Beacon firmware upgrading method and device

Abstract

The invention relates to a beacon firmware upgrading method and device. The method comprises the following steps that: center beacon equipment acquires target firmware in a broadcast working mode and performs firmware upgrading according to the target firmware; the central beacon device is switched from a broadcast working mode to a scanning mode after firmware upgrading is completed, and surrounding target beacon devices are obtained through scanning in the beacon device cluster; after the central beacon device completes the surrounding beacon upgrading operation on the target beacon device, the scanning mode is switched back to the broadcast working mode; after upgrading, the beacon device serves as a new center beacon device after firmware upgrading is completed, a broadcast working mode is switched to a scanning mode, surrounding target beacon devices are obtained through scanning in a beacon device cluster, and after surrounding beacon upgrading operation on the target beacon devices is completed, the beacon device cluster is switched to the scanning mode; and switching from the scanning mode to the broadcast working mode, and repeating the steps until all the beacon devices in the beacon device cluster are upgraded to the target firmware.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the technical field of Internet of Things, and in particular to a beacon firmware upgrading method and device. Background Art

[0002] Beacon firmware generally refers to the software program pre-installed inside the beacon device, which is used to control and operate the various functions of the beacon device. These firmware can be written by the device manufacturer or developer to keep the functions and performance of the beacon device up to date by upgrading or updating the software of the beacon device.

[0003] The existing upgrade technology has a high labor cost for Bluetooth beacons deployed in large areas. In large areas, Bluetooth beacons have limited wireless coverage. If they need to be upgraded, they can only be upgraded within the wireless coverage. This requires implementation personnel to carry upgrade devices (such as mobile phones, etc.) to upgrade the surrounding beacons in small areas within the area. The upgrade operation is repetitive and cumbersome. Figure 1 As shown in the figure, the wireless coverage range of the beacon is 1 (the distance between each two adjacent beacons is 1), and the implementation personnel need to run at least to (X2, Y2), (X n-1 ,Y2),(X n / 2 ,Y n / 2 ),(X2,Y n-1 ),(X n-1 ,Y n-1 ), 5 coordinate points to upgrade the surrounding beacons.

[0004] It can be seen that the above technology has the problem that the Bluetooth beacon upgrade operation in a large area is repetitive and cumbersome. Summary of the invention

[0005] The purpose of the present invention is to provide a beacon firmware upgrade method and device to solve the problem in the prior art that the Bluetooth beacon upgrade operation in a large area is repetitive and cumbersome.

[0006] In order to achieve the above object, the technical solution adopted by the present invention is as follows:

[0007] According to one aspect of an embodiment of the present application, a beacon firmware upgrade method is provided, including:

[0008] The central beacon device in the beacon device cluster obtains the target firmware in the broadcast working mode, and the central beacon device performs firmware upgrade according to the target firmware, wherein the central beacon device is any beacon device in the beacon device cluster;

[0009] After completing the firmware upgrade, the central beacon device switches from the broadcast working mode to the scanning mode, and scans the surrounding target beacon devices in the beacon device cluster;

[0010] The central beacon device switches from the scanning mode back to the broadcasting working mode after completing the surrounding beacon upgrade operation on the target beacon device, wherein the surrounding beacon upgrade operation is used to upgrade the firmware of the target beacon device and obtain the upgraded beacon device;

[0011] After completing the firmware upgrade, the upgraded beacon device acts as a new central beacon device and switches from the broadcast working mode to the scanning mode, and scans the surrounding target beacon devices in the beacon device cluster. After completing the surrounding beacon upgrade operation on the target beacon device, it switches from the scanning mode back to the broadcast working mode, and repeats this cycle until all beacon devices in the beacon device cluster are upgraded to the target firmware.

[0012] Optionally, as in the aforementioned beacon firmware upgrade method, the surrounding beacon upgrade operation includes:

[0013] The central beacon device sends the target firmware to the target beacon device, so that the target beacon device performs firmware upgrade according to the target firmware, and obtains an upgraded beacon device that completes the firmware upgrade.

[0014] Optionally, as in the aforementioned beacon firmware upgrade method, the central beacon device in the beacon device cluster obtains the target firmware, including:

[0015] Establishing a wireless connection between the central beacon device and the upgrade device;

[0016] The central beacon device obtains the target firmware sent by the upgrade device through the wireless connection.

[0017] Optionally, as in the aforementioned beacon firmware upgrade method, after the central beacon device sends the target firmware to the target beacon device, the method further includes:

[0018] The central beacon device scans again in the beacon device cluster to determine whether there is a non-upgraded beacon device whose firmware version is lower than the firmware version of the target firmware currently installed by the central beacon device;

[0019] When determining that the non-upgraded beacon device does not exist, the central beacon device stops scanning.

[0020] Optionally, as in the aforementioned beacon firmware upgrade method, it is characterized in that the central beacon device obtains the target firmware sent by the upgrade device through the wireless connection, including:

[0021] The upgrading device acquires target firmware for upgrading the firmware of the beacon device cluster;

[0022] The upgrading device establishes a wireless connection with a central beacon device in the beacon device cluster;

[0023] The upgrade device sends the target firmware to the central beacon device through the wireless connection.

[0024] Optionally, as in the aforementioned beacon firmware upgrade method, the upgrade device establishes a wireless connection with a central beacon device in the beacon device cluster, including:

[0025] The upgrade device uses a preset target parameter to determine the central beacon device that meets the target parameter from all candidate beacon devices, wherein the target parameter is used to indicate a specific upgrade condition met by the central beacon device, and the target parameter includes at least one of the following: a beacon device MAC address, firmware version information, and a type identifier of the beacon device;

[0026] The upgrading device establishes the wireless connection with the central beacon device.

[0027] Optionally, as in the aforementioned beacon firmware upgrade method, the upgrade device establishes the wireless connection with the central beacon device, including:

[0028] Establishing a pre-connection with the central beacon device;

[0029] receiving a first password sent by the central beacon device through the pre-connection;

[0030] Decrypting the first password to obtain a second password;

[0031] The second password is sent to the central beacon device through the pre-connection, so that the central beacon device verifies the second password and maintains the pre-connection when determining that the second password verification is successful, thereby obtaining the wireless connection.

[0032] Optionally, as in the aforementioned beacon firmware upgrade method, the upgrade device uses preset target parameters to determine the central beacon device that meets the target parameters from all candidate beacon devices, including:

[0033] Using the preset target parameters, determine M designated beacon devices that meet the target parameters from all candidate beacon devices, where M is an integer greater than or equal to 1;

[0034] Get the signal strength corresponding to each specified beacon device;

[0035] Sorting the M designated beacon devices according to a preset signal strength sorting rule and a signal strength corresponding to each designated beacon device to obtain a sorting result;

[0036] According to the sorting result, N central beacon devices are selected from the multiple M designated beacon devices, wherein the central beacon device is the first N designated beacon devices with the highest signal strength in the sorting result, and when M is less than the target number, N is equal to M, and when M is greater than or equal to the target number, N is the target number, and the target number is an integer greater than or equal to 1.

[0037] Optionally, as in the aforementioned beacon firmware upgrade method, the upgrade device sends the target firmware to the central beacon device in the beacon device cluster so that the central beacon device performs the firmware upgrade according to the target firmware, including:

[0038] sending the target firmware to the central beacon device via the wireless connection;

[0039] Detect whether the central beacon device is successfully upgraded to the target firmware.

[0040] Optionally, as in the aforementioned beacon firmware upgrade method, the detecting whether the central beacon device is successfully upgraded to the target firmware includes:

[0041] Determining whether the target firmware is completely sent to the central beacon device;

[0042] When it is determined that the target firmware is completely sent to the central beacon device, it is detected whether the firmware of the central beacon device is successfully upgraded.

[0043] Optionally, as in the aforementioned beacon firmware upgrade method, the step of detecting whether the firmware of the central beacon device is successfully upgraded includes:

[0044] receiving version information broadcasted by the central beacon device, wherein the version information is used to indicate a version of firmware currently installed on the central beacon device;

[0045] According to the version information, it is determined whether the central beacon device is successfully upgraded to the target firmware.

[0046] According to another aspect of the embodiment of the present application, a beacon firmware upgrade device is also provided, including:

[0047] An acquisition module, used for acquiring a target firmware in a broadcast working mode, and the central beacon device performs a firmware upgrade according to the target firmware, wherein the central beacon device is any beacon device in the beacon device cluster;

[0048] A scanning module, used to switch from a broadcast working mode to a scanning mode after completing the firmware upgrade, and scan the surrounding target beacon devices in the beacon device cluster;

[0049] An upgrade module is used to switch from the scanning mode back to the broadcast working mode after completing the surrounding beacon upgrade operation on the target beacon device, wherein the surrounding beacon upgrade operation is used to upgrade the firmware of the target beacon device and obtain the upgraded beacon device; the upgraded beacon device serves as a new central beacon device after completing the firmware upgrade, and switches from the broadcast working mode to the scanning mode, and scans the surrounding target beacon devices in the beacon device cluster to obtain, and after completing the surrounding beacon upgrade operation on the target beacon device, switches from the scanning mode back to the broadcast working mode, and repeats this cycle until all beacon devices in the beacon device cluster are upgraded to the target firmware.

[0050] Beneficial effects of the present invention:

[0051] The present invention obtains target firmware in a broadcast working mode by a central beacon device in a beacon device cluster, and the central beacon device performs firmware upgrade according to the target firmware, wherein the central beacon device is any beacon device in the beacon device cluster; after completing the firmware upgrade, the central beacon device switches from the broadcast working mode to the scanning mode, and scans the surrounding target beacon devices in the beacon device cluster; after completing the surrounding beacon upgrade operation on the target beacon device, the central beacon device switches from the scanning mode back to the broadcast working mode, wherein the surrounding beacon upgrade operation is used to perform firmware upgrade on the target beacon device and obtain an upgraded beacon device; after completing the firmware upgrade, the upgraded beacon device serves as a new central beacon device, and switches from the broadcast working mode to the scanning mode, and scans the surrounding target beacon devices in the beacon device cluster to obtain the surrounding target beacon devices, and after completing the surrounding beacon upgrade operation on the target beacon device, switches from the scanning mode back to the broadcast working mode, and repeats this cycle until all beacon devices in the beacon device cluster are upgraded to the target firmware. By adopting this method, it is only necessary to use any beacon device in the beacon device cluster as the central beacon device and upgrade its firmware to complete the firmware upgrade of all beacon devices in the beacon device cluster. This greatly simplifies the firmware upgrade process, reduces the complexity of the operation, and improves the efficiency of the beacon device firmware upgrade, thereby solving the technical problem of repeated and cumbersome Bluetooth beacon upgrade operations in large areas in related technologies. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0052] Figure 1It is a schematic diagram of a hardware environment of an optional beacon firmware upgrade method in the related art;

[0053] Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of a hardware environment of an optional beacon firmware upgrade method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0054] Figure 3 is a flowchart of an optional beacon firmware upgrade method according to an embodiment of the present application;

[0055] Figure 4 It is a flowchart of a beacon firmware upgrade method in an optional application example of the present application;

[0056] Figure 5 It is a structural block diagram of an optional beacon firmware upgrade device according to an embodiment of the present application. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0057] In order to enable those skilled in the art to better understand the solution of the present application, the technical solution in the embodiments of the present application will be clearly and completely described below in conjunction with the drawings in the embodiments of the present application. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present application, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments in the present application, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work should fall within the scope of protection of the present application.

[0058] It should be noted that the terms "first", "second", etc. in the specification and claims of the present application and the above-mentioned drawings are used to distinguish similar objects, and are not necessarily used to describe a specific order or sequence. It should be understood that the data used in this way can be interchangeable where appropriate, so that the embodiments of the present application described herein can be implemented in an order other than those illustrated or described herein. In addition, the terms "including" and "having" and any of their variations are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions, for example, a process, method, system, product or device that includes a series of steps or units is not necessarily limited to those steps or units that are clearly listed, but may include other steps or units that are not clearly listed or inherent to these processes, methods, products or devices.

[0059] According to one aspect of an embodiment of the present application, a beacon firmware upgrade method is provided. Optionally, in this embodiment, the beacon firmware upgrade method can be applied to a hardware environment consisting of a terminal and a server. The server is connected to the terminal via a network, and can be used to provide services (such as decryption, verification of whether the upgrade is successful, etc.) for the terminal or the client installed on the terminal. A database can be set on the server or independently of the server to provide data storage services for the server.

[0060] The above network may include but is not limited to at least one of the following: wired network, wireless network. The above wired network may include but is not limited to at least one of the following: wide area network, metropolitan area network, local area network, and the above wireless network may include but is not limited to at least one of the following: WIFI (Wireless Fidelity), Bluetooth. The terminal may not be limited to a PC, a mobile phone, a tablet computer, etc.

[0061] The beacon firmware upgrade method of the embodiment of the present application can be executed by a server, or by a terminal, or by both a server and a terminal. The beacon firmware upgrade method of the embodiment of the present application can be executed by a terminal or by a client installed thereon.

[0062] Take the beacon firmware upgrade method in this embodiment executed by the terminal as an example, see Figure 2 , Figure 2 is a schematic diagram of a hardware environment of an optional beacon firmware upgrade method according to an embodiment of the present application, such as Figure 2 As shown, the hardware environment of the beacon firmware upgrade method includes: a terminal 1401, and a server 1402 connected to the terminal 1401 through a network. The server 1402 is used to store the target firmware for upgrading the target beacon device; the terminal 1401 is used to execute the beacon firmware upgrade method of the present invention.

[0063] In specific practice, the server can be a local server or a cloud server, and the terminal 1401 includes a mobile device and a target beacon device, and the mobile device and the target beacon device are connected through a network. The mobile device is used to obtain the target firmware and send the target firmware to the target beacon device through the network, so that the target beacon device performs a firmware upgrade through the target firmware; the target beacon device is used to receive the target firmware sent by the mobile device and perform a firmware upgrade through the target firmware.

[0064] Optionally, the mobile device includes but is not limited to the following devices: smart phones, tablet computers, laptops, etc.; the network connected to the mobile device and the target beacon device may include: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, etc. Preferably, in the present invention, the network connected to the mobile device and the target beacon device is Bluetooth.

[0065] Optionally, the hardware environment of the beacon firmware upgrade method in the present invention may only include Figure 1The terminal 101 in the embodiment includes a mobile device and a target beacon device, and the mobile device and the target beacon device are connected via a network. The mobile device is used to store the target firmware for upgrading the target beacon device, and the mobile device is also used to obtain the target firmware and send the target firmware to the target beacon device via the network, so that the target beacon device performs the firmware upgrade via the target firmware; the target beacon device is used to receive the target firmware sent by the mobile device and perform the firmware upgrade via the target firmware.

[0066] The beacon firmware upgrade method in this embodiment can be applied to scenarios that require the use of a beacon device network, such as: scenarios for monitoring device status in the Internet of Things, scenarios for cargo transportation in logistics management, scenarios for outdoor positioning and navigation, smart home scenarios, etc. In the embodiments of this application, the above-mentioned beacon firmware upgrade method is illustrated by taking the scenario of monitoring device status in the Internet of Things as an example. For other scenarios, the above-mentioned beacon firmware upgrade method is also applicable if there is no contradiction.

[0067] Taking the scenario of monitoring device status in the Internet of Things as an example, the mobile device obtains the beacon device (i.e., the target beacon device) of the firmware to be upgraded for monitoring, establishes a connection with the beacon device, and sends the firmware program for firmware upgrade (i.e., the target firmware) to the beacon device so that the beacon device can use the firmware program to upgrade the firmware.

[0068] In the related art, in a large area, due to the limited wireless coverage of Bluetooth beacons, if they need to be upgraded, they can only be upgraded within the wireless coverage. This requires implementation personnel to carry upgrade devices (such as mobile phones, etc.) to upgrade the surrounding beacons in each small area in the area, and the upgrade operation is repetitive and cumbersome. Figure 1 As shown in the figure, the wireless coverage range of the beacon is 1 (the distance between each two adjacent beacons is 1), and the implementation personnel need to run at least to (X2, Y2), (X n-1 ,Y2),(X n / 2 ,Y n / 2 ),(X2,Y n-1 ),(X n-1 ,Y n-1 ), 5 coordinate points are used to upgrade the surrounding beacons. It can be seen that the above technology has the technical problem that the Bluetooth beacon upgrade operation is repeated and cumbersome in a large area.

[0069] To solve the above problems, this embodiment provides a beacon firmware upgrade method running on a beacon device, see Figure 3 , Figure 3 is a flow chart of an optional beacon firmware upgrade method according to an embodiment of the present application, such as Figure 3 As shown, the beacon firmware upgrade method of the embodiment of the present application includes the following steps:

[0070] Step S302: The central beacon device in the beacon device cluster obtains the target firmware in the broadcast working mode, and the central beacon device performs firmware upgrade according to the target firmware, wherein the central beacon device is any beacon device in the beacon device cluster.

[0071] In this embodiment, the central beacon device is a beacon device whose firmware is to be upgraded by an upgrade device. The broadcast working mode is that the beacon device periodically sends data packets (advertising packets) in a specific format through a wireless communication protocol (such as Bluetooth Low Energy, BLE) to notify surrounding devices of its own existence and related information (for example, information). The central beacon device can be any beacon device in the beacon device cluster. Furthermore, the central beacon device can be located at one or more beacon devices in the center of the network topology in which the beacon device cluster is deployed or in the geographical center of the environment, thereby improving the upgrade efficiency of the beacon device cluster.

[0072] Firmware refers to the device "driver" stored inside the device. Only through firmware can the device implement the operation of a specific machine according to the standard device driver. In this embodiment, the firmware is the driver that has been installed in the target beacon device, and the target firmware is used as the driver for firmware upgrade of the beacon device. Specifically, the central beacon device can be a low-power Bluetooth device, and the upgrade device (for example, a mobile device, a computer, etc.) is connected to the central beacon device via Bluetooth. In specific practice, the target firmware can be stored in a cloud server or a local server. When the firmware of the beacon device cluster needs to be upgraded, the upgrade device connects to the server through the network and obtains the target firmware from the cloud server or the local server. Optionally, the target firmware can also be stored in the storage module of the mobile device. When a beacon device needs to be upgraded in firmware, the mobile device directly obtains the target firmware from the storage module.

[0073] After the upgrade device obtains the target firmware, it can send the target firmware to the central beacon device based on the communication connection between the upgrade device and the central beacon device, so that the central beacon device can obtain the target firmware. After the central beacon device verifies and writes the target firmware, the firmware upgrade is completed.

[0074] Step S304: After completing the firmware upgrade, the central beacon device switches from the broadcast working mode to the scanning mode, and scans the surrounding target beacon devices in the beacon device cluster.

[0075] That is to say, after the central beacon device completes the firmware upgrade, it needs to switch from the broadcast mode to the scanning mode to obtain the target beacon devices around it through scanning. For example, if the central beacon device is a Bluetooth beacon device, and the longest communication distance between two Bluetooth beacon devices is 1, then all beacon devices within a circular range of 1 from the central beacon device can be scanned by the central beacon device, so all beacon devices within a distance of 1 from the central beacon device are target beacon devices.

[0076] Step S306, after completing the surrounding beacon upgrade operation on the target beacon device, the central beacon device switches from the scanning mode back to the broadcast working mode, wherein the surrounding beacon upgrade operation is used to upgrade the firmware of the target beacon device and obtain the upgraded beacon device;

[0077] That is, in this embodiment, the central beacon device can implement the surrounding beacon upgrade operation by performing firmware upgrade on the target beacon device within its communication range, and when the target beacon device performs firmware upgrade through the target firmware sent by the central beacon device, an upgraded beacon device after the firmware upgrade is completed can be obtained. After the central beacon device completes the surrounding beacon upgrade operation on the target beacon device, it switches from the scanning mode back to the broadcast working mode.

[0078] Step S308, after completing the firmware upgrade, the upgraded beacon device acts as a new central beacon device, and switches from the broadcast working mode to the scanning mode, and scans the surrounding target beacon devices in the beacon device cluster. After completing the surrounding beacon upgrade operation on the target beacon device, it switches from the scanning mode back to the broadcast working mode, and repeats this cycle until all beacon devices in the beacon device cluster are upgraded to the target firmware.

[0079] Specifically, after the firmware of the beacon devices around the central beacon device is upgraded and the upgraded beacon device is obtained. There may be other beacon devices outside the communication periphery of the central beacon device within the communication range of the upgraded beacon device. At this time, the upgraded beacon device can be used as a new central beacon device, so that it can be switched from the broadcast working mode to the scanning mode, scan the target beacon devices around it, and let the new central beacon device perform the surrounding beacon upgrade operation on the target beacon devices around it. Then, the firmware of the target beacon devices around the new central beacon device that have not been upgraded to the target firmware will be upgraded. After completing the surrounding beacon upgrade operation for the target beacon devices around the new central beacon device, the new central beacon device will also switch from the scanning mode back to the broadcast working mode. According to this cycle, all beacon devices in the beacon device cluster can be upgraded to the target firmware.

[0080] Through the method of this embodiment, it is only necessary to upgrade the firmware of the central beacon device in the beacon device cluster to complete the firmware upgrade of all beacon devices in the beacon device cluster, which greatly simplifies the firmware upgrade process, reduces the complexity of the operation, and improves the efficiency of the beacon device firmware upgrade, thereby solving the technical problem of repeated and cumbersome Bluetooth beacon upgrade operations in large areas in related technologies.

[0081] As an optional implementation, such as the aforementioned beacon firmware upgrade method, the surrounding beacon upgrade operation includes: the central beacon device sends the target firmware to the target beacon device, so that the target beacon device performs a firmware upgrade according to the target firmware, and obtains the upgraded beacon device that completes the firmware upgrade. That is, the central beacon device scans all nearby beacon devices located around it (i.e., within the communication range) in the scanning mode, and then obtains the firmware version of each nearby beacon device, and compares the firmware version of each nearby beacon device with the target firmware version of its own upgraded target firmware. If the firmware version of the nearby beacon device is lower than the target firmware version, the nearby beacon device is determined as the target beacon device. Finally, the central beacon device can perform the target firmware sending process for the filtered target beacon firmware in turn, and the target beacon firmware also performs the target firmware receiving process; when the target beacon device performs a firmware upgrade according to the target firmware, the upgraded beacon device that completes the firmware upgrade can be obtained.

[0082] Furthermore, after the central beacon device sends the target firmware to the target beacon device, the method also includes the following steps: the central beacon device scans again in the beacon device cluster to determine whether there are any unupgraded beacon devices whose firmware versions are lower than the firmware version of the target firmware currently installed by the central beacon device; the central beacon device stops scanning when it determines that there are no unupgraded beacon devices. That is, after the central beacon device completes the process of sending the target firmware to the confirmed target beacon device, it will scan again to determine whether there are still unupgraded beacon devices whose firmware versions are lower than the firmware version of the target firmware currently installed by the central beacon device within its communication range. The unupgraded beacon device may be a beacon device that was not scanned before, or it may be a beacon device that did not successfully receive the target firmware. When the central beacon device determines that there are no unupgraded beacon devices, it stops scanning. On the contrary, if the central beacon device determines that there are still non-upgraded beacon devices, it will send the target firmware to the non-upgraded beacon devices, so that the non-upgraded beacon devices perform firmware upgrades according to the target firmware, and obtain upgraded beacon devices that have completed firmware upgrades, and repeats this cycle until no non-upgraded beacon devices are determined. Therefore, the method of this embodiment can complete the firmware upgrade of all beacon devices within the communication range of the central beacon device, avoiding the situation of incomplete upgrade.

[0083] As an optional implementation, such as the aforementioned beacon firmware upgrade method, the central beacon device in the beacon device cluster obtains the target firmware, including: establishing a wireless connection between the central beacon device and the upgrade device; the central beacon device obtains the target firmware sent by the upgrade device through the wireless connection. In specific practice, the upgrade device can be connected to one or more central beacon devices at the same time to perform firmware upgrades on each connected central beacon firmware. The connected central beacon device can be selected from the beacon device cluster as needed. Optionally, the upgrade device is connected to the target beacon device via Bluetooth, that is, a wireless connection is established, wherein the Bluetooth is low-power Bluetooth. After the upgrade device establishes a wireless connection with the central beacon device, the upgrade device can send the acquired target firmware to the central beacon device.

[0084] like Figure 4 As shown, an application example of applying any of the above embodiments is also provided:

[0085] 1. The personnel who carry out firmware upgrade for the beacon device cluster carry the upgrade device to the beacon (X n / 2 ,Y n / 2 ) (i.e., the central beacon device) performs firmware upgrade operations.

[0086] 2. Beacon (X n / 2 ,Y n / 2 )After the upgrade is successful, restart and enter the scanning mode.

[0087] 3. Beacon (X n / 2 ,Y n / 2 ) scans nearby beacon signals and selects target beacon devices that meet the upgrade conditions (firmware version is lower than its own).

[0088] 4. Beacon (X n / 2 ,Y n / 2 ) Establish connections with target beacon devices that meet the upgrade conditions in turn and send new firmware data.

[0089] 5. After all target beacon devices that meet the upgrade conditions are upgraded, the beacon (X n / 2 ,Y n / 2 ) Scan the nearby beacons again, and after confirming that there are no beacons that meet the upgrade conditions (firmware version is lower than its own) (that is, beacon devices that have not been upgraded), exit the scanning mode.

[0090] 6. Beacon (X n / 2 ,Y n / 2 ) to enter broadcast working mode.

[0091] 7. Beaconed (X n / 2 ,Y n / 2) upgraded beacons (i.e., new central beacon devices), such as beacons (X n / 2-1 ,Y n / 2-1 ), follow the beacon (X n / 2 ,Y n / 2 )'s surrounding beacon upgrade operation continues to upgrade the beacon (X n / 2-1 ,Y n / 2-1 ) around the beacon to upgrade.

[0092] As an optional embodiment, the central beacon device obtains the target firmware sent by the upgrade device through a wireless connection, including: it can be achieved through the following steps: the upgrade device obtains the target firmware for upgrading the firmware of the beacon device cluster; the upgrade device establishes a wireless connection with the central beacon device in the beacon device cluster; the upgrade device sends the target firmware to the central beacon device through the wireless connection.

[0093] Specifically, the central beacon device can be a low-power Bluetooth device, and the upgrade device (for example, a mobile device, a computer, etc.) is connected to the central beacon device via Bluetooth. In specific practice, the target firmware can be stored in a cloud server or a local server. When the firmware of the beacon device cluster needs to be upgraded, the upgrade device connects to the server through the network and obtains the target firmware from the cloud server or the local server. Optionally, the target firmware can also be stored in a storage module of the mobile device. When a beacon device needs to be upgraded, the mobile device directly obtains the target firmware from the storage module.

[0094] After the upgrade device obtains the target firmware, it can send the target firmware to the central beacon device based on the communication connection between the upgrade device and the central beacon device, such as Bluetooth connection, so that the central beacon device can obtain the target firmware. After the central beacon device verifies and writes the target firmware, the firmware upgrade is completed.

[0095] After the central beacon device completes the firmware upgrade, the central beacon device can implement the surrounding beacon upgrade operation by performing firmware upgrades on the beacon devices within its communication range. Taking the central beacon device as a Bluetooth beacon device as an example, the longest communication distance between two Bluetooth beacon devices is taken as 1; all beacon devices within a circular range of 1 from the central beacon device can perform firmware upgrades through the target firmware sent by the central beacon device, thereby obtaining an upgraded beacon device after the firmware upgrade is completed.

[0096] After the central beacon device upgrades the firmware of the beacon devices around it and obtains the upgraded beacon device. The communication range of the upgraded beacon device may include other beacon devices outside the communication periphery of the central beacon device. At this time, the upgraded beacon device can be used as the new central beacon device, and the new central beacon device can be made to perform the surrounding beacon upgrade operation in the beacon device cluster. Then, the firmware of the beacon devices around the new central beacon device that have not been upgraded to the target firmware will be upgraded. According to this cycle, all beacon devices in the beacon device cluster can be upgraded to the target firmware.

[0097] Through the method of this embodiment, it is only necessary to upgrade the firmware of the central beacon device in the beacon device cluster through the upgrading device to complete the firmware upgrade of all beacon devices in the beacon device cluster, which greatly simplifies the firmware upgrade process, reduces the tediousness of the operation, and improves the efficiency of the beacon device firmware upgrade, thereby solving the technical problem of repeated and tedious Bluetooth beacon upgrade operations in large areas in the related technology.

[0098] As an optional implementation, the wireless connection between the upgrade device and the central beacon device in the beacon device cluster can be established by the following steps:

[0099] The upgrade device uses a preset target parameter to determine a central beacon device that meets the target parameter from all candidate beacon devices, wherein the target parameter is used to indicate a specific upgrade condition met by the central beacon device, and the target parameter includes at least one of the following: a beacon device MAC address, firmware version information, and a type identifier of the beacon device;

[0100] The upgrade device establishes a wireless connection with the central beacon device.

[0101] In this embodiment, the candidate beacon device is a beacon device in a beacon device cluster, and the central beacon device refers to a beacon device that is pre-selected among the candidate beacon devices and meets the target parameters, wherein the target parameters are used to indicate the specific upgrade conditions met by the central beacon device, and the target parameters include at least one of the following: beacon device MAC address, firmware version information, and type identification of the beacon device.

[0102] In specific practice, the target parameters may be set in an upgrade application of the upgrade device so as to select a target beacon device that meets the target parameters from the candidate beacon devices.

[0103] As an optional embodiment, the central beacon device that needs to be upgraded may be selected according to the MAC address of the beacon device.

[0104] Since the MAC address of beacon devices of each manufacturer is different, the first 4 bits of the MAC address of the beacon device are generally used to indicate the manufacturer information, so the beacon device to be upgraded can be selected based on the first 4 bits of the MAC address encoding. Specifically, the upgrading device scans nearby candidate beacon devices and selects the central beacon device to be upgraded according to the set MAC address of the beacon device.

[0105] In actual practice, to upgrade a beacon device of a certain manufacturer, first obtain the first 4 digits of the MAC address of the manufacturer's beacon device, enter the code into the filter box of the upgrade program, filter out the beacon devices that have the same first 4 digits of the MAC address as the input manufacturer's beacon device, and obtain a list to be upgraded including the central beacon device.

[0106] As an optional embodiment, the central beacon device that needs to be upgraded may also be selected according to the firmware version information.

[0107] Since the beacon device will continuously broadcast information when it is working normally, the broadcast information will carry the version information of the firmware installed on the current beacon device, so the beacon device to be upgraded can be screened according to the firmware version information. Specifically, the upgrading device scans the attached candidate beacon devices and selects the central beacon device to be upgraded according to the set firmware version information.

[0108] In actual practice, to upgrade a beacon device of a certain firmware version, first obtain the version information of the beacon device firmware, that is, the firmware version number, enter the firmware version number into the filter box of the upgrade program, filter the beacon devices with the same firmware version number as the input, and obtain a list of devices to be upgraded including the central beacon device.

[0109] As an optional embodiment, the upgrading device uses preset target parameters to determine a central beacon device that meets the target parameters from all candidate beacon devices, including:

[0110] Using the preset target parameters, determine M designated beacon devices that meet the target parameters from all candidate beacon devices, where M is an integer greater than or equal to 1;

[0111] Obtaining a signal strength corresponding to each of the designated beacon devices;

[0112] Sorting the multiple designated beacon devices according to a preset signal strength sorting rule and a signal strength corresponding to each designated beacon device to obtain a sorting result;

[0113] According to the sorting result, N central beacon devices are selected from the multiple designated beacon devices, wherein the central beacon device is the first N designated beacon devices with the highest signal strength in the sorting result, and when M is less than the target number, N is equal to M, and when M is greater than or equal to the target number, N is the target number, and the target number is an integer greater than or equal to 1.

[0114] Since the central beacon device and the upgrade device are connected using Bluetooth, the signal strengths of beacon devices at different distances are different when they are connected. In order to ensure the success rate of the upgrade, in this embodiment, the designated beacon device is the central beacon device. According to the sorting rule of signal strength from strong to weak and the signal strength of each central beacon device, the M designated beacon devices in the upgrade list are sorted to obtain a sorting result, which is a list to be upgraded formed by the M designated beacon devices after being sorted by signal strength; and the first N central beacon devices are selected from the sorting results in order to connect, and the N central beacon devices are upgraded at the same time.

[0115] It should be noted that the target number is used to indicate the number of central beacon devices to be upgraded at one time. In the present invention, the upgrade device can be connected to multiple central beacon devices at the same time, but for the purpose of upgrading effect, the preferred target number is at most 3, that is, the upgrade device is connected to at most 3 central beacon devices at the same time to upgrade 3 beacon devices.

[0116] In the above embodiment, after N central beacon devices are upgraded, N central beacon devices will continue to be selected in order from the list to be upgraded for the next batch upgrade until all central beacon devices in the list to be upgraded are upgraded.

[0117] It can be understood that the technical solution provided in this embodiment sorts the central beacon devices according to signal strength from strong to weak, and selects a preset number of central beacon devices to perform firmware upgrades simultaneously, thereby ensuring the upgrade effect.

[0118] According to the central beacon device selection method of the present embodiment, when N is 3, the specific steps of selecting the central beacon device to be upgraded according to the set MAC address are as follows: use the manufacturer's beacon device MAC address to filter and obtain a list of 10 designated beacon devices to be upgraded; sort the 10 designated beacon devices in the upgrade list according to signal strength from strong to weak to obtain a sorted list to be upgraded; from the list to be upgraded, select the first 3 central beacon devices for upgrading. After the 3 central beacon devices are upgraded, the firmware upgrade of all beacon devices in the beacon device cluster can be completed through the surrounding beacon upgrade operation performed by each central beacon device.

[0119] As an optional embodiment, establishing a wireless connection with each target beacon device includes:

[0120] Establish a pre-connection with each central beacon device;

[0121] receiving a first password sent by each central beacon device through pre-connection;

[0122] Decrypting the first password to obtain a second password;

[0123] The second password is sent to each central beacon device through the pre-connection, so that each central beacon device verifies the second password and maintains the pre-connection when determining that the second password verification is successful, thereby obtaining a wireless connection.

[0124] It should be noted that pre-connection refers to the connection established between the upgrade device and the beacon device when the upgrade device scans the beacon device. However, since it has not been verified at this time, the connection is not secure, so it is called pre-connection. During the verification process, the password received by the upgrade device is an encrypted password, so it needs to be decrypted before verification. If the password verification passes, the pre-connection is maintained and the connection is obtained. This connection is a secure connection and can be used for subsequent data transmission.

[0125] It can be understood that the upgrade device and the central beacon device verify the password by exchanging encrypted messages. If the password verification is successful, the upgrade device and the central beacon device can establish a secure connection and start communication; if the password verification fails, the upgrade device and the central beacon device will not be able to establish a connection, thereby protecting the security and confidentiality of the data, and at the same time preventing the upgrade package (i.e., the target firmware) from being tampered with, ensuring the security of the upgrade.

[0126] According to the above technical means, the connected upgrade device and the central beacon device can ensure the security and confidentiality of communication by verifying the password, and can prevent unauthorized access and data leakage, while also preventing illegal devices from connecting to the network.

[0127] In specific practice, when it is determined that the connection is secure, the upgrade device sends the target firmware to the connected central beacon device, so that the central beacon device uses the target firmware to perform firmware upgrade.

[0128] As an optional embodiment, the upgrading device sends the target firmware to the central beacon device in the beacon device cluster, including:

[0129] Sending the target firmware to the central beacon device via a wireless connection;

[0130] Check whether the central beacon device has been successfully upgraded to the target firmware.

[0131] In specific practice, the upgrade device first sends an upgrade instruction to the central beacon device to put the central beacon device into an upgrade state; after receiving the signal that the central beacon device has entered the upgrade state, the upgrade device sends the target firmware to the central beacon device; and detects whether the central beacon device has been successfully upgraded to the target firmware. It should be noted that the central beacon device enters the upgrade state when it restarts and reconnects to the upgrade device after receiving the upgrade instruction. When the beacon device restarts, it does not broadcast information externally. When in normal use, the beacon device will continue to broadcast information externally. When the beacon device restarts and connects to the upgrade device again, the beacon device enters the upgrade state. No password verification is required to reconnect after restarting.

[0132] As an optional embodiment, detecting whether the central beacon device is successfully upgraded to the target firmware includes:

[0133] Determine whether the target firmware is completely sent to the central beacon device;

[0134] When it is determined that the target firmware is completely sent to the central beacon device, it is detected whether the firmware of the central beacon device is successfully upgraded.

[0135] In actual practice, the upgrade device will send the target firmware to the central beacon device in segments according to the firmware size. During this process, the upgrade device will determine whether the target firmware is sent completely. If it is determined that the target firmware is sent completely to the central beacon device, it will detect whether the firmware of the central beacon device has been successfully upgraded.

[0136] The upgrade device calculates the size of the sent firmware based on the fragment size and the number of times it is sent, and compares the size of the sent firmware with the size of the central beacon device firmware. If the two are the same, it means that the target firmware has been completely sent. Specifically, the upgrade device accumulates the number of write times each time it writes data; calculates the size of the actual written data based on the number of writes and the size of each written data; compares the actual written size with the size of the firmware; when the size of the written data is larger than the size of the firmware, the target firmware is considered to have been completely sent. Generally, the size of each write is between 20 and 500 bytes, and in this embodiment, a 200-byte size is preferably written.

[0137] According to the above technical means, after determining that the target firmware has been completely written into the central beacon device, the central beacon device is tested to confirm whether it has been upgraded successfully, which helps to ensure the successful upgrade of the central beacon device, and to promptly re-upgrade the firmware of the central beacon device after the central beacon device upgrade fails, ultimately ensuring the successful upgrade of the target beacon device.

[0138] In addition, the central beacon device can also determine whether the target beacon device has been successfully upgraded to the target firmware by the following steps: determining whether the target firmware is completely sent to the target beacon device; and if it is determined that the target firmware is completely sent to the target beacon device, detecting whether the firmware of the target beacon device has been successfully upgraded. The specific implementation method can refer to the related implementation method of detecting whether the central beacon device has been successfully upgraded to the target firmware, which will not be repeated here.

[0139] As an optional embodiment, detecting whether the firmware of the central beacon device is successfully upgraded includes:

[0140] Receiving version information broadcasted by the central beacon device, wherein the version information is used to indicate the version of the firmware currently installed in the central beacon device;

[0141] According to the version information, determine whether the central beacon device has been successfully upgraded to the target firmware.

[0142] Specifically, after detecting that the target firmware has been completely sent, the upgrade device sends an upgrade completion instruction to the central beacon device. At this time, after the central beacon device receives the upgrade completion instruction sent by the upgrade device, it will restart and apply the new firmware, and disconnect from the upgrade device at the same time. After the restart is successful, it will reconnect to the upgrade device. At this time, the beacon device starts broadcasting information. The upgrade device determines whether the firmware of the central beacon device has been successfully upgraded based on whether the firmware version information in the received information has changed. If it has changed, it means that the central beacon device has been successfully upgraded to the target firmware.

[0143] It should be noted that if the firmware upgrade of the central beacon device fails, the central beacon device will be displayed in the retry list of the upgrade application. Click the retry button to perform another firmware upgrade.

[0144] According to the above technical means, the firmware version information of the central beacon device is used to determine whether the firmware of the central beacon device has been successfully upgraded. After the firmware version information changes, the firmware upgrade of the central beacon device is successful. It can accurately verify whether the firmware of the target device has been successfully upgraded. When the upgrade fails, the firmware of the central beacon device can be re-upgraded in time, ultimately ensuring that the upgrade of the central beacon device is successful.

[0145] In addition, the central beacon device can also detect whether the firmware of the target beacon device is successfully upgraded by the following steps: receiving version information broadcasted by the target beacon device, wherein the version information is used to indicate the version of the firmware currently installed on the target beacon device; judging whether the target beacon device is successfully upgraded to the target firmware according to the version information. The specific implementation method can refer to the related implementation method of detecting whether the firmware of the central beacon device is successfully upgraded, which will not be repeated here.

[0146] It should be noted that, for the aforementioned method embodiments, for the sake of simplicity, they are all described as a series of action combinations, but those skilled in the art should be aware that the present application is not limited by the order of the actions described, because according to the present application, certain steps can be performed in other orders or simultaneously. Secondly, those skilled in the art should also be aware that the embodiments described in the specification are all preferred embodiments, and the actions and modules involved are not necessarily required for the present application.

[0147] Through the description of the above implementation methods, those skilled in the art can clearly understand that the method according to the above embodiment can be implemented by means of software plus a necessary general hardware platform, and of course it can also be implemented by hardware, but in many cases the former is a better implementation method. Based on such an understanding, the technical solution of the present application, or the part that contributes to the prior art, can be embodied in the form of a software product, which is stored in a storage medium (such as ROM (Read-Only Memory, read-only memory) / RAM (Random Access Memory, random access memory), a magnetic disk, or an optical disk), and includes a number of instructions for a terminal device (which can be a mobile phone, a computer, a server, or a network device, etc.) to execute the methods of each embodiment of the present application.

[0148] According to another aspect of the embodiment of the present application, a beacon firmware upgrade device for implementing the above beacon firmware upgrade method is also provided. Figure 5 , Figure 5 is a structural block diagram of an optional beacon firmware upgrade device according to an embodiment of the present application, such as Figure 5 As shown, the beacon firmware upgrade device includes:

[0149] An acquisition module 51 is used to acquire a target firmware in a broadcast working mode, and the central beacon device performs a firmware upgrade according to the target firmware, wherein the central beacon device is any beacon device in the beacon device cluster;

[0150] The scanning module 52 is used to switch from the broadcast working mode to the scanning mode after completing the firmware upgrade, and scan the surrounding target beacon devices in the beacon device cluster;

[0151] The upgrade module 53 is used to switch from the scanning mode back to the broadcast working mode after completing the surrounding beacon upgrade operation on the target beacon device, wherein the surrounding beacon upgrade operation is used to upgrade the firmware of the target beacon device and obtain the upgraded beacon device; the upgraded beacon device serves as a new central beacon device after completing the firmware upgrade, and switches from the broadcast working mode to the scanning mode, and scans the surrounding target beacon devices in the beacon device cluster to obtain the surrounding target beacon devices, and after completing the surrounding beacon upgrade operation on the target beacon device, switches from the scanning mode back to the broadcast working mode, and repeats this cycle until all beacon devices in the beacon device cluster are upgraded to the target firmware.

[0152] It should be noted that the acquisition module 51 in this embodiment can be used to execute the above step S302, the scanning module 52 in this embodiment can be used to execute the above step S304, and the upgrading module 53 in this embodiment can be used to execute the above step S306.

[0153] Regarding the beacon firmware upgrade device in this embodiment, the specific manner in which its acquisition module 51, scanning module 52 and upgrade module 53 execute the above-mentioned beacon firmware upgrade method has been described in detail in the embodiment of the beacon firmware upgrade method, and will not be elaborated here.

[0154] It can be understood that the technical solution provided in this embodiment only needs to upgrade the firmware of the central beacon device in the beacon device cluster to complete the firmware upgrade of all beacon devices in the beacon device cluster, which greatly simplifies the firmware upgrade process, reduces the complexity of the operation, and improves the efficiency of the beacon device firmware upgrade, thereby solving the technical problems of repetitive and cumbersome Bluetooth beacon upgrade operations in large areas existing in related technologies.

[0155] The device in this embodiment, in addition to the above modules, may also include a module for executing any method in any of the above-mentioned beacon firmware upgrade method embodiments.

[0156] It should be noted that the above modules and corresponding steps implement the same examples and application scenarios, but are not limited to the contents disclosed in the above embodiments. It should be noted that the above modules, as part of the system, can be run in the implementation of Figure 1 The hardware environment of the method shown may be implemented by software or hardware, wherein the hardware environment includes a network environment.

[0157] According to another embodiment of the present application, a beacon firmware upgrade device is also provided, which upgrade device includes: a sending module, used to send target firmware to a central beacon device in a beacon device cluster, so that the beacon device cluster can realize firmware upgrade of all beacon devices in the beacon device cluster by executing the following steps: the central beacon device performs firmware upgrade according to the target firmware; the central beacon device performs surrounding beacon upgrade operations in the beacon device cluster, wherein the surrounding beacon upgrade operation is used to enable the central beacon device to perform firmware upgrades on beacon devices within the communication range of the central beacon device and obtain an upgraded beacon device; the upgraded beacon device is used as a new central beacon device to perform surrounding beacon upgrade operations in the beacon device cluster, and this cycle is repeated until all beacon devices in the beacon device cluster are upgraded to the target firmware.

[0158] The upgrade device in this embodiment, in addition to the above modules, may also include a module for executing any method in any of the above-mentioned beacon firmware upgrade method embodiments.

[0159] The serial numbers of the above-mentioned embodiments of the present application are for description only and do not represent the advantages or disadvantages of the embodiments.

[0160] If the integrated units in the above embodiments are implemented in the form of software functional units and sold or used as independent products, they can be stored in the above computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of the present application, or the part that contributes to the prior art, or all or part of the technical solution can be embodied in the form of a software product, which is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions for enabling one or more computer devices (which can be personal computers, servers or network devices, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the methods of each embodiment of the present application.

[0161] In the above embodiments of the present application, the description of each embodiment has its own emphasis. For parts that are not described in detail in a certain embodiment, please refer to the relevant description of other embodiments.

[0162] In the several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed client can be implemented in other ways. Among them, the device embodiments described above are only schematic, for example, the division of units is only a logical function division, and there may be other division methods in actual implementation, for example, multiple units or components can be combined or integrated into another system, or some features can be ignored or not executed. Another point is that the mutual coupling or direct coupling or communication connection shown or discussed can be through some interfaces, indirect coupling or communication connection of units or modules, which can be electrical or other forms.

[0163] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separated, and the components shown as units may or may not be physical units, that is, they may be located in one place or distributed on multiple network units. Some or all of the units may be selected according to actual needs to achieve the purpose of the solution provided in this embodiment.

[0164] In addition, each functional unit in each embodiment of the present application may be integrated into one processing unit, or each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into one unit. The above-mentioned integrated unit may be implemented in the form of hardware or in the form of software functional units.

[0165] The above are only preferred implementations of the present application. It should be pointed out that for ordinary technicians in this technical field, several improvements and modifications can be made without departing from the principles of the present application. These improvements and modifications should also be regarded as the scope of protection of the present application.

Claims

1. A beacon firmware upgrade method, characterized in that: include: The central beacon device in the beacon device cluster obtains the target firmware in the broadcast working mode, and the central beacon device performs firmware upgrade according to the target firmware, wherein the central beacon device is any beacon device in the beacon device cluster; After completing the firmware upgrade, the central beacon device switches from the broadcast working mode to the scanning mode, and scans the surrounding target beacon devices in the beacon device cluster; The central beacon device switches from the scanning mode back to the broadcasting working mode after completing the surrounding beacon upgrade operation on the target beacon device, wherein the surrounding beacon upgrade operation is used to upgrade the firmware of the target beacon device and obtain the upgraded beacon device; After completing the firmware upgrade, the upgraded beacon device acts as a new central beacon device and switches from the broadcast working mode to the scanning mode, and scans the surrounding target beacon devices in the beacon device cluster. After completing the surrounding beacon upgrade operation on the target beacon device, it switches from the scanning mode back to the broadcast working mode, and repeats this cycle until all beacon devices in the beacon device cluster are upgraded to the target firmware.

2. The beacon firmware upgrade method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The surrounding beacon upgrade operation includes: The central beacon device sends the target firmware to the target beacon device, so that the target beacon device performs firmware upgrade according to the target firmware, and obtains an upgraded beacon device that completes the firmware upgrade.

3. The beacon firmware upgrade method according to claim 1, characterized in that: The central beacon device in the beacon device cluster obtains the target firmware, including: Establishing a wireless connection between the central beacon device and the upgrade device; The central beacon device obtains the target firmware sent by the upgrade device through the wireless connection.

4. The beacon firmware upgrade method according to claim 2, characterized in that: After the central beacon device sends the target firmware to the target beacon device, the method further includes: The central beacon device scans again in the beacon device cluster to determine whether there is a non-upgraded beacon device whose firmware version is lower than the firmware version of the target firmware currently installed by the central beacon device; When determining that the non-upgraded beacon device does not exist, the central beacon device stops scanning.

5. The beacon firmware upgrade method according to claim 3, characterized in that: The central beacon device acquires the target firmware sent by the upgrade device through the wireless connection, including: The upgrading device acquires target firmware for upgrading the firmware of the beacon device cluster; The upgrading device establishes a wireless connection with a central beacon device in the beacon device cluster; The upgrade device sends the target firmware to the central beacon device through the wireless connection.

6. The beacon firmware upgrade method according to claim 5, characterized in that: The upgrading device establishes a wireless connection with a central beacon device in the beacon device cluster, including: The upgrade device uses a preset target parameter to determine the central beacon device that meets the target parameter from all candidate beacon devices, wherein the target parameter is used to indicate a specific upgrade condition met by the central beacon device, and the target parameter includes at least one of the following: a beacon device MAC address, firmware version information, and a type identifier of the beacon device; The upgrading device establishes the wireless connection with the central beacon device.

7. The beacon firmware upgrade method according to claim 6, characterized in that: The upgrading device establishes the wireless connection with the central beacon device, including: Establishing a pre-connection with the central beacon device; receiving a first password sent by the central beacon device through the pre-connection; Decrypting the first password to obtain a second password; The second password is sent to the central beacon device through the pre-connection, so that the central beacon device verifies the second password and maintains the pre-connection when determining that the second password verification is successful, thereby obtaining the wireless connection.

8. The beacon firmware upgrade method according to claim 6, characterized in that: The upgrading device uses preset target parameters to determine the central beacon device that meets the target parameters from all candidate beacon devices, including: Using the preset target parameters, determine M designated beacon devices that meet the target parameters from all candidate beacon devices, where M is an integer greater than or equal to 1; Get the signal strength corresponding to each specified beacon device; Sorting the M designated beacon devices according to a preset signal strength sorting rule and a signal strength corresponding to each designated beacon device to obtain a sorting result; According to the sorting result, N central beacon devices are selected from the M designated beacon devices, wherein the central beacon device is the first N designated beacon devices with the highest signal strength in the sorting result, and when M is less than the target number, N is equal to M, and when M is greater than or equal to the target number, N is the target number, and the target number is an integer greater than or equal to 1.

9. The beacon firmware upgrade method according to claim 5, characterized in that: The upgrading device sends the target firmware to the central beacon device in the beacon device cluster, including: sending the target firmware to the central beacon device via the wireless connection; Detect whether the central beacon device is successfully upgraded to the target firmware.

10. The beacon firmware upgrade method according to claim 9, characterized in that: The detecting whether the central beacon device is successfully upgraded to the target firmware includes: Determining whether the target firmware is completely sent to the central beacon device; When it is determined that the target firmware is completely sent to the central beacon device, it is detected whether the firmware of the central beacon device is successfully upgraded.

11. The beacon firmware upgrade method according to claim 10, characterized in that: The detecting whether the firmware of the central beacon device is successfully upgraded includes: receiving version information broadcasted by the central beacon device, wherein the version information is used to indicate a version of firmware currently installed on the central beacon device; According to the version information, it is determined whether the central beacon device is successfully upgraded to the target firmware.

12. A beacon firmware upgrade device, characterized in that: include: An acquisition module, used for acquiring a target firmware in a broadcast working mode, and the central beacon device performs a firmware upgrade according to the target firmware, wherein the central beacon device is any beacon device in the beacon device cluster; A scanning module, used to switch from a broadcast working mode to a scanning mode after completing the firmware upgrade, and scan the surrounding target beacon devices in the beacon device cluster; An upgrade module is used to switch from the scanning mode back to the broadcast working mode after completing the surrounding beacon upgrade operation on the target beacon device, wherein the surrounding beacon upgrade operation is used to upgrade the firmware of the target beacon device and obtain the upgraded beacon device; the upgraded beacon device serves as a new central beacon device after completing the firmware upgrade, and switches from the broadcast working mode to the scanning mode, and scans the surrounding target beacon devices in the beacon device cluster to obtain, and after completing the surrounding beacon upgrade operation on the target beacon device, switches from the scanning mode back to the broadcast working mode, and repeats this cycle until all beacon devices in the beacon device cluster are upgraded to the target firmware.

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