JPH0778111A - Information processor having function for developing program through transmission medium - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To provide an information processor having a function for developing a program through a transmission medium by shortening the connection time of the transmission medium and enabling a master station side to surely know the using frequency of the program on a slave station side in the case of supplying the program from a host to be the master station to a terminal equipment to be the slave station through the transmission medium. CONSTITUTION:A certain terminal equipment is connected to the master station through a general public line (S15) and the telephone number of the terminal equipment itself is informed to the master station to request the use of a program (S16). Information relating to the supplying method of the program transmitted from the master station is received (S17) and the program is supplied and utilized in accordance with the information (S19) based upon a program developing system (S20) for developing the program to an executable state and then receiving the developed program, an OS depending system (S21) for receiving the program after receiving an OS, or a key data developing system (S22) for starting the program by key data.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus in which a host computer as a master station and a terminal device as a slave station are connected via a transmission medium such as a public line, and more particularly,
The present invention relates to a technique for expanding a program stored in a master station into a state in which a slave station can execute it.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In an information processing apparatus configured by connecting a terminal device to a host computer (hereinafter referred to as "host"), a method of using a program stored in the host on the terminal device side is, for example, There are a remote method and a download method. FIG. 18 shows a program execution procedure according to these two methods.

FIG. 18A is a flowchart of the remote system. After the OS (Operating System) of the terminal device is started (S201), the terminal device is connected to the host computer (S202). By sending a program start command from the terminal device to the host (S203), the program is executed on the host side (S204). When the execution of the program ends (S205), the connection between the terminal device and the host is released (S206), and the process ends.

FIG. 18B is a flowchart of the download method. After booting the OS of the terminal device (S2
11), connect the terminal device to the host (S212). The terminal device receives the program transmitted from the host (S
213), when the reception is completed, the connection with the host is released (S214). The terminal device executes the received program (S215), and when the execution of the program is completed (S2)
16) and the process is ended.

In the remote system, the terminal device is an operator's console for inputting / outputting data from / to the host.
The terminal device may have a simple structure because it functions as e) and the host executes the program.

On the other hand, in the download method, the host side does not have to have the high performance of the remote method because the load of program execution is reduced. Since the terminal device stores and executes the program sent from the host, it has a more complicated structure than the remote system.

FIG. 19 shows an example of the structure of a terminal device using the download method. The terminal device 210 is a central processing unit 222 for performing calculation and control according to the OS and programs.
And a work RAM (Random Access Me) for expanding the OS and data into a state in which the central processing unit 222 can execute.
mory) 224 and a ROM (Read Only Memory) 2 storing a control program and control data for controlling the device.
28, an external storage device 230 for storing the received program, a display device 232 for displaying processing results and messages, an input device 234 for inputting data and commands, and a printing result of the processing results. And a printing device 236 for

In the remote system, maintenance such as program correction and version upgrade may be performed on the host side. However, in the download method, normally, the program sent from the host at the first use is stored in the external storage device 230 of the terminal device 210, and the program is read from the external storage device 230 and executed at the second and subsequent uses. Therefore, it is necessary to perform the program maintenance for each terminal device.

When a program is maintained by the download method, it is very troublesome if the number of terminal devices is large, but as a proposal for solving this, for example, "Terminal Software" disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2-43651. There is a maintenance system. This is because, when a plurality of terminal devices are connected to the host via a line, the host receives an OS or application program maintained on one terminal device and sends it to another terminal device to perform maintenance. This reduces the trouble of repeating the work for each terminal device.

[0010]

By the way, it is possible to perform a task such as providing an application program stored in the external storage device of the master station to the slave station by using the information processing apparatus of the remote system or the download system described above. Conceivable. In this case, the provider of the application program serves as a master station equipped with a host, and the user of the application program serves as a slave station equipped with a terminal device, and connects the two via a public line.

In the remote system, the master station side needs to configure a host equipped with a high-performance processing device in order to support a large number of users. Further, as shown in FIG. 18A, since the host and the terminal device must be connected from the start to the end of execution of the program (S202 to S206), the line is different from the download method. The usage fee is high.

On the other hand, in the download method, the terminal device must be provided with an external storage device having a sufficient storage capacity for storing the application program, which increases the burden on the user. Further, in this method, since the program once transmitted is stored in the external storage device on the user side, it is not possible to take a business form in which a usage fee is charged according to the number of times the application program is used. Furthermore, it is difficult to prevent illegal copying of the stored application program.

The present invention has been made to solve these problems, and in the case of providing a program from a host as a master station to a terminal device as a slave station via a transmission medium, the host or the terminal device. Can be configured at a relatively low cost, and the time for connecting via a transmission medium can be shortened.
An object of the present invention is to provide an information processing apparatus having a function of developing a program via a transmission medium, which enables the master station side to know the number of times of use with certainty.

[0014]

In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 is an information processing apparatus having a master station side system for transmitting a program and a slave station side system for receiving the program. Then, the master station side system,
Storage means for storing a program, master station side communication control means for establishing a connection state between the slave station side system by a transmission medium, and a program stored in the storage means, and the read program And a program transmitting means for transmitting the data via the master station side communication control means, wherein the slave station side system is a storage means comprising a volatile memory, and a connection between the master station side system by a transmission medium. A slave station side communication control means for establishing a state and a program transmitted by the transmission medium are received via the slave station side communication control means, expanded into an executable state and stored in the storage means. And a processing means for executing processing according to the program stored in the storage means.

The invention according to claim 2 has been transmitted by the storage means, which comprises a volatile memory, the communication control means for establishing a connection state with the transmission source of the program by the transmission medium, and the transmission medium. Program receiving means for receiving the program via the communication control means, expanding the program into an executable state and storing it in the storage means, and processing means for executing processing according to the program stored in the storage means. It includes.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided storage means for storing the program, and communication control means for establishing a connection state by a transmission medium with a receiver having a processing means for executing the program. , A program transmission unit for reading the program stored in the storage unit, expanding the program into a state executable by the processing unit, and transmitting the expanded program via the communication control unit.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, the transmission medium is
It is possible to establish a connection state with the other party using the identification information of the other party, the slave station side system, the slave station side communication control means to establish a connection state with the master station side system, Further comprising identification information transmitting means for transmitting the identification information of the slave station side system via the slave station side communication control means, the master station side system, identification information storage means for storing the identification information, The identification information sent by the transmission medium is received via the master station side communication control means, the identification information storage means is referenced, and the sent identification information and the identification information storage means are stored. Collating means for collating the identification information and outputting a signal according to the collating result, and according to the output signal from the collating means,
It further includes connection state control means for maintaining or releasing the connection state in the master station side communication control means.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, the program received by the program receiving means includes an instruction for managing the operating state of the processing means, and the slave station side system follows the instruction for managing. It further includes management means for managing the processing means.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, the master station side system, prior to transmission by the correspondence information generation means for generating correspondence information corresponding to the program stored in the storage means, and the program transmission means. And a correspondence information transmission means for transmitting the correspondence information generated by the correspondence information generation means via the master station side communication control means, and a signal requesting transmission of the program sent by the transmission medium. In addition, the slave station side system further includes a transmission request receiving unit for driving the program transmitting unit in response to the signal, and the slave station side system stores the program stored in the storage unit; The correspondence information receiving means for receiving the correspondence information sent by the transmission medium via the slave station side communication control means, and a volatile memory, Correspondence information storage means for storing the correspondence information received by the correspondence information receiving means, and whether or not a program corresponding to the correspondence information stored in the correspondence information storage means by searching the storage means is stored. Searching means for selectively outputting the first signal or the second signal, and a program corresponding to the correspondence information stored in the correspondence information storage means in response to the first signal from the storage means. A reading means for reading and executing the program in an executable state and storing it in the storage means, and a signal for responding to the second signal and requesting transmission of a program, via the slave station side communication control means. Program transmission requesting means for transmitting to the master station side system is further included.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, the program transmitting means expands the read program into a state in which the processing means can execute the program, and transmits the expanded program.

[0021]

According to the configuration of claim 1, the master station side system and the slave station side system are connected via the transmission medium by the master station side communication control means and the slave station side communication control means, respectively. In the master station side system, the program transmission means reads the program stored in the storage means and transmits the read program via the master station side communication control means. In the slave station side system, the program receiving means receives the program transmitted by the transmission medium via the slave station side communication control means, expands it into an executable state, and stores it in the storage means. The processing means executes processing in accordance with the stored program.

According to the configuration of claim 2, the communication control means establishes a connection state with the transmission source of the program by the transmission medium. The program receiving means receives the program transmitted by the transmission medium via the communication control means, develops the program into an executable state, and stores it in the storage means. The processing means executes processing in accordance with the program stored in the storage means.

According to the third aspect of the present invention, the communication control means establishes the connection state of the transmission medium with the receiver having the processing means for executing the program. The program transmission means reads out the program stored in the storage means, expands it into a state in which it can be executed by the processing means, and transmits this expanded program via the communication control means.

According to the configuration of claim 4, in the slave station side system, the identification information transmitting means uses the identification information of the master station side system in the slave station side communication control means and uses the transmission medium with the master station side system. The connection state is established, and the identification information of the slave station side system is transmitted via the slave station side communication control means.
In the master station side system, the collating means receives the identification information sent by the transmission medium via the master station side communication control means, refers to the identification information storing means, and sends the sent identification information and the identification information. The identification information stored in the storage means is collated, and a signal corresponding to the collation result is output. The connection state control means causes the master station side communication control means to maintain or release the connection state in accordance with the output signal from the matching means.

According to the configuration of claim 5, the management means comprises:
The processing means is managed according to an instruction for managing the operating state of the processing means included in the program received by the program receiving means.

According to the structure of claim 6, after the master station side system and the slave station side system are connected via the transmission medium by the master station side communication control means and the slave station side communication control means, respectively, In the master station side system, the correspondence information generation means generates correspondence information corresponding to the program stored in the storage means, and the correspondence information transmission means transmits the generated correspondence information to the master before transmission by the program transmission means. It is transmitted via the station side communication control means. Then, in the slave station side system, the correspondence information receiving means receives the correspondence information sent by the transmission medium via the slave station side communication control means,
The information is stored in the correspondence information storage means including a volatile memory. The search means searches the storage means and selectively outputs the first signal or the second signal depending on whether or not the program corresponding to the correspondence information stored in the correspondence information storage means is stored. When the search means outputs the first signal, in response to this signal, the reading means reads the program corresponding to the correspondence information stored by the correspondence information storage means from the storage means and develops it into an executable state. And store it in the storage means. When the search means outputs the second signal, in response to this signal, the program transmission request means transmits a signal requesting transmission of the program to the master station side system via the slave station side communication control means. In the master station side system, the transmission request receiving means receives a signal requesting transmission of the program sent by the transmission medium via the master station side communication control means, and drives the program transmitting means in response to this signal. And send the program.

According to the configuration described in claim 7, the program transmitting means expands the program into a state in which the processing means can execute the program, and transmits the expanded program.

[0028]

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an information processing apparatus 1 according to this embodiment.
It is a block diagram which shows the whole 0 structure. Information processing device 1
Reference numeral 0 denotes a plurality of parent station side computer systems (hereinafter referred to as “parent station system”) 12 to 14 and a plurality of child station side computer systems (hereinafter referred to as “slave station system”) 16
To 19 are connected via a general public line 20. The master station systems 12 to 14 store different application programs, and can transmit the application programs via the general public line 20 as needed. Also, the slave station system 1
6 to 19 can receive the application program via the general public line 20 and execute them respectively. In this embodiment, the provider of the application program uses the parent station systems 12 to 14 and the user of the application program uses the slave station systems 16 to 19 so that the provider can execute the application program in response to the user's request. Perform the business of sending. The application program usage fee is collected according to the number of times each user has used the application program. From the parent station system 12-14 to the child station system 16-
The form of providing the application program to 19 is the download method shown in FIG.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the basic configuration of the slave station system 16. Since the configurations of the slave station systems 16 to 19 are the same, the configuration of the slave station system 16 will be described as a representative. The slave station system 16 performs a calculation and control according to an OS and an application program, and a communication control device (modem) 21 for establishing a connection state with any of the master station systems 12 to 14 via the general public line 20. Central processing unit 22, a work RAM 24 for expanding the OS and application programs into a state in which the central processing unit 22 can be executed, various system programs (described later) for controlling the slave station system 16, system data, etc. A ROM 28 storing the data, an OS and various data, and an external storage device 30 for storing an application program and the like as necessary, a display device 32 for displaying processing results and messages, and inputting data and operation commands. Input device 34 for printing and a printing device for printing out the processing result And a 6.

Further, the slave station system 16 includes a master station selection switch 40 for selecting a partner to be connected from the master station systems 12 to 14, a telephone number of the master station systems 12 to 14 and its own telephone number. A management RAM 42 for developing a telephone number registration tape 43 (described later) storing the above, and a startup / registration switching switch 44 for switching between a startup mode and a telephone number registration mode (described later).

The system programs stored in the ROM 28 include a start processing program 50 for starting the slave station system 16 in response to power input, and a basic input / output processing program 5 for controlling input / output processing.
2. A reception processing program 54 for performing reception processing via the general public line 20, an external storage medium access program 56 for performing access processing to the external storage device 30, a general public line instead of access to the external storage device 30. To establish a connection state with the master station systems 12 to 14 in response to an input from the external storage medium emulation program 58 for switching to access the master station systems 12 to 14 via the master station selection switch 40. The master station selection program 60 and the like are stored.

FIG. 3 shows an external configuration of the slave station system 16. The external configurations of the other slave station systems 17 to 19 are also the same. The main unit 62 of the slave station system 16 includes an input device 34 including a keyboard, an external storage device 30 including a flexible disk drive, and a power switch 6
3, a master station selection switch 40 including a changeover switch, a start / registration changeover switch 44 including a slide switch,
A communication control device 21 is provided. Further, the central processing unit 22, the work RAM 24, and the ROM shown in FIG.
28 and the management RAM 42 are provided inside the main body 62. Further, the display device 32 is connected to the main body 62. The display device 32 has an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) 64 for displaying a screen. Further, the printer 62 is connected to the main body 62 via a cable 65.
Are connected.

FIG. 4 shows the master station system 1 shown in FIG.
It is a block diagram which shows the structure of 2. Other master station system 1
The configurations of 3 and 14 are also the same. The master station system 12 is a communication control device (modem) for establishing a connection state with any of the slave station systems 16 to 19.
81, central processing unit 82, input device 83, display device 8
4, external storage device 85, management RAM 86, work R
It is composed of an AM 87, a ROM 88, and the like. The external storage device 85 stores an application program 90, an OS 91, etc. for providing to the slave station systems 16 to 19. In the ROM 88, a basic input / output processing program 92 for controlling input / output processing, a startup processing program 94 for performing startup processing, and a transmission file creation for creating files to be transmitted to the slave station systems 16 to 19 A system program such as the program 96 is stored. In the management RAM 86, the telephone number of the user of the application program 90 and the use (connection)
The provision management table 98 storing the number of times and the like is expanded. The transmission file creation program 96 stored in the ROM 88 is a special key 9 provided in the input device 83.
It is activated by pressing 7. The master station system 1
Since 2 to 14 have no external features different from those of a general computer system, the description of the external view is omitted.

FIG. 5 shows the slave station system 1 shown in FIG.
It is a schematic diagram which shows the structure of the telephone number registration table 43 stored in the management RAM 42 of FIG. RAM for management
42 is configured as a non-volatile RAM, and is supplied with a power source other than the main body power source such as a backup battery so that the contents of the RAM are not volatilized even when the main body power source is turned off. The telephone number registration table 43 includes the respective telephone numbers of the parent station systems 12 to 14 and the telephone number of the child station system 16 registered by the procedure described later. When it is actually expanded in the management RAM 42, it is expanded in the code format as shown in the figure.

FIG. 6 shows the master station system 1 shown in FIG.
Provision management table 9 expanded in the second management RAM 86
It is a schematic diagram which shows the structure of No. 8. The provision management table 98 includes the telephone number of the user of the application program 90, a registration flag indicating whether the user is a registrant, and the number of times the user has connected to the master station system. The number of connections is classified and stored into the total number of connections, the number of connections on the current day, and the number of connections on the current month. The provider calculates the usage fee by using the number of connections as the number of times the application program 90 is used, and charges the user. If the registration flag is “0”, it means that the person is an unregistered person and the registration flag is “1”.
In the case of, it is a registrant. There is a difference between the two in terms of charging conditions.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing the structure of a transmission file generated by the transmission file creation program 96 shown in FIG. The transmission file is composed of a header part and a data part. The header portion includes method identification information for indicating a method of providing the application program, an execution start address of the application program, and the like. In addition, the data section includes expanded data of the application program. The procedure for creating the transmission file will be described later.

FIG. 8 is a schematic diagram showing the structure of the memory in the slave station system 16. As shown in FIG. 8A, when the slave station system 16 is activated, the memory area including the work RAM 24 and the ROM 28 shown in FIG. 2 is used. Work RAM on the lower address side of the memory
24 storage areas are allocated, and RO is assigned to the upper address side.
A storage area of M28 is allocated. Work RAM 24
The system work area 101 and the development area 102 are allocated to the storage area of the in order from the beginning of the address.
The expansion area 102 is an area for expanding a program or data into a state in which the central processing unit 22 can process it. In the development area 102, according to the type of development,
OS expansion unit 103, various driver expansion unit 105, application program expansion unit 107, free area 10
9, a special data expansion unit 111 and the like are provided. The empty area 109 is an area used as needed, and the special data expansion unit 111 is an area allocated as a RAM for video related to the display device 32. Further, the area allocated to the ROM 28 is provided with a system program storage area 113 for storing the various system programs 50 to 60 shown in FIG. Further, as shown in FIG. 8B, the system work area 101 includes a transmission / reception buffer area 121 and an application program execution start address area 12.
3, a disk emulation flag area 125, a key data storage area 127, a RAM expansion pointer area 129, and the like, and an area 130 for use by a system program. The role of each memory area will be described later.

The processing procedure of the application program providing work using the information processing apparatus 10 having the above-described configuration will be described below.

9 and 11 are flowcharts showing the procedure of the receiving process in the slave station systems 16 to 19. The slave station system 16 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 will be described as an example. The reception processing is controlled by the reception processing program 54 shown in FIG. Power switch 63 to O
When the slave station system 16 is started after N, first, the external storage device 30, the display device 32, the input device 34, the printing device 36.
Initialize peripheral devices such as (step (hereinafter referred to as "S") 1). Next, the selected process is determined by checking the setting of the activation / registration changeover switch 44 (S2 to S5). When "master station (host) registration" is set (YES in S3), a message for prompting the user to input the telephone number of the master station set by the master station selection switch 40 is displayed on the display device 32. Display on the screen (S6). The screen displayed at this time is the screen of the slave station system 16 shown in FIG. When the telephone signal of the master station is input, it is stored in the telephone number registration table 43 (FIG. 5) of the management RAM 42 (S7). When the registration is completed, the processing ends.

If "telephone number (TEL) registration" is selected by the activation / registration changeover switch 44 (YES in S4), the user himself / herself (slave station system 1
A message for inputting the telephone number of 6) is displayed (S10), and the input telephone number is stored in the corresponding area of the telephone number registration table 43 (S11). When the registration is completed, the slave station system 16 is terminated.

When "normal start" is selected by the start / registration changeover switch 44 (N at S5)
O), OS from the external storage device 30 on the slave station system 16 side
(Not shown) is read out, expanded in the OS expansion unit 103 (FIG. 8) of the work RAM 24, and activated (S13). OS
When is activated, the activation process ends.

When "host activation" which is the activation processing by the master station is selected by the activation / registration changeover switch 44 (YES in S5), the master station selection program 60
Is activated, the telephone number of the master station system selected by the master station selection switch 40 is read from the telephone number registration table 43, and automatic dialing is performed by the communication control device 21. The connection state via is established (S15).

When the connection with the master station system is completed, the control is returned to the reception processing program 54, the own telephone number is transmitted to the master station system, and the use of the application program is requested (S16). At this time, the data is read from the area storing the telephone number of the telephone number registration table 43 and the data is transmitted. In response to this, the master station system transmits the information of the header portion in the transmission file of the application program (described later), and the slave station system 16 receives the information via the communication control device 21 (S17). The system identification information indicating the providing system is read. In this embodiment, three methods, that is, a program expansion method, an OS dependent method, and a key data expansion method are used as the application program providing method. These 3
Details of the two methods will be described later.

The received system identification information is discriminated (S1
9) When the application program is received in the procedure according to each method (S20 to S22) and the activation of the application program is completed (S23), the activation / registration process is terminated.

11 and 12 are master station systems 12-14.
5 is a flowchart showing the procedure of the transmission process of FIG. The processing of the master station system 12 shown in FIG. 4 will be described as an example, and a case will be described in which the slave station system 16 requests use of the application program 90. The transmission processing is controlled by the transmission processing program 95 shown in FIG. When the connection state between the slave station system 16 and the master station system 12 is established by the connection process (call) from the slave station system 16 side shown in S15 of FIG. 9 (YE in S31).
S), then, waiting for the telephone number data to be transmitted from the slave station system 16, and if the telephone number data is transmitted and it is indicated that it is a usage request (YES in S32).
S), and receives the telephone number data (S33). Next, the provision management table 98 is read from the external storage device 85 and expanded in the management RAM 86. Then, by referring to the provision management table 98, the transmitted slave station system 16
It is determined whether or not the telephone number of is registered (S3
4). If the telephone number is registered in provision management table 98 (YES in S34), the process proceeds to S35 to perform the transmission process of application program 90. When the telephone number is not registered in provision management table 98 (NO in S34), the process proceeds to S42 and the process for unregistered persons is performed.

If the other party's telephone number data is not transmitted in S32, or if the transmitted data is not a telephone number (NO in S32), error processing is performed (S36). ), And returns to S30.

Information of the header portion including method identification information indicating whether the providing method is the program expanding method, the OS dependent method, or the key data expanding method is transmitted to the registered user (S35). Then, as a continuation of the transmission file, the execution start address of the application program 90 and the expanded data are transmitted to the slave station system 16 (S36). Then, the bootable information indicating that the transmitted application program 90 is in the executable state is transmitted (S37), and the transmission end is notified (S38). Next, the communication control device 81 releases the connection state (line disconnection) by the general public line 20. When the transmission is completed, the connection count data in the provision management table 98 is updated (S3
9) and returns to S30.

For an unregistered person, a transmission file in which a part of the application program 90 is encrypted is created (S42), and the header portion (FIG. 7) including the method type information is transmitted (S43). The continuation of is transmitted (S44). After that, the information indicating that the transmitted application program cannot be started as it is is transmitted as the non-startable information (S45). After transmitting all the transmission data, the transmission end is notified (S46), and the communication control device 81 releases the connection state with the slave station system 16 via the general public line 20 (S47). S4 mentioned above
2 to S47 are phase 1 of the transmission process for unregistered persons
Processing. In this phase 1 process, since the user who requested the transmission of the application program is an unregistered person, the data of the application program is transmitted in order to prevent the occurrence of troubles such as illegal use and transmission mistakes on the user side. At that time, a part of it is encrypted so that it cannot be started as it is.

Then, the process shifts to phase 2 processing. Above S33
Using the telephone number received in step 2, the master station system 12 dials to establish a connection state with the slave station system 16 (S51). Thereby, it is possible to confirm whether or not the transmitted telephone number is correct. If the other party is correct (S52
YES), the work RAM 24 of the slave station system 16
Is accessed, the portion encrypted in S42 is decoded (S53), the application program 90 is made executable, and then information indicating that the application program 90 can be activated is transmitted (S54). Then, the end of transmission is notified (S5
5) The provision management table 98 is updated (S56). At this time, if the telephone number of the user is stored in the provision management table 98, the corresponding connection count is updated. If the telephone number is not stored, the telephone number is newly stored, the registration flag is set to "0", and the connection count is set to "1". When the processing is completed, the communication control device 81 releases the connection state with the slave station system 16 via the general public line 20 (S57).

On the other hand, if the other party is not correct in S52 (NO in S52), the line is disconnected as it is without performing the processes in S53 to S56. If the transmission process is completed, S3
It returns to 0 and waits for the next transmission request until the job is completed (YES in S30) (S31).

Next, the program expansion method shown in S20 of FIG. 10 above, the OS dependent method shown in S21, and S2.
The key data expansion method shown in 2 will be described.

First, the program expansion method will be described. The program expansion method is a method in which an application program is transmitted as data expanded in a memory so that the central processing unit can execute it. On the slave station system side received by this method, the received data is stored in the work RAM as it is, and then the connection state by the general public line 20 is released and the application program is started. FIG. 13 is a flowchart of a transmission file creation procedure performed on the master station system side when transmitting an application program by the program expansion method. The master station system 12 will be described as an example. O
After activating S91 (S60), various drivers are incorporated (S61), the application program 90 is read from the external storage device 85, expanded in the work RAM 87, and activated (S62). The configuration (memory map) of the memory area at this time is similar to that of the slave station system 16 shown in FIG. 8A, and the work RAM 87 and the ROM 88 of the master station system 12 are the same as those of the slave station system 16. It corresponds to the work RAM 24 and the RAM 28. Then, in this state, by pressing the special key 97 included in the keyboard of the input device 83 (S63), the transmission file creation program 96 stored in the ROM 88 is activated to create the transmission file shown in FIG. To do. The send file creation program 96 uses the bed file part of the send file to
Method identification information indicating a file transmission method and (S64),
The execution start address of the application program is stored (S65). The execution start address of the application program is determined based on stack information (return destination address) and register information. Further, the expanded data of the application program is stored in the data section (S66), and the transmission file creation processing is ended.

FIG. 14 is a flow chart showing the procedure of receiving processing of an application program by the program expansion method using the slave station system 16 as an example. This flowchart shows details of S20 shown in FIG. The OS 91 is activated (S71), the transmission / reception buffer area 121 in the system work area 101 shown in FIG. 8 is initialized (S72), and then the execution start address of the application program is read from the header portion of the transmission file. (S73). The execution start address of the read application program is stored in the application program execution start address area 123 (S74). Then, the ROM development pointer area 12
9 (FIG. 8), the application program expansion unit 107
The expansion start address of (FIG. 8) is set (S75), the data of the application program is received in block units (S76), and the data is expanded to the location indicated by the address set in the RAM opening pointer area 129 (S7).
7). Then, a pointer area 129 for sequentially expanding the RAM
Value of the application program is updated (S78), the processing of S76 to S78 is repeated until the data reception is completed, and the data of the application program is received in block units.
Deploy on AM24. When data reception is completed (S
(YES at 79), the reading is started from the location indicated by the application program execution start address area 123,
The application program is executed (S80), and the reception process ends.

Next, the OS dependent system will be described. In the above program expansion method, only the data of the application program is received and expanded on the work RAM 24 and executed. Therefore, for example, when the application program 90 is executed on the slave station system 16 side, the expansion memory is set. Input device 34, printing device 3
It is not possible to deal with settings such as 6. In such a case, in addition to the data of the application program, it is necessary for the master station system side to transmit the data for designating the states of the OS 91 for managing the execution of the program, the peripheral device, the memory and the like. The OS-dependent method is adapted to such a transmission / reception mode. This OS
In the dependent method, for example, immediately after the slave station system 16 is started, without reading the program or the environment setting information stored in the ROM 28 or the external storage device 30,
By accessing the master station system 12 via the general public line 20 by the external storage medium emulation program 58, the master station system 12 receives the OS 91 and other information necessary for activation.

FIG. 15 shows an example of the slave station system 16 O
It is a flow chart which shows the processing procedure by the S dependence expansion system. This flowchart is S21 shown in FIG.
It shows the details of. In the slave station system, it is called "disk emulation" to allow the central processing unit to access the master station system via the general public line without accessing the external storage device on the slave station system side.

First, the system work area 101 is initialized (S91). Next, the control is shifted to the disk emulation mode (S92). Then, the boot strap loader (boot strap loader) of the OS 91 of the master station system 12
loader) is received via the general public line 20, and loaded and executed in the OS loading unit 103 (FIG. 8) (S93). Next, it receives the system file of OS91,
It is expanded in the expansion unit 103 and executed (S94). further,
The environment setting information and (S95) and the command interpreter are expanded and executed (S96). When the execution of the received OS 91 and the setting based on the environment setting information are completed, then,
The application program 90 is received and expanded in the application program expanding unit 107 (S98),
Then, after canceling the disk emulation mode (S99), the application program is executed (S100), and the reception process is ended.

FIG. 16 is a flow chart showing the method for setting the disk emulation mode shown in S92 and S99 of FIG. Whether or not to set the disk emulation mode is determined by the value stored in the disk emulation flag area 125 shown in FIG. That is, if a value indicating ON is stored in the disk emulation flag area 125 (YES in S101), the external storage medium emulation program 58 (FIG. 2) is activated to enter the display emulation mode (S102), and the disk emulation flag is set. When the value indicating OFF is set in the area 125 (NO in S101), the external storage medium access program 56 is executed (S103) to access the external storage device 30. The process of setting the value in the disk emulation flag area 125 is set by the start processing program 50 immediately after the power switch 63 of the slave station system 16 is turned on, or by the position of the master station selection switch 40, for example. It may be configured as described above. The processing for setting the mode to OFF in the disk emulation flag area 125 may be configured to be set immediately before the reception processing program 54 ends.

Next, the key data expansion method will be described. In the key data expansion method, when the user first receives the application program, it is stored in the external storage device from the work RAM, and thereafter, every time the application program is used, the application program is transmitted from the master station system. The application program is read from the external storage device using the key data and executed. According to this method,
In the second and subsequent use, the connection time between the master station system and the slave station system is only the time required to transmit the key data, and the usage time of the general public line can be shortened. Even when a large-scale application program that cannot be stored in the work RAM is executed, the program is divided for each execution module and the work RA is sequentially performed.
By performing an overlay process that expands on M,
The application program can be executed.

FIG. 17 is a flow chart showing the procedure of a reception process by the key data expansion method using the slave station system 16 as an example. This flowchart shows the details of S22 shown in FIG. First, key data is transmitted from the master station system 12. This key data is obtained by encrypting the name of the application program 90 and the like. Slave station system 16 using this key data
Can refer to the file of the application program 90. The slave station system 16 receives the key data transmitted via the general public line 20 and stores it in the key data storage area 127 shown in FIG. 8 (S111). Next, it is checked whether or not the file of the application program 90 exists in the external storage device 30 by using the stored key data (S112). When the corresponding file does not exist in the external storage device 30 (NO in S113), that is, when the application program 90 is used for the first time, the parent station system 12 is requested to transmit the file of the application program 90. , Receive the file (S11
4).

On the other hand, if the application program 90 has been used before and the file exists in the external storage device 30 (YES in S113), the process directly proceeds to the program starting process.

After executing the OS (S115, S11
6), the application program 90 is read from the external storage device 30, loaded into the application program loading unit 107 shown in FIG. 8 and activated (S11).
7). Immediately after starting, the application program 90 started by the key data expansion method refers to the key data storage area 127 of the system work area 101 to check whether correct key data is stored (S118), If the key data is correct (S118
Then, the program is continuously executed (S11).
9) If the key data is not correct (N at S118)
O), error processing is performed (S120). This allows
It is possible to prevent the application program 90 from being illegally used without requesting the parent station system 12 to use the child station system 16.

As described above, by performing the application program providing work using the information processing apparatus 10 of the present embodiment, the application program can be reliably and safely provided from the provider to the user. Since the form of providing the program in this embodiment is the download method shown in FIG. 18 (b), the time required to connect the master station system and the slave station system via the general public line is short, and The usage fee can be saved. Moreover, since the master station system provides the application program in the state where it is expanded in the volatile memory or provides the key data for expanding the application program, the number of times of use by the user side can be reliably counted. be able to. And the program development method and OS
In the case of the dependent method, it becomes unnecessary for the user to have an external storage device having a sufficient capacity for storing the application program. Further, in the case of the OS-dependent method, it is not necessary to adjust the peripheral devices and set the operating environment necessary for executing the application program on the slave station system side, so that the burden on the user can be reduced. Further, in the key data expansion method, the transmission time can be further shortened, and overlay processing and the like can be performed, so that it is possible to execute a large-scale program compared with the memory capacity.

The structure of this embodiment and the structures described in claims 1 to 7 will be described below. The external storage device 85 of the master station system 12 corresponds to the "storing means" included in the master station side system described in the claims, and the communication control device 81 is included in the master station side system described in the claims. Side communication control means ", and the central processing unit 82 and the transmission file creation program 9
6 corresponds to the "program transmitting means" in the claims. Further, the work RAM 24 of the slave station system 16
Corresponds to "storage means" included in the slave station side system described in the claims, and the communication control device 21 corresponds to "slave station side communication control means" included in the slave station side system described in claims. The central processing unit 22 and the reception processing program 54
The central processing unit 22 corresponds to the "program receiving means" included in the slave station side system, and the central processing unit 22 corresponds to the "processing means" included in the slave station system.

Further, the telephone number corresponds to the "identification information" in the claims, and the central processing unit 22, the reception processing program 54, the telephone number registration table 43 and the communication control unit 21 are the slave station side in the claims. Corresponding to the "identification information transmitting means" included in the system, the central processing unit 82, the communication control device 81, and the provision management table 98 correspond to the "identification information storing means" included in the parent station side system described in the claims. However, the central processing unit 82 corresponds to the "collating means" and the "connection state control means" included in the master station side system described in the claims.

Further, the OS 91 corresponds to the "command for managing the operating state of the processing means" described in the claims, and the central processing unit 22 is the "management means" included in the slave station side system described in the claims. Corresponding to.

The keyword corresponds to "correspondence information" in the claims. The central processing unit 82 and the transmission processing program 95 include a "corresponding information generating means", a "corresponding information transmitting means", a "corresponding information transmitting means", and a "transmission request receiving means" included in the parent station side system described in the claims. Corresponds to and.

Further, the central processing unit 22 and the reception processing program 54 are the "corresponding information receiving means", "searching means" and "reading means" included in the slave station side system described in the claims.
And "program transmission request means". The external storage device 30 corresponds to the "storing means" included in the slave station side system described in the claims, and the work RAM 24 is the "corresponding information storage means" included in the slave station side system described in the claims.
Corresponding to.

[0068]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the invention, the program is transmitted from the master station side system to the slave station side system, and the program is received in the volatile storage means in the slave station side system. Is expanded to an executable state and the process is executed, so that it is possible to prevent the slave station system from executing the process without receiving the program from the master station system.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, it is possible to prevent the processing from being executed without receiving the program.

According to the third aspect of the invention, the program can be transmitted in a state in which it can be executed by the processing means.

According to the invention described in claim 4, the identification information is transmitted from the slave station side system to the master station side system, and in the master station side system, the collation means sends the identification information and the identification information storage means. Since the connection state by the transmission medium is controlled by collating with the identification information stored in, the program can be reliably transmitted to the slave station side system that requested the transmission.

According to the fifth aspect of the present invention, the processing means is managed in accordance with the instruction contained in the program received by the program receiving means, so it is necessary to generate an instruction for operating the managing means in the slave station side system. Disappears.

According to the invention described in claim 6, the correspondence information corresponding to the program is transmitted from the master station side system to the slave station side system, and the slave station side system searches the storage means based on this correspondence information. , Check whether the program corresponding to the correspondence information is stored. If the program is stored in the storage means, the processing means performs processing according to the program, and if the program is not stored, the master station system is requested to send the program. By transmitting the message, it is possible to surely use the program while preventing unauthorized use. Also, by making the transmission time of the transmission medium shorter for the corresponding information than for the program, it is possible to shorten the connection time between the master station side system and the slave station side system when using the program. Become.

According to the invention described in claim 7, it becomes possible to transmit the program in a state in which it can be executed by the processing means.

Therefore, the information having the function of developing the program through the transmission medium, which shortens the connection time by the transmission medium and allows the master station side to surely know the number of times the program is used at the slave station side, is provided. A processing device can be provided.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an information processing apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a slave station system of the information processing apparatus.

FIG. 3 is a front view showing an external configuration of a slave station system of the information processing apparatus.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a master station system of the information processing apparatus.

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of a telephone number registration table expanded in a management RAM of a slave station system in the information processing apparatus.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of a provision management table expanded in a management RAM of a master station system in the information processing apparatus.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing a configuration of a transmission file transmitted from the master station system to the slave station system in the information processing apparatus.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing a memory configuration when an application program is executed in the information processing apparatus.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure when the application program of the slave station system is received in the information processing apparatus.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure when the application program is received by the slave station system in the information processing apparatus.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure when transmitting an application program of the master station system in the information processing apparatus.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a processing procedure at the time of transmitting an application program of the master station system in the information processing apparatus.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing a transmission file creation procedure of the master station system in the information processing apparatus.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing a reception procedure by the program development method of the slave station system in the information processing apparatus.

FIG. 15 is an OS of a slave station system in the information processing apparatus.
It is a flowchart which shows the reception procedure by a dependence expansion system.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing a procedure for setting a disk emulation mode of a slave station system in the information processing apparatus.

FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing a reception procedure by the key data expansion method of the slave station system in the information processing apparatus.

FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing a procedure of executing a program by conventional remote communication.

FIG. 19 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a slave station system in a conventional information processing device capable of remote communication.

[Explanation of symbols]

10 information processing device 12, 13, 14 master station system 16, 17, 18, 19 slave station system 20 general public line 21, 81 communication control device 22, 82 central processing unit 24, 87 work RAM 28, 88 ROM 30, 85 external storage device 40 master station selection switch 43 telephone number registration table 44 startup / registration switching switch 54 reception processing program 56 external storage medium access program 58 external storage medium emulation program 60 master station selection program 90 application program 91 OS 96 transmission file Creation program 98 Provision management table 101 System work area 103 OS expansion unit 107 Application program expansion unit 113 System program storage area 121 Transmission / reception buffer area 123 Application Pointer area for application program execution start address area 127 key data storage area 129 RAM expansion

 ─────────────────────────────────────────────────── ─── Continuation of front page (72) Inventor Yasuhisa Fujiwara 22-22 Nagaike-cho, Abeno-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka Within Sharp Corporation (72) Inventor Yoshio Sakimoto 22-22 Nagaike-cho, Abeno-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka Incorporated (72) Inventor Ichiro Miyazaki 22-22 Nagaike-cho, Abeno-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka

Claims (7)

[Claims] 1. An information processing apparatus having a master station side system for transmitting a program and a slave station side system for receiving the program, wherein the master station side system includes a storage unit for storing the program, and a transmission unit. A master station side communication control means for establishing a connection state with the slave station side system by a medium, and a program stored in the storage means is read, and the read program is read through the master station side communication control means. A slave station side communication control for establishing a connection state between the master station side system by a transmission medium and a storage means comprising a volatile memory. Means for receiving the program transmitted by the transmission medium via the slave station side communication control means, developing the program into an executable state, and writing it in the storage means. Program receiving means, and a processing means for executing processing according to a program in which the storage means is stored, the information processing apparatus having a function of expanding a program via a transmission medium for causing. 2. A storage unit including a volatile memory, a communication control unit for establishing a connection state of a transmission source of a program with a transmission medium, and a communication control unit for transmitting a program transmitted by the transmission medium. Via a transmission medium including a program receiving unit for receiving via the program, expanding the program into an executable state and storing it in the storage unit, and a processing unit for executing a process according to the program stored in the storage unit. An information processing device having a function of developing a program by using 3. Storage means for storing a program, communication control means for establishing a connection state by a transmission medium with a receiver, which has a processing means for executing the program, and storage in the storage means The loaded program is read out, expanded into a state in which the processing means can be executed, and the program is expanded via a transmission medium including a program transmission means for transmitting the expanded program via the communication control means. An information processing apparatus having a function to perform. 4. The transmission medium is capable of establishing a connection state with the other party by using the identification information of the other party, and the slave station side system includes the master station side in the slave station side communication control means. Further comprising an identification information transmitting means for establishing a connection state with the system and transmitting the identification information of the slave station side system via the slave station side communication control means, wherein the master station side system stores the identification information. Identification information storage means for storing the identification information sent by the transmission medium via the master station side communication control means, referring to the identification information storage means, the sent identification information And the identification information stored in the identification information storage means, and collating means for outputting a signal according to the collation result; and the master station side communication control according to the output signal from the collating means. Connected to the means The information processing apparatus having a function of developing a program via the transmission medium according to claim 1, further comprising a connection state control unit for maintaining or releasing the program. 5. The program received by the program receiving means includes an instruction for managing an operation state of the processing means, and the slave station side system manages the processing means according to the instruction for managing. 5. The method according to claim 1, further comprising management means for
An information processing apparatus having a function of expanding a program via the transmission medium according to any one of 1. 6. The correspondence information generation means for generating correspondence information corresponding to the program stored in the storage means, and the correspondence information generation prior to the transmission by the program transmission means. Correspondence information transmitting means for transmitting the correspondence information generated by the means through the master station side communication control means, and a signal requesting transmission of the program sent by the transmission medium, and responding to this signal And further includes a transmission request receiving unit for driving the program transmitting unit, wherein the slave station side system is stored by the storage unit for storing the program stored in the storage unit, and transmitted by the transmission medium. Corresponding information receiving means for receiving the corresponding information via the slave station side communication control means, and a volatile memory. A correspondence information storage unit for storing the correspondence information received by the storage unit; and a first storage unit for searching the storage unit and storing a program corresponding to the correspondence information stored in the correspondence information storage unit. Search means for selectively outputting a signal or a second signal; and a program corresponding to the correspondence information stored by the correspondence information storage means, which is responsive to the first signal, can be read from the storage means and executed. Reading means for expanding the data into a different state and storing it in the storage means, and a signal for responding to the second signal and requesting transmission of a program, via the slave station side communication control means, the master station side system. An information processing apparatus having a function of developing a program via the transmission medium according to claim 1, further comprising a program transmission requesting unit for transmitting the program to the computer. 7. The program transmitting means expands the read program into a state in which the processing means can execute,
An information processing apparatus having a function of expanding the program via the transmission medium according to claim 1, which transmits the expanded program.