Vehicle Ethernet network architecture and vehicle communication method

Abstract

The present invention provides a whole vehicle Ethernet network architecture and a vehicle-mounted communication method. The whole vehicle Ethernet network architecture comprises: an in-vehicle network segment, an out-vehicle network segment, a gateway, a first switch and a second switch, wherein the gateway is provided with a first interface and a second interface; wherein: the first interface is used to connect with the first switch, and the first switch is used to connect with a first device in the vehicle, so as to realize the communication between the first device and the gateway in the in-vehicle network segment; the second interface is used to connect with the second switch, and the second switch is used to connect with the in-vehicle system, so as to realize the communication between the gateway and the in-vehicle system in the out-vehicle network segment; the in-vehicle network segment and the out-vehicle network segment support different network protocols, so as to realize the isolation between the in-vehicle network segment and the out-vehicle network segment at the communication level; the gateway is used to process the received data, so as to realize the data interaction between the first device and the in-vehicle system.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of electric vehicle communications, and in particular to a whole vehicle Ethernet network architecture and a vehicle-mounted communication method. Background Art

[0002] Connected cars and autonomous driving have become the general trend of the automotive industry. With the continuous enhancement of automotive data processing and the continuous increase of connectivity functions, vehicles must securely and reliably process and communicate more and more data between various domains with very low latency.

[0003] In the current vehicle network architecture with Ethernet as the backbone network, each internal domain controller is a node in a local Ethernet, but the internal network uses a large number of IP layer and above protocols, so that the in-vehicle network and the external network are naturally connected at the protocol level. In addition, at the gateway level, there is no protocol layer separation, which makes it possible to sniff the internal network from the external network, and then launch a network attack, endangering the network security of the entire vehicle; and in the current vehicle network applications, all use IP layer-based protocols. Due to the small number of devices in the vehicle, the data granularity is small, and there is no need to call the protocol above the data link layer across network segments, a lot of load is wasted during the transmission process due to the need for protocol control. Summary of the invention

[0004] The present invention provides a vehicle Ethernet network architecture and a vehicle-mounted communication method, which are used to prevent network attacks, protect the security of the vehicle network and reduce the load waste problem during the transmission process.

[0005] According to a first aspect of the present invention, a vehicle Ethernet network architecture is provided, comprising:

[0006] An in-vehicle network segment, an out-vehicle network segment, a gateway, a first switch, and a second switch, wherein the gateway is provided with a first interface and a second interface; wherein:

[0007] The first interface is used to connect to the first switch, and the first switch is used to connect to a first device in the vehicle to achieve communication between the first device and the gateway in the network segment in the vehicle;

[0008] The second interface is used to connect to the second switch, and the second switch is used to connect to the vehicle system to achieve communication between the gateway and the vehicle system in the external network segment of the vehicle;

[0009] The in-vehicle network segment and the out-vehicle network segment support different network protocols to achieve isolation of the in-vehicle network segment and the out-vehicle network segment at the communication level;

[0010] The gateway is used to process the received data to realize data interaction between the first device and the vehicle-mounted system.

[0011] Optionally, the in-vehicle network segment operates based on the link layer and only supports protocols of the physical layer and link layer in the OSI seven-layer model; the out-of-vehicle network segment operates based on the application layer and supports protocols of all layers in the OSI seven-layer model.

[0012] Optionally, the gateway includes a system-level chip; wherein the gateway is used to process the received data to realize data interaction between the first device and the vehicle-mounted system, specifically including:

[0013] The system-level chip is used to analyze and process the data transmitted from the first device to the gateway through the first interface, filter out the valid data, convert it into messages above the network layer, and transmit it to the vehicle-mounted system through the second interface; and

[0014] The system-level chip is used to perform legality judgment on the data transmitted from the vehicle system to the gateway through the second interface, filter out legal data, convert it into link layer messages, and then transmit it to the first device through the first interface.

[0015] Optionally, the system-level chip includes: a whitelist control module, a data analysis module and a data packaging module; wherein:

[0016] The whitelist control module is used to perform whitelist management on the data sent to the in-vehicle network segment or forwarded to the out-vehicle network segment;

[0017] The data analysis module is used to analyze and judge the transmitted data and identify the protocol type to which the transmitted data belongs;

[0018] The data packaging module is used to package data into the link layer message or messages above the network layer.

[0019] Optionally, the vehicle Ethernet network architecture further includes a first middleware and a second middleware;

[0020] The first middleware is used to provide an interface for configuring a protocol data whitelist;

[0021] The second middleware is used to provide an interface for indicating a data structure or a protocol format.

[0022] Optionally, the first device includes a plurality of in-vehicle domain controllers;

[0023] The in-vehicle network segment is composed of multiple in-vehicle control domains, and the in-vehicle domain controller is used to control the in-vehicle control domain.

[0024] Optionally, the network driver of the in-vehicle domain controller only supports drivers of network protocols at the physical layer and data link layer.

[0025] According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a vehicle-mounted communication method for transmitting data of a first device in a vehicle to a terminal, including the vehicle Ethernet network architecture described in the first aspect for communication, the method specifically comprising:

[0026] The first device in the vehicle transmits the first data to the gateway through the first switch by using the in-vehicle network segment;

[0027] The gateway processes the first data and converts the first data into second data; and transmits the second data to the vehicle-mounted system through the second switch in the vehicle-external network segment;

[0028] The in-vehicle system transmits the second data to the terminal.

[0029] According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is also provided a vehicle-mounted communication method for transmitting terminal data to a first device in a vehicle, including the vehicle Ethernet network architecture described in the first aspect for communication, the method specifically comprising:

[0030] The terminal transmits the third data to the vehicle-mounted system;

[0031] The vehicle-mounted system uses the off-vehicle network segment to transmit the third data to the gateway through the second switch;

[0032] The gateway processes the third data and converts it into fourth data; and transmits the fourth data to the first device in the vehicle through the first switch in the vehicle network segment.

[0033] Optionally, the in-vehicle network segment implements protocols at the data link layer and above at the data link layer.

[0034] Optionally, the data format of the in-vehicle network segment at the data link layer includes a data link layer header, data in an application layer data format, and a footer.

[0035] Optionally, the data in the application layer data format also includes a control frame.

[0036] Optionally, the data processing performed by the gateway on the corresponding data includes:

[0037] Get the protocol type to which the corresponding data belongs;

[0038] Filter the corresponding data through whitelist management;

[0039] The filtered valid data is packaged into messages supported by the in-vehicle network segment or the out-vehicle network segment.

[0040] The positive and progressive effects of the present invention are:

[0041] The whole vehicle Ethernet network architecture and the vehicle-mounted communication method provided by the present invention are configured with a first interface and a second interface for the gateway; the first interface is used to connect to the first switch, and the first switch is used to connect to a first device in the vehicle, so as to realize communication between the first device and the gateway in the network segment in the vehicle; the second interface is used to connect to the second switch, and the second switch is used to connect to the vehicle-mounted system, so as to realize communication between the gateway and the vehicle-mounted system in the network segment outside the vehicle; at the same time, the network segment in the vehicle and the network segment outside the vehicle support different network protocols, so as to realize isolation between the network segment in the vehicle and the network segment outside the vehicle at the communication level, so as to achieve the purpose of preventing network attacks and protecting the network security of the whole vehicle.

[0042] In a further preferred scheme, the three modules of whitelist control module, data analysis module and data packaging module are collaboratively managed to ensure that the data in the in-vehicle network segment are valid data. At the same time, the data format of the in-vehicle network segment at the data link layer includes the data link layer header, application layer data format data and the footer, so that the in-vehicle network uses the link layer to implement the application layer protocol, thereby achieving the purpose of reducing load waste during transmission. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0043] In order to more clearly illustrate the embodiments of the present invention or the technical solutions in the prior art, the drawings required for use in the embodiments or the description of the prior art will be briefly introduced below. Obviously, the drawings described below are only some embodiments of the present invention. For ordinary technicians in this field, other drawings can be obtained based on these drawings without paying creative labor.

[0044] Figure 1 It is a structural schematic diagram of the vehicle Ethernet network architecture of the present invention;

[0045] Figure 2 It is a schematic diagram of modules included in the system-level chip of the present invention;

[0046] Figure 3 It is a structural schematic diagram of the vehicle Ethernet network architecture including the middleware of the present invention;

[0047] Figure 4 It is a data flow diagram of the vehicle Ethernet network architecture of the present invention;

[0048] Figure 5 is a schematic diagram of equipment specifically included in the first equipment of the present invention;

[0049] Figure 6 It is a schematic diagram of a process of transmitting data inside a vehicle to outside the vehicle in a real-time example of the present invention;

[0050] Figure 7 It is a schematic diagram of a process of transmitting data outside the vehicle to inside the vehicle in one embodiment of the present invention;

[0051] Figure 8 is a schematic diagram of the flow of data processing via a gateway in one embodiment of the present invention;

[0052] Fig. 9 It is a structural diagram of the data link layer data format of the in-vehicle network segment in one embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0053] The following will be combined with the drawings in the embodiments of the present invention to clearly and completely describe the technical solutions in the embodiments of the present invention. Obviously, the described embodiments are only part of the embodiments of the present invention, not all of the embodiments. Based on the embodiments of the present invention, all other embodiments obtained by ordinary technicians in this field without creative work are within the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0054] The terms "first", "second", "third", "fourth", etc. (if any) in the specification and claims of the present invention and the above-mentioned drawings are used to distinguish similar objects, and are not necessarily used to describe a specific order or sequence. It should be understood that the data used in this way can be interchanged where appropriate, so that the embodiments of the present invention described herein can be implemented in an order other than those illustrated or described herein. In addition, the terms "including" and "having" and any variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusions, for example, a process, method, system, product or device that includes a series of steps or units is not necessarily limited to those steps or units that are clearly listed, but may include other steps or units that are not clearly listed or inherent to these processes, methods, products or devices.

[0055] The technical solution of the present invention is described in detail with specific embodiments below. The following specific embodiments can be combined with each other, and the same or similar concepts or processes may not be described in detail in some embodiments.

[0056] Please refer to Figure 1 , an embodiment of the present invention provides a vehicle Ethernet network architecture, including:

[0057] The in-vehicle network segment 10 , the out-vehicle network segment 20 , the gateway 30 , the first switch 40 and the second switch 50 . The gateway 30 is provided with a first interface 301 and a second interface 302 .

[0058] Among them, the first interface 301 is used to connect to the first switch 40, and the first switch 40 is used to connect to the first device 101 in the vehicle to realize the communication between the first device 101 and the gateway 30 in the in-vehicle network segment 10; the second interface 302 is used to connect to the second switch 50, and the second switch 50 is used to connect to the vehicle-mounted system 201 to realize the communication between the first device 101 and the vehicle-mounted system 201 in the external vehicle network segment.

[0059] The in-vehicle network segment 10 and the out-vehicle network segment 20 support different network protocols to achieve isolation between the in-vehicle network segment 10 and the out-vehicle network segment 20 at the communication level.

[0060] The gateway 30 is used to process the received data to realize data interaction between the first device 101 and the vehicle-mounted system 201 .

[0061] In a specific embodiment, an electric car includes many components, such as air conditioning, audio, camera, engine, tires, etc. These components can be informationized and digitized, and data expressing the status can be generated by installing sensors. For example, tires can be installed with tire pressure sensors to generate tire pressure data and monitor the status of the tires; various components in the car and their corresponding data and the local area network in the car are connected to the in-car network segment 10.

[0062] The external network segment 20 is Ethernet. The data accessed to the external network segment 20 may be data of the vehicle-mounted system T-BOX, data of the mobile phone APP, etc.

[0063] Among them, the in-vehicle network segment 10 runs based on the link layer and only supports the protocols of the physical layer and link layer in the OSI seven-layer model; the out-of-vehicle network segment 20 runs based on the application layer and supports the protocols of all layers in the OSI seven-layer model.

[0064] The gateway 30 includes a system-level chip 303; wherein the gateway 30 is used to process the received data to realize data interaction between the first device 101 and the vehicle-mounted system, specifically including:

[0065] The system-level chip 303 is used to analyze and process the data transmitted from the first device 101 to the gateway 30 through the first interface 301, filter out valid data, convert them into messages above the network layer, and then transmit them to the vehicle system 201 through the second interface 302; and the system-level chip 303 is used to perform legality judgment on the data transmitted from the vehicle system 201 to the gateway 30 through the second interface 302, filter out legal data, convert them into link layer messages, and then transmit them to the first device 101 through the first interface 301.

[0066] Please refer to Figure 2 , the system-level chip 303 includes: a whitelist control module 3031, a data analysis module 3032 and a data packaging module 3033;

[0067] The whitelist control module 3031 is used to perform whitelist management on the data sent to the in-vehicle network segment 10 or forwarded to the out-vehicle network segment 20; the data analysis module 3032 is used to analyze and judge the transmitted data and identify the protocol type to which the transmitted data belongs; the data packaging module 3033 is used to package the data into the link layer message or the message above the network layer.

[0068] Please refer to Figure 3 , the vehicle Ethernet network architecture further includes a first middleware 60 and a second middleware 70;

[0069] Among them, in one embodiment, the first middleware 60 is a whitelist configuration unit, which is used to provide a section for whitelist configuration of protocol data. Under the configuration of the first middleware 60, illegal data is filtered out and discarded; the second middleware 70 is a data policy unit, which is used to provide an interface for representing data structure or protocol format. Under the configuration of the second middleware 70, the data format at the data link layer can include the data format of the data link layer and above the data link layer, and then the data link layer and above the data link layer protocols can be implemented on the data link layer in the in-vehicle network segment.

[0070] Please refer to Figure 4 In a specific embodiment, the data of the in-vehicle network segment or the data of the out-vehicle network segment are analyzed by the data analysis module 3032 for data type or protocol type, and the result is input into the whitelist control module 3031 for whitelist management. The data analysis module 3032 and the whitelist control module 3031 are both completed under the configuration of the first middleware 60 and the second middleware 70; the whitelist obtained by the whitelist control module 3031 is analyzed to determine whether it is legal. If it is illegal, the data is discarded. If it is legal, it enters the data packaging module 3033 and sends the data to the data packaging module 3033 to be packaged into the link layer message or the message above the network layer, and the packaged message is judged whether it is a network layer protocol. If so, the data is forwarded to the out-vehicle network segment. If not, the data is forwarded to the in-vehicle network segment.

[0071] When determining whether the whitelist is passed, the obtained data type and protocol type are analyzed, and after analysis, it is determined whether the data is data of the physical layer, data link layer or other layers.

[0072] Please refer to Figure 5, the first device 101 includes a number of in-vehicle domain controllers 1011;

[0073] The in-vehicle network segment 10 is connected to data of multiple in-vehicle control domains, and the in-vehicle domain controller 1011 is used to control the in-vehicle control domains.

[0074] The network driver of the in-vehicle domain controller 1011 only supports the drivers of the network protocols of the physical layer and the data link layer.

[0075] In one example, the in-vehicle control domain includes: intelligent driving domain, intelligent information domain, body domain, chassis domain and power domain. The data of the in-vehicle control domain is managed by the in-vehicle domain controller, and different usage permissions are granted to the in-vehicle domain controller according to different situations. In the embodiment of the present invention, each domain controller module in the in-vehicle network segment needs to modify the network driver and remove the network protocol support above the data link layer, so that the network information security is very well guaranteed.

[0076] The vehicle Ethernet network architecture provided by the present invention is configured with a first interface and a second interface for the gateway; the first interface is used to connect to the first switch, and the first switch is used to connect to a first device in the vehicle, so as to realize communication between the first device and the gateway in the network segment in the vehicle; the second interface is used to connect to the second switch, and the second switch is used to connect to the vehicle-mounted system, so as to realize communication between the gateway and the vehicle-mounted system in the network segment outside the vehicle; at the same time, the network segment in the vehicle and the network segment outside the vehicle support different network protocols, so as to realize isolation between the network segment in the vehicle and the network segment outside the vehicle at the communication level, so as to achieve the purpose of preventing network attacks and protecting the network security of the whole vehicle.

[0077] In a further preferred scheme, the three modules of whitelist control module, data analysis module and data packaging module are collaboratively managed to ensure that the data in the in-vehicle network segment are valid data. At the same time, the data format of the in-vehicle network segment at the data link layer includes the data link layer header, application layer data format data and the footer, so that the in-vehicle network uses the link layer to implement the application layer protocol, thereby achieving the purpose of reducing load waste during transmission.

[0078] Please refer to Figure 6 , a vehicle-mounted communication method for transmitting data of a first device in a vehicle to a terminal, using the above-mentioned vehicle Ethernet network architecture for communication, the method specifically comprising:

[0079] S1: The first device 101 in the vehicle uses the in-vehicle network segment 10 to transmit the first data to the gateway 30 through the first switch 40;

[0080] S2: the gateway 30 processes the first data and converts it into second data; and transmits the second data to the vehicle-mounted system 201 in the vehicle-external network segment 20 through the second switch 50;

[0081] S3: The vehicle-mounted system 201 transmits the second data to the terminal.

[0082] The terminal may be an electronic device capable of receiving data, such as a mobile phone or a computer.

[0083] Please refer to Figure 7 , a vehicle-mounted communication method for transmitting terminal data to a first device in a vehicle, using the above-mentioned vehicle Ethernet network architecture for communication, the method specifically comprising:

[0084] S1: The terminal transmits the third data to the vehicle-mounted system 201;

[0085] S2: the vehicle-mounted system 201 uses the external vehicle network segment 20 to transmit the third data to the gateway 30 through the second switch 50;

[0086] S3: the gateway 30 processes the third data and converts it into fourth data; and transmits the fourth data to the first device 101 in the vehicle through the first switch 40 in the vehicle network segment.

[0087] Please refer to Figure 8 , for transmitting data of the first device 101 in the vehicle to the terminal, using the above-mentioned vehicle Ethernet network architecture for communication in step S2 and for transmitting terminal data to the first device 101 in the vehicle, using the above-mentioned vehicle Ethernet network architecture for communication in step S2 also includes data processing of the corresponding data by the gateway:

[0088] S21: Obtain the protocol type to which the corresponding data belongs;

[0089] S22: Filter the corresponding data through whitelist management;

[0090] The signal or protocol data managed by the whitelist is data from which illegal data is discarded and which can be sent to the in-vehicle network segment 10 or forwarded to the out-vehicle network segment 20 .

[0091] S23: Packing the filtered valid data into a message supported by the in-vehicle network segment 10 or a message supported by the out-vehicle network segment 20.

[0092] Among them, please refer to Fig. 9When valid data is packaged into a message supported by the in-vehicle network segment 10 or the message of the external network segment 20, due to the different message formats in different layers, when the in-vehicle network segment 10 implements the data link layer and above protocols at the data link layer, the data format of the in-vehicle network segment 10 at the data link layer includes a data link layer header, data in the application layer data format, and a footer, and the data in the application layer data format also includes a control frame, thereby achieving the implementation of the data link layer and above protocols at the data link layer in the in-vehicle network segment.

[0093] Moreover, the message on the data link layer reduces the load of 40-80 Byte per message compared with the protocols above the data link layer, so as to realize the transmission of application data with extremely low load.

[0094] The vehicle-mounted communication method provided by the present invention uses the above-mentioned vehicle Ethernet network architecture to perform vehicle-mounted communication, thereby eliminating the direct connection of the external vehicle network and the internal vehicle network through the same switch, thereby realizing the isolation of the internal vehicle network and the external vehicle network at the physical and communication levels, making the entire vehicle network safer when facing network attacks. At the same time, in the embodiment of the present invention, by changing the data format of the data link layer of the internal vehicle network segment, the internal vehicle network segment can communicate at the data link layer based on the data link layer and above the data link layer protocols, thereby reducing the load in transmission.

[0095] Finally, it should be noted that the above embodiments are only used to illustrate the technical solutions of the present invention, rather than to limit it. Although the present invention has been described in detail with reference to the aforementioned embodiments, those skilled in the art should understand that they can still modify the technical solutions described in the aforementioned embodiments, or replace some or all of the technical features therein by equivalents. However, these modifications or replacements do not make the essence of the corresponding technical solutions deviate from the scope of the technical solutions of the embodiments of the present invention.

Claims

1. A vehicle Ethernet network architecture, characterized in that: include: An in-vehicle network segment, an out-vehicle network segment, a gateway, a first switch, and a second switch, wherein the gateway is provided with a first interface and a second interface; wherein: The first interface is used to connect to the first switch, and the first switch is used to connect to a first device in the vehicle to achieve communication between the first device and the gateway in the network segment in the vehicle; The second interface is used to connect to the second switch, and the second switch is used to connect to the vehicle system to achieve communication between the gateway and the vehicle system in the external network segment of the vehicle; The in-vehicle network segment and the out-vehicle network segment support different network protocols to achieve isolation of the in-vehicle network segment and the out-vehicle network segment at the communication level; The gateway is used to process the received data to realize data interaction between the first device and the vehicle-mounted system; The in-vehicle network segment operates based on the link layer and only supports the protocols of the physical layer and link layer in the OSI seven-layer model; the out-of-vehicle network segment operates based on the application layer and supports the protocols of all layers in the OSI seven-layer model.

2. The vehicle Ethernet network architecture according to claim 1 is characterized in that: The gateway includes a system-level chip; wherein the gateway is used to process the received data to realize data interaction between the first device and the vehicle-mounted system, specifically including: The system-level chip is used to analyze and process the data transmitted from the first device to the gateway through the first interface, filter out the valid data, convert it into messages above the network layer, and transmit it to the vehicle-mounted system through the second interface; and The system-level chip is used to perform legality judgment on the data transmitted from the vehicle system to the gateway through the second interface, filter out legal data, convert it into link layer messages, and then transmit it to the first device through the first interface.

3. The vehicle Ethernet network architecture according to claim 2 is characterized in that: The system-level chip includes: a whitelist control module, a data analysis module and a data packaging module; wherein: The whitelist control module is used to perform whitelist management on the data sent to the in-vehicle network segment or forwarded to the out-vehicle network segment; The data analysis module is used to analyze and judge the transmitted data and identify the protocol type to which the transmitted data belongs; The data packaging module is used to package data into the link layer message or messages above the network layer.

4. The vehicle Ethernet network architecture according to claim 1 is characterized in that: The vehicle Ethernet network architecture also includes a first middleware and a second middleware; The first middleware is used to provide an interface for configuring a protocol data whitelist; The second middleware is used to provide an interface for indicating a data structure or a protocol format.

5. The vehicle Ethernet network architecture according to claim 1 is characterized in that: The first device includes a number of in-vehicle domain controllers; The in-vehicle network segment is composed of multiple in-vehicle control domains, and the in-vehicle domain controller is used to control the in-vehicle control domain.

6. The vehicle Ethernet network architecture according to claim 5 is characterized in that: The network driver of the in-vehicle domain controller only supports the drivers of the network protocols of the physical layer and the data link layer.

7. A vehicle-mounted communication method for transmitting data of a first device in a vehicle to a terminal, characterized in that: Utilizing the vehicle Ethernet network architecture described in any one of claims 1 to 6 for communication, the method specifically comprises: The first device in the vehicle transmits the first data to the gateway through the first switch by using the in-vehicle network segment; The gateway processes the first data and converts the first data into second data; and transmits the second data to the vehicle-mounted system through the second switch in the vehicle-external network segment; The in-vehicle system transmits the second data to the terminal.

8. A vehicle-mounted communication method for transmitting terminal data to a first device in a vehicle, characterized in that: Utilizing the vehicle Ethernet network architecture described in any one of claims 1 to 6 for communication, the method specifically comprises: The terminal transmits the third data to the vehicle-mounted system; The vehicle-mounted system uses the off-vehicle network segment to transmit the third data to the gateway through the second switch; The gateway processes the third data and converts it into fourth data; and transmits the fourth data to the first device in the vehicle through the first switch in the vehicle network segment.

9. The vehicle-mounted communication method according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that: The in-vehicle network segment implements protocols at the data link layer and above at the data link layer.

10. The vehicle-mounted communication method according to claim 9, characterized in that: The data format of the in-vehicle network segment at the data link layer includes a data link layer header, data in an application layer data format, and a footer.

11. The vehicle-mounted communication method according to claim 10, characterized in that: The data in the application layer data format also includes a control frame.

12. The vehicle-mounted communication method according to claim 7 or 8, characterized in that: The data processing performed by the gateway on the corresponding data includes: Get the protocol type to which the corresponding data belongs; Filter the corresponding data through whitelist management; The filtered valid data is packaged into messages supported by the in-vehicle network segment or the out-vehicle network segment.

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