JP2003288225A - Public communication terminal, terminal management device, and main program updating system - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To automatically update a main program that runs continuously. <P>SOLUTION: A main program updating system 1 comprises a public communication terminal 3 and a terminal management device 4. The public communication terminal 3 is connected by line to the terminal management device 4 via a communication network 2 and can communicate therewith. The public communication terminal 3 has a storage means 10 storing the main program 13; an updating directory 17 storing an updating program 18 for updating the main program 13; a rebooting means for automatically rebooting the public communication terminal 3; and a main program updating means for updating the main program 13 by starting the updating program 18 after the rebooting and prior to the start of the main program 13. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2004,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a public communication terminal for automatically upgrading a main program, a terminal management device, and a main program updating system.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A system has been conventionally known in which various communication services such as the Internet and electronic mail are provided through a communication network using public communication terminals installed in various places. Further, this public communication terminal has an operating system (OS) that controls the public communication terminal 3 in a centralized manner.
stem) and a main program operable on this OS are stored, and transmission / reception of data to / from a server of a connection destination is executed.

These main programs are automatically started after the OS is started, and the user can insert money or insert a prepaid card to connect the public communication terminal to the external server via the communication network. Becomes As a result, the user can receive the communication service using the public communication terminal.

This public communication terminal is in a state in which the OS and the main program are activated even when the user is unattended so that the user can always use the public communication terminal.

In this system, it may be necessary to upgrade the version of the main program in order to improve bugs and convenience. In this system, since the OS and the main program are always activated, the OS has the access right for version upgrade.

That is, the OS has shared files such as a dynamic link library (dll) and a setting file (ini) which are also used for the operation of the main program, and when the main program is upgraded in this state. , The shared file may be updated, O
Since the operation failure of S and the main program is caused, when the main program is running, the OS side controls so that the version upgrade cannot be executed.

[0007]

However, even if a server that manages a public communication terminal issues a version upgrade instruction remotely, the main program is always running, so the version upgrade of the main program can be executed. Can not. Further, since the public communication terminals are scattered in various places, it is inefficient for an operator to individually operate the public communication terminals to upgrade the version.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a public communication terminal, a terminal management device, and a main program update system that can automatically upgrade the main program that is always running. It is an object.

[0009]

[Means for Solving the Problems] Next, means for solving the above problems will be described with reference to the drawings corresponding to the embodiments. The public communication terminal according to claim 1, wherein the public communication terminal 3 is connected to an external device via a communication network 2 and is capable of communicating with each other.
And a storage area 12 for storing a main program 13 for operating the main program 13 and the main program 13.
And a version upgrade directory 17 in which a version upgrade program 18 for executing a version upgrade of the main program 13 is stored, and a reboot processing unit that automatically reboots the public communication terminal 3. After the reboot process and before the activation of the main program 13, the main program update means for activating the version upgrade program 18 to update the main program 13 is provided.

A public communication terminal according to a second aspect is a public communication terminal 3 which is line-connected to an external device via a communication network 2 and can communicate with each other, and the public communication terminal 3
And a storage area 12 for storing a main program 13 for operating the main program 13 and the main program 13.
And a version upgrade directory 17 in which a version upgrade program 18 for executing a version upgrade of the main program 13 is stored, and a reboot processing unit that automatically reboots the public communication terminal 3. , The main program 1 after the reboot process and before the activation of the main program 13.
3 is compared with the file information of the version upgrade program 18 to determine whether the main program 13 is the latest version, and the main program based on the determination result of the version determination means. Main program updating means for activating the version upgrade program 18 to update the main program 13 when it is determined that the version 13 is an old version.

A public communication terminal according to a third aspect is the first aspect.
Alternatively, in the public communication terminal 3 described in 2, a line connection instructing means for instructing a line connection with a terminal management device 4 that manages the public communication terminal 3 via the communication network 2 at a preset line connection time. The version upgrade program 18 downloaded from the line-connected terminal management device 4 is stored in the version upgrade directory 1
And a line connection releasing means for releasing the line connection after being stored in 7. The reboot processing means executes the reboot process when the line connection is released.

A public communication terminal according to a fourth aspect is the first aspect.
In the public communication terminal 3 according to any one of 1 to 3, the file size of the upgrade program 18 is
The version discriminating means is provided with download inspection means for inspecting whether or not the version upgrade program 18 is normally downloaded depending on whether or not the file size information described as the header information of the version upgrade program 18 matches. Is characterized in that the determination processing is executed when the download inspection means determines that the download has been performed normally.

A terminal management device according to claim 5 is a terminal management device 4 which is line-connected to the public communication terminal 3 according to any one of claims 1 to 4 through a communication network 2 and is capable of mutual communication. The version information acquisition means 21 for acquiring version information of the main program 13 from the public communication terminal 3, and the main program 1 of the public communication terminal 3 based on the acquired version information.
In the case where the version upgrade is necessary according to the determination result of the version upgrade necessity determination means 22 and the version upgrade necessity determination means 22 described above, the public communication terminal 3 is provided with the version upgrade program 18. And a download means 23 for downloading.

A main program updating system according to a sixth aspect comprises the public communication terminal 3 according to any one of the first to fourth aspects and a terminal management device 4 according to the fifth aspect. .

[0015]

1 is a schematic diagram showing an embodiment of a main program updating system 1 according to the present invention.

FIG. 1 is a schematic system configuration diagram showing a first embodiment of a main program updating system 1 using a communication network 2 according to the present invention. The communication network 2 is an existing network such as a public telephone network, the Internet, or personal computer communication. Through this communication network 2, a plurality of public communication terminals 3 are connected to a terminal management device 4 that manages the public communication terminals 3 and an external server 5 as external devices.

By connecting the public communication terminal 3 to the communication network 2, the public communication terminal 3 is connected to a desired external server 5 to provide communication services such as Internet, personal computer communication, telephone, videophone, and electronic mail transmission / reception. Can receive.

The public communication terminals 3 are installed at various places and are remotely managed by the terminal management device 4. As shown in FIG. 2, the public communication terminal 3 includes an arithmetic control unit 6, communication control hardware 7, a main storage device 10 as a storage unit,
The upgrade directory 17 is roughly configured.

The arithmetic control unit 6 includes a CPU, ROM, RA
It is composed of a storage unit such as M, and performs program control of the communication control hardware 7, the main storage device 10 and programs stored therein, data transfer, various calculations, and temporary storage of data.

The communication control hardware 7 is an interface for connecting a line to the public communication terminal 3, the terminal management device 4, the external server 5 and the like via the communication network 2, and the line control unit 8 and charging control. And a part 9.

Upon receiving the transmission instruction from the arithmetic control unit 6, the line control unit 8 discriminates the terminal management device 4 or the external server 5 as the external device which is the transmission destination, and establishes the line connection to the transmission destination. Further, in response to a line disconnection instruction from the arithmetic and control unit 6, the line being connected is controlled to be disconnected. Further, the data transmitted from the external device is transferred to the arithmetic control unit 6.

The billing control unit 9 bills according to the communication time or the amount of communication packets during line connection. The charging method may be such that payment is made in advance by inserting money or inserting a prepaid card, or the user is prompted to input a credit card number and the charged amount is transmitted to the terminal management device 4 after the communication service ends. However, it may be debited from the user's bank account.

An OS (Operat) that controls execution of various programs and performs job management, input / output control, data management, and various communication services related to these is stored in the main storage device 10.
ingSystem) 11 is stored.

The main storage device 10 has a main program 13 (overall control program 1) which operates on the OS 11.
4, screen control program 15) and update program 16
Is stored in the program file. The overall control program 14 is a program that controls the communication services that can be provided by the public communication terminal 3. The screen control program 15 is a program for displaying the contents of the communication service controlled by the overall control program 14 on the display screen in various modes. The update program 16 will be described later.

The upgrade directory 17 is, for example, a storage area in the main storage device 10 and is a download folder which is a separate area from the storage area of the main program 13. In the upgrade directory 17,
Only the version upgrade program 18 is stored.

Next, the update program 16 will be described. The update program 16 includes a CPU, a reboot processing means, a main program update means, a version determination means,
It is a program that functions as a line connection instruction means, a line connection release means, and a download inspection means.

The reboot processing means automatically reboots the active public communication terminal 3. By this reboot process, the OS 11 is activated again, and then the main program 13 is activated.

The version discriminating means, after the reboot processing,
Before starting the main program 13, the main program 1
3 file information and version upgrade program 18
Compare the file information of. Then, it is determined whether or not the main program 13 is the latest version. Each file information is, for example, version information, update time, file size, etc. of the program, and the version discriminating means performs comparison discrimination with at least one of them.

The main program update means starts the version upgrade program 18 and updates the main program 13 when the main program 13 is determined to be an old version based on the determination result of the version determination means.

The line connection instructing means instructs a line connection with the terminal management device 4 that manages the public communication terminal 3 via the communication network 2 at a preset line connection time.
The line control unit 8 receives this line connection instruction,
The terminal management device 4 is connected via the communication network 2.

The line connection releasing means releases the line connection after the version upgrade program 18 downloaded from the line-connected terminal management device 4 is stored in the version upgrade directory 17. In this case, the reboot processing means is adapted to execute the reboot processing when the line connection is released.

Next, the terminal management device 4 will be described.
The terminal management device 4 is capable of communicating with the public communication terminal 3 via the communication network 2 and is a device for remotely managing the public communication terminal 3.

The terminal management device 4 includes a CPU, ROM, and R.
It has a control means including a storage unit such as an AM and an HDD. Further, the terminal management device 4 has a storage means in which the version upgrade program 18 of the main program 13 is stored. The storage means is composed of a readable / writable storage medium such as a RAM or an HDD.

The storage unit stores an OS for the terminal management device 4 and a management program necessary for managing the public communication terminal 3. The management program uses a computer to obtain version information acquisition means 21, version upgrade necessity determination means 22,
It is a program that functions as the download means 23.

The version information acquisition means 21 acquires the version information of the main program 13 from the public communication terminal 3 connected to the line.

The version upgrade necessity determination means 22 determines whether or not the version upgrade of the main program 13 of the public communication terminal 3 is required based on the acquired version information. Whether or not it is necessary is determined by whether or not both version information match. If they match, the version upgrade is unnecessary, and if they do not match, the version upgrade is necessary.

The download means 23 downloads the version upgrade program 18 to the public communication terminal 3 when the version upgrade is required according to the determination result of the version upgrade necessity determination means 22.

Next, the processing procedure of this embodiment will be described. FIG. 3 is a diagram showing a processing procedure of the public communication terminal 3. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a timing of data transmission / reception between the public communication terminal 3 and the terminal management device 4. As shown in FIG. 3, first, the public communication terminal 3 measures the time and detects whether or not the line connection time comes (SP10).
1).

When the line connection time is detected (SP101-
Yes), the line connection instruction is transmitted to the line control unit 8 of the communication control hardware 7, and the communication control hardware 7 receives the line connection instruction via the communication network 2 and the terminal management device 4
And the line is automatically connected (SP102).

When the line is connected, the public communication terminal 3 stores the version information of each main program 13 in the main storage device 1.
It is read from 0 and transmitted to the terminal management device 4 (SP1
03).

If the version information notification of the main program 13 transmitted from the terminal management device 4 is a notification indicating that it is the latest version information (SP104-new), SP
Go to 109.

When the version information notification of the main program 13 transmitted from the terminal management device 4 is a notification indicating that the version information is old version (SP104-old), a download request for the version upgrade program 18 for the main program 13 is issued. The signal is transmitted to the terminal management device 4 (SP105).

The version upgrade program 18 transmitted from the terminal management device 4 in accordance with the download request.
Is received (SP106), the version upgrade program 18 is stored in the version upgrade directory 17 (SP107).

When all the version-up programs 18 requiring the version-up have been downloaded, a download completion signal is transmitted (SP108). If version notifications for all main programs 13 have not been received from the terminal management device 4 (SP109-N
o), shift to SP104. When the version notifications for all the main programs 13 have been received from the terminal management device 4 (SP109-Yes), the terminal management device 4
The line connection with is released (SP110). After the line connection is released (SP110), the public communication terminal 3 executes the update process (SP111).

After the update process (SP111), when the line connection time comes (SP101-Yes), the line is automatically connected again (SP102). The update process (SP11
1) will be described later.

Next, the processing procedure of the terminal management device 4 will be described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5. First, when the public communication terminal 3 is connected to the automatic line (SP201-Yes), the version information of all the main programs 13 is transmitted from the public communication terminal 3 to obtain (receive) the version information ( SP202).

When the acquired version information is the latest version information (SP203-No), the fact that it is the latest version is notified (SP204). In this case, SP
Move to 208.

When the acquired version information is the old version information (SP203-Yes), the fact that it is the old version is notified (SP205). Then, regarding the main program 13 notified of the old version,
The download request signal transmitted from the public communication terminal 3 is received (SP206), and the version upgrade program 18 for the main program 13 is downloaded to the public communication terminal 3 (SP207).

If there is old version information (SP208-Yes), the fact that it is an old version is notified (SP205). If there is no old version information (SP208-No), the line connection is released from the public communication terminal 3 side (SP209).

Next, the update process of the public communication terminal 3 (SP1
11) will be described according to the processing procedure of FIG. First, the reboot of the public communication terminal 3 is started (SP11
2). As a result, the OS 11 and the main program 13
Will end forcibly.

First, the reboot process (SP112) turns on O.
S11 is activated, and then the update program 16 is activated (SP113).

Then, before starting the main program 13, it is judged whether or not the main program 13 to be started is the latest version (SP114). As a determination method, the file information of the main program 13 is compared with the file information of the upgrade program 18 stored in the upgrade directory 17.

When the file information matches (SP114
-Yes), the main program 13 is the latest version, and the main program 13 is activated (SP
116).

When the file information does not match (SP11
4-No), the main program 13 is updated by reading the version-up program 18 from the version-up directory 17 and activating it (SP11).
5).

Then, the updated latest main program 13 is activated (SP116). If activation of all main programs 13 has not been confirmed (SP117
-No), and shifts to SP114.

When the activation of all the main programs 13 is confirmed (SP117-Yes), the update program 16 is terminated (SP118).

As a result, in the present embodiment, the version upgrade program 18 of the main program 13 is downloaded in advance as needed during the line connection between the public communication terminal 3 and the terminal management device 4 via the communication network 2. After that, when the reboot process is automatically executed, the version upgrade of the main program 13 is executed.

Therefore, the public communication terminal 3 can always be operated by the latest version of the main program 13 without starting the old version of the main program 13, and the convenience of the user can be improved.

After the reboot, only the version upgrade and the activation of the main program 13 are required.
Since it is not necessary to connect to the terminal management device 4 to request the download of the version upgrade program 18 each time the system is rebooted, and it is not necessary to wait until the version upgrade program 18 is downloaded, the main program of the public communication terminal 3 is not required. It is possible to quickly start up while updating 13 to the latest version.

In the above-described embodiment, the version discriminating means compares the file information of the main program 13 with the file information of the upgrade program 18 after the reboot processing and before the activation of the main program 13, and the main information is compared. Although it was decided to determine whether the program 13 is the latest version, the CP
It is not necessary for U to function as this version discriminating means.

In this case, the main program updating means is
After the reboot process, before the main program 13 is started, the version upgrade program 18 may be started to update the main program 13.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described. In the second embodiment, the update program 16 of the public communication terminal 3 causes the CPU to further function as a download inspection unit. The other configuration is the same as that of the first embodiment, and the description thereof is omitted.

The download checking means normally downloads the upgrade program 18 depending on whether or not the file size of the upgrade program 18 matches the file size information described as the header information of the upgrade program 18. Check whether or not. If they match, it means that the download was successful. If they do not match, the version upgrade program 18 is caused by some communication failure of the communication network 2, the public communication terminal 3 or the terminal management device 4.
Was not completely downloaded.

In this case, the version discriminating means carries out the discriminating process when the download inspecting means discriminates that the download has been completed normally.

Next, the processing procedure of the present embodiment will be described using the flow of FIG. In this processing procedure, the processing of SP123 is executed between SP113 and SP114 of the processing procedure of the public communication terminal 3 in the first embodiment shown in FIG.

In the SP 123, the file size of the version upgrade program 18 stored in the version upgrade directory 17 after the OS 11 and the update program 16 are started (SP113) is described as the header information of the version upgrade program 18. It is determined whether or not it matches the file size information.

If they match (SP123-Ye)
s), assuming that the download is normal, the process proceeds to SP114. On the other hand, if they do not match, it means that the download was not normally performed, and the process proceeds to SP116. In this case, the main program 13 before the upgrade is started in SP116, and the SP107 is again executed.
Thus, the version upgrade program 18 is stored in the version upgrade directory 17, and if it is determined in SP123 that they match (SP123-Yes), the main program 13 is updated to the latest version.

According to this embodiment, the update program 1
In 6, it is possible to check whether or not the main program 13 is normally downloaded before being updated.
It is not necessary to execute the version determination processing by the version upgrade program 18 determined to be abnormal, and the processing speed of the update processing can be improved.

In any of the above embodiments, the public communication terminal 3 in the update process (SP111)
The reboot (SP112) may be executed immediately after the line is disconnected in SP209, or the reboot (SP112) may be started when the reboot time set in advance in the update program 16 is reached. Good.

In any of the above-described embodiments, the line connection from the public communication terminal 3 to the terminal management device 4 and the download request are executed.
The terminal management device 4 may be connected to each public communication terminal 3 through a line, and the version upgrade program 18 may be automatically downloaded to each public communication terminal 3 periodically.

[0071]

As described above, according to the present invention, it is possible to automatically upgrade the main program that is always activated for public communication terminals scattered in various places, and maintain the main program. Can be improved. Further, this makes it possible to improve the main program in a short time and improve the convenience for the user.

Further, by downloading the version upgrade program before rebooting, the updating process can be executed by the public communication terminal alone at the time of rebooting, and the updating process can be speeded up. The usage time of can be expanded.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic system configuration diagram showing a first embodiment of a main program updating system using a communication network according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the internal configuration of a public communication terminal and the internal configuration of a terminal management device of a main program updating system using a communication network according to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing a download processing procedure of the public communication terminal according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a timing chart showing data transmission / reception between a public communication terminal and a terminal management device in the program updating system of the first embodiment using the communication network according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing a download processing procedure of the terminal management device according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of update processing in the public communication terminal according to the first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure of update processing in the public communication terminal according to the second embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Main program update system 2 ... Communication network 3 ... Public communication terminal 4 ... Terminal management device 10 ... Storage means (main storage device) 12 ... Main program storage area (program file) 13 ... Main program 17 ... Version upgrade directory ( Download folder) 18 ... Version upgrade program 21 ... Version information acquisition means 22 ... Version necessity determination means 23 ... Download means

   ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continued front page    F term (reference) 5B076 AC01 AC03 AC09 BB02 BB04                       BB06 EA17 EA18                 5K067 AA34 BB04 BB21 EE02 EE10                       EE16 GG01 GG11 HH23                 5K101 KK16 MM07

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. A public communication terminal (3), which is line-connected to an external device via a communication network (2) and can communicate with each other, the main program (13) operating the public communication terminal.
And a storage means (10) for storing the main program and a storage area (12) for the main program, which are separate areas, and store a version upgrade program (18) for executing the version upgrade of the main program. An upgrade directory (17), a reboot processing unit for automatically rebooting the public communication terminal, and after the reboot process and before the activation of the main program, the upgrade program is activated to execute the main program. A public communication terminal, comprising: a main program updating means for updating. 2. A public communication terminal (3), which is line-connected to an external device via a communication network (2) and can communicate with each other, the main program (13) operating the public communication terminal.
And a storage means (10) for storing the main program and a storage area (12) for the main program, which are separate areas, and store a version upgrade program (18) for executing the version upgrade of the main program. An upgrade directory (17), a reboot processing unit that automatically reboots the public communication terminal, file information of the main program and the version upgrade program before the main program is started after the reboot process. Version discriminating means for comparing the file information to discriminate whether or not the main program is the latest version; and when the discriminating result of the version discriminating means judges that the main program is the old version, Start the version upgrade program and A public communication terminal, comprising: a main program updating means for updating the main program. 3. A line connection instructing means for instructing a line connection with a terminal management device (4) for managing the public communication terminal via the communication network 2 at a preset line connection time, and the line connection. And a line connection releasing means for releasing the line connection after the version upgrade program downloaded from the terminal management device is stored in the version upgrade directory, and the reboot processing means releases the line connection. 2. The reboot process is then executed.
Or the public communication terminal described in 2. 4. Whether or not the version upgrade program has been normally downloaded depending on whether the file size of the version upgrade program matches the file size information described as the header information of the version upgrade program. A download inspection means for inspecting is provided, and the version determination means, when the download inspection means determines that the download is normally performed,
The public communication terminal according to claim 1, wherein the public communication terminal executes a determination process. 5. A terminal management device (4) which is line-connected to the public communication terminal (3) according to any one of claims 1 to 4 through a communication network (2) and can communicate with each other, Version information acquisition means (21) for acquiring version information of the main program from the public communication terminal, and a version for determining whether or not the version of the main program of the public communication terminal needs to be upgraded based on the acquired version information. An upgrade necessity determination means (22) and a download means (23) for downloading a version upgrade program to the public communication terminal when a version upgrade is required according to the determination result of the version upgrade necessity determination means. A terminal management device characterized by the above. 6. A main program updating system comprising the public communication terminal (3) according to any one of claims 1 to 4 and the terminal management device (4) according to claim 5.