Program rewriting apparatus

• US 6,311,322 B1
• Filed: 03/05/1999
• Issued: 10/30/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 03/09/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Nikon Corporation
• Original Assignee: Nikon Corporation
• Inventors: Ikeda, Takahiro, Shirahata, Takuya
• Primary Examiner(s): Chaki, Kakali
• Assistant Examiner(s): ZHEN, WEI Y
• Application Number:
  US09/263,195
• Time in Patent Office: 970 Days
• Field of Search: 717/1, 717/11, 711/100, 711/103
• US Class Current: 717/168
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1433 during software upgrading

Abstract

The normal program storing portion stores a normal program containing a control procedure of the program rewriting apparatus and a spare rewriting program. In a first period, the control device overwrites the received normal and spare rewriting programs on the normal program storing portion. In a second period different from the first period, the control device copies the spare rewriting program overwritten on the normal program storing portion to the rewriting program storing portion in accordance with the overwritten normal program.

Claims

1. A program rewriting apparatus comprising:

a normal program storing portion for storing a normal program containing the control procedure of the equipment that incorporates the program rewriting apparatus and a spare rewriting program;

a rewriting program storing portion for storing a rewriting program containing a reception procedure for receiving said normal program and a spare rewriting program from an external device and an overwrite procedure for overwriting said normal program and said spare rewriting program received over said normal program storing portion; and

a control device for executing the overwrite of said normal program and said spare rewriting program in accordance with the reception and overwrite procedures of a rewriting program in a first period and for copying said spare rewriting program overwritten over said normal program storing portion to said rewriting program storing portion in accordance with said normal program in a second period different from said first period.

2. A program rewriting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said control device sets the normal program update record in response to the completion of overwriting said normal program and said spare rewriting program.

3. The program rewriting apparatus according to claim 2, wherein said control device discriminates whether or not the normal program update record is set up and executes the overwrite of said normal program storing portion in accordance with said reception and overwrite procedures of the rewriting program on discriminating that no normal program update record is set up.

4. The program rewriting apparatus according to claim 3, wherein said control device discriminates, upon initialization of the equipment incorporating said program rewriting apparatus, whether or not said normal program update record is set up.

5. The program rewriting apparatus according to claim 1, wherein said control device sets up the rewriting program update record in response to the completion of copying of said spare rewriting program to said rewriting program storing portion.

6. The program rewriting apparatus according to claim 5, wherein said control device discriminates whether or not said rewriting program update record is set up and copies said spare rewriting program overwritten over said normal program storing portion to said rewriting program storing portion in accordance with said normal program on discriminating that no rewriting program update record is set up.

7. The program rewriting apparatus according to claim 6, wherein said control device discriminates, upon initialization of the equipment incorporating said program rewriting apparatus, whether or not the rewriting program update record is set up.

8. A program rewriting apparatus comprising:

a normal program storing portion for storing a normal program containing a control procedure of the equipment incorporating said program rewriting apparatus;

a rewriting program storing portion for storing a rewriting program containing a reception procedure for receiving said normal program from an external device and an overwrite procedure for overwriting said received normal program over said normal program storing portion; and

a control device for executing the update of the stored content of said normal program storing portion in accordance with said rewriting program and the update of the stored content of said rewriting program storing portion in different periods.

9. A program rewriting apparatus comprising:

a normal program storing portion for storing a normal program containing a control procedure of the equipment incorporating said program rewriting apparatus;

a rewriting program storing portion for storing a rewriting program containing a reception procedure for receiving said normal program from an external device and an overwrite procedure for overwriting said received normal program over said normal program storing portion; and

a control device for executing the overwrite of said normal program in accordance with said reception and overwrite procedures of the rewriting program in a first period and for receiving said rewriting program from the external device and overwriting said received rewriting program over the rewriting program storing portion in accordance with said normal program in a second period different from the first one.

10. The program rewriting apparatus according to claim 9, wherein said control device sets up the normal program update record in response to the completion of overwriting said normal program.

11. The program rewriting apparatus according to claim 10, wherein said control device receives said normal program from an external device and overwrites said received normal program over said normal program storing portion in accordance with said reception and overwrite procedures of the rewriting program on discriminating that no normal program update record is set up.

12. The program rewriting apparatus according to claim 11, wherein said control device discriminates, upon initialization of the equipment incorporating said program rewriting apparatus, whether or not the normal program update record is set up.

13. The program rewriting apparatus according to claim 9, wherein said control device sets up the rewriting program update record in response to the completion of overwriting of said rewriting program over said rewriting program storing portion.

14. The program rewriting apparatus according to claim 13, wherein said control device discriminates whether or not the rewriting program update record is set up and then receives said rewriting program from an external device and overwrites said received rewriting program over said rewriting program storing portion in accordance with said normal program on discriminating that said rewriting program update record is not set up.

15. The program rewriting apparatus according to claim 14, wherein said control device discriminates, upon initialization of the equipment incorporating said program rewriting apparatus, whether or not said rewriting program update record is set up.

16. A program rewriting apparatus comprising:

a normal program storing portion for storing a normal program containing the control procedure of the equipment incorporating the program rewriting apparatus;

a spare rewriting program storing portion for storing a spare rewriting program;

a rewriting program storing portion for storing a rewriting program containing a first rewrite procedure composed of a first reception procedure for receiving said spare rewriting program from an external device and a first overwrite procedure for overwriting said spare rewriting program received over said spare rewriting program storing portion and a second rewrite procedure composed of a second reception procedure for receiving said normal program from an external device and a second overwrite procedure for overwriting said normal program received over said normal program storing portion; and

a control device for executing the overwrite of said spare rewriting program in accordance with said first reception and said first overwrite procedures of a rewriting program in a first period and for copying said spare rewriting program overwritten over said spare rewriting program storing portion to said rewriting program storing portion in a second period different from the first one.