KR20070038681A - Method and system for updating firmware - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method and a system for updating a firmware. The method for updating a firmware of a terminal connected to a server that provides an updated difference of firmware and wired or wirelessly comprises: (a) setting a 'boot flag' to a 'differential patch'; (b) patching the old firmware block i and the difference i in the temporary memory of the terminal, (c) setting the 'boot flag' to 'reflect patch i', and (d) the (b) Overwriting the new version of the firmware block i patched in the step with the old version of the firmware block i, (e) increasing the value of i by 1, determining whether the value of i is greater than the number of firmware blocks n, and (f) i If the value is not greater than n, go to step (a), and if the i value is greater than n, set the 'boot flag' to 'normal boot', and reboot the terminal due to an error during firmware update. Is set to 'boot flag' An update to the next step is to proceed.

Description

Method and system for updating firmware

1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a firmware update method according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram for describing generating a differential difference of firmware in a server illustrated in FIG. 1.

3 is a flowchart illustrating a flow before the terminal downloads a difference from a server and performs a difference patch.

4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a general configuration of a terminal memory.

5 is a flowchart illustrating a firmware update method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The present invention relates to updating the firmware of the terminal, and in particular, when downloading and storing the firmware in the terminal, even in the case of a sudden power failure, the firmware update enables a complete update by rewriting a patch stored in a temporary storage space by checking the update status. It relates to a method and a system.

Recently, portable terminal devices such as mobile phones, MP3 players, digital cameras, etc. are rapidly spreading. As the performance of these terminals has developed, the need for updating firmware, which is the operating software of the terminals, is increasing. Since the firmware is the most basic software for operating the terminal, the function of updating the firmware in the terminal should be designed to be safe from failures that may occur during the update.

However, the current update method is a method of downloading the entire new firmware or the difference between new and old firmware to the terminal. If the power supply is cut off or the communication is interrupted during the update, an incomplete firmware image is stored in the flash RAM to prevent normal operation. Occurs. In such a case, a problem arises in that the terminal needs to be updated again by rebooting the terminal in the emergency recovery mode.

Therefore, in the current firmware update method, when all new versions of firmware are downloaded, the update time is very long, and thus the probability of failure increases in proportion to the long update time, such that communication failure or interruption of power supply may occur.

In addition, if a failure occurs during the firmware update, it is necessary to update again from the beginning in the emergency recovery state, so there is a problem that the time loss is large, and in the case of the terminal that is not supported for emergency recovery, the normal operation is not performed due to incompletely stored firmware. .

The present invention has been invented in view of the above points, and if an error such as a communication interruption occurs during the update by setting the update state by using the partition difference of the firmware and the temporary memory of the terminal, it continues after the interruption point after the reboot. It is an object of the present invention to provide a firmware update method and a system in which an update can be performed.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a firmware update method of a terminal connected to a server that provides an updated difference of firmware and a wired or wireless connection, the method comprising: (a) setting a 'boot flag' to a 'differential patch'; (b) patching the old firmware block i and the difference i in the temporary memory of the terminal, (c) setting the 'boot flag' to 'reflect patch i', and (d) step (b) Overwriting the new version of firmware block i patched in the old version of firmware block i, (e) increasing i value by 1, determining whether i value is greater than n number of firmware blocks, and (f) i value If the value is not greater than n, go to step (a), and if the value of i is greater than n, set the 'boot flag' to 'normal boot'. , depending on the 'boot flag' setting, It characterized in that the date will continue to perform.

In the firmware update method according to the present invention, before the step (a), the terminal further comprises the step of downloading data for n differences, the number of differences n, the size of n differences of the firmware from the update server desirable.

In this case, the n differences of the firmware are generated by dividing the old firmware and the new firmware into n blocks, and comparing the old firmware n blocks with the new firmware n blocks to generate n block differences, respectively. Is made by step.

In the firmware update method according to the present invention, the step (b) includes the step of loading an old version of firmware block i into the temporary memory of the terminal, and performing a patch in the temporary memory for the loaded old version of firmware block i and the difference i. And storing the patched new version of the firmware block i in a nonvolatile memory of the terminal.

In this case, the temporary memory is SDRAM, and the nonvolatile memory is flash RAM, and the nonvolatile memory of the terminal stores n differences of firmware, n number of differences, size of n differences, and a 'boot flag' is stored. It is preferable to have a first storage area and a second storage area in which a patched block applied with a difference with an older version of the firmware block is stored.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a firmware update system for a terminal that is connected to a server that provides an updated difference between firmware and a wired or wireless network. A means for patching the old firmware block i and the differential i in memory, a means for setting the 'boot flag' to 'reflect the patch i', and a new version of the firmware block i patched by the patch performing means means for overwriting i and increasing the value of i by 1 and determining whether the value of i is greater than the number of firmware blocks n; and if the value of i is not greater than n, the 'boot flag' is set by the means (a); 'Differential i patch' and if 'i' value is greater than n, 'boot flag' is set to 'normal boot'. The next step is characterized in that the update is performed.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the following embodiments are provided to those skilled in the art to fully understand the present invention, and may be modified in various forms, and the scope of the present invention is limited to the embodiments described below. It doesn't happen.

(Example)

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a firmware update method according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.

In order to update software such as firmware of the mobile terminal, a provider 100 providing update data is required. Referring to FIG. 1, the terminal 104 and the update provider 100 are connected in a wireless or wired manner. The update provider includes a server 102, which serves to generate and transmit a new / segment difference of firmware required for the terminal.

FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram for describing generating a differential difference of firmware in a server illustrated in FIG. 1.

Referring to FIG. 2, the old version of the firmware 200 and the new version of the firmware 201 are divided into predetermined blocks by the partitioning modules 203 and 204 to be n blocks. That is, the old firmware 200 passes through the splitting module 203, and the old firmware block 1 205a, the old firmware block 2 205b,... , Old version firmware block n (205n), and new version firmware 201 passes through division module 204, new version firmware block 1 (206a), new version firmware block 2 (206b),... Is the new version firmware block n (206n). Here, the size of the block may be any value, but preferably the size of the input / output block of the terminal memory.

Subsequently, the difference generation module 207 sequentially compares n blocks of firmware 205a, 205b, ..., 205n of the new version and n blocks 206a, 206b, ..., 206n of the old version, in order, and compares n block differences 207a. , 207b, ..., 207n). The n block differences 207a, 207b, ..., 207n are data concerning only differences between the old and new versions.

3 is a flowchart illustrating a flow before the terminal downloads a difference from a server and performs a difference patch.

First, the server 102 and the terminal 104 are connected by wire or wirelessly, and the terminal downloads the difference of firmware from the server. The difference of firmware means n differences of each block as described with reference to FIG. 2. In this case, the terminal receives the difference number n and the size of the n difference together with the difference data and stores the same in the first storage area (described later) of the terminal (step 301).

Subsequently, the terminal stores the first 'boot flag' as the 'difference 1 patch' in the first storage area to start the first difference patch (step 302).

Next, the terminal is actually rebooted to perform the patch operation (step 303).

In this process, if an error such as a power failure or communication failure occurs while downloading the difference or saving the 'boot flag', since the overwriting of the firmware of the terminal has not yet been executed, the difference is downloaded again. You can repeat the process of saving.

4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a general configuration of a terminal memory.

The memory of the terminal is used to store information. Generally, flash RAM, which is a nonvolatile memory, is used.

The memory of the terminal may include an area 401 in which a boot loader is stored, a kernel area 402, an area 403 in which a root file system is stored, a first storage area 404, and a second storage area 405. Can be.

The first storage area 404 is an area for storing the difference, the number of differences, the size of the difference, and the 'boot flag' received from the server, and the second storage area 405 stores the difference with the old firmware block of the terminal. This area stores the applied patched block. The patched block stored in the second storage area 405 is used to continuously overwrite the old firmware area even if the terminal power is cut off while the old firmware area is overwritten.

Hereinafter, the firmware update method will be described in detail with reference to FIG. 5.

5 is a flowchart illustrating a firmware update method according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the step of updating the firmware by performing the differential patch shown in FIG. 5 (steps 501 to 514), all input functions of the terminal are blocked to prevent the user from arbitrarily inputting the terminal. In addition, since the differences are already stored in the memory of the terminal, communication connection with the server is not necessary, and thus the problem of error due to communication loss does not occur.

When the terminal is rebooted through the flow shown in FIG. 3, first, the 'boot flag' of the memory is checked.

If the 'boot flag' is determined to reflect 'difference n' in 'Difference 1 reflected', and if 'Difference n reflected' in 'Difference 1 reflected', the flow proceeds to step 509 in which the patch i is reflected. If the 'boot flag' is not 'differential n reflected' in 'differential 1 reflected', the flow proceeds to step 502.

In step 502, it is determined whether the 'boot flag' is 'differential n patch' from 'differential 1 patch', and if the difference is not 'differential n patch' from 'differential 1 patch', the terminal is normally booted. Go to the step to boot the terminal normally.

If the 'boot flag' is 'difference n patch' in 'difference 1 patch', difference i is patched (step 504).

The patch for the difference i is performed in the patch module of the terminal. The old version firmware of the i-th block is loaded into the temporary memory, and the stored difference i and the old version firmware i-th block are patched from the temporary memory. Temporary memory uses a volatile memory of the terminal, such as SDRAM. The patch of the firmware block refers to a process of creating a new version block by applying a differential block to an old firmware block.

If the terminal is rebooted after downloading the firmware as described in FIG. 3, since 'boot flag' is set to 'differential 1 patch', 'i = 1'.

Subsequently, the patched result is stored in the second storage area of the memory (step 506).

If a power cutoff of the terminal occurs in the step of patching the difference i and storing the patched result (steps 505 and 507), since the boot flag is still a difference patch, it is again performed. Go ahead and perform the differential patch.

Subsequently, the 'boot flag' is designated as 'patch i reflection' (step 508).

In operation 509, the patchi reflection module for overwriting the generated patch with the firmware area of the i-th block of the old version is executed.

In this case, if the power is cut off and rebooted, since the 'boot flag' is in the 'patch i reflected' state, the process proceeds directly to step 509. That is, in this case, since the power is cut off and rebooted during the execution of the patchi reflection module, there is a block that is already patched in the second storage area of the memory. Therefore, the patchi reflection module is loaded and executed.

After patch 509 is completed, the i value is increased by 1 (step 510). Subsequently, if it is determined that the value of i is greater than the number n of blocks (step 511), if it is not large, the boot flag is set to the difference i patch (step 512), and step 504 is performed to continue the differential patch. Go to.

If the i value is greater than the number n of blocks in step 511, all differential patches are completed, and thus the 'boot flag' is set to 'normal boot' (step 513). If the terminal is rebooted while the 'boot flag' of the terminal is set to 'normal boot' (step 514), the terminal is normally booted in the state where the firmware update is completed.

An example in which the present invention is applied to firmware update of an MP3 player will be described.

First, save the old and new versions of the MP3 player's firmware on the PC that will be used as the server. As described above with reference to FIG. 2, after splitting the firmware of the new / old version into a size of 128 kbytes, which is the flash RAM block size of the MP3 player, using the Linux public utility 'split', 'diff' is used to generate the difference of each block.

The program for performing the firmware update method according to the present invention is pre-installed in the flash RAM of the MP3 player, and the PC and the MP3 player are connected with a USB cable. Subsequently, the difference stored in the PC is transferred to the MP3 player, and the program of the MP3 player stores the difference in the first storage area of the flash RAM. When the transmission is completed, the MP3 player is rebooted and differential patching is performed according to the flow described with reference to FIG. 5 to patch the old firmware to the new version.

If the power is shut down and rebooted during the MP3 player patch, the block will continue from the previous patch. When everything is done and rebooted, the new version of firmware will be applied.

As described above, according to the present invention, if an error occurs during the firmware update of the terminal, since the update can be continued after the interruption point after the reboot, it is possible to ensure the stability of the update function, and that the complete firmware is stored. This can be guaranteed, and the update time can be minimized.

As mentioned above, although preferred embodiment of this invention was described in detail, this invention is not limited to the said embodiment, A various deformation | transformation by a person of ordinary skill in the art within the scope of the technical idea of this invention is carried out. This is possible.

Claims (8)

In the firmware update method of the terminal connected to the server providing a difference between the firmware and the wired or wireless, (a) setting the 'boot flag' to 'differential patch'; (b) performing a patch on the old firmware block i and the difference i in the temporary memory of the terminal; (c) setting the 'boot flag' to 'reflect patch'; (d) overwriting the new version of firmware block i patched in step (b) with the old version of firmware block i; (e) increasing the value of i by one and determining whether the value of i is greater than the number of firmware blocks n; (f) moving to step (a) if i is not greater than n, and setting 'boot flag' to 'normal boot' if i is greater than n, If an error occurs in the terminal during the firmware update, the reboot, firmware update method characterized in that the next step of the update continues according to the setting state of the 'boot flag'. According to claim 1, Before the step (a), And downloading, by the terminal, data about n differences, number of differences n, and size of n differences of firmware from the update server. The method of claim 2, wherein the n differences of the firmware are: Dividing the old firmware and the new firmware into n blocks; And generating n block differences by comparing the old firmware n blocks and the new firmware n blocks, respectively. According to claim 1, wherein step (b), Loading an old version of firmware block i into the temporary memory of the terminal; Performing a patch in the temporary memory on the loaded firmware block i and the difference i; And storing the patched version of the firmware block i in the nonvolatile memory of the terminal. The method of claim 4, wherein Wherein the temporary memory is SDRAM, and the nonvolatile memory is flash RAM. The method of claim 4, wherein the nonvolatile memory of the terminal, A first storage area storing n differences of firmware, n number of differences, size of n differences, and a 'boot flag'; And a second storage area for storing a patched block applying a difference from an old firmware block. The method of claim 1, wherein all input functions of the terminal are blocked during the update. In the firmware update system of a terminal connected to a server providing an updated difference of the firmware in a wired or wireless manner, means for setting the 'boot flag' to the 'differential patch'; Means for performing a patch on the old firmware block i and the difference i in the temporary memory of the terminal; means for setting the 'boot flag' to 'reflect patch'; Means for overwriting a new version of firmware block i fetched by the patch performing means with an old version of firmware block i; means for increasing the value of i by one and determining whether the value of i is greater than the number of firmware blocks n; If the i value is not greater than n, the (a) means sets the 'boot flag' to 'differential i patch', and if the i value is greater than n, the 'boot flag' is set to 'normal boot', thereby updating the terminal. If an error occurs and reboots, the firmware update system of the next step according to the setting state of the 'boot flag' is performed.

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