, in the case of the mobile phone according to the embodiment, when the software program is updated, the downgrade for downgrading the software program with the old version number to the software program with the base version number such as the initial version number is performed. A file, an update file for upgrading the software program downgraded to the software program with the base version number into a software program with a version number higher than the base version number, and the update file The software program with the higher version number updated from the software program with the base version number to the software program with the higher version number It is stored in the NAND memory 11.

  The data amount of the downgrade file and the update file is, for example, about several kbytes to 1 Mbyte, and is only a few tenths of the data amount of the data amount of the software program of 40 Mbytes, for example. For this reason, compared with the case where the software program (40 Mbytes) of the latest version number is stored in the NAND memory 11 together with the software program (40 Mbytes) of the initial version number (total 80 Mbytes), the amount of data such as programs stored in the NAND memory 11 Can be significantly reduced (40 Mbytes + several kbytes to 1 Mbytes). Therefore, the extra area of the NAND memory 11 can be effectively used for the user data area 25 and the like.

  Also, the software program with the old version number is once downgraded to the software program with the base version number, and the software program after the downgrade process is updated to the software program with a predetermined higher version number. . For this reason, the update file released by the manufacturer during the update process is one type of update file for updating the software program with the base version number to a software program with a higher version number such as the latest version number. Only release it.

For example, assuming that update processing has been performed in the order of “version number V1 → version number V2 → version number V3 → version number V4 → version number V5 → version number V6” in the past, the database 34 of the server device 33 shown in FIG. Originally, version number V1 → version number V2 as shown in FIG.
Version number V1 → Version number V3
Version number V1 → Version number V4
Version number V1 → Version number V5
Version number V1 → Version number V6
Version number V2 → Version number V3
Version number V2 → Version number V4
Version number V2 → Version number V5
Version number V2 → Version number V6
Version number V3 → Version number V4
Version number V3 → Version number V5
Version number V3 → Version number V6
Version number V4 → Version number V5
Version number V4 → Version number V6
Version number V5 → Version number V6
It is necessary to store each of the update files according to the version number of the software program stored in each user's mobile phone.

  However, in the case of the mobile phone of this embodiment, the software program in the NAND memory 11 is once downgraded to the software program having the base version number (version number V1 in the above example), and then the latest version number is updated. The update file stored in the database 34 of the server device 33 for update processing to the software program is also used for update processing from the base version number to the software program of the latest version number as shown in FIG. Only the update file (version number V1 → version number V6 in the above example) can be used. For this reason, the burden concerning the database 34 of the server apparatus 33 can also be reduced significantly.

In addition, since the update file to be released can be limited to the above-mentioned one type of update file, the operation check operation can be limited to only the operation check operation for this one type of update file. The burden on the person can be greatly reduced.

[Continuous update processing operation]
Here, if the software program of the old version number is updated to the software program of the latest version number all at once, the data amount of the update file increases and the storage capacity of the NAND memory 11 is exceeded. Stepwise update processing, such as first updating the software program with the old version number to the software program with the intermediate version number, then updating the software program with the intermediate version number to the software program with the latest version number, etc. In rare cases, it is possible to smoothly execute the update process of the software program by preventing the problem that the data amount of the update file used in each update process exceeds the storage capacity of the NAND memory 11 by performing the above process. appear.

  Specifically, for example, when update processing has been performed in the order of “version number V1 → version number V2 → version number V3 → version number V4 → version number V5 → version number V6” in the past, the software with version number V1 If the data amount of the update file for updating the program to the software program of version number V6 is greater than or equal to the storage capacity of the NAND memory 11, the update file cannot be stored in the NAND memory 11, Software program update processing becomes difficult.

  However, if it is attempted to update the software program of version number V1 → version number V6 at one time, it is difficult for the above-mentioned reason, but first, the software program of version number V1 is updated to the software program of version number V3. Then, when the update process is performed step by step, such as updating the software program of version number V3 to the software program of version number V6, the program that becomes the difference between the software programs in each update process By reducing the amount of data, smooth update processing may be possible without the amount of update file data used in each update processing exceeding the storage capacity of the NAND memory 11 in some cases.

  Such a case rarely occurs when the number of update processes in the past is large, and the amount of program that becomes the difference between the software program with the old version number and the software program with the latest version number increases.

  In the case of the mobile phone of the embodiment, when performing the update process of the software program, as described above, the downgrade process is temporarily performed to the software program having the base version number such as the initial version number. For example, since the software program with the version number V1 is updated at a time to the software program with the version number V6, which is the latest version number, the above-described update file exceeds the storage capacity of the NAND memory 11. There is some concern that inconvenience will occur.

  The necessity of such stepwise update processing (continuous update processing) is that the control unit 14 determines the data amount of the update file notified from the server device 33 and the NAND memory 11 at the start of the software program update processing. This is determined based on the storage capacity (the capacity of the remaining area that can be secured for storing the update file).

  When the data amount of the update file notified from the server device 33 exceeds the storage capacity of the NAND memory 11, the control unit 14 performs stepwise update processing (continuous update processing).

  Specifically, using the above example, when the data amount of the update file for performing update processing at once in the software program of version number V1 → version number V6 exceeds the storage capacity of the NAND memory 11 For example, the controller 14 first updates the software program with the version number V1 into the software program with the version number V3, and then updates the software program with the version number V3 into the software program with the version number V6. Controls execution of processing.

  In this case, the control unit 14 acquires an update file for updating the software program with the version number V1 to the software program with the version number V3 during the first update process from step S1 to step S4. The software program downgraded to the version number V1 is updated to the software program with the version number V3 using the file for use.

  Next, the control unit 14 determines whether or not the continuous update process is necessary in step S5 of the flowchart of FIG. 5 (in this case, it is determined that the continuous update process is necessary). When it is determined that it is not necessary (= when the update process of the software program can be completed at once), the process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 5 is ended as it is, and when it is determined that the continuous update process is necessary, the step By returning the processing to S3, an update processing file for updating the software program of the version number V3 to the software program of the version number V6 is acquired from the server device 33, and the version is first used by using this update file. The software program updated to the software program with the number V3 is changed to the version program with the version number V6. And updating the shift ware program ends the processing shown in the flowchart in FIG.

  As described above, by executing the update process once divided into a plurality of update processes, the update process is performed a plurality of times by using the update file having the data amount within the range of the storage capacity of the NAND memory 11. Since it can be executed, a smooth update process can be performed.

  In this example, during the continuous update process, the update process of the software program is performed in a total of two times, “version number V1 → version number V3” and “version number V3 → version number V6”. The number of divisions of the update process (number of continuous processes) may be determined as appropriate based on the data amount of the update file and the storage capacity of the NAND memory 11. For example, “version number V1 → version number V2”, “version The update processing of the software program may be performed in a total of three times: “number V2 → version number V4” and “version number V4 → version number V6”.

Further, in the case where such a continuous update process is possible, as described in the above example, as shown in FIG. 8C, the database 34 of the server device 33 has an update file for performing the update process at a time. In addition to the update file (V1 → V6) for performing update processing from the software program of version number V1 to the software program of version number V6, the version number that is each update file for performing continuous update processing An update file (V1 → V3) for performing update processing from the software program of V1 to the software program of version number V3, and for updating for performing update processing from the software program of version number V3 to the software program of version number V6 A file (V3 → V6) is required. However, even in this case, the burden on the database 34 of the server device 33 is less than storing all the update files corresponding to the past update process in the database 34 as shown in FIG. (See FIG. 8C).

[Effect of the embodiment]
As is apparent from the above description, the mobile phone of this embodiment downgrades the software program with the old version number to the software program with the base version number such as the initial version number, for example, when updating the software program. Downgrade file, update file for upgrading the software program downgraded to the software program of the base version number into a software program of a higher version number than the base version number, and the above update Based on the file, the software with the higher version number updated from the software program with the base version number to the software program with the higher version number. And stores the A program in the NAND memory 11.

  The data amount of the downgrade file and the update file is, for example, about several kbytes to 1 Mbyte, and is only a few tenths of the data amount of the data amount of the software program of 40 Mbytes, for example. For this reason, compared with the case where the software program (40 Mbytes) of the latest version number is stored in the NAND memory 11 together with the software program (40 Mbytes) of the initial version number (total 80 Mbytes), the amount of data such as programs stored in the NAND memory 11 Can be significantly reduced (40 Mbytes + several kbytes to 1 Mbytes). Therefore, the extra area of the NAND memory 11 can be effectively used for the user data area 25 and the like.

  Also, the software program with the old version number is once downgraded to the software program with the base version number, and the software program after the downgrade process is updated to the software program with a predetermined higher version number. . For this reason, in the database 34 of the server device 33 that distributes the update file, one type of update for updating the software program of the base version number to the software program of the higher version number such as the latest version number, for example. It is sufficient to store only the file, and the burden on the database 34 can be greatly reduced.

  In addition, since the update file to be released can be limited to the above-mentioned one type of update file, the operation check operation can be limited to only the operation check operation for this one type of update file. The burden on the person can be greatly reduced.

  In addition, when the data amount of the update file is large and the storage capacity of the NAND memory 11 is exceeded, the update process is divided into a plurality of update processes and executed within the range of the storage capacity of the NAND memory 11. By using the data amount update file, the update process can be executed a plurality of times, and a smooth update process can be performed.

In addition, when such a continuous update process is possible, the update file for performing the update process in the database 34 of the server device 33 includes each update file for performing the continuous update process. Although it is necessary, even in this case, the burden on the database 34 can be greatly reduced compared to storing all the update files corresponding to the past update processing in the database 34.

[Modification]
In the above description of the embodiment, at the time of the downgrade process, the software program having the current version number is downgraded to the software program having the version number V1 of the initial version number that is the base version number. By specifying an intermediate version number as the base version number in the downgrade file added to the update file distributed from the server device 33, the downgrade process is performed to the software program of the intermediate version number at the time of the downgrade process. May be.

  In this way, for example, when update processing to version number V7 is performed after update processing to version number V6, downgrade to version number V3 is performed in the downgrade file added to the update file of version number V7. Grade processing can be specified. Then, it is possible to perform update processing from the software program with the version number V3 to the software program with the version number V7. For this reason, the data amount of the update file of version number V3 → version number V7 inevitably becomes smaller than the data amount of the update file of version number V1 → version number V7. Without performing the above-described continuous update process, it is possible to complete the update process of the software program by a single update process, and to reduce the communication cost borne by the user.

  In the above description of the embodiment, the present invention is applied to a mobile phone. However, the present invention is not limited to a PHS phone (PHS: Personal Handyphone System), a PDA device (PDA: Personal Digital Assistant). The present invention may be applied to a portable game machine having a communication function, a notebook type or desktop type personal computer device. In either case, the same effect as described above can be obtained.

  Finally, the above-described embodiment is an example of the present invention. For this reason, the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and various modifications can be made according to the design and the like as long as they do not depart from the technical idea of the present invention. I add that there is something.

1 is a block diagram of a mobile phone according to an embodiment to which the present invention is applied. It is a figure which shows the operation | movement outline | summary of the NAND boot system which the mobile telephone of embodiment employ | adopts. It is a figure which shows the outline | summary of the update process of the software program in the mobile telephone of embodiment. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of a NAND memory provided in a mobile phone according to an embodiment. It is a flowchart which shows the flow of the update process of the software program in the mobile telephone of embodiment. It is a functional block diagram at the time of the update process of the software program in the mobile phone of the embodiment. It is a schematic diagram for explaining a downgrade process during a software program update process in the mobile phone according to the embodiment, and an update process of the downgraded software program. A comparison between the number of update files that need to be stored in the database of the server device and the number of update files that have conventionally been required to be stored in the database in the cellular phone according to the embodiment FIG.

Explanation of symbols

  1 antenna, 2 communication circuit, 3 display unit, 4 operation unit, 5 speaker unit, 6 microphone unit, 7 camera unit, 8 light emitting unit (LED), 9 vibration unit, 10 timer, 11 NAND memory, 12 SDRAM, 14 control 21 NAND memory boot program storage area, 22 NAND memory program storage area, 23 NAND memory downgrade file storage area, 24 NAND memory update file storage area, 25 NAND memory user data area, 31 network, 32 base station, 33 server device, 34 update file database, 41 functional block of downgrade processing function of control unit, 42 functional block of update processing function of control unit, 43 functional block of update file acquisition function of control unit

Claims (5)

Storage means for storing software programs;
Downgrade processing means for downgrading the software program stored in the storage means to a software program having a base version number which is a predetermined lower version number than the version number of the software program;
Update file acquisition for acquiring an update file for upgrading the software program having the base version number downgraded by the downgrade processing means to a software program having a higher version number than the base version number Means,
Update processing of a software program comprising: update processing means for updating the software program having the base version number into a software program having a predetermined higher version number based on the update file acquired by the update file acquisition means apparatus. An update processing apparatus for a software program according to claim 1,
When updating the software program stored in the storage means to a software program having a predetermined higher version number over a plurality of times,
Based on a plurality of update files acquired by the update file acquisition unit, the update processing unit sequentially updates the software program stored in the storage unit into a software program having a higher version number,
Alternatively, the software program stored in the storage means is downgraded to the software program having the base version number by the downgrade processing means, and the update processing means is applied to the software program having the base version number. An update processing apparatus for a software program, wherein update processing is sequentially performed on a software program having a higher version number based on a plurality of update files acquired by the update file acquisition means. A step in which the downgrade processing means downgrades the software program stored in the storage means to a software program having a base version number which is a predetermined lower version number than the version number of the software program;
An update file for updating the software program of the base version number downgraded by the downgrade processing means in the above step to a software program of a higher version number than the base version number A step of acquiring by the file acquisition means;
Based on the update file acquired by the update file acquisition means in the step, the update processing means updates the software program with the base version number to a software program with a predetermined higher version number. A software program update processing method. Causing the computer to function as a downgrade processing means for downgrading a software program stored in the storage means to a software program having a base version number that is a predetermined lower version number than the version number of the software program;
Acquire an update file for upgrading the software program with the base version number downgraded to a software program with a higher version number than the base version number by causing the computer to function as the downgrade processing means. So that the computer functions as an update file acquisition control means for controlling the update file acquisition means,
By causing the computer to function as the update file acquisition control means, the software program with the base version number is replaced with the software program with a predetermined higher version number based on the update file acquired by the update file acquisition means. An update processing program for a software program, which causes a computer to function as update processing means for performing update processing. Storage means for storing software programs;
Downgrade processing means for downgrading the software program stored in the storage means to a software program having a base version number which is a predetermined lower version number than the version number of the software program;
Wireless communication means for performing wireless communication;
An update file for upgrading the software program having the base version number downgraded by the downgrade processing means to a software program having a version number higher than the base version number is provided on a predetermined network. Update file acquisition means for controlling communication of the wireless communication means so as to acquire from the server device;
Based on the update file acquired via the wireless communication means, the base version number software program is updated to a predetermined higher version number software program based on the communication control of the update file acquisition means. A mobile terminal device having update processing means.

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