JP6425045B2 - Firmware update system and firmware update program - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a firmware update system and a firmware update program for updating firmware of an electronic device.

  Conventionally, a system is known in which common firmware independent of the installation area of the electronic device and setting information according to the installation area of the electronic device are applied to the electronic device (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

JP, 2006-189974, A

  However, in the conventional system, there is a problem that the firmware can not be applied to the electronic device, that is, can not be updated according to the installation area of the electronic device.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a firmware updating system and a firmware updating program capable of improving the appropriateness of updating of firmware of an electronic device.

  The firmware updating system according to the present invention includes FW writing means for writing firmware in an electronic device, FW management means for managing the firmware, and a position of a target device as the electronic device to which the firmware is written by the FW writing means. Target device position acquiring means for acquiring a target device position as a candidate, candidate determination means for determining a candidate of the firmware to be written to the target device, candidate display means for displaying the candidate determined by the candidate determination means And a designation receiving unit for receiving designation of any one of the candidates displayed by the candidate display unit, and the FW writing unit sets the candidate according to the designation received by the designation reception unit to the target device. Writing, the FW management means is the registered electronic Managing the firmware in association with a registered device position as a position of a registered device as a device, the candidate determination unit, the registered device position managed by the FW management unit in association with the firmware; Based on the target device position acquired by the target device position acquisition means, the firmware for the registered device existing within a specific range with respect to the target device is identified, and based on the identified firmware The candidate is determined.

  With this configuration, the firmware update system according to the present invention determines firmware candidates based on the identified firmware based on the position of the target device and the position of the registered device. The instructor of the firmware update can designate any one of the candidates determined based on the firmware for the registered device existing in the above, and the appropriateness of the update of the firmware of the target device can be improved.

  In the firmware update system according to the present invention, the FW management means manages the firmware in association with the user of the registered device, and the candidate display means associates the firmware based on the determination of the candidate. The user managed by the FW management means may be displayed together with the candidate.

  With this configuration, the firmware update system according to the present invention displays the user who is managed in association with the firmware that is the basis of the determination of the candidate along with the candidate. Therefore, the firmware update system according to the user of the target device It is possible to make an instruction person of the update of the device to specify and improve the appropriateness of the update of the firmware of the target device.

  The firmware update system according to the present invention includes target device type acquisition means for acquiring a target device type as the type of the target device, and the FW management means associates the same with the registered device type as the type of the registered device. Managing the firmware, and the candidate determining unit is configured to acquire the registered device position and the registered device type managed by the FW management unit in association with the firmware, and the target device position acquiring unit. The registration which is the same type as the target device based on the target device position and the target device type acquired by the target device type acquisition means, and which is within the specific range for the target device The firmware for the used device may be identified.

  With this configuration, the firmware update system of the present invention is not only present within a specific range for the target device, but any of the candidates determined based on the firmware for the registered device which is the same type as the target device. Since it can be made to designate a firmware update instructor, the appropriateness of the firmware update of the target device can be improved.

  In the firmware update system according to the present invention, the candidate determination means may determine the identified firmware as one of the candidates when deciding the candidate based on the identified firmware.

  With this configuration, the firmware update system according to the present invention displays the same firmware as the registered device as one of the candidates, so that the same firmware as the registered device that has already updated the firmware can be written in the target device. It is possible to improve the appropriateness of the update of the firmware of the target device.

  In the firmware update system according to the present invention, the candidate determination unit determines firmware upgraded from the specified firmware as one of the candidates, when determining the candidate based on the specified firmware. good.

  With this configuration, the firmware update system according to the present invention displays the firmware upgraded from the firmware of the registered device as one of the candidates, so that the upgraded firmware can be written to the target device. The appropriateness of the firmware update can be improved.

  The firmware update program according to the present invention includes FW writing means for writing firmware in an electronic device, FW management means for managing the firmware, and a position of a target device as the electronic device to which the firmware is written by the FW writing means. Target device position acquisition means for acquiring a target device position, candidate determination means for determining a candidate of the firmware to be written to the target device, candidate display means for displaying the candidate determined by the candidate determination means, and the candidate The computer functions as specification accepting means for accepting designation of any of the candidates displayed by the display means, and the FW writing means writes the candidate according to the designation accepted by the designation accepting means to the target device , Said FW management means Managing the firmware in association with the registered device position as the position of the registered device as the registered electronic device, and the candidate determination unit associates the registration with the firmware and is managed by the FW management unit The firmware for the registered device, which is present within a specific range with respect to the target device, is specified based on the already-operated device position and the target device position acquired by the target device position acquisition means, and specified The candidate is determined based on the firmware.

  With this configuration, the computer executing the firmware update program according to the present invention determines firmware candidates based on the identified firmware based on the position of the target device and the position of the registered device. The instructor of firmware update can be made to designate any of the candidates determined based on the firmware for registered devices existing within a specific range, and the appropriateness of the firmware update of the target device can be improved. it can.

  The firmware update system and the firmware update program of the present invention can improve the appropriateness of the update of the firmware of the electronic device.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the MFP shown in FIG. 1; It is a block diagram of the communication terminal shown in FIG. It is a block diagram of the firmware delivery server shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of FW management table shown in FIG. It is a sequence diagram of operation | movement of the system shown in FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the candidate screen displayed in the operation | movement shown in FIG.

  Hereinafter, an embodiment of the present invention will be described using the drawings.

  First, the configuration of a system according to the present embodiment will be described.

  FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system 10 according to the present embodiment.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the system 10 includes an MFP (Multifunction Peripheral) 20 as an electronic device, and a firmware update system 30 for updating firmware of the electronic device.

  Here, the firmware varies depending on the type of electronic device. Moreover, even if the type of electronic device is the same, there may be cases where the specifications are not common throughout the world. For example, the firmware may have different specifications depending on the culture and demand of each region in the world. Also, there may be a case in which the provider of the MFP 20 provides a firmware customized for a specific user, to the specific user. Here, the specification indicates whether or not a specific function can be used, and in what settings the function can be used when the specific function is available. For example, in the firmware, the default language used in the electronic device is set to a specific language, the energy saving mode for operating the electronic device in the energy saving state is set to be enabled by default, the energy saving mode is It is set to be disabled by default, or it is set to be essential that the encryption mode for operating the electronic device in the state of encrypting specific data processed by the electronic device is required, or It may be set that the encryption mode is required to be invalid. The type of each firmware is identified by identification information (hereinafter referred to as "firmware ID").

  The firmware update system 30 includes a communication terminal 40 as a computer such as a smartphone and a tablet, and a firmware distribution server 50 as a computer such as a PC (Personal Computer) for distributing firmware. The communication terminal 40 is carried by a service person who performs maintenance of the MFP 20. The service person is not a person on the user side of the MFP 20 but a person on the provider side of the MFP 20, such as a manufacturer of the MFP 20.

  The MFP 20 and the communication terminal 40 are communicably connected to each other via a network 11 such as a LAN (Local Area Network). The MFP 20 and the communication terminal 40 may be connected so as to be able to directly communicate with each other wired or wirelessly, not via the network 11.

  The communication terminal 40 and the firmware distribution server 50 are communicably connected to each other via a network 31 such as the Internet.

  FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the MFP 20. As shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the MFP 20 is a display device such as an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) that displays various information, and an operation unit 21 that is an input device such as a button to which various operations by the user are input. The display unit 22, a printer 23 which is a printing device for printing on a recording medium such as paper, a scanner 24 which is a reading device for reading image data from a document, an external facsimile machine and a public telephone line not shown Communication that communicates with an external device through a fax communication unit 25 that is a fax device that performs fax communication via the communication line and via the network 11 (see FIG. 1) or without using the network 11 Communication unit 26, which is a device, and a semiconductor that stores various data A storage unit 27 that is a non-volatile storage device such as a memory and an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) is provided, and a control unit 28 that controls the entire MFP 20.

  The storage unit 27 stores firmware 27 a as a program for controlling the MFP 20. The firmware 27a may be installed in the MFP 20 at the manufacturing stage of the MFP 20, or may be additionally installed in the MFP 20 from an external storage medium such as a USB (Universal Serial Bus) memory or the like. It may be additionally installed.

  The control unit 28 includes, for example, a central processing unit (CPU), a read only memory (ROM) storing a program and various data, and a random access memory (RAM) used as a work area of the CPU. Computer. The CPU executes a program stored in the ROM or the storage unit 27.

  FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the communication terminal 40. As shown in FIG.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the communication terminal 40 is an operation unit 41 which is an input device such as a button to which various operations by the user are input, and a display unit 42 which is a display device such as an LCD which displays various information. And a communication device that is a communication device that communicates with an external device by wire or wirelessly via the network 11 (see FIG. 1) or the network 31 (see FIG. 1) or without the network 11 or 31 43, a GPS receiver 44 for acquiring a position by receiving radio waves from a GPS (Global Positioning System) satellite (not shown), a semiconductor memory storing various data, and a nonvolatile storage device such as an HDD And a control unit 46 that controls the entire communication terminal 40.

  The storage unit 45 stores a firmware update program 45a for updating the firmware of the electronic device. The firmware update program 45a may be installed in the communication terminal 40 at the manufacturing stage of the communication terminal 40, may be additionally installed in the communication terminal 40 from an external storage medium such as a USB memory, or the network 11 or It may be additionally installed on the communication terminal 40 from the network 31.

  The control unit 46 includes, for example, a CPU, a ROM storing programs and various data, and a RAM used as a work area of the CPU. The CPU executes a program stored in the ROM or the storage unit 45.

  The control unit 46 executes the firmware update program 45 a stored in the storage unit 45 to write the firmware to the electronic device. The FW writing unit 46 a and the target as the electronic device to which the firmware writing is performed by the FW writing unit 46 a Target device position acquisition means 46b for acquiring the target device position as the position of the device, target device type acquisition means 46c for acquiring the target device type as the type of target device, and candidate display for displaying firmware candidates to be written to the target device It functions as means 46d and designation accepting means 46e for accepting designation of any one of the candidates displayed by the candidate display means 46d.

  The target device type is, for example, the model number of the target device.

  FIG. 4 is a block diagram of the firmware distribution server 50.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the firmware distribution server 50 is a display device such as an operation unit 51 which is an input device such as a mouse and a keyboard into which various operations by the user are input, and an LCD which displays various information. Nonvolatile storage device such as a semiconductor memory or HDD storing various data, such as a communication unit 53 which is a communication device that communicates with an external device via the display unit 52 and the network 31 (see FIG. 1). And a control unit 55 that controls the entire firmware distribution server 50.

  The storage unit 54 stores a firmware update program 54 a for updating the firmware of the electronic device. The firmware update program 54a may be installed on the firmware distribution server 50 at the manufacturing stage of the firmware distribution server 50, or may be additionally installed on the firmware distribution server 50 from an external storage medium such as a USB memory. It may be additionally installed on the firmware distribution server 50 from the network 31.

  The storage unit 54 stores multiple types of firmware 54 b as a program for controlling the electronic device.

  The storage unit 54 stores an FW management table 54 c referred to in order to manage the firmware 54 b.

  The control unit 55 includes, for example, a CPU, a ROM storing a program and various data, and a RAM used as a work area of the CPU. The CPU executes a program stored in the ROM or the storage unit 54.

  The control unit 55 executes the firmware update program 54a stored in the storage unit 54 to manage the firmware management unit 55a that manages the firmware 54b by the FW management table 54c, and a candidate of the firmware 54b to be written to the target device. It functions as the candidate determination means 55b to determine.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of the FW management table 54c.

  As shown in FIG. 5, the FW management table 54c includes a user ID as identification information of a user of a registered device as a registered electronic device, a registered device position as a position of the registered device, and registration The registered device type as the type of the completed device and the firmware ID as the identification information of the firmware written in the registered device are included for each registered device. For example, according to the FW management table 54c shown in FIG. 5, the user ID "USER001", which is an electronic device of the type "MFP001", is installed at the position of latitude "35.6709" and longitude "139.7449". The firmware registered with the firmware ID "FW001" is written to the registered device of the user of.

  The registered device type is, for example, the model number of the registered device.

  Next, the operation of the system 10 will be described.

  FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram of the operation of the system 10.

  When updating the firmware 27 a of the MFP 20, the service person communicably connects the communication terminal 40 to the MFP 20, and instructs the communication terminal 40 to start the update of the firmware 27 a via the operation unit 41.

  When instructed to start updating the firmware 27a, the target device type acquisition unit 46c of the communication terminal 40 requests the MFP 20 for the type of the MFP 20, that is, the target device type, as shown in FIG. 6 (S101). Therefore, the control unit 28 of the MFP 20 transmits the type of the MFP 20 to the communication terminal 40 (S102). That is, the target device type acquisition unit 46 c acquires the target device type from the MFP 20.

  After the process of S102, the target device position acquisition unit 46b of the communication terminal 40 acquires the position of the MFP 20, that is, the target device position via the GPS receiver 44 (S103). Although the target device position acquisition unit 46b sets the position of the communication terminal 40 acquired using the GPS as the position of the MFP 20 in the present embodiment, the target device position acquisition unit 46b may acquire the position of the MFP 20 by another method. For example, the target device position acquisition unit 46b may acquire the position of the MFP 20 from the MFP 20.

  After the process of S103, the candidate display means 46d of the communication terminal 40 transmits firmware candidates by transmitting the target device type acquired in S102 and the target device position acquired in S103 to the firmware distribution server 50. It requests the server 50 (S104).

  Therefore, the candidate determining unit 55b of the firmware distribution server 50 selects the target device based on the registered device position and registered device type in the FW management table 54c, and the target device position and target device type transmitted in S104. That is, the firmware for the registered device which is the same type as the MFP 20 and exists within the specific range for the MFP 20 is specified (S105), and a candidate is determined based on the firmware specified in S105 (S106). For example, the candidate determination unit 55b may determine the firmware identified in S105 as one of the candidates, or may determine the firmware upgraded from the firmware identified in S105 as one of the candidates. Further, if the firmware specified in S105 is customized for the user, the candidate determination unit 55b may determine normal firmware not customized as one of the candidates.

  After the process of S106, the candidate determination means 55b associates the firmware ID of the candidate determined in S106 with the firmware based on the determination of the candidate in S106, that is, the firmware ID of the firmware identified in S105, and manages the FW management table. It transmits to the communication terminal 40 with the user ID managed in 54c (S107).

  Therefore, the candidate display unit 46d of the communication terminal 40 displays the candidate screen 60 (see FIG. 7) indicating the combination of the candidate firmware ID and the user ID received in S107 on the display unit 42 (S108).

  FIG. 7 is a view showing an example of the candidate screen 60 displayed on the display unit 42 in the operation shown in FIG.

  The candidate screen 60 shown in FIG. 7 is a download for acquiring from the firmware distribution server 50 the candidate display area 61 indicating the combination of the candidate firmware ID and the user ID for each candidate and the firmware specified in the candidate display area 61. And a button 62. The candidate display area 61 can receive designation of the firmware to be downloaded among the displayed candidates. In the candidate display area 61, the specified firmware line is inverted in black and white. In the example shown in FIG. 7, the firmware of the firmware ID "FW001" of the user ID "USER001" is designated.

  As shown in FIG. 6, when the download button 62 is pressed after the process of S108, the specification reception means 46e of the communication terminal 40 has the firmware specified in the candidate display area 61 when the download button 62 is pressed. The firmware distribution server 50 is requested to send the firmware by transmitting the firmware ID of the file to the firmware distribution server 50 (S109). Therefore, the FW management unit 55a of the firmware distribution server 50 transmits the firmware 54b requested from the communication terminal 40 to the communication terminal 40 (S110). That is, the communication terminal 40 downloads the firmware from the firmware distribution server 50.

  After the process of S110, the FW writing unit 46a of the communication terminal 40 writes the firmware downloaded from the firmware distribution server 50 in S110 to the MFP 20 (S111). Therefore, the firmware 27a of the MFP 20 is updated to the firmware written in S111.

  As described above, the firmware update system 30 determines firmware candidates based on the identified firmware based on the target device, ie, the position of the MFP 20 and the position of the registered device (S106) (S106). Therefore, it is possible to cause the instructor of the firmware update, for example, the service person, to designate any of the candidates determined based on the firmware for the registered device existing within the specific range to the MFP 20, and the firmware of the MFP 20 Can improve the appropriateness of updating.

  Since the firmware update system 30 displays the user managed in association with the firmware that is the basis of the determination of the candidate along with the candidate (S108), any one of the candidates is instructed to update the firmware according to the user of the MFP 20. It is possible to allow the user to specify, and the appropriateness of updating the firmware of the MFP 20 can be improved. In particular, since the acquisition accuracy of the position by GPS is not high, it is effective for the user to be displayed together with the candidate when there are a plurality of users in a relatively narrow range, such as a residential complex. The firmware update system 30 may not display the candidates together with the user.

  When the firmware update system 30 displays the same firmware as the registered device as one of the candidates, the firmware update system 30 can write the same firmware as the registered device that has already updated the firmware into the MFP 20, and the firmware update of the MFP 20 is appropriate It is possible to improve the quality. For example, when the service person provides the MFP 20 of the same type as the malfunctioning machine to the user of the malfunctioning machine as a substitute machine for repairing the MFP (hereinafter referred to as a "malfunctioning machine") at the time of malfunction of the MFP. When the malfunctioning device is registered in the FW management table 54c, the same firmware as the malfunctioning device can be appropriately written to the MFP 20, and the possibility of writing the wrong firmware to the MFP 20 can be reduced.

  When the firmware update system 30 displays firmware upgraded from the firmware of the registered device as one of the candidates, the firmware update system 30 can write the upgraded firmware to the MFP 20, thereby improving the appropriateness of updating the firmware of the MFP 20. can do. For example, when the service person desires to appropriately write to the MFP 20 the firmware upgraded from the firmware currently written to the MFP 20 when the MFP 20 is already registered in the FW management table 54 c, the user of the MFP 20 It is possible to properly write to the MFP 20 the firmware upgraded from the firmware currently written to the MFP 20, even if it does not accurately recognize what firmware has already been provided to the The possibility of writing to the MFP 20 can be reduced.

  The firmware update system 30 not only exists within a specific range with respect to the MFP 20, but also instructs the firmware update of any of the candidates determined based on the firmware for registered devices of the same type as the MFP 20. As a result, the appropriateness of updating the firmware of the MFP 20 can be improved. When the firmware update system 30 specifies the firmware that is the basis of the determination of the candidate, it may not be considered whether it is the firmware for the registered device that is the same type as the MFP 20 or not.

  The firmware update system 30 may specify only the customized firmware in S105. For example, when only the customized firmware is managed in the FW management table 54c, the firmware update system 30 identifies only the customized firmware in S105.

  The firmware update system 30 may have at least a part of the functions of the firmware distribution server 50 described above in the communication terminal 40 instead of the firmware distribution server 50, or at least a part of the functions of the communication terminal 40 described above The firmware distribution server 50 may be provided instead of the terminal 40. For example, when all of the functions of the firmware distribution server 50 described above are included in the communication terminal 40 instead of the firmware distribution server 50, that is, the control unit 46 of the communication terminal 40 performs the firmware update program 45a. When it also functions as the FW management unit and the candidate determination unit by executing the above, it is not necessary to include the firmware distribution server 50 and can be configured only by the communication terminal 40.

  The electronic apparatus according to the present invention is an MFP in the present embodiment, but may be an image forming apparatus other than an MFP, such as a printer-only machine, a copy-only machine, or a fax-only machine. But it is good.

20 MFP (Electronic Device, Target Device)
27a Firmware 30 Firmware Update System 45a Firmware Update Program 46a FW Writing Means 46b Target Device Position Acquisition Means 46c Target Device Type Acquisition Means 46d Candidate Display Means 46e Specification Reception Means 54a Firmware Update Program 54b Firmware 55a FW Management Means 55b Candidate Determination Means

Claims (6)

FW writing means for writing firmware to an electronic device;
FW management means for managing the firmware;
Target device position acquisition means for acquiring a target device position as a position of a target device as the electronic device for which the firmware is to be written by the FW writing means;
Candidate determining means for determining the candidate of the firmware to be written to the target device;
Candidate display means for displaying the candidate determined by the candidate determination means;
A designation receiving unit for receiving designation of any one of the candidates displayed by the candidate display unit;
The FW writing unit writes the candidate corresponding to the specification received by the specification receiving unit to the target device.
The FW management unit manages the firmware in association with a registered device position as a position of a registered device as the registered electronic device.
The candidate determination means
The registered device position managed by the FW management unit in association with the firmware;
Identifying the firmware for the registered device, which is present within a specific range with respect to the target device, based on the target device position acquired by the target device position acquisition means;
A firmware update system characterized in that the candidate is determined based on the identified firmware. The FW management unit manages the firmware in association with the user of the registered device,
The firmware update according to claim 1, wherein the candidate display means displays the user managed by the FW management means together with the candidate in association with the firmware which is the basis of the determination of the candidate. system. A target device type acquisition unit configured to acquire a target device type as the target device type;
The FW management means manages the firmware in association with a registered device type as the type of the registered device,
The candidate determination means
The registered device position and the registered device type managed by the FW management unit in association with the firmware;
The target device position acquired by the target device position acquisition unit;
Based on the target device type acquired by the target device type acquisition means, the same type as the target device, and for the registered device that is within the specific range for the target device The firmware update system according to claim 1, wherein the firmware is specified.   The candidate determination means determines the specified firmware as one of the candidates, when determining the candidate based on the specified firmware. Firmware update system described in.   The candidate determination means, when determining the candidate based on the identified firmware, determines the firmware upgraded from the identified firmware as one of the candidates. The firmware update system according to any one of items 1 to 4. FW writing means for writing firmware to electronic devices,
FW management means for managing the firmware,
Target device position acquisition means for acquiring a target device position as a position of a target device as the electronic device to which the firmware is written by the FW writing means;
Candidate determining means for determining the firmware candidate to be written to the target device
Candidate display means for displaying the candidate determined by the candidate determination means;
Causing the computer to function as specification receiving means for receiving specification of any of the candidates displayed by the candidate display means,
The FW writing unit writes the candidate corresponding to the specification received by the specification receiving unit to the target device.
The FW management unit manages the firmware in association with a registered device position as a position of a registered device as the registered electronic device.
The candidate determination means
The registered device position managed by the FW management unit in association with the firmware;
Identifying the firmware for the registered device, which is present within a specific range with respect to the target device, based on the target device position acquired by the target device position acquisition means;
A firmware update program characterized by determining the candidate based on the identified firmware.

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