Wireless communication system and relay terminal

Abstract

To provide a radio communication system capable of terminating normally, with high probability, control software update operation performed through radio communication at a terminal.SOLUTION: The radio communication system comprises: a plurality of terminals 10 for performing radio communication; and a server 20 connected to the terminals 10 via a network (first network) N1. The terminals 10 are actually apparatuses having various types of functions other than radio communication and the network N1 is the Internet, for example. In this radio communication system, a relay terminal 10A being one of the terminals 10, functions instead of the server 20 in performing control program update operation. The terminals 10 have a second communication unit for connecting with a network N2. Therefore, the other terminals 10 can perform control software update request and update operation like those to be performed to the server 20, to the relay terminal 10A in a similar manner via the network N2.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a wireless communication system including a server and a plurality of terminals, and to a relay terminal used for relaying between the server and the terminals in this wireless communication system. [Background technology]

[0002] In IoT technology, a server and multiple devices are connected via a network, and various devices such as sensors are used as such devices, while the devices themselves function as terminals, or a terminal is connected to each device. In this case, a network is formed by connecting the server and terminals, or between terminals, via wireless communication.

[0003] The control software (firmware) used for control in each terminal is stored in a non-volatile memory or the like and used, but this software is updated as appropriate, and the latest software is provided from the server to each terminal side by the above-mentioned wireless communication (FOTA: Firmware Over The Air). While this update operation is taking place, the terminal cannot be used. One example of such a terminal is a mobile phone, and in the case of a mobile phone, a message is displayed indicating that the software is being updated while this update operation is taking place. This allows the user to recognize the current situation and that the mobile phone cannot be used at the moment, and to be careful not to perform any operation that may hinder the update operation during this time (for example, turning off the power).

[0004] However, when the terminal is an IoT device other than a mobile phone, such an update operation may be a major obstacle to the original operation, or the update operation may not be possible in order to properly perform the original operation. Patent Document 1 describes a technology in which a data terminal equipment (DTE) connected to the terminal (wireless terminal for data communication) properly recognizes the presence or absence of such an update operation, and reliably performs the update operation while also performing the original operation to the extent possible. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] JP 2010-193136 A DISCLOSURE OF THEINVENTION [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] While the above-mentioned update operation is being performed on the terminal, for example, when the terminal is moving in an environment with unstable communication conditions such as outdoors, the communication conditions may change significantly over time. In such a case, the update operation may not be able to be completed normally, and it is necessary to perform the update operation again from the beginning, or to start the update operation by the user's operation after the user judges that the situation is such that the update operation is possible.

[0007] For this reason, there has been a demand for technology that can ensure that a control software update operation via wireless communication in a terminal is completed successfully with a high probability.

[0008] The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and has an object to solve the above problems. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] The wireless communication system of the present invention is a wireless communication system comprising a plurality of terminals each having a function of operating by successively updated control software and a wireless communication function, and a server that provides the latest version of the control software to the terminals via a first network using the wireless communication function, the terminals being connected to each other via a second network, which is a local network different from the first network, by two-way short-range wireless communication, a relay terminal that is one of the plurality of terminals is set as one of the plurality of terminals that is recognized by the server as the first one to obtain the latest version of the control software via the first network, the relay terminal transmits to the other terminals a message indicating that it is the relay terminal, Control Software When the terminal that issued the update request cannot connect to the first network, the latest version of the control software is provided from the relay terminal to the terminal that issued the update request for the control software to the relay terminal via the second network. In the wireless communication system of the present invention, the relay terminal is set according to the type of the control software. In the wireless communication system of the present invention, the relay terminal issues a request for the latest version of the control software to the server in accordance with its own location information. The relay terminal of the present invention is one of the multiple terminals provided in a wireless communication system comprising a plurality of terminals each having a function of operating with successively updated control software and a wireless communication function, and a server that provides the latest version of the control software to the terminals via the wireless communication function, and is equipped with a first communication unit that performs wireless communication with the server via a first network, a second communication unit that performs two-way short-range wireless communication with the terminals via a second network that is a local network different from the first network, and a control unit that obtains the latest version of the control software from the server via the first network, and, if the terminal that issued a request to update the control software cannot connect to the first network, performs an operation of providing the latest version of the control software to the terminal via the second network, and is set as one of the multiple terminals recognized by the server as the first to obtain the latest version of the control software via the first network, and transmits to the other terminals that it is the relay terminal. Effect of the Invention

[0010] According to the present invention, the update operation of the control software in the terminal via wireless communication can be completed normally with a high probability. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0011] [Figure 1] 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of a wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 2] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a configuration of a relay terminal (terminal) according to an embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 3] 4 is a sequence diagram showing an operation (part 1) between a server and a relay terminal in the wireless communication system according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. [Figure 4] FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram showing an operation (part 2) between a server and a relay terminal in the wireless communication system according to the embodiment of the present invention. [Diagram 5]4 is a sequence diagram showing operations (part 1) between a relay terminal and another terminal in the wireless communication system according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. [Figure 6] 5 is a sequence diagram showing an operation (part 2) between a relay terminal and another terminal in the wireless communication system according to the embodiment of the present invention. FIG. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0012] A wireless communication system according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below. This wireless communication system includes a plurality of terminals (IoT terminals: IoT devices) 10 that perform wireless communication, and a server 20 connected to the terminals 10 via a network (first network) N1. The terminals 10 are actually devices (e.g., various sensors) that have various functions other than wireless communication, and the network N1 is, for example, the Internet. Here, three terminals 10 are used.

[0013] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the terminal 10. The terminal 10 includes a first communication unit 11 for communicating with the server 20 and other terminals 10 via the network N1. The first communication unit 11 performs wireless communication using, for example, a mobile phone line. The terminal 10 also includes a function execution unit 12 for executing various functions (sensor function, etc.) as described above. For example, if this function is a sensor function, the detection result of the function execution unit 12 is transmitted to the server 20 or other terminals 10 via the first communication unit 11. Alternatively, if this function is an active function such as controlling other devices, the function execution unit 12 operates based on information received from the server 20 or other terminals 10 via the first communication unit 11. The control unit 13 controls the first communication unit 11 and the function execution unit 12 so that such operations are performed. Various operations by the control unit 13 can be performed in response to user operations such as a keyboard or a touch panel. Although three terminals 10 are used in FIG. 1, the function execution units 12 may be different from each other.

[0014] In practice, the operation of the control unit 13 to control the function execution unit 12 is executed by control software (program). The control software is stored in the nonvolatile storage unit 14, which is composed of a nonvolatile memory such as a flash memory. This control software is updated as appropriate, and it is preferable that the latest control software is stored in the nonvolatile storage unit 14. For this reason, the nonvolatile storage unit 14 stores, together with the control software, version information indicating the version of the control software. Such latest control software, together with the version information, can be obtained from the server 20 via the first communication unit 11 (network N1).

[0015] For this reason, the server 20 stores such control software and its version information. However, here, a plurality of terminals 10 are provided, among which some have similar functions (function execution units 12) and operate with the same control software. Common control software is used between such terminals 10. On the other hand, terminals 10 having different functions operate with different control software. For this reason, the server 20 manages and stores such a plurality of types of control software and their version information. The terminals 10 as described above are divided into groups according to such functions (types of control software used). The above-mentioned control software update operation is performed in the same way for the terminals 10 in this group, and the same latest control software is stored in the terminals 10.

[0016] When the control unit 13 on the terminal 10 operates in this manner, a storage unit 15, which is a memory provided separately from the nonvolatile storage unit 14, can be used. As the storage unit 15, unlike the nonvolatile storage unit 14, a RAM or the like that is not nonvolatile but has a high operating speed is used.

[0017] In this wireless communication system, a request for updating the control software can be issued from the terminal 10. In this case, first, the control unit 13 reads out the version information of the control software stored in its own non-volatile storage unit 14, and transmits this to the server 20 via the network N1. The server 20 can transmit the latest version information stored in itself to the terminal 10. If these match, it can be recognized that the control software stored in the non-volatile storage unit 14 of this terminal 10 is currently the latest, and therefore there is no need to update the control software.

[0018] If these version information do not match and it is recognized that the version information on the terminal 10 side is not the latest, it is determined that the control software stored in the non-volatile storage unit 14 of this terminal 10 is not the latest, and it is preferable to update it. Therefore, in this case, the terminal 10 can issue a download request for the latest control software to the server 20 via the network N1, and then download the latest control software via the network N1 and overwrite it together with the version information in the non-volatile storage unit 14. The control unit 13 can use the control software thus updated when operating the function execution unit 12 thereafter.

[0019] The above operation is the same as that of a conventional system using an IoT terminal. In this case, at least when exchanging version information as described above and downloading the latest control software, the terminal 10 and the server 20 need to be connected to the network N1 by wireless communication. However, particularly when the terminal 10 is an IoT terminal (IoT device) as described above, such a situation is not always realized depending on its purpose and mode of use.

[0020] 1, in this wireless communication system, a relay terminal 10A, which is one of the terminals 10, functions in place of the server 20 when updating the control program. The relay terminal 10A is one of the terminals 10, and when the terminals 10 are grouped by function (type of control software used) as described above, the terminal 10 requesting the update of the control software and the relay terminal 10A belong to the same group. The terminal 10 requesting the update of the control software and the relay terminal 10A are connected to the network N1 (Internet) as described above, but are also connected to the network N2, which is a local network separate from the network N1.

[0021] For this reason, in FIG. 2, the terminal 10 is provided with a second communication unit 16 for connecting to the network N2. The second communication unit 16 performs short-distance wireless communication in both directions, and specifically, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth (registered trademark), etc. can be used for this purpose. In addition, the relay terminal 10A stores the latest control program obtained in advance from the server 20 in the non-volatile storage unit 14. For this reason, the other terminals 10 can perform the control software update request and update operation on the relay terminal 10A in the same manner as the server 20 via the network N2. In this case, it is not necessary for the terminal 10 and the relay terminal 10A to be connected to the network N1, and it is sufficient that they are connected to the network N2, which is a local network, so that the update operation can be performed more reliably.

[0022] The terminal 10 is also provided with a location recognition unit 17 that recognizes its own location using a GPS signal. Since the server 20 is fixed on the ground, the control unit 13 can determine whether or not the terminal 10 can communicate well with the server 20 at its current location.

[0023] 1, the relay terminal 10A is shown separately from the other terminals 10, but in reality, the terminal 10 storing the latest control software can be used as the relay terminal 10A. That is, the control unit 13 of one terminal 10 receives the update request as described above from the other terminals 10, and performs the operation of transmitting the version information of the control software and the control software to this terminal 10 via the network N2 (second communication unit 16) as described above.

[0024] However, instead of being one of the multiple terminals 10 having various functions, a dedicated terminal 10 used only for updating such control software may be provided as the relay terminal 10A. In this case, the function execution unit 12 in FIG. 2 is not provided in this relay terminal 10. Also, in this case, even when the terminals 10 are grouped by function as described above, multiple control software corresponding to the multiple groups can be stored in the non-volatile storage unit 14 of the relay terminal 10A, and this relay terminal 10A can be used in common for updating the control software for all the terminals 10 belonging to the multiple groups. In this case, a common relay terminal 10A can be used for all the groups (or all the terminals 10).

[0025] In the wireless communication system of FIG. 1, the latest control program is transmitted from the server 20 to the relay terminal 10A via the network N1 and stored therein, and then transmitted from the relay terminal 10A to the terminal 10 via the network N2 and stored therein.

[0026] When the relay terminal 10A is one of the terminals 10, the terminal 10 having the most stable connection to the network N1 among the multiple terminals 10 can be set as the relay terminal 10A. That is, the relay terminal 10A can be set in advance among the multiple terminals 10.

[0027] 3 to 6 are sequence diagrams showing operations between the server 20 and the relay terminal 10A (FIGS. 3 and 4) and between the relay terminal 10A and the terminal 10 (FIGS. 5 and 6) in this wireless communication system.

[0028] 3 shows an operation of exchanging version information of the control software stored in the relay terminal 10A with version information of the latest control software stored in the server 20, and this operation is performed every time the relay terminal 10A is started. Here, it is assumed that the latest control software is stored in the server 20 in advance (S101). After that, when the relay terminal 10A is started (S102), the relay terminal 10A is connected to the network N1 via the first communication unit 11, and a connection between the relay terminal 10A and the server 20 is established (S103).

[0029] Thereafter, the control unit 13 of the relay terminal 10A transmits its own version information stored in the non-volatile storage unit 14 to the server 20 via the network N1 (S104). The server 20 stores version information (relay terminal version information) of the control software in the relay terminal 10A connected to itself via the network N1, and updates this information to the version information transmitted (S104) here (S105).

[0030] Thereafter, the server 20 transmits the version information of the latest control software stored in itself to the relay terminal 10A side (S106). The control unit 13 of the relay terminal 10A that receives this can determine whether or not it is necessary to update the control software in itself (S107). Note that this determination may be made by the server 20, and the server 20 may transmit the result of this determination to the relay terminal 10A together with or instead of the latest version information.

[0031] When it is determined that an update is necessary (S107), the actual update operation can be performed appropriately after the above operations, or can be performed immediately after. However, for example, when the relay terminal 10A is operating as an IoT device, it may not be appropriate to perform this update operation. For this reason, for example, this update operation can be started by an operation of the user on the relay terminal 10A side. Figure 4 shows the operation in this case.

[0032] This update operation takes longer than the operations (S104, S106) for exchanging version information as described above, and requires stable communication conditions between relay terminal 10A and server 20 during this time. Therefore, control unit 13 of relay terminal 10A judges, based on its own location information recognized by location recognition unit 17, whether or not it is in a state where it can stably communicate with server 20.

[0033] When it is recognized that the communication is stable, the update request is issued from the relay terminal 10A side (S108) as described above. The server 20 receives the update request and transmits the latest control software stored in itself to the relay terminal 10A via the network N1 (S109). In practice, the control software is transmitted in a compressed form as a file for download. The control unit 13 of the relay terminal 10A decompresses the file, reads the control software, and stores it in the non-volatile storage unit 14 (S110), thereby completing the update process. The control unit 13 notifies the server 20 of this (S111), and after the server 20 receives this, the relay terminal version information stored on the server 20 side is updated to the latest version (S112).

[0034] Since the server 20 is not connected to the network N2 but only to the network N1, the above-mentioned communication between the server 20 and the relay terminal 10A is performed via the network N1. When multiple relay terminals 10A are provided, each relay terminal 10A performs the above-mentioned operation. When the terminals 10 are grouped by function (type of control software used) as described above, the latest control software and its relay terminal version information are managed for each function (type). Alternatively, a relay terminal 10A may be provided for each function (type).

[0035] After the latest control software is stored in relay terminal 10A as described above, it becomes possible to update the control software in a terminal 10 different from relay terminal 10A. Figures 5 and 6 show this operation. The operation in Figures 5 and 6 corresponds to the operation between server 20 and relay terminal 10A in Figures 3 and 4, with server 20 in Figures 3 and 4 replaced by relay terminal 10A, and relay terminal 10A replaced by terminal 10. However, it is different in that communication between server 20 and relay terminal 10A in Figures 3 and 4 is performed via network N1, whereas communication between relay terminal 10A and terminal 10 in Figures 5 and 6 is performed via network N2.

[0036] That is, in FIG. 5, when the terminal 10 is started up (S121), the terminal 10 is connected to the network N2 via the second communication unit 16, and a connection between the terminal 10 and the relay terminal 10A is established (S122).

[0037] Thereafter, the control unit 13 of the terminal 10 transmits its own version information stored in the non-volatile storage unit 14 to the relay terminal 10A via the network N2 (S123). The relay terminal 10A stores version information (terminal version information) of the control software in the terminal 10 connected to itself via the network N2, and updates this to the version information transmitted (S123) here (S124).

[0038] Thereafter, relay terminal 10A transmits version information of the latest control software stored in itself to terminal 10 (S125). Having received this, control unit 13 of terminal 10 can determine whether or not it is necessary to update its own control software (S126). Note that this determination may be made by control unit 13 of relay terminal 10A, and relay terminal 10A may transmit this determination result to terminal 10 together with or instead of the latest version information.

[0039] Thereafter, as shown in Fig. 6, this update request is issued from the terminal 10 side (S127). Relay terminal 10A, which receives this, transmits the latest control software stored in itself to terminal 10 via network N2 in the same format as in Fig. 4 (S128). Control unit 13 of terminal 10 decompresses this file, reads out the control software, and stores it in non-volatile storage unit 14 (S129), thereby completing the update process. Control unit 13 of terminal 10 notifies relay terminal 10A of this (S130), and after relay terminal 10A receives this, the terminal version information stored in non-volatile storage unit 14 of relay terminal 10A is updated to this latest version (S131).

[0040] When a relay terminal 10A is provided for each function (type of control software) of the terminal 10 as described above, the relay terminal 10A to which the terminal 10 is connected is the relay terminal 10A corresponding to this terminal 10.

[0041] 5 and 6 are performed only via the network (local network) N2, and are performed even when the terminal 10 is not connected to the network (Internet) N1. In this way, by using the relay terminal 10A and the network N2, it is possible to perform the update operation of the control software even when the terminal 10 is not connected to the network N1. Furthermore, since such an update operation is started by the terminal 10 issuing an update request (S127), it is possible to perform this update operation without interfering with the original function (operation of the function execution unit 12) that the terminal 10 has as an IoT device.

[0042] 3 to 6, the current version information of the control software in terminal 10 is stored in relay terminal 10A as terminal version information, and the current version information of the control software in relay terminal 10A is stored in server 20 as relay terminal version information. Therefore, the relay terminal 10A side can properly grasp the update status of the corresponding terminal 10, and the server 20 side can properly grasp the update status of relay terminal 10A.

[0043] 3 and 4, it is assumed that the relay terminal 10A is previously selected from among the multiple terminals 10. In this operation, the position recognition unit 17 is used only in the relay terminal 10A and is not used in the other terminals 10, and therefore the position recognition unit 17 is not required in the terminals 10 other than the relay terminal 10A.

[0044] On the other hand, in the above configuration, since the terminal 10 can directly obtain the control software from the server 20 via the network N1 as described above, for example, the terminal 10 that first obtains the latest control software from the server 20 via the network N1 among the multiple terminals 10 can be the relay terminal 10A. In this case, the server 20 recognizes the terminal 10 to which the latest control software was first sent as the relay terminal 10A and transmits a message to this terminal 10. After that, this relay terminal 10A transmits a message to the other terminals 10 to cause them to perform the operations shown in Figs. 5 and 6. In other words, the relay terminal 10A can be set according to the update status of the terminal 20 without setting the relay terminal 10A in advance.

[0045] Taking such a situation into consideration, when transmitting its own version information from the relay terminal 10A side to the server 20 side in Fig. 3 (S104), the relay terminal 10A may transmit the terminal version information stored at this time to the server 20. This allows the server 20 to recognize the update status of all the connected terminals 10, and allows the server 20 to perform subsequent update work more appropriately.

[0046] 5, when transmitting the latest control software version information from the relay terminal 10A side to the terminal 10 side (S125), the relay terminal 10A may transmit the terminal version information stored at this time to the terminal 10 side. This allows the terminal 10 side to recognize the update status of all other terminals 10 that use the same control software. By having all terminals 10 recognize the terminal version information in common in this way, it is possible to perform the update work more appropriately even if, for example, another terminal later becomes the relay terminal 10A.

[0047] The present invention has been described above based on an embodiment. This embodiment is merely an example, and it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications are possible in the combination of the respective components, and that such modifications are also within the scope of the present invention. [Explanation of symbols]

[0048] 10 Terminal 10A Relay terminal 11 First Communications Department 12 Function execution unit 13 Control section 14 Non-volatile memory unit 15 Storage section 16 2nd Communications Department 17 Location recognition part 20 Servers N1 Network (First Network) N2 Network (Second Network)

Claims

1. A wireless communication system comprising: a plurality of terminals each having a function of operating by successively updated control software and a wireless communication function; and a server that provides the terminals with the latest version of the control software via a first network using the wireless communication function, the terminals are connected to each other via a second network, which is a local network different from the first network, by bidirectional short-range wireless communication; A relay terminal that is one of the plurality of terminals is set as one that is recognized by the server as the terminal that first obtained the latest version of the control software via the first network among the plurality of terminals; The relay terminal transmits to the other terminals that it is the relay terminal; A wireless communication system characterized in that, when the terminal that issued a request to update the control software cannot connect to the first network, the latest version of the control software is provided from the relay terminal to the terminal that issued a request to update the control software to the relay terminal via the second network.

2. 2. The wireless communication system according to claim 1, wherein the relay terminal is set according to a type of the control software.

3. 3. The wireless communication system according to claim 1, wherein the relay terminal issues a request for the latest version of the control software to the server in accordance with its own location information.

4. a plurality of terminals each having a function of operating by successively updated control software and a wireless communication function, and a server that provides the terminals with the latest version of the control software via the wireless communication function; a first communication unit that wirelessly communicates with the server via a first network; a second communication unit that performs two-way short-range wireless communication with the terminal via a second network that is a local network different from the first network; a control unit that obtains the latest version of the control software from the server via the first network, and, when the terminal that has issued a request to update the control software cannot connect to the first network, provides the latest version of the control software to the terminal via the second network; Equipped with A relay terminal which is set as one of the multiple terminals recognized by the server as the first to obtain the latest version of the control software via the first network, and which transmits to the other terminals that it is a relay terminal.

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