JP2000089940A - Program loading method - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] [Problem] To prevent a situation in which downloading of an application program in which a defect is inherent and in which subsequent downloading itself becomes impossible is prevented beforehand. SOLUTION: The self-diagnosis means shown in steps S21, S23 and the like provided in an application program AP2 for performing self-diagnosis regarding download execution, and the self-diagnosis result of the self-diagnosis means of the application program AP2 are evaluated. Select an application program for which the self-diagnosis result is normal,
A loader program IPL for realizing online download of a new version of the application program by executing the selected application program;

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a program loading method with improved reliability when downloading a program.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art With the establishment of a new communication protocol accompanying the rapid development of the Internet and a reduction in the price of rewritable nonvolatile memory devices, control of equipment during field operation, particularly in the field of network devices such as modems and routers. Increasingly, software has a function to download and update software online. In such a case, in the conventional program loading method, a method has been adopted in which an application program is divided into a resident unit and a rewriting unit, and the resident unit has a download function of the application program.

[0003]

Since the conventional program loading method is performed as described above, the software mounting method becomes complicated, and when an application program having an inherent problem is downloaded, it is downloaded thereafter. There was a problem that could not be done.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made to solve the above-mentioned problems, and an object of the present invention is to prevent the download of an application program having a defect therein,
It is an object of the present invention to provide a program loading method capable of avoiding a situation in which downloading of an application program having a defect and subsequent downloading itself becomes impossible.

[0005]

A program loading method according to the present invention comprises a loader program, and in a program loading method in which an application program downloads a new version of an application program online from a center server, a self-diagnosis of download execution is performed. The application program includes a self-diagnosis unit provided in the application program, wherein the loader program evaluates a self-diagnosis result of the application program by the self-diagnosis unit, selects an application program in which the self-diagnosis result is normal, It is characterized in that online execution of a new version of an application program is realized by executing the selected application program.

According to a program loading method of the present invention, a self-diagnosis of download execution is executed in an application program, the self-diagnosis result is held as diagnosis history information, and a loader program performs evaluation based on the diagnosis history information. Selecting an application program whose self-diagnosis result is normal, realizing an online download of a new version of the application program by executing the selected application program, and downloading the application program having the defect. To avoid the situation where downloading the file itself becomes impossible.

[0007]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below. The program loading method according to the present embodiment is configured by a loader program and an application program, and in an information processing terminal having a function of online downloading a new version of the application program, online downloading is impossible due to a failure of the application program. The application program has at least a self-diagnosis function related to download, and the loader program has a function of evaluating the self-diagnosis result. Is downloaded, and the download itself becomes impossible thereafter.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a program loading method according to the present embodiment. Hereinafter, an information processing terminal including a loader program and an application program, the application program having a function of online downloading a new version of the application program. A description will be given of the case where the configuration is made as follows.

Reference numeral 100 denotes the information processing terminal;
PU1, EPROM2, line interface 3, FEE
It comprises a PROM 4, a DRAM 6, a CPU bus 7 and the like, and is connected to the center server 8 via the line interface 3. AP1 is an initial version application program (first application program) stored in the FEEPROM 4, AP2 is a new version application program (self-diagnosis means) similarly, and 5 is a load & diagnosis history file stored in the FEEPROM 4.

The CPU 1 controls each section of the information processing terminal 100 such as the EPROM 2, the line interface 3, the FEEPROM 4, and the DRAM 6. EP
The ROM 2 is a non-rewritable nonvolatile memory storing a loader program IPL. The line interface 3 is for connecting the information processing terminal 100 and the center server 8. The FEEPROM 4 is a rewritable nonvolatile memory having a capacity enough to hold two or more application programs.
The load & diagnosis history file 5 stores execution results of a download test and other tests immediately after startup. The DRAM 6 is a memory in which an application program to be executed is loaded from the FEEPROM 4. The center server 8 includes an information processing terminal 100
Is the source of new versions of the program.

It is assumed that the loader program IPL is stored in the EPROM 2 which is a non-rewritable nonvolatile memory, and the application program AP is stored in the FEEPROM 4 which is a rewritable nonvolatile memory. Here, the FEEPROM 4 stores the application program A
It has the capacity to hold two or more files of P.

The EPROM 2 has a loader program IPL
Is mounted, the application program AP is copied from the FEEPROM 4 to the DRAM 6 when the apparatus is started, and the control is transferred to the application program AP. In the initial state of the apparatus, the application program AP1 (initial file) is written in the FEEPROM4.

Next, the operation will be described. FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing operations of the loader program IPL and the application program AP. After H / W initial processing, the loader program IPL executes FEEPR
The storage state of the application program AP in the OM 4 is checked (step S1). Since only the application program AP1 exists, the application program AP1 is copied to the DRAM 6 and executed, and the load & diagnosis history file 5 is created and the application program AP1 is created. The fact that AP1 has been loaded is recorded as a history (step S7). FIG. 3A shows a load & diagnosis history file 5 in which the load of the application program AP1 is recorded as a history.

Immediately after the application program AP1 starts up, the existence of a new version of the program is confirmed at the remote center server via the line interface unit 3, and if a new file (in this case, the application program AP2) exists. If this is the case, it is downloaded and an error check is performed on the DRAM 6, and if there is no abnormality, it is written into the FEEPROM 4 and an H / W reset is performed (steps S11 and S12).

After the H / W reset, the loader program IPL starts up again and at step S1, the FEEPROM
4 is checked, at this time, the application program AP1 and the application program AP2 are present, and the final history of the load & history file 5 indicates that the application program AP1 has been loaded as shown in FIG. Has become. Therefore, the loader program IPL is executed by the application program AP.
It is determined that the application program AP2 has just been downloaded and that the application program AP2 has not been executed yet, and the process advances from step S2 to step S4 to copy the application program AP2 to the DRAM 6 and execute it. The loaded history is added (step S4, step S5). FIG.
(B) shows a load & diagnosis history file 5 to which a history of loading of the application program AP2 is added.

On the other hand, the application program AP2
Then, the download test, the other test 1, and the other test 2 are executed immediately after the startup (step S21, step S23, self-diagnosis means), and the result is written in the diagnosis result section of the load & diagnosis history file 5 (step S22, step S22). Step S24). FIG. 3C shows the load & diagnosis history file 5 in which the test results are written by the application program AP2. In this case, since all the diagnostic items are normal, the application program AP2 operates as it is (step S2).
5).

Here, as a simple method of the download test, a method of downloading the application program AP2 itself to the DRAM 6 and checking whether or not the application program AP2 matches the application program AP2 on the FEEPROM 4 or the content and name are determined in advance. It is possible to download the file and check whether the contents are as specified.

When the apparatus is started up again, the loader program IPL verifies the existence of the application program AP in the FEEPROM 4 (step S1) and the contents of the load & diagnosis history file 5 (step S2, step S2).
3) If it is confirmed that the application program AP2 is present and that the application program AP2 was previously loaded and the diagnosis is normal, the process proceeds to step S
4, the application program AP2 is loaded again, and the history of loading the application program AP2 is added to the load & diagnosis history file 5 (step S5). FIG. 3D shows a load & diagnosis history file 5 to which a history of loading of the application program AP2 is added.

In this case, the application program A
P2 executes the download test immediately after startup as shown in step S21. If the download is not completed normally due to any abnormality, the result is as follows (if the download was not completed normally, an abnormal state such as NG, program runaway, etc.) Is recorded in the section of the diagnosis result as shown in step S22. FIG. 3E shows the load & diagnosis history file 5 in which the self-diagnosis result of the download test is recorded.

In such a case, at the next start-up,
Since the application program AP2 was loaded in the past, but the result of the self-diagnosis of the application program is not normal, the loader program IPL determines that some problem is inherent in the application program AP2 by the determination processing shown in step S3, and proceeds to step S6. To application program A
Load P1. In this case, the loader program IPL
Examines all the recorded contents of the load & diagnosis history file 5, and loads the application program AP1 if there is at least one history in which the application program AP2 has a diagnosis abnormality.

In the above description, it is assumed that the download function of the application program AP1, which is the initial application program, is determined in advance to be valid, and that the application program AP1 does not perform a download check.

The application program AP2
If the result of the self-diagnosis is normal, the application program AP2 subsequently checks in step S25 whether an application program file (application program AP3) newer than itself exists in the center server 8, and if it exists, DR this
After downloading to the AM 6, the application program AP2 on the FEEPROM 4 is deleted, and the application program AP 3 is written to the FEEPROM 4.

In the present embodiment, it is assumed that the application program AP1 is always left in the FEEPROM 4 and is not deleted.

As described above, according to the present embodiment, the loader program IPL checks the validity of the download function of the application program AP from the presence or absence of an abnormal history of the download function by the download test of the application program AP. It has a function of changing the application program AP having a problem with the download function to an application program having a valid download function, so that an application program having a problem with the download function is downloaded, and thereafter the download itself is not performed. It is possible to provide a program loading method capable of avoiding a possible situation beforehand.

Next, another embodiment of the program loading method of the present invention will be described. The basic configuration of the program loading method of this embodiment is the same as that of the above-described embodiment. In the above-described embodiment, the number of application programs written in the EEPROM 4 is two. And the application program AP started from the center server 8 can be specified.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing the load & diagnosis history file 15 for each application program in the program loading system having such a configuration.
A forced start flag 16 is added to the load & diagnosis history file 15. When the application program being started (designated application program recording means, forced start flag setting means) AP is designated by the center server 8 with the application program file name, the load application program file name of the load & diagnosis history file 15 indicated by reference numeral 17 , The specified file name is written, and the compulsory start flag of the load application program file name is turned ON.

The loader program (specified application program recording means) IPL examines the contents of the last record of the load & diagnosis history file 15 immediately after startup, and specifies the load application program file name if the forced startup flag 16 is ON. The loaded application program file is loaded and executed. Otherwise, the load application program file is determined and loaded by the normal processing.

[0028]

As described above, according to the present invention, the application program to be loaded can be changed based on the result of determining the validity of the function of downloading the application program by the loader program. There is an effect that it is possible to prevent a situation in which the application program AP to be downloaded is downloaded and the download itself becomes impossible thereafter.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram showing a program loading method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating operations of a loader program and an application program in the program loading method according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing a load & diagnosis history file in the program loading method according to the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an explanatory diagram showing a load & diagnosis history file for each application program in a program loading method according to another embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

5, 15 load and diagnosis history file, 8 center server, IPL loader program (designated application program recording means), AP1 application program (first application program,
Designated application program recording means, forced start flag setting means), AP2 ... application program (self-diagnosis means, designated application program recording means, forced start flag setting means), step S21 ...
(Self-diagnosis means), step S23 (Self-diagnosis means).

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[Procedure amendment]

[Submission date] August 9, 1999 (1999.8.9)

[Procedure amendment 1]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] Claims

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[Claims]

[Procedure amendment 2]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0005

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

[0005]

According to the program loading method of the present invention, a self-diagnosis means provided in an application program for performing a self-diagnosis on download execution and a first function in which a download function is guaranteed to be legitimate. The loader program is downloaded by the first application program download function or the first application program download function, and the self-diagnosis result of the self-diagnosis unit is normal. The self-diagnosis result of the self-diagnosis means of the application program downloaded online from the center server is evaluated by the download function of the application program. Selected, characterized in that to achieve the online downloading of new version of the application program by executing the application program said selected.

[Procedure amendment 3]

[Document name to be amended] Statement

[Correction target item name] 0006

[Correction method] Change

[Correction contents]

According to the program loading method of the present invention, the application program downloaded online from the center server by the download function of the first application program that is guaranteed to be valid for the download function, or the self-diagnosis result by the self-diagnosis means is normal. The loader program evaluates the self-diagnosis result by the self-diagnosis means of the application program downloaded online from the center server by the download function of the application program,
By selecting an application program for which the self-diagnosis result is normal, executing the selected application program to realize online download of a new version of the application program, preventing the download of the application program having the problem, and preventing the problem from occurring Avoid a situation in which downloading of the application program and subsequent downloading becomes impossible.

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A program loader which includes a loader program, wherein the application program online downloads a new version of the application program from a center server. The loader program evaluates a self-diagnosis result by the self-diagnosis unit of the application program, selects an application program in which the self-diagnosis result is normal, and executes a new version of the application program by executing the selected application program. A program loading method that realizes online download. 2. A load & diagnosis history file for recording a load history of an application program performed by a loader program and a self-diagnosis history of a self-diagnosis performed by a self-diagnosis unit on download execution of the application program, The loader program evaluates a self-diagnosis result of the application program based on the self-diagnosis history recorded in the load & diagnosis history file, selects an application program in which the self-diagnosis result is normal, and selects the selected application. 2. The program loading method according to claim 1, wherein online download of a new version of the application program is realized by starting the program. 3. A first application program that is guaranteed to be normal for download execution is stored in advance, and the loader program has a storage state of only the first application program. In this case, a load history of the first application program is recorded in a load & diagnosis history file, the first application program is selected, and a new version of the application program is started online by activating the selected first application program. 3. The program loading method according to claim 2, wherein downloading is realized. 4. A designated application program recording means for recording as a load history that the designated application program is loaded into a load & diagnosis history file so that an application program to be started can be designated from a center server. 4. The program load according to claim 2, further comprising: a forced start flag setting unit that writes a forced start flag for the specified application program in which the load history is recorded by the specified application program recording unit. method.