Image forming apparatus, method, and system for firmware upgrade

1. A firmware upgrade method, applied to a first image forming apparatus, the method comprising:

acquiring one or more preset role settings from a plurality of image forming apparatuses;

selecting a first master image forming apparatus, from the plurality of image forming apparatuses, as a master image forming apparatus according to a preset role setting of the first image forming apparatus corresponding to a preset firmware download priority that is higher than preset firmware download priorities of other image forming apparatuses in the plurality of image forming apparatuses;

designating a second image forming apparatuses, from the plurality of image forming apparatuses, as a slave image forming apparatus according to a preset role setting of the second image forming apparatus corresponding to a respective preset firmware download priority;

when a server has a firmware upgrade package, downloading the firmware upgrade package to the master image forming apparatus from the server;

transmitting, from the master image forming apparatus, the firmware upgrade package to the slave image forming apparatus, wherein the firmware upgrade package is configured to upgrade firmware of the master image forming apparatus and the slave image forming apparatus;

when any of the first image forming apparatus or the second image forming apparatus is moved to a new location, obtaining a firmware download priority for the first image forming apparatus and a firmware download priority for the second image forming apparatus based on attributes of the first image forming apparatus and attributes of the second image forming apparatus in relation to the new location of each of the first image forming apparatus and the second image forming apparatus; and

when the firmware download priority of the second image forming apparatus is higher than the firmware download priority of the first image forming apparatus, changing the second image forming apparatus to the master image forming apparatus, and changing the first image forming apparatus to the slave image forming apparatuses without differentiating the preset role setting of the first image forming apparatus and the preset role setting of the second image forming apparatus.

2. The method according to claim 1 , further comprising setting the preset firmware download priority according to:

a media access control (MAC) address priority, a serial number priority, a network transmission speed, a remaining service life, an idle rate, and/or a distance from a network access point.

3. The method according to claim 1 , wherein the first image forming apparatus and the second image forming apparatus are of a same model.

4. The method according to claim 1 , before transmitting, from the master image forming apparatus, the firmware upgrade package to the slave image forming apparatus, further including:

transmitting an upgrade inquiry message to the second image forming apparatus, wherein the upgrade inquiry message is configured to characterize an inquiry that whether the second image forming apparatus needs to perform firmware upgrade; and

receiving an upgrade response message transmitted by the second image forming apparatus, wherein the upgrade response message includes upgrade approval response information or upgrade rejection response information.

5. The method according to claim 1 , further including:

transmitting a waiting request message to the second image forming apparatus, wherein the waiting request message is configured to instruct the second image forming apparatus to wait for the first image forming apparatus to transmit the firmware upgrade package.

6. The method according to claim 5 , wherein the waiting request message includes a first waiting request message and a second waiting request message, and transmitting the waiting request message to the second image forming apparatus includes:

before downloading the firmware upgrade package in the server, transmitting the first waiting request message to the second image forming apparatus; and

after downloading the firmware upgrade package in the server, transmitting the second waiting request message to the second image forming apparatus.

7. The method according to claim 1 , before transmitting, from the master image forming apparatus, the firmware upgrade package to the slave image forming apparatus, further including:

transmitting a networking request message to the second image forming apparatus, wherein the networking request message is configured to characterize that the first image forming apparatus requests to establish a local area network with the second image forming apparatus; and

establishing the local area network with the second image forming apparatus.

8. The method according to claim 1 , before transmitting, from the master image forming apparatus, the firmware upgrade package to the slave image forming apparatus, further comprising:

adding a time stamp to the firmware upgrade package.

9. A firmware upgrade method, applied to a second image forming apparatus, the method comprising:

acquiring one or more preset role settings from a plurality of image forming apparatuses;

selecting a first image forming apparatus, from the plurality of image forming apparatuses, as a master image forming apparatus according to a preset role setting of the first image forming apparatus corresponding to a preset firmware download priority that is higher than preset firmware download priorities of other image forming apparatuses in the plurality of image forming apparatuses;

designating the second image forming apparatus, from the plurality of image forming apparatuses, as a slave image forming apparatus according to a preset role setting of the second image forming apparatus corresponding to a preset firmware download priority of the second image forming apparatus;

downloading a firmware upgrade package in the server to the master image forming apparatus;

receiving the firmware upgrade package transmitted by the master image forming apparatus to the slave image forming apparatus;

performing firmware upgrade according to the firmware upgrade package;

when any of the first image forming apparatus or the second image forming apparatus is moved to a new location, obtaining a firmware download priority for the first image forming apparatus and a firmware download priority for the second image forming apparatus based on attributes of the first image forming apparatus and attributes of the second image forming apparatus in relation to the new location of each of the first image forming apparatus and the second image forming apparatus; and

when the firmware download priority of the second image forming apparatus is higher than the firmware download priority of the first image forming apparatus, changing the second image forming apparatus to the master image forming apparatus, and changing the first image forming apparatus to the slave image forming apparatus without differentiating the preset role setting of the first image forming apparatus and the preset role setting of the second image forming apparatus.

10. The firmware upgrade method according to claim 9 , before receiving the firmware upgrade package transmitted by the master image forming apparatus to the slave image forming apparatus, further including:

receiving an upgrade inquiry message transmitted by the first image forming apparatus, wherein the upgrade inquiry message is configured to characterize an inquiry that whether the second image forming apparatus needs to perform firmware upgrade; and

transmitting an upgrade response message to the first image forming apparatus, wherein the upgrade response message includes upgrade approval response information or upgrade rejection response information.

11. The firmware upgrade method according to claim 9 , before receiving the firmware upgrade package transmitted by the master image forming apparatus to the slave image forming apparatus, further including:

receiving a waiting request message transmitted by the first image forming apparatus; and

according to the waiting request message, waiting for the first image forming apparatus to transmit the firmware upgrade package.

12. The firmware upgrade method according to claim 9 , before receiving the firmware upgrade package transmitted by the master image forming apparatus to the slave image forming apparatus, further including:

receiving a networking request message transmitted by the first image forming apparatus; and

establishing a local area network with the first image forming apparatus.

13. The firmware upgrade method according to claim 9 , after downloading the firmware upgrade package in the server to the master image forming apparatus, further including:

adding a time stamp to the firmware upgrade package from the server;

receiving a second firmware upgrade package transmitted by a third image forming apparatus, wherein the second firmware upgrade package includes a second time stamp; and

performing the firmware upgrade according to the firmware upgrade package includes:

when the time stamp is earlier than the second time stamp, performing the firmware upgrade according to the first firmware upgrade package from the server; and

when the time stamp is later than the second time stamp, performing the firmware upgrade according to the second firmware upgrade package from the third image forming apparatus.

14. The firmware upgrade method according to claim 9 , after receiving the firmware upgrade package transmitted by the master image forming apparatus to the slave image forming apparatus, further including:

transmitting the firmware upgrade package to a fourth image forming apparatus.

15. An image forming apparatus, comprising: a processor; a memory;

and one or more computer programs stored in the memory and including instructions that, when being executed, cause the processor to perform:

acquiring one or more preset role settings from a plurality of image forming apparatuses;

selecting a first master image forming apparatus, from the plurality of image forming apparatuses, as a master image forming apparatus according to a preset role setting of the first image forming apparatus corresponding to a preset firmware download priority that is higher than preset firmware download priorities of other image forming apparatuses in the plurality of image forming apparatuses;

designating a second image forming apparatuses, from the plurality of image forming apparatuses, as a slave image forming apparatus according to a preset role setting of the second image forming apparatus corresponding to a respective preset firmware download priority;

when a server has a firmware upgrade package, downloading the firmware upgrade package to the master image forming apparatus from the server;

adding a time stamp to the firmware upgrade package;

transmitting, from the master image forming apparatus, the firmware upgrade package having the time stamp to the slave image forming apparatus, wherein the firmware upgrade package is configured to upgrade firmware of the master image forming apparatus and the slave image forming apparatus;

when any of the first image forming apparatus or the second image forming apparatus is moved to a new location, updating a firmware download priority for the first image forming apparatus and a firmware download priority for the second image forming apparatus based on attributes of the first image forming apparatus and attributes of the second image forming apparatus in relation to the new location of each of the first image forming apparatus and the second image forming apparatus; and

when the firmware download priority of the second image forming apparatus is higher than the firmware download priority of the first image forming apparatus, changing the second image forming apparatus to the master image forming apparatus, and changing the first image forming apparatus to the slave image forming apparatuses without differentiating the preset role setting of the first image forming apparatus and the preset role setting of the second image forming apparatus.

16. A firmware upgrade system, comprising: the image forming apparatus according to claim 15 , wherein the image forming apparatus is communicatively connected to another image forming apparatus.

17. An image forming apparatus, comprising:

a processor;

a memory containing one or more computer programs that, when being executed, cause the processor to execute the method according to claim 9 .

18. A firmware upgrade system, comprising: the image forming apparatus according to claim 17 , wherein the image forming apparatus is communicatively connected to another image forming apparatus.