WO2011006328A1

WO2011006328A1 - System and method for updating device firmware, device management server and mobile terminal

Info

Publication number: WO2011006328A1
Application number: PCT/CN2009/075234
Authority: WO
Inventors: 谢曼
Original assignee: 中兴通讯股份有限公司
Priority date: 2009-07-16
Filing date: 2009-12-01
Publication date: 2011-01-20
Also published as: CN101610501A

Abstract

A system and method for updating device firmware, a device management server and a mobile terminal are disclosed in the present invention. Said system includes: a version server for storing various versions of firmware; a device management server for acquiring current firmware version information of a device to be upgraded via the mobile terminal, and acquiring corresponding latest firmware version information from the version server; a mobile terminal for receiving data from the device management server. According to the combination of a version server, the device management server and the mobile terminal of the present invention, it is realized that household electrical appliances in the digital home network can be updated online by using the existing device management service of the mobile network, thus effectively improving user experience.

Description

Device firmware upgrade system and method, device management server and mobile terminal

The present invention relates to the field of communications technologies, and in particular, to a device firmware upgrade system and method, a device management server, and a mobile terminal in the communication field. Background technique

Terminal Management (DM) Service refers to a service in which a third party remotely manages a mobile terminal through an air interface. The business is standardized by the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA). In the past two years, the DM business has been deployed on a large scale in the operator markets of Europe, America and Asia.

Generally, the implementation of the DM service describes a mobile terminal in the manner of a device tree, and the mobile terminal and the server cooperate to perform read and write operations on the device tree through the device management protocol air interface, thereby completing management operations on various functional components of the mobile device. .

With more and more functions in mobile terminals, maintenance management will become more and more difficult. With its standardization and good scalability, DM has become a very effective device management method. The DM service currently has a relatively mature system solution, and provides some basic device management services. Its functions are mainly concentrated in parameter collection and configuration, and firmware upgrade (FOTA, Flash Over The Air).

The firmware upgrade refers to downloading the latest firmware version through the wireless network to remotely solve the mobile phone fault and upgrade the mobile phone service at a low cost, and bring a good user experience to the user.

In the multiple networking modes of the digital home, if the mobile terminal acts as a gateway, the digital home device in the network can theoretically access various services of the mobile network. Obviously, operators can use the existing DM service of the mobile network to manage the home appliances in the digital home network. They can also be upgraded online, without having to go to a fixed service point, upgrade the device by special hardware and special programs to upgrade the device, which can improve the user experience. For home appliance manufacturers, only the corresponding information of the firmware version and model number needs to be provided and uploaded to the server, and then completed by the DM business system, which can reduce the cost and pressure of after-sales service.

However, there is currently no specific implementation of firmware online upgrade for digital home devices for DM service systems. Summary of the invention

The present invention has been made in view of the problem that the firmware online upgrade scheme of the digital home device based on the DM service system is currently lacking in the related art. Therefore, the main object of the present invention is to provide an improved device firmware upgrade system and method, and device management. Servers and mobile terminals to solve at least one of the above problems.

A device firmware upgrade system, including a version server, a device management server, and a mobile mobile terminal, wherein

a version server for storing various versions of firmware;

a device management server, configured to obtain a current version information of the firmware of the device to be upgraded by using the mobile terminal, and obtain corresponding latest version information from the version server;

a mobile terminal, configured to receive data from the device management server.

The data from the device management server includes one of the following: indication information with version update, version information to be upgraded, and indication information without version update.

The device management server includes a first obtaining unit, a searching unit, a comparing unit, and a processing unit, where

a first acquiring unit, configured to acquire information corresponding to the firmware of the device to be upgraded, where the information includes: a model of the device to be upgraded, and information about the current version; a searching unit, configured to search, in the version server, information about an latest version of the device firmware according to the information from the first obtaining unit;

a comparison unit, configured to compare the current version of the information with the latest version of the information and output a comparison result indicating whether a firmware upgrade is required;

And a processing unit, configured to determine, according to the comparison result output by the determining unit, whether a firmware upgrade is required, and send information about whether the firmware upgrade is required to the mobile terminal.

The mobile terminal includes a first interface, a second interface, a second obtaining unit, and a sending unit, where

a first interface, configured to perform data transmission with the device management server;

a second interface, configured to perform data transmission with the device to be upgraded;

a second acquiring unit, configured to acquire data from the device management server by using the first interface, where the data includes one of the following: indication information of a version update, version information to be upgraded, and indication information of no version update;

And a sending unit, configured to send data from the second acquiring unit to the device to be upgraded through the second interface.

The first interface is further configured to send status information of the version update to the device management server by using a connection channel established with the device management server;

The second interface is further configured to receive status information of the version update from the device to be upgraded by using a connection channel established with the device to be upgraded.

A device management server includes a first obtaining unit, a searching unit, a comparing unit, and a processing unit, where:

a first acquiring unit, configured to acquire information corresponding to the firmware of the device to be upgraded, where the information includes: a model of the device to be upgraded, and information about the current version;

a searching unit, configured to search for a latest version of the information in a version server corresponding to the device firmware according to the information from the first obtaining unit; a comparison unit, configured to compare the current version of the information with the latest version of the information and output a comparison result indicating whether a firmware upgrade is required;

A mobile terminal includes a first interface, a second interface, a second obtaining unit, and a sending unit, where

a second obtaining unit, configured to acquire data from the device management server by using the first interface, where the data includes one of the following: indication information with version update, version information to be upgraded, and indication information without version update;

The second interface is further configured to receive, by using a connection channel established with the device to be upgraded, state information of the version update from the device to be upgraded.

A method for upgrading a device firmware, including:

Obtaining information that the current version of the firmware of the device to be upgraded needs to be updated;

Establishing a data download connection channel through the mobile terminal;

Downloading the latest version of the data to the device to be upgraded via the mobile terminal for upgrading.

The information that needs to be updated in the current version of the firmware of the device to be upgraded includes: obtaining information corresponding to the firmware of the device to be upgraded, where the information includes: a model of the device to be upgraded, and information about the current version; Searching, according to the information, information of the latest version corresponding to the device firmware in the version server; determining that the update is required according to the comparison result between the information of the current version and the latest version of the information, or determining that the firmware upgrade is required by the user confirmation mode, The firmware upgrade information is sent to the mobile terminal.

Downloading, by the mobile terminal, the latest version of the data to the to-be-upgraded device includes: downloading the latest version of the information to a data buffer of the mobile terminal;

Downloading the data to a data buffer of the device to be upgraded for saving.

After downloading the latest version of the data to the device to be upgraded for upgrading by using the mobile terminal, the method further includes:

If the firmware upgrade is successful according to the latest version of the data, returning, by the mobile terminal, the model of the device to be upgraded, the information of the latest version, and/or the start or completion of the firmware upgrade to the device management server. Time

Alternatively, if the firmware is not upgraded successfully according to the latest version of the data, the mobile terminal returns a model of the to-be-upgraded device and a message carrying the indicated version upgrade failure to the device management server.

After the firmware upgrade is successful according to the latest version of the data, the method further includes: rolling back the latest version to any version before the firmware upgrade of the device to be upgraded.

Other features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the description which follows, The objectives and other advantages of the invention will be realized and attained by the <RTI DRAWINGS

The drawings are intended to provide a further understanding of the invention, and are intended to be a part of the description of the invention. In the drawing: 1 is a system architecture diagram in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

2 is a structural block diagram of an embodiment of a device firmware upgrading system according to the present invention;

3 is a structural block diagram of an embodiment of a device management server according to the present invention;

4 is a structural block diagram of an embodiment of a mobile terminal according to the present invention;

5 is a flowchart of an embodiment of a method for upgrading a device firmware according to the present invention;

6 is a flow chart of a preferred embodiment of a device firmware upgrade method of the present invention. detailed description

Functional Overview

Considering the lack of the firmware online upgrade scheme of the digital home device based on the DM service system in the related art, the firmware of the digital home appliance can be upgraded online through the device management (MDM or DM, Mobile Device Management) service of the mobile communication. method. The DM-based digital home appliance firmware upgrade method needs to be combined with the DM service system and the digital home networking technology, and requires the digital home appliance to have the ability to upgrade the firmware itself after obtaining the new firmware. According to the embodiment of the present invention, information about the current version of the device firmware to be upgraded needs to be updated first; and then the data download connection is performed through the mobile terminal; and finally, the latest version of the data is downloaded to the device to be upgraded via the mobile terminal for upgrading. Thereby, the firmware on the server side, the mobile terminal side, and the home appliance side cooperates with each other, so that the firmware version that needs to be downloaded reaches the home appliance for upgrading, and can support the firmware breakpoint download service, the firmware update fault processing service, and the firmware version. Recovery processing services, as well as firmware upgrade charging services.

The embodiments of the present application and the features of the embodiments may be combined with each other without conflict.

The preferred embodiments of the present invention are described with reference to the accompanying drawings, and the preferred embodiments of the present invention are intended to illustrate and explain the invention.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a device firmware upgrade system is first provided. 1 is a system architecture diagram in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 1, a system according to an embodiment of the present invention includes: A terminal management (DM) service server, a digital home appliance version server, a mobile terminal, and a digital home appliance, wherein the mobile terminal and the digital home appliance constitute a digital home network, and each component is separately described below.

(1) A DM service server for parsing data according to the DM protocol. Used to implement version update notification management functions, version address management functions. In addition, it is also used to implement functions such as communication with the digital home version server.

(2) Digital home appliance version server, mainly used to store various versions of home appliance firmware for download.

(3) The mobile terminal, which is equivalent to the client of the DM service server, can access the mobile internet, connect to the firmware upgrade server, download the firmware version, support the resume transmission, or OMA DL, and can be connected with the digital home appliance. Transfer instructions and data to and from digital home appliances.

(4) A digital home appliance device for networking with a mobile terminal, receiving an instruction transmitted by the mobile terminal and version data, a feedback status, and an instruction execution result. Preferably, the digital home appliance may be a personal audio-visual device such as a television, a PDA, an MP3/MP4/PSP, or a navigator personal terminal device.

2 is a structural block diagram of a device firmware upgrade system according to an embodiment of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 2, a device firmware upgrade system according to an embodiment of the present invention includes: a version server, a device management server, and a mobile terminal, wherein a version server is configured to store various versions of firmware; a device management server, a connection version server, and a mobile terminal, configured to obtain current version information of the firmware of the device to be upgraded by the mobile terminal, and obtain latest version information from the version server; and the mobile terminal is connected to the device management server, and configured to receive data from the device management server.

Preferably, the data received by the mobile terminal includes one of the following: indication information with version update, version information to be upgraded, and indication information without version update.

Through the above embodiments, a device firmware upgrade system is provided. According to the combination of a version server, a device management server, and a mobile terminal in the system, the existing mobile network is utilized. The device management service upgrades the home appliances in the digital home network online, effectively improving the user experience.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a device management server is also provided. 3 is a structural block diagram of an embodiment of a device management server of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 3, a device management server according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a first obtaining unit, a searching unit, a comparing unit, and a processing unit, wherein

The first obtaining unit is configured to obtain information corresponding to the firmware of the device to be upgraded, where the information includes the model of the device to be upgraded, information of the current version, and the like;

a searching unit, configured to search for information of the latest version in the version server corresponding to the device firmware according to the information;

a comparison unit, configured to compare the current version of the information with the latest version of the information and output a comparison result to determine whether a firmware upgrade is required;

With the above embodiment, a device management server is provided. The device management server obtains current version information of the firmware of the device to be upgraded through the mobile terminal, and obtains the latest version information from the version server, which may be a home appliance in the digital home network. Online upgrades provide services that effectively improve the user experience.

According to an embodiment of the present invention, a mobile terminal is also provided. 4 is a structural block diagram of an embodiment of a mobile terminal of the present invention. As shown in FIG. 4, a mobile terminal according to an embodiment of the present invention includes a first interface, a second interface, a second obtaining unit, and a sending unit, where

a first interface, configured to perform data transmission with a device management server;

a second interface, configured to perform data transmission with the device to be upgraded; The second obtaining unit is connected to the first interface, and is configured to acquire data from the device management server by using the first interface, where the data includes one of the following: indication information of version update, version information to be upgraded, and indication of no version update information.

The sending unit is connected to the second interface, and is configured to send the foregoing data to the device to be upgraded through the second interface.

Preferably, the first interface is further configured to send status information of the version update to the device management server by using a connection channel established with the device management server;

Preferably, the second interface is further configured to receive status information from the version update of the device to be upgraded through the connection channel established with the device to be upgraded.

Through the above embodiments, a mobile terminal is provided, and the connection between the device management server and the digital home appliance is established by using the mobile terminal, thereby realizing online upgrade of the home appliance in the digital home network, thereby effectively improving the user experience.

According to an embodiment of the invention, a device firmware upgrade method is also provided. FIG. 5 is a flowchart of an embodiment of a method for upgrading a device firmware according to the present invention. As shown in Figure 5, the following steps are included:

Step 500: Obtain information that the current version of the firmware of the device to be upgrade needs to be updated.

Preferably, the step 500 specifically includes: obtaining information corresponding to the firmware of the device to be upgraded, where the information includes: information of the model and current version of the device to be upgraded; and searching for the latest version of the information in the version server corresponding to the device firmware according to the information;

The device management server establishes a connection with a firmware version server (for example, a digital home appliance firmware version upgrade server) through an interface, and searches for the latest version information in the version stored by the version server corresponding to the device firmware. After confirming that a firmware upgrade is required, information about the firmware upgrade is sent to the mobile terminal.

Step 501: Establish a data download connection channel through the mobile terminal.

The mobile terminal establishes a data transmission channel with the device management server through the interface, and can perform data communication through the HTTP protocol. And, the mobile terminal establishes data with the device to be upgraded through the interface. The transmission channel can realize short-distance wireless data transmission through any communication technology such as Bluetooth, infrared, wireless USB or NFC, Zigbee. However, the device to be upgraded is required to be networked with the mobile terminal, and can mutually recognize commands and transmit data.

Step 502: Download the latest version of the data to the device to be upgraded via the mobile terminal for upgrading. Specifically, the following processing is included:

First download the latest version of the data to the data buffer of the mobile terminal; then download the data to the data buffer of the device to be upgraded for saving.

Preferably, after step 502, if the firmware upgrade is successful according to the latest version of the data, the mobile terminal returns the model of the device to be upgraded, the latest version information, and/or the firmware upgrade start or completion to the device management server. Time; or,

If the firmware is not upgraded successfully according to the latest version of the data, the mobile terminal returns the model of the device to be upgraded to the device management server, and carries a message indicating that the version upgrade failed.

Preferably, after the firmware upgrade is successful according to the latest version of the data, if the user is not satisfied with the upgraded new version, the user may fall back to any version of the device upgrade that is to be upgraded, and return to the device management server through the mobile terminal. Version rollback information. For example, the version number after the rollback, and so on.

For example, if you need to return to the previous version before the upgrade, because the information of the previous version is still stored in the local storage area of the device to be upgraded, you can directly fall back to the previous version. If it is necessary to return to the previous version except the previous version, the request may be sent to the terminal device, and the terminal device sends the request to the device management server, after which the device management server sends all the previously updated versions to the device to be upgraded via the terminal device. Information, the device to be upgraded determines to fall back to a certain version based on the above information.

6 is a flow chart of a preferred embodiment of a device firmware upgrade method in accordance with the present invention. As shown in Figure 6, the following steps are included: Step 600: The system side or the user side initiates a message of version update, and according to the message, it is determined whether the current version of the data appliance needs to be upgraded. In this step, version updates can be initiated in various ways by various participants of the system. The following examples illustrate:

First, the DM service server periodically checks the message of the initiated version update, wherein the DM server periodically checks the version repository.

Second, the digital home appliance periodically checks for a message that initiates a version update.

Third, the message that initiates the version update is checked by on-demand. The digital home appliance user manually opens the control menu to check if the version is updated. Or the DM system administrator, or the home appliance salesperson, checks whether the version is updated according to the user's phone request.

Preferably, the specific implementation of step 600 includes, but is not limited to, the following processing:

A. If it is an inspection request initiated by the user side (such as digital home appliance timing check, or the user requests through the control menu of the digital home appliance), the digital home appliance should be sent to the mobile terminal after the digital home appliance is connected to the mobile terminal. The version check request, the mobile terminal sends a home appliance model, version information, and version check request to the DM server, and executes C.

B. If it is a check request initiated by the system side (such as requested by the DM server or system administrator), then there is already existing information about the appliance, and C is executed.

C. The DM server connects to the corresponding home appliance version server according to the home appliance information, and retrieves the latest version information;

D. The DM server compares the existing version of the appliance with the latest version information to determine whether an update is required. If no update is required, for the check request initiated by the user side, execute F, and for the check request initiated by the system side, the process ends; if it needs to be updated, execute E;

E. The DM server sends back version update information to the mobile terminal and attaches a new version link. The mobile terminal forwards the information to the digital home appliance.

F. The DM server sends back no version update information to the mobile terminal. Preferably, in some abnormal situations, for example, when the user side initiates the check request, there is no response, and then A may be repeated after waiting for a certain response time T1. If there is still no response after Tl, then the appliance should prompt that the server is not connected. And check again under the next inspection cycle or user instructions. If the home appliance has left the network after the response arrives at the mobile terminal, the check is over.

Step 601: Create a download link. This step includes but is not limited to the following processing:

After receiving the download, the home appliance prompts the user to have an update. Users can choose to update, give up, remind later, and more. If you choose to abandon, this step ends; if you select the reminder, turn on the timer, and after the timing is up, return to execution.

If the update is selected immediately, the updated response is sent back to the mobile terminal; the mobile terminal establishes a data transmission channel with the home appliance and the version server respectively; the mobile terminal downloads the version data to the local buffer area and forwards it to the home appliance. Digital home appliances also need to create buffers to hold temporary data.

Preferably, the data downloads are performed in a background manner.

Step 602: Perform firmware download and perform charging according to the download traffic.

Preferably, normal downloading, breakpoint resuming, and download abandonment functions can be supported.

Preferably, if the download is completed, the mobile terminal closes the two channels, saves the version, and performs step 603.

Step 603: It is judged whether the normal download is completed, and if yes, the process proceeds to step 604; otherwise, the process proceeds to step 607.

Step 604: Perform a firmware upgrade. The digital home appliance updates the firmware and reports an update message to the server. Preferably, normal upgrade, return status report, and abnormal condition recovery can be supported. The specific implementation process includes but is not limited to the following processing:

a. The appliance reminds the user that "the firmware has been downloaded, do I need to update it?". Users can choose "yes", "no" or "late". If you select "No", execute b; select "After", execute c; select "Yes" and execute d. b. Delete the downloaded firmware and end the process.

c Start timer T2 and return a after T2 arrives.

d. The appliance starts the firmware upgrade program. If the upgrade is successful, execute e; if the upgrade fails, execute h„

e. Restart and reconnect the mobile terminal, "Version updated" in the status report of successful connection. f. The mobile terminal asks for the "latest version information" of the home appliance, and the home appliance returns the information.

g. The mobile terminal sends the home model + "version information" to the DM server; the DM server updates the database with the latest information, and the process ends.

h. Restart and reconnect the mobile terminal and report "Version upgrade failed" when the connection is successful. i. The mobile terminal sends a home electric model + "version upgrade failed" letter to the DM server. The process ends.

Step 605: Determine whether the version needs to be rolled back. If not, end the process; if necessary, proceed to step 606.

Step 606: Roll back the original version and report the update message. Preferably, after the user upgrades, if you need to roll back, you can select "Back" through the control menu. If it is the previous version, you can directly roll back. Otherwise, if you need to return to the previous version except the previous version, you can Sending a request to the terminal device, the terminal device sends the request to the device management server, and then the device management server sends all the version information that was previously updated to the device to be upgraded via the terminal device, and the device to be upgraded determines to fall back to a certain version according to the above information. . Finally, the rolled back version information is returned to the device management server via the mobile terminal.

Step 607: If the download is not completed, the data will be renewed based on the data points received by the digital home appliance. Repeat steps C and C of step 601; if the number of failed transmissions reaches a certain number of times, the download is aborted, the data buffered on both sides is cleared, and the user is notified that the download has failed. Through the foregoing embodiment, a device firmware upgrade method is provided. Based on the DM service system, the existing device management service of the mobile network is used to perform online upgrade of the home appliances in the digital home network, thereby effectively improving the user experience.

In summary, the device firmware upgrade system and method, the device management server, and the mobile terminal provided by the foregoing embodiments of the present invention implement software cooperation through the server side, the mobile terminal side, and the home appliance side, so that downloading is required. The firmware version reaches the home appliance for upgrade, and supports firmware breakpoint download service, firmware update fault handling service, firmware version recovery processing service, and firmware upgrade charging service, thereby effectively improving the user experience.

Obviously, those skilled in the art should understand that the above modules or steps of the present invention can be implemented by a general-purpose computing device, which can be concentrated on a single computing device or distributed over a network composed of multiple computing devices. Alternatively, they may be implemented by program code executable by the computing device, such that they may be stored in the storage device by the computing device, or they may be separately fabricated into individual integrated circuit modules, or they may be Multiple modules or steps are made into a single integrated circuit module. Thus, the invention is not limited to any specific combination of hardware and software.

The above is only the preferred embodiment of the present invention, and is not intended to limit the present invention, and various modifications and changes can be made to the present invention. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements, etc. within the spirit and scope of the invention are intended to be included within the scope of the invention.

Claims

Claim

A device firmware upgrade system, comprising: a version server, a device management server, and a mobile mobile terminal, wherein

a version server for storing various versions of firmware;

2. The device firmware upgrade system according to claim 1, wherein the data from the device management server comprises one of: an indication information of a version update, version information to be upgraded, and a versionless update. Instructions.

The device firmware upgrade system according to claim 1, wherein the device management server includes a first obtaining unit, a searching unit, a comparing unit, and a processing unit, wherein the first acquiring unit is configured to acquire the The information corresponding to the device firmware to be upgraded, where the information includes: a model of the device to be upgraded, and information about the current version;

a searching unit, configured to search, in the version server, information about an latest version of the device firmware according to the information from the first obtaining unit;

The device firmware upgrade system according to claim 1, wherein the mobile terminal comprises a first interface, a second interface, a second obtaining unit, and a sending unit, where

a second interface, configured to perform data transmission with the device to be upgraded; a second acquiring unit, configured to acquire data from the device management server by using the first interface, where the data includes one of the following: indication information of a version update, version information to be upgraded, and indication information of no version update;

The device firmware upgrade system according to claim 4, wherein the first interface is further configured to: send, by using a connection channel established by the device management server, version update status information to the Device management server;

A device management server, comprising: a first obtaining unit, a searching unit, a comparing unit, and a processing unit, wherein:

a searching unit, configured to search for a latest version of the information in a version server corresponding to the device firmware according to the information from the first obtaining unit;

A mobile terminal, comprising: a first interface, a second interface, a second acquiring unit, and a sending unit, where

8. The mobile terminal of claim 7, wherein

9. A device firmware upgrade method, comprising:

Establishing a data download connection channel through the mobile terminal;

The method according to claim 9, wherein the information that needs to be updated to obtain the current version of the firmware of the device to be upgraded includes:

Obtaining the information corresponding to the firmware of the device to be upgraded, where the information includes: a model of the device to be upgraded, and information about the current version;

Searching, according to the information, information of the latest version corresponding to the device firmware in the version server; determining that the update is required according to the comparison result between the information of the current version and the latest version of the information, or determining that the firmware upgrade is required by the user confirmation mode, The firmware upgrade information is sent to the mobile terminal.

The method according to claim 10, wherein the downloading the latest version of the data to the to-be-upgraded device via the mobile terminal comprises: Downloading the latest version of the information to the data buffer of the mobile terminal;

Downloading the data to a data buffer of the device to be upgraded for saving.

The method according to any one of claims 9 to 11, wherein after the downloading the latest version of the data to the device to be upgraded for upgrading via the mobile terminal, the method further comprises:

The method according to any one of claims 9 to 11, wherein after the firmware upgrade is successful according to the latest version of the data, the method further comprises:

Roll back the latest version to any version before the firmware upgrade of the device to be upgraded.