JP2019204152A - Information processing apparatus, update method of information processing apparatus, and program - Google Patents

Abstract

To reduce a time period required for updating of a firmware.SOLUTION: An information processing apparatus operating according to a firmware configured with a plurality of modules includes: acquisition means that acquires generation versions allocated according to functions of the firmware for a firmware to be updated and a firmware before updating; determination means that determines whether or not the generation versions of the firmware to be updated and the firmware before updating match each other; and execution means that performs, according to a determination result by the determination means, a difference update for installing modules having a difference from the firmware before updating among modules constituting the firmware to be updated, or a full update for collectively installing modules constituting the firmware to be updated.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

  The present invention relates to a firmware update process of an information processing apparatus, particularly an information processing apparatus that controls an image forming apparatus.

  In recent years, a method in which an information processing apparatus is configured to store firmware in a rewritable storage device such as a flash memory, the firmware is transferred via the Internet, and a firmware update has become mainstream. As a result, new functions can be added sequentially. In addition, the firmware of the information processing apparatus can be automatically updated at midnight when the information processing apparatus is not used.

  For devices with multiple models, such as image forming devices, the firmware of each model is shared as much as possible so that multiple models can be developed together and functions can be added uniformly to multiple models. It is hoped that Normally, the firmware of each model is managed with a unique version. However, when the firmware is shared as described above, the firmware of each model has a unified function generation apart from the unique version so that the firmware of each model can be easily managed. Information to represent is assigned. Hereinafter, this information is referred to as a generation version or a platform version.

  The firmware of the image forming apparatus is usually composed of a plurality of modules (files). As the image forming apparatus becomes multifunctional, the number of modules constituting the firmware increases. Accordingly, the number of modules that need to be updated when updating the firmware increases, and the firmware update time increases. Therefore, as a method for reducing the firmware update time, a differential update has been proposed in which only a module that is a difference is downloaded and installed (see Patent Document 1).

JP2015-225478A

  However, in the differential update, it is necessary to calculate a backup area for performing the differential update, update the firmware configuration information, and the like. Since these processes take a lot of time, if the number of modules that need to be updated exceeds a certain number, the update time may be longer than the entire update that updates the entire firmware at once. For example, in an update in which the generation version changes, the number of modules that need to be updated increases, so that the update time may be longer for the differential update than for all updates.

  Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an information processing apparatus that can shorten the time required for firmware update.

  An information processing apparatus according to the present invention is an information processing apparatus that operates according to firmware composed of a plurality of modules, and acquires generation versions assigned according to firmware functions for firmware to be updated and firmware before update. An acquisition unit, a determination unit that determines whether the generation version firmware matches the firmware to be updated and the firmware before the update, and the module that configures the firmware to be updated according to the determination result of the determination unit Of these, an execution means for executing a differential update that installs a module that has a difference from the firmware before update, or all updates that collectively install modules that constitute the firmware to be updated is provided.

  According to the present invention, the time required for firmware update can be further shortened.

1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a first embodiment of an image forming apparatus. It is a block diagram which shows an example of the software structure of a control part. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of firmware information received from a distribution server by an image forming apparatus. FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an update method selection process in the first embodiment of the image forming apparatus. It is a figure which shows an example of an update setting screen. It is a flowchart which shows all the updates. It is a flowchart which shows a difference update. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an update method selection process in the second embodiment of the image forming apparatus.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The constituent elements described in the following embodiments show examples as examples of the present invention, and the scope of the present invention is not limited to them.

[First Embodiment]
Hereinafter, a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In this embodiment, an image forming apparatus that communicates with an external apparatus (firmware distribution server), downloads firmware from the external apparatus, and executes firmware update is taken as an example. However, the method for transferring firmware is not limited to this, and the firmware can be transferred to the image forming apparatus from a portable storage medium directly connected to the image forming apparatus or from an external device such as a computer that can communicate with the image forming apparatus via a network. May be transferred. Hereinafter, the firmware may be referred to as FW.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of the image forming apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment. The image forming apparatus 100 includes a control unit 110, an operation unit 120, a printer unit 130, a scanner unit 140, and a finisher unit 150. A distribution server 101 and a computer 103 are connected to the image forming apparatus 100 via a LAN 104.

  A control unit (also referred to as an information processing apparatus) 110 controls the entire image forming apparatus 100. The control unit 110 includes a CPU 111, ROM 112, RAM 113, hard disk drive (HDD) 114, operation unit I / F 115, printer unit I / F 116, scanner unit I / F 117, external I / F 118, and network I / F 119.

  The CPU 111 reads the program for the control unit 110 stored in the ROM 112 into the RAM 113 and executes it. As a result, the processes shown in FIGS. 4, 6, 7, 8, etc., which will be described later, are executed. The ROM 112 also stores device information such as license information, device configuration information, and firmware version. The HDD 114 stores print data received from the computer 103 via the network I / F 119. The program executed by the CPU 111 includes a print application program. Then, the print application program converts the print data stored in the HDD 114 into image data that can be printed by the printer unit 130, and the image data is also stored in the HDD 114. The program executed by the CPU 111 includes a scanning application program. Then, the image data is read by the scanner unit 140 by the scanning application program, and the read image data is transferred to the HDD 114.

  The operation unit I / F 115 transmits an instruction input by the user via the operation unit 120 to the CPU 111. The operation unit 120 includes a liquid crystal display unit having a touch panel function, a keyboard, and the like, and accepts user instructions and displays a user interface (UI) screen. The operation unit I / F 115 receives information for switching display contents of the operation unit 120 from the CPU 111 and transmits the information to the operation unit 120.

  The printer unit I / F 116 is an interface for connecting the control unit 110 and the printer unit 130. The printer unit 130 performs printing on a recording medium based on image data transferred from the HDD 114 via the printer unit I / F 116. The finisher unit 150 performs various finishing processes on the recording medium printed by the printer unit 130. The finishing process is, for example, a staple process for a sheet, a punch process (perforation process) for a sheet, a saddle stitch bookbinding process, or the like.

  The scanner unit I / F 117 is an interface for connecting the control unit 110 and the scanner unit 140. The scanner unit 140 is an input unit that inputs image data, and reads an image on a document as image data using a line sensor configured by a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) or the like. The scanner unit 140 transfers the read image data to the HDD 114 via the scanner unit I / F 117. The image data transferred to and stored in the HDD 114 can be printed by the printer unit 130 described above. The image data read by the scanner unit 140 is printed by the printer unit 130, thereby realizing a copying function.

  The external I / F 118 is an interface for connecting the control unit 110 and the external device 102. The external I / F 118 is a USB I / F, for example, and the external device 102 is a USB device such as a USB memory or a USB keyboard. The control unit 110 can read / write data from / to a USB memory or the like connected via the external I / F 118.

  The network I / F 119 connects the control unit 110 to the LAN 104. The control unit 110 is communicably connected to the computer 103 on the LAN 104 via the network I / F 119. Accordingly, the computer 103 can transmit print data to the image forming apparatus 100 and can operate the device via the WEB browser. Further, the control unit 110 is connected to the distribution server 101 via the LAN 104 and can download an update file necessary for the firmware update. The communication protocol used when downloading the update file includes, for example, HTTP and FTP, but other protocols may be used. The distribution server 101 exists mainly on the Internet, but may exist in an in-house network.

  Next, the software configuration of the control unit 110 will be described with reference to FIG. The main system 200 includes a plurality of programs 201 to 213 for realizing various functions of the image forming apparatus 100. Note that the programs 201 to 213 shown in FIG. 2 are stored in the ROM 112 of FIG.

  The operation unit control unit 201 controls the operation unit 120 via the operation unit I / F 115. Similarly, the printer control unit 202 controls the printer unit 130 and the finisher unit 150 via the printer unit I / F 116. The scanner control unit 203 controls the scanner unit 140 via the scanner unit I / F 117. The external device control unit 204 controls the external device 102 via the external I / F 118.

  The application control unit 205 includes a program group for realizing various functions of the image forming apparatus 100. The application control unit 205 includes an httpd (HyperTextTransferProtocolDemon), an lpd (LinePrinterDemon), a Wed browser function, a device information distribution function, and the like.

  The start control unit 206 controls the start and stop of the main system 200 and operates first when the image forming apparatus 100 is powered on, and controls the start processing of the entire main system 200.

  The program update processing unit 207 performs an update process for each unit in the main system 200 when a firmware update execution instruction is received via the operation unit 120 or when an update time reserved in advance is reached.

  The device information acquisition unit 208 acquires device information (license information, device configuration information, firmware version, etc.) stored in the ROM 112 by the image forming apparatus 100.

  The update condition determination unit 209 compares the device information acquired by the device information acquisition unit 208 with firmware information received from the distribution server 101 by the communication processing unit 210 described later. The firmware information will be described later with reference to FIG. Then, the update condition determination unit 209 determines whether or not to update the firmware of the image forming apparatus 100 based on the comparison result.

  The communication processing unit 210 communicates with the distribution server 101, and downloads firmware to be updated according to the firmware information and the determination result of the update condition determination unit 209. The firmware information may be registered in an apparatus other than the distribution server 101. That is, firmware and firmware information may be registered in different devices.

  When the update condition determination unit 209 determines that the update is to be performed, the backup data storage unit 211 creates backup data of data already stored in the firmware development destination area and stores the backup data in the HDD 124. Thus, by creating and storing backup data, even if an error occurs during update execution, it is possible to return to the state prior to execution of update.

  The firmware information confirmation unit 212 reads the firmware information received from the distribution server 101, refers to the firmware information, and confirms the presence / absence of the update target firmware and the update target firmware information.

  The update mode determination unit 213 determines whether to perform a differential update or a full update based on the firmware information received from the distribution server 101 by the communication processing unit 210.

  FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of firmware information received from the distribution server 101 by the image forming apparatus 100. For convenience, the firmware information described in the text format is illustrated, but the firmware information may be described in another format such as an XML format. When updating the firmware, the image forming apparatus 100 makes an inquiry to the distribution server 101 before downloading the firmware to be updated from the distribution server 101, as shown in FIGS. Get firmware information. The firmware information includes a model name, version, purpose of use (for general use, business negotiation support, etc.), destination, generation version, and the like. The firmware information includes module combination information indicating what kind of module (file) the firmware is. In the example shown in FIG. 3A, a combination indicating that the firmware is composed of the module XXXXXX that is version 0.1, the module YYYYY that is version 1.0, and the module ZZZZZ that is version 2.1. Information is described. By acquiring the firmware information, it is possible to specify the modules constituting the firmware and the generation versions of the firmware. The firmware information 301 shown in FIG. 3A is obtained by registering, in the distribution server, the firmware of the version 10.00 and the generation version 2.0 of the image forming apparatus whose model name is “iAC2200”. It shows that. The generation version indicates the firmware generation, and the firmware of the same generation version indicates that it has the same function. When the generation version can be determined from the version of each firmware, the generation version may not be described in the firmware information. Similarly, the firmware information 302 shown in FIG. 3B is firmware of version 40.22 of the image forming apparatus of the same model and the generation version is 2.0 which is the same as the example shown in FIG. Indicates that it is registered in the distribution server. Similarly, the firmware information 303 shown in FIG. 3C indicates that firmware having the version 50.33 and the generation version 3.0 of the image forming apparatus of the same model is registered in the distribution server. Is shown. In the example shown in FIG. 3C, a module AAAAA for expanding the functions of the programs 201 to 213 is newly added.

  When an attempt is made to update the firmware indicated by the firmware information 303 to the image forming apparatus 100 in which the firmware indicated by the firmware information 301 is installed, the generation version is increased. In an update in which the generation version is increased, a large function is normally added to the image forming apparatus 100. Therefore, the number of modules having differences, that is, the number of modules that need to be updated increases. Accordingly, it takes time to calculate the backup area and update the database for managing the firmware constituting the device (in this case, the image forming apparatus 100), and thus the overhead increases. As a result, the time required for the differential update becomes longer than the time required for the entire update.

  A firmware update method selection process performed by the image forming apparatus 100 according to the first embodiment will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an update method selection process in the first embodiment of the image forming apparatus 100. Note that the flow shown in FIG. 4 is executed at the update start time preset by the user via the update setting screen shown in FIG. Alternatively, it is executed at the timing when the user issues an update start instruction via the update setting screen shown in FIG.

  First, the device information acquisition unit 208 acquires device information of the image forming apparatus 100 from the ROM 112 (step S401). Hereinafter, step S401 is simply referred to as S401. The same applies to the other steps. The communication processing unit 210 notifies the distribution server 101 of the device information acquired by the device information acquisition unit 208 (S402). The distribution server 101 transmits firmware information of the latest firmware that can be updated to the image forming apparatus 100 as firmware information of the firmware to be updated based on the device information notified in S402. When receiving the firmware information of the firmware to be updated, the communication processing unit 210 stores the firmware information in the HDD 114 (S403). In the present embodiment, the latest firmware is the update target, but firmware determined by other logic may be the update target.

  Next, the firmware information confirmation unit 212 confirms the content of the firmware information to be updated stored in the HDD 114 in S403 (S404). Next, the update mode determination unit 213 confirms the update setting (S405). The update setting is a setting relating to update, and can be edited via the update setting screen shown in FIG. Details of the update setting will be described later with reference to FIG. The update mode determination unit 213 determines whether automatic update is set in the update setting (S406).

  When the automatic update is set (YES in S406), the firmware information confirmation unit 212 acquires the generation version of the firmware that is currently installed before the update and the generation version of the firmware to be updated (S408). At this time, the firmware information confirmation unit 212 acquires the generation version of each firmware from the firmware information of each firmware stored in the HDD 114. Next, the update mode determination unit 213 compares the currently installed firmware and the generation version of the update target firmware (S409). If the generation versions are different (YES in S409), the program update processing unit 207 executes all updates (S410). If the generation versions match (NO in S409), the program update processing unit 207 executes a difference update (S411).

  If automatic update is not set (NO in S406), the update mode determination unit 213 determines whether all updates are set in the update setting (S407). If all updates are set (YES in S407), the process proceeds to S410, and all updates are executed. When the differential update is set (NO in S407), the process proceeds to S411, and the differential update is executed.

  Next, an update setting screen for performing update setting will be described. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example of an update setting screen according to the first embodiment. The update setting screen in the present embodiment is displayed by the operation unit control unit 201 when an instruction to display the update setting screen is input via the operation unit 120.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the update setting screen 500 includes a timing selection menu 501, a mode selection menu 502, an update method selection menu 503, and an OK button 504. The timing selection menu 501 is a menu for setting the update timing. In the timing selection menu 501, it is possible to set whether the update is started immediately or at a specified time. A mode selection menu 502 is a menu for setting whether the update is performed automatically or manually. The update method selection menu 503 is a menu for setting an update method. In the update method selection menu 503, it is possible to set whether to execute a differential update for updating only a module having a difference or to execute all updates for updating all modules. When automatic update is set in the mode selection menu 502, the update method is automatically selected by the image forming apparatus 100 as described above. Therefore, the update method selection menu 503 is effective when manual update is selected in the mode selection menu 502. When the OK button 504 is pressed, the contents set in the menus 501 to 503 are reflected in the update setting, and the update setting screen 500 is closed. Although FIG. 5 shows an example in which the user can select the update mode, automatic update may always be selected. That is, the update setting screen 500 may not have the menus 502 and 503.

  Next, all updates (the process of S410) will be described with reference to FIG. First, the communication processing unit 210 acquires all the modules listed in the firmware information received in S403 from the distribution server 101 (S601). Next, the activation control unit 206 restarts the image forming apparatus 100 in order to execute the update (S602). When the image forming apparatus 100 is restarted, the image forming apparatus 100 starts up in a dedicated mode for performing firmware update. Next, the backup data storage unit 211 creates backup data of data stored in the firmware development destination area so that recovery can be performed when an error occurs (S603). After creating the backup data, the program update processing unit 207 deletes the data stored in the firmware development destination area (S604). Next, the program update processing unit 207 installs each module acquired in S601 in the area from which data has been deleted in S604 (S605). As a result, the modules constituting the firmware to be updated are installed in a batch.

  Next, the difference update (the process of S411) will be described with reference to FIG. First, the update condition determination unit 209 acquires firmware information of installed firmware and firmware information of update target firmware from the HDD 114. Here, it is assumed that firmware information 301 illustrated in FIG. 3A is acquired as firmware information of installed firmware. In addition, firmware information 302 illustrated in FIG. 3B is acquired as firmware information of the firmware to be updated. Then, the update condition determination unit 209 compares the firmware information and extracts a module (file) having a difference (S701). Here, the module YYYYY whose version has changed from 1.0 to 1.2 is extracted. Note that a module having a difference may be specified based on information other than the version of the module. Next, the communication processing unit 210 downloads the latest module from the distribution server 101 for modules with differences (S702). Next, the activation control unit 206 restarts the image forming apparatus 100 in order to execute the update, similarly to S602 (S703). At the time of restarting, the image forming apparatus 100 starts up in a dedicated mode as in S602. Next, the program update processing unit 207 identifies an expansion destination area of each difference firmware (each module having a difference) (S704). In the present embodiment, it is assumed that information indicating the directory structure of firmware (hereinafter referred to as directory information) is stored in the firmware information. Then, it is assumed that the program update processing unit 207 identifies the deployment destination area from the directory information of the update target firmware for each module downloaded in S702. Next, the backup data storage unit 211 creates backup data for the data stored in each area specified in S704 (S705). Next, the program update processing unit 207 deletes the data in each area for which backup data was created in S705 (S706). Finally, the program update processing unit 207 installs the corresponding difference firmware in each area from which data has been deleted in S706 (S707).

  As described above, in the present embodiment, when the currently installed firmware and the generation version of the firmware to be updated do not match, the entire update is executed without executing the differential update. As a result, an update method that shortens the update time can be selected in accordance with the generation version of the firmware. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, the time required for firmware update can be reduced.

[Second Embodiment]
In the first embodiment, an example of an image forming apparatus that automatically switches between performing a full update or performing a differential update based on the generation version described in the firmware information of the firmware to be updated is taken as an example. However, when there is an environment where the communication speed is low, it takes time to download the firmware from the distribution server 101. Therefore, in such an environment, even when updating to firmware having a different generation version, it may be more effective to select a differential update with a smaller number of modules to be downloaded than all updates. Hereinafter, an image forming apparatus that switches the update method according to the communication speed will be described.

  FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing an update method selection process in the second embodiment of the image forming apparatus 100. Similar to the flow shown in FIG. 4, the flow shown in FIG. 8 is executed at the update start time preset by the user via the update setting screen shown in FIG. Alternatively, it is executed at the timing when the user issues an update start instruction via the update setting screen shown in FIG. In addition, since it is the same as the process of S801-S807, S812-S813, and the process of S401-S407, S410-S411 of FIG. 4, description is abbreviate | omitted.

If it is determined in step S806 that automatic update is set (YES in step S806), the communication processing unit 210 transmits a packet for measuring the communication speed from the image forming apparatus 100 to the distribution server 101. (S808). Next, the communication processing unit 210 receives a packet returned from the distribution server 101 in response to the packet transmitted in S808. The program update processing unit 207 derives the communication speed between the image forming apparatus 100 and the distribution server 101 from the time taken for packet transmission / reception (S809). The program update processing unit 207 derives an update time for each of all updates and differential updates from the time obtained in step S809 and the firmware information of the firmware to be updated obtained in S804 (S810). Note that the method for deriving the update time may be calculated from the number of modules that need to be updated or may be derived from the total capacity of modules that need to be updated. Alternatively, it may be derived using a lookup table prepared in advance, for example, a lookup table that stores the number of modules (or module capacity) that needs to be updated and the update time in association with each other. The update time in the present embodiment includes at least a firmware download time T1, a time T2 required for calculating a backup area and updating the firmware database, and a time T3 for writing the firmware to the development area. For example, T1 can be derived as follows.
T1 = ((n × a) ÷ v) × t
n: Number of modules that need to be updated a: Constant (for example, average capacity of modules)
v: capacity of the packet transmitted in S801 t: time obtained in S802

  Similarly, T2 and T3 can be derived from the number of modules that need to be updated and the processing time for one module. In the case of all updates, constants may be set in T2 and T3.

  Next, the program update processing unit 207 compares the update times of all the updates derived in step S810 and the difference update, and determines whether the update time of all the updates is shorter (S811). When the update time of all updates is shorter (YES in S811), the process proceeds to S812, and all updates are executed. When the update time of all the updates is equal to or longer than the update time of the differential update (NO in S811), the process proceeds to S813, and the differential update is executed (S813). As described above, in an update in which the generation version changes, the number of modules that need to be updated increases, so the difference between T1 and T3 between the differential update and all the updates is small. Therefore, in such an update, the update time is shorter when all updates with a short T2 are selected. However, when the communication speed derived in S809 is low, the difference between the total update and the difference update of T1 depending on the communication speed becomes large. Therefore, even if the update is such that the generation version changes, the update time may be shorter if the differential update is selected. Therefore, in this embodiment, as described above, the update times are compared, and the update method is switched based on the comparison result.

  As described above, in this embodiment, the update method is selected according to the environment in which the firmware is updated. Thereby, the time required for updating the firmware can be reduced more reliably.

  As mentioned above, although embodiment of this invention was described in detail, various embodiment can be considered for embodiment of this invention. For example, the first embodiment and the second embodiment may be combined. More specifically, the processing of S808 to S811 may be performed after it is determined YES in S409 of the first embodiment.

(Other embodiments)
The present invention supplies a program that realizes one or more functions of the above-described embodiments to a system or apparatus via a network or a storage medium, and one or more processors in a computer of the system or apparatus read and execute the program This process can be realized. It can also be realized by a circuit (for example, ASIC) that realizes one or more functions.

Claims (13)

An information processing apparatus that operates according to firmware composed of a plurality of modules,
Acquisition means for acquiring the generation version assigned according to the function of the firmware for the firmware to be updated and the firmware before the update;
Determining means for determining whether the generation version matches the firmware to be updated and the firmware before the update;
Depending on the result of determination by the determination means, a differential update that installs a module that is different from the firmware before the update among the modules that constitute the firmware to be updated, or a module that constitutes the firmware to be updated An information processing apparatus comprising: execution means for executing all updates installed in a batch. The execution means includes
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1, wherein when the generation unit determines that the generation versions match, the difference update is executed. The execution means includes
The information processing apparatus according to claim 1 or 2, wherein when the determination unit determines that the generation versions do not match, the all update is executed. Storage means for storing firmware information capable of specifying at least the modules constituting the firmware and the generation version of the firmware;
The acquisition means includes
4. The firmware version of the firmware to be updated and the firmware before the update are read from the storage unit, and the generation version of each firmware is acquired from the read firmware information. The information processing apparatus according to any one of the above. The information processing device can communicate with an external device that distributes firmware,
The execution means includes
When performing the difference update, identify the module with the difference with reference to the firmware information of the firmware to be updated and the firmware before the update,
The information processing apparatus according to claim 4, wherein the identified module is downloaded from the external apparatus. The execution means includes
6. The information processing apparatus according to claim 5, wherein, when performing all the updates, modules constituting the firmware to be updated are downloaded from the external apparatus in a batch. An information processing apparatus that operates according to firmware composed of a plurality of modules,
Obtaining the firmware to be updated from an external device, and using the firmware to be updated, comprising execution means for executing an update of the firmware before the update,
The execution means includes
In accordance with the communication speed between the information processing device and the external device, a differential update that installs a module that is different from the firmware before the update among the modules that constitute the firmware to be updated, or the update target An information processing apparatus characterized by executing all updates to install modules constituting the firmware in a batch. Based on the communication speed between the information processing device and the external device, the number of modules constituting the firmware to be updated, and the number of modules to be updated by the differential update, Derivation means for deriving the time required for each of the differential updates,
The execution means includes
The information processing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein when the update time of all the updates is equal to or longer than the update time of the differential update, the differential update is executed. Based on the communication speed between the information processing device and the external device, the total capacity of the modules to be updated in the entire update, and the total capacity of the modules to be updated in the differential update, Further comprising derivation means for deriving the time required for all updates and the differential update,
The execution means includes
The information processing apparatus according to claim 7, wherein when the update time of all the updates is equal to or longer than the update time of the differential update, the differential update is executed. The execution means includes
The information processing apparatus according to claim 8 or 9, wherein when the update time of the all updates is shorter than the update time of the differential update, the all updates are executed. An information processing apparatus update method that operates according to firmware composed of a plurality of modules,
Obtaining a generation version assigned according to the function of the firmware for the firmware to be updated and the firmware before the update;
A determination step of determining whether the generation version matches the firmware to be updated and the firmware before the update;
Depending on the result of the determination, a differential update that installs a module that has a difference from the pre-update firmware among the modules that constitute the firmware to be updated, or the modules that constitute the firmware to be updated are collectively And an execution step for executing all updates to be installed. An information processing apparatus update method that operates according to firmware composed of a plurality of modules,
Including an execution step of acquiring firmware to be updated from an external device, and using the firmware to be updated to update the firmware before the update,
In the execution step,
In accordance with the communication speed between the information processing device and the external device, a differential update that installs a module that is different from the firmware before the update among the modules that constitute the firmware to be updated, or the update target An update method characterized by executing all the updates to install the modules constituting the firmware in a batch.   A program for causing a computer to function as the information processing apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 10.

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