JPH06195210A - Program exchange system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide a program exchange system updating the program of a non-volatile storage device to a new program without reducing the power of a controller and without physically exchanging the non-volatile storage device through the use of a jig and the like. CONSTITUTION:A main controller 1 for executing the program stored in a storage device, an external communication equipment 2 which can read the update program from an external communication terminal 5, the non-volatile storage device 3 whose storage content cannot be deleted even if power is cut and which is rewritable, a non-volatile storage device 4 whose storage content is not deleted and an inspection device 6 inspecting the presence or absence of the update request of the program are provided. When the update request of the program is given, the program which is read from the external communication equipment 2 into the volatile storage device 4 is stored in the non-volatile storage device 3.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a program exchange system for a control device having a rewritable nonvolatile memory device and a volatile memory device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art FIG. 2 shows a schematic configuration of a conventional control device. In the figure, 7 is a non-volatile storage device, 8 is a volatile storage device, 9 is a program, and 10 is a main control device. The main controller 10 reads the program 9 written in the non-volatile storage device 7 from the non-volatile storage device 7 and sequentially executes it. When updating the program 9 written in the non-volatile memory device 7, the power is turned off, the previous non-volatile memory device 7 is pulled out using a jig or the like, and another non-volatile memory device 7 in which the new program is written is removed. Physically replace.

[0003]

As described above, in the conventional control device, when updating the program 9 written in the nonvolatile storage device 7, a jig or the like is used to update the nonvolatile storage device. It was necessary to remove 7 and physically replace it. Therefore, there is a problem in that it is necessary to open the cover of the control device, which increases the number of man-hours for the work. Further, when replacing the non-volatile storage device 7, the power supply of the control device had to be turned off. Therefore, there is a problem that the function of the control device is temporarily interrupted.

The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to physically configure a nonvolatile memory device by using a jig or the like without turning off the power source of the control device. The purpose of the present invention is to provide a program exchanging method capable of updating a program of a non-volatile memory device with a new program without replacing the program.

[0005]

In the program exchange system of the present invention, in order to solve the above problems, as shown in FIG. 1, a main control for executing a program stored in a storage device. The device 1, the external communication device 2 that can read the update program from the external communication terminal 5, the rewritable nonvolatile storage device 3 that does not lose the stored contents even when the power is turned off, and the stored contents that disappears when the power is turned off. A volatile storage device 4 and an inspection device 6 for inspecting the presence / absence of a program update request are provided. When there is a program update request, the program read from the external communication device 2 into the volatile storage device 4 is stored in the nonvolatile storage device. It is characterized in that it is configured to be stored in No. 3.

[0006]

According to the configuration shown in FIG. 1, when the inspection device 6 detects that the rewritable nonvolatile storage device 3 has not been initialized or that there is a program update request, the main control device 1 will operate as a device. The update program is requested to the external communication terminal 5 storing the new program through the external communication device 2 without turning off the power of the. The update program is once read into the volatile storage device 4. The reason why the data is read once into the volatile storage device 4 is that the operation of the device is not impaired because the program before the update remains in the non-volatile storage device 3 even if the power supply is stopped during the update. After the reading of the program is completed, the new program is written in the rewritable nonvolatile storage device 3, and the new program is executed from the next time. When executing, the program compressed and stored in the non-volatile storage device 3 is once expanded in the volatile storage device 4 and the program is executed.

[0007]

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the CPU 20 as the main controller
And an RS232C interface 13 as an external communication device and an EEPROM 11 as a non-volatile storage device.
And a DRAM 12 as a volatile storage device and an update request switch 21 as an inspection device. EEP
ROM 11 is an area 1 for storing the boot program 16.
7 and an area 18 for storing the program.
The DRAM 12 also has an area 19 for developing a program. When the power of the control device is turned on, the startup program 16 starts operating. When the update request switch 21 is not operated, the software of the EEPROM 11 is checked. If there is no problem in the software check result of EEPROM 11, area 1
The compressed program 8 is expanded in the program storage area 19 of the DRAM 12 and executed by the CPU 20.

Next, when updating to the new update program 15, the update request switch 21 is operated. The update request switch 21 is, for example, a switch for setting the input port of the CPU 20 to a state different from that when there is no update request and forcibly giving a reset signal to the reset terminal of the CPU 20. The CPU 20 is reset by the operation of the update request switch 21 and the startup program 16 starts to operate again. However, since the state of the input port of the CPU 20 is different from that at the time of power-on reset, the processing for updating the program is executed. . That is, the update program 15 stored in the area 22 of the internal memory of the external communication terminal 14 is once read into the area 19 of the DRAM 12 via the RS232C interface 13. Then, the update program 15 is compressed in a predetermined procedure and stored in the area 18 in the EEPROM 11, and the update of the program is completed. Then DRAM
If the execution of the program in the area 19 of 12 is restarted,
The new update program 15 will be executed without turning off the power.

[0009]

According to the present invention, a program for a non-volatile memory device, which has conventionally required physical replacement using a jig or the like, can be replaced without turning off the power to the device. There is an advantage that the program can be replaced with a new update program without performing.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a basic configuration of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a schematic configuration of a conventional example.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an embodiment of the present invention.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 main control device 2 external communication device 3 non-volatile storage device 4 volatile storage device 5 external communication terminal 6 inspection device

Claims (1)

[Claims] 1. A main control device for executing a program stored in a storage device, an external communication device that can read an update program from an external communication terminal, and rewritable data that does not disappear even if the power is turned off. A non-volatile memory device and a volatile memory device that loses its memory contents when the power is turned off.
An inspection device for inspecting the presence or absence of a program update request is provided, and when the program update request is made, the program read from the external communication device to the volatile storage device is stored in the nonvolatile storage device. And program exchange method.