as United States
`a2) Patent Application Publication co) Pub. No.: US 2001/0051519 A1
`Shirai
`(43) Pub. Date:
`Dec. 13, 2001
`
`
`US 20010051519A1
`
`(54) PORTABLE TELEPHONE SET
`
`(52) U.S. Chececeneeeseteseeeesnees 455/419; 455/414
`
`(76)
`
`Inventor: Kouji Shirai, Tokyo (JP)
`Correspondence Address:
`OSTROLENK FABER GERB & SOFFEN
`1180 AVENUE OF THE AMERICAS
`NEW YORK, NY 100368403
`;
`(21) Appl. No.:
`49
`44.
`(22)
`Filed:
`(30)
`
`09/878,107
`Jun. 8, 2001
`Foreign Application Priority Data
`.
`(IP) seseesssssccsssssssesssesevssansees 2000-175973
`
`Jun. 12, 2000
`
`Publication Classification
`
`(SV)
`
`Tint, Cd?eeeceeeeeesseesneeeseensneeeseceennnsereeeene H04M3/42
`__—
`
`57
`67)
`
`ABSTRACT
`
`The invention provides a portable telephone sct whercin a
`countermeasure can be taken against a bug of software by a
`user without
`the necessity for voluntary recovery by a
`maker. The portable telephone set has a hardware configu-
`ration which allows a user of the portable telephone set to
`perform an operation of downloading a modification portion
`of software from the outside such as a network and rewriting
`the software with the same. In this instance, the rewriting is
`performed not for the entire memory (ROM) space of the
`portable telephone set, but
`the software is divided and
`disposed into different blocks of the memory (ROM)space
`and the rewriting is performed in a unit of a block.
`
`20h Oe NO
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`IMFORMAT
`NTO
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`RCWRITTEN
`INTO RAM
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`
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`NORMAL STARTUP
`PROGFSS
`
`
`WRITE “0”
`(NTO WRITE
`FLAG
`
`WRITE BLOCK FOR
`REWRITING FROM
`RAM INTO ROM
`
`WRITE “1” INTO
`WRITE FLAG
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`1
`
`

`

`Patent Application Publication Dec. 13, 2001
`
`Sheet 1 of 3
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`US 2001/0051519 Al
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`

`Patent Application Publication Dec. 13,2001 Sheet 2 of 3
`
`US 2001/0051519 Al
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`INTO RAM
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`
`
`
`
`FIG. 2
`
`
`PROCESS |
`
`915
`
`
`
`
`
`
`WRITE “1” INTO
`
`WRITE FLAG
`
`WRITE BLOCK FOR
`REWRITING FROM
`RAM INTO ROM
`
`
`WRITE “O"
`
`INTO WRITE
`FI AG
`
`NORMAL STARTUP
`PRACFSS
`
`218
`
`3
`
`

`

`Patent Application Publication Dec. 13,2001 Sheet 3 of 3
`
`US 2001/0051519 Al
`
`RADIO
`CONNECT | ON
`
`FIG. 3
`
`“
`
`/ CABLE
`
`CONNECT 1 ON
`
`4
`
`

`

`US 2001/0051519 Al
`
`Dec. 13, 2001
`
`PORTABLE TELEPHONE SET
`
`BACKGROUND OF TIE INVENTION
`
`(0001]
`
`1. Field of the Invention
`
`[0002] The present invention relates to a portable tele-
`phoneset, and moreparticularly to a technique of rewriting
`part of program data of a main memory of a portable
`telephone set to correct bugs of software.
`
`[0003]
`
`2. Description of the Related Art
`
`In recent years, the numberof subscribers of por-
`[0004]
`table telephone sets has increased and is increasing sud-
`denly, and also the manufactured number of portable tele-
`phone sets has been and is increasing similarly. Portable
`telephone sets not only have mere telephone functions but
`also begin to have functions as an information terminal. In
`order to implement functions as an information terminal,
`development not only of hardware but also of software has
`significant weight. From such significance of software, a bug
`upon shipmentof portable telephone sets in most cases gives
`a critical blow to sales of the portable telephone sets.
`
`[0005] Conventionally, if a bug of software occurs with a
`portable telephone set, then when the bug is found out and
`therefore the software must be corrected, data must be
`rewritten over the entire area of a memory (ROM)of the
`portable telephone set from a descriptive configuration of
`the software. Accordingly, in order to rewrite the software
`for portable telephone sets that have been placed on the
`market once, a countermeasure of voluntary recovery by the
`makeris taken. However, muchtime and labor are required
`for such voluntary recovery. Therefore, it is demanded to
`provide a portable telephone set whose software can be
`rewritten by a user in order to eliminate such voluntary
`recovery.
`
`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
`
`It is an object of the present invention to provide a
`[0006]
`portable telephone set wherein a countermeasure can be
`taken against a bug of software by a user without
`the
`necessity for voluntary recovery by a maker.
`
`to attain the object described above,
`In order
`[0007]
`according to the present
`invention,
`there is provided a
`portable telephone set, comprising a read only memory in
`which program data are stored, a volatile memory for
`backing up the program data, and means operable when the
`portable telephone setis in a mode in which rewriting ofthe
`read only memory is allowed for writing part or all of the
`program data hacked up in the volatile memory replaceably
`into the read only memory.
`
`[0008] Preferably, the program data stored in the read only
`memory are stored in a program arrangementin accordance
`with an arrangement of memory blocks of the read only
`memory and can be rewritten in a unit of a block.
`
`[0009] With the portable telephone set, a user can take a
`countermeasure against a bug of the software even if a
`maker does not perform voluntary recovery, and modifica-
`tion to the software can be performed readily in a short time.
`
`[0010] The above and other objects, features and advan-
`tages ofthe present invention will become apparent from the
`following description and the appended claims, taken in
`
`conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which like
`parts or elements are denoted by like reference symbols.
`
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`
`FIG.1 is a diagrammatic view showing a configu-
`(0011]
`ration of a memory space of a portable telephone set to
`which the present invention is applied;
`
`(0012] FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating a procedure of
`operation of the portable telephone set; and
`
`[0013] FIG. 3 is a schematic illustration illustrating a
`manner of use of the portable telephoneset.
`
`DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED
`EMBODIMENT
`
`{0014] Referring first to FIG. 1, there is illustrated an
`example of configuration of a memory space of a portable
`telephone set to which the present invention is applied. The
`memory space includes a ROMsection 1 and a RAM section
`2. Data are stored in a unit of a block in the ROM section
`1.
`
`[0015] The ROM section 1 serves as a main program
`storage area of the portable telephone set, and has a storage
`portion of a large capacity but operates in a comparatively
`long access cycle (read/write cycle). A nonvolatile memory
`such as a flash memory whosestorage data are not lost even
`if power supply from primary and secondary cells is dis-
`connected is used for the ROMsection 1. In order to rewrite
`
`the ROM section 1, it must be placed into a special mode
`called IPL mode.
`
`[0016] The RAM section 2 is a program execution area of
`the portable telephone set, and has a small storage area but
`operates in a comparatively short access cycle. A volatile
`memory (flash-ROM) whose storage data are not lost even
`if the primary cell
`is disconnected but are lost
`if the
`secondary cell is disconnected is used for the RAM section
`2. The RAM section 2 thus requires continual rewriting from
`a CPU.
`
`[0017] The portable telephone set is shipped after a pro-
`gram is written into the memory space of the ROM section
`1. Uponexecution of the program,it is partly copied from
`the ROM section 1 into the RAM section 2. ‘This is because
`
`it is intended to execute the program as fast as possible. It
`is to be noted here that, since the area of the RAM section
`2 in the portable telephone set is usually smaller than the
`area of the ROM section 1, all data of the ROM section 1
`cannot be placed into the RAM scction 2. However, the
`software can be modified by arranging the program in
`accordance with the arrangement of internal blocks of the
`ROM section 1 and rewriting only a block of a modified
`portion of the program from the RAM section 2 into the
`ROMsection 1.
`
`[0018] Now, operation of the portable telephone set is
`described with reference to a flow chart of FIG. 2. After
`
`powersupply to the portable telephone set is switched on,it
`checks the ROM section 1 in step 201. If an erroris detected,
`then the processing advances to step 208, but if no error is
`detected, then the processing advancesto stop 202. In stop
`202, it is discriminated whether or not rewriting data for the
`ROM section 1 is stored in the RAM section 2. If no
`
`5
`
`

`

`US 2001/0051519 Al
`
`Dec. 13, 2001
`
`rewriting data for the ROM section 1 is detected then the
`processing advances to step 214, in which a normalstartup
`process is executed.
`
`If rewriting data for the ROM scction 1 is detected
`[0019]
`in step 202, then the processing advances to stop 203, in
`whichthe state of a write flag is checked.If the write flag is
`“1”, then the processing advancesto step 215, butifit is “O”
`(default), then the processing advancesto step 204, in which
`the portable telephone set stores the rewriting data for a
`ROM block into the RAM section 2 to backup the data.
`Thereafter, the portable telephone set enters an IPL mode in
`step 205, and writes the data backed up in the RAM section
`2 into a corresponding block of the ROM section 1 in step
`206. Thereafter, the portable telephoneset sets the write flag
`to “1” in step 207, whereafter the processing advances to
`step 218, in which the portable telephone set executes a
`re-slarling process.
`
`Onthe other hand,it the processing advances from
`[0020]
`step 201 to step 208, the portable telephoneset starts an error
`processin step 208. Then in step 209, the portable telephone
`set checks the write flag. If the write flag is “O”, then the
`portable telephone set displays a warning of occurrence of
`an error in step 212 and then switches off the power supply
`in step 213. On the other hand,if the write flag is “1” in step
`209, then the processing advances to step 210, in which the
`portable telephone set writes the backed up ROM informa-
`tion into the corresponding block of the ROM section 1.
`Thereafter, the portable telephoneset resets the write flag to
`“0” in stop 211, whereafter the processing advancesto step
`218.
`
`Ifthe write flag is “1” in step 203 and the process-
`[0021]
`ing advances from step 203 LA step 215, then the portable
`telephone set erases the ROM backup block in the RAM
`section 2 in step 215 and then resets the write flag to “O” in
`step 216. Thereafter, the portable telephone set performs the
`normal startup process in step 217.
`
`[0022] The IPL mode mentioned hereinabovesignifies a
`mode in which writing into the ROM area is enabled. The
`portable telephone set usually starts its program from the
`address 0 (called boot block) of the ROM section 1 after
`power supply is switched on. The portable telephone set
`discriminates here whether or not it should enter the IPL
`
`mode,andif it discriminates that it should perform a normal
`operation, then the address to be executed is jumped from
`the boot block to the top address of a block in which the
`normal operation program is placed. Therefore, the boot
`block is passed only once when the power supply is made
`available, but
`is not accessed again during the normal
`operation.
`
`[0023] The write flag is used for discrimination of whether
`or not a modified program in the RAM section 2 has been
`written into the ROM section 1 already. As the write flag, a
`bit may be set in a region of the memory (RAM) or may be
`set in a register for exclusive use in an IC.
`
`which the present invention is applied, since the program is
`arranged in accordance with the arrangementofthe internal
`blocks of the ROM section 1, even the user can modifythe
`software readily by storing modification data for the pro-
`gram in a unit of a block into the RAM section 2 and then
`rewriting the program data only of a block which includes
`the modified data from the RAM section 2 into the ROM
`section 1.
`
`[0025] Consequently, even if a software bug of portable
`telephone sets is detected,
`the maker need not perform
`voluntary recovery of the portable telephone sets. Further,
`software optimized for each type of portable telephone sets
`can be updated successively. Furthermore, even if a portable
`telephone set suffers from a software bug,
`it can fetch
`optimized software every time to improvethe stability and
`operability thereof. Further, the memory (ROM) space can
`be used efficiently. In particular, when a user purchases a
`portable telephone set, the user can exclude (or erase) an
`unnecessary function within a range within which the soft-
`ware can be cut in a unit of a block of the memory (ROM),
`but
`if the user wants later,
`the user can download the
`function to expand the functions of the portable telephone
`set. Accordingly, the memory space can be customized for
`each use. It is estimated that this is very effective when a
`program for
`functions of a portable telephone set
`is
`described entirely using the JAVA in the future. Different
`from the other program languagesat present, the JAVA does
`not manage each handler (JAVA applet) with an absolute
`address. Accordingly, further subdivision than ever can be
`achieved with the JAVA. There is the possibility that sub-
`division using program languages at present may not be
`anticipated very much from the characteristics of the lan-
`guages(a link of each handler cannot be cut readily).
`
`It is to be noted that a ROM area portion to be
`[0026]
`rewritten need not necessarily be in a unit of a block.
`Rewriting into a ROM at present allows erasure in a unit of
`a block (several kbits) and writing in a unit of a word (16
`bits). However, a future ROM mayallowerasure/writing in
`smaller units.
`
`{0027] FIG. 3 illustrates a manner of use of a portable
`telephone set
`to which the present
`invention is applied.
`Referring to FIG. 3, the portable telephone set is generally
`denoted at 31 and is connected to a communication under-
`taker server 32 byradio. Further, the portable telephone set
`31 is connected to a personal computer 33 of the user by a
`cable.
`
`[0028] A modified program for bug fixation can be read
`into a RAM of the portable telephone set 31 from the
`personal computer 33 or the like through an external inter-
`face of the portable telephone set 31. Or, such a modified,
`program for bug fixation may be downloaded from a com-
`munication network through the communication undertaker
`server 32. Further, the RAM ofthe portable telephone set 31
`can be used not only for bug fixation but also for expansion
`of functions of the portable telephone set 31.
`
`[0024] Conventionally, software wrilten in an area of a
`ROMsection is continuously stacked in the memory area
`without being partitioned for different functions, and there-
`fore, if it is tried to rewrite the contents of the ROM area,
`then it is necessary to rewrite the entire area at a time
`because it cannot be partitioned for individual blocks of the
`ROM area. However, with the portable telephone set to
`
`It is to be noted that, since the user manages the
`[0029]
`memory area that has conventionally been prevented from
`being accessed by the user, the security and the safety must
`be assured. The security is assured by an encryption process
`or the like between a data transmission section and the
`portable telephone set. Meanwhile,
`for rewriting of the
`memory, much attention is paid on the hardware side.
`
`6
`
`

`

`US 2001/0051519 Al
`
`Dec. 13, 2001
`
`[0030] While a preferred embodiment of the present
`invention has been described using specific terms, such
`description is for illustrative purposes only, andit is to be
`understood that changes and variations may be made with-
`out departing from the spirit or scope of the following
`claims.
`
`Whatis claimedis:
`
`1. A portable telephone set, comprising:
`
`a read only memory in which program data are stored;
`
`a volatile memory for backing up the program data; and
`
`means operable when said portable telephone set is in a
`mode in which rewriting of said read only memory is
`allowed for writing part or all of the program data
`backedup in said volatile memory replaceably into said
`read only memory.
`2. A portable telephone set as claimed in claim 1, wherein
`the program data stored in said read only memoryare stored
`in a program arrangement in accordance with an arrange-
`ment of memory blocks of said read only memory and can
`be rewritten in a unit of a block.
`*
`*
`*
`
`*
`
`*
`
`7
`
`