Vehicle assembly for providing at least one service in a vehicle having a pre-filter unit

Abstract

A vehicle component (10) for providing at least one service in a vehicle (1), the vehicle component comprising: a processing unit (20) for performing data processing in order to perform at least one service; a data interface (30) for connecting to at least one data transmission network (2) of the vehicle (1) in order to receive and / or send data for the data processing when performing the service, and to receive a service discovery message (210) for service coordination in the data transmission network (2); a pre-filtering unit (40) for performing a relevance check (110) of the received service discovery message (210) in order to forward the service discovery message (210) to the processing unit (20) based on the relevance check (110).

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The invention relates to a vehicle component and a method for providing at least one service in a vehicle. Background Art

[0002] It is known from the prior art that vehicle components in a vehicle can be connected to each other by means of a service-oriented architecture (SOA). Reference is made here, for example, to document WO 2018 / 127790 A2, which discloses the use of SOA and corresponding services in a vehicle. This leads to changes in the communication structure (interfaces and protocols) introduced into electronic vehicle components. A characteristic of SOA is a service discovery (SD) service, which is sent via a bus according to AUTOSAR (AUTomotive Open System ARchitecture) in the SOME / IP (Scalable Service-Oriented Middleware over IP) structure. SOME / IP is a communication protocol known from the prior art, which is used in conjunction with AUTOSAR. With the "SOME / IP-SD" function, it is possible to coordinate flexible services in the network in order to identify and book the desired services. With regard to the specifications of the aforementioned SOME / IP and SOME / IP-SD protocols, reference is made to the corresponding publicly available document (AUTOSAR, "SOME / IPSOME / IP Service Discovery Protocol Specification", 2017).

[0003] In the SD protocol, services are typically coordinated via messages sent as multicast (hereinafter also referred to as service discovery messages). This means that the messages must be evaluated by most of the control devices in the network, even though these messages may neither provide nor require the corresponding service. This logic is usually a pure software solution and therefore creates a high load on the microcontroller. Summary of the invention

[0004] Therefore, the object of the present invention is to at least partially eliminate the above disadvantages. In particular, the object of the present invention is to reduce the load of analyzing the service discovery message, such as the SD message.

[0005] The above-mentioned objects are achieved by the vehicle component according to the invention and by the method according to the invention. Further features and details of the invention are apparent from the description and the drawings. Here, the features and details described in conjunction with the vehicle component according to the invention are of course also applicable in conjunction with the method according to the invention, and vice versa, so that the disclosures concerning the individual inventive aspects can always be referred to one another.

[0006] The object is achieved in particular by a vehicle component for providing at least one service in a vehicle, wherein the vehicle component can have the following components:

[0007] - at least one (in particular electronic) processing unit, such as a processor, for carrying out data processing in order to carry out (by means of data processing) at least one service, preferably so that the vehicle component can provide this service to further vehicle components of the vehicle, which can thus use this service for their own and / or higher-level services, preferably in accordance with SOA and / or SOME / IP (the latter in particular as a possibility for integrating SOA into control units of the vehicle);

[0008] at least one (in particular electrical and / or electronic) data interface for connection to at least one data transmission network of the vehicle in order to receive and / or send data for data processing when performing a service and / or in order to receive (at least one) service discovery message for service coordination (thus in particular coordination in the data transmission network, for example according to SOA or SOME / IP);

[0009] A (particularly electronic) pre-filtering unit for carrying out a relevance check of (at least one) received service discovery message, in particular depending on a service specification (of a vehicle component), in order to forward the service discovery message to the processing unit depending on the relevance check.

[0010] The pre-filter unit can therefore be connected upstream of the processing unit in order to check the relevance of the service discovery message for the processing unit before the processing unit has to analyze the service discovery message. As long as the pre-filter unit determines that the relevance of the service discovery message for the processing unit is insufficient, forwarding can be prevented. This has the advantage that the load on the processing unit can be significantly reduced. For this purpose, the pre-filter unit can include at least one integrated circuit or be integrated into a microcontroller. In addition, the pre-filter unit can carry out the relevance check without the support of the processing unit (and thus in particular autonomously for the processing unit).

[0011] The vehicle component can be configured, for example, as a control device or sensor or actuator of the vehicle in order to provide one or more vehicle functions. The vehicle is, for example, a car or a truck, which may include at least one driving assistance and / or autonomous driving function and / or a radar sensor for monitoring the vehicle's surroundings and / or an electronic steering system and / or the like, which can be respectively operated by at least one service. Accordingly, the service can be implemented, for example, as radar detection or steering wheel angle determination or the like. By using SOA, i.e., service-oriented architecture (English: service-oriented architecture), these services can be encapsulated and coordinated. Therefore, the services provided by various vehicle components can be integrated into high-level services (such as the aforementioned vehicle functions, such as driving assistance functions). Services can also be dynamically combined. Therefore, services are dynamically combined, that is, a service is used when creating an application (such as in the aforementioned vehicle function), and the service does not need to exist temporarily. The service is located and combined only when it is implemented. Therefore, it is necessary to implement the coordination of services through service discovery messages. In the data transmission network, the vehicle components that provide services can be in communication connection with each other. Here, the service discovery message in the data transmission network can be sent as a multicast, so that all vehicle components connected to the data transmission network can receive the sent service discovery message and, if necessary, always set up an analysis of the received message. Because such a common analysis (especially in vehicle components) can lead to serious problems in terms of vehicle component load, a pre-filtering unit is provided according to the present invention. This can implement the relevance check of the service discovery message without using a processing unit, and thus help coordinate the service. The processing unit can be configured, for example, as a data processing device, such as a processor of an electronic device of a vehicle component. The pre-filtering unit can also be an electronic component of the electronic device of the vehicle component (i.e., an electronic component, such as an electronic structural element or a separate integrated circuit or a separate component of a microcontroller), and is implemented for data processing. In addition, the electronic device can have at least one memory including at least one computer program, which includes instructions so that the method according to the present invention is implemented when it is executed by the processing unit and / or the pre-filtering unit.

[0012] The data transmission network can be designed to carry out data transmission by means of SOME / IP, so that the data interface can also be designed as a SOME / IP interface. The data interface can thus be used to enable the use of the vehicle component within an AUTOSAR-compliant architecture.

[0013] According to the present invention, SOA (service-oriented architecture) can be set in the vehicle. Here, different control devices, sensors and actuators in the vehicle are interconnected through the SOA structure. In order to achieve this, the participating electronic vehicle components, in particular the control devices, can support corresponding interfaces and protocols. The vehicle component according to the present invention can also be constructed in a corresponding manner as such participating electronic vehicle components, in particular as control devices, which have a data interface for a data transmission network as an interface. Therefore, the vehicle component according to the present invention can constitute one of the clients in the SOA network. In order to find or provide services stored in a distributed manner in the SOA network by a client or by a server, so-called search or provision of services is used. These are typically implemented in the so-called multicast operation, that is, message transmission from one point to a group of users (multipoint connection). Therefore, in order to find the service, service discovery messages are sent in the data transmission network, which are received by multiple and in particular all clients. These messages include service inquiries, which include information about the inquired service, such as service ID. Now this again leads to: although the vehicle participant (vehicle component) does not provide or need the corresponding service, the vehicle participant (vehicle component) also analyzes the corresponding service inquiry and also the service supply. This in turn leads to a disadvantageously high load on the microcontroller.According to the invention, the corresponding request / offer messages can therefore be advantageously filtered, for example based on data in the header and / or in so-called service entries, and thus unnecessary further processing can be prevented.

[0014] In addition, the processing unit can be configured to implement at least one service as part of the service provision of the vehicle component, and / or the pre-filtering unit can be configured to perform a relevance check by comparing a service discovery message with the service provision so that the service discovery message is forwarded to the processing unit based on the comparison. Therefore, in the described case, the service is searched for via a service discovery message. This then involves a search for a service, so that the corresponding service discovery message can also be referred to as a service inquiry message. The pre-filtering unit can therefore be understood as an SD filter for searching for services. However, it is also conceivable that an SD filter for other services (such as the provision of services) is set up according to the same structure. The comparison can then be extended by the pre-filtering unit in that the service discovery message (then in the form of a service provision message) is compared with the service inquiry. Not only service expectations, but also service offers can be stored in the service preset (for example in the form of a lookup table).

[0015] Optionally, the data interface can be designed to receive a service discovery message of the type of service inquiry message for inquiring about a desired service, and the pre-filtering unit can be designed to forward the service discovery message to the processing unit based on the comparison if the inquired service is available in the service offer. As a result, if the desired service is available, it can be reliably notified to other vehicle components with SOA capabilities in order to provide a higher-level service in the cooperation of these vehicle components.

[0016] According to an advantageous further development of the invention, it can be provided that the pre-filter unit is designed to forward the service discovery message to the processing unit based on the comparison only if the requested service is present in the service offer and therefore corresponds to at least one provided service of the vehicle component. The workload on the processing unit can thus be significantly reduced.

[0017] Advantageously, the invention can provide that the prefilter unit and the processing unit are designed as separate electronic components of the electronic system of the vehicle component. Such a hardware separation enables a reliable reduction in the load on the processing unit.

[0018] Preferably, within the scope of the invention, provision can be made for the pre-filter unit and the processing unit to be integrated together on a circuit board of the vehicle component, in particular into a common microcontroller. Thus, the electronic device can be provided as a compact and easy-to-assemble electronic component for the vehicle component.

[0019] According to an advantageous further development of the invention, it can be provided that the processing unit is designed in the form of a processor and / or the pre-filtering unit is designed in the form of a circuit specially designed for the relevance check and the forwarding. Thus, the pre-filtering unit can reliably implement pre-filtering of the service discovery message.

[0020] In the present invention, it can be provided that the data transmission network is configured as a network for SOA. It is also conceivable that the data interface is configured as a service-oriented interface in order to establish a connection with the data transmission network. For this purpose, the data interface can be configured as an Ethernet interface, for example.

[0021] Preferably, it can be provided that the data transmission network is designed as Ethernet. That is, the data interface can be designed to establish a connection with a data transmission network in the form of Ethernet, so that the data interface can be designed as an Ethernet interface. Alternatively or additionally, it is conceivable that the data transmission network is designed as a CAN bus system (Controller Area Network Bus system). That is, the data interface can be designed to establish a connection with a data transmission network in the form of a CAN bus system, so that the data interface can be designed as a CAN bus interface.

[0022] Furthermore, it can be advantageous within the scope of the invention if the pre-filter unit is designed to analyze a data structure in the service discovery message according to the SOA of the vehicle in order to carry out a relevance check. In this case, the data structure specifies, for example, at which position a service-related field with information about the desired service is located. Thus, a comparison for the relevance check can be carried out with the aid of this information.

[0023] Furthermore, it is advantageous within the scope of the invention that the vehicle component and / or the processing unit is designed to provide the service as a service within an SOA of the vehicle. Thus, the vehicle component can be SOA-compatible in order to enable a flexible and dynamic provision of services in the vehicle.

[0024] It can be advantageous within the scope of the invention for the pre-filter unit to be designed as an ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit) or FPGA (field programmable gate array) or SOA adapter for a vehicle component. This makes it possible to reliably relieve the load on a processing unit, for example in the form of a processor.

[0025] A method for providing at least one service in a vehicle is also a technical solution of the present invention. It is provided that the following steps are preferably implemented sequentially or in any order, and individual and / or all steps may also be repeated:

[0026] - data processing by a processing unit of a vehicle component (of the vehicle) in order to perform at least one service,

[0027] - providing a connection to a data transmission network of the vehicle via a data interface of the vehicle component in order to receive and / or send data for data processing when carrying out the service and / or in order to receive service discovery messages in the data transmission network for service coordination,

[0028] - a pre-filtering unit of the vehicle component carries out a relevance check on the received service discovery message, in particular according to a service specification, in order to forward the service discovery message to the processing unit according to the relevance check.

[0029] The method according to the invention thus brings about the same advantages as those described in detail with reference to the vehicle component according to the invention. Furthermore, the vehicle component used in the method according to the invention can be designed as a vehicle component according to the invention.

[0030] Alternatively, it is also conceivable that carrying out the relevance check comprises the following steps:

[0031] - performing a data extraction of the data from the SOME / IP header in the received service discovery message, preferably according to the SOA data structure, preferably according to SOME / IP, particularly preferably according to AUTOSAR,

[0032] - Verification of the message type of the service discovery message is performed based on the extracted data, in particular from the message ID field of the SOME / IP header

[0033] - performing extraction of at least one service-related field of a service discovery message, in particular a search service entry of a SOME / IP header,

[0034] - carrying out a comparison of at least one content of a service-related field with a content of a service pre-set, which service pre-set may comprise information about a service provision and / or a service expectation of a vehicle component,

[0035] - Implement forwarding of service discovery messages based on the comparison.

[0036] This has the advantage that relevant and irrelevant messages can be reliably separated in order to filter out irrelevant messages. Specifically, in the data extraction, data can be extracted according to the SOME / IP protocol. The message type can be checked in such a way that the service discovery message is actually, for example, a SOME / IP SD (Service Discovery) message. With this function (such as SOME / IP-SD), flexible services can be identified and, if necessary, booked in the data transmission network. In order to make the client, such as a vehicle component, aware of the currently available services, SOME / IP-SD provides two mechanisms that allow services to be found dynamically. Providing services enables the server to be provided with all the services provided by it in the network. And "finding services" allows the client to inquire about available services, which are stored in the vehicle component, for example, in service expectations. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0037] Further advantages, features and details of the present invention are apparent from the following description, in which an embodiment of the present invention is described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. The features mentioned in the description may be important for the present invention individually or in any combination. In the drawings:

[0038] Figure 1 A schematic diagram showing two vehicle components according to the invention in a vehicle,

[0039] Figure 2 A schematic diagram showing a vehicle assembly according to the invention,

[0040] Figure 3 Another schematic diagram showing a vehicle assembly according to the invention,

[0041] Figure 4 A schematic diagram showing a circuit board of a vehicle component according to the present invention,

[0042] Figure 5 A schematic diagram is shown for visualizing the method according to the invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0043] In the following drawings, the same reference numerals are used for the same technical features even in different embodiments.

[0044] exist Figure 1 In the example shown two, and Figures 2 to 4 2 and 3 show in each case by way of example a vehicle component 10 according to the invention for providing at least one service in a vehicle 1 . Figure 1 The vehicle components 10 shown in FIG. 1 can provide different services and are therefore also designed differently. Figures 1 to 4 The vehicle component 10 of the vehicle 1 can have in the same manner at least one processing unit 20 for carrying out data processing in order to carry out at least one provided service. In addition, a data interface 30 can be provided for connection to a data transmission network 2 of the vehicle 1 in order to receive and / or send data for data processing when carrying out the service and to receive service discovery messages 210 in the data transmission network 2 for service coordination.

[0045] A particularity of the invention is the use of a pre-filtering unit 40 in the vehicle component. The pre-filtering unit is used to carry out a relevance check 110 of the received service discovery message 210 in order to forward the service discovery message 210 to the processing unit 20 based on the relevance check 110. This can relieve the processing unit 20, which otherwise would have to analyze a possibly very large number of service discovery messages 210, even if these service discovery messages are not relevant for the services provided.

[0046] For this purpose, the processing unit 20 may be designed to implement at least one service as part of a service offer 220 of the vehicle component 10, wherein the pre-filter unit 40 may be designed to perform a relevance check 110 by comparing 150 the service discovery message 210 with the service offer 220, in order to forward the service discovery message 210 to the processing unit 20 as a function of the comparison 150. Furthermore, the data interface 30 may be designed to receive a service discovery message 210 of the type of a service request message 210 for requesting a desired service, wherein the pre-filter unit 40 is designed to forward the service discovery message 210 to the processing unit 20 as a function of the comparison 150 if the requested service is present in the service offer 220. In this case, the service discovery message 210 may be forwarded to the processing unit 20 as a function of the comparison 150 only if the requested service is present in the service offer 220 and therefore corresponds to at least one provided service of the vehicle component 10.

[0047] As in Figures 2 to 4 As shown in FIG. 1 , the pre-filter unit 40 and the processing unit 20 can be constructed as separate electronic components of the electronic device 60 of the vehicle component 10 . Figure 4 , the pre-filter unit 40 and the processing unit 20 may be arranged together on a circuit board 62 of the vehicle component 10. Figure 3 and 4 In the example shown, the pre-filter unit 40 and the treatment unit 20 are physically separated, arranged at a distance, and are only electrically connected via a conductor circuit if necessary. Figure 2 It is provided that the pre-filter unit 40 and the processing unit 20 are integrated into a common microcontroller 61. However, this is also a separate component that can carry out data processing independently. It is particularly advantageous if, unlike the processing unit 20, the pre-filter unit 40 is designed in the form of a circuit specially designed for the correlation check 110 and forwarding.

[0048] exist Figure 5 The method according to the present invention is shown in further detail in FIG. Here, implementing the correlation check 110 may include the following steps:

[0049] - performing data extraction 120 of data in the received service discovery message 210;

[0050] - carrying out a check 130 of the message type of the service discovery message 210 with the aid of the extracted data;

[0051] - performing extraction 140 of service-related fields 230 of the service discovery message 210;

[0052] - carrying out a comparison 150 of the content of the service-related field 230 with the content of the service presetting 215 , which comprises at least one piece of information about a service offer 220 of the vehicle component 10 ;

[0053] - forwarding 160 of the service discovery message 210 is performed according to the comparison 150 .

[0054] According to the check 130, data in the SOME / IP header, for example, can be analyzed, which header defines whether the received message is generally a service discovery message 210 (SOME / IP-SD message). This can be used as a first indicator to filter the "SD messages". In addition, the "Service Entries" (such as Offer, Find...) can also be analyzed during the extraction 140. The service-related field 230 can include, for example, a "Find Service Entry" field, which can in turn be composed of multiple fields. These fields can define the service being searched for. These fields can be analyzed at the hardware level by the pre-filter unit 40. Specifically, then, during the comparison 150, the fields "Type" and "Service ID" of the service-related field 230 can be compared with the services supported by the vehicle component 10 in the service preset 215. Most of the irrelevant inquiries have been filtered out using these two fields. Only in the case of consistency can the service discovery message 210 be directed to the response logic located downstream, that is, the processing unit 20. Optionally, other relevant fields from the "Search Service Entry" can also be taken into account in the comparison. These other relevant fields are, for example, the instance ID, the majority version and the minority version. Other SD filters can be set up for other services (Offers, etc.) according to the same structure.

[0055] The above description of the embodiments only describes the present invention within the scope of examples. It goes without saying that the individual features of these embodiments can be freely combined with one another as long as it makes technical sense without leaving the scope of the present invention.

[0056] Reference numerals list

[0057] 1 Vehicle

[0058] 2 Data transmission network

[0059] 10 Vehicle Components

[0060] 20 Processing Units

[0061] 30 Data Interface

[0062] 40 Pre-filtration unit

[0063] 60 Electronic devices

[0064] 61 Microcontroller

[0065] 62 Circuit Board

[0066] 110 Relevance Check

[0067] 120 Data Extraction

[0068] 130 Inspection

[0069] 140 Extract

[0070] 150 Comparison

[0071] 160 Retweets

[0072] 210 Service discovery message, service query message, service provision message

[0073] 215 Service Presets

[0074] 220 Service Supply

[0075] 230 Service related fields

Claims

1. A vehicle component (10) for providing at least one service in a vehicle (1), the vehicle component comprising: - a processing unit (20) for carrying out data processing in order to implement said at least one service; - a data interface (30) for connection to at least one data transmission network (2) of the vehicle (1) in order to receive and / or send data for data processing when implementing the service and in order to receive service discovery messages (210) in the data transmission network (2) for service coordination; - a pre-filtering unit (40) for performing a relevance check (110) of the received service discovery message (210) in order to forward the service discovery message (210) to the processing unit (20) based on the relevance check (110), The pre-filter unit (40) and the processing unit (20) are formed as separate electronic components of the electronic device (60) of the vehicle component (10), and The pre-filtering unit can be connected upstream of the processing unit in order to check the relevance of the service discovery message for the processing unit.

2. The vehicle component (10) according to claim 1, It is characterized in that The processing unit (20) is designed to implement the at least one service as part of a service offer (220) of a vehicle component (10), and the pre-filtering unit (40) is designed to carry out the relevance check (110) by comparing (150) the service discovery message (210) with the service offer (220) in order to forward the service discovery message (210) to the processing unit (20) as a function of the comparison (150).

3. The vehicle component (10) according to claim 2, It is characterized in that The data interface (30) is designed to receive a service discovery message (210) of the service inquiry message type for inquiring about a desired service, and the pre-filter unit (40) is designed to forward the service discovery message (210) to the processing unit (20) based on the comparison (150) if the inquired service is available in the service offer (220).

4. The vehicle component (10) according to claim 3, It is characterized in that The pre-filter unit (40) is designed to forward the service discovery message (210) to the processing unit (20) based on the comparison (150) only if the requested service is present in the service offer (220) and therefore corresponds to at least one provided service of the vehicle component (10).

5. The vehicle component (10) according to any one of claims 1 to 4, It is characterized in that The pre-filter unit (40) and the processing unit (20) are integrated together on a circuit board (62) of the vehicle component (10).

6. The vehicle component (10) according to claim 5, It is characterized in that The pre-filter unit (40) and the processing unit (20) are integrated into a common microcontroller (61).

7. The vehicle component (10) according to any one of claims 1 to 4, It is characterized in that The processing unit (20) is designed in the form of a processor, and the pre-filtering unit (40) is designed in the form of a circuit specially designed for the correlation check (110) and the forwarding.

8. The vehicle component (10) according to any one of claims 1 to 4, It is characterized in that The data interface (30) is designed as a service-oriented interface in order to establish a connection to the data transmission network (2).

9. The vehicle component (10) according to any one of claims 1 to 4, It is characterized in that The data interface (30) is designed as an Ethernet interface in order to establish a connection to a data transmission network (2) in the form of Ethernet.

10. The vehicle component (10) according to any one of claims 1 to 4, It is characterized in that The pre-filter unit (40) is designed to analyze a data structure in the service discovery message (210) as a function of the SOA of the vehicle (1) in order to carry out the relevance check.

11. The vehicle component (10) according to any one of claims 1 to 4, It is characterized in that The vehicle component (10) and / or the processing unit (20) is designed to provide a service as a service within an SOA of the vehicle (1).

12. The vehicle component (10) according to any one of claims 1 to 4, It is characterized in that The pre-filter unit (40) is designed as an ASIC or FPGA or SOA adapter for the vehicle component (10).

13. A method for providing at least one service in a vehicle (1), wherein: Implement the following steps: - carrying out data processing by a processing unit (20) of the vehicle component (10) in order to carry out the at least one service, - providing a connection to at least one data transmission network (2) of the vehicle (1) via a data interface (30) of the vehicle component (10) in order to receive and / or send data for data processing when performing a service and in order to receive service discovery messages (210) in the data transmission network (2) for service coordination, - performing a relevance check (110) on the received service discovery message (210) by means of a pre-filtering unit (40) so as to forward the service discovery message (210) to the processing unit (20) based on the relevance check (110), The vehicle component (10) is designed in the form of a vehicle component (10) according to one of claims 1 to 12.

14. The method according to claim 13, It is characterized in that The implementation of the relevance check (110) comprises the following steps: - performing a data extraction (120) of said data in the received service discovery message (210); - performing a check (130) of the message type of the service discovery message (210) based on the extracted data; - performing extraction (140) of at least one service-related field (230) of the service discovery message (210); - carrying out a comparison (150) of at least one content of said service-related field (230) with the content of a service preset (215); - forwarding (160) the service discovery message (210) is performed based on the comparison (150).

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