JP2009159383A - Communication terminal device - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a communication terminal which can prevent a device from being unusable even when the device cannot normally be resumed after a program is downloaded, and can enhance the convenience. <P>SOLUTION: This communication terminal is configured to download an updating program from a Web server 4 connected via a network 3 when a control part receives an instruction of downloading the updating program from a user terminal (DTE) 6 connected via a network, to store the program in a memory part, and to try to resume. Further, the communication terminal is configured to download a prior program from the Web server 4 when it is impossible to resume normally if trying to resume a preset number of times, to store the program in the memory part, and to resume. Also, the user terminal 6 is informed that the prior program has been restored. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2009,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a communication terminal device, and more particularly to a communication terminal device that can improve convenience when a program is updated by downloading.

[Description of Prior Art]
2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, there is a system that collectively manages vending machine product sales information and device failure information via a communication network.
In such a system, the vending machine is provided with a communication terminal device that performs wireless communication.

  When it is necessary to upgrade the version of a program in the communication terminal device, all the communication terminal devices are collected and updated to a new program, or wireless communication is performed from a Web server that manages the program for each vending machine. Download a new program (air download).

When performing air download, download from each vending machine by sending an air download instruction to each vending machine from a DTE (Data Terminal Equipment) terminal used by the user who manages the vending machine. Is executed.
However, in the conventional communication terminal device, when air download is performed, the download is not normally executed for some reason, and the system may not operate correctly with a new program.

[Prior art documents]
In addition, as a prior art regarding the download in a communication terminal, there exists Unexamined-Japanese-Patent No. 2003-87863 (patent document 1).
In Patent Document 1, when there is a data download request in a mobile terminal, the remaining battery level and the received electric field level of the terminal are detected, and when the remaining battery level is not equal to or more than a predetermined remaining level, or the received electric field level is If the level is not higher than a predetermined level, the download is not performed, and the homepage browsing or the download is prevented from being interrupted due to a decrease in the remaining battery level or the received electric field level.

Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-87863

  However, in the conventional communication terminal device, when the air download of the program to be updated is performed, the system may not operate correctly. In such a case, the user enters the communication terminal of the communication service company. There is a problem that the apparatus cannot be used until the apparatus is brought in, downloaded again, and operates normally, and the work is complicated and inconvenient.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and provides a communication terminal device that can prevent the device from becoming unusable and improve convenience when it cannot be restarted normally after downloading. The purpose is to do.

  The present invention for solving the problems of the above conventional example is a communication terminal device that performs wireless communication and connects to a network, and includes a control unit and a storage unit, and the control unit is connected via the network. When an instruction to download an update program is received from the user terminal, the update program is downloaded from a Web server connected via the network, stored in the storage unit, restarted, and set in advance. If it fails to start normally even after trying to restart the number of times, the program before update is downloaded from the Web server, stored in the storage unit, restarted, and returned to the program before update Is notified to the user terminal.

  According to the present invention, when the control unit receives an instruction to download an update program from a user terminal connected via a network, the control unit downloads and stores the update program from a Web server connected via the network. If the program fails to start normally even after a predetermined number of restarts, the pre-update program is downloaded from the Web server and stored in the storage unit. In addition, since the communication terminal device notifies the user terminal that the program has been restored to the pre-update program at the same time, the user has to bother when the update program cannot be restarted normally after downloading the update program. Even if you do not go to the store, you can return to the state before the update and prevent the communication terminal device from becoming completely unusable, Clearly informed that it is not turned to a new program to the user, can prompt to deal with such outputs an instruction for downloading again, there is an effect that it is possible to improve convenience.

[Summary of Invention]
Embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.
The communication terminal device according to the embodiment of the present invention downloads and starts a new version of a program from a Web server, and if it does not start normally even after retrying a predetermined number of times, When rollback (switchback) is performed to download and save the old version of the program again from the server, the user's DTE terminal is notified of this, and when the new program cannot be started normally after air download The device can be prevented from becoming unusable, and the user can be informed that the download of the new program has not been completed normally to prompt the user to deal with re-downloading. The work to bring in is unnecessary, and the convenience can be improved.

[System including communication terminal apparatus of embodiment: FIG. 1]
FIG. 1 is a schematic explanatory diagram showing a schematic configuration of a communication system including a communication terminal apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.
As shown in FIG. 1, a communication system (this system) including a communication terminal device 2 according to the present embodiment includes a vending machine 1, a communication terminal device 2, a network 3, a Web server 4, and a router. 5 and a DTE terminal 6.

Each component will be described.
A communication terminal device (this device) 2 according to an embodiment of the present invention is built in the vending machine 1 and communicates with the Web server 4 and the DTE terminal 6 via the network 3. Then, the communication terminal device 2 performs a process of downloading a program from the Web server 4 in accordance with an instruction from the DTE terminal 6 or the Web server 4.

The Web server 4 includes a database and manages the program of the communication terminal device 2, and stores a program currently stored in each communication terminal device 2 and a new version program to be updated in the future.
When there is an instruction from the user, a download instruction is transmitted to the communication terminal device 2, and a specific program is output to the communication terminal device 2 in accordance with a request from the communication terminal device 2.

  The DTE terminal 6 is a terminal operated by a user who manages the vending machine 1, and is connected to the network 3 via the router 5. Then, by the user's operation, program version information and the like are attached to the communication terminal apparatus 2 and an air download instruction is output by an AT command. The DTE terminal 6 corresponds to a “user terminal” recited in the claims.

[Operation outline]
The operation of this apparatus will be briefly described.
In the above system, when an instruction to perform air download with the version information of the program to be acquired is transmitted from the DTE terminal 6 or the Web server 4 to the communication terminal apparatus 2, the communication terminal apparatus 2 that has received the instruction The server 4 is accessed, the specified version of the program is acquired and stored, and restart is attempted. When the restart is normally executed, the DTE terminal 6 that is the instruction transmission source is notified that the air download has been completed.

In addition, when the restart is not executed normally, as a feature of this apparatus, the communication terminal apparatus 2 performs the retry for a specific number of times set in advance. Back is executed, the previous version of the program is acquired from the Web server 4, stored, and restarted.
Accordingly, the communication terminal device 2 can be returned to the state before the version upgrade without bothering the user, and the communication terminal device 2 can be prevented from becoming unusable.

  In this device, it is possible to arbitrarily set whether or not to automatically roll back based on the number of retries when the restart is not executed normally, and when automatic rollback is set Rolls back in a series of processes as described above. If automatic rollback is not set, the processing is terminated as it is in the prior art. In this way, the operation of this apparatus is performed.

[Configuration of Communication Terminal Device: FIG. 2]
Next, the configuration of the communication terminal device 2 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a configuration block diagram of communication terminal apparatus 2 according to the present embodiment.
As shown in FIG. 2, the communication terminal device 2 mainly includes a radio unit (RF) 20, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 21, a nonvolatile memory 22, and a main memory 23. Yes.

The wireless unit 20 performs signal processing associated with wireless communication.
The CPU 21 includes processing means corresponding to various programs stored in the non-volatile memory 22 (not shown). Each processing means develops and starts the program in the main memory 23, and performs communication control, application control, A control unit that executes processing such as download control and command analysis.

The main memory 23 is a storage unit that includes a RAM and operates as a work memory of the CPU 21.
The nonvolatile memory 22 is composed of a flash memory, and stores various data and programs such as various data 24, an application control program 25, a communication control program 26, a download file 27, a command analysis program 28, and a boot loader program 29. Part.

  The various data 24 stores data such as parameters necessary for starting the system. Settings for automatic rollback and the number of restarts after downloading a new program (specified number of startups) are also stored in this area. These settings can be arbitrarily made by the user from the DTE terminal 6.

  The application control program 25 is a program for realizing various applications. The program for performing the processing at the time of downloading according to the present embodiment is included in the application control program 25, and the download and rollback functions are realized by the CPU 21 starting and executing the appropriate program. To do.

The communication control program 26 is a program that controls wireless communication.
The download file 27 stores the downloaded file.
The command analysis program 28 analyzes the AT command transmitted from the DTE terminal 6.
The boot loader program 29 operates when the communication terminal device is activated, and activates an OS (Operating System).
Here, in the case of version upgrade, it is necessary to store a large amount of memory when trying to store two types of new and old programs. Therefore, when updating a program, the new version of each program is overwritten on the old version. It has become. Further, only the changed program may be updated, or the entire program may be updated collectively.

[Air download operation: Fig. 3]
Next, the outline of the process at the time of air download of the communication terminal device 2 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing an outline of processing at the time of air download in the CPU 21 of the communication terminal device 2.
As shown in FIG. 3, the CPU 21 of the communication terminal device 2 determines whether a download instruction is received from the Web server 4 (300). If not received, a download instruction is further received from the DTE terminal 6. Is received (302), and if not received, the process returns to the process 301 and waits for an instruction.

When receiving an instruction from the DTE terminal 6 in the process 302, the CPU 21 turns on the DTE flag indicating that the instruction is from the DTE terminal 6 (DTE_FLG = ON) (303).
When the download instruction is received from the Web server 4 in the process 301 or after the process 303, the CPU 21 performs an HTTP connection process to connect to the network (304).

After the connection, the CPU 21 performs a program acquisition process for acquiring the designated program from the Web server 4 (305). When the CPU 21 acquires the program, the program stored in the nonvolatile memory 22 is written with the new program acquired in the process 305. A program rewriting process to be replaced is performed (306).
The program acquisition process and the program rewrite process will be described in detail later.

When the program rewriting process is completed, the CPU 21 determines whether or not the DTE flag is turned on. If the DTE flag is not turned on, the CPU 21 ends the process. A completion notice is transmitted (308), and the process is terminated.
In this way, the process at the time of air download in the CPU 21 of the communication terminal device 2 is performed.

[Program acquisition processing, program rewriting processing: FIG. 4]
Next, the program acquisition process indicated by process 305 in FIG. 3 and the program rewrite process indicated by process 306 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing program acquisition processing and program rewriting processing of the communication terminal device 2.
As shown in FIG. 4, the CPU 21 of the communication terminal device 2 reads a preset activation count that is preset and stored (K = prescribed activation count) (401), and sets N to indicate the actual activation count. 1 is set (N = 1) (402).

  Then, the CPU 21 transmits a download file acquisition request to the Web server 4 (403). First, the CPU 21 determines whether or not the file acquisition as a download permission has been successful (404). An error notification process indicating that the download has failed is performed (430), and the process ends.

  If the file acquisition is successful in the process 404, the CPU 21 further determines whether there is a version upgrade program in the Web server 4 (405). If not, the process ends.

If there is a program for upgrading in the process 405, the CPU 21 acquires the download file for upgrading and stores it in the nonvolatile memory 21 (406).
Then, the CPU 21 reboots (restarts) the communication terminal device 2 (407). When rebooting, the program is generated and started while combining the new program and the old program.

  The CPU 21 determines whether or not it has started normally (408), and if it has started normally, the process proceeds to the process 307 shown in FIG.

  Further, when the process is not started normally in the process 408, it is determined as a characteristic of the present apparatus whether or not the actual startup number N is equal to or less than the specified startup number K (N ≦ K?) (410 ) If N is equal to or less than K (in the case of YES), 1 is added to the number N of times of activation (N = N + 1) (420), and the process returns to processing 407 to retry the restart.

  If N is greater than K (NO) in process 410, the CPU 21 determines whether or not automatic rollback is set (412). If it is not set, the process ends.

If the automatic rollback is set in the process 412, the CPU 21 designates the previous version and requests the Web server 4 to download, and downloads the previous file (414). .
Further, the CPU 21 turns on a switchback flag indicating that rollback has been performed (416), proceeds to processing 406, and saves the acquired previous file in the nonvolatile memory.

In the case where there is no up file in the Web server 4 in the process 405, and in the case where the automatic rollback is not set in the process 412, the DTE flag shown in FIG. 3 is turned on. The DTE terminal 6 may be configured to perform error notification for notifying that the download has not been performed normally.
In this way, the program acquisition process and the program rewrite process in this apparatus are performed.

  Thus, conventionally, after a new program is downloaded, the activation is confirmed from the DTE terminal 6, and when there is no normal response, it is found that the "abnormal" is the first time, and the user brings it to the store to deal with it. However, even if this device cannot be started normally after downloading a new program, the same operation as before can be performed without any trouble, even if it cannot be started normally. Therefore, the apparatus can be used for the time being, and the convenience can be greatly improved.

  If the automatic rollback is not set and the rollback is performed manually, the user designates the previous version from the DTE terminal 6 and outputs a download instruction. Is trying to download.

[Rollback execution notification processing: FIG. 5]
Next, a rollback execution notification process for notifying the user when the apparatus performs automatic rollback will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the rollback execution notification process of the present apparatus.
As shown in FIG. 5, the rollback execution notification process is started when a download instruction is issued. The CPU 21 determines whether a download instruction is issued from the Web server 4 or DET 6 (501). If there is a download instruction, it is determined whether the download process has been completed (502). Here, the “download process” is the air download process shown in the processes 301 to 308 of FIG.

When the download process is completed, the CPU 21 determines whether or not the switchback flag is on (503). If the switchback flag is on, the CPU 21 notifies the DTE terminal 6 of the rollback (504). ).
Then, the CPU 21 resets the switchback flag (505) and ends the process.
In this way, rollback execution notification processing is performed.

  An example of the notification message is “Restart was not performed normally, so rollback was performed”. As a result, the user can recognize that the program has been restarted with the new version of the program and has returned to the previous program, and can respond such as instructing to download the new program again. It will be.

[Effect of the embodiment]
According to the communication terminal device according to the embodiment of the present invention, when a new program is downloaded from the Web server 4 in accordance with the received download instruction, it starts normally even if it is restarted more than a predetermined number of times. If it is not possible, it is a communication terminal device that performs rollback to download and restart the previous program, so even if restart fails at the time of version upgrade, it does not bother the user It is possible to return to the same operation, to prevent the device from becoming unusable at all, and to eliminate the need for the user to bring the device to the store, thereby improving convenience.

  Further, according to the present apparatus, when the rollback is automatically performed, the DTE terminal 6 is notified that the rollback has been performed, so that the communication terminal apparatus is updated to a new program. It can be sure that it is not up and running with the previous program, and can prompt the user to instruct the user to download a new program again, as well as misunderstanding, dissatisfaction and distrust to the user. There is an effect to prevent giving.

  Furthermore, according to the present apparatus, since the user can arbitrarily set whether or not to perform rollback automatically from the DTE terminal 6, there is an effect that usability can be improved.

  The present invention is suitable for a communication terminal device that can improve convenience when a program is updated by downloading.

It is a schematic explanatory drawing which shows schematic structure of the communication system containing the communication terminal device which concerns on embodiment of this invention. It is a block diagram of the configuration of the communication terminal device 2 according to the present embodiment. It is a flowchart figure which shows the outline of the process at the time of air download in CPU21 of the communication terminal device 2. FIG. It is a flowchart figure which shows the program acquisition process of the communication terminal device 2, and a program rewriting process. It is a flowchart figure which shows the rollback execution notification process of this apparatus.

Explanation of symbols

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Vending machine, 2 ... Communication terminal device, 3 ... Network, 4 ... Web server, 5 ... Router, 6 ... DTE terminal, 20 ... Radio | wireless part, 21 ... CPU, 22 ... Non-volatile memory, 23 ... Main memory, 24 ... Various data, 25 ... Application control program, 26 ... Communication control program, 27 ... Download file, 28 ... Command analysis program, 29 ... Boot loader program

Claims (1)

A communication terminal device that performs wireless communication and connects to a network,
A control unit and a storage unit;
When the control unit receives an instruction to download an update program from a user terminal connected via a network, the control unit downloads the update program from a Web server connected via the network and stores it in the storage unit If the program fails to start normally even after a predetermined number of attempts, the pre-update program is downloaded from the Web server and stored in the storage unit. The communication terminal device that restarts and notifies the user terminal that the program has been returned to the pre-update program.

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