JP2010205152A - Network system and network adapter - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a network system and a network adapter for easily confirming information on software upgrade for a sub processing unit of the network adapter, and for simply determining the necessity for the upgrade. <P>SOLUTION: The network adapter 2 includes: a ROM 2e for storing main software; a main processing unit 2a for executing the main software; a sub storage 2g for storing sub software; and a sub processing unit 2b for executing the sub software. When receiving a request for inquiring sub software version information from an operation terminal 3, the main processing unit 2a obtains the version information from the sub processing unit 2b to transmit the same to a center server 5. The center server 5 determines whether the sub software need be upgraded, when receiving the version information, and transmits the information on the upgrade to a network, when determining that the upgrade is required. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2010,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a network system that monitors and controls equipment using a network adapter, and a network adapter.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, network systems that monitor and control equipment such as air conditioners, lighting fixtures, and various security devices have been provided (systems that perform only one of monitoring and controlling equipment).

  In such a network system, a network adapter connected to a home network performs monitoring and control by communicating with the equipment in the home under the home. Further, the home network to which the network adapter is connected is communicably connected to the Internet, which is an external network, via a router, and the network adapter can also communicate with a center server on the Internet.

  This network adapter includes a processing unit including a CPU, and further stores software executed by the processing unit in a memory such as a ROM. The processing unit executes software to monitor and control the equipment. Processing and network communication processing.

  The network adapter software has been updated by the processing unit acquiring the latest software from a center server on the Internet (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP 2000-259538 A

  The processing unit used for the network adapter as described above includes a main processing unit including a main CPU that controls network communication, and a sub processing unit including a sub CPU that controls communication with the facility device and monitors and controls the facility device. It consists of and.

  The main processing unit has high performance and large memory resources, so it has the ability to perform network communication on the home network and the Internet at high speed, and can handle large data sizes in communication with the center server, for example. . Therefore, when updating the software (main software) executed by the main processing unit, there is no problem in obtaining the latest main software from the center server via the network.

  On the other hand, the sub-processing unit only needs to have the capability of performing low-speed communication with the facility equipment, and therefore, the sub-processing unit has a low performance and a small memory resource. Therefore, the network adapter is connected to the main processing unit via a serial interface, and exchanges data with the main processing unit by serial communication with a low communication speed. When updating the software (sub software) executed by the sub processing unit, the main processing unit acquires the latest sub software from the center server via the network, and the main processing unit updates the sub processing unit to the latest version. You need to hand over the secondary software.

  However, the communication interface between the main processing unit and the sub processing unit assumes only a small amount of data communication, and serial communication with a low speed is performed between the main processing unit and the sub processing unit, so a large data size is handled. Therefore, it has been difficult to transfer the sub software from the main processing unit to the sub processing unit.

  Therefore, conventionally, the network adapter is provided with a sub-processing unit writing interface, and the version is upgraded by writing the sub-software into the memory of the sub-processing unit from a dedicated rewriting terminal directly connected to the sub-processing unit writing interface. It was. Therefore, when it is necessary to upgrade the sub software after the network adapter is shipped, it is necessary to go to the installation location of the network adapter and perform rewriting work using a dedicated rewriting terminal.

  At this time, if the version of the sub-software of the network adapter actually used is an old version, it is necessary to rewrite to a new version, and if it is already a new version, there is no need to rewrite. However, as mentioned above, until the network adapter is installed and the rewrite terminal is connected, it is not known whether the current sub-software is the old version or the new version. Even if it was, it was necessary to go to the installation site, and it took time and effort.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above reasons, and its purpose is a network system capable of easily confirming information regarding software upgrade of a sub-processing unit of a network adapter and easily determining the necessity of version upgrade. And to provide a network adapter.

  According to the first aspect of the present invention, a network adapter that communicates with equipment and a center server that communicates with the network adapter are connected to the network, and the network adapter performs communication processing with the center server via the network. Stored main storage unit that stores main software, main processing unit that performs communication via the network by executing main software, and sub software that performs version processing and communication processing with equipment The secondary processing unit includes a secondary processing unit that can exchange data between the secondary processing unit and the main processing unit, and that communicates with the equipment by executing the secondary software. Means for acquiring the version information of the sub-software via the network. When the version information inquiry request is received, the version information of the sub software is transmitted to the center server. Upon receiving the version information of the sub software from the network adapter, the center server receives the version information of the sub software in the network adapter based on the version information. It is characterized in that it is determined whether the upgrade is necessary, and when it is determined that the upgrade is necessary, information regarding the upgrade is transmitted to the network.

  According to the present invention, in the network system, it is possible to easily confirm the information related to the software upgrade of the sub-processing unit of the network adapter, and the necessity for the upgrade can be easily determined.

  According to a second aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the information related to the upgrade transmitted by the center server is a notification signal that notifies the necessity of the upgrade, and notifies the necessity of the upgrade when the notification signal is received. The center server having the notification means and the start request transmission means for transmitting the sub-software upgrade start request to the center server after the notification operation by the notification means is received on the network. Version upgrade information for upgrading to secondary software with version information newer than the version information received from the network adapter is sent to the network adapter. The network adapter receives the upgrade information from the main processing unit and performs secondary processing. Output to , Sub-processing unit, based on the upgrade information, characterized by rewriting the sub software stored in the secondary storage unit.

  According to the present invention, the version of the secondary software of the network adapter can be easily confirmed, the necessity for version upgrade can be easily determined, and the center server is notified when there is a need for version upgrade of the secondary software. Sub-software version upgrade information can be downloaded from and easily rewritten to the latest version.

  According to a third aspect of the present invention, in the first aspect, the upgrade information transmitted by the center server is version upgrade information for upgrading to sub-software to which version information newer than the version information received from the network adapter is assigned. In the network adapter, the main processing unit receives the upgrade information and outputs it to the secondary processing unit, and the secondary processing unit rewrites the secondary software stored in the secondary storage unit based on the upgrade information. It is characterized by that.

  According to the present invention, when there is a need to upgrade the sub software, the sub software upgrade information can be downloaded from the center server and easily rewritten to the latest version.

  According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, in the network adapter according to the second or third aspect, the sub processing unit stops communication with the facility device while the main processing unit outputs the upgrade information to the sub processing unit. Receiving upgrade information.

  According to the present invention, the sub-processing unit operates in the upgrade mode with a high communication speed when the sub-software upgrade information is downloaded, so the communication time for receiving the upgrade information from the main processing unit is shortened. Download time is reduced.

  According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the second to fourth aspects, the center server includes sub software to which version information received from the network adapter is assigned, and sub software to which version information newer than the sub software is assigned. And a difference extraction means for extracting the difference between and the upgrade information for rewriting only the difference portion to the network adapter, and the sub-processing unit of the network adapter stores the upgrade information in the secondary storage unit based on the upgrade information. Of the sub software stored, only the difference is rewritten.

  According to the present invention, the upgrade information output from the main processing unit to the sub processing unit is only the change area (difference) between the old: sub software and the new: sub software. Compared with the case of downloading the upgrade information that includes it, it is possible to shorten the download time and reduce the load on the sub processor.

  According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, in the fifth aspect, the center server transmits upgrade information obtained by dividing the difference portion into a plurality of modules to the network adapter, and a main processing unit of the network adapter is a version composed of a plurality of modules. The upgrade information is stored, and the upgrade information is sequentially output to the sub-processing unit for each module. The sub-processing unit converts the sub-software stored in the sub-storage unit for each module based on the upgrade information for each module. It is characterized by rewriting.

  According to the present invention, since the main processing unit temporarily stores upgrade information of a plurality of modules transmitted from the center server, the center server waits for transmission due to a slow communication speed from the main processing unit to the sub processing unit. The load on the center server can be reduced, and the time during which the center server can communicate with other terminal devices increases.

  According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, in the sixth aspect, the main processing unit of the network adapter notifies the sub processing unit of the number of modules of the upgrade information, and the sub processing unit of the network adapter is notified from the main processing unit. Counter means for managing the number of remaining modules that have not been rewritten based on the number of modules in the version upgrade information, and if there are remaining modules that have not been rewritten by referring to the counter means at the time of restart, A version upgrade restart request is transmitted from the main processing unit to the center server together with information on the module, and the center server transmits the remaining modules not rewritten to the network adapter among the different parts divided into a plurality of modules. And

  According to the present invention, even when the download of the upgrade information is interrupted due to a power failure due to a power failure, a reset operation by the user, a bug in the main software, etc. Thus, the upgrade process can be efficiently restored.

  According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, in any one of the first to seventh aspects, the main processing unit of the network adapter stores the secondary software stored in the secondary storage unit before the upgrade information is output to the secondary processing unit. If a restoration request occurs after the version information is output to the secondary processing unit and saved, the saved secondary software is output to the secondary processing unit, and the secondary processing unit outputs the secondary software to the secondary processing unit. It writes in a memory | storage part, It is characterized by the above-mentioned.

  According to the present invention, even when the network is disconnected, the sub software can be returned to the original version to solve the problem caused by the version upgrade.

  The invention of claim 9 is a network adapter that is connected to the center server via the network and communicates with the equipment, and that stores main software for performing communication processing with the center server via the network. A storage unit, a main processing unit that performs communication via a network by executing the main software, a sub storage unit that stores sub software for performing communication processing with facility equipment to which version information is attached, A sub-processing unit that can exchange data with the processing unit and communicate with the equipment by executing the sub-software, and the main processing unit acquires version information of the sub-software from the sub-processing unit Means for receiving a sub-software version information inquiry request via the network. If it is determined that the secondary software needs to be upgraded based on the secondary software version information, it is determined that the secondary software needs to be upgraded. Version information is transmitted.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to easily confirm information related to software upgrade of the sub-processing unit of the network adapter, and it is possible to easily determine the necessity of upgrading.

  As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to easily confirm information related to the software upgrade of the sub-processing unit of the network adapter, and to determine the necessity for the upgrade easily.

It is a figure which shows the block configuration of the network system of Embodiment 1. It is a figure which shows the block configuration of an operation terminal same as the above. It is a figure which shows the confirmation sequence of version information same as the above. It is a figure which shows the sequence of the upgrade process same as the above. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a sequence of version upgrade processing according to the second embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a sequence of version upgrade processing according to the third embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a sequence of version upgrade processing according to the fourth embodiment. FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a sequence of version upgrade processing according to the fifth embodiment.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

(Embodiment 1)
FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a network system according to the present embodiment, in which terminal devices such as a network adapter 2 and an operation terminal 3 are arranged in a home such as a detached house or an apartment house and can communicate with each other via a home network NT1. Furthermore, a plurality of equipment devices 1 are connected to the network adapter 2 via the communication line W1. Further, a router 4 is arranged in the home, and the home network NT1 is communicably connected to the Internet NT2 via the router 4, and a center server 5 and a mobile terminal 6 such as a mobile phone are provided on the Internet NT2. It has been.

  The equipment 1 has functions such as lighting equipment, air-conditioning equipment, and various security equipments, and is configured to be able to communicate with the network adapter 2 via the communication line W1, and has unique ID information (for example, a MAC address). The network adapter 2 monitors and controls each function.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the net adapter 2 includes a main processing unit 2 a including a main CPU that controls network communication, and a sub CPU that controls communication with the facility device 1 to monitor and control the facility device 1. Interfaces the sub-processing unit 2b, the communication unit 2c, which is a communication means for LAN for interfacing between the main processing unit 2a and the home network NT1, to which the home network NT1 is connected, and the equipment 1 and the sub-processing unit 2b. A device interface unit (device I / F unit) 2d, a ROM 2e (main storage unit) for storing main software executed by the main processing unit 2a, a RAM 2f for temporarily storing various data used for the operation of the main processing unit 2a, The ROM 2g (secondary storage unit) that stores the secondary software executed by the secondary processing unit 2g and the control information such as the operating state of the equipment 1 and the monitoring information are stored. And a RAM2h to.

  The main processing unit 2a has high performance and large memory (ROM 2e, RAM 2f) resources, and therefore has the ability to perform network communication of the home network NT1 and the Internet NT2 at high speed. Can handle large data sizes. The ROM 2e stores main software for performing communication processing with the center server 5 via the home network NT1 and the Internet NT2, and the main processing unit 2a executes the main software, Network communication is performed via the communication unit 2c. Version information is assigned to the main software and is managed by the main processing unit 2a.

  Since the sub processor 2b only needs to be capable of performing low-speed communication with the facility device 1, the sub processor 2b has a low performance and a small memory (ROM 2g, RAM 2h). The ROM 2g stores sub software that communicates with the equipment 1 and performs port control processing for monitoring and controlling the equipment 1 and the sub processor 2b executes the sub software. As a result, device monitoring / control is performed via the device I / F unit 2d. Version information is assigned to the secondary software and is managed by the secondary processing unit 2b.

  The communication interface between the main processing unit 2a and the sub processing unit 2b assumes only a small amount of data communication, and the main processing unit 2a and the sub processing unit 2b perform serial communication at a low speed. The data size cannot be handled.

  The main processing unit 2a holds a large number of web page groups for displaying the names and operation states of the equipment 1 under the network adapter 2 with characters and symbols, and a terminal device such as the operation terminal 3 The web server function of providing (distributing) the data of the corresponding web page from the web page group to the terminal device from the communication unit 2c according to the access from.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the operation terminal 3 includes a control unit 3a composed of a microcomputer, a communication unit 3b serving as a LAN communication unit to which the home network NT1 is connected to interface the control unit 3a and the home network NT1, An operation unit 3d having a display unit 3c, which is a display means including a liquid crystal display and a drive circuit, a push button switch and a touch panel disposed on the screen of the display unit 3c, for capturing user operation input information, a speaker and a speaker And a speaker unit 3e having the driving circuit.

  The control unit 3a is equipped with a web browser and further has a web server function for providing (distributing) a web page stored in advance to the web browser. Then, the web page loaded with the content provided from the network adapter 2 or the like and the internal web page stored in advance are reproduced by the web browser and displayed on the display unit 3c, and the touch panel of the operation unit 3d is operated. And operation input information corresponding to the positional relationship between the icon and the like displayed on the display unit 3c.

  Further, the sound data of the alarm sound and the voice message is compressed and stored in the control unit 3a in advance, and if the sound data read out by the control unit 3a as necessary is output to the speaker unit 3e, An alarm sound or voice message sounds from the speaker.

  Since the router 4 is well known in the art, detailed illustration and description thereof will be omitted.

  The center server 5 stores main software and sub software for each version, and information about each software, and receives each version upgrade information of the main software and sub software by receiving a request from the terminal device via the Internet NT2. Provide to the terminal device. Furthermore, it holds a large number of web page groups to be provided to the terminal device such as the operation terminal 3, and the corresponding web page data from the web page group is received from the communication unit 3b according to the access from the terminal device. It has a web server function to provide (distribute).

  Here, the version information of the main software and the sub software is management information assigned for each release when each software code is changed, and is character information such as “1.00a”.

  When the network adapter 2 updates the main software, the high-performance main processing unit 2a acquires the latest version of the main software from the center server 5 via the home network NT1 and the Internet NT2, and stores it in the ROM 2e. Rewrite the main software to the latest version.

  Next, the operation at the time of version upgrade in which the network adapter 2 updates the sub software will be described.

  First, as shown in FIG. 3, in the operation terminal 3, when the sub software version confirmation button is pressed by the operation of the operation unit 3d, the control unit 3a transmits an upgrade confirmation request to the center server 5 (S1). The center server 5 transmits a sub-processing unit version property request to the network adapter 2 (S2).

  In the network adapter 2, the main processing unit 2a receives the sub processing unit version property request and outputs a version acquisition request to the sub processing unit 2b (S3). As a response to the version acquisition request, the sub processing unit 2b transmits a version response including the version information of the sub software stored in the ROM 2g to the main processing unit 2a (S4). The main processing unit 2a transmits a sub processing unit version property response including version information of the sub software to the center server 5 as a response to the sub processing unit version property request (S5).

  The center server 5 determines whether the version information of the sub software acquired from the network adapter 2 is the latest version information (S6). If the version information of the secondary software acquired from the network adapter 2 is not the latest version, a version upgrade confirmation response including a web page for notifying the necessity of the version upgrade of the secondary software is sent as a response to the version upgrade confirmation request. If it is the latest version, it is transmitted to the operation terminal 3, and as a response to the upgrade confirmation request, an upgrade confirmation response including a web page for notifying that the version upgrade of the sub software is not necessary is transmitted to the operation terminal 3. (S7).

  In the operation terminal 3, the control unit 3a displays the web page included in the upgrade confirmation response on the display unit 3c, and outputs a buzzer sound or a human voice from the speaker unit 3e, whereby the version of the sub software is displayed. The user is notified that there is a need to upgrade or that there is no need to upgrade the sub software.

  Therefore, the user can confirm whether or not the version upgrade of the sub software of the network adapter 2 is necessary only by operating the operation terminal 3 in the home. That is, the network system can easily check the software version of the sub-processing unit 2b of the network adapter 2 and can easily determine the necessity of upgrading.

  In the present embodiment, when the main processing unit 2a receives a sub-processing unit version property request from the center server 5, the main processing unit 2a acquires version information from the sub-processing unit 2b. However, the main processing unit 2a outputs a version acquisition request to the sub-processing unit 2b at the time of startup or at regular intervals, acquires and holds version information of the sub-software from the sub-processing unit 2b in advance, and stores the center server 5 When the sub-processing unit version property request is received from the sub-processing unit, the sub-processing unit version property response including the pre-held version information of the sub-software may be transmitted to the center server 5.

  Further, a notification means for notifying whether the upgrade is necessary may be provided also in the network adapter 2, and the notification operation may be performed in the network adapter 2 by a version upgrade confirmation response transmitted from the center server 5. . Alternatively, an upgrade confirmation response may be transmitted from the center server 5 to the mobile terminal 6 via the Internet NT2, and the mobile terminal 6 may notify the necessity of the upgrade.

  Next, when the operation terminal 3 informs that it is necessary to upgrade the sub software, the upgrade process shown in FIG. 4 is performed.

  First, in the operation terminal 3, when the sub software upgrade start button is pressed by operating the operation unit 3d, the control unit 3a transmits a version upgrade start request to the center server 5 (start request transmitting means) (S11). The center server 5 returns a version upgrade start response to the operation terminal 3 (S12), and then transmits a sub-processing unit version method request to the network adapter 2 (S13).

  In the network adapter 2, after the main processing unit 2a receives the sub processing unit version method request and returns the sub processing unit version upgrade method response to the center server 5 (S14), the main processing unit 2a sends a request for transition to the upgrade mode to the sub processing unit 2b. Output (S15).

  The sub-processing unit 2b up to this point sets the speed of serial communication performed with the main processing unit 2a to 9600 bps, suppresses the communication speed with the main processing unit 2a, and monitors the equipment 1 Normal processing for executing control is performed (normal mode). However, when the upgrade mode transition request is received, an upgrade mode transition response is returned to the main processing unit 2a (S16), and communication with the facility device 1 is stopped (that is, the monitoring / control processing of the facility device 1 is performed). And the speed of serial communication performed with the main processing unit 2a is increased to 19200 bps to increase the communication speed with the main processing unit 2a. That is, the sub processing unit 2b uses the maximum performance and resources for serial communication with the main processing unit 2a, and shifts to the upgrade mode in which the communication speed with the main processing unit 2a is increased to the maximum ( S17).

  Then, the main processing unit 2a transfers an upgrade mode transition response to the center server 5, and the center server 5 transmits upgrade information for upgrading to the latest version of the sub software to the network adapter 2. In the network adapter 2, the main processing unit 2a outputs upgrade information to the sub-processing unit 2b. At this time, since the sub processor 2b operates in the upgrade mode with a high communication speed, the communication time for receiving the upgrade information from the main processor 2a is shortened, and the download time is shortened. Then, the sub processor 2b rewrites the sub software stored in the ROM 2g to the latest version based on the received version upgrade information, and updates the sub software upgrade information (S18).

  Upon completion of the upgrade process of the sub software, the sub processor 2b returns from the upgrade mode to the normal mode, switches the speed of serial communication performed between the main processor 2a from 1920 bps to 9600 bps, 1 is resumed (S19).

  In this way, when notified that there is a need for version upgrade, the user simply downloads the version upgrade information of the sub-software from the center server 5 and rewrites it to the latest version simply by operating the operation terminal 3. be able to. Further, the sub-processing unit 2b of the network adapter 2 shifts to the upgrade mode in which the communication speed with the main processing unit is maximized when downloading the upgrade information, so that the download time can be shortened.

(Embodiment 2)
In the present embodiment, after performing the sequence of FIG. 3 in the first embodiment, when the operation terminal 3 informs that it is necessary to upgrade the sub software, the upgrade process shown in FIG. 5 is performed. Note that the configuration of the network system of this embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment, and a description thereof will be omitted.

  First, as shown in FIG. 5, in the operation terminal 3, when the sub software upgrade start button is pressed by the operation of the operation unit 3d, the control unit 3a transmits a version upgrade start request to the center server 5 (S21). ), The center server 5 transmits a sub-processing unit version property request to the network adapter 2 (S22).

  In the network adapter 2, the main processing unit 2a receives the sub processing unit version property request and outputs a version acquisition request to the sub processing unit 2b (S23). As a response to the version acquisition request, the sub processing unit 2b transmits a version response including the version information of the sub software stored in the ROM 2g to the main processing unit 2a (S24). The main processing unit 2a transmits a sub processing unit version property response including version information of the sub software to the center server 5 as a response to the sub processing unit version property request (S25).

  The center server 5 compares the sub software set with the version information acquired from the network adapter (hereinafter referred to as old: sub software) with the latest version of the sub software (hereinafter referred to as new: sub software). The difference between the old: secondary software and the new: secondary software is extracted as a change area (difference extraction means) (S26). That is, the change area is a part to be changed for version upgrade in the software code of the old: secondary software. Then, the center server 5 generates upgrade information including the software code of the change area, and write information such as the write start address and data length (S27), and sends a write request including the upgrade information to the network adapter 2. Transmit (S28).

  In the network adapter 2, the main processing unit 2a outputs a write request including upgrade information to the sub-processing unit 2b (S29). Then, based on the received upgrade information, the secondary processing unit 2b rewrites only the changed area of the old: secondary software stored in the ROM 2g to the latest version, and updates the upgrade information of the secondary software (S30). ).

  Therefore, the upgrade information output from the main processing unit 2a to the sub processing unit 2b is only the change area (difference) between the old: sub software and the new: sub software, and the new: version including all codes of the sub software. Compared to downloading up information, the download time can be shortened and the load on the sub-processing unit 2b can be reduced.

(Embodiment 3)
In the present embodiment, after performing the sequence of FIG. 3 in the first embodiment, when the operation terminal 3 informs that it is necessary to upgrade the sub software, the upgrade process shown in FIG. 6 is performed. Note that the configuration of the network system of this embodiment is the same as that of the first embodiment, and a description thereof will be omitted.

  First, in FIG. 6, the center server 5 changes the difference between the old: secondary software and the new: secondary software from the process (S 21) of transmitting a version upgrade start request from the control unit 3 a of the operation terminal 3 to the center server 5. The process up to the extraction (S26) is the same as in the second embodiment, and a description thereof will be omitted.

  When the change area exists in a plurality of areas of the software code, the center server 5 divides the change area into a plurality of modules for each area, and includes a plurality of modules (here, modules M1, M2, and M3). Version upgrade information is generated (S41). Next, a sub-processor upgrade request including the number of modules [3 modules] is transmitted to the network adapter 2 (S42). Next, the center server 5 transmits a write request including upgrade information composed of the three modules M1, M2, and M3 to the network adapter 2 (S43).

  In the network adapter 2, after the main processing unit 2a stores the upgrade information in the RAM 2f (S44), it sends a module number notification for notifying the number of modules [3 modules] to the sub-processing unit 2b (S45). The sub processor 2b recognizes that there are three modules scheduled to be received.

  Then, the main processing unit 2a outputs a write request including the module M1 to the sub processing unit 2b (S46). Then, the sub-processing unit 2b rewrites only the changed area of the module M1 in the old: sub-software stored in the ROM 2g based on the received version upgrade information of the module M1 (S47).

  Next, the main processing unit 2a outputs a write request including the module M2 to the sub processing unit 2b (S48). Then, the sub-processing unit 2b rewrites only the changed area of the module M2 in the old: sub-software stored in the ROM 2g based on the received version upgrade information of the module M2 (S49).

  Next, the main processing unit 2a outputs a write request including the module M3 to the sub processing unit 2b (S50). Then, the sub-processing unit 2b rewrites only the change area of the module M3 in the old: sub-software stored in the ROM 2g based on the received version upgrade information of the module M3 (S51).

  The sub-processing unit 2b includes a means update counter 2i (refer to the broken line in FIG. 1) that constitutes counter means for counting the number of remaining rewrites of sub-software by the module, and notifies the number of modules in S45. At the time of reception, the count value “3” is set. The count value is decremented each time the rewriting of the sub software by each module is completed, and when the count value becomes “0”, the version upgrade information of the sub software is updated and this processing is terminated.

  As described above, since the upgrade information of the plurality of modules transmitted from the center server 5 is temporarily stored in the RAM 2f of the main processing unit 2a, the center server 5 has a communication speed from the main processing unit 2a to the sub processing unit 2b. There is no need to wait for transmission due to slowness, the load on the center server 5 can be reduced, and the time during which the center server 5 can communicate with other terminal devices increases.

(Embodiment 4)
In this embodiment, in the third embodiment, the main processing unit 2a of the network adapter 2 stores the upgrade information in the RAM 2f (S44), and notifies the sub-processing unit of the number of modules for notifying the number of modules [3 modules]. The processing after transmission to 2b (S45) will be described with reference to FIG.

  First, the sub-processing unit 2b includes an update counter 2i (see a broken line in FIG. 1) that counts the remaining number of times the sub-software is rewritten by the module and holds the count value in a nonvolatile memory. When the notification [3 modules] is received, the value of the update counter 2i is set to “3” (S61). That is, the remaining number of modules whose sub-software should be rewritten is “3”.

  Then, the main processing unit 2a outputs a write request including the module M1 to the sub processing unit 2b (S62). Then, the sub-processing unit 2b rewrites only the changed area of the module M1 in the old: sub-software stored in the ROM 2g based on the received version upgrade information of the module M1 (S63), and updates The value of the counter 2i is decremented and set to “2” (S64).

  However, at this time, if a power interruption due to a power failure or the like, a reset operation by the user, a bug in the main software, etc. occurs, the upgrade information stored in the RAM 2f by the main processing unit 2a is erased (S65). However, since the value of the update counter 2i is held by the nonvolatile memory, the count value “2” is also held at the time of restart (S66).

  Therefore, the sub-processing unit 2b reads the count value at the time of restart, and if a value of 1 or more is set, the sub-processing unit 2b determines that there is a module of upgrade information that has not been rewritten yet (S67). A restart request is transmitted to the main processing unit 2a (S68). In the version upgrade restart request, the value “2” of the update counter 2i that is the remaining number of rewrites and the old: sub-software version information stored in the ROM 2g (although rewriting of the module M1 has been completed, the module M2, Since the rewriting of M3 has not been completed, the version information has not been updated). The main processing unit 2a transfers a version upgrade restart request to the center server 5 (S69).

  Then, the center server 5 performs a process (S70) of extracting a difference between the old: secondary software and the new: secondary software as a change area. When the change area exists in a plurality of areas of the software code, the center server 5 Divide the change area into multiple modules for each area. In this case, although it is divided into modules M1, M2, and M3, it is determined that the module M1 has been rewritten with reference to the remaining number of rewrites “2” included in the upgrade restart request, and the two modules The upgrade information consisting of M2 and M3 is generated (S71). Next, a sub processor version upgrade request including the number of modules [2 modules] is transmitted to the network adapter 2 (S72). Next, the center server 5 transmits a write request including upgrade information composed of the two modules M2 and M3 to the network adapter 2 (S73).

  In the network adapter 2, after the main processing unit 2a stores the upgrade information in the RAM 2f (S74), the main processing unit 2a transmits a module number notification for notifying the number of modules [2 modules] to the sub-processing unit 2b (S75). The sub processing unit 2b sets the value of the update counter 2i to “2” (S76).

  Then, the main processing unit 2a outputs a write request including the module M2 to the sub processing unit 2b (S77). Then, the sub processing unit 2b rewrites only the changed area of the module M2 in the old: sub software stored in the ROM 2g based on the received version upgrade information of the module M2 (S78), and updates The value of the counter 2i is decremented and set to “1” (S79).

  Next, the main processing unit 2a outputs a write request including the module M3 to the sub processing unit 2b (S80). Then, the sub-processing unit 2b rewrites only the changed area of the module M3 in the old: sub-software stored in the ROM 2g based on the received version upgrade information of the module M3 (S81), and updates it. The value of the counter 2i is decremented and set to “0” (S82). Then, the sub-processing unit 2b determines that the upgrade has been completed when the value of the update counter reaches “0”, updates the version-up information of the sub-software, and ends this process.

  In this way, even if the download of the upgrade information is interrupted due to a power failure due to a power failure, a reset operation by the user, a bug in the main software, etc. It is possible to efficiently restore the up process.

  In the network adapter 2 described above, the main processing unit 2a stores the upgrade information from the center server 5 in the volatile RAM 2f. However, the RAM 2f may be configured by a nonvolatile memory. In this case, the main processing unit 2a that has received the upgrade resumption request from the sub-processing unit 2b after the restart refers to the remaining number of rewrites “2” included in the upgrade upgrade restart request, and the module M1 has been rewritten. to decide. Then, the write request including the modules M2 and M3 is sequentially output to the sub-processing unit 2b with reference to the contents held in the nonvolatile RAM 2f. That is, by configuring the RAM 2f with a non-volatile memory, communication with the center server 5 becomes unnecessary at the time of restart, and communication processing can be simplified.

(Embodiment 5)
In this embodiment, the processing after the center server 5 transmits a write request including upgrade information to the network adapter 2 (S28) in the second embodiment will be described with reference to FIG.

  First, the center server 5 compares the old: secondary software set with the version information acquired from the network adapter 2 with the latest: new: secondary software, and compares the difference between the old: secondary software and the new: secondary software. Extract as a change area (difference extraction means). Then, the center server 5 generates upgrade information including software information of the change area, write information such as a write head address and data length, and transmits a write request including the upgrade information to the network adapter 2 ( S28).

  In the network adapter 2, the main processing unit 2a identifies a change area in the software code based on the upgrade information included in the received write request, and transmits the code request for the change area to the sub-processing unit 2b (S91). ). The sub-processing unit 2b extracts the change area in the old: sub-software code stored in the ROM 2g, and transmits it to the main processing unit 2a as old code information (S92). The main processing unit 2a stores the old code information in the nonvolatile flash memory 2j (see the broken line in FIG. 1) (S93), and then outputs a write request including upgrade information to the sub processing unit 2b (S94). . Then, based on the received upgrade information, the secondary processing unit 2b rewrites only the changed area of the old: secondary software stored in the ROM 2g to the latest version, and updates the upgrade information of the secondary software (S95). ).

  However, when a problem occurs due to the version upgrade of the sub software, a user operates a return switch (not shown) provided in the network adapter 2 to generate a return request trigger in the main processing unit 2a (S96). The processing unit 2a reads the old code information from the flash memory 2j, and outputs a write request including the old code information to the sub-processing unit 2b (S97). Then, based on the received old code information, the sub-processing unit 2b rewrites the changed area of the new: sub-software stored in the ROM 2g with the old code information, and returns the version of the sub-software to the previous version ( S98).

  Therefore, even if the in-home network NT1 and the Internet NT2 are disconnected, the sub software can be returned to the original version to solve the problem caused by the version upgrade.

  Of course, the return request trigger may be transmitted to the network adapter 2 via the network by operating the operation unit 3d of the operation terminal 3.

  In the above-described embodiment, when the center server 5 determines that the sub software of the network adapter 2 needs to be upgraded, the center server 5 notifies the terminal device such as the operation terminal 3 of the necessity for the upgrade. The upgrade information of the sub software is downloaded to the network adapter 2 and rewritten to the latest version. However, when the center server 5 determines that the sub software of the network adapter 2 needs to be upgraded, the center server 5 only needs to notify the terminal device such as the operation terminal 3 of the necessity of version upgrade, If it is determined that the software needs to be upgraded, the sub software upgrade information may be downloaded from the center server 5 to the network adapter 2 and rewritten to the latest version without notifying the user.

  Further, the configuration in which the upgrade mode and the normal mode described in the first embodiment can be switched may be applied to other embodiments, and in this case, the same effect as the first embodiment can be obtained.

1 Equipment 2 Network adapter 2a Main processing unit 2b Sub processing unit 2e, 2g ROM
2f, 2h RAM
3 Operation terminal 5 Center server NT1 Residential network NT2 Internet

Claims (9)

The network adapter that communicates with the equipment and the center server that communicates with the network adapter are connected to the network,
The network adapter includes a main storage unit that stores main software for performing communication processing with the center server via the network, a main processing unit that performs communication via the network by executing the main software, and version information. Data can be exchanged between the main processing unit and the secondary storage unit that stores the secondary software for performing communication processing with the equipment device, and communicates with the equipment device by executing the secondary software. A sub-processing unit, and the main processing unit includes means for acquiring sub-software version information from the sub-processing unit, and upon receiving a sub-software version information inquiry request via the network, Send version information to the center server,
When the center server receives the version information of the secondary software from the network adapter, the center server determines whether the version upgrade of the secondary software is necessary in the network adapter based on the version information. A network system characterized by sending information about version upgrades to the network. The information related to version upgrade transmitted by the center server is a notification signal for notifying the necessity of version upgrade, and there is a notification means for notifying the necessity for version upgrade when receiving the notification signal, and a notification operation by the notification means. After that, the network is provided with a start request transmission means for transmitting a sub-software version upgrade start request to the center server,
The center server that has received the upgrade start request sends upgrade information to the network adapter for upgrading to the sub-software to which version information that is newer than the version information received from the network adapter is provided.
The network adapter is characterized in that the main processing unit receives the upgrade information and outputs it to the sub-processing unit, and the sub-processing unit rewrites the sub-software stored in the sub-storage unit based on the upgrade information. The network system according to claim 1.   The information related to version upgrade transmitted by the center server is version upgrade information for upgrading to sub-software to which version information newer than the version information received from the network adapter is assigned. The network system according to claim 1, wherein the upgrade information is received and output to the sub-processing unit, and the sub-processing unit rewrites the sub-software stored in the sub-storage unit based on the upgrade information. .   The network adapter is characterized in that, while the main processing unit outputs upgrade information to the sub-processing unit, the sub-processing unit stops communication with the equipment and receives the upgrade information. Item 4. The network system according to Item 2 or 3. The center server includes a difference extraction unit that extracts a difference between the sub software to which the version information received from the network adapter is assigned and the sub software to which the version information is newer than the sub software. Send upgrade information for rewriting only to the network adapter,
The network system according to any one of claims 2 to 4, wherein the sub-processing unit of the network adapter rewrites only the difference portion of the sub-software stored in the sub-storage unit based on the upgrade information. The center server transmits upgrade information obtained by dividing the difference portion into a plurality of modules to the network adapter,
The main processing unit of the network adapter stores the upgrade information composed of a plurality of modules, and sequentially outputs the upgrade information to the sub-processing unit for each module.The sub-processing unit is based on the upgrade information for each module. The network system according to claim 5, wherein the sub software stored in the sub storage unit is rewritten for each module.   The main processing unit of the network adapter notifies the sub-processing unit of the number of modules of the upgrade information, and the sub-processing unit of the network adapter rewrites based on the number of modules of the upgrade information notified from the main processing unit. When there is a remaining module that has not been rewritten with reference to the counter means at the time of restart, the main processing unit issues a version upgrade restart request together with information on the remaining module that has not been rewritten. The network system according to claim 6, wherein the center server transmits to the network adapter the remaining module that has not been rewritten among the difference portions divided into a plurality of modules.   Before outputting the upgrade information to the secondary processing unit, the main processing unit of the network adapter acquires and saves the secondary software stored in the secondary storage unit from the secondary processing unit, and stores the upgrade information in the secondary processing unit. 8. If a return request is generated after the data is output to the sub processor, the stored sub software is output to the sub processor, and the sub processor writes the sub software in the sub memory. The network system described. A network adapter that is connected to a center server via a network and communicates with equipment.
A main storage unit that stores main software for performing communication processing with the center server via the network, a main processing unit that performs communication via the network by executing the main software, and facilities that are given version information A sub-storage unit that stores sub-software for performing communication processing with the device, and a sub-processing unit that can exchange data with the main processing unit, and communicate with the equipment by executing the sub-software. And the main processing unit includes means for acquiring version information of the sub software from the sub processing unit, and upon receiving an inquiry request for the version information of the sub software via the network, the main processing unit is based on the version information of the sub software. Therefore, it is necessary to determine whether or not the secondary software needs to be upgraded. And to the center server to send the information about upgrading to the network if it is determined, the network adapter and transmits the version information of the sub software.

Images