JP2024073081A - Distribution server, distribution server control method, and distribution server control program - Google Patents

Abstract

[Problem] To efficiently perform FOTA in NB-IoT [Solution] A distribution server that distributes update software to communication devices connected to base stations includes an acquisition unit that acquires second identification information for identifying a base station among multiple base stations to which the communication device is connected based on first identification information for identifying the communication device received from the communication device, a setting unit that sets an upper limit number of communication devices to which the update software will be distributed for each base station, and a distribution unit that distributes the update software via the base station to communication devices up to the upper limit number set for each base station based on the first identification information and the second identification information.
[Selected figure] Figure 2

Description

The present invention relates to a distribution server, a control method for a distribution server, and a control program for a distribution server.

NIDD (Non-IP Data Delivery) is known as a communications standard for IoT (Internet of Things) devices, which allows data communication without assigning an IP (Internet Protocol) address to the IoT device. NIDD is a non-IP communication method that does not use the Internet Protocol, and has the excellent advantage of being able to reduce header information during data communication, reducing the power required for communication and extending the battery life of IoT devices.

Note that, conventionally, a technology called FOTA (Firmware Over The Air) is known for wireless communication devices, which wirelessly updates the firmware (software program) of the device to correct defects or add functions. NIDD is a communication method that is optimal for NB-IoT (Narrow Band-IoT) among communication standards classified as LPWA (Low Power Wide Area), which is standardized as a wireless communication technology for IoT devices. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a technology for performing FOTA on IoT devices that comply with NB-IoT.

JP 2020-14183 A

Compared to LTE (registered trademark) (Long Term Evolution) and Wi-Fi (registered trademark), which are communication standards for mobile phones and wireless LANs, NB-IoT is characterized by its low power consumption and long distance communication capabilities, but its narrow communication bandwidth and low communication speed. Therefore, when data such as firmware update software, which is large in volume compared to the data that IoT devices send and receive during normal operation, is distributed to a large number of IoT devices within a base station cell, processing is delayed and the probability of firmware update failure increases. One method is to limit the number of IoT devices to which update software is distributed, but in this case, although the success rate of the update increases, it still takes time to complete the firmware update for a large number of IoT devices.

There was a need to efficiently carry out FOTA in NB-IoT.

In one embodiment of the present invention, a distribution server that distributes update software to a communication device connected to a base station includes an acquisition unit that acquires second identification information for identifying a base station to which the communication device is connected among a plurality of base stations based on first identification information for identifying the communication device received from the communication device, a setting unit that sets an upper limit number of communication devices to which the update software is distributed for each base station, and a distribution unit that distributes the update software via the base station to communication devices up to the upper limit number set for each base station based on the first identification information and the second identification information.

In a distribution server according to one embodiment of the present invention, if the distribution unit does not receive a completion report indicating that the update using the update software has been completed from the communication device within a predetermined period of time after distributing the update software to the communication device, the distribution unit may determine that the update has failed.

In a distribution server according to one embodiment of the present invention, the distribution unit may sequentially distribute update software to communication devices to which update software has not yet been distributed, based on the upper limit number.

In a distribution server according to one embodiment of the present invention, in response to receiving a completion report indicating that an update using the update software has been completed from a communication device to which the update software has been distributed, the distribution unit may distribute the update software to communication devices to which the update software has not yet been distributed, where the number of communication devices to which the update software is being distributed does not exceed an upper limit.

In a distribution server according to one embodiment of the present invention, the acquisition unit may further acquire communication quality information from the communication device regarding the communication quality between the communication device and the base station, and the setting unit may set an upper limit number for the base station based on the communication quality information acquired from multiple communication devices connected to the base station.

In a distribution server according to one embodiment of the present invention, the acquisition unit may further acquire regional information relating to the area in which the base station is installed based on the second identification information, and the distribution unit may select, from among the multiple base stations, a communication device to which the update software is to be distributed based on the regional information.

In a distribution server according to one embodiment of the present invention, communication between a communication device and a base station may be based on a communication method using NB-IoT (Narrow Band Internet of Things).

In a distribution server according to one embodiment of the present invention, communication between a communication device and the distribution server via a base station may include a communication method using NIDD (Non-IP Data Deliver), which is a non-IP communication method for performing data communication without using IP (Internet Protocol).

In one embodiment of the present invention, a control method of a distribution server that distributes update software to a communication device connected to a base station includes the steps of: acquiring second identification information for identifying a base station among a plurality of base stations to which the communication device is connected based on first identification information for identifying the communication device received by the distribution server from the communication device; setting an upper limit number of communication devices to which the update software is distributed for each base station; and distributing the update software via the base station to communication devices with a number equal to or less than the upper limit number set for each base station based on the first identification information and the second identification information.

In one embodiment of the present invention, a control program of a distribution server that distributes update software to a communication device connected to a base station causes the distribution server to realize the following functions: based on first identification information for identifying the communication device received from the communication device, obtain second identification information for identifying a base station among a plurality of base stations to which the communication device is connected; for each base station, set an upper limit number of communication devices to which update software is distributed; and based on the first identification information and second identification information, distribute the update software via the base station to communication devices up to the upper limit number set for each base station.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of a distribution system according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a distribution server and a communication device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 3 is an example of a sequence diagram between a communication device and a distribution server according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 4 is an example of a data set used in one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 5 is an example of a data set used in one embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 6 is an example of a data set used in one embodiment of the present invention.

Hereinafter, an embodiment of the invention according to the present disclosure (also referred to as the present invention) will be described with reference to the drawings. Note that the drawings are merely examples, and the present invention is not limited to those shown in the drawings. For example, the numbers of distribution servers (information processing devices), management servers, database servers, base stations, and communication devices (IoT devices), data sets (tables), and sequence diagrams shown in the drawings are merely examples, and the present invention is not limited to these.

<System Configuration>
1 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of a distribution system according to an embodiment of the present invention. The distribution system 600 may be a system that distributes update software for updating firmware to the communication device 200.

The distribution system 600 may include a distribution server 100, a management server 101, a database server 400, a base station 300 (300A, 300B), a plurality of communication devices 200 (200Aa, 200Ab, ..., 200Ba, 200Bb, ...), and a mobile communication network 500. Here, the mobile communication network 500 may include a radio access network through which the base station 300 and the communication devices 200 exchange data, and a core network 50. In FIG. 1, the communication devices 200 connected to the base stations 300A and 300B are given the same capital letters A and B, respectively, and when distinguishing between the communication devices, lowercase letters a, b, ... are given. However, when there is no particular need to distinguish, they will be simply described as the base station 300 and the communication device 200.

The communication device 200 may be any of various IoT devices that are connected to the base stations 300 and exist (area) within the cell of each base station 300. Hereinafter, the communication device 200 will be described as an IoT device that is installed in a smart meter for gas (city gas, LP gas), water, electricity, etc., and transmits meter reading data, etc. However, the present invention is not limited to this, and the communication device 200 may be an IoT sensor used to monitor infrastructure such as bridges and roads, a wearable device, etc.

Here, communication device 200 is described as an IoT device capable of data communication by NIDD. That is, communication device 200 and base station 300 may communicate using a communication method conforming to NB-IoT. As described above, NIDD reduces the power required for communication, prolonging the battery life of IoT devices, and can build a highly secure network with a low risk of being subjected to malicious attacks targeting IoT devices. NB-IoT also has the advantage of being narrowband and low speed, resulting in low power consumption and enabling long battery life, as well as reduced operating costs.

Note that the present invention is not limited to this, and communication device 200 may be a device that complies with a communication standard for IoT classified as LPWA, such as Category M, Category M1, LoRaWAN (registered trademark), Sigfox (registered trademark), etc. Furthermore, communication device 200 may be capable of switching the communication bearer in mobile communication network 500 between multiple communication standards. For example, communication device 200 may be capable of switching the communication bearer (communication path) between NB-IoT and Category M1.

The distribution server 100 may have a function of managing the firmware version of each communication device 200 connected to the base station 300, and may have a function of transmitting update software for updating the firmware of each communication device 200 as necessary (a function for executing FOTA). Note that the operator providing the update software may be different from the operator distributing it. For example, the update software may be provided by the manufacturer of each communication device 200, and distributed to each communication device 200 via the distribution server 100 by the communication operator managing the base station 300.

The management server 101 may function as an IoT-PF (platform) that processes the meter readings of each smart meter transmitted from each communication device 200 and passes the necessary data to the administrator of the smart meter. The management server 101 may remotely control the communication device 200 via the mobile communication network 500, and may be connected to a centralized monitoring center (not shown) where the administrator waits. The management server 101 and the distribution server 100 may be provided as the same server, or the functions may be distributed to multiple servers. The management server 101 and the distribution server 100 may be any device that can realize the functions described in each embodiment, and may include, for example, a server device, a computer (for example, but not limited to, a desktop, a laptop, a tablet, etc.), a communication platform, etc.

The core network 50 supports wireless communication by NB-IoT and may include nodes such as MME (Mobility Management Entity), S-GW (Serving Gateway), P-GW (Packet Data Network Gateway), and SCEF (Service Capability Exposure Function), which are not shown. The MME has functions such as location management and authentication management of the communication device 200, and management of sessions between each node (i.e., management of communication bearers). The MME also has a function of sending paging to the base station 300 when calling the communication device 200. The S-GW has a function as a gateway that routes and forwards user packets between the base station 300 and the core network 50. The P-GW has a function as a gateway that assigns an IP (Internet Protocol) address of the communication device 200 that can be used in the IP communication network after the core network 50, and enables communication between the communication device 200 and an external network of the mobile communication network 500 by using the IP address. In addition, the S-GW and P-GW may be integrated into a single node.

In NB-IoT, as in LTE, the core network 50 is a system in which a control plane (CPlane: Control Plane) having a function of transmitting control signals and a user plane (UPlane: User Plane) having a function of transmitting data (user data) transmitted and received between the communication device 200 are separated. That is, the user data may be transferred via the user plane via the communication device 200, S-GW, and P-GW. Furthermore, the control signal may be transferred via the control plane via the communication device 200, MME, S-GW, P-GW, and distribution server 100. In addition, in the case of a communication method based on NIDD, various data transmitted from the communication device 200 may be transmitted and received via the MME and SCEF via the control plane. Furthermore, the core network 50 may further include an SCS (Service Capability Server) not shown.

The distribution system 600 may further include a database server 400. As will be described in detail later, the database server 400 may store various data for associating each communication device 200 with the base station 300. Note that while the database server 400 is shown separately from the distribution server 100 in FIG. 1, the present invention is not limited to this, and the data stored in the database server 400 may be stored in, for example, the storage unit 170 of the distribution server 100.

<Communication Device>
2 shows an example of a block diagram of a communication device 200 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The communication device 200 may include a control unit 210, a communication unit 220, an input/output unit 230, and a storage unit 270. The control unit 210 and the communication unit 220 constituting the communication device 200 may be software or a module in which processing is performed by a processor executing a program stored in a memory. Alternatively, the control unit 210 and the communication unit 220 constituting the communication device 200 may be hardware such as a circuit or a chip.

The communication unit 220 may communicate with the base station 300 using a predetermined communication method, and may transmit and receive various data with the distribution server 100 and the management server 101 via the mobile communication network 500. The predetermined communication method may be NB-IoT, Category M, Category M1, etc. Note that the communication device 200 according to one embodiment of the present invention is capable of transmitting and receiving data using the NIDD communication method, and will be described as transmitting and receiving data using the NIDD communication method.

The control unit 210 may be configured, for example, with an MPU (Micro Processing Unit) or the like, and may execute a program stored in the storage unit 270 to realize processing for operating the communication device 200 in compliance with NB-IoT or NIDD. The control unit 210 may also execute various processes such as rebooting the device itself, connecting to the mobile communication network 500, and disconnecting from the mobile communication network 500. The control unit 210 may also transmit device identification information (first identification information: UUID (Universally Unique Identifier), IMSI (International Mobile Subscriber Identity), etc.) unique to the device itself (described later) via the communication unit 220, or download software for updating the FOTA. The control unit 210 may also execute a firmware update for the device itself using the downloaded software for updating.

The storage unit 270 stores various programs and data required for the operation of the communication device 200. The storage unit 270 may include, for example, a semiconductor memory (magnetic memory, flash memory, etc.). The storage unit 270 may also include a memory (RAM (Random Access Memory), ROM (Read Only Memory), etc.) that provides a working area for the control unit 210. The storage unit 270 may also store device identification information 271 that is unique to the communication device 200.

The input/output unit 230 is an interface with an external device such as a sensor, and may include, for example, a U-bus interface, a UART (Universal Asynchronous Receiver/Transmitter) interface, an SPI (Serial Peripheral Interface) interface, an I2C interface, etc. The communication device 200 may transmit data detected by a sensor connected via the input/output unit 230 to the management server 101, etc.

<Distribution server>
Next, the hardware configuration and functional configuration of the distribution server 100 according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIG.

(1) Hardware Configuration of Distribution Server The distribution server 100 may include a control unit 110, a communication unit 120, an input/output unit 130, and a storage unit 170.

The storage unit 170 is typically realized by various recording media such as a hard disk drive (HDD), a solid state drive (SSD), or a flash memory, and may have the function of storing various programs and data required for the operation of the distribution server 100.

The control unit 110 is typically a processor and may be realized by a central processing unit (CPU), a micro processing unit (MPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), etc. The control unit 110 may execute the functions and methods shown in each embodiment by reading a program stored in the storage unit 170 and executing the code or instructions contained in the read program. The control unit 110 may realize each process disclosed in each embodiment by a logic circuit (hardware) or a dedicated circuit formed in an integrated circuit (IC (Integrated Circuit) chip, LSI (Large Scale Integration)), etc. Furthermore, these circuits may be realized by one or more integrated circuits, and multiple processes shown in each embodiment may be realized by one integrated circuit.

The communication unit 120 is implemented as hardware such as a network adapter, communication software, or a combination of these, and transmits and receives various data to and from external devices. The communication may be performed either wired or wirelessly, and any communication protocol may be used as long as the communication between them is possible. For example, the distribution server 100 and the communication devices 200 may transmit and receive data using protocols for IoT established by the Open Mobile Alliance (OMA), such as LwM2M (Lightweight M2M), MQTT (Message Queue Telemetry Transport), and CoAP (Constrained Application Protocol). The communication unit 120 may transmit and receive various data using a communication bearer established between the distribution server 100 and each communication device 200.

The input/output unit 130 may include an input device for inputting various operations to the distribution server 100, and an output device for outputting the results of processing performed by the distribution server 100. The input device includes, for example, a touch panel, a touch display, hardware keys such as a keyboard, a pointing device such as a mouse, a camera (operation input via images), and a microphone (operation input via voice). The output device outputs the results of processing performed by the control unit 110, and includes, for example, a touch panel, a speaker, etc. The input device and output device may be installed in a centralized monitoring center (not shown) and may accept operations from a monitor (administrator) and output various information to the monitor.

(2) Functional configuration of the distribution server The distribution server 100 may include an acquisition unit 111, a setting unit 112, a distribution unit 113, and a generation unit 114 as functions realized by the control unit 110. Among the functional units shown in FIG. 2, functional units that are not essential in the embodiments described below may be omitted. Furthermore, the functions or processes of each functional unit may be realized by machine learning or AI to the extent that they can be realized.

<Distribution process of update software>
Hereinafter, the process of distributing update software according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to Figures 3 to 6, together with an explanation of each functional unit of the distribution server 100. Here, Figure 3 is a sequence diagram between the distribution server 100 and the communication device 200. Also, Figures 4 to 6 are various data tables used in the distribution process.

The acquisition unit 111 may acquire first identification information for identifying the communication device 200 from the communication device 200 (step T11 in FIG. 3). The first identification information for identifying the communication device may be, for example, but is not limited to, an IMSI, an IMEI (International Mobile Equipment Identifier), a UUID, etc. Note that, when executing FOTA, the distribution server 100 may request the communication device 200 to transmit the first identification information before step T11.

The communication device 200 may use the LwM2M protocol to transmit and receive data to and from the distribution server 100. LwM2M uses a format called a resource model for managing data. The resource model is a tree structure of objects, object instances, and resources, and each element is assigned a number. In one embodiment of the present invention, the first identification information (IMSI) of the communication device 200 may be stored in resource "17" of device object "3". Therefore, the generation unit 114 of the distribution server 100 may generate a command specifying the resource "/3/0/17" when requesting transmission of the first identification information. When the communication device 200 receives a request specifying the resource "/3/0/17" from the distribution server 100, it may read the information (first identification information) stored in the resource and transmit it to the distribution server 100.

The acquisition unit 111 may further acquire second identification information for identifying a base station to which the communication device 200 is connected among the multiple base stations 300 based on the first identification information acquired from the communication device 200 (step T12 in FIG. 3). The second identification information is not limited to this, but may be, for example, an ECGI (E-UTRAN (Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network) Cell Global Identifier) that uniquely identifies a cell.

The acquisition unit 111 may acquire the second identification information from the database server 400. The database server 400 may store information on the base station 300 to which each communication device 200 is connected in advance. FIG. 4(a) is an example of a base station information table on the base station 300 to which the communication device 200 is connected, stored in the database server 400. The base station information table TB10 may store the first identification information of the communication device 200 and the second identification information of the base station 300 to which the communication device 200 identified by the first identification information is connected in association with each other. In FIG. 4(a), for ease of understanding, the first identification information is indicated by the symbol of the communication device in FIG. 1 (200Aa, 200Bd, etc.), and the second identification information is indicated by the symbol of the base station (300A, 300B, etc.). When the acquisition unit 111 of the distribution server 100 acquires the first identification information from the communication device 200, the acquisition unit 111 may refer to the base station information table TB10 of the database server 400 to acquire the second identification information of the base station 300 to which the communication device 200 is connected.

The setting unit 112 may set an upper limit number of communication devices 200 to which update software is distributed for each base station 300 (step T13 in FIG. 3). Here, the upper limit number may mean the upper limit number of communication devices 200 to which update software can be distributed simultaneously from the distribution server 100 by communication among the multiple communication devices 200. Note that a method for setting the upper limit number will be described later. Alternatively, the upper limit number may be set in advance by, for example, a telecommunications carrier. Information regarding the upper limit number set for the base station 300 may be stored in the database server 400. FIG. 4(b) is an example of an upper limit number table that stores the upper limit number for each base station 300. Note that the upper limit number table TB11 may further store information (first identification information) of the communication devices 200 connected to each base station 300. In the example of the upper limit number table TB11 in FIG. 4(b), the upper limit number of the base station 300A may be "6", and the upper limit number of the base station 300B may be "5".

Based on the first identification information and the second identification information, the distribution unit 113 may distribute the update software via the base station 300 to communication devices 200 that are equal to or less than the upper limit number of communication devices 200 among the multiple communication devices 200 connected to the base station 300 for each base station 300. The update software may be distributed by sending a FOTA command indicating that FOTA is to be executed to the communication device 200 (step T14 in FIG. 3). The generation unit 114 may generate resources required for downloading the update software. The FOTA command may include information (URL) regarding the download destination of the update software, and the communication device 200 may respond to the FOTA command (step T15), and then connect to the download destination to download the update software (step T16).

Now consider the distribution of update software to communication device 200Aa, as shown in the sequence diagram of FIG. 3. In this case, referring to the maximum number table TB11 in FIG. 4(a), the maximum number set for base station 300A is "6 devices", so distribution unit 113 may transmit a FOTA command to communication device 200Aa as well as, for example, "6 devices", communication devices 200Ab to Af. Note that the order in which communication devices 200 transmit the FOTA command is not particularly limited, and may be, for example, the order in which distribution server 100 receives the first identification information.

Thus, according to one embodiment of the present invention, an upper limit on the number of communication devices 200 to which update software is distributed may be set, and the update software may be distributed only to communication devices 200 that are equal to or less than the upper limit. Therefore, even in a communication method of NB-IoT with a relatively low communication speed, such as NIDD, it is possible to increase the success rate of downloading large-capacity software.

The communication device 200 may update the firmware of the communication device 200 using the downloaded update software (step T17). When the firmware update is complete, the communication device 200 may transmit a notification to the distribution server 100 indicating that FOTA is complete (step T18).

The distribution unit 113 may determine that the update has failed if it does not receive a completion report indicating that the update using the update software has been completed from the communication device 200 within a predetermined period of time after distributing the update software to the communication device 200. The predetermined period may be, for example, 30 minutes, but is not limited to this. The distribution unit 113 may store information about the communication device 200 for which it has been determined that the update has failed in the storage unit 170 or the database server 400.

In this way, according to one embodiment of the present invention, a communication device 200 that has failed in FOTA is identified. Therefore, it is possible to perform efficient FOTA without unnecessarily occupying the communication band.

Based on the upper limit number, the distribution unit 113 may sequentially transmit a FOTA command to the communication devices 200 to which the update software has not been distributed. That is, based on the upper limit number, the distribution unit 113 may sequentially distribute the update software to the communication devices 200 to which the update software has not been distributed. Note that "sequentially distributing the update software" may refer to the update software being distributed to other communication devices in sequence as soon as the distribution of the update software to a certain communication device is completed. For example, in response to receiving a completion report indicating that the update using the update software has been completed from the communication device 200 to which the update software has been distributed, the distribution unit 113 may distribute the update software to the communication devices 200 to which the update software has not been distributed, and the number of communication devices 200 to which the update software is being distributed does not exceed the upper limit number (step T19 in FIG. 3). Specifically, for example, when the distribution unit 113 transmits a FOTA command to the communication devices 200Aa-Af, receives a FOTA completion notification from the communication device 200Aa, and the number of communication devices to which the update software is to be downloaded becomes "five" (the communication devices 200Ab-Af), the distribution unit 113 may transmit a FOTA command to "one" of the communication devices to which the FOTA command has not been transmitted (e.g., the communication device 200Ag) so as not to exceed the upper limit of "six" (step T19). In other words, when there are more than the upper limit of communication devices to which the FOTA command has not been transmitted, the distribution unit 113 may maintain the number of communication devices 200 to which the update software is to be downloaded to be the same as the upper limit.

Thus, according to one embodiment of the present invention, a FOTA command may be sent so that the number of communication devices 200 that download the update software is maintained at the same number as the upper limit. Therefore, it is possible to execute an efficient FOTA without wasting communication bandwidth.

<Setting the maximum number of devices>
Here, the setting of the upper limit number will be described. The acquisition unit 111 may further acquire communication quality information related to the communication quality between the communication device 200 and the base station 300 from the communication device 200. The communication quality information may be, for example, Reference Signal Received Power (RSRP), Reference Signal Received Quality (RSRQ), Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI), Signal to Interference plus Noise Ratio (SINR), etc., but is not limited thereto. The control unit 210 of the communication device 200 may measure the communication quality information based on the state of wireless communication, such as the reception strength of the radio wave received by the communication unit 220. In one embodiment of the present invention, the communication quality information of the communication device 200 may be stored in the resource "0" of the BinaryAppDataContainer object "19" in the data frame of LwM2M. Therefore, the distribution server 100 may specify the resource "/19/0/0" when requesting the communication device 200 to transmit the communication quality information. When the communication device 200 receives a request specifying the resource “/19/0/0” from the distribution server 100 , the communication device 200 may read out information (communication quality information) stored in the resource and transmit it to the distribution server 100 .

The communication quality information of each communication device 200 may be stored in the database server 400. FIG. 5(a) is an example of a communication quality information table that stores communication quality information for each communication device 200. The communication quality information table TB20 may further store information (second identification information) of the base station 300 to which each communication device 200 is connected. In the example of the communication quality information table TB20 in FIG. 5(b), RSSI is shown as the communication quality.

The setting unit 112 may set the upper limit number for each base station 300 based on communication quality information acquired from multiple communication devices 200 connected to the base station 300. Information on the upper limit number set for the base station 300 may be stored in the database server 400. FIG. 5(b) is an example of an upper limit number table that stores the upper limit number for each base station 300 based on communication quality information. In the example of the upper limit number table TB21 in FIG. 5(b), the average RSSI of the base station 300A may be "-50 dBm" and the upper limit number may be "4 units". The average RSSI of the base station 300B may be "-30 dBm" and the upper limit number may be "8 units". Note that the upper limit number may be set according to the actual measurement value of the communication quality of the base station 300 by setting a communication quality range for each upper limit number in advance, such as "8 units" if the average RSSI is -49 to -30 dBm.

Thus, according to one embodiment of the present invention, the upper limit number may be set according to the communication quality between the base station 300 and the communication device 200. Therefore, in a cell with a good radio wave environment, the update firmware is distributed to a larger number of communication devices 200, and in a cell with a poor radio wave environment, the update firmware is distributed to a smaller number of communication devices 200. This makes it possible to execute FOTA efficiently according to the radio wave environment.

The acquisition unit 111 may further acquire regional information relating to the installation area of the base station 300 based on the second identification information of the base station 300. In one embodiment of the present invention, the database server 400 may store a regional information table TB30 that stores regional information relating to the installation area of the base station 300. FIG. 6 is an example of the regional information table TB30. The regional information table TB30 may store the area in which the base station 300 is installed in association with the second identification information of the base station 300. In the example of FIG. 6, it can be seen that the base station 300A is installed in "Tokyo" and the base station 300B is installed in "Kanagawa Prefecture".

The distribution unit 113 may refer to the region information table TB30 and select, based on the region information, from among the multiple base stations 300, the communication device 200 to which the update software is to be distributed. For example, consider a case where a manufacturer of the communication device 200 requests that FOTA be preferentially performed on the communication device 200 installed in a specific region (for example, Kanagawa Prefecture). In this case, the distribution unit 113 may first refer to the region information table TB30 and identify the base station 300B installed in Kanagawa Prefecture. Furthermore, the distribution unit 113 may refer to the base station information table TB10 and identify the communication device 200 connected to the base station 300B. Then, the distribution unit 113 may distribute the update software to the communication device 200 connected to the base station 300B, up to the upper limit number. Note that, if there are requests from multiple regions, the distribution unit 113 may randomly determine the distribution order among the multiple regions from which the requests were made, and distribute the update software.

In this way, according to one embodiment of the present invention, it is possible to execute FOTA preferentially depending on the region where the base station 300 is installed. Therefore, the firmware of the communication device 200 can be updated according to the request of the manufacturer of the communication device 200, or in accordance with a demonstration experiment limited to a certain region, and FOTA with high usability can be executed.

Although the present invention has been described based on the drawings and examples, it should be noted that a person skilled in the art can easily make various modifications and corrections based on the present disclosure. Therefore, it should be noted that these modifications and corrections are included in the scope of the present invention. For example, the functions included in each means, each step, etc. can be rearranged so as not to cause logical contradictions, and multiple means, steps, etc. can be combined into one or divided. In addition, the configurations shown in the above embodiments may be appropriately combined. For example, each component described as being included in the distribution server 100 may be realized in a distributed manner by multiple servers. In addition, the processing described as the functions of the distribution server 100 may be performed by the communication device 200. Conversely, the processing described as being performed by the communication device 200 may be performed by the server 100.

For example, in the above description, each data table is stored in the database server 400, but the various information may be stored in the storage unit of the distribution server 100 or the management server 101.

Each functional unit of the server 100 or the communication device 200 may be realized by a logic circuit (hardware) or a dedicated circuit formed in an integrated circuit (IC (Integrated Circuit) chip, LSI (Large Scale Integration)), or may be realized by software using a CPU (Central Processing Unit). In addition, each functional unit may be realized by one or more integrated circuits, and the functions of multiple functional units may be realized by a single integrated circuit.

The programs of each embodiment of the present disclosure may be provided in a state stored in a storage medium readable by an information processing device. The storage medium can store the programs in a "non-transient tangible medium." The programs include, for example, software programs and information processing device programs. When the functional units of the distribution server 100 as an information processing device are realized by software, the distribution server 100 functions as an acquisition unit 111, a setting unit 112, a distribution unit 113, and a generation unit 114 by the processor executing the programs loaded on the memory.

The storage medium may, where appropriate, include one or more semiconductor-based or other integrated circuits (ICs) (e.g., field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application specific ICs (ASICs), etc.), hard disk drives (HDDs), hybrid hard drives (HHDs), optical disks, optical disk drives (ODDs), magneto-optical disks, magneto-optical drives, floppy diskettes, floppy disk drives (FDDs), magnetic tapes, solid state drives (SSDs), RAM drives, secure digital cards or drives, any other suitable storage media, or any suitable combination of two or more of these. The storage medium may, where appropriate, be volatile, non-volatile, or a combination of volatile and non-volatile.

The program of the present disclosure may also be provided to the distribution server 100 via any transmission medium capable of transmitting the program (such as a communication network or broadcast waves).

Furthermore, each embodiment of the present disclosure may be realized in the form of a data signal embedded in a carrier wave, in which the program is embodied by electronic transmission. The program of the present disclosure may be implemented using, for example, a scripting language such as JavaScript (registered trademark) or Python, C language, Go language, Swift, Koltin, Java (registered trademark), etc.

According to each aspect of the present disclosure described above, by providing technology related to monitoring and maintenance of IoT devices for 5G and beyond network technologies, it is possible to contribute to the achievement of Goal 9 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), "Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization, and promote innovation and infrastructure."

100 Distribution server (information processing device)
110 Control unit 111 Acquisition unit 112 Setting unit 113 Distribution unit 114 Generation unit 120 Communication unit 130 Input/output unit 170 Storage unit 101 Management server 102 Database server 200 Communication device (IoT device)
210 Control unit 220 Communication unit 230 Input/output unit 270 Storage unit 300 Base station 500 Mobile communication network 50 Core network 600 Distribution system

Claims (10)

A distribution server that distributes update software to a communication device connected to a base station,
an acquisition unit that acquires second identification information for identifying a base station to which the communication device is connected among a plurality of base stations based on first identification information for identifying the communication device received from the communication device;
a setting unit that sets an upper limit number of the communication devices to which the update software is to be distributed for each of the base stations;
a distribution unit that distributes, for each of the base stations, the update software to the communication devices that are equal to or less than the upper limit number and that are connected to the base station based on the first identification information and the second identification information, via the base station;
A distribution server comprising: when the distribution unit does not receive a completion report indicating that the update using the update software has been completed from the communication device within a predetermined period of time after distributing the update software to the communication device, the distribution unit determines that the update has failed.
The distribution server according to claim 1 . the distribution unit sequentially distributes the update software to communication devices to which the update software has not yet been distributed, based on the upper limit number.
3. The distribution server according to claim 1 or 2. the distribution unit, in response to receiving a completion report indicating that the update using the update software has been completed from the communication device to which the update software has been distributed, distributes the update software to communication devices to which the update software has not yet been distributed, the number of communication devices to which the update software is being distributed being such that the number of communication devices does not exceed the upper limit number.
3. The distribution server according to claim 1 or 2. The acquisition unit further acquires, from the communication device, communication quality information regarding a communication quality between the communication device and the base station;
the setting unit sets the upper limit number for the base station based on the communication quality information acquired from the plurality of communication devices connected to the base station.
The distribution server according to claim 1 . The acquisition unit further acquires regional information regarding an installation region of the base station based on the second identification information,
the distribution unit selects, from among the plurality of base stations, a communication device to which the update software is to be distributed, based on the regional information.
The distribution server according to claim 1 . The communication between the communication device and the base station is based on a communication method using NB-IoT (Narrow Band Internet of Things).
The distribution server according to claim 1 . The communication between the communication device and the delivery server via the base station includes a communication method based on NIDD (Non-IP Data Deliver), which is a non-IP communication method for performing data communication without using IP (Internet Protocol).
The distribution server according to claim 7. A method for controlling a distribution server that distributes update software to a communication device connected to a base station, comprising the steps of:
The distribution server
acquiring second identification information for identifying a base station to which the communication device is connected among a plurality of base stations based on first identification information for identifying the communication device received from the communication device;
setting an upper limit number of the communication devices to which the update software is to be distributed for each of the base stations;
distributing, for each of the base stations, the update software to the communication devices not exceeding the upper limit number set for that base station, via the base station based on the first identification information and the second identification information;
A method for controlling a distribution server, comprising: A control program for a distribution server that distributes update software to a communication device connected to a base station,
On the distribution server,
a function of acquiring second identification information for identifying a base station to which the communication device is connected among a plurality of base stations based on first identification information for identifying the communication device received from the communication device;
a function of setting an upper limit of the number of the communication devices to which the update software is to be distributed for each of the base stations;
a function of distributing, for each of the base stations, the update software to the communication devices not exceeding the upper limit number set for each of the base stations, via the base stations based on the first identification information and the second identification information;
A control program for the distribution server that makes this possible.

Images