Image forming apparatus, firmware update method, and firmware update system

Abstract

Firmware updates can be performed without requiring network communication. [Solution] The image forming apparatus has a driver control unit which, when it determines that the USB driver has received an update request, sends an update request to the execution unit via the communication control unit and stores the update firmware in the data storage unit, and an execution unit which receives the update request from the driver control unit via the communication control unit, receives the update firmware stored in the data storage unit from the driver control unit via the communication control unit, performs the update using the update firmware according to the update request, and when the update is completed, causes the driver control unit to store an update completion notification in the data storage unit via the communication control unit, and the update tool of the information processing device monitors the data storage unit and, when it detects the update completion notification stored in the data storage unit, displays the update completion on the display device.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an image forming apparatus, a firmware update method for updating the firmware of the image forming apparatus, and a firmware update system.

Background Art

[0002] Firmware update of an image forming apparatus such as an MFP (Multifunction Peripheral) is an essential function for correcting defects, adding new functions, improving performance, etc. The current firmware update transmits the firmware from an information processing apparatus such as a PC to the image forming apparatus via network communication, and performs the update using the firmware.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] According to Patent Document 1, network communication means and an arbitrary communication address are required to update the firmware of the image forming apparatus. However, depending on the management form of the image forming apparatus, the network connection may not be made for security measures or the like. In addition, due to recent telecommuting and remote work, there are cases where the information processing apparatus is connected to a VPN and the information processing apparatus is not on the same network as the image forming apparatus. In such a case, firmware update cannot be performed via network communication. Since firmware update is an essential function for correcting defects, adding new functions, improving performance, etc., if firmware update cannot be performed, there is a possibility that a defective image forming apparatus will be used.

[0005] In light of the circumstances described above, the purpose of this disclosure is to enable firmware updates that do not require network communication. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] A firmware update system relating to one form of this disclosure is: Image forming apparatus and An information processing device having an update tool for performing firmware updates on the image forming apparatus, and which is connected to the image forming apparatus via a USB cable in a manner that allows communication with the image forming apparatus. It is equipped with, The image forming apparatus is A USB driver that receives a firmware update request, including update firmware, from the information processing device via the USB cable connected to the USB port, A data storage unit that can be monitored from the aforementioned information processing device, The communication control unit is a socket that serves as a communication path between the input control unit and the update execution unit, When the USB driver determines that it has received the firmware update request, it transmits the firmware update request to the update execution unit via the communication control unit and stores the update firmware in the data storage unit, An update execution unit receives a firmware update request from the input control unit via the communication control unit, receives the update firmware stored in the data storage unit from the input control unit via the communication control unit, performs the update using the update firmware in accordance with the firmware update request, and when the update is complete, causes the input control unit to save an update completion notification to the data storage unit via the communication control unit. It has, The update tool of the information processing device monitors the data storage unit, and when it detects the update completion notification stored in the data storage unit, it displays the update completion on the display device.

[0007] According to this embodiment, by enabling firmware updates via a USB cable, users in the above-mentioned environments can also use image forming machines equipped with the latest firmware. Since this embodiment allows firmware updates to be performed directly from the information processing device, more people can perform firmware updates, thus enabling users to utilize image forming machines equipped with the latest firmware.

[0008] A firmware update method relating to one form of this disclosure is: The USB driver of the image forming apparatus receives a firmware update request, including the firmware update, from an information processing device having an update tool for performing firmware updates on the image forming apparatus, via a USB cable connected to the USB port. When the input control unit of the image forming apparatus determines that the USB driver has received the firmware update request, it transmits the firmware update request to the update execution unit via the communication control unit, which is a socket that serves as a communication path between the input control unit and the update execution unit, and stores the update firmware in the data storage unit. The update execution unit of the image forming apparatus receives the firmware update request from the input control unit via the communication control unit, receives the update firmware stored in the data storage unit from the input control unit via the communication control unit, performs the update using the update firmware in accordance with the firmware update request, and when the update is complete, causes the input control unit to store an update completion notification in the data storage unit via the communication control unit. The update tool of the information processing device monitors the data storage unit, and when it detects the update completion notification stored in the data storage unit, it displays the update completion on the display device.

[0009] An image forming apparatus according to one embodiment of the present disclosure is: A USB driver receives a firmware update request, including the update firmware, from an information processing device having an update tool for performing firmware updates on an image forming apparatus, via a USB cable connected to a USB port. A data storage unit that can be monitored from the aforementioned information processing device, The communication control unit is a socket that serves as a communication path between the input control unit and the update execution unit, When the USB driver determines that it has received the firmware update request, it transmits the firmware update request to the update execution unit via the communication control unit and stores the update firmware in the data storage unit, An update execution unit receives a firmware update request from the input control unit via the communication control unit, receives the update firmware stored in the data storage unit from the input control unit via the communication control unit, performs the update using the update firmware in accordance with the firmware update request, and when the update is complete, causes the input control unit to save an update completion notification to the data storage unit via the communication control unit. It is equipped with, The update tool of the information processing device monitors the data storage unit, and when it detects the update completion notification stored in the data storage unit, it displays the update completion on the display device. [Effects of the Invention]

[0010] According to this disclosure, firmware updates that do not require network communication can be achieved.

[0011] Note that the effects described here are not necessarily limited, and any effect described in the present disclosure may be applicable.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0012] [Figure 1] Shows the configuration of a firmware update system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. [Figure 2] Shows the hardware configuration of an image forming apparatus. [Figure 3] Shows the hardware configuration of an information processing apparatus. [Figure 4] Shows the architecture of an image forming apparatus. [Figure 5] Shows the operation flow of a firmware update system. [Figure 6] Shows the GUI of an update tool.

Modes for Carrying Out the Invention

[0013] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0014] (1) Configuration of Firmware Update System

[0015] FIG. 1 shows the configuration of a firmware update system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0016] The firmware update system 1 includes an image forming apparatus 10 and an information processing apparatus 20. The image forming apparatus 10 and the information processing apparatus 20 are connected by a USB cable 30.

[0017] [[ID=​​​​The information processing device 20 is a personal computer or the like. The information processing device 20 has an update tool 210 for performing firmware updates on the image forming apparatus 10.

[0019] 2. Hardware configuration of the image forming apparatus

[0020] Figure 2 shows the hardware configuration of the image forming apparatus.

[0021] The image forming apparatus 10 is equipped with a control circuit 100 that constitutes a computer. The control circuit 100 consists of a processor, a CPU 11a (Central Processing Unit), a RAM 11b (Random Access Memory), a memory, a ROM 11c (Read Only Memory), and dedicated hardware circuits, and is responsible for the overall operation control of the image forming apparatus 10. The CPU 11a loads the information processing program stored in the ROM 11c into the RAM 11b and executes it, thereby performing the operations described in the operation flow below and controlling the display and operation input of the touch panel 17. The ROM 11c permanently stores programs and data executed by the CPU 11a. The ROM 11c is an example of a non-transient computer-readable recording medium.

[0022] The control circuit 100 is connected to an image reading unit 12 (image scanner), an image processing unit 14 (including a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit)), an image memory 15, an image forming unit 16 (printer), a touch panel (front panel) 17 which is an operation unit equipped with a display unit 17a, a large-capacity non-volatile storage device 18 such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) or SSD (Solid State Drive), a facsimile communication unit 19, a network communication interface 13a (not used in this embodiment), and a USB port 13 to which a USB cable 30 is connected. The control circuit 100 controls the operation of each of the connected units and transmits and receives signals or data between each unit. The operation unit of the touch panel 17 is a form of input device, and an audio input device including a microphone may be provided as an input device.

[0023] 3. Hardware configuration of the information processing device

[0024] Figure 3 shows the hardware configuration of the information processing device.

[0025] The information processing device 20 includes a CPU 21 (processor), ROM 22, RAM 23, a large-capacity non-volatile storage device 24 such as an HDD or SSD, a network communication interface 25 (not used in this embodiment), a USB port 29 to which a USB cable 30 is connected, an operating device 26 (keyboard, mouse, touch panel, hardware switch, etc.), and a display device 27 (display), as well as a bus 28 that connects these to each other.

[0026] The CPU 21, ROM 22, and RAM 23 constitute the control circuit 200. The CPU 21 loads the information processing program stored in ROM 22 into RAM 23 and executes it. ROM 22 permanently stores programs and data executed by the CPU 21. ROM 22 is an example of a non-transient, computer-readable recording medium. ROM 22 stores the update tool 210 (Figure 1).

[0027] 4. Architecture of the image forming apparatus

[0028] Figure 4 shows the architecture of the image forming apparatus.

[0029] The image forming apparatus 10 includes a control unit 110 and an update execution unit 130. The control unit 110 includes an OS layer 111 and a middleware layer 112. The update execution unit 130 includes an element layer 131, a service layer 132, and an application layer 133, and executes firmware updates. Specifically, the application layer 133 includes an update processing unit 134. The update processing unit 134 performs various detailed processing of the update when actually performing the update. The service layer 132 includes a web client processing unit 135 and a web service processing unit 136. The web client processing unit 135 performs web client-related control processing. The web service processing unit 136 performs web service-related control processing. The element layer 131 includes an HTTP processing unit 137 and a SOAP processing unit 138.

[0030] The OS layer 111 includes a device driver 113 and an OS 114. The device driver 113 includes a USB driver 115 and an Ethernet driver 116 (not used in this embodiment). The USB driver 115 controls the USB port 13 to send and receive information with the information processing device 20 via a USB cable 30 connected to the USB port 13. The USB driver 115 acts as a bridge to receive information transmitted from the information processing device 20 via the USB cable 30. The OS 114 includes a data storage unit 117. The data storage unit 117 is a storage area where transmitted and received firmware and communication data are stored.

[0031] The middleware layer 112 includes a driver control unit 118. When the driver control unit 118 receives a firmware update request from the USB driver 115, it sends the firmware update request to the update execution unit 130, which executes the firmware update request. Since the image forming apparatus 10 supports multiple functions, the driver control unit 118 controls the execution unit to send a request for each function. The driver control unit 118 uses the USB Alternative function to determine each function. When the driver control unit 118 receives data from the firmware update port, it determines that the USB driver 115 has received a firmware update request. The driver control unit 118 uses the information received from the firmware update port as a trigger for the firmware update and creates a communication control unit 120 to execute the firmware update.

[0032] The communication control unit 120 is a socket (typically a Linux socket) that serves as a communication path between the driver control unit 118 and the update execution unit 130. The communication control unit 120 sends data to the update execution unit 130 and receives data from the update execution unit 130. The communication control unit 120 includes a USB HTTP client 121 and a USB SOAP client 122.

[0033] 5. Operation of the firmware update system

[0034] Figure 5 shows the operation flow of the firmware update system. Figure 6 shows the GUI of the update tool.

[0035] The image forming apparatus 10 and the information processing apparatus 20 are connected via a USB cable 30. The control circuit 200 of the information processing apparatus 20 starts the update tool 210. The update tool 210 displays the GUI 211 on the display device 27. The user operates the operating device 26 to set the firmware file 212. The firmware file 212 is the firmware file for updating the image forming apparatus 10. The user operates the operating device 26 to set the device 213 (image forming apparatus 10) whose firmware should be updated (step S21).

[0036] The update tool 210 is used by the image forming apparatus 10 and the information processing apparatus 20. Once the firmware file 212 and the device 213 (image forming apparatus 10) to be updated are configured while connected via USB cable 30, the update begins. Specifically, the update tool 210 establishes an HTTPS communication path on the USB cable 30 as a communication path with the image forming apparatus 10. The update tool 210 performs a TLS (Transport Layer Security) handshake, which is the control for communicating with the USB driver 115 of the image forming apparatus 10 via HTTPS (steps S22, S11).

[0037] The update tool 210 sends a firmware update request to the image forming apparatus 10 via HTTPS communication through the USB cable 30. The firmware update request includes the firmware for the update (step S23).

[0038] The USB driver 115 of the image forming apparatus 10 receives a firmware update request from the update tool 210 of the information processing device 20 via HTTPS communication through the USB cable 30 (step S12). The USB driver 115 transmits the firmware update request to the driver control unit 118. The image forming apparatus 10 receives a trigger from the update tool 210, enters firmware update mode, and starts the firmware update.

[0039] The driver control unit 118 determines that the data received from the USB driver 115 is a firmware update request. That is, the driver control unit 118 receives a firmware update request from the USB driver 115. Specifically, when the driver control unit 118 receives data from the firmware update port, it determines that the USB driver 115 has received a firmware update request. The driver control unit 118 uses the information received from the firmware update port as a trigger for the firmware update and creates a communication control unit 120 to execute the firmware update. The communication control unit 120 is a socket that serves as a communication path between the driver control unit 118 and the update execution unit 130. The driver control unit 118 sends the firmware update request to the update execution unit 130 via the communication control unit 120 and saves the update firmware in the data storage unit 117 (step S13).

[0040] The communication control unit 120 receives a firmware update request from the driver control unit 118 and transmits it to the update execution unit 130 (step S14).

[0041] The update execution unit 130 receives a firmware update request from the driver control unit 118 via the communication control unit 120. The update execution unit 130 receives the update firmware stored in the data storage unit 117 from the driver control unit 118 via the communication control unit 120. The update execution unit 130 performs the update using the update firmware according to the firmware update request. When the update is complete, the update execution unit 130 instructs the driver control unit 118 via the communication control unit 120 to save an update completion notification to the data storage unit 117 (step S15).

[0042] The update tool 210 of the information processing device 20 monitors the data storage unit 117, and when it detects an update completion notification stored in the data storage unit 117, it displays the update completion on the display device 27 (step S24).

[0043] 6. Conclusion

[0044] Depending on the management configuration of the image forming apparatus, network connectivity may not be provided for security reasons. Furthermore, with the recent trend of working from home and remote work, information processing equipment (IPA) may be connected to a VPN, meaning it is not on the same network as the image forming apparatus. In such cases, firmware updates cannot be performed via network communication. Firmware updates are essential for correcting bugs, adding new features, and improving performance; therefore, the inability to perform firmware updates could result in the use of faulty image forming apparatus.

[0045] In contrast, according to this embodiment, by realizing firmware updates via a USB cable, it becomes possible for users in the above-mentioned environments to use an image forming apparatus equipped with the latest firmware. By using this embodiment, firmware updates can be performed directly from the information processing device, so more people can perform firmware updates, and thus users can use an image forming apparatus equipped with the latest firmware.

[0046] Although various embodiments and modifications of this technology have been described above, this technology is not limited to the embodiments described above, and various modifications can be made without departing from the gist of this technology. [Explanation of symbols]

[0047] 1. Firmware update system 10 Image forming apparatus 100 control circuits 110 Control Unit 111 OS Layer 112 Middleware Layer 113 Device Drivers 114 OS 115 USB drivers 116 Ethernet Driver 117 Data Storage Department 118 Driver Control Unit 120 Communication Control Unit 13 USB ports 130 Update Execution Unit 131 Element Layer 132 Service Layers 133 Application Layer 20 Information Processing Devices 200 Control circuits 210 Update Tool 211 GUI 212 Firmware files 213 devices 28 buses 29 USB ports 30 USB cables

Claims

1. Image forming apparatus and An information processing device having an update tool for performing firmware updates on the image forming apparatus, and which is connected to the image forming apparatus via a USB cable in a manner that allows communication with the image forming apparatus. It is equipped with, The image forming apparatus is A USB driver that receives a firmware update request, including update firmware, from the information processing device via the USB cable connected to the USB port, A data storage unit that can be monitored from the aforementioned information processing device, The communication control unit is a socket that serves as a communication path between the driver control unit and the update execution unit, When the USB driver determines that it has received the firmware update request, the driver control unit transmits the firmware update request to the update execution unit via the communication control unit and stores the update firmware in the data storage unit. An update execution unit receives a firmware update request from the driver control unit via the communication control unit, receives the update firmware stored in the data storage unit from the driver control unit via the communication control unit, performs the update using the update firmware in accordance with the firmware update request, and when the update is complete, causes the driver control unit to save an update completion notification to the data storage unit via the communication control unit. It has, The update tool of the information processing device monitors the data storage unit and, upon detecting the update completion notification stored in the data storage unit, displays the update completion on the display device. Firmware update system.

2. A firmware update system according to claim 1, When the driver control unit receives data from the firmware update port, it determines that the USB driver has received the firmware update request. Firmware update system.

3. A firmware update system according to claim 1, The USB driver and the data storage unit are the OS layer, The driver control unit and the communication control unit are middleware layers. The aforementioned update execution unit includes an application layer. Firmware update system.

4. A firmware update system according to claim 1, The update tool of the information processing device establishes an HTTPS communication channel in the USB cable as a communication path with the image forming apparatus. Firmware update system.

5. The USB driver of the image forming apparatus receives a firmware update request, including the firmware update, from an information processing device having an update tool for performing firmware updates on the image forming apparatus, via a USB cable connected to the USB port. When the driver control unit of the image forming apparatus determines that the USB driver has received the firmware update request, it transmits the firmware update request to the update execution unit via the communication control unit, which is a socket that serves as a communication path between the driver control unit and the update execution unit, and stores the update firmware in the data storage unit. The update execution unit of the image forming apparatus receives the firmware update request from the driver control unit via the communication control unit, receives the update firmware stored in the data storage unit from the driver control unit via the communication control unit, performs the update using the update firmware in accordance with the firmware update request, and when the update is complete, causes the driver control unit to store an update completion notification in the data storage unit via the communication control unit. The update tool of the information processing device monitors the data storage unit, and when it detects the update completion notification stored in the data storage unit, it displays the update completion on the display device. How to update the firmware.

6. A USB driver that receives a firmware update request, including the update firmware, from an information processing device having an update tool for performing firmware updates on an image forming apparatus, via a USB cable connected to a USB port, A data storage unit that can be monitored from the aforementioned information processing device, The communication control unit is a socket that serves as a communication path between the driver control unit and the update execution unit, When the USB driver determines that it has received the firmware update request, the driver control unit transmits the firmware update request to the update execution unit via the communication control unit and stores the update firmware in the data storage unit. An update execution unit receives a firmware update request from the driver control unit via the communication control unit, receives the update firmware stored in the data storage unit from the driver control unit via the communication control unit, performs the update using the update firmware in accordance with the firmware update request, and when the update is complete, causes the driver control unit to save an update completion notification to the data storage unit via the communication control unit. It is equipped with, The update tool of the information processing device monitors the data storage unit and, upon detecting the update completion notification stored in the data storage unit, displays the update completion on the display device. Image forming apparatus.

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