JP7564925B1 - Distribution server, distribution server control method, distribution server control program, distribution system, and communication device - Google Patents

Abstract

[Problem] To efficiently perform FOTA in NB-IoT [Solution] A distribution server that distributes update software to a communication device connected to a base station includes a selection unit that selects a distribution base station from among multiple base stations that will distribute the update software to the communication device, a generation unit that generates a connection command for the communication device to connect to the distribution base station and maintain the connection until a specified condition is met, a transmission unit that transmits the connection command to the communication device, and a distribution unit that distributes the update software to the communication device in response to the communication device connecting to the distribution base station.
[Selected figure] Figure 2

Description

The present invention relates to a distribution server, a control method for a distribution server, a control program for a distribution server, a distribution system, and a communication device.

NIDD (Non-IP Data Delivery) is known as a communications standard for IoT (Internet of Things) devices, which allows data communication without assigning an IP (Internet Protocol) address to the IoT device. NIDD is a non-IP communication method that does not use the Internet Protocol, and has the excellent advantage of being able to reduce header information during data communication, reducing the power required for communication and extending the battery life of IoT devices.

Note that, conventionally, a technology called FOTA (Firmware Over The Air) is known for wireless communication devices, which wirelessly updates the firmware (software program) of the device to correct defects or add functions. NIDD is a communication method that is optimal for NB-IoT (Narrow Band-IoT) among communication standards classified as LPWA (Low Power Wide Area), which is standardized as a wireless communication technology for IoT devices. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technology for performing FOTA on IoT devices that comply with NB-IoT.

JP 2020-14183 A

Compared to LTE (registered trademark) (Long Term Evolution) and Wi-Fi (registered trademark), which are communication standards for mobile phones and wireless LANs, NB-IoT is characterized by its low power consumption and long distance communication capabilities, but its narrow communication bandwidth and low communication speed. As a result, it takes time to complete the reception of data that is large compared to the data that IoT devices send and receive during normal operation, such as firmware update software. In addition, since IoT devices attempt to connect to a cell with a good communication environment, if the communication environment of the connected cell deteriorates while receiving update software, which takes time as described above, the device will switch to a cell with a good communication environment as the base station to which it is connected. In other words, there is a high probability that the firmware update will fail.

There was a need to efficiently carry out FOTA in NB-IoT.

In one embodiment of the present invention, a distribution server that distributes update software to a communication device connected to a base station includes a selection unit that selects a distribution base station from among multiple base stations that will distribute the update software to the communication device, a generation unit that generates a connection command for the communication device to connect to the distribution base station and maintain the connection until a predetermined condition is met, a transmission unit that transmits the connection command to the communication device, and a distribution unit that distributes the update software to the communication device when the communication device connects to the distribution base station.

In a distribution server according to one embodiment of the present invention, the generation unit may generate a connection command with a predetermined condition that the connection is terminated after a predetermined period of time has elapsed since the connection to the distribution base station.

In a distribution server according to one embodiment of the present invention, the generation unit may generate a release command to release the connection between the communication device and the distribution base station upon completion of reception of the update software by the communication device, and may generate a connection command under a predetermined condition that the release command has been received by the communication device.

In a distribution server according to one embodiment of the present invention, the transmission unit may transmit a cancellation command to the communication device if the distribution of update software to the communication device is not completed within a predetermined period of time.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the distribution server further includes an acquisition unit that acquires, from the communication device, communication quality information regarding the communication quality between the communication device and at least one or more base stations to which the communication device can be connected, together with at least one or more base station identification information, and the selection unit may select the base station with the best communication quality as the distribution base station.

In a distribution server according to one embodiment of the present invention, the communication device transmits history information related to the operation history of the communication device at a predetermined opportunity, and further includes an acquisition unit that acquires communication quality information related to the communication quality between the communication device and a base station at the time of transmitting the operation history, and the acquisition unit acquires base station identification information for identifying the base station connected at the time of transmitting the operation history based on device identification information for identifying the communication device received from the communication device together with the operation history, and the selection unit may select, as the base station for distribution, the base station with the best communication quality for a predetermined period between the communication device and the base station identified by the base station identification information.

In a distribution server according to one embodiment of the present invention, communication between a communication device and a base station may be based on a communication method using NB-IoT (Narrow Band Internet of Things).

A method of controlling a distribution server that distributes update software to a communication device connected to a base station according to one embodiment of the present invention includes the steps of the distribution server selecting, from among a plurality of base stations, a distribution base station that distributes update software to the communication device, generating a connection command for the communication device to connect to the distribution base station and maintain the connection until a predetermined condition is met, transmitting the connection command to the communication device, and distributing the update software to the communication device upon the communication device connecting to the distribution base station.

In one embodiment of the present invention, a control program of a distribution server that distributes update software to a communication device connected to a base station provides the distribution server with the following functions: selecting a distribution base station from among multiple base stations that will distribute update software to the communication device; generating a connection command for the communication device to connect to the distribution base station and maintain the connection until a specified condition is met; transmitting the connection command to the communication device; and distributing update software to the communication device upon the communication device connecting to the distribution base station.

In one embodiment of the present invention, a distribution system including a communication device that connects to a base station and a distribution server that distributes update software to the communication device includes a selection unit for selecting a distribution base station from among a plurality of base stations that distributes update software to the communication device, a generation unit for generating a connection command for the communication device to connect to the distribution base station and maintain the connection until a predetermined condition is met, a transmission unit for transmitting the connection command to the communication device, and a distribution unit for distributing the update software to the communication device in response to the communication device connecting to the distribution base station.

In one embodiment of the present invention, a communication device that receives update software from a distribution server includes a receiving unit that acquires a connection command from the distribution server that specifies a distribution base station that receives the update software, and connects to the distribution base station based on the connection command to receive the update software, and the distribution server generates a connection command that causes the communication device to continue connecting to the distribution server until a predetermined condition is met.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a distribution system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a distribution server and a communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is an example of a sequence diagram between a communication device and a distribution server according to an embodiment of the present invention. 4(a) and (b) show an example of a data set used in one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is an example of a sequence diagram between a communication device and a distribution server according to an embodiment of the present invention. 6(a) and (b) show an example of a data set used in one embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the invention according to the present disclosure (also referred to as the present invention) will be described using the figures. Note that the figures are merely examples, and the present invention is not limited to those shown in the figures. For example, the numbers of distribution servers (information processing devices), management servers, database servers, base stations, and communication devices (IoT devices), data sets (tables), and sequence diagrams shown in the figures are merely examples, and the present invention is not limited to these.

<System Configuration>
1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a distribution system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The distribution system 600 may be a system that distributes update software for updating firmware to the communication device 200.

The distribution system 600 may include a distribution server 100, a management server 101, a database server 400, a base station 300 (300A, 300B, 300C), a plurality of communication devices 200 (200a, 200b), and a mobile communication network 500. Here, the mobile communication network 500 may include a radio access network through which the base station 300 and the communication device 200 exchange data, and a core network 50. In addition, the base stations 300A, 300B, and 300C may have communication ranges of cells 301A, 301B, and 301C, respectively. Note that in FIG. 1, for ease of explanation, only two communication devices, communication devices 200a and 200b connected to the base station 300A, are shown. However, a plurality of communication devices may exist, and may be connected to the base stations 300B and 300C. In addition, unless there is a need to distinguish between them, they will be simply referred to as base station 300, communication device 200, and cell 301.

The communication device 200 may be any of various IoT devices connected to the base stations 300 and existing (located) within the cell 301 of each base station 300. Hereinafter, the communication device 200 will be described as an IoT device that is installed in a smart meter for gas (city gas, LP gas), water, electricity, etc., and transmits meter reading data, etc. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the communication device 200 may be an IoT sensor used to monitor infrastructure such as bridges and roads, a wearable device, etc.

Here, communication device 200 is described as an IoT device capable of data communication by NIDD. That is, communication device 200 and base station 300 may communicate using a communication method conforming to NB-IoT. As described above, NIDD reduces the power required for communication, prolonging the battery life of IoT devices, and can build a highly secure network with a low risk of being subjected to malicious attacks targeting IoT devices. NB-IoT also has the advantage of being narrowband and low speed, resulting in low power consumption and enabling long battery life, as well as reduced operating costs.

However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the communication device 200 may be a device that complies with a communication standard for IoT classified as LPWA, such as Category M, Category M1, LoRaWAN (registered trademark), Sigfox (registered trademark), etc.

The distribution server 100 may have a function of managing the firmware version of each communication device 200 connected to the base station 300, and may have a function of transmitting update software for updating the firmware of each communication device 200 as necessary (a function for executing FOTA). Note that the operator providing the update software may be different from the operator distributing it. For example, the update software may be provided by the manufacturer of each communication device 200, and distributed to each communication device 200 via the distribution server 100 by the communication operator managing the base station 300.

The management server 101 may function as an IoT-PF (platform) that processes the meter readings of each smart meter transmitted from each communication device 200 and passes the necessary data to the administrator of the smart meter. The management server 101 may remotely control the communication device 200 via the mobile communication network 500, and may be connected to a centralized monitoring center (not shown) where the administrator waits. The management server 101 and the distribution server 100 may be provided as the same server, or the functions may be distributed to multiple servers. The management server 101 and the distribution server 100 may be any device that can realize the functions described in each embodiment, and may include, for example, a server device, a computer (for example, but not limited to, a desktop, a laptop, a tablet, etc.), a communication platform, etc.

The core network 50 supports wireless communication by NB-IoT and may include nodes such as MME (Mobility Management Entity), S-GW (Serving Gateway), P-GW (Packet Data Network Gateway), and SCEF (Service Capability Exposure Function), which are not shown. The MME has functions such as location management and authentication management of the communication device 200, and management of sessions between each node (i.e., management of communication bearers). The MME also has a function of sending paging to the base station 300 when calling the communication device 200. The S-GW has a function as a gateway that routes and forwards user packets between the base station 300 and the core network 50. The P-GW has a function as a gateway that assigns an IP (Internet Protocol) address of the communication device 200 that can be used in the IP communication network after the core network 50, and enables communication between the communication device 200 and an external network of the mobile communication network 500 by using the IP address. In addition, the S-GW and P-GW may be integrated into a single node.

In NB-IoT, as in LTE, the core network 50 is a system in which a control plane (CPlane: Control Plane) having a function of transmitting control signals and a user plane (UPlane: User Plane) having a function of transmitting data (user data) transmitted and received between the communication device 200 are separated. That is, the user data may be transferred via the user plane via the communication device 200, S-GW, and P-GW. Furthermore, the control signal may be transferred via the control plane via the communication device 200, MME, S-GW, P-GW, and distribution server 100. In addition, in the case of a communication method based on NIDD, various data transmitted from the communication device 200 may be transmitted and received via the MME and SCEF via the control plane. Furthermore, the core network 50 may further include an SCS (Service Capability Server) not shown.

The distribution system 600 may further include a database server 400. As will be described in detail later, the database server 400 may store various data for associating each communication device 200 with the base station 300, and various identification information for connecting the communication device 200 to the base station 300. Note that in FIG. 1, the database server 400 is shown separately from the distribution server 100, but the present invention is not limited to this, and the data stored in the database server 400 may be stored in, for example, the storage unit 170 of the distribution server 100. Furthermore, a separate database server 400 may exist for each type of data to be stored or for each entity that manages the database.

<Communication Device>
2 shows an example of a block diagram of a communication device 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The communication device 200 may include a control unit 210, a communication unit 220, an input/output unit 230, and a storage unit 270. The control unit 210 and the communication unit 220 constituting the communication device 200 may be software or a module in which processing is performed by a processor executing a program stored in a memory. Alternatively, the control unit 210 and the communication unit 220 constituting the communication device 200 may be hardware such as a circuit or a chip.

The communication unit 220 may communicate with the base station 300 using a predetermined communication method, and may transmit and receive various data between the distribution server 100 and the management server 101 via the mobile communication network 500. The predetermined communication method may be NB-IoT, Category M, Category M1, etc. Note that, as will be described in detail later, the communication unit 220 may function as a receiving unit that acquires a connection command from the distribution server 100 specifying a distribution base station from which update software is to be distributed, and connects to the distribution base station based on the connection command to receive the update software. The communication device 200 according to one embodiment of the present invention is capable of transmitting and receiving data using the NIDD communication method, and will be described as transmitting and receiving data using the NIDD communication method.

The control unit 210 may be configured, for example, with an MPU (Micro Processing Unit) or the like, and may execute a program stored in the storage unit 270 to realize processing for operating the communication device 200 in compliance with NB-IoT or NIDD. The control unit 210 may also execute various processes such as rebooting the device itself, connecting to the mobile communication network 500, and disconnecting from the mobile communication network 500. The control unit 210 may also transmit device identification information (UUID (Universally Unique Identifier), IMSI (International Mobile Subscriber Identity), etc.) unique to the device itself (described later) via the communication unit 220, or download software for updating the FOTA. The control unit 210 may also execute a firmware update for the device itself using the downloaded update software.

The control unit 210 may also transmit history information regarding the operation history of the communication device 200 to the management server 101 at a specified opportunity (details will be described later).

The storage unit 270 stores various programs and data required for the operation of the communication device 200. The storage unit 270 may include, for example, a semiconductor memory (magnetic memory, flash memory, etc.). The storage unit 270 may also include a memory (RAM (Random Access Memory), ROM (Read Only Memory), etc.) that provides a working area for the control unit 210. The storage unit 270 may also store device identification information 271 that is unique to the communication device 200.

The input/output unit 230 is an interface with an external device such as a sensor, and may include, for example, a U-bus interface, a UART (Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter) interface, an SPI (Serial Peripheral Interface) interface, an I2C interface, etc. The communication device 200 may transmit data detected by a sensor connected via the input/output unit 230 to the management server 101, etc.

<Distribution server>
Next, the hardware configuration and functional configuration of the distribution server 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

(1) Hardware Configuration of Distribution Server The distribution server 100 may include a control unit 110, a communication unit 120, an input/output unit 130, and a storage unit 170.

The storage unit 170 is typically realized by various recording media such as a hard disk drive (HDD), a solid state drive (SSD), or a flash memory, and may have the function of storing various programs and data required for the operation of the distribution server 100.

The control unit 110 is typically a processor and may be realized by a central processing unit (CPU), a micro processing unit (MPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), etc. The control unit 110 may execute the functions and methods shown in each embodiment by reading a program stored in the storage unit 170 and executing the code or instructions contained in the read program. The control unit 110 may realize each process disclosed in each embodiment by a logic circuit (hardware) or a dedicated circuit formed in an integrated circuit (IC (Integrated Circuit) chip, LSI (Large Scale Integration)), etc. Furthermore, these circuits may be realized by one or more integrated circuits, and multiple processes shown in each embodiment may be realized by one integrated circuit.

The communication unit 120 is implemented as hardware such as a network adapter, communication software, or a combination of these, and transmits and receives various data to and from external devices. The communication may be performed either wired or wirelessly, and any communication protocol may be used as long as the communication between them is possible. For example, the distribution server 100 and the communication devices 200 may transmit and receive data using protocols for IoT established by the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA), such as LwM2M (Lightweight M2M), MQTT (Message Queue Telemetry Transport), and CoAP (Constrained Application Protocol). The communication unit 120 may transmit and receive various data using a communication bearer established between the distribution server 100 and each communication device 200.

The input/output unit 130 may include an input device for inputting various operations to the distribution server 100, and an output device for outputting the results of processing performed by the distribution server 100. The input device includes, for example, a touch panel, a touch display, hardware keys such as a keyboard, a pointing device such as a mouse, a camera (operation input via images), and a microphone (operation input via voice). The output device outputs the results of processing performed by the control unit 110, and includes, for example, a touch panel, a speaker, etc. The input device and output device may be installed in a centralized monitoring center (not shown) and may accept operations from a monitor (administrator) and output various information to the monitor.

(2) Functional configuration of the distribution server The distribution server 100 may include a selection unit 111, a generation unit 112, a transmission unit 113, a distribution unit 114, and an acquisition unit 115 as functions realized by the control unit 110. Among the functional units shown in FIG. 2, functional units that are not essential in the embodiments described below may be omitted. Furthermore, the functions or processes of each functional unit may be realized by machine learning or AI to the extent that they can be realized.

<Distribution process of update software>
Hereinafter, the functional units of the distribution server 100 will be described, and the distribution process of update software according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to Figs. 3 to 6. Figs. 3 and 5 are sequence diagrams between the distribution server 100 and the communication device 200. Figs. 4 and 6 are various data tables used in the distribution process. Note that, although only the communication device 200 and the distribution server 100 are shown in the sequence diagram, the communication device 200 and the distribution server 100 may exchange data via the management server 101. Furthermore, the distribution server 100 may obtain data from the database server 400 as necessary.

First, a description will be given using the sequence diagram of FIG. 3. The generating unit 112 may generate a base station confirmation command that requests confirmation of the communication quality of a base station (cell) to which the communication device 200 can connect. The base station confirmation command may be a command that causes the communication device 200 to acquire communication quality information regarding the communication quality between the communication device 200 and at least one or more base stations 300 to which the communication device 200 can connect. In one embodiment of the present invention, the above-mentioned base station confirmation command and various commands described below may be transmitted using AT commands specified in 3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project) (registered trademark) Technical Specification TS 27.007 and the like. The generating unit 112 may store the various commands that it has generated in resource "0" of device object "10251" related to the AT command. For example, the generating unit 112 may generate a base station confirmation command using a command that instructs acquisition of signal parameters in resource "/10251/0/0".

The transmitting unit 113 may transmit a base station confirmation command to the communication device 200 via the management server 101 (step S11). In response to the base station confirmation command, the communication device 200 may transmit base station information to the distribution server 100 via the management server 101 (step S12). The base station information may include information on the cell to which the communication device 200 is connected and on cells adjacent to the connected cell. FIG. 4(a) shows an example of base station information transmitted from the communication device 200. Here, table TB10 may be base station information transmitted from the communication device 200a. Hereinafter, the communication device 200a will be described as an example.

The base station information may include communication quality information related to communication with the communication device 200a for the cell 301A to which the communication device 200a is connected, as well as for the cells 301B and 301C adjacent to the cell 301A. For example, the base station information may include RSRP (Reference Signal Received Power) and RSRQ (Reference Signal Received Quality) as communication quality information for each cell ID (first base station identification information) that uniquely identifies a cell. Note that the communication quality information is not limited to the above, and may be RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator), SINR (Signal to Interference plus Noise Ratio), etc. Note that in table TB10, for simplicity, the cell ID is written with the same symbol as the cell in FIG. 1. Note that the figure is an example, and the base station information is not limited to these, and the information included may be less than or more than this.

The selection unit 111 may select a distribution base station from among the multiple base stations 300A to 300C that will distribute update software to the communication device 200a based on the base station information (step S13). The selection unit 111 may select the base station with the best communication quality as the distribution base station based on the base station information. In the case of table TB10, the cell 301A (base station 300A) with the highest RSRP may be selected as the distribution base station.

The acquisition unit 115 may acquire connection information for connecting the communication device 200a to the distribution base station 300A from the database server 400 (step S14). Here, the connection information will be described with reference to FIG. 4(b). Table TB20 in FIG. 4(b) may be information stored in the database server 400 that associates a cell ID with a physical cell ID (PCI: Physical Cell Identifier) (second base station identification information) and the frequency of the cell identified by the cell ID (EARFCN: E-UTRA Absolute Radio Frequency Channel Number). Table TB20 may also include a correspondence with ECGI (E-UTRAN (Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network) Cell Global Identifier) (third base station identification information), but details will be described later. For simplicity, in table TB20, PCIs are indicated with the same symbols as the base stations in FIG. 1, and ECGIs are indicated with a "'" next to the symbol of the base station. In this example, the acquisition unit 115 may inquire of the database server 400 about the PCI and EARRFCN of the base station whose cell ID is "301A", and acquire that the PCI is "300A" and the EARRFCN is "374*".

The generation unit 112 may generate a connection command for the communication device 200a to connect to the distribution base station 300A using the acquired PCI and EARRFCN and maintain the connection until a specified condition is met (step S15). Note that the generation unit 112 may generate a command to specify the destination PCI and EARRFCN as the connection command, using a command to specify the destination cell in the resource "/10251/0/0" and maintain the connection (i.e., fix the destination cell).

The transmitting unit 113 may transmit the generated connection command to the communication device 200a via the management server 101 (step S16). The communication device 200a may connect to the distribution base station 300A through a procedure for establishing a predetermined communication bearer based on the connection command (step S17). The communication device 200a may also transmit to the distribution server 100 a notification that the connection to the distribution base station 300A has been completed (step S18). The distribution unit 114 of the distribution server 100 may distribute update software to the communication device 200a upon receiving that the communication device 200a has connected to the distribution base station 300A. The distribution of the update software may be performed by transmitting a FOTA command indicating that FOTA is to be executed to the communication device 200a (step S19). The FOTA command may include information (URL) regarding the download destination of the update software, and the communication device 200a may connect to the download destination in response to the FOTA command, download the update software, and update the firmware (step S20).

The connection command may include a command to continue the connection with the distribution base station until a specified condition is met. Thus, the communication device 200a determines whether the specified condition is met (step S21), and if the specified condition is not met (NO in step S21), may maintain the connection with the distribution base station 300A. If the specified condition is met (YES in step S21), the communication device 200a may release the connection with the distribution base station 300A (step S22). In this way, the connection to the distribution base station 300A with good communication quality is fixed until the specified condition is met, so that the communication device 200 can reliably acquire the distribution software.

Here, the predetermined condition will be described. According to one embodiment of the present invention, the generation unit 112 may generate a connection command with the predetermined condition that the connection is released after a predetermined period of time has elapsed since the connection to the distribution base station. For example, after the communication device 200a has completed the acquisition of the update software, it is possible that the communication quality with the distribution base station 300A may deteriorate due to a change in the communication environment. In this case, it is not preferable for the communication device 200a to have a fixed connection to the distribution base station 300A for subsequent communication. In addition, if the connection to the distribution base station 300A is maintained even after the acquisition of the update software has been completed, it will lead to limiting the connection destination of other communication devices 200. Therefore, the generation unit 112 may generate a connection command including a timer that releases the connection after a predetermined period of time has elapsed. The predetermined period may be, for example, a time that is preset as the time required from the start to the completion of FOTA. For example, the preset time may be 10 minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes, etc. Note that the preset time may be a time that allows FOTA to be completed, and is not limited thereto. The preset time may be set appropriately depending on the size of the update software.

Thus, according to one embodiment of the present invention, a base station with good communication quality with the communication device 200 may be selected as the distribution base station, and the connection between the distribution base station and the communication device 200 may be fixed. This allows the communication device 200 to reliably acquire the update firmware. Furthermore, the connection between the distribution base station and the communication device may be released when a condition is met that indicates that the distribution of the update software has been completed. This prevents the communication device from being affected by a subsequent deterioration in the communication environment, and can prevent the communication bandwidth from being unnecessarily occupied.

In addition, when the communication device 200 has completed receiving the update software, the generation unit 112 may generate a release command to release the connection between the communication device 200 and the distribution base station. That is, the generation unit 112 may generate a connection command that has as a predetermined condition that the release command has been received by the communication device 200. The release command may be realized, for example, by generating a command to the resource "/10251/0/0" to release the connection with the destination cell.

In this way, according to one embodiment of the present invention, the connection to the distribution base station is released when the reception of the update software is completed, so that the communication device 200 can reliably complete FOTA.

The transmitting unit 113 may also transmit a release command to the communication device 200 if the distribution of the update software to the communication device 200 is not completed within a predetermined period. For example, the distributing unit 113 may determine that the update has failed if it does not receive a completion report indicating that the update using the update software has been completed from the communication device 200 within a predetermined period after the distribution of the update software to the communication device 200. The predetermined period may be, for example, 10 minutes, 20 minutes, 30 minutes, etc. The predetermined period may be any period during which FOTA is expected to be completed, and is not limited to this. In this way, according to one embodiment of the present invention, a communication device 200 that has failed in FOTA is determined. Therefore, it is possible to perform efficient FOTA without unnecessarily occupying the communication bandwidth.

In the process described in the flowchart of FIG. 3, a mode was described in which the communication device 200 acquires base station information including communication quality information in response to a command from the distribution server 100 to select a distribution base station. However, the communication quality information may be information transmitted in advance from the communication device 200 and stored in the database server 400. This will be described using FIGS. 5 and 6.

The communication device 200 may transmit history information regarding the operation history of the communication device 200 to the management server 101 together with device identification information for identifying the communication device 200 in response to a predetermined trigger. The distribution server 100 may then acquire the history information via the management server 101 (step P11). The device identification information for identifying the communication device may be, for example, but is not limited to, an IMSI, an IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identifier), a UUID, etc. Note that, when executing FOTA, the distribution server 100 may request the communication device 200 to transmit the device identification information in advance and store it before step P11.

The operation history may be information about various processes executed by the communication device 200. The predetermined trigger may be the execution of a predetermined process in the communication device 200, or the receipt of a predetermined request transmitted from the management server 101 or the like. For example, the communication device 200 may transmit information about an abnormality to the management server 101 when it executes a process related to an abnormality that has occurred in the device itself. Specifically, for example, when the communication device 200 detects an abnormality in the device itself, or when it disconnects from the base station 300 and restarts the device based on the occurrence of an abnormality, it may transmit the contents of the abnormality, etc. to the management server 101. When the battery voltage of the communication device 200 decreases, it may transmit to the management server 101 a notification that the battery voltage has decreased. Furthermore, when a request from the management server 101 is received, the communication device 200 may transmit a meter reading value of a smart meter, etc. to the management server 101. When transmitting the above-mentioned operation history, the communication device 200 may also transmit to the management server 101 communication quality information regarding the communication quality between the communication device 200 and the base station at the time of transmitting the operation history. The communication quality information may be, but is not limited to, the above-mentioned RSRP, RSRQ, RSSI, SINR, etc. The distribution server 100 may acquire the history information and the communication quality information from the management server 101.

The acquisition unit 115 may acquire base station identification information for identifying the base station to which the communication device 200 is connected based on the device identification information (step P12). The base station identification information may be, for example, ECGI (third base station identification information) that uniquely identifies a cell, but is not limited to this.

The acquisition unit 115 may accumulate history information for each ECGI (step P13). FIG. 6(a) shows an example of history information. Table TB30 may be a table in which communication quality information included in the operation information transmitted at a predetermined opportunity is stored together with the acquisition date and time for each device identification information (IMSI). For simplicity, in table T30 and table T31 described later, ECGI is indicated by the symbol of the base station in FIG. 1 with "'" attached, and device identification information (IMSI) is indicated by the symbol of the communication device 200 in FIG. 1. The acquisition unit 115 may calculate the average communication quality (average RSRP) between each base station 300 and the communication device 200 during a predetermined period based on table TB30, and store it for each device identification information. Table TB31 in FIG. 5(b) is an example of a table in which the average communication quality (average RSRP) between each base station 300 for each device identification information is stored. The period over which the average is taken may be the most recent week, three days, etc., but is not limited to these.

Based on the average RSRP in table TB31, the selection unit 111 may select a distribution base station from among the multiple base stations 300A to 300C that will distribute update software to the communication device 200a (step P14). The selection unit 111 may select the base station with the best communication quality in the most recent period as the distribution base station based on the average RSRP. In the case of table TB31, the base station (base station 300A) with the highest average RSRP and identified by ECGI 301A' may be selected as the distribution base station.

The acquisition unit 115 may acquire connection information for connecting the communication device 200a to the distribution base station 300A from the table TB20 stored in the database server 400 (step P15). After that, steps P16 to P23 are the same as steps S15 to S22 in FIG. 3, so a description thereof will be omitted.

Thus, according to one embodiment of the present invention, information regarding the communication quality between the communication device 200 and the base station may be acquired and stored at the timing when the communication device 200 transmits data. Then, from the accumulated communication quality history, a base station with good communication quality may be selected as the base station for distribution. This makes it possible to realize an efficient system without sending a command to the communication device 200 when acquiring communication quality information.

Although the present invention has been described based on the drawings and examples, it should be noted that a person skilled in the art can easily make various modifications and corrections based on the present disclosure. Therefore, it should be noted that these modifications and corrections are included in the scope of the present invention. For example, the functions included in each means, each step, etc. can be rearranged so as not to cause logical contradictions, and multiple means, steps, etc. can be combined into one or divided. In addition, the configurations shown in the above embodiments may be appropriately combined. For example, each component described as being included in the distribution server 100 may be realized in a distributed manner by multiple servers. In addition, the processing described as the functions of the distribution server 100 may be performed by the communication device 200. Conversely, the processing described as being performed by the communication device 200 may be performed by the distribution server 100.

For example, in the above description, each data table is stored in the database server 400, but the various information may be stored in the storage unit of the distribution server 100 or the management server 101.

Each functional unit of the server 100 or the communication device 200 may be realized by a logic circuit (hardware) or a dedicated circuit formed in an integrated circuit (IC (Integrated Circuit) chip, LSI (Large Scale Integration)), or may be realized by software using a CPU (Central Processing Unit). In addition, each functional unit may be realized by one or more integrated circuits, and the functions of multiple functional units may be realized by a single integrated circuit.

The programs of each embodiment of the present disclosure may be provided in a state stored in a storage medium readable by an information processing device. The storage medium can store the programs in a "non-transient tangible medium." The programs include, for example, software programs and information processing device programs. When the functional units of the distribution server 100 as an information processing device are realized by software, the distribution server 100 functions as a selection unit 111, a generation unit 112, a transmission unit 113, a distribution unit 114, and an acquisition unit 115 by the processor executing the programs loaded on the memory.

The storage medium may, where appropriate, include one or more semiconductor-based or other integrated circuits (ICs) (e.g., field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific ICs (ASICs), etc.), hard disk drives (HDDs), hybrid hard drives (HHDs), optical disks, optical disk drives (ODDs), magneto-optical disks, magneto-optical drives, floppy diskettes, floppy disk drives (FDDs), magnetic tapes, solid state drives (SSDs), RAM drives, secure digital cards or drives, any other suitable storage media, or any suitable combination of two or more of these. The storage medium may, where appropriate, be volatile, non-volatile, or a combination of volatile and non-volatile.

The program of the present disclosure may also be provided to the distribution server 100 via any transmission medium capable of transmitting the program (such as a communication network or broadcast waves).

Furthermore, each embodiment of the present disclosure may be realized in the form of a data signal embedded in a carrier wave, in which the program is embodied by electronic transmission. The program of the present disclosure may be implemented using, for example, a scripting language such as JavaScript (registered trademark) or Python, C language, Go language, Swift, Koltin, Java (registered trademark), etc.

According to each aspect of the present disclosure described above, by providing technology related to monitoring and maintenance of IoT devices for 5G and beyond network technologies, it is possible to contribute to the achievement of Goal 9 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), "Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization, and promote innovation and infrastructure."

100 Distribution server (information processing device)
110 Control unit 111 Selection unit 112 Generation unit 113 Transmission unit 114 Distribution unit 115 Acquisition unit 120 Communication unit 130 Input/output unit 170 Storage unit 101 Management server 400 Database server 200 Communication device (IoT device)
210 Control unit 220 Communication unit 230 Input/output unit 270 Storage unit 300 Base station 500 Mobile communication network 50 Core network 600 Distribution system

Claims (11)

A distribution server that distributes update software to a communication device connected to a base station,
a selection unit that selects a delivery base station from among a plurality of base stations that delivers the update software to the communication device;
a generation unit that generates a connection command for causing the communication device to connect to the distribution base station and maintain the connection until a predetermined condition is satisfied;
a transmission unit that transmits the connection command to the communication device;
a distribution unit that distributes the update software to the communication device when the communication device connects to the distribution base station. The distribution server according to claim 1, wherein the generation unit generates the connection command under the specified condition that the connection is terminated after a specified period of time has elapsed since the connection to the distribution base station. The distribution server according to claim 1, wherein the generation unit generates a disconnect command to disconnect the connection between the communication device and the distribution base station upon completion of reception of the update software by the communication device, and generates the connection command with the predetermined condition being that the disconnect command has been received by the communication device. The distribution server according to claim 3, wherein the transmission unit transmits the cancellation command to the communication device if the distribution of the update software to the communication device is not completed within a predetermined period of time. An acquisition unit that acquires, from the communication device, communication quality information related to communication quality between the communication device and at least one or more base stations to which the communication device can be connected, together with base station identification information of the at least one or more base stations;
The distribution server according to claim 1 , wherein the selection unit selects a base station having the best communication quality as the distribution base station. The communication device transmits history information regarding an operation history of the communication device at a predetermined opportunity,
An acquisition unit that acquires communication quality information regarding a communication quality between the communication device and a base station at the time of transmitting the operation history,
the acquisition unit acquires base station identification information for identifying a base station connected at the time of transmission of the operation history, based on device identification information for identifying the communication device received from the communication device together with the operation history;
The distribution server according to claim 1 , wherein the selection unit selects, as the distribution base station, a base station having the best communication quality for a predetermined period between the base station identified by the base station identification information and the communication device. The distribution server according to claim 1, wherein the communication between the communication device and the base station is based on a communication method using NB-IoT (Narrow Band Internet of Things). A method for controlling a distribution server that distributes update software to a communication device connected to a base station, comprising the steps of:
The distribution server
selecting a base station from among a plurality of base stations that distributes the update software to the communication device;
generating a connection command for causing the communication device to connect to the distribution base station and maintain the connection until a predetermined condition is met;
sending the connection command to the communication device;
and distributing the update software to the communication device upon receiving connection of the communication device to the distribution base station. A control program for a distribution server that distributes update software to a communication device connected to a base station, comprising:
On the distribution server,
a function of selecting a delivery base station from among a plurality of base stations, the base station delivering the update software to the communication device;
a function of generating a connection command for causing the communication device to connect to the distribution base station and maintain the connection until a predetermined condition is met;
sending the connection command to the communication device;
a control program for a distribution server that realizes a function of distributing the update software to the communication device when the communication device connects to the distribution base station. A distribution system including a communication device connected to a base station and a distribution server that distributes update software to the communication device,
The distribution server,
a selection unit that selects a delivery base station from among a plurality of base stations that delivers the update software to the communication device;
a generation unit that generates a connection command for causing the communication device to connect to the distribution base station and maintain the connection until a predetermined condition is satisfied;
a transmission unit that transmits the connection command to the communication device;
a distribution unit that distributes the update software to the communication device when the communication device connects to the distribution base station. A communication device for receiving update software from a distribution server,
a receiving unit that receives, from the distribution server, a connection command that designates a distribution base station that receives the update software, and that connects to the distribution base station based on the connection command to receive the update software;
The distribution server generates the connection command to cause the communication device to continue connecting to the distribution server until a predetermined condition is met.

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