JPH0437938A - Method and device for switching terminal program - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To enable each terminal equipment to confirm the reception of programs and to switch these programs by using each terminal equipment as a device that can hold the new and old programs and sending the working state of each terminal equipment from a host computer as a command. CONSTITUTION:Each of terminal equipments 3a-3n is used as a device that can hold both new and old programs, and a new program is transferred from a host computer 1. Thus the new program is held in a new program area of each terminal equipment. Therefore the present program and the new program are held in each area of a memory 6. Then the programs held in the new and old program areas are switched all at once to each other and the presence or absence of the transmission errors is recognized through the equipments 3a-3n by reference to a telegram of the command information received from the computer 1. Thus it is possible to recognize whether the new program is normally received or not and also to switch the programs all at once and in a short time.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] [Field of Industrial Application] The present invention is designed to enable the program of a large number of terminal devices to be changed in a line network in which data is sent unidirectionally from a host computer to a large number of terminal devices. The present invention relates to a method and device for switching terminal programs, which allows the device to confirm that each terminal device has received a program and to switch the program by transmitting the state in which the device should operate as a command from a host computer.

[Conventional technology and its issues]

Conventionally, in order to switch programs between a large number of terminal devices, after sending the program from the host computer, a human being would go to the terminal devices scattered in various places to check whether the program was successfully received, and then transfer the program. Since switching is required, there is a problem in that it requires a large number of people and takes a long time to handle a large number of terminal devices. In addition, if a bidirectional line is used and the host computer inquires about the normality of each terminal device, it will not take as much time to check as it would for a human, but if the host computer and terminal device In addition to being difficult to develop programs, it also requires the use of bidirectional lines that are expensive to use.

[Means to solve the problem]

The present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and its purpose is to
A line network where data is sent in one direction.

For example, in the case of the TSE's stock price reporting network, in order to switch the program on the terminal device, it is possible to check whether the new program sent out is being received normally by the terminal device, and to quickly switch the program on the terminal device all at once. The goal is to be able to do it on time.

That is, the method of the invention is a network in which data is sent unidirectionally from a host computer 1 to a large number of terminal devices 3a to 3n through a large number of lines 2a to 2n.
In order to make it possible to exchange the programs on each terminal device 3a to 3n, each terminal device 3a to 3n is configured to be a device that can hold two old and new programs, and when a new program is transferred from the host computer 1, the new program in each terminal device 3a to 3n is By transmitting command information messages from the host computer 1, it is possible to simultaneously switch programs in the old and new areas and to check whether there are any transmission errors on the terminal devices 3a to 3n. Features.

The device of the present invention also sends messages of program and command information from the host computer 1 to a large number of terminal devices 3a to 3n through a large number of lines 2a to 2n.
3n are lines 2a to 2 from the host computer 1, respectively.
A program sent through n.

The system is comprised of a modem 4 that receives command information telegrams, a processing device 5 that processes the received signals, and a memory 6 that stores new and old programs in respective areas by the processing device 5.

[For production]

Messages containing programs and command information are unidirectionally sent from the host computer 1 to a large number of terminal devices 3a to 3n scattered throughout the area using a large number of lines 2a to 2n.

The modem 4 of each terminal device 3a to 3n receives a message of command information sent from the host computer 1, and operates after confirming whether or not each terminal device 3a to 3n is in a state where it should operate. A new program is divided into blocks of a certain length and sent as telegrams from the host computer 1 to each of the terminal devices 3a to 3n. A serial number is attached to the header part of the message divided into each block so that the order of the blocks can be determined.

Each terminal device 3a to 3n receives data using a modem 4, and receives data from a processing device 5.
This order is confirmed, and the messages of the program are sequentially stored in the new program area of the memory 6. At this time, if there is a line error, etc., the corresponding block will not be able to be received (missed), but since the program message is repeatedly sent from the host computer 1, each terminal device 3a to
3n sequentially receives the missing blocks, and finally receives all the blocks.

The command information message sent from the host computer 1 to each of the terminal devices 3a to 3n is a message for instructing which program the terminal devices 3a to 3n are currently running and what kind of operation they should perform. This command information telegram is processed by the processing device 5, which causes the current (old)
The program will be held in the corresponding area of the memory 6, and the new program will be held in the corresponding area of the memory 6, and the programs in the old and new areas will be switched all at once by the command information message sent from the host computer 1, and the following Every time a new program is sent out, the old and new areas of the memory 6 are used alternately to hold and execute the program.

In this case, the new program has been completely received by all terminal devices 3a to 3n! After being approved, the program of each terminal device is simultaneously switched from the old program to the new program by the next command information message sent from the host computer 1.

〔Example〕

The present invention will be explained in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIGS. 1(a) and 1(b) are an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of a line network in an embodiment of the apparatus of the present invention, and an explanatory diagram showing the configuration of a terminal device thereof, respectively.

Reference numeral 1 in FIG. 1 is a host computer, and a large number of terminal devices 3a to 3n scattered throughout the country are connected to this host computer 1 through a large number of lines 2a to 2n.
Using the lines 2a to 2n, programs and command information sent from the host computer 1 are unidirectionally transferred to each terminal device 3a to 3n. Each terminal device 3
a to 3n are lines 2a from the host computer 1, respectively.
It consists of a modem 4 that receives program and command information telegrams sent through ~2n, a processing device 5 that processes the received signals, and a memory 6 that stores new and old programs in respective areas by the processing device 5.

The memory 6 of the terminal devices 3a to 3n has an area for holding two old and new programs, and the new program (referred to as B program in this embodiment) sent from the lines 2a to 2n.
It is possible to hold both the old program (referred to as the A program in this embodiment) that is currently running. A, B
The area for holding the program may be a storage element such as RAM or EEROM, or a storage device such as FD or HD.

In the above configuration, programs and command information messages are unidirectionally sent from the host combicoater 1 to a large number of terminal devices 3a to 3n scattered throughout the area using a large number of lines 2a to 2n. Modem 4 of each terminal device 3a to 3n
receives the command information message sent from the host computer 1, and operates by checking whether each terminal device 3a to 3n is in a state where it should operate. As shown in the second diagram, the B program is divided into n blocks of a constant length and sent as a message from the host computer 1 to each of the terminal devices 3a to 3n. As shown in the second diagram, serial numbers 1, 2, .

Each terminal device 3a to 3n receives data using a modem 4, and receives data from a processing device 5.
Check this order and save the program message to memory 6 B.
Store them in the area one by one. At this time, if there is a line error, etc., the corresponding block will not be received (will be missed), but the program message will be repeatedly sent from the host computer 1, and each terminal device 3a to 3n will sequentially receive the missed block. Eventually, all blocks will be received.

The command information message sent from the host computer 1 to each of the terminal devices 3a to 3n is a message for instructing which program the terminal devices 3a to 3n are currently running and what kind of operation they should perform.

The command information message has areas for the current version and new version as shown in the third diagram, and is set as shown in the following table showing the contents of the command information message.

The command information message in order 1 is used during the period when the A program instructs the terminal device to operate, and the message in order 2 is
The terminal device operates with the program, but during the period to confirm that the B program is retained in the area of memory 6, the message in order 3 instructs the terminal device to operate with the B program, and from the A program to the B program. It is sent from the host computer 1 in divided periods during which the data is switched to. Order 4 is sent by the host computer 1 when the operation of the terminal device is to be returned from program B to program A.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the relationship between an example of the message sending method and the operation of the terminal device according to the present invention. FIG. 4 shows that the B program is repeatedly sent to the terminal device from time point X, and the message of command information at this time is the above-mentioned order 1 command, indicating that the terminal device is operating with the A program.

At this time, by setting the program repeat output port for a certain period of time, it is possible to send the program on a convenient day during the period, or by sending the same program over multiple days during the period, the program development period can be saved. If reliability is improved or the number of terminal types increases, it is possible to separate the output ports.

From time point Y, when the B program is considered to have been almost completely received by the terminal devices 3a to 3n, the host computer 1 sends the command in order 2 mentioned above, and the terminal devices 3a to 3n
is running on program A, but make sure to keep program B.

If the terminal devices 3a to 3n have received the B program normally, they will continue to operate with the A program, but if the B program is incomplete or has not been received, a warning will be sent to the terminal devices 3a to 3n, and if the B program is incomplete, Let me know something. This requires a human to deal with the problem, but since the program is transferred repeatedly, no terminal devices like this are needed, and almost no human effort is required.

After confirming that the program has been completely transferred to all terminal devices 3a to 3n as described above, command information in order 3 is sent from point 2 to transfer the programs of terminal devices 3a to 3n from A to B all at once. Switch to the program.

If you want to transfer the new program to the terminal device again after this,
The program areas will be used alternately, such as transferring a new program to program area A of the terminal device.

That is, the programs in the new and old areas are switched all at once by a message of command information sent from the host computer 1, and thereafter, each time a new program is sent out, the old and new areas of the memory 6 are used alternately to hold and execute the program. I will do it.

〔Effect of the invention〕

As described above, according to the present invention, a large number of terminal devices 3a to 3 are connected from a host computer 1 through a large number of lines 2a to 2n.
In order to make it possible to exchange the programs of each terminal device 3a to 3n in a line network that sends data unidirectionally to the host computer 1 When a new program is transferred from the old program area to the new program area of each terminal device 3a to 3n, the host computer 1 sends a command information message to transfer the program in the old and new areas. Since the terminal program switching method and device are characterized by realizing simultaneous switching and confirmation of the presence or absence of transmission errors in the terminal devices 3a to 3n, the terminal program switching method and device are When transferring programs and switching the programs on terminal devices all at once, it is possible to check whether the programs on the terminal devices have been transferred correctly. There is no need to go for confirmation over a period of time, and as a result of the confirmation period being shortened, the period and cost required for program switching can be reduced.

In addition, in the present invention, for the purpose of checking whether the transfer is normal or not,
By using a bidirectional line network, there is no need to exchange complicated information between the terminal devices 3a to 3n and the host computer 1, so even if the number of terminals increases, it will take the same amount of time as if there were a small number of terminals. In addition to making transfer possible, mutual programs are simplified, and the program development period for both the terminal device and host computer is shortened, which not only reduces line costs and program development costs and periods, but also allows switching of programs on the terminal device. However, there is no need for humans to do this individually, and programs can be automatically switched all at once.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

FIGS. 1(a) and 1(b) are explanatory diagrams showing the configuration of a line network and the configuration of a terminal device in an embodiment of the device of the present invention, respectively, and FIG. An explanatory diagram showing an example of a program sending method, FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a message of command information for realizing the present invention, and FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of a message sending method of the present invention and a terminal device. FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing the relationship between operations. 1...Host computer, 2a-2n...
...Line, 3a-3n...Terminal device, 4...
...Modem, 5...Processing device, 6...
··memory. Mantle 2nd joy 3rd

Claims (2)

[Claims] (1) From the host computer (1) to a large number of lines 2a~
In a line network in which data is sent unidirectionally to a large number of terminal devices 3a to 3n through 2n, each terminal device 3a to 3n is
3n is a device that can hold two old and new programs, and when a new program is transferred from the host computer (1), it is stored in the new program area of each terminal device 3a to 3n, and the command from the host computer (1) is A terminal program switching method characterized in that by transmitting an information telegram, simultaneous switching of programs in old and new areas and confirmation of the presence or absence of transmission errors in the terminal devices 3a to 3n are realized. (2) From host computer (1) to multiple lines 2a~
program to a large number of terminal devices 3a to 3n through 2n,
A message of command information is sent, and each terminal device 3a to 3n connects to the line 2a to 2n from the host computer (1).
A modem (4) that receives program and command information messages sent through the computer, a processing device (5) that processes the received signals, and a memory (5) that stores new and old programs in respective areas. 6) A terminal program switching device consisting of.