WO2007118405A1 - Device, system and method for carrying out remote software upgrading - Google Patents

Abstract

The field of this technical solution is about remote management. This technical solution discloses a device for carrying out remote software upgrading, wherein the transmission apparatus includes: a version database for recording the information of the software package for upgrading which can be obtained in local network; an upgrading decision-making unit, for deciding whether the device obtains the software package for upgrading locally or not on the base of the information of the request for upgrading from local client-side equipment and the information in the version database, and transmitting the software package for upgrading obtained from a local or remote management server to the local client-side apparatus which needs to carry out upgrading. The solution also discloses a system and a method for carrying out remote software upgrading. According to the technical solution, the data traffic relating to the software upgrade in a local client-side equipment is possibly limited in the local network (for example, a family network), the data traffic of the accessing network is effectively reduced, and the burden of the accessing network is eased.

Description

 - i - A device, system and method for realizing remote software upgrade. This application claims. Submitted on April 19, 2006, the Chinese Patent Office, application number 200610076618. K The invention is entitled "System and Method for Realizing Remote Software Upgrade, The priority of the Chinese Patent Application, the entire contents of which is incorporated herein by reference.

Technical equipment

 The present invention relates to the field of remote management technologies, and in particular, to an apparatus, system and method for implementing remote software upgrade.

Background technique

IPTV (Internet TV) is a new technology that utilizes broadband cable TV networks to integrate various technologies such as Internet, multimedia, and communication to provide users with a variety of interactive services including digital TV. IPTV is the result of the integration of the Internet and traditional TV. The video stream is broadcasted to the IP network after high-efficiency compression coding. The IPTV service such as live TV, on-demand video and personal video is provided through the IP TV headend equipment located at the edge of the broadband network. Transfer to the user. Users can enjoy IPTV services in two ways: computer; network set-top box + regular TV. It can adapt well to the rapid development of today's networks and make full and effective use of network resources.

 IPTV (Internet TV) The remote management system is based on the home network. Any device in the home network is managed. The system is mainly composed of the management server at the head end and several managed devices of the terminal. The remote management system in the IPTV requires the management server at the head end and the managed devices of the terminal to operate with each other, perform specific software upgrades, obtain configuration information and device information of a specific client host, and use the RMS (Regional Management System) to the client. The host performs configuration parameter management and device management, and performs remote troubleshooting based on the obtained information.

The software system of the digital TV set-top box is an embedded software system based on the embedded operating system. In actual use, in order to solve the problems in the software, improve the running performance of the set-top box, and further expand the function of the set-top box, it is necessary to update the software system of the set-top box in time. Currently, the remote update of the software of the set top box is performed by the remote management server using the data broadcast (including the software program to be updated) in the network for online upgrade, wherein the transport network gateway is used to forward the upgrade package to the local client device. Alternatively, when the local client device needs to be upgraded, the upgrade request is sent to the remote management server through the forwarding of the transport network gateway, and then the remote management server forwards the upgrade package to the local client device requesting the upgrade through the transport network gateway. . The inventors of the present invention have recognized that The software upgrade solution of the existing local client device must rely on the remote management server, that is, it must be connected to the remote network, thus causing a great burden on the access network.

Summary of the invention

 The purpose of the embodiments of the present invention is to provide a technical solution for implementing remote software upgrade, so that data traffic related to software upgrade on a local client device is limited to a local network (such as a home network) as much as possible, and the access network is lightened. burden.

 To this end, the embodiments of the present invention provide the following technical solutions:

 An apparatus for implementing remote software upgrade, the transmission apparatus comprising: a version database, configured to record information of an upgrade software package obtainable in a local network; an upgrade decision unit, configured to perform upgrade request information from a local client device, and The information in the version database determines whether the upgrade package is obtained locally, and the upgrade package obtained from the local or remote management server is sent to the local client device that needs to be upgraded.

 A system for implementing a remote software upgrade, the system comprising a remote management server and means for implementing a remote software upgrade as described above in communication with the remote management server.

 A method for implementing a remote software upgrade, the method comprising: receiving, by a transport network gateway, a software upgrade request from a local client device; the transport network gateway searching for an upgrade software required to obtain the software upgrade request in the local network Package; if the search is successful, obtain the required upgrade package locally and send it to the local client device that needs to be upgraded; if the lookup fails, obtain the required upgrade package from the remote management server and send it to the local that needs to be upgraded. Client device.

 As can be seen from the technical solutions of the embodiments provided by the present invention, the embodiment of the present invention first finds whether the required upgrade package can be obtained on the local network through the transport network gateway. If the search is successful, the upgrade is not required to be obtained from the remote management server. The package, obtains the required upgrade package directly from the local and sends it to the local client device that needs to be upgraded. Furthermore, the data traffic related to the software upgrade on the local client device is limited to the local network (such as the home network) as much as possible, which effectively reduces the data traffic of the access network and reduces the burden on the access network.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an embodiment of a system of the present invention; Figure 2 is a schematic block diagram of a first embodiment of the system of the present invention;

 Figure 3 is a schematic block diagram of a second embodiment of the system of the present invention;

 Figure 4 is a schematic block diagram of a third embodiment of the system of the present invention;

 5 is a remote server operation flow in an embodiment of the system of the present invention;

 6 is a flow chart of a transmission network gateway in an embodiment of the system of the present invention;

 7 is a flow chart of a transmission network gateway broadcasting a data packet according to an embodiment of the present invention;

 8 is a flowchart of a multicast transmission and update software of a transport network gateway according to an embodiment of the present invention;

 9 is a flowchart of a broadcast network gateway broadcast sending update software according to an embodiment of the present invention;

 10 is a running process of a local client device in an embodiment of the system of the present invention;

 11 is an implementation flow of an embodiment of a method according to the present invention;

 FIG. 12 is a flowchart of a method for completing a software upgrade by a local client device through an upgrade request according to an embodiment of the method of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION In order to make those skilled in the art better understand the present invention, the present invention will be further described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings and embodiments.

 Referring to Figure 1 for a schematic block diagram of the system of the present invention:

 The system comprises: a remote management server Sl, a transport network gateway S2 and one or more local client devices, two local client devices S3, S4 being shown in the figure. For example, in an IPTV network, local client devices can be: set-top boxes, computers, personal digital video recorders, and the like. These local client devices exchange information with the remote management server S1 through the transport network gateway S2, and obtain software upgrade packages that need to be upgraded from the remote management server S1 or directly from the transport network gateway S2 to complete the update of the software.

 The remote management server S1 and the transmission network gateway S2 are connected through an IP network, and the transmission network gateway S2 can provide multiple access methods to connect with local client devices, for example, wired, wireless, far infrared, and the like.

 In the system, the address of the remote management server is managed by the transport network gateway, so that the remote client does not need to know the address of the remote management server, and only needs to know the address of the transport network gateway to implement the software for requesting the upgrade from the remote management server. And complete the upgrade process.

In order to provide valid software information to the local client device, it needs to be secured in the remote server S1. There are various upgrade software information required by various local clients, and the corresponding upgrade software information is sent to the local client that needs to be upgraded in a certain way to keep the internal software version up to date.

 2 is a schematic block diagram of a first embodiment of the system of the present invention:

 A software storage unit S11 and an upgrade controller S12 are provided in the remote management server S1. The software storage unit S11 is configured to store the upgraded software version information and the software compression package. The remote management server S1 can provide a human-computer interaction interface through which the administrator directly adds, deletes, and modifies the software stored in the software storage unit S11. The upgraded software version information and the software compression package may be stored by means of a software information table, and the software information table includes at least: a software name, a version number, and a software storage address. The upgrade controller S12 is configured to obtain, from the software storage unit S11, a software compression package that needs to be upgraded by the local client device, and sends the software compression package to the local client device S3 through the transmission network gateway in a certain manner. For example, the local client device can be upgraded by requesting the local client device. In this case, the upgrade software compression package corresponding to the request is separately sent by using the unicast mode for each local client device; Request to upgrade all or part of a single local client device. In this case, you need to send the corresponding upgrade software version number information or upgrade the software compression package in broadcast/multicast/unicast mode according to the request mode. The local client device selects according to its own software information and completes the software version update.

 In order to make the upgrade mode flexible and convenient according to the network and user needs, an upgrade policy customizer S13 can also be set in the remote server, so that the system administrator can formulate the software upgrade policy according to the needs and provide the software upgrade policy. The controller S12 is upgraded to perform corresponding control according to the upgrade policy.

 Similarly, a human-computer interaction interface can be provided by the remote management server S1, through which the system administrator can easily customize the policy. Administrators can customize the following strategies:

 (1) The case of triggering unicast transmission: When the upgrade request is initiated by the local client device, the remote management server sends the compressed package of the software in unicast to the local client device that initiated the request;

(2) Triggering multicast: When the remote management server initiates an upgrade request, the compressed package of the software is sent to the agreed multicast group in multicast form.

The administrator can adjust the frequency of software upgrades initiated by the remote management server. If the devices in the network change frequently, the upgrade frequency can be increased. Correspondingly, if the devices in the network do not change. It is very frequent, you can reduce the frequency of upgrades. You can specify to send the upgrade software information to a specific IP address; you can also specify an upgrade request to receive a specific IP address.

 If the remote management server initiates an upgrade request, it can be upgraded immediately or through command control.

 After the upgrade policy customizer S13 formulates the upgrade policy, save it locally, provide an interface, and the upgrade controller S12 invokes the interface to obtain the upgrade policy; or the upgrade policy customizer S13 periodically sends it to the upgrade controller S12. .

 To improve the software upgrade efficiency of the local client device, reduce the data traffic of the upgrade software compression package when the upgrade is performed. It is also possible to establish a version database on the transport network gateway to store software information related to all local client devices connected to the transport network gateway, in other words, to record the upgrade packages available in the local network through the version database. information. After receiving the upgrade request from the local client device, the transport network gateway first searches for the corresponding upgrade software locally, and if so, directly sends it to the local client device without sending the upgrade request. The remote management server is provided, so that the burden on the access network can be effectively alleviated.

 Referring to Figure 3, a block diagram of a second embodiment of the system of the present invention is shown:

The transport network gateway S2 comprises: a version database S21 and an upgrade decision unit S22. Among them, the version information. The software information stored in the version database includes at least: a software name, a software version number, and a local storage path. The latest version of the software package storage address indicated by the local storage path indicated in the version database S21 may be the transport network gateway S2 itself (ie, the local machine), or may be a dedicated storage device in the local area. In other words, the latest version of the software package available for the transport gateway S2 is stored locally. The software version number in the version database S21 is used to record the software version number of the latest version of the software package that is available locally. After the remote management server sends the new upgrade software to the client device, the upgrade decision unit S22 detects whether the version of the upgrade software is higher than the version of the corresponding software in the version database S21. If yes, the upgrade software is copied and stored. Locally, the corresponding software information in the version database S21 is updated at the same time, that is, the software version number of the latest version of the software package stored locally in the version database S21 is updated, so that after receiving the upgrade request of other client devices, the The client device is upgraded according to the software data information, and the upgrade request is not required to be sent to the remote management server S1, thereby effectively saving the access network. Bandwidth.

 The upgrade decision unit S22 is configured to receive an upgrade request of the local client device, and determine, according to the information in the upgrade request and the information in the version database S21, whether the upgrade software compression package is obtained locally, and if the upgrade software compression package is obtained locally, Sending it to the corresponding local client device, otherwise forwarding the upgrade request message to the remote management server S1, and receiving the upgrade software compression package delivered by the upgrade software package, and updating the corresponding software compression package stored locally according to the upgrade software compression package. And updating the software information in the version database according to the version information of the upgrade software compression package, and sending the copy of the software compression package to the corresponding local client device.

 The upgrade decision unit S22 needs to handle the following two processes:

 (1) The process of receiving the client request: The upgrade decision unit S22 receives the unicast upgrade request message sent by the local client device, first searches in the version database S21 according to the software name in the message, and finds the latest stored locally. The software version number of the software compression package is then compared with the software version number currently used by the client device carried in the upgrade request message. If the version number in the upgrade request message is lower than the version found in the version database S21, the local storage location of the specific version software upgrade package specified in the version database S21 is searched, and if the search is successful, the upgrade software to be found is found. A copy of the package is sent in unicast to the local client device requesting the upgrade. Otherwise, the request message is sent in unicast form to the remote management server specified on the transport network gateway S2. If the version number in the message is higher than the version found in the version database S21, the request message is also forwarded to the designated remote management server.

 (2) The process of receiving the unicast or multicast delivery software compression package: The upgrade decision unit S22 also receives the software compression package delivered by the remote management server S1, and the version number of the software and the corresponding software package stored locally The version number is compared. If the software version number delivered by the remote management server is higher than the software version number stored locally, the version number of the corresponding software in the version database S21 is modified, and the corresponding software storage package is replaced with the corresponding software compression package. Software compression package; then forward the software compression package to the specified local client device.

In order to facilitate the local client device to upgrade its own software in time, the upgrade decision unit can also send a broadcast data packet, and the data package encapsulates the updated software name and version number information. The broadcast transmission is repeated several times, and the number of transmissions and the time interval can be set in advance. At the same time, it accepts unicast upgrade requests from other client devices. Read the upgrade request The client address information is used as the target address information to form a data packet, and the package includes the updated upgrade software compression package, and is delivered to the designated client device in unicast or multicast mode.

 If the version of the software compression package delivered by the remote management server S1 is lower than the version of the corresponding software stored locally by the transmission network gateway, the upgrade decision unit S22 reads the address information of the target device in the data packet sent by the remote management server S1. Discard the packet at the same time. Obtaining the local storage address of the software from the local version database S21 according to the software name, reading the stored software compression package from the storage address, and then sending the software compression package to the specified according to the obtained target address information. Client device.

 In order to enable the remote management server to better understand the software version information on the client device, and provide suitable upgrade software for the client that needs to be upgraded, the record information may be added in the version database S21 in the transport network gateway S2, that is, each local device is added. The current software version number of the client device. After the software version of the local client device changes, the version database S21 updates the current software information of the device stored according to the version information sent by the local client. Further, a version detecting unit S13 may be disposed on the remote management server S1, and is responsible for obtaining the current software version number on the specific local client device from the transport network gateway S2, and transmitting the obtained software version number to the upgrade controller S12. . The upgrade controller S12 determines whether the local client device needs to be upgraded according to a predetermined upgrade policy.

 In order to improve the software upgrade efficiency of the local client device and reduce the data traffic of the upgrade software compression package during the upgrade, in the above technical solution of the embodiment, the version database S21 is added to the transmission network gateway S2, and the transmission network gateway S2 is added. The latest version of the software compression package available on the storage network gateway S2 is implemented on itself or on a dedicated device. In order to achieve the same purpose, in addition to this, there is another technical solution in which the version database S21 is still used, but the implementation is slightly different.

 Specifically, the software information stored in the version database S21 includes at least: a software name, a local terminal device identifier corresponding to the software, a software version number, and a local storage path. The software compression package storage address indicated by the local storage path is the local terminal device. In other words, the transport network gateway S2 itself or other specialized storage devices do not store the latest version of the software package available to the transport gateway, but only record the current software-related information stored on each local terminal device.

Further, when the upgrade decision unit S22 receives the unicast upgrade request sent by the local client device After the information, first according to the software name in the message and the current software version number of the device, it is found in the version database S21 whether there is a software version higher than the software version on the other local client devices. If yes, a higher version of the software compressed package is obtained from the recorded local storage path to the corresponding local client device, and sent to the local client device requesting the upgrade in unicast form. Otherwise, the request message is sent in unicast form to the remote management server specified on the transport network gateway S2. If the version number in the message is higher than the version found in the version database S21, the request message is also forwarded to the designated remote management server. In summary, the storage location of the upgrade package indicated by the local storage path described in this version of the database has three cases: one is the transmission network gateway itself, and the other is a local special storage device, and the third is Local client device.

 Referring to Figure 4, a block diagram of a third embodiment of the present invention is shown:

 The local client device S3 includes: an upgrade interface unit S31, a version registration unit S32, and an upgrade execution unit S33. The version registration unit S32 is configured to maintain version information of all software on the client, and provide the software information of the device to the version database S21 when the device is powered on. The local client device sends an upgrade request to the transport network gateway S2 through the upgrade interface unit S31, and receives the upgrade software information transmitted from the transport network gateway S2, and determines whether the local client device needs to be software according to the version information stored in the version registration unit. upgrade. If an upgrade is required, the upgrade execution unit S33 is instructed to complete the software upgrade process for the device.

 Summarizing the descriptions of the above three specific embodiments of the present invention, it can be directly inferred that the database in the present invention records the information of the upgrade software package available in the local network; the upgrade decision unit is based on the upgrade request information from the local client device and The information in the version database determines whether the upgrade package is obtained locally, and the upgrade package obtained from the local or remote management server is sent to the local client device that needs to be upgraded. The storage location of the upgrade package available within the local network is the transmission device, specialized storage device, or local client device.

Preferably, the upgrade decision unit specifically includes a decision subunit, a local processing subunit, and a remote processing subunit. The decision subunit determines whether to obtain the upgrade software package locally according to the upgrade request information of the local client device and the information in the version database; the decision result of the local processing subunit in the decision subunit is to obtain the upgrade software package locally. In case, according to the version database Providing information about the upgrade package available in the local network, obtaining the required upgrade package locally and sending it to the client device that needs to be upgraded; the decision result of the remote processing subunit in the decision subunit is obtained locally In the event that the upgrade package fails, obtain the required upgrade package from the remote management server and send it to the client device that needs to be upgraded.

 Preferably, the decision sub-unit includes an uplink decision module and a downlink decision module, where the uplink decision module is configured to determine according to information in the upgrade request and information of an upgrade package that is locally available in the version database. Whether the upgrade package required by the client device can be obtained locally; the downlink decision module is configured to compare the upgrade package that is sent by the remote management server by broadcast, multicast, or unicast, and the corresponding upgrade that is locally available. The information about the package determines the latest version of the upgrade package.

 Preferably, the remote processing subunit specifically includes a first processing module and a second processing module. The first processing module sends the upgrade request message to the remote management server if the decision result of the uplink decision module is that the upgrade package fails to be obtained locally; the second processing module determines the downlink decision module The latest version of the upgrade package is broadcast, multicast, or unicast to the local client device; and when the latest version of the upgrade package is an upgrade package delivered by the remote management server, the corresponding local storage is updated accordingly. Upgrade package.

 In order to achieve timely upgrade of all local client devices, the remote processing sub-unit further includes a version information distribution sub-module for broadcasting, multicasting or unicasting the version of the latest version of the upgrade package to the local client device. information.

 The information about the upgrade package that can be obtained in the local network recorded by the version database includes at least the name, the version identifier, and the local storage path of the upgrade package. In order to better grasp the current software information of each local client, so that they can be upgraded in time, preferably, the information recorded in the version database further includes: current software information of each local client device.

 It should be noted that, although the foregoing embodiments are all described by taking a transmission network gateway as an example, those skilled in the art should understand that the technical solution disclosed by the present invention is also applicable to other transmission devices similar in function to the transmission network gateway; The same applies to an edge server that manages a certain terminal. The terminal contacts the primary server through the edge server. In this case, the edge server is equivalent to the transport network gateway, and the primary server is equivalent to the remote management server.

The following is a remote management server, a transport network gateway, and a local client in the system of the present invention. The working process of the equipment is described in detail.

 Referring to the remote server running process in the system of the present invention shown in FIG. 5, the following steps are included: Step 501: Formulate a software upgrade policy and wait for the condition that meets the policy requirements to appear.

 Step 502: Determine whether a unicast upgrade request is received. If yes, go to step 503; otherwise, go to step 507.

 Step 503: Determine, according to the established software upgrade policy, whether the client device that issues the upgrade request is allowed to perform software update. If yes, go to step 504; otherwise, return to step 501.

 Step 504: The specific software version number of the specific device requested to be upgraded is obtained according to the upgrade request message.

 Step 505: Determine whether the obtained software version number is lower than the corresponding software version in the locally stored upgrade compression package. If yes, go to step 506; otherwise, return to step 501.

 Step 506: Send the upgrade software compression package to the designated transport network gateway in a unicast manner, and then return to step 501.

 Step 507: Determine whether other upgrade policies defined by the headend are met. These policies include but are not limited to: Whether to reach the specified upgrade time, whether the administrator wants to initiate the upgrade behavior immediately, and the like. If yes, go to step 3⁄43 508; otherwise, return to step 501.

Step 508: The multicast sends a specific software upgrade compressed package, and then returns to step ⁵ 01.

 Referring to FIG. 6, the operation process of the transmission network gateway in the system of the present invention includes the following steps: Step 601: Receive data from the network interface.

 Step 602: Determine whether the received data is an upgrade request message of the client device. If yes, go to step 603; otherwise, go to step 607.

 Step 603: It is judged whether the version number taken out from the upgrade request message is higher than the version number of the corresponding software stored in the machine. If yes, go to step 604; otherwise, go to step 611.

 Step 604: Find the upgrade package locally, specifically, according to the version number, find the storage path of the corresponding software in the version database, and then go to the path to find the software.

 Step 605: Determine whether the software is found under the path. If it is found, go to step 606; otherwise, go to step 611.

Step 606: Send the found software compression package to a specific client device in a unicast manner, and then return to step 601. Step 607: Determine whether the data received from the network to the interface is the software delivered by the remote management server. If yes, go to step 608; otherwise, return to step 601.

 Step 608: Determine whether the version number of the received software is higher than the version number of the corresponding software stored locally. If yes, go to step 609; otherwise, go to step 612.

 Step 609: Update the version information in the local version database, and store a copy of the software under the specified path to overwrite the original file. The updated version number and software name broadcast are also sent to the entire home network.

 Step 610: Send the software to a specific device, and then return to step 601.

 Step 611: Send the upgrade request to the specified remote management server, and then return to step 601. Step 612: Replace the delivered software package with the local software package, retain the address information of the target device, and then go to step 610.

 As mentioned above, different upgrade strategies can be set according to actual application needs. For different upgrade strategies, the information about the upgrade software can be delivered in multiple ways. For example, the version number information of the upgrade software is broadcast by the transport network gateway, and the client device sends an upgrade request to the transport network gateway according to the broadcast information, and then Then, the transport network gateway unicasts the software compression package to the client according to the request of the client; after waiting for a period of time after broadcasting the software version information, during this period, if the number of update requests received by the user reaches a certain value , enable broadcast or multicast to send software compression package. Or directly broadcast the updated software compression package without issuing the software version information in advance. The specific transmission method can be determined according to actual needs. The process is described in detail below.

 FIG. 7 shows a flow of the transmission network gateway broadcasting the data packet, including the following steps: Step 701: Broadcast the version number information of the updated software by using the upgrade decision module.

 Step 702: Waiting to receive an upgrade request message of the client device.

 Step 703: Determine whether the client's upgrade request message is received. If yes, go to step 704; otherwise, go to step 702.

 Step 704: Obtain a client device address in the upgrade request message.

 Step 705: Read the upgrade software from the version database.

Step 706: The client device address obtained in step 704 is used as a target address, and the read upgrade software is encapsulated into a unicast data packet. Step 707: Send the encapsulated unicast data packet to the designated client device.

 FIG. 8 shows a flow of the transmission network gateway multicast sending update software, which indicates that the waiting time of the user is set in the upgrade decision unit, and when the waiting time arrives, it is checked whether a specified number of upgrade requests are obtained, if When timeout occurs, the upgrade software is sent to a specific multicast group. The process includes the following steps:

 Step 801: Broadcast the version number information of the updated software by using the upgrade decision module.

 Step 802: Waiting to receive an upgrade request message of the client device.

 Step 803: Determine whether the specified waiting time is reached. If yes, go to step 804; otherwise, go to step 802.

 Step 804: Determine whether the client's upgrade request message is received. If yes, go to step

805; Otherwise, end the upgrade process.

 Step 805: Determine whether the received upgrade request reaches the specified number of requests. If yes, go to step 806; otherwise, go to step 809.

 Step 806: Obtain a specific multicast group address.

 Step 807: Read the upgrade software from the version database and package it into a multicast packet. Step 808: Send the encapsulated multicast data packet to a specific multicast group. Then, end this upgrade process.

 Step 809: Acquire the corresponding client device address according to the received request.

 Step 810: Read the upgrade software from the version database and sequentially package it into a unicast packet. Step 811: Send the encapsulated unicast data packet to the specified client device. Then, end this upgrade process.

 FIG. 9 shows a flow of the transmission network gateway broadcasting and sending update software, which indicates that the waiting time of the user is set in the upgrade decision unit, and when the waiting time arrives, it is checked whether a specified number of upgrade requests are obtained, if it reaches or times out. , the broadcast software sends the upgrade software to the clients in the entire network. The process includes the following steps:

 Step 901: Broadcast the version number information of the updated software by using the upgrade decision module.

 Step 902: Waiting to receive an upgrade request message of the client device.

Step 903: Determine whether the specified waiting time is reached. If yes, proceed to step 904; otherwise, go to step 902. Step 904: Determine whether an upgrade request message of the client is received. If yes, go to step 905; otherwise, end the upgrade process.

 Step 905: Determine whether the received upgrade request reaches the specified number of requests. If yes, go to step 906; otherwise, go to step 908.

 Step 906: Read the upgrade software from the version database and package it into a broadcast packet. Step 907: Send the encapsulated broadcast data packet to the entire network. Then, end this upgrade process.

 Step 908: Acquire the corresponding client device address according to the received request.

 Step 909: Read the upgrade software from the version database and sequentially package it into a unicast packet. Step 910: Send the encapsulated unicast data packet to the specified client device. Then, end this upgrade process.

 Figure 10 shows the running process of the local client device in the system of the present invention, including the following steps: Step 101: The upgrade interface unit on the local client device always listens for data in and out, and the data of interest includes but is not limited to : The software update package delivered by the single wave, the software update package delivered by the multicast, and the version update information delivered by the broadcast.

 Step 102: Determine whether a software update package is received. If yes, go to step 103; otherwise, go to step 106.

 Step 103: Read the version number in the software upgrade package.

 Step 104: Determine whether it is higher than the version number of the software on the machine. If yes, go to step 105; otherwise, go back to step 101.

 Step 105: Accept the software upgrade package, upgrade the device software, and then return to step 101. Step 106: Determine whether the broadcast information of the version update is received. If yes, go to step 107; otherwise, go back to step 101.

 Step 107: Whether the version number in the broadcast information is higher than the version number of the software of the local machine. If yes, go to step 108; otherwise, go back to step 101.

 Step 108: Send a unicast upgrade request to the transport network gateway in the network, and then return to step 101. Based on a system consisting of a remote management server, a transport network gateway, and at least one local client device, the process of implementing the remote software upgrade method of the present invention is as shown in FIG. 11:

Step 111: The remote management server sends the software information that needs to be upgraded to the transmission in a predetermined manner. Network gateway.

 The predetermined manner is specifically: sending according to command and/or timing multicast, or unicast according to an upgrade request of a local client device. A human-machine interface can be provided on the server side, which is set by the administrator through the interface and according to the actual application needs.

 Step 112: After receiving the upgrade package, the transport network gateway determines whether the version is higher than the version of the corresponding software of the locally stored local client device. If yes, go to step 113; otherwise, go to step 114.

 Step 113: Replace the corresponding software stored in the locality with the received software, and send the related information of the received software to the local client device that needs to be upgraded, and then go to step 115.

 Step 114: Send information about the locally stored software to the local client device that needs to be upgraded.

 Step 115: The local client device completes the upgrade process of the device according to the information about the received software.

 The step of transmitting the information about the software that needs to be updated to the local client device that needs to be upgraded by the foregoing transport network gateway is specifically: sending, by using a broadcast mode, version information of the software that needs to be updated to all local client devices in the network; or The broadcast mode directly sends the software data that needs to be updated to all local client devices in the network.

 If the local client device receives the upgrade package, it determines whether to upgrade according to the current software version information. If the upgrade is required, replace the current software corresponding to the device with the upgrade package to complete the upgrade process. If the local client device only receives the version information of the upgraded software, the local client device needs to determine whether the device needs to be upgraded according to the version information of the received software and the corresponding software version number on the device. When the upgrade is performed, an upgrade request is sent to the transport network gateway, and the corresponding upgrade software data is requested to complete the upgrade process.

 The implementation process is shown in Figure 12:

 Step 121: The local client device sends an upgrade request message to the transport network gateway, where the request carries information such as the device identifier, the software name, and the version number to be upgraded.

Step 122: The transport network gateway checks whether there is a corresponding software higher than the software version number according to the information in the upgrade request. If yes, go to step 123; otherwise, go to step U4. Step 123: Send the local software data to the local client device requesting the upgrade, and then go to step 126.

 Step 124: Forward the upgrade request to the remote management server, and obtain the software data delivered by the remote management server.

 After the transport network gateway forwards the upgrade request of the client device to the remote management server, the remote management server also needs to find whether there is a software package higher than the software version requested by the client device, and if so, send it to the transport network. The gateway is then sent by the transport gateway to the corresponding client device. If not, the remote management server may not respond to the request.

 When the transport network gateway delivers the upgrade package, there are several ways, which will be described in detail later.

 Step 125: The transport network gateway replaces the corresponding software stored locally with the received software data, and sends the received software data to the local client device requesting the upgrade.

 Step 126: The local client device updates the software on the device according to the received software data to complete the upgrade process.

 In the above process, the transport network gateway can send the software data that needs to be updated to the local client device requesting the upgrade in the following manner:

 (1) Determining the multicast group address according to the upgrade request received within the predetermined time; and encapsulating the software data into a multicast data packet according to the determined multicast group address, and delivering the data to the multicast group.

 (2) When the upgrade request received within the predetermined time reaches the predetermined number, the software data is encapsulated into a broadcast data packet, and all local client devices in the network are delivered.

 (3) The local client device address is determined according to the received upgrade request; the software data is encapsulated into a unicast data packet according to the determined local client device address, and delivered to the local client device.

 The system and method of the present invention can be adapted to a variety of network upgrade management, especially in an IPTV network, which can be well adapted to the situation where there are many clients and the update time is inconsistent.

 For example, a firmware upgrade for a set-top box in a home network can take the following two implementation scenarios:

1. The upgrade server proactively performs firmware upgrade and compression package delivery:

 (1) The upgrade server delivers the firmware upgrade compression package to the distribution network gateway according to the established policy;

(2) The gateway compares the locally maintained firmware version database to determine whether the version number is more local. Large version

 (3) If not, the gateway sends the firmware upgrade compression package to the specified set top box;

 (4) If yes, send the locally stored firmware upgrade compression package to the specified set-top box, and broadcast to other devices on the home network in a multicast or broadcast manner.

 2. The set-top box in the home network requests a firmware upgrade:

 (1) The set top box sends a message requesting an upgrade, and the message includes the local firmware version number;

(2) The gateway receives the message, reads the version number in the message, compares it with the local database, and determines whether there is a firmware upgrade compression package required by the set top box locally;

 (3) If yes, send the locally stored compressed package to the specified set-top box for upgrade operation; (4) If not, forward to the upgrade server.

 (5) The firmware upgrade compression package is sent by the upgrade server to the specified set top box for upgrade operation.

 While the invention has been described by the embodiments of the present invention, it will be understood that

Claims

Rights request An apparatus for implementing remote software upgrade, wherein the apparatus comprises: a version database, configured to record information of an upgrade software package obtainable in a local network;  An upgrade decision unit, configured to determine whether to obtain an upgrade package locally from the upgrade request information from the local client device and the information in the version database, and send the upgrade package obtained from the local or remote management server to the upgrade Local client device.  2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the upgrade decision unit specifically comprises:  a decision subunit, configured to determine, according to the upgrade request information of the local client device and the information in the version database, whether the upgrade package is obtained locally;  The local processing sub-unit is configured to obtain the required upgrade software locally according to the information of the upgrade software package available in the local network provided by the version database if the decision result of the decision sub-unit is to obtain the upgrade package locally. Package and send it to the client device that needs to be upgraded;  The remote processing sub-unit is configured to obtain the required upgrade package from the remote management server and send it to the client device that needs to be upgraded if the decision result of the decision sub-unit is that the upgrade software package fails locally.  The device according to claim 2, wherein the decision subunit specifically comprises: an uplink decision module and a downlink decision module, wherein  The uplink decision module is configured to determine, according to the information in the upgrade request and the information of the upgrade package that is locally available in the version database, whether the upgrade package required by the client device can be obtained locally;  The downlink decision module is configured to compare information about the upgrade package that is broadcast, multicast, or unicast, and the corresponding upgrade package that is available locally, and determine the latest version of the upgrade package.  The apparatus of claim 3, wherein the remote processing sub-unit comprises: a first processing module and a second processing module, where a first processing module, configured to send the upgrade request message to the remote management server if the result of the decision of the uplink decision module is that the upgrade package fails to be obtained locally; a second processing module, configured to broadcast, multicast, or unicast the latest version of the upgrade package that is determined by the downlink decision module to the local client device; and the upgrade of the latest version upgrade package is a remote management server In the case of a software package, the corresponding upgrade package stored locally is updated accordingly. ^5. The device according to claim 2, wherein the remote processing sub-unit further comprises a version information distribution sub-module for broadcasting, multicasting or unicasting the latest version of the upgrade software to the local client device. The version information of the package.  6. The device according to claim 1, wherein the storage location of the upgrade software package obtainable in the local network is the device itself, a dedicated storage device or a local client device.  The device according to claim 1, wherein the information of the upgrade software package obtainable in the local network recorded in the version database includes at least a name, a version identifier, and a storage path of the upgrade software package.  The device according to claim 7, wherein the information recorded in the version database further comprises: current software information of each local client device.  9. Apparatus according to any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the apparatus is specifically a transport network gateway. 10. A system for implementing a remote software upgrade, the system comprising a remote management server and a device for remote software upgrade according to any one of claims 1 to 8 in communication with the remote management server .  11. The system of claim 10, wherein the remote management server comprises:  a software storage unit, configured to store upgraded software version information and an upgrade software package;  And an upgrade controller, configured to acquire, from the software storage unit, an upgrade software package required by the local client device, and send the upgrade software package to the local client device by using the device that implements the remote software upgrade.  12. The system of claim 11, wherein the remote management server further comprises:  An upgrade policy customizer for developing and providing a software upgrade policy to the upgrade controller. 13. The system according to claim ¹² , wherein the software upgrade policy formulated by the upgrade policy customizer comprises: The upgrade package is unicast according to the request of the local client device, and/or the software version information or the upgrade package that needs to be upgraded is actively broadcast/multicasted by the remote management server.  The system according to claim 12, wherein the upgrade controller acquires a software upgrade policy by reading the upgrade policy customizer; or sending, by the upgrade policy customizer, the software upgrade policy to The upgrade controller.  The system of claim 10, wherein the remote management server further comprises:  The version detecting unit is configured to obtain the current software version identifier of the local client device by using the device that implements the remote software upgrade, and transmit the obtained software version identifier to the upgrade controller.  The system according to claim 10, wherein the system further comprises a local client device that communicates with the device that implements the remote software upgrade, and the local client device specifically includes:  a version registration unit, configured to maintain information about all software on the local client device, and register the local current software information in the version database when the local client device is powered on;  An upgrade interface unit, configured to send an upgrade request to the device for implementing remote software upgrade, receive upgrade software information transmitted from the device, and determine, according to current software information stored by the version registration unit, whether the local device needs to be The client device performs software upgrades;  And an upgrade execution unit, configured to perform software upgrade on the local client device according to the instruction of the upgrade interface unit.  The system of claim 10 wherein the address of the remote management server is maintained by the means for implementing remote software upgrade.  18. A method for implementing a remote software upgrade, the method comprising: the transport network gateway receiving a software upgrade request from a local client device;  The transport network gateway searches for an upgrade software package required for obtaining the above software upgrade request in the local network; If the search is successful, the required upgrade package is obtained locally and sent to the version that needs to be upgraded. Client device; if the lookup fails, obtain the required upgrade package from the remote management server and send it to the local client device that needs to be upgraded.  The method according to claim 18, wherein the method further comprises: the transport network gateway recording the information of the locally available upgrade software package, where the information includes at least the name and version identifier of the upgrade software package. And a local storage path.  The method according to claim 18, wherein the storage location of the upgrade software package obtainable in the local network is a transport network gateway, a special storage device or a client device.  The method according to any one of claims 18 to 20, wherein the method further comprises:  The transport network gateway compares the remote management server to its broadcast, multicast, or unicast upgrade package and the locally available corresponding upgrade package to obtain the latest version of the upgrade package; The upgrade package for the local client device is the upgrade package for the latest version.  The method according to claim 21, wherein the method further comprises: updating, according to the received upgrade package, in the case that the latest version upgrade package is an upgrade package delivered by a remote management server The corresponding upgrade package stored locally.  The method according to any one of claims 18 to 20, wherein the method further comprises:  The transport network gateway broadcasts or multicasts the version information of the upgrade package to some local client devices.  The method according to claim 23, wherein the method further comprises: determining, by the local client device, whether the device needs to be performed according to the version information of the upgrade package received and the current software version information on the device. Upgrade  When the device needs to be upgraded, an upgrade request is sent to the transport gateway.  The method according to claim 24, wherein the transport network gateway sends the upgrade software package to the local client device that needs to be upgraded in the following manner: Determine whether to use multicast or broadcast transmission mode according to the number of upgrade requests received within a predetermined time; The upgrade package is encapsulated into a multicast or broadcast packet and delivered to a specific multicast group or delivered to all local client devices in the network.  The method according to any one of claims 18 to 20, wherein the method further comprises: maintaining, by the transport network gateway, an address of the remote management server.