Method and apparatus for updating software in radio terminal device

• US 6,687,901 B1
• Filed: 08/09/2000
• Issued: 02/03/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 09/06/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
• Original Assignee: Fujitsu Limited
• Inventors: Imamatsu, Kenʼichi
• Primary Examiner(s): DAS, CHAMELI
• Application Number:
  US09/634,389
• Time in Patent Office: 1,273 Days
• Field of Search: 717/168, 717/169, 717/170, 717/171, 717/172, 717/173, 717/174, 717/175, 717/177, 717/167, 717/176-178, 455/420, 455/418, 455/419, 370/338, 711/154, 711/162, 709/217
• US Class Current: 717/173
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/65 Updates security arrangements therefor G06F21/57

Abstract

A method for updating software in a radio terminal device of a mobile communication system, wherein a base station and radio terminal devices are connected mutually through radio communication channels, including the steps of notifying version information on a control-software of the radio terminal device to a software-supply device connected to a network by the radio terminal device, determining a necessity of updating the control-software by comparing the version information received from the radio terminal device with latest version information stored in and managed by the software-supply device, and downloading new control-software that is appropriate to update the version of the control-software to the radio terminal device by the software-supply device if updating of the control-software is needed.

Claims

1. A method for updating software in a radio terminal device of a mobile communication system, wherein a base station and a radio terminal device are connected mutually through radio communication channels, comprising the steps of:

notifying version information on a control-software presently involved in operations of said radio terminal device to a software-supply device connected to a network by said radio terminal device;

determining a necessity of updating said control-software by comparing the version information received from said radio terminal device with latest version information stored in and managed by said software-supply device;

utilizing the control-software presently involved to download new control-software into a buffer memory of said radio terminal device that is appropriate to update the version of said control-software presently involved, and subsequently utilizing an update-software of said mobile radio terminal device to update said control-software presently involved with said new control-software stored in said buffer memory, if updating of said control-software is needed.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the step of notifying version information by said radio terminal device notifies the version information of said control-software involved in operations of said radio terminal device to said software-supply device at regular time intervals.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the step of downloading new control-software comprises a step of dividing said new control-software to be downloaded into blocks having a fixed size, said blocks being downloaded intermittently.

4. A radio terminal device comprising:

a radio communication unit capable of transmitting and receiving digital signals;

a main memory storing control-software presently involved in operations including a radio communication control of said radio terminal device and update-software for updating said control-software presently involved;

a buffer memory; and

a processing unit that operates in accordance with said control software in said main memory,

wherein said processing unit, under control of said control-software presently involved, causes update-used software downloaded through a radio communication channel to be temporarily stored in said buffer memory and updates, under a control of said update-software, parts of said control-software presently involved with said update-used software, so that the processing unit can operate in accordance with updated control-software.

5. The radio terminal device as claimed in claim 4, wherein said buffer memory has a size than is smaller than that of said control-software and is greater than that of said update-used software.

6. The radio terminal as claimed in claim 5, wherein:

said control-software is divided into several modules which can be updated individually; and

said processing unit updates said several modules by repeating download and updating processes of said modules in order.

7. The radio terminal as claimed in claim 5, wherein:

said update-used software in divided into blocks having a fixed size; and

said processing unit requests download on a block basis and stores a necessary numbers of blocks of said update-used software to said buffer memory in order.

8. The radio terminal as claimed in claim 7, wherein the processing unit manages a transmission order of the blocks and interrupts downloading of said update-used software if a fixed event occurs while downloading.

9. The radio terminal device claimed in claim 4, wherein a part storing said control software in said main memory and said buffer memory include flash ROMs.

10. A software-supply device, comprising:

a communication interface unit capable of transmitting and receiving digital signals connected to a network;

a memory storing every version of control-software involved in operations of a radio terminal device and version information on said control-software, said memory including a management table in which the control software is expanded into module information corresponding to a download buffer of the radio terminal device, the module information being divided into fixed size transmission blocks corresponding to transmission block numbers associated with a request for transmission blocks from the radio terminal device; and

a communication control unit updating and managing contents of said memory, said communication control unit being capable of communication with any radio terminal device through a communication interface device.

11. The software-supply device claimed in claim 10, wherein:

said communication control unit determines whether said control-software used in said radio terminal device is needed to be updated by comparing the version information received from said radio terminal device and a latest one of the version information in said memory; and

said communication control unit selects and downloads new control-software appropriate to update the version of the control-software used in said radio terminal device when it is determined that updating of said control-software is needed.