KR20060009569A - Apparatus and method for back-up and update of firmware - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed are an apparatus capable of backing up and updating a program, and a method of backing up and updating the program. The host communication module determines whether the removable storage medium is mounted, and the storage unit stores at least one updateable old program. The user input unit outputs a backup mode selection signal for backing up the old program to the mobile storage medium. When the backup mode selection signal is received from the user input unit after the mounting determination signal of the mobile storage medium is received from the host communication module, the host communication module is controlled to store the old program stored in the storage unit on the removable storage medium to back up the old program. . Therefore, a plurality of programs such as firmware can be backed up or updated by using a removable memory card.

Backup, update, printer, USB

Description

Apparatus and method for back-up and update of firmware}

1 is a block diagram schematically showing an image forming apparatus capable of backing up and updating a program according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention; and

2 is a flowchart illustrating a program backup and update method according to FIG. 1.

Description of the main parts of the drawing

100: image forming apparatus 110: operation panel unit

120: scanner 130: modem

135: NCU 140: print engine

150: communication interface unit 160: host communication module

190: control unit 160a: removable storage medium

The present invention relates to a device capable of backing up and updating a program, and a method for backing up and updating the program. More particularly, the present invention relates to a backup of a program capable of backing up or updating a plurality of programs such as firmware using a removable memory card, and An apparatus capable of being updated and a program backup and update method thereof.

Copiers, printers, facsimiles, scanners, multifunction machines, and the like are common image forming apparatuses that provide printing functions. For example, an image forming apparatus, a printer prints print data transmitted from a computer, and the facsimile provides various functions such as printing print data received from an external facsimile through an exchanger.

Such an image forming apparatus has a program for each function in order to provide various functions described above. Each program is stored in nonvolatile memory, such as a ROM, and is often updated by the developer. Therefore, when updating the old program of the image forming apparatus, the user downloads the upgraded update program from the web server of the image forming apparatus to the host computer. Then, the user updates the old program installed in the image forming apparatus by using the updated program which communicatively connects and downloads the image forming apparatus and the host computer.

However, when a plurality of image forming apparatuses are installed, a situation arises in which a user must connect each image forming apparatus and a host computer so as to communicate with each other in order to update an old program of each image forming apparatus. This makes the user feel uncomfortable when updating the old program.

In addition, if a malfunction occurs in the image forming apparatus after updating the old program with the update program, there is a case where the old program before the update is required. However, conventionally, since the old program is not stored separately, the recovery to the old program is almost impossible, which causes a lot of inconvenience for the user to use the image forming apparatus.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in an effort to provide a device capable of backing up and updating a program, and a method for backing up and updating a program, which can perform recovery and update of an old program used in a device without a separate device such as a computer. have.

In order to solve the above technical problem, an apparatus capable of backing up and updating a program according to the present invention includes a host communication module that determines whether a removable storage medium is mounted; A storage unit storing at least one updateable old program; A user input unit configured to output a backup mode selection signal for backing up the at least one old program to the removable storage medium; And when the backup mode selection signal is received from the user input unit after the mounting determination signal of the removable storage medium is received from the host communication module, storing the old program stored in the storage unit in the removable storage medium. And a control unit controlling the host communication module to back up the data.

Preferably, the control unit generates a year and month date and time when the backup mode selection signal is received as a file name of the old program, and then processes the old program to be stored in the removable storage medium under the generated file name.

The control unit may receive the update stored in the removable storage medium when an update mode selection signal for updating the old program is received from the user input unit by using an update program that is a new version of the old program stored in the removable storage medium. The host communication module and the storage unit are controlled to download a program to the storage unit.

More preferably, the display unit for displaying a list of the update program stored in the removable storage medium; wherein the control unit, when the update mode selection signal is received, the host to read the list of the stored update program; The communication module is controlled, and the display unit is controlled to display the read list.

On the other hand, to solve the above technical problem, the program backup and update method according to the present invention, the step of receiving a mounting determination signal of the removable storage medium from the host communication module; Receiving a user selection signal for any one of the backup mode for storing the old program stored in the removable storage medium on the removable storage medium and the update mode for updating the old program using the update program pre-stored on the removable storage medium. ; When the user selection signal for the backup mode is received, setting the year, month, and date when the selection signal for the backup mode is received as a file name of the old program, and backing up the old program to the removable storage medium; And when the user selection signal for the update mode is received, downloading the update program stored in the removable storage medium to update the old program.

Hereinafter, with reference to the accompanying drawings will be described the present invention in more detail. However, in describing the present invention, when it is determined that a detailed description of a related known function or configuration may unnecessarily obscure the subject matter of the present invention, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

1 is a block diagram schematically showing an image forming apparatus according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the image forming apparatus 100 according to the present invention includes an operating panel 110, a scanner 120, a modem 130, an NCU 135, a printing engine. The unit 140 includes a communication interface unit 150, a host communication module 160, a ROM 170, a RAM 180, and a controller 190.

The operation panel unit 110 includes a display unit 112 and a user input unit 114.

The display unit 112 displays an operation state of the image forming apparatus 100 and is generally implemented as an LCD.

In the present invention, the display unit 112 displays a mode selection screen requesting to select a backup mode and an update mode. The backup mode is a mode in which at least one old program pre-stored in the ROM 170 is backed up to the removable storage medium 160a to be described later. The update mode is an update program that is a new version of the old program stored in the removable storage medium 160a. It is a mode to update old program by using.

In addition, the display unit 112 displays a program list indicating the name of the update program stored in the removable storage medium 160a. At this time, the display unit 112 displays the mode selection screen and the program list under the control of the controller 190.

The user input unit 114 is a user interface for outputting an operation request signal for requesting a function supported by the image forming apparatus 100 to the controller 190 to be described later by the user's selection. To this end, the user input unit 114 is provided with a variety of function keys, or touch screen to support the input of letters, numbers, direction.

In the present invention, when the mode selection screen is displayed on the display unit 114, the user input unit 114 outputs a selection signal for the desired mode to the controller 190. In addition, the user input unit 114 outputs a selection signal for at least one update program from the list of update programs displayed on the display unit 112 to the controller 190.

The scanner 120 scans the scanning target document to read image data. The read image data is converted into a digital signal by a predetermined program stored in the ROM 170. The image data converted into digital signals is stored in the RAM 180 or printed by the print engine 140.

The modem 130 modulates data to be transmitted to an external facsimile (not shown) and demodulates data transmitted from an external facsimile (not shown). The NCU 135 controls a connection with an external facsimile (not shown) by connecting a modem 130 with a public circuit switched network (not shown).

The print engine 140 prints the print target data when the print request signal is output from the user input unit 114.

The communication interface unit 150 is connected to communicate with at least one client computer (not shown) by an external communication network (eg, a router, an internet network, or a LAN). To this end, the communication interface unit 150 uses a network interface card.

The host communication module 160 is a module on which the removable storage medium 160a is mounted, determines whether the removable storage medium 160a is mounted, and supports data communication between the removable storage medium 160a and the controller 190. .

In the present invention, if it is determined that the removable storage medium 160a is mounted, the host communication module 160 outputs a mounting determination signal to the controller 190. In addition, when a read request for a list of update programs stored in the removable storage medium 160a is requested from the controller 190, the host communication module 160 reads a list of all update programs stored in the removable storage medium 160a to control the controller 190. )

The removable storage medium 160a is a storage medium mounted in the host communication module 160 and receives and stores at least one old program pre-stored in the ROM 170 through the host communication module 160. That is, the removable storage medium 160a is a memory in which the old program pre-stored in the image forming apparatus 100 is backed up.

In addition, the removable storage medium 160a stores an update program, which is a new version of an old program previously stored in the ROM 170. At least one update program corresponding to the at least one old program is provided to the image forming apparatus 100 through the host communication module 160 to update the old program.

The host communication module 160 and the removable storage medium 160a support the same communication standard. For example, when the host communication module 160 and the removable storage medium 160a perform data communication according to the USB standard, the host communication module 160 uses a USB module. In addition, the removable storage medium 160a may be a memory stick, a media card, a flash memory, or a smart media.                     

The ROM 170 stores a control program for performing the operation of the image forming apparatus 100 and at least one old program (eg, firmware) for performing each function provided by the image forming apparatus 100. Volatile memory.

The RAM 180 is a volatile memory that temporarily stores various data generated during the operation of the image forming apparatus 100.

The controller 190 controls the overall operation of the image forming apparatus 100 according to a control program stored in the ROM 170. For example, the control unit 190 controls the scanner 120 to scan a scanning target document when the scanning mode is selected, and the modem 130 to transmit a predetermined document to an external facsimile (not shown) when the fax mode is selected. And control the NCU 135.

In the present invention, the controller 190 controls the display unit 112 to display a mode selection screen when a mounting determination signal of the mobile storage medium 160a is received from the host communication module 160. When a selection signal for any one of a backup mode and an update mode is received from the user input unit 114 based on the mode selection screen displayed on the display unit 112, the controller 190 may perform a function corresponding to the selected mode. Process.

In detail, when the backup mode selection signal is received from the user input unit 114, the controller 190 generates a file name to be used when storing the old program. For example, the controller 190 generates the year, month, date, time, minute, and second when the backup mode selection signal is received as a file name, or generates a serial number as a file name.

The controller 190 reads at least one old program stored in the ROM 170 to the host communication module 160 and stores the provided old program in the removable storage medium 160a. ). In this case, the controller 190 controls the host communication module 160 to store at least one old program in the removable storage medium 160a using the generated file name. Thus, the backup of at least one old program stored in the ROM 170 is completed.

On the other hand, when the update mode selection signal is received from the user input unit 114, the controller 190 controls the host communication module 160 to read a list of all the update program stored in the removable storage medium (160a), host communication The display unit 112 is controlled to display a list read by the module 160.

When at least one update program from the list displayed on the display unit 112 is selected by the user input unit 114, the controller 190 selects the selected update program from the at least one update program stored in the removable storage medium 160a in the selected order. The host communication module 160 and the ROM 170 are controlled to read and download the data into the ROM 170. As a result, at least one old program corresponding to the selected at least one update program is updated.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart schematically illustrating a program backup and update method according to FIG. 1.

First, when the removable storage medium 160a is mounted on the host communication module 160 to receive a mounting determination signal output from the host communication module 160, the controller 190 controls the display unit 112 to display a mode selection screen. Control (S200, S210).                     

After the operation S210 is performed, when the backup mode selection signal is received from the user input unit 114, the controller 190 generates a file name to be used when storing the old program stored in the ROM 170 in the removable storage medium 160a ( S220, S230). For example, the controller 190 generates the year, month, date, time, minute, and second when the backup mode selection signal is received as the file name of the old program.

When step S230 is performed, the controller 190 controls the host communication module 160 to store at least one old program stored in the ROM 170 in the removable storage medium 160a with the file name generated in step S230 (S240). ). In step S240, the backup of at least one old program stored in the ROM 170 is completed.

On the other hand, when the update mode selection signal is received from the user input unit 114 after step S210, the controller 190 reads a list of all update programs stored in the removable storage medium 160a, and then displays the read list. The module 160 and the display unit 112 are controlled (S250 and S260).

After the operation S260 is performed, when a selection signal for at least one update program from the list displayed on the display unit 112 is received from the user input unit 114, the controller 190 controls all update programs stored in the removable storage medium 160a. The host communication module 160 and the ROM 170 are controlled to download the selected at least one update program to the ROM 170 in the selected order (S270 and S280). As a result, at least one old program corresponding to the selected at least one update program is updated.

On the other hand, the above-described embodiment of the present invention has taken an example of the multifunction device in the image forming apparatus 100, but this is applicable to all devices using a program such as firmware as well as the multifunction device.

As described above, according to an apparatus capable of backing up and updating a program and a method for backing up and updating a program according to the present invention, a back up or update of a plurality of programs such as firmware using a portable storage medium without using a computer is performed. It is possible. Thus, when backing up or updating a program stored in a plurality of image forming apparatuses, a user may easily backup or update a program by using only a removable storage medium without performing a task of connecting a plurality of image forming apparatuses with a computer. Can be updated.

Although the present invention has been described in detail through the representative embodiments, those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains can make various modifications without departing from the scope of the present invention with respect to the embodiments described above. Will understand. Therefore, the scope of the present invention should not be limited to the described embodiments, but should be defined by the claims below and equivalents thereof.

Claims (5)

A host communication module for determining whether the removable storage medium is mounted; A storage unit storing at least one updateable old program; A user input unit configured to output a backup mode selection signal for backing up the at least one old program to the removable storage medium; And When the backup mode selection signal is received from the user input unit after the mounting determination signal of the removable storage medium is received from the host communication module, the old program stored in the storage unit is stored in the removable storage medium to store the old program. And a control unit which controls the host communication module to back up. The method of claim 1, The control unit generates a year and month date and time at which the backup mode selection signal is received as a file name of the old program, and then processes the old program to be stored in the removable storage medium under the generated file name. And an updateable device. The method of claim 1, When the control unit receives an update mode selection signal for updating the old program by using an update program that is a new version of the old program stored in the removable storage medium, the update program stored in the removable storage medium is received. And the host communication module and the storage unit to be downloaded to the storage unit. The method of claim 3, wherein And a display unit for displaying a list of the update program stored in the removable storage medium. The control unit controls the host communication module to read the list of stored update programs when the update mode selection signal is received, and controls the display unit to display the read list. Renewable device. Receiving a mounting determination signal of a removable storage medium from a host communication module; Receiving a user selection signal for any one of the backup mode for storing the old program stored in the removable storage medium on the removable storage medium and the update mode for updating the old program using the update program pre-stored on the removable storage medium. ; When the user selection signal for the backup mode is received, setting the year, month, and date when the selection signal for the backup mode is received as a file name of the old program, and backing up the old program to the removable storage medium; And And when the user selection signal for the update mode is received, downloading the update program stored in the removable storage medium to update the old program.

Images