KR20070076340A - Method for updating a program in a pda - Google Patents

Abstract

A method for updating a program in a PDA is provided to reduce time required for updating a program of the PDA and efficiently use a storage space required for updating the program by starting to update program before program data is completely downloaded from a host. The program data received from the host is stored to the first memory(S31). It is determined whether the program data stored in the first storing part reaches a predetermined size(S32). When the program data stored in the first storing part reaches the predetermined size, the program data of the predetermined size is written to the second storing part(S33). The program data is transmitted to the PDA from the host in an interrupt mode by USB(Universal Serial Bus) communication. The predetermined size is the size of one memory block of the second storing part and the second storing part is a NOR flash memory.

Description

Program update method of personal information terminal {METHOD FOR UPDATING A PROGRAM IN A PDA}

1 is a block diagram for program update of a conventional personal information terminal.

2 is a flowchart of a program update of a personal information terminal according to the prior art.

3 is a program update flowchart of a personal information terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a flowchart of a program update of a personal information terminal according to another embodiment of the present invention.

The present invention relates to a method of updating a program of a personal information terminal, and more particularly, to a method of storing program data stored in an external device such as a host in a personal information terminal and updating a program previously stored in the personal information terminal using the stored program data. will be.

In general, a personal information terminal refers to a portable electronic device having a complex function such as a mobile phone, a wireless fax, an electronic notebook, and also capable of data communication with an external device such as a computer.

Since the personal information terminal should be made as small as possible for convenience of portability, the capacity of the memory for storing an operating program or database is inevitably limited. The memory may be a read only memory (ROM), an programmable read only memory (EPROM), a random access memory (RAM), or the like.

1 is a block diagram for updating a program of a conventional personal information terminal. As shown in FIG. 1, a host 100 transmitting program data to be updated and receiving the program data from the host 100 and using the same It includes a personal information terminal 110 for updating previously stored program data.

In detail, the personal information terminal 110 may communicate with the host 100 to receive program data, and a first storage unit 112 to store program data input through the communication unit 11. ), A second storage unit 113 for replacing previously stored program data with program data stored in the first storage unit, and a controller 114 for controlling the respective receiving operation, storage operation, and replacement operation. .

In general, the first storage unit 112 is a volatile memory such as RAM, the second storage unit 113 is a nonvolatile memory such as ROM, and in particular, the second storage unit 113 is not supplied with power. The NOR (Not-Or) flash memory that can preserve data and update data even in the state is mainly used. In addition, the communication between the host 100 and the communication unit 111 may be made through a universal interface communication such as universal serial bus (USB) communication.

Basically, in the program updating method of the personal information terminal according to the prior art, the program data is downloaded from the host 100 until the capacity of the first storage unit 112 is full (FULL), and the first storage unit ( When the capacity of 112 is full, the program data stored in the first storage unit 112 is stored in the second storage unit 113.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart of updating a program of a personal information terminal according to the prior art. As shown in FIG. 2, program data is stored in a first storage unit from a host (S21), and program data is stored as much as the capacity of the first storage unit. Determining whether it is stored (S22), recording the program data stored in the first storage unit from the first storage unit to the second storage unit (S23), and confirming completion of the recording operation (S24). ).

Referring to FIG. 2, in the program updating method of the personal information terminal according to the related art, a storage step S21 of program data from a host to a first storage unit and a recording step of program data from a first storage unit to a second storage unit are described. S23 is not performed in parallel but is performed sequentially. That is, the program updating method of the personal information terminal according to the prior art starts the program data recording operation from the first storage to the second storage after waiting for the completion of the program data storage operation from the host to the first storage.

As such, the reason for dualizing the storage of program data to the first storage unit and the recording of program data to the second storage unit in the related art is that a bootloader having no OS function simultaneously performs the above-described storage operation and recording operation. This is because they are not multitasking.

Specifically, a general personal information terminal performs an update operation of program data in a state in which only a boot loader is driven. However, the boot loader does not support a multitasking operation, and thus, the above-described operation operation and recording operation cannot be performed simultaneously.

As described above, the program update method of the personal information terminal according to the prior art has a problem that the time required for program update is too long.

In particular, when updating the program data stored in the NOR flash memory which is commonly used as the program data storage means of the personal information terminal, the writing time to the NOR flash memory takes much longer than the storage time to the first storage unit such as RAM. Therefore, it is necessary to advance the recording start time to the NOR flash memory.

Therefore, an object of the present invention is to shorten the time required for program update of a personal information terminal.

In addition, an object of the present invention is to efficiently use the storage space required for the program update of the personal information terminal.

The program update method of the personal information terminal of the present invention for achieving the above object comprises the steps of storing the program data transmitted from the host in a first memory, and whether the program data stored in the first storage unit is a predetermined size; And determining, when the program data stored in the first storage unit has a predetermined size, recording the program data having the predetermined size into the second storage unit.

In addition, the program update method of the personal information terminal of the present invention, the step of storing the program data transmitted in a predetermined size unit from the host in the first storage unit, wherein the first storage unit is equal to the predetermined size Comprising a plurality of memories having a memory capacity, the program data is stored in each of the predetermined size unit in the memory, determining the contents of the program data stored in each memory of the first storage unit; And updating the program data pre-stored in the second storage unit according to the determined content of the program data.

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

3 is a flowchart of updating a program of a personal information terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3, program data is stored in a first storage unit from a host (S31), and the first storage unit is illustrated in FIG. Determining whether the stored program data has been stored in a predetermined size (S32), recording the program data having a predetermined size from the first storage to the second storage (S33), and completing the recording of the program data. Confirming step (S34).

The first storage unit may be a volatile memory such as a RAM or a ring buffer, and the second storage unit may be a nonvolatile memory such as a NOR flash memory. Typically the NOR flash memory consists of memory blocks of a predetermined size, for example 256 KB.

In addition, storage of program data from the host to the first storage unit may be performed in an interrupt manner through a universal interface communication such as USB communication. In this case, the controller (for example, 114 of FIG. 1) of the personal information terminal controls the storage of program data from the host to the first storage unit according to the USB interrupt signal received periodically or aperiodically.

The present invention proposes a method of performing a recording operation of program data to a second storage unit between program data storage operations to the first storage unit in view of the discontinuity of program data storage from the host to the first storage unit. .

Referring to FIG. 3, when program data is stored in a first storage unit from a host, a controller (for example, 114 of FIG. 1) of the personal information terminal monitors the first storage unit, and previously stores the first storage unit. If program data of a set size is stored, immediately starting to record the program data stored in the first storage to the second storage.

Preferably, the predetermined size may be equal to the size of one memory block of the second storage unit. Accordingly, if one block of program data of a second storage unit (for example, NOR flash memory) is stored in the first storage unit from the host, the program data is immediately recorded from the first storage unit to the second storage unit. You can start

As described above, the embodiment of the present invention according to FIG. 3 has the effect of shortening the update time of the program data by starting the recording of the program data from the first storage to the second storage earlier than in the prior art.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of updating a program of a personal information terminal according to another embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 4, step S41 of transmitting program data of a predetermined size unit from a host to a first storage unit; Storing program data in a predetermined size unit in each memory of the first storage unit (S42), determining contents of the program data stored in a predetermined size unit in one memory of the first storage unit, and determining the program data according to the determined program data. Updating the program of the personal information terminal (S43 to S49), and confirming the completion of recording of the program data (S50).

Specifically, in operation S43 to S49, determining the contents of the program data stored in one memory of the first storage unit in a predetermined size unit and updating the programs of the personal information terminal according to the determined contents of the program data, the first Comparing program data of one memory of a storage unit with program data of a predetermined memory block of a second storage unit; erasing one memory of the first storage unit when both program data match; If the program data do not match in step S43, the step S45 checks whether the program data of the one memory of the first storage unit and the program data of the previous memory of the first storage unit match again (S45), and the step (S45). If both program data matches, the program data of the previous memory is written to the second storage unit and the first (S46) erasing one memory of the first storage unit, and determining whether program data of one memory of the first storage unit repeats the same pattern when both program data do not coincide in step S45 ( S47), and when the program data is the same pattern repetition data in step S47, the one-byte data constituting the same pattern is stored in the third storage unit, and the program data is recorded in the second storage unit by using the same. The process of erasing the negative one memory (S48) and writing the program data of the one memory of the first storage unit to the second storage unit (S49) when the same pattern is not repeated in the step S47.

First, the host transmits program data in a predetermined size unit to the first storage unit, and the first storage unit stores program data in a predetermined size unit (S41 and S42). Here, the first storage unit may include a plurality of memories having the same memory capacity as the predetermined size unit and the program data of the predetermined size unit may be stored in each of the memories.

Advantageously, said predetermined size may be equal to the memory block size of the second storage portion, for example a NOR flash memory, and said program data may be transmitted from the host in an interrupt manner by USB communication.

Next, the contents of the program data stored in each memory of the first storage unit are analyzed (S43, S45, S47). This is to update the program of the second storage unit in a different manner according to the contents of the program data stored in the respective memories as described later (S44, S46, S48, S49).

Specifically, when the program data stored in one memory of the first storage unit is the same as the program data previously stored in a predetermined memory block of the second storage unit, one memory of the first storage unit is erased (S43 and S44). That is, when the program data stored in one memory of the first storage unit is the same as the program data previously stored in a predetermined memory block of the second storage unit, the program data stored in one memory of the first storage unit may be recorded in the second storage unit. It is erased immediately because there is no need.

In this case, since the recording operation is performed only on the program data different from the previously stored program data among all the program data, the program update time is shortened.

In addition, when the program data stored in one memory of the first storage unit is the same as the program data stored in the previous memory of the first storage unit, the program data stored in the previous memory is recorded in the second storage unit and the one of the first storage unit is used. The memory is erased (S45, S46). In other words, when the same program data is transferred from the host to the first storage unit by two or more memory blocks, the remaining memory of the first storage unit may be repeatedly recorded in the second storage unit by repeating program data stored in one memory of the first storage unit. Is erased.

In this case, since only one memory is used for the program data having the same content, the memory use efficiency is increased.

Further, when the program data stored in one memory of the first storage unit is repetitive data of the same pattern, only one byte of data forming the same pattern is stored in the third storage unit and the first byte of the first storage unit is stored in the second storage unit. The data is repeated (S47, S48). That is, when the program data stored in one memory of the first storage unit is a repetition of the same bit value, only one byte of data indicating the same bit value is stored in a separate second storage unit and the one memory of the first storage unit is erased. A program data write operation of one memory block size to the second storage unit is performed by using the stored one byte data.

In this case, since the memory of the first storage unit does not have to be used at all, the efficiency of memory use is increased.

In practice, the above-described steps S43 to S49 may be implemented using a data block descriptor defined as follows.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications and variations can be made without departing from the essential features of the present invention. Accordingly, the embodiments disclosed in the present invention are not intended to limit the technical spirit of the present invention but to describe the present invention, and the scope of the technical idea of the present invention is not limited by these embodiments. The protection scope of the present invention should be interpreted by the following claims, and all technical ideas within the equivalent scope should be interpreted as being included in the scope of the present invention.

As described in detail above, the present invention starts the program update operation before completing the download of the program data from the host, thereby reducing the time required for the program update of the personal information terminal, the program update of the personal information terminal There is an effect of providing a program update method of a personal information terminal that efficiently uses the storage space required for.

Claims (8)

Storing program data transmitted from the host in a first memory; Determining whether the program data stored in the first storage unit is of a predetermined size; And when the program data stored in the first storage unit has a predetermined size, recording the program data having the predetermined size into a second storage unit. Storing program data transmitted in a predetermined size unit from a host in a first storage unit, wherein the first storage unit comprises a plurality of memories having a memory capacity equal to the predetermined size, wherein the program data is respectively formed in the first storage unit; Storing the memory in the predetermined size unit; Determining contents of program data stored in each memory of the first storage unit; And updating the program data pre-stored in the second storage unit according to the determined contents of the program data. The method of claim 2, When the program data stored in any one memory of the first storage unit is the same as the program data previously stored in a predetermined memory block of the second storage unit, the program data stored in any one memory of the first storage unit is stored in the second storage unit. And erasing any one of the memories of the first storage unit without writing to the data storage unit. The method of claim 2, If the program data stored in any one memory of the first storage unit is the same as the program data stored in the previous memory of the first storage unit, the program data stored in the previous memory of the first storage unit is recorded in the second storage unit and the The program updating method of the personal information terminal, characterized in that for erasing any one of the memory of the first storage unit. The method of claim 2, When the program data stored in any one memory of the first storage unit is data in which the same pattern is repeated, the program data of one byte constituting the same pattern is stored in a separate third storage unit and any one of the first storage units is used. And erasing the memory of the memory device, and writing the program data stored in any one memory of the first storage unit to the second storage unit by using the stored one-byte program data. The method according to claim 1 or 2, And the program data is transmitted from a host in an interrupt manner by USB communication. The method according to claim 1 or 2, And the predetermined size is one memory block size of the second storage unit. The method according to claim 1 or 2, And the second storage unit is a NOR flash memory.

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