JPH117382A - Version-up method for firmware - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To perform version-up without stopping a monitor/control function of a transmitter system. SOLUTION: In a version-up method for firmware in a system provided with a transmitter TRU consisting of a hardware part HDW, a firmware part FMW and an upper unit UPU to monitor/control the device, two surfaces are formed by defining memory areas M0, M1 for each of an operational surface and a non-operational surface and when the version-up of the firmware is requested while control by current version firmware CVF stored in the memory area M0 of the operational surface is executed, new version firmware NVF is down-loaded from the upper unit to the memory area M1 of the non- operational surface. The firmware CVF, NVF of the current version and the new version are executed simultaneously and in parallel by a multi-task processing and the version-up is performed at timing in which both versions are synchronized.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method for upgrading firmware, and more particularly, to a hardware unit,
A device including a firmware unit (for example, a transmission device);
The present invention relates to a method for upgrading firmware in a system including a higher-level device that monitors and controls the device.
2. Description of the Related Art Along with recent demands for high-speed and diversified information transmission, a firmware unit for implementing a device management function such as a monitoring function and a control function of a transmission device has been inevitably speeded up and complicated. For this reason, it is necessary to replace (upgrade) the firmware part with added or improved functions, and an optimum means (for example, means for upgrading without interrupting monitoring / control) has been required. .

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Upgrading of a conventional firmware section is performed mainly by a host device, and when a new firmware is downloaded from the host device, the currently operating firmware is always stopped.

[0003]

As a result, during the version upgrade, the monitoring / control function of the transmission apparatus system is completely stopped, and there is a problem that some trouble occurs and the operation line cannot be repaired. Also, after restarting with the upgraded firmware, setting work to restore to the state at the time of operation is required, it takes a long time to upgrade, and furthermore, if the upgrade fails, However, there is a problem that the operation of returning to the current version is required, which is inefficient and that the maintenance operation is not reliable. As described above, an object of the present invention is to enable version upgrade without stopping a monitoring / control function of a transmission apparatus system. Another object of the invention is
The setting work for restoring to the state at the time of operation becomes unnecessary,
In addition, it is an object of the present invention to provide an efficient and reliable version upgrade method capable of eliminating the need to return to the current version even if the version upgrade fails.

[0004]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the principle of the present invention. Hardware part HDW, firmware part F
In a method of upgrading firmware in a system including a transmission device TRU including an MW and a higher-level device UPU that monitors and controls the device, an operation surface (0 surface)
And memory area M0,
M1 is defined to have a two-plane configuration. Then, during execution of the control by the current version of the firmware CVF stored in the memory area M0 on the operation side, when a higher version of the firmware is requested by the higher-level device UPU, the firmware unit FMW performs the following version upgrade. That is, the firmware unit FMW (1) downloads the new version of the firmware NVF from the higher-level device to the non-operational memory area M1, and (2) simultaneously executes the current version and the new version of the firmware CVF and NVF by multitask processing. (3) Update the firmware by switching firmware at the timing when both versions are synchronized.

In this case, each firmware CVF, NV
F for (1) Hardware part failure monitoring and
It is composed of processing processes PPR ₀ , PPR ₁ for controlling the operation of the device such as switching of the spare, and (2) monitoring processes MPR ₀ , MPR ₁ for performing the upgrade control and the start-up control. The monitoring process MPR ₀ of the current version uses the new version firmware NVF from the higher-level device UPU to update the non-operating memory area M
Download to 1, thereafter, switches the firmware at a timing synchronization is established in the current version of the treatment process PPR ₀ new versions of processes PPR ₁ is executed concurrently by a multi-task control, both processes version Do the up. For version upgrade by synchronization, a synchronization point is set in advance in the processing processes PPR ₀ and PPR ₁ , the monitoring process MPR ₀ stops the processing process PPR ₁ of the new version at the synchronization point, and the processing process PPR of the current version. _{When 0} reaches the synchronization point, switchover is performed to upgrade the version. As described above, the version can be upgraded without stopping the monitoring / control function of the transmission device system.

The monitoring process MPR ₀ sends data for restoring information necessary for device operation to the new version of the process PPR ₁ , and receives a restoration completion notice from the process PPR ₁ within a set time. The version is upgraded when it is done, and the version is not upgraded if it is not received even after the set time has elapsed. This eliminates the need for a setting operation for restoring the operation state after the version upgrade. Moreover, even if the version upgrade fails, it is not necessary to return to the current version. Further, the operation surface information is stored in a non-volatile memory such as an EEPROM (not shown), and at the time of startup, the latest operation surface is obtained by referring to the operation surface information, and the firmware stored in the ROM of the operation surface is obtained. And start up the monitoring process. In this manner, subsequent control can be performed using the firmware that has been involved in the control until immediately before.

[0007]

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

(A) System Configuration FIG. 2 is a configuration diagram of a system to which the present invention can be applied, and FIG. 3 is a current version and a new version of firmware CVF,
FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of the structure of the NVF, and FIG. 4 is an explanatory view of the structure of the processing process. In FIG. 2, UPU is a host device, HDW is a hardware unit, and FMW is a CPU package (CPUPK).
G) is a firmware section mounted on the camera. The hardware unit HDW and the firmware unit FMW are the transmission device TRU
And the higher-level device UPU monitors / controls the transmission device TRU. The CPU package includes a 0-page / 1-page processor resource RS0 for storing a processor CPU, a current version / new version of firmware, and the like, respectively.
The firmware unit FMW includes a storage unit BOOT for storing a boot program to be started up at the time of startup, an EEPROM for storing information on operation side / side and current / new version, and operation side information. .

The firmware processor resources RS0 and RS1 on the 0th and 1st sides are designed not to interfere with each other, and have a ROM and a RAM. The ROM is configured by a rewritable flash memory and stores firmware. The RAM stores monitoring / control results by the firmware, hardware status, and the like. As shown in FIG. 3, the current version of the firmware CVF is stored in the ROM of the 0-side firmware processor resource RS0, and the new version of the firmware NVF is stored in the ROM of the 1-side firmware processor resource RS1. Current version of the firmware CVF performs the processes PPR _0, (2) upgrading the control and start-up control for control for (1) the fault monitoring hardware unit HDW and working / protection switching such apparatus operation Monitoring process M
PR ₀ . Moreover, the new version of the firmware NVF similarly (1) and the treatment process PPR ₁ for controlling for such apparatus operation failure monitoring and working / protection switching hardware unit HDW, (2) upgrading the control Ya and a monitoring process MPR ₁ to perform start-up control.

As an example, as shown in FIG. 4, the processing processes PPR ₀ and PPR ₁ are steps 101 for collecting various information of the hardware HDW (for example, fault occurrence information of each unit constituting the hardware), and the collected information. 102, which determines whether switching between active / standby is necessary if a failure has occurred, and if so, switching control step 10 for switching between active / standby.
3. A step 104 for evaluating a failure is provided, and these steps 101 to 104 are periodically and repeatedly executed. Hardware information collection step 101
The point SYCP immediately before is defined as a synchronization point, and is used when synchronizing the current version firmware CVF and the new version firmware NVF at the time of version upgrade.

[0010] In response to a version upgrade request from the host device UPU, the processing process PP of the current firmware CVF is performed.
The monitoring process MPR ₀ is started by R ₀ . Monitoring process MPR ₀ loads the new firmware NVF to the new firmware version region M1. Monitoring process MP
R ₀ activates the processing process PPR ₁ of the new firmware NVF, switches between the current firmware CVF and the new firmware NVF at the synchronization point SYCP, and implements a version upgrade.

(B) Embodiment (a) Firmware Version Up Processing FIGS. 5 and 6 are flowcharts of the firmware version up processing. To do firmware upgrade from the host device UPU, performs firmware version-up request (1) to the treatment process PPR ₀ of the current firmware CVF running. When the process PPR ₀ of the current firmware receives the version upgrade request,
The start (2) monitoring process MPR ₀ of the current firmware CVF as a startup type of "version up". The activated current firmware monitoring process MPR ₀ sends a process activation completion response (3) to the current firmware processing process PPR ₀ , and writes the new version of firmware to the ROM area of the memory area M 1 on the non-operation side. (download). Process start-up is complete response (3) After receiving, processing process PPR ₀ of the current firmware regardless of the version-up process, usually of hardware monitoring /
Execute control.

[0012] After the download is complete, the monitoring process MPR ₀ of the current firmware is to start the treatment process PPR ₁ of the new firmware as a startup type of "version up" (4). The activated processes PPR ₁ new firmware was performs process startup completion response (5) to the monitoring process MPR ₀ is launched. The monitoring process MPR ₀ of the current firmware receives the notification and sends a state transition notification (during system restoration) (6) to the upper-level device UPU.
The transmission system information that is currently operated to processes PPR ₁ new firmware to message transfer (7). The transmission device system information is data for restoring information necessary for operation control of the device, and includes user setting information, collected status information of each unit of the hardware, and the like. Based on the transmission system information, processes PPR ₁ of the new firmware NVF is if complete system state restoration, responds (8) to "completion notice" to the monitoring process MPR ₀ of the current firmware CVF. When the monitoring process MPR ₀ receives the notification, performs a state transition notification (System Restore complete) (9) to the high-level equipment UPU, shifts to upgrading processing to the new firmware.

The monitoring process MPR _{0 of the} current firmware
For first processes PPR ₁ new firmware, predefined (the same timing on the processing of the processing process, see FIG. 4) syncpoint SYCP performs synchronous point stop request (10) on, the new firmware processes PPR ₁ pauses at syncpoint SYCP, the monitoring process MPR ₀ of the current firmware, sync point stop responding
Perform (11). New firmware processing process PPR ₁
The monitoring process MPR ₀ of the current firmware having received the response notification from the
A request for establishing a synchronization point (a request for stopping at the synchronization point for the purpose of switching to the new firmware) (12) is made to R ₀ , and the processing process PPR ₀ of the current firmware is transferred to the synchronization point SYCP defined in advance. And stops, and sends a synchronization point establishment response (13) to the monitoring process of the current firmware.

Processing process PPR _{0 of} current firmware
Monitoring process MPR ₀ of the current firmware that received the response notification from the immediately performs synchronous point resume request processing to the processing processes PPR ₁ New firmware (14), realizing the switching That upgrade to new firmware I do. Meanwhile, the processing process PP of the current firmware
R ₀ terminates the process for itself. The monitoring process MPR ₀ of the current firmware receives the synchronization point restart response (15) from the restarted new firmware processing process,
The host unit, the state transition notification (processes running) (16) and firmware version then performs execution completion response for up request (17), the monitoring process MPR ₀ of the current firmware,
The firmware version and the operation side information of the side to be upgraded this time are updated in the EEPROM area, and the process is terminated for itself.

As described above, the firmware upgrade is performed by the monitoring process MPR ₀ of the current firmware.
In other words, it processes PPR ₀ of the current firmware executes normal processing without stopping the monitoring / control even during upgrading. Therefore, the upper apparatus UPU will allow constantly monitoring / control the processing process PPR ₀ of the current firmware. FIG. 7 is an explanatory diagram of information transition of the transmission apparatus system at the time of the above-mentioned version upgrade.

(B) Processing when firmware version upgrade fails FIGS. 5 and 6 show examples in which the version upgrade has succeeded. Incidentally, or a mistake in the program to a new version firmware NVF downloaded, processor resources (ROM / RAM) when the failure occurs, the new version of the treatment process PPR ₁ transmission system from the monitoring process MPR ₀ Even if the information is received, the information of the device operation control cannot be restored, and the completion notification (8) in FIG. 6 cannot be output. In such a case, the firmware is not upgraded because the influence on the transmission device is large.

FIG. 8 shows a processing flow when the firmware version upgrade has failed. The steps up to step (7) are the same as those in the successful examples of FIGS. Monitoring process MPR ₀ of the current firmware transmission apparatus the transfer of system information to the processing processes PPR ₁ New firmware (7)
Then, the system restoration protection time is set (20). Then, within this protection time, the new firmware processing process PPR
_{If 1} is unable to complete the system restore (21), forcing the treatment process PPR ₁ new firmware is stopped (22), the state transition notification to the host device UPU (processes running) Oyobi (23) A non-executable response (24) to the firmware upgrade request is made, and the process is terminated for itself. As described above, even if the version upgrade fails, the work of returning to the current version can be eliminated.

(C) Start-up Process of Firmware Section FIG. 9 is a flow chart of a start-up process after resetting the CPU or a start-up process when the power is turned on. At the time of startup due to CPU reset or the like, or at power-on startup, the basic software (BOOT) starts first, and EEPR
OM information (0/1 firmware version and operation information) is read (1). Then, unlike the version-up process, to start the monitoring process MPR ₀ of firmware that has been operated until just before by the start type of "start-up" (2). The firmware that was operated immediately before is the firmware that was operated immediately before reset or immediately before power-off, and is the firmware indicated by the operation surface information stored in the EEPROM. Monitoring process MPR of the latest operation side firmware started
₀ responds (3) to the basic software BOOT that the process has been started, and in response,
T ends the process.

Thereafter, the monitoring process MPR ₀ of the activated current firmware collects the transmission device system information from the hardware HDW and notifies the host device UPU of the firmware version (4). As a result, the host device acquires the version of the operation firmware. In parallel with the above, unlike the version upgrade, the monitoring process MPR ₀ is a processing process PPR ₀ of the operation side firmware instructed by the EEPROM with the activation type of “startup”.
Start (5). Processes PPR ₀ of the activated operational firmware performs process startup completion response (6), then receives the transmission system information from the monitoring process MPR ₀ (7), the restoration of the information necessary for device operation To perform normal hardware HDW monitoring / control processing.

Operational firmware monitoring process MP
R ₀ receives a completion notification from the processing process PPR ₀
(8) The state transition notification (processing process is being executed) (9) is notified to the upper-level device UPU, and the process is terminated for itself. As described above, the operation surface information at the time of reset or power-off is stored in the non-volatile memory, and at the time of startup, the firmware monitoring process that has been operating immediately before is started with reference to the stored information to start up. Since the update is performed, the processing can be performed using the correct firmware.

(C) Summary of the Present Invention The following summarizes the present invention. In the present invention, by upgrading the firmware version from 0 to 1 or from 1 to 0 by software,
Achieve firmware version upgrades without creating a system stop state. In the present invention, for the current version of the firmware CVF and the new version of the firmware NVF, individual processor resources RS0,
RS1 (ROM / RAM, etc.) is allocated so that the firmware units do not interfere with each other. Further, the same timing (synchronization point SYNC) in the processing is determined in advance at the stage of creating the firmware section.
In the present invention, by having two processor resources RS0 and RS1, the current version firmware CVF
Is updated by storing a new version of firmware NVF on one side. With this version upgrade, one surface becomes the current version. However, by storing the new version on the zero surface, further version upgrade can be performed, and the firmware version can be upgraded an arbitrary number of times.

In the present invention, each firmware is made to define a synchronization point SYCP (the same timing in processing), and when updating the version, switching is performed at that synchronization point. Therefore, it is possible to upgrade the firmware without interrupting the monitoring / control of the device (line) currently in operation, that is, the service, without the need for the startup process of the transmission device system as in the related art. According to the present invention, the monitoring process MPR ₀ incorporated in the current firmware CVF uses the new version of firmware NV
It is confirmed whether the process was performed in F. If the restoration was successful, the version is upgraded. If the restoration was not successful, the version is not upgraded. Therefore, it is possible to prevent a serious failure such as a system down caused by the new version firmware NVF. In addition, even if the information required for each version upgrade increases, there is no problem if the monitoring process itself is upgraded.

According to the present invention, the current firmware section C
Monitoring process MPR ₀ of VF is configured to perform the actual upgrade process. Further, the processing process PPR ₀ of the current firmware CVF executes normal processing irrespective of the firmware version upgrade. For this reason, the higher-level device UPU can monitor / control the transmission device even during the version upgrade. In the present invention, the EEPROM
The firmware version of each of the 0 side / 1 side,
The operating surface information is stored, and the basic software BOOT, which is started first at the time of recovery from a CPU reset or the like, reads out the information and starts an operation monitoring process. For this reason, at the time of recovery from a CPU reset or the like, the processing can be restarted by using the operation firmware that was operated immediately before the reset. As described above, the present invention has been described with reference to the examples. However, the present invention can be variously modified according to the gist of the present invention described in the claims.
The present invention does not exclude these.

[0024]

As described above, according to the present invention, the version can be upgraded without stopping the monitoring / control function of the transmission apparatus system, and the setting work for restoring to the operation state is not required. Even if the upload fails,
The work of returning to the current version can be eliminated, and the version can be upgraded efficiently. According to the present invention, since the operation service of the transmission device system can be realized without stopping for the version upgrade of the firmware unit,
The reliability of important lines can be improved, and the reliability of the entire network can be improved by applying the present invention to the entire transmission device.

According to the present invention, the operation surface information at the time of reset or power off is stored in the nonvolatile memory,
At the time of startup, the monitoring process of the firmware that has been operating until immediately before is started by referring to the stored information, and the startup is performed, so that processing can be performed using the correct firmware.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the principle of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a system configuration diagram of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram of a firmware structure of a current version / new version.

FIG. 4 is a structural explanatory view of a processing process.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart (part 1) of a firmware version upgrade process of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart (part 2) of a firmware version upgrade process according to the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a state transition diagram of the transmission device (firmware unit) of the present invention.

FIG. 8 is a processing flow when a firmware version upgrade fails according to the present invention.

FIG. 9 is a processing flowchart at the time of initial startup of firmware according to the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

UPU ·· higher-level device HDW ·· hardware part FMW ·· firmware part TRU ·· transmission devices M0, M1 ·· 0 side / one side of the memory area CVF ·· current firmware NVF ·· new firmware PPR _0, PPR ₁ ·・ Processing process MPR ₀ , MPR ₁・ ・ Monitoring process

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A method for upgrading a firmware in a system including a device including a hardware unit and a firmware unit and a higher-level device for monitoring / controlling the device, wherein a memory area is provided for each of an operation side and a non-operation side. Is defined as a two-sided configuration, and when a firmware upgrade is requested during execution of control by the current version of firmware stored in the memory area of the operation side, a new version of the firmware is transferred from the higher-level device to the non-operation side. Download to the memory area, execute the current version and the new version of firmware simultaneously and in parallel by multitask processing, and switch to the new firmware when both versions of firmware are synchronized, and upgrade the version Firmware barge N'appu way. 2. The memory area on each side is provided with a rewritable flash memory as a ROM area, and a new version of firmware is written into a non-operating side ROM area to be upgraded. 2. The firmware version upgrade method according to claim 1, wherein the non-operation side is changed to the non-operation side, and thereafter, the version is updated again using the non-operation side. 3. The firmware comprises a processing process for controlling the operation of the apparatus such as fault monitoring of the hardware unit and switching between active and standby, and a monitoring process for performing version upgrade control and start-up control. The monitoring process downloads the new version firmware from the higher-level device to the non-operational memory area at the time of version upgrade, and executes the current version processing process and the new version processing process simultaneously and in parallel. 2. The firmware version upgrading method according to claim 1, wherein the firmware is upgraded by switching to control by a processing process of a new version at a synchronized timing. 4. A synchronization point is set during the processing process, and the monitoring process stops the processing process of the new version at the synchronization point. When the processing process of the current version reaches the synchronization point, processing of the new version is performed. 4. The firmware version upgrade method according to claim 3, wherein the version upgrade is performed by switching to control by a process. 5. The monitoring process sends data for restoring information necessary for device operation to a new version of the processing process, and performs a version upgrade when a restoration completion notification is received from the processing process within a set time. The method of claim 3, wherein the firmware is not upgraded unless the firmware is updated. 6. The operating surface information is stored in a non-volatile memory, and at the time of startup, the operating surface is obtained by referring to the operating surface information, and the firmware stored in the ROM area of the operating surface is obtained. 4. The firmware version upgrading method according to claim 3, wherein the monitoring process is started to start up.