KR20090041060A - Internet protocol television system and method for self-recovering using the same - Google Patents

Abstract

An internet protocol television system and a method for self-recovering using the same are provided to recover damage by checking a damaged firmware of a set-top box and to maintain a latest version of the firmware by updating a latest version when remotely downloading a recovery data. A recovery server(400) stores a firmware related to an executive program of an STB(Set-Top Box)(100). If the restoration request for the firmware is received from an STB, the recovery server delivers the firmware of the corresponding version through a network(200). If a plurality of STBs has damaged firmware, the damaged set-top box downloads the corresponding firmware by accessing to a recovery server. The set-top box self-recovers the damaged firmware.

Description

Self-healing IPTV system and self-healing method {Internet Protocol Television system and method for self-recovering using the same}

The present invention relates to an Internet Protocol Television (IPTV) system, and more particularly, to an IPTV system that self-repairs a firmware of a Set Top Box (STB) applied to an IPTV system, and It relates to a self-healing method using the same.

Recently, the broadcasting environment is changing due to the development of technology and changing demands of viewers.

In other words, the transition from analog broadcasting to digital broadcasting, diversified broadcasting media such as cable and satellite from terrestrial broadcasting, and providing interactive services in conjunction with communication networks, the recent broadcasting environment has undergone more severe changes than any other fields. have.

A representative service that emerged from this background is IPTV (Internet Protocol Television) based on Internet Protocol.

IPTV is an interactive television service provided by using a high-speed internet network, and refers to a TV connected to a content providing server through a network through a set-top box. Accordingly, the information service, video content, and broadcast content of the content providing server are provided to the television receiver through the set-top box.

The set-top box for this needs a network processor for performing network communication between servers, and a data processing processor for processing data received from the server.

Specifically, the data processing processor may include a CPU and a storage medium (eg, flash memory, EEPROM, etc.), and the CPU controls the overall system operation of the set-top box by executing a program stored in the storage medium.

The storage medium stores not only an operating system of the set-top box but also a program (hereinafter, referred to as 'firmware') that is responsible for downloading the operating system when power is input.

However, when the set-top box is used, a power failure or an error occurs in the flash memory record when the firmware is downloaded, and the set-top box does not operate normally. In this case, the user sets the set-top through an after-sales service. The box has to be fixed, which is very cumbersome.

The present invention has been made to solve the above problems, and if the firmware of the set-top box is damaged, the set-top box is to check it to repair the damage on its own as a technical problem.

Self-recoverable IPTV system according to the present invention for achieving the technical problem is largely, a recovery server that stores the latest firmware; And a set-top box which accesses the recovery server and downloads the latest firmware to recover the damaged firmware when the firmware in the firmware is damaged.

In this case, according to an embodiment of the present invention, the set-top box includes a network interface for accessing the recovery server and performing network communication based on internally supported MAC (Media Access Control) information; In addition to the firmware for operating the set-top box, a program for downloading the firmware is stored, and includes a storage medium for storing the data received by the set-top box, the storage medium, when the problem occurs in the stored firmware An emergency kernel image may be stored to replace firmware, and the MAC information for accessing the recovery server may be stored.

The storage medium may include a boot area in which the MAC information is stored; And a kernel region including a kernel image in which a driver or a program required to process various processors is compressed and stored.

In addition, the set-top box compares the existing checksum value of the firmware downloaded in advance with the checksum value of the firmware to be downloaded through the recovery server, and compares the firmware provided by the recovery server when the two checksum values are different. You can download it.

According to one embodiment of the invention, the storage medium may be a flash memory, but is not limited thereto.

On the other hand, the set-top box according to the present invention for achieving the above technical problem, the boot (Boot) region that stores the MAC information to enable access to the recovery server through the network; A kernel region including a kernel image in which a driver or a program required to process various processors is compressed and stored; And an emergency repair system in which emergency firmware is stored to replace the damaged firmware when the firmware including the boot area and the kernel area is damaged.

In addition, the emergency recovery system operates when the MAC information stored in the boot area is damaged or the connection to the recovery server is impossible.

On the other hand, a self-healing method according to the present invention for achieving the technical problem, (a) after applying the power to the set-top box, checking the boot / kernel in the set-top box to check whether the firmware abnormality; (b) attempting to access a recovery server using MAC information stored in the boot area in advance if there is an error in the firmware; (c) receiving and updating corresponding firmware to replace the damaged firmware when connected to the recovery server; And (d) downloading the emergency firmware stored in the set-top box when the access to the recovery server fails.

According to an example of the present invention, the updating of the firmware in the step (c) may include: (c-1) The checksum value of the firmware previously downloaded to the set-top box and the checksum value of the firmware to be downloaded from the recovery server are the same. Comparing the photos; (c-2) if the checksum value of the firmware previously downloaded to the set-top box is different from the checksum value of the firmware to be downloaded from the recovery server, requesting an automatic update from the recovery server; And (c-3) receiving and updating the firmware from the recovery server.

According to another example of the present invention, the updating of the corresponding firmware in the step (c) includes (c-4) the checksum value of the firmware previously downloaded to the set-top box and the downloading from the recovery server as a result of the comparison. If the checksum values of the firmware are the same, the method may further include performing a normal booting process by applying the firmware downloaded in advance to the set-top box.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the attempting to access the recovery server in the step (b) may include checking whether there is designated default url information using MAC information stored in the boot area in advance; If the default url information is found as a result of the check, accessing the recovery server through the search; if the default url information does not exist, searching for next designated url information; And accessing the recovery server if there is next designated url information.

According to an example of the present invention, the self-recovery method may further include updating the repaired emergency firmware with the latest firmware provided by the recovery server after accessing the recovery server after the step (d). It may include.

In this case, the update may be performed by checking the version of the emergency firmware.

According to the present invention, even if the firmware of the set-top box is damaged, the set-top box can recover the damage by itself, there is an effect capable of self-service A / S.

In addition, by downloading data to be recovered remotely through the recovery server, there is an effect that can always update the latest version of the data during recovery.

Hereinafter, a self-healing IPTV system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a self-healing IPTV system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

As shown in FIG. 1, in the IPTV system according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, a plurality of set-top boxes 100 are connected to the VOD server 300 and the recovery server 400 through the network 200, and the set-top box 100 is connected. In case of problems with the firmware of the

As shown, the plurality of set-top box 100 and the VOD server 300 and the recovery server 400 can communicate through the network 200, in this case, the network 200 may be an IP-based network However, the present invention is not limited to using an IP-based network, and is not limited to a specific form as long as the wired / wireless communication network enables the network.

The VOD server 300 maintains a plurality of VOD contents.

The VOD content described in this embodiment may be video on demand (VOD) content such as home shopping, advertisement, or movie, but the present invention is not limited to the video on demand.

When the VOD server 300 receives a request for VOD content from the set-top box 100, the VOD server 300 transmits the corresponding VOD content through the network 200. In this case, the VOD data may be delivered through a return path using a normal communication network.

The recovery server 400 stores firmware related to an execution program of the set-top box 100. In particular, when the firmware is upgraded, the latest version can be uploaded in real time to build a database according to the version. The recovery server 400 also transfers the firmware of the corresponding version through the network 200 when a recovery request for the firmware is received from the set-top box 100.

Therefore, in the IPTV system according to the embodiment of the present invention, when the firmware is damaged in the plurality of set-top boxes 100, the damaged set-top box 100 recovers itself by accessing the recovery server 400 and downloading the firmware. It is characterized by possible.

Set-top box 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention for this purpose may be configured as shown in Figs.

2 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of a set-top box according to an embodiment of the present invention, Figure 3 is a view showing a storage medium structure of a set-top box according to an embodiment of the present invention.

First, referring to FIG. 2, the set-top box 100 according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention may roughly include an input / output unit 110, a VOD management application 120, a microprocessor 130, a storage medium 140, and a network interface ( 150).

The input / output unit 110 is responsible for inputting and outputting data transmitted to the set top box 100.

The VOD management application 120 provides a user with information on orderable VOD content and a user interface for implementing the information, and receives and processes an order request from the user.

The microprocessor 130 generates a control signal to properly process data input through the input / output unit 110, and serves to control the download of the firmware in order to recover it in the event of firmware damage.

For example, the microprocessor 130 calculates and stores a checksum for the downloaded file, and then compares the calculated checksum to determine whether it is normal or abnormal. Detailed operation description thereof will be described later in detail.

The network interface 150 provides a network-based communication environment to access the recovery server (400 of FIG. 1) with internally supported MAC (Media Access Control) information.

In general, when transmitting and receiving data through an external network, a destination address (IP address or domain name) is required, but before that, MAC address information corresponding to the destination address is required. In other words, since MAC address information is primarily needed to access the corresponding destination address, the set-top box has data of MAC information for performing a network between recovery servers.

The storage medium 140 stores not only various firmware, but also programs for downloading firmware, and data received by the set-top box 100 is also stored.

Referring to the logical configuration of the storage medium 140 in detail, as shown in FIG. 3, the storage medium 140 includes a boot directory 141, a kernel directory 142, and a file system. File System 143, Emergency Recovery System 144, and Application Directory 145.

The boot region 141 here may be applied when initializing a peripheral device, such as booting a system, loading the operating system from a higher level, and receiving network information including a destination address.

Specifically, when the power is first applied or the hardware is reset, the boot area 141 initializes the minimum hardware (processor, memory, etc.) required to start the system. After that, the kernel image and file system 143 contained in the memory (ROM or Flash) are found and copied to RAM, and then the execution is moved to the kernel image location to boot the kernel.

The kernel region 142 stores drivers and executable programs necessary for processing various processors.

That is, the kernel region 142 may include an interrupt handler for processing all requests that competitively request a service of the kernel, such as a completed input / output operation, a scheduler for determining which programs share the processing time of the kernel in which order, And when the schedule is over, it actually includes a supervisor that gives each process a license to use the microprocessor. It also includes a memory manager that manages the operating system's address space in memory or storage and distributes it to all other peripherals and other users of the kernel's services.

The kernel region 142 records the kernel image, and when booted from the boot region 141, the kernel region 142 resides in the memory at the same time as the booting, which is operated until the power of the set-top box is turned off. The kernel image according to the present embodiment means that the kernel includes compressed data and a routine for unpacking the compressed data.

File system 143 manages the location of data recorded on or to be recorded on the computer.

In general, to write data to a microprocessor, you must prepare to read, write, and find data on the hard disk drive in advance. The file system 143 summarizes the rules of preparation and refers to a system for naming a file and indicating where to place the file for storage or retrieval. For example, all operating systems (OS) such as DOS, Windows, Macintosh , and Unix have this file system structure.

The emergency recovery system 145 is for self-repairing the firmware in conjunction with a recovery server or when the firmware previously stored in the set-top box is damaged. The emergency recovery system (more specifically, an emergency kernel image) and recovery is performed to replace the damaged firmware. MAC information for inducing a connection to the server is stored.

The operation of the IPTV system according to the embodiment of the present invention configured as described above will be described in two cases.

For reference, FIGS. 4 and 5 are conceptual views illustrating an operation of a self-recoverable IPTV system according to embodiments of the present invention. FIG. 4 illustrates that the firmware of the set-top box is damaged but the boot area is not damaged. 5 is a case where it is possible to remotely access the recovery server, and FIG. 5 shows a case where the firmware of the set-top box is damaged and the boot area is also damaged so that remote access to the recovery server is impossible.

First, referring to FIG. 4, when the firmware of the set-top box 100 is damaged in the IPTV system according to an embodiment of the present invention, the MAC address information stored in the boot area 141 is used to recover the server 400. (①). At the same time, the set-top box 100 requests the recovery server 400 to recover the damaged firmware, and in response, the recovery server 400 transmits the firmware (S / W) to the set-top box 100 (②). , ③). Accordingly, the set top box 100 downloads the firmware received from the recovery server 400 to recover the damaged firmware.

Accordingly, even if the firmware of the set-top box 100 is damaged, self-healing is possible by restoring the damaged firmware in association with the recovery server 400 through the network, and always at the time of healing. Can be restored with a version of firmware.

On the other hand, even if the firmware of the set-top box 100 is damaged in the IPTV system according to another embodiment of the present invention looks at the case that the connection to the recovery server 400 is impossible.

That is, as shown in FIG. 5, the set-top box 100 first attempts to access the recovery server 400 using MAC information stored in the boot area 141 in advance (①). At this time, if the recovery server 400 itself or physically disconnected from the network and failed to attempt the connection, the emergency kernel image (or firmware) is downloaded and recovered from the emergency recovery system 144 in the set-top box 100 (②). . After the boot is possible through the kernel recovery, selectively access the recovery server 400 and requests an update for the firmware (③, ④).

In response, the recovery server 400 transmits the higher version firmware (S / W) to the set top box 100 (⑤), and the set top box 100 transmits the higher version firmware received from the recovery server 400. The firmware can be updated by downloading.

Therefore, the IPTV system according to another embodiment of the present invention has a convenient advantage when the set-top box 100 can recover the damaged firmware by itself when the connection to the recovery server 400 is not possible.

Hereinafter, a self repair method using an IPTV system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail.

6 is a flowchart illustrating a self-healing method using an IPTV system according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 7 is a detailed view of FIG. 6.

First, a self-healing method according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG. 6. After the power is initially applied, the set-top box is turned on, and then the boot area and the kernel area of the set-top box are checked to determine the abnormality of the system. Check the presence (S100, S200).

As a result of the check, if there is a problem with the system, to recover it, the damaged firmware is updated as a whole. If there is no problem, the system terminates without going through the recovery process.

If there is a problem with the system, the url information accessible to the recovery server is checked using MAC information stored in the boot area in advance (S300).

The MAC information is provided to provide IP address or url information for accessing the recovery server through an external network. The MAC information is stored in the boot area at the time of manufacture of the set-top box, and is executed with priority in case of an abnormality of the set-top box.

In the url information check, the designated default url information is searched first, as shown, and if there is no default url information, the next url information is searched (S320).

In detail, as a result of checking the default url information, if there is the default url information, an attempt is made to connect to the recovery server (S400).

If, as a result of checking the default url information, if there is no default url information, it searches for whether there is next url information, and if there is next url information, attempts to connect to the recovery server using the next url information (S400).

Afterwards, if the connection to the recovery server fails, the emergency recovery system in the set-top box is operated as described above with reference to FIG. 5 and self-recovers with the emergency firmware (S600).

On the contrary, when connected to the recovery server, the set-top box receives the firmware and performs an update and ends (S500).

Here, the method of updating the firmware is as shown in FIG.

The checksum of the firmware previously downloaded from the set-top box is compared with the checksum of the firmware to be downloaded through the recovery server (S510).

Prior to this step, the set-top box may calculate a checksum value for the pre-downloaded firmware.

Here, the checksum is a function for checking whether the checksum is normal or abnormal, for example, when the checksum value of the pre-downloaded firmware and the checksum value to be downloaded are different, the firmware is determined to be damaged, and conversely, the checksum of the pre-downloaded firmware If the value is the same as the checksum value to be downloaded in the future, it is possible to determine that the pre-downloaded firmware is normal.

As a result of the comparison, when the checksum value of the firmware previously downloaded to the set-top box is different from the checksum value of the firmware to be downloaded from the recovery server, the set-top box determines that the firmware is damaged and requests an automatic update from the recovery server (S520). ).

In response, the recovery server transmits the firmware to the set-top box, and the set-top box receives and updates the firmware transmitted from the recovery server (S530 and S540).

The update process is performed in order of application, file system, and kernel. After downloading the image and comparing it with the checksum value, if the downloaded image and the checksum value are the same, it is written to flash memory and the downloaded image and the checksum value are different. In this case, the shutdown or reboot process is performed without performing an update.

When the update is completed, reboot and apply within the set-top box (S550).

On the other hand, as a result of the comparison in step S510, if the checksum value of the firmware previously downloaded to the set-top box and the checksum value of the firmware to be downloaded from the recovery server is the same, the set-top box performs a normal boot process using the firmware already downloaded (S560).

This set-top box can be self-recovered by the recovery server even if the internal firmware is damaged, so it can always be updated to the latest version of firmware.

On the other hand, in another embodiment, as a result of checking the system abnormality in the above step S200, even if the boot area is damaged as well as the firmware, it is possible to recover the firmware itself even if it is impossible to remotely access the recovery server. S service is available.

Although embodiments of the present invention have been described above with reference to the accompanying drawings, those skilled in the art to which the present invention pertains may implement the present invention in other specific forms without changing the technical spirit or essential features thereof. I can understand that.

Therefore, since the embodiments described above are provided to completely inform the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art, it should be understood that they are exemplary in all respects and not limited. The invention is only defined by the scope of the claims.

1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a self-healing IPTV system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

2 is a block diagram showing the internal configuration of a set-top box according to an embodiment of the present invention.

3 is a view showing a storage medium structure of a set-top box according to an embodiment of the present invention.

4 is a conceptual diagram illustrating the operation of a self-healing IPTV system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

5 is a conceptual diagram illustrating the operation of a self-healing IPTV system according to another embodiment of the present invention.

6 is a flowchart illustrating a self-healing method using an IPTV system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

7 is a detailed view of FIG. 6.

<Description of the symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

100: multiple set-top boxes 200: network

300: VOD Server 400: Recovery Server

110: input and output unit 120: VOD management application

130: microprocessor 140: storage medium

150: network interface 141: boot area

142: kernel area 143: file system

144: Emergency Recovery System 145: Application Area

Claims (13)

A recovery server storing the latest firmware; And In case of damage to the internal firmware, the set-top box accesses the recovery server to download the latest firmware and recover the damaged firmware. Self-recoverable IPTV system comprising a. The method of claim 1, The set top box, A network interface for accessing the recovery server and performing network communication based on internally supported MAC (Media Access Control) information; And a storage medium for storing data received by the set-top box, as well as firmware for operating the set-top box, and storing a program for downloading the firmware. The storage medium is a self-recoverable IPTV system, characterized in that the emergency firmware to replace the firmware when the problem occurs in the stored firmware is stored, the MAC information for accessing the recovery server is stored. The method of claim 2, The storage medium, A boot area in which the MAC information is stored; And Kernel area that contains the compressed and stored kernel image for drivers or programs needed to process various processors Self-recoverable IPTV system comprising a. The method of claim 2, The set top box, Comparing the existing checksum value of the previously downloaded firmware with the checksum value of the firmware to be downloaded through the recovery server, and downloading the firmware provided by the recovery server when the two checksum values are different. Self-healing IPTV system. The method of claim 1, The storage medium is a self-recoverable IPTV system, characterized in that the flash memory. A boot area that stores MAC information that enables access to a recovery server over a network; A kernel region including a kernel image in which a driver or a program required to process various processors is compressed and stored; And Emergency recovery system in which emergency firmware is stored to recover when a problem occurs in the firmware including the boot area and the kernel area. Set top box comprising a. The method of claim 6, The emergency recovery system, Set top box, characterized in that when the MAC information stored in the boot area is damaged or unable to access the recovery server. (a) applying power to the set-top box and checking a boot / kernel in the set-top box to check whether there is an abnormal firmware; (b) attempting to access a recovery server using MAC information stored in the boot area in advance if there is an error in the firmware; (c) receiving and updating corresponding firmware to replace the damaged firmware when connected to the recovery server; And (d) if access to the recovery server fails, downloading the emergency firmware stored in the set-top box and recovering itself; Self recovery method using an IPTV system comprising a. The method of claim 8, In the step (c) updating the firmware, (c-1) comparing a checksum value of firmware previously downloaded to the set-top box with a checksum value of firmware to be downloaded from the recovery server; (c-2) if the checksum value of the firmware previously downloaded to the set-top box is different from the checksum value of the firmware to be downloaded from the recovery server, requesting an automatic update from the recovery server; And (c-3) receiving and updating the firmware from the recovery server Self recovery method using an IPTV system comprising a. The method of claim 9, (c-4) As a result of the comparison, if the checksum value of the firmware previously downloaded to the set-top box and the checksum value of the firmware to be downloaded from the recovery server are the same, the boot process is normally applied by applying the firmware previously downloaded to the set-top box. Steps to perform Self-recovery method using an IPTV system further comprising. The method of claim 8, Attempting to access the recovery server in the step (b), Checking whether there is designated default url information using MAC information stored in the boot area in advance; If the default url information is found as a result of the check, accessing the recovery server through the search; if the default url information does not exist, searching for next designated url information; And Accessing the recovery server if the next designated url information exists Self recovery method using an IPTV system comprising a. The method of claim 8, After the step (d), accessing the recovery server to update the recovered emergency firmware with the latest firmware provided by the recovery server; Self-recovery method using an IPTV system that can further include. The method of claim 12, Self-recovery method using an IPTV system, characterized in that for updating according to the version of the emergency firmware.

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