JP2013068987A - Gateway device, firmware distribution system, and information distribution method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a firmware update technique which has a simple system configuration for updating firmware and is for reducing operation costs.SOLUTION: A gateway device transmits firmware to be used by information appliances connected with the gateway device via an in-house network, to the information appliances. The gateway device manages respective pieces of firmware for the plurality of information appliances, and a plurality of communication protocols to be used in communication with the respective information appliances. Also, the gateway device identifies a target information appliance to which firmware is to be transmitted among the plurality of information appliances, specifies a target communication protocol to be used by the target information appliance, and executes communication with the target information appliance by using the target communication protocol to transmit the firmware to the target information appliance.

Description

  The present invention relates to a gateway device, a firmware distribution system, and an information distribution method, for example, a technology related to software update of an information home appliance.

  As a software update technique for operating an apparatus, a technique for updating an application or software module, or a technique for updating firmware including a lower layer OS or a library file is known.

  For example, Non-Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for modularizing Java software called an OSGi bundle and updating the module. Non-Patent Document 2 discloses a communication procedure for distributing a software module, and is used for distributing an OSGi bundle. Furthermore, Patent Document 1 discloses an example of a firmware update technique.

JP 2010-79438 A

OSGi Service Platform Release 4: http://www.osgi.org/Release4/Download TR-069 Amendment3: http://www.broadband-forum.org/technical/download/TR-069_Amendment-3.pdf

  By the way, when distributing / updating the software module on the gateway device and the firmware of the device connected to the gateway device, or when updating the software module on the gateway, for example, in the method of Non-Patent Document 1, the communication protocol TR-069 is used. Will be used to distribute and update software modules in the form of OSGi bundles. Therefore, the firmware distribution of the device connected to the gateway device is distributed in the communication protocol and firmware format of each device. That is, according to the configuration of the above-described prior art, even in the case of updating firmware of information home appliances connected to the local network, the firmware must be distributed and updated according to the communication protocol used in each information home appliance. It is not supposed to be. Therefore, in such a configuration, a server for distributing the OSGi bundle on the gateway, a server for distributing the firmware of the device connected to the gateway device, and two types of server systems are required. There is a problem that it becomes complicated.

  In addition, when updating the information home appliance device firmware, the information communication home appliance device differs for each information home appliance device, so a dedicated firmware distribution server must be installed for each home information appliance device. The cost will be excessive.

  The present invention has been made in view of such a situation, and is intended to provide a firmware update technique for reducing the operation cost with a simple system configuration for updating firmware.

  In order to solve the above problems, in the present invention, in a gateway device that transmits firmware used in the information home appliance to the information home appliance connected via the local network, the firmware of each of the plurality of information home appliances And a plurality of communication protocols used for communication with each of the plurality of information home appliances. Further, the gateway device identifies a target information home appliance to which firmware is to be transmitted among a plurality of information home appliances, identifies a target communication protocol used in the target information home appliance, and uses this target communication protocol To communicate with the target information home appliance and send firmware to it.

  Further features relating to the present invention will become apparent from the description of the present specification and the accompanying drawings. The embodiments of the present invention can be achieved and realized by elements and combinations of various elements and the following detailed description and appended claims.

  Further, it should be understood that the description of the present specification is merely a typical example, and is not intended to limit the scope of the claims or application of the present invention in any way.

  According to the present invention, there is no need to install a firmware distribution server for each information home appliance, the system configuration for firmware update is simple, and the operation cost can be reduced.

It is a figure which shows schematic structure of the information delivery system by embodiment of this invention. It is a figure which shows the software structure of a management server. It is a figure which shows the software structure of a gateway apparatus. It is a figure which shows the software structure of an information household appliance. It is a figure which shows the format structure of a software module. It is a figure which shows the internal structure of a firmware update module. It is a figure which shows the internal structure of the function implementation of a software module reception module. It is a figure which shows the example of the information which a software module structure database manages. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the process of an update reception and application function. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the process of the activator of a firmware update module. It is a flowchart for demonstrating the process of an update relay module. It is a figure which shows the structural example of GUI by a software module delivery function. It is a figure for demonstrating the flow of the whole process.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the accompanying drawings, functionally identical elements may be denoted by the same numbers. The accompanying drawings show specific embodiments and implementation examples according to the principle of the present invention, but these are for understanding the present invention and are not intended to limit the present invention. Not used.

  This embodiment has been described in sufficient detail for those skilled in the art to practice the present invention, but other implementations and configurations are possible without departing from the scope and spirit of the technical idea of the present invention. It is necessary to understand that the configuration and structure can be changed and various elements can be replaced. Therefore, the following description should not be interpreted as being limited to this.

  Furthermore, as will be described later, the embodiment of the present invention may be implemented by software running on a general-purpose computer, or may be implemented by dedicated hardware or a combination of software and hardware.

  In the following description, each information of the present invention will be described in a “table” format. However, the information does not necessarily have to be expressed in a data structure by a table, such as a data structure such as a list, a DB, a queue, or the like. It may be expressed as Therefore, “table”, “list”, “DB”, “queue”, etc. may be simply referred to as “information” to indicate that they do not depend on the data structure.

  In addition, when explaining the contents of each information, the expressions “identification information”, “identifier”, “name”, “name”, “ID” can be used, and these can be replaced with each other. It is.

  In the following, the processing of each “function” and each “module” will be described. However, the function and module perform processing determined by the processor executing a program that realizes them, and the memory and communication port (communication control device). However, it is possible to use “function” or “module” as an operation subject. Further, the processing disclosed with “function”, “module”, and “program” as the subject may be processing performed by a computer such as a management server or an information processing apparatus. Part or all of the program may be realized by dedicated hardware. A program for realizing various functions and modules may be installed in each computer by a program distribution server or a storage medium.

<Information distribution system>
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a schematic configuration of an information distribution system (firmware distribution system) according to an embodiment of the present invention. The information distribution system 100 includes a management server 110, a gateway device 130, at least one information home appliance 150-1 to 150-n, at least one manufacturer site (computer) 160-1 to 160-n, and a matching server. 170. The management server 110, the gateway device 130, the manufacturer sites 160-1 to 160-n, and the matching server 170 are connected via the Internet 120. The gateway device 130 and the information home appliances 150-1 to 150-n are connected via a local network 140 (home network).

  The management server 110 is a server having a function of distributing / installing / uninstalling the software module whose configuration is described in FIG. The management server 110 has a hardware configuration as a computer having a network communication function, and includes, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit: simply referred to as a processor) 1101 that executes various control / arithmetic processing, It has a RAM 1102 for storing data for arithmetic processing, a network interface 1103, and an HDD 1104 for storing various data, parameters, programs, firmware to be distributed, and software modules. The management server 110 may include other memories (ROM and cache), information input / output devices (display device, printer, keyboard, pointing device) and the like in addition to the illustrated configuration. The software configuration in the memory is shown in FIG. 2, and details will be described later.

  The gateway device 130 has a function of operating software and mediates between the local network 140 and the Internet 120. The function of the gateway device 130 can be expanded by installing the software module. The gateway device 130 includes a CPU 1301, a RAM 1302, a ROM 1303, a network interface 1304, and an HDD 1305. The software configuration of the gateway device 130 is shown in FIG. 3, and details will be described later.

  The information home appliances 150-1 to 150-n are home appliances such as a television and a recorder connected to the local network 140, and have the same configuration as a computer having a communication function. For example, the CPU 1501 and the RAM 1502 A network interface 1503, a flash memory 15054, and an information input / output device 1505. The software configuration (function) to be provided at the minimum is shown in FIG. 4, and details will be described later.

  The manufacturer sites 160-1 to 160-n manage information (including communication protocols used for communication with information home appliances) of their home information appliances (corresponding to the information home appliances 150-1 to 150-n). ing.

  Matching server 170 manages manufacturer information (including URL as access destination information) of each home information appliance device, and notifies gateway device 130 of the manufacturer information in response to an inquiry from gateway device 130. It has a function to do.

<Software configuration of management server>
FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a software configuration (function) of the management server 110. The management server 110 has at least a software module registration function 220 and a software module distribution function 230. Each function is realized by the CPU 1101 executing the corresponding program.

  The software module registration function 220 is a function of storing software modules (including firmware activated by the information home appliance) in the management server 110 through a network interface (such as a Web interface) 1103.

  The software module distribution function 230 displays a list of software modules stored by the software module registration function 220, and distributes, installs, uninstalls, and updates (instructs) the software modules to the gateway device. It is a function. Details of the function will be described later with reference to FIG.

<Software configuration of gateway device>
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a software configuration of the gateway device 130. The gateway device 130 includes a software module management framework 310, a software module group 320, and a software module configuration database 330 as software configurations.

  The software module management framework 310 is for managing software modules (having the configuration shown in FIGS. 5 and 6) included in the software module group 320, and includes an install / uninstall function 311 and a start / stop function 312. And an update function 313 and a state acquisition function 314. Each of these functions is realized by executing a corresponding program by the CPU 1301.

  The install / uninstall function 311 is a function for deploying and uninstalling a software module in the file system (in the HDD 1305) of the gateway device.

  The start / stop function 312 is a function for starting a software module that is already installed and operable, and for stopping a software module that is operating. It should be noted that starting and stopping software modules before being updated is different.

  In order to update the existing software module (old version) with the installed software module (deployed in the file system) (new version), the update function 313 stops the old version software module, This function sequentially activates the software modules.

  The status acquisition function 314 is a function for acquiring data stored in the software module configuration database 330.

  Note that, as described above, installation here simply expands a file group included in the software module into the file system, and does not activate the function of the installed software module. Therefore, when an upgraded version of an existing software module is installed, the file is expanded, but the operating software module remains the old version. In order to update an operating software module, it is necessary to start after stopping by the start / stop function 312 after installing the updated version, or to issue a stop / start instruction using the update function 313. An example of a software module management framework having the above functions is the OSGi framework.

  As a management target of the software module management framework 310, there is a software module group 320. The software module group 320 includes, for example, a software module reception module 321, an update relay module 322, a firmware update module 323, and various software modules (software module A, software module B, etc.) 324 to 325. Such a plurality of software modules are expanded on the file system (HDD 1305), and the software module configuration database 330 manages version numbers, module names, and expanded file paths.

  The software module reception module 321 communicates with the management server 110 and has a function of receiving software module and firmware data (new data or update data). Then, the software module reception module 321 receives from the management server 110 the received module installation instruction, the old version module uninstall instruction, the software module start / stop instruction, and the software module update instruction. To the respective functions of the software module management framework 310.

  The update relay module 322 manages a communication protocol that defines a communication method with each information home appliance 150-1 to 150-n, and distributes a new version of firmware to each information home appliance using the corresponding communication protocol. have. In addition, the update relay module 322 manages which information home appliances are connected to the local network 140, and monitors the local network 140 to detect what information home appliances are newly connected. The communication protocol corresponding to the information home appliance is managed in association with the information home appliance. If the update relay module 322 does not have communication protocol information for the newly connected information home appliance, the update relay module 322 inquires the matching server 170 to obtain information on the connected information home appliance (such as the manufacturer name and product number). ) Information (URL) of the manufacturer site corresponding to. Then, the update relay module 322 requests the acquired manufacturer site to transmit the communication protocol of the newly connected information home appliance. The update relay module receives the communication protocol transmitted from the manufacturer site in response to the request, and manages it in association with the information home appliance.

  The firmware update module 323 has a function of managing firmware data of a new version of the information home appliance received from the management server 110, and is provided for each information home appliance. The internal configuration of the firmware update module 323 will be described later with reference to FIG.

  The software module A324 has a function of controlling ON / OFF of the information home appliances 150-1 to 150-n, for example. The software module B325 has a function of monitoring and detecting a failure of the gateway device 130, for example. The functions of the software module are not limited to these, and can be installed when realizing various functions as necessary.

  The software module configuration database 330 is a database for managing software module version numbers and the like. The internal configuration will be described later with reference to FIG.

<Functions and information held by information home appliances>
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating functions and information that the information home appliances 150-1 to 150-n should have at least. Each information home appliance has an update acceptance / application function 410, firmware data 420, device ID (identifier), manufacturer information, key information, and the like stored in the flash ROM 430.

  The update acceptance / application function 410 has an interface for receiving firmware update data via a network, and a function of writing the received firmware in the flash ROM 430.

  The firmware 420 is a set of software for operating the information home appliance 150 and may be written in the flash ROM 430.

<Internal configuration of software module>
FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an internal configuration of a software module (a module other than the software module reception module 321 and the firmware update module) managed by the software module management framework 310.

  The software module has version information 510, a module name 511, a software module main body 530, and a data file 540 as components.

  The version information 510 is information indicating the version number of the software module. The module name 520 is the name of the software module.

  The software module main body 530 stores the program logic of the software module, and includes an activator 531 and a function implementation 532. In the activator 531, program logic called when the software module is activated from the software module management framework 310 is described. The function implementation 532 describes a function originally intended by the software module.

  The data file 540 stores data (for example, software module setting file and meta information) used by the software module.

  The format of each software module is common, and only the contents of the function implementation 532 and the data file 540 are different for each module. Therefore, there is an advantage that management of each software module becomes easy.

<Internal configuration of firmware update module>
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an internal configuration of the firmware update module 323. The internal configuration of the firmware update module 323 is basically the same as that of a normal software module. However, the only difference from the normal software module is that the update relay call function 631 is described as the logic of the activator 630. The firmware update modules 323 are provided for the number of information home appliances 150-1 to 150-n connected to the local network 140.

  The version information 610 is information indicating a firmware version number. The module name 620 is a name corresponding to the information home appliance name.

  The software module main body has an update relay call (module) 631 for calling a function of the update relay module 322 and a function implementation 640. Since the function of the firmware update module 323 is mainly simply to write a new version of firmware into the firmware data 651, call the update relay module 322 and pass the new firmware data to it, the function implementation 640 is substantially meaningful. It ’s not something.

  The data file 650 stores firmware data 651 for the information home appliances 150-1 to 150-n.

  The update relay module 322 called by the update relay call (module) 631 receives the firmware data of the new version from the firmware update module 323, communicates with the corresponding information home appliance using the corresponding communication protocol, and The new version firmware data is transmitted to the information home appliance.

  In addition, since the firmware update module 323 adopts the same format as that of a normal software module (see FIG. 5), the firmware update module 323 can be handled in the same manner as a normal software module. Therefore, management in the management server 110 is also easy.

<Details of functions of software module reception module>
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a functional implementation configuration in the software module reception module 321.

  The software module reception module 321 includes a software module reception (function) 711, an installation / uninstallation instruction reception (function) 712, a start / stop instruction reception (function) 713, an update instruction reception (function) 714, and a status return (Function) 715.

  The software module reception 711 is a function for receiving a software module transmitted from the management server 110.

  The install / uninstall command reception receives an install / uninstall instruction from the management server 110 and calls the install / uninstall function 311 to install a software module in the software module group 320 or specify a name. It is a function to uninstall.

  The start / stop command reception 713 is a function that receives a start / stop command for a software module in the software module group 320 from the management server 110 and calls the start / stop function 312.

  The update command reception 714 is a function that receives a software module update command from the management server 110 and calls the update function 313.

  The status return 715 is a function for calling the status acquisition function 314 to the management server 110 and transmitting the status of each module acquired by the status acquisition function 314.

<Configuration of software module configuration database>
FIG. 8 is a diagram showing the configuration of the software module configuration database 330. The software module configuration database 330 manages information on the software module group 320. Although the table format is adopted in FIG. 8, it is not limited to this format.

  Version 810 indicates information on the version of the software module or firmware. The module name 820 indicates the name of the corresponding software module or firmware. The module expansion path 830 represents a file path where the software module main body 530 and the data file 540 in the module are actually stored.

<Processing of update reception / application function>
FIG. 9 is a flowchart for explaining processing of the update acceptance / application function 410 in the information home appliances 150-1 to 150-n. The processing of each step is basically executed by the CPU 1501 and the update reception / application function 410 of each information home appliance 150-1 to 150-n in cooperation.

  When the corresponding firmware data is received from the update relay module of the gateway device 130 via the network 140 (step 910), the received firmware data is written into the flash ROM 430 or a predetermined memory using the update acceptance / application function 410 (step 910). Step 920).

  In addition, the update reception / application function 420 restarts the information home appliance in response to the system restart command and applies the received new firmware (step 930). The restart command may be issued automatically upon detecting that a new version of firmware is written in the flash ROM 430, or may be input by the user. By restarting the system, the firmware program written in the flash ROM 430 is loaded into the memory.

  Then, the update acceptance / application function 420 notifies the firmware data transmission source (update relay module 322 of the gateway device 130) of the result of the update success / failure (step 940).

<Processing in firmware update module>
FIG. 10 is a flowchart for explaining details of the processing of the firmware update module 323, specifically, the operation of the update relay call 631 provided in the activator 630. The processing of each step is basically executed in cooperation with the functions of the CPU 1301 of the gateway device 130 and the firmware update module 323.

  When the activator 630 receives the firmware update command (that is, the firmware update module update command) from the management server 110, the activator 630 retrieves the firmware data 651 from the data file 650 (step 1010).

  Next, the activator 630 activates the update relay call (function) 631. Then, the update relay call function 631 passes the firmware data 651 extracted in step 1010 to the update relay module 322 (step 1020).

<Processing in the update relay module>
FIG. 11 is a flowchart for explaining details of processing of the update relay module 322. This process is actually described in the function implementation (corresponding to 532) part of the software module. The processing of each step is basically executed in cooperation with the functions of the CPU 1301 of the gateway device 130 and the update relay module 322.

  When the update relay module 322 receives the new version of firmware data from the update relay call function 631 (step 1110), the update relay module 322 transmits the firmware data to any of the information home appliances 150-1 to 150-n (step 1120). Here, the update relay module 322 determines which of the information home appliances 150-1 to 150-n the received firmware corresponds to by referring to firmware management information (not shown), and Identify the communication protocol used for communication with the information home appliance. When the communication protocol corresponding to the firmware management information does not exist, the communication server 170 communicates with the matching server 170 as described above to acquire information (URL, etc.) of the manufacturer's site of the information home appliance, and the information home appliance from the manufacturer site. A communication protocol used for communication with the apparatus is acquired.

  Then, firmware update processing is executed in the corresponding information home appliance (one of 150-1 to 150-n), and the update relay module 322 receives the transmitted firmware update result from the corresponding information home appliance. (Step 1130).

  The update relay module 322 passes the update result to the firmware update module 323 (update relay call function 631) that is the transmission destination of the corresponding firmware (step 1140). The firmware update module 323 that has received the update result transmits the update result to the management server 110 via the software module reception module 321. As a result, the management server 110 can manage the update status (success / failure of update) of the distributed firmware.

<Specific example of software module distribution function>
FIG. 12 is a diagram showing an example of a management screen (GUI (Graphical User Interface)) displayed by the software module distribution function 230 in the management server 110. The management screen displays a list of software modules registered by the software module registration function 220 and their statuses, and can give predetermined instructions to the gateway device 130.

  For example, for UpdateModule 1210, it can be seen that a software module having a version number of 3.1 is running on the gateway device 130. The status on the gateway device 130 can be acquired by the management server 110 calling the status return function 715 of the software module reception module 321 of the gateway device 130.

  When the administrator presses the “Distribute” button 1240, the software module is transmitted to the gateway device 130, and the install / uninstall instruction reception 712 is called via the software module reception (function) 711 of the software module reception module 321. You will be able to install software modules.

  Further, when the administrator presses the “start / stop” button 1250, the start / stop command reception 713 of the software module reception module 321 is called, and the corresponding software module can be started or stopped.

  When the administrator presses an “update” button 1260, an update command reception 714 of the software module reception module 321 is called and can be started after the corresponding software module is stopped.

<Overview of overall processing>
FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining the outline (flow) of the overall processing. Note that it is assumed that the firmware update module (module name FirmwareA, version 3.0) is already operating in the gateway device 130 as a premise of processing.

  First, a firmware update module (module name FirmWareA, version 3.1) configured as shown in FIG. 6 including new firmware data of the information home appliance is created and registered in the HDD 1104 of the management server 110. Then, FirmWare A (version 3.1) 1230 is displayed on the management screen of the software module distribution function. The status is “registered” and has not been distributed to the gateway device 130 yet. When the “distribution” button 1240 on the management screen of the software module distribution function is pressed after registration, a firmware update module (firmware: FirmWare A version 3.1) is transmitted to the gateway device 130 and the gateway device 130 via the software module reception 711. Receives the data (step 1310). Then, the management server 110 calls an installation / uninstallation instruction reception 712.

  In the gateway device 130, the firmware update module (firmware) received in step 1310 is installed in the gateway device 130 (step 1320). At this stage, since the firmware has not been updated, the firmware update module 323 operating in the gateway device 130 is of version 3.0.

  On the other hand, when the administrator presses the “Update” button 1260 of FirmWareA version 3.1_1230 on the management screen of the software module distribution function, an update command is generated and transmitted to the gateway device 130 (step 1330).

  In the gateway device 130, the update command is received by the update command reception 714 of the software module reception module 321, and the update function 313 is called. As a result, the firmware update module of version 3.0 stops and the installed firmware update module of “version 3.1” starts operating (step 1340).

  Subsequently, the activator 630 that operates when the firmware update module 323 is activated operates (step 1350). The activator 630 of the firmware update module 323 executes the process of FIG. As a result, the new version of firmware data created in step 1310 is passed to the update relay module 322.

  Then, in the update relay module 322, the process of FIG. 11 is performed, and the new version of firmware data is transmitted to the corresponding home information appliance (any one of 150-1 to 150-n) (step 1360).

  In the information home appliance that has received the new version of the firmware data, the received firmware data is written in the flash ROM as shown in FIG. 9, and the firmware of the information home appliance is updated (step 1370).

  Then, the update result is notified to the management server 110 via the gateway device 130. When the notification is made (when the update is normally completed), the “status” of Firmware A version 3.1 — 1230 in FIG. 12 changes from “registered” to “activated”. Thereby, the administrator who operates the management server 110 can know that the firmware has been correctly updated.

<Summary>
(1) In the embodiment of the present invention, the gateway device includes a firmware update module that manages firmware of each information home appliance, and an update relay module that communicates with the information home appliance and transmits corresponding firmware to the information home appliance. Provided. The update relay module manages each communication protocol used for communication with each information home appliance. Then, the update relay module transmits the firmware to the target information home appliance using a communication protocol used for communication with the information home appliance that is the transmission destination of the firmware (new version). By doing so, there is no need to install a firmware distribution server for each information home appliance, the operation is simple, and the cost for system construction can be reduced.

  If the update relay module does not have the communication protocol of the target information home appliance that is the destination of the new version of firmware, the update relay module communicates with the manufacturer's site of the target information home appliance and acquires the target communication protocol from there . This makes it necessary for information appliances that have just been connected to the local network, even if the gateway device does not have the communication protocol (even if the firmware has not been updated before). Since it is possible to acquire a simple communication protocol and execute communication with the target information home appliance, the system operation is not hindered, which is advantageous. That is, when a firmware distribution server is installed for each information home appliance, the firmware update must be stopped until the server is actually installed. However, according to the present invention, such inconvenience can be solved.

  The information home appliance that has received the new version of firmware executes the update process by applying the firmware, and notifies the update relay module whether or not the update process was successful. The update relay module that has received the notification notifies the management server of the result of the update process (via the software module reception module). The management server that has received the result displays it on the GUI. By doing in this way, the administrator who operates a management server can manage now the update state of the firmware in each information household appliances centrally. In addition, when the update is not properly performed, it is possible to identify the cause and immediately take countermeasures. On this GUI, not only the firmware but also the operation status of each software module transmitted from the management server to the gateway device is displayed, so that it is possible to easily manage not only the firmware but also the entire state of the gateway device. Become.

  The present invention can also be realized by software program codes that implement the functions of the embodiments. In this case, a storage medium in which the program code is recorded is provided to the system or apparatus, and the computer (or CPU or MPU) of the system or apparatus reads the program code stored in the storage medium. In this case, the program code itself read from the storage medium realizes the functions of the above-described embodiments, and the program code itself and the storage medium storing the program code constitute the present invention. As a storage medium for supplying such program code, for example, a flexible disk, CD-ROM, DVD-ROM, hard disk, optical disk, magneto-optical disk, CD-R, magnetic tape, nonvolatile memory card, ROM Etc. are used.

  Also, based on the instruction of the program code, an OS (operating system) running on the computer performs part or all of the actual processing, and the functions of the above-described embodiments are realized by the processing. May be. Further, after the program code read from the storage medium is written in the memory on the computer, the computer CPU or the like performs part or all of the actual processing based on the instruction of the program code. Thus, the functions of the above-described embodiments may be realized.

  Further, by distributing the program code of the software that realizes the functions of the embodiment via a network, it is stored in a storage means such as a hard disk or memory of a system or apparatus, or a storage medium such as a CD-RW or CD-R And the computer (or CPU or MPU) of the system or apparatus may read and execute the program code stored in the storage means or the storage medium when used.

  Finally, it should be understood that the processes and techniques described herein are not inherently related to any particular apparatus, and can be implemented by any suitable combination of components. In addition, various types of devices for general purpose can be used in accordance with the teachings described herein. It may prove useful to build a dedicated device to perform the method steps described herein. Various inventions can be formed by appropriately combining a plurality of constituent elements disclosed in the embodiments. For example, some components may be deleted from all the components shown in the embodiment. Furthermore, constituent elements over different embodiments may be appropriately combined. Although the present invention has been described with reference to specific examples, these are in all respects illustrative rather than restrictive. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that there are numerous combinations of hardware, software, and firmware that are suitable for implementing the present invention. For example, the described software can be implemented in a wide range of programs or script languages such as assembler, C / C ++, perl, shell, PHP, Java (registered trademark).

  Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, control lines and information lines are those that are considered necessary for explanation, and not all control lines and information lines on the product are necessarily shown. All the components may be connected to each other.

  In addition, other implementations of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and embodiments of the invention disclosed herein. Various aspects and / or components of the described embodiments can be used singly or in any combination in a computerized storage system capable of managing data. The specification and specific examples are merely exemplary, and the scope and spirit of the invention are indicated in the following claims.

100: Information distribution system (firmware distribution system)
110 ... Management server 120 ... Internet 130 ... Gateway device 140 ... Local network 150-1 to 150-n ... Information home appliance 160-1 to 160-n ... Manufacturer site 170 ..Matching server

Claims (11)

A gateway device that transmits firmware used in the information home appliance to the information home appliance connected via the local network,
Firmware for each of a plurality of information home appliances, a memory for storing a plurality of communication protocols used for communication with each of the plurality of information home appliances,
Among the plurality of information home appliances, identify a target information home appliance to which firmware is to be transmitted, obtain a target communication protocol used in the target information home appliance from the memory, and use the target communication protocol A processor for transmitting the firmware to the target information home appliance device;
A gateway device comprising: In claim 1,
The processor determines whether or not the target communication protocol of the target information home appliance is included in the memory, and if not, acquires the target communication protocol from the site of the manufacturer of the target information home appliance A gateway device characterized by: In claim 1,
The gateway device, wherein the processor receives a result of success or failure of application of the firmware from the target information home appliance, and transmits the result to a management server connected via an external network. The gateway device according to claim 1,
A plurality of information home appliances connected to the gateway device via the local network;
A management server that is connected to the gateway device via an external network and that transmits firmware used in at least one of the plurality of information home appliances to the gateway device;
The gateway apparatus stores the firmware transmitted from the management server in the memory. In claim 4,
The management server displays on a display device a user interface for transmitting an operation command for the software module including the distributed firmware to the gateway device, and further includes software including the distributed firmware from the gateway device. A firmware distribution system characterized by acquiring information on a current state of a module and displaying the information on the state on the user interface. In claim 5,
The processor determines whether or not the target communication protocol of the target information home appliance is included in the memory, and if not, acquires the target communication protocol from the site of the manufacturer of the target information home appliance A firmware distribution system characterized by: In claim 5,
The processor receives a result of success or failure of application of the firmware from the target information home appliance, and transmits the result to the management server connected via the external network,
The management server displays the received result on the user interface as information on the status of the firmware. An information distribution method in an information distribution system comprising: a management server; a gateway device connected to the management server via an external network; and a plurality of information home appliances connected to the gateway device via a local network. And
The management server transmitting firmware used in at least one of the plurality of information home appliances to the gateway device;
The gateway device stores firmware transmitted from the management server in a memory and manages the firmware together with a plurality of communication protocols used for communication with each of the plurality of information home appliance devices;
The gateway device identifies a target information home appliance to which firmware is to be transmitted among the plurality of information home appliances, acquires a target communication protocol used in the target information home appliance from the memory, and Transmitting the firmware to the target information home appliance using a communication protocol;
An information distribution method characterized by comprising: In claim 8,
Further, it is determined whether the gateway device has the target communication protocol of the target information home appliance in the memory, and if not, the target communication from the site of the target information home appliance manufacturer An information distribution method comprising a step of acquiring a protocol. In claim 8,
The gateway device further includes a step of receiving a result of success or failure of the application of the firmware from the target information home appliance, and transmitting the result to a management server connected via an external network. Information distribution method. In claim 10,
Further, the management server displays on the display device a user interface for transmitting an operation command for the software module including the distributed firmware to the gateway device;
The management server displays the result on the user interface as information on the current state of the distributed firmware from the gateway device;
An information distribution method comprising:

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