Area controller configuration method and related device
By associating peripheral devices with the area controller hardware interface according to the importance level and collision level of the equipment in the centralized automotive electronic and electrical architecture, the problems of wiring harness layout complexity and safety are solved, and wiring harness optimization and driving safety are improved.
Patent Information
- Application Number
- CN202310099825.2
- Authority / Receiving Office
- CN · China
- Patent Type
- Patents(China)
- Current Assignee / Owner
- Filing Date
- 2023-02-02
- Publication Date
- 2026-01-06
- Estimated Expiration
- 2043-02-02
AI Technical Summary
With the increasing number of wiring harnesses in a vehicle, the wiring harness layout between the area controller and the vehicle's peripheral equipment becomes more complex and less safe, making it difficult to ensure normal operation, especially in the event of a collision.
By determining the importance level information of vehicle peripheral devices, devices with a higher than preset level are associated with the hardware interface of the area controller with a lower vehicle collision level. A centralized automotive electronic and electrical architecture is adopted, with the central controller serving as the vehicle's decision center and the area controllers responsible for secondary intelligent power distribution and I/O control, thereby achieving optimized wiring harness layout and safety assurance.
Reduce wiring harness complexity and cost, improve driving safety, provide strong support for autonomous driving functions, and achieve intelligent power distribution and lightweight design.
Smart Images

Figure CN115991160B_ABST
Abstract
Description
Technical Field
[0001] This invention relates to the field of vehicles, and more particularly to a method for configuring a regional controller and related equipment. Background Technology
[0002] Currently, most traditional automobiles on the market still use a distributed electronic and electrical architecture, meaning that there are dozens or even hundreds of different ECUs in the vehicle. Each ECU is usually responsible for a single function, such as the seat controller; or some are responsible for multiple function sets, such as the body controller. The ECUs communicate with each other through buses such as CAN / LIN to form signal exchanges. With the rapid growth of automobile functional requirements, the increasing intelligence, connectivity, and level of driver assistance and autonomous driving in today's world, the shortcomings of such a distributed electronic and electrical architecture have become increasingly apparent. Adding new features requires an increasing number of controllers, and the signal transmission links between controllers become increasingly complex, increasing the difficulty and cost of controller development and maintenance. Longer signal links result in significant response delays and a poorer user experience. The inability to decouple software and hardware means that OTA (Over-The-Air) upgrades involve long links, increasing difficulty, risk, and cost. The layout of the vehicle's wiring harness becomes exceptionally complex and difficult due to the addition of more electrical equipment, leading to a dramatic increase in harness length and weight, hindering vehicle weight reduction and cost reduction. Furthermore, it is difficult to ensure that certain functions remain operational after a collision, such as high-voltage power-off and active high-voltage discharge; torque reduction to zero; engine fuel injection cessation; door unlocking; hazard light activation; and proper functioning of the safety restraint system. Summary of the Invention
[0003] In view of the above problems, the present invention provides a region controller configuration method and related equipment, the main purpose of which is to solve the problem that as the number of vehicle wiring harnesses increases, the arrangement of wiring harnesses between the region controller and vehicle peripheral equipment becomes more complex and less secure.
[0004] To address at least one of the aforementioned technical problems, in a first aspect, the present invention provides a method for configuring a regional controller, the method comprising:
[0005] Determine the information of the vehicle's peripheral equipment, including the equipment's importance level information;
[0006] The aforementioned peripheral devices of the vehicle with an importance level higher than the preset level are associated with the hardware interface of the area controller located in the vehicle location range where the vehicle collision level is lower than the preset collision level.
[0007] Optionally, the above methods also include:
[0008] Based on the above-mentioned equipment importance levels and vehicle collision levels, establish the correspondence between vehicle peripheral equipment and different vehicle location ranges.
[0009] Based on the above correspondence, the hardware interface configuration of the area controllers is set in different vehicle location ranges.
[0010] Optionally, the above methods also include:
[0011] Based on the principle of proximity allocation, the aforementioned vehicle peripheral devices associated with the hardware interface of the aforementioned area controller are configured, and / or,
[0012] Configure the aforementioned area controller and vehicle peripheral devices that match the aforementioned hardware interfaces, and / or,
[0013] The aforementioned area controller is configured with a drive chip whose drive capability and terminal current carrying capacity meet the current requirements of the aforementioned vehicle peripheral equipment.
[0014] Optionally, the above methods also include:
[0015] Based on the operating current requirements under different operating conditions, the current detection accuracy of the driver chip, and different overcurrent situations, different overcurrent protection thresholds are set for the hardware interface of the above-mentioned area controller.
[0016] Optionally, the above methods also include:
[0017] If the importance level of the aforementioned vehicle peripheral equipment is higher than the preset level and the aforementioned vehicle peripheral equipment has only one power supply, then connect the power supply of the aforementioned vehicle peripheral equipment to a hardware interface in the area controller with a collision level lower than the preset collision level, or...
[0018] If the importance level of the aforementioned vehicle peripheral equipment is higher than the preset level and the aforementioned vehicle peripheral equipment has two power supplies, then the two power supplies of the aforementioned vehicle peripheral equipment will be respectively associated with two hardware interfaces in the area controller.
[0019] Optionally, the above methods also include:
[0020] If the aforementioned area controller has at least two hardware interfaces with the same voltage requirement range, a load current difference less than a preset difference value, the connected devices have the same power mode, the connected devices have the same importance level, and the connected devices have the same functional domain, then the aforementioned at least two hardware interfaces will be merged.
[0021] Among them, the above power supply modes are constant power supply and non-constant power supply.
[0022] Optionally, the above methods also include:
[0023] The current-carrying capacity of the wiring harnesses and terminals of at least two power supplies of the aforementioned area controller is adjusted based on the operating ambient temperature and wire diameter of the wiring harnesses.
[0024] Secondly, embodiments of the present invention also provide a region controller configuration device, comprising:
[0025] A determining unit is used to determine information about vehicle peripheral equipment, including equipment importance level information.
[0026] The association unit is used to associate vehicle peripheral devices with an importance level higher than a preset level with the hardware interface of an area controller located in the vehicle location range where the vehicle collision level is lower than the preset collision level.
[0027] To achieve the above objectives, according to a third aspect of the present invention, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, the computer-readable storage medium comprising a stored program, wherein, when the program is executed by a processor, the steps of the area controller configuration method described above are implemented.
[0028] To achieve the above objectives, according to a fourth aspect of the present invention, an electronic device is provided, including at least one processor and at least one memory connected to the processor; wherein the processor is configured to invoke program instructions in the memory to execute the steps of the area controller configuration method described above.
[0029] By means of the above technical solution, the area controller configuration method and related equipment provided by the present invention address the problem that as the number of vehicle wiring harnesses increases, the arrangement of wiring harnesses between the area controller and vehicle peripheral devices becomes increasingly complex and less secure. The present invention determines the vehicle peripheral device information, including device importance level information; and associates the vehicle peripheral devices with an importance level higher than a preset level with the hardware interface of the area controller located in the vehicle location range where the vehicle collision level is lower than the preset collision level. In the above scheme, this method is applied to a centralized automotive electronic and electrical architecture. The central controller is the central computing unit of the vehicle and the decision-making center of the vehicle, responsible for the calculation of vehicle logic and the issuance of instructions. The area controllers, which are divided according to their layout areas, are responsible for the vehicle's secondary intelligent power distribution, I / O control, and gateway functions. The central controller and each area controller communicate via Ethernet. The area controllers receive input signals from various sensors in the vehicle and transmit them to the central processor. After the central processor performs calculations, it issues instructions to the relevant area controllers. The area controllers control the corresponding actuators to perform actions. This scheme ensures driving safety by placing high-safety-level equipment in area controllers that are not easily collided with, thus providing strong support for functions such as autonomous driving. At the same time, it is conducive to reducing the cost and weight of wiring harnesses and realizes intelligent power distribution.
[0030] Accordingly, the area controller configuration device, equipment, and computer-readable storage medium provided in the embodiments of the present invention also have the above-mentioned technical effects.
[0031] The above description is merely an overview of the technical solution of the present invention. In order to better understand the technical means of the present invention and to implement it in accordance with the contents of the specification, and in order to make the above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention more apparent and understandable, specific embodiments of the present invention are described below. Attached Figure Description
[0032] Various other advantages and benefits will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading the following detailed description of preferred embodiments. The accompanying drawings are for illustrative purposes only and are not intended to limit the invention. Furthermore, the same reference numerals denote the same parts throughout the drawings. In the drawings:
[0033] Figure 1 A flowchart illustrating a region controller configuration method provided by an embodiment of the present invention is shown;
[0034] Figure 2 This diagram illustrates a schematic block diagram of a region controller configuration device provided in an embodiment of the present invention.
[0035] Figure 3This diagram illustrates the composition of a regional controller configuration electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention. Detailed Implementation
[0036] Exemplary embodiments of the invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. While exemplary embodiments of the invention are shown in the drawings, it should be understood that the invention may be implemented in various forms and should not be limited to the embodiments set forth herein. Rather, these embodiments are provided so that this invention will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art.
[0037] To address the problem of increasingly complex and insecure wiring harness arrangements between the area controller and vehicle peripherals as the number of wiring harnesses in a vehicle increases, this invention provides an area controller configuration method, such as... Figure 1 As shown, the method includes:
[0038] S101. Determine the vehicle peripheral equipment information, including the equipment importance level information;
[0039] For example, to complete the configuration of the area controller in this method, it is first necessary to collect and organize the key information of the peripheral devices into an interface summary table. The key information to be collected and organized is shown in the table below, and the purpose of the relevant information is explained in the table description.
[0040]
[0041]
[0042] S102. Associate the vehicle peripheral devices whose importance level is higher than the preset level with the hardware interface of the area controller located in the vehicle location range where the vehicle collision level is lower than the preset collision level.
[0043] For example, the aforementioned device importance levels correspond to the functional safety levels / safety states in the table. This method categorizes the safety levels of all vehicle peripheral devices. According to regulations, certain functions must remain normal after a collision, such as high-voltage power-off and active high-voltage discharge; torque reduction to zero; engine fuel injection shutdown; door unlocking; hazard lights activation; normal operation of the safety restraint system; EDR upload; TOX SOS, etc. Therefore, this solution ensures that the links and hardware interfaces implementing these functions are safe and reliable, and cannot be damaged during a collision, when allocating hardware interfaces between vehicle peripheral devices and area controllers. Thus, after assessing the device importance level of each vehicle peripheral device, the interfaces and links (e.g., power supply, network signal links, hard-wired signal links, etc.) implementing the aforementioned collision safety-related functions are allocated to area controllers unaffected by the collision, based on the device importance level. For example, if the area controller (left rear of the vehicle) is located in the trunk and its placement cannot avoid the collision risk area, then in order to ensure the high-voltage active discharge function is implemented in the event of a collision, the power supply and CANFD circuit of the rear drive motor controller cannot be distributed to the area controller (left rear of the vehicle) nearby, but need to be distributed to the area controller (left center of the vehicle or other locations) at a more distant location that is not affected by the collision.
[0044] By means of the above technical solution, the area controller configuration method provided by the present invention addresses the problem that as the number of vehicle wiring harnesses increases, the arrangement of wiring harnesses between the area controller and vehicle peripheral devices becomes increasingly complex and less secure. The present invention determines the vehicle peripheral device information, including device importance level information; and associates the vehicle peripheral devices with an importance level higher than a preset level with the hardware interface of the area controller located in the vehicle location range where the vehicle collision level is lower than the preset collision level. In the above scheme, this method is applied to a centralized automotive electronic and electrical architecture. The central controller is the central computing unit of the vehicle and the decision-making center of the vehicle, responsible for the calculation of vehicle logic and the issuance of instructions. The area controllers, which are divided according to their layout areas, are responsible for the vehicle's secondary intelligent power distribution, I / O control, and gateway functions. The central controller and each area controller communicate via Ethernet. The area controllers receive input signals from various sensors in the vehicle and transmit them to the central processor. After the central processor performs calculations, it issues instructions to the relevant area controllers. The area controllers control the corresponding actuators to perform actions. This scheme ensures driving safety by placing high-safety-level equipment in area controllers that are not easily collided with, thus providing strong support for functions such as autonomous driving. At the same time, it is conducive to reducing the cost and weight of wiring harnesses and realizes intelligent power distribution.
[0045] In one embodiment, the above method further includes:
[0046] Based on the above-mentioned equipment importance levels and vehicle collision levels, establish the correspondence between vehicle peripheral equipment and different vehicle location ranges.
[0047] Based on the above correspondence, the hardware interface configuration of the area controllers is set in different vehicle location ranges.
[0048] For example, each peripheral device of the vehicle has its own device importance level, and each area controller also has its own vehicle collision level. The vehicle collision level is used to characterize the degree of damage received by the area controller when the vehicle is involved in a collision. This method sets the hardware interface configuration between the vehicle peripheral devices with higher device importance levels and the area controllers with lower vehicle collision levels, thereby ensuring that the peripheral devices with important functions in the vehicle are not easily affected by collisions.
[0049] In one embodiment, the above method further includes:
[0050] Based on the principle of proximity allocation, the aforementioned vehicle peripheral devices associated with the hardware interface of the aforementioned area controller are configured, and / or,
[0051] Configure the aforementioned area controller and vehicle peripheral devices that match the aforementioned hardware interfaces, and / or,
[0052] The aforementioned area controller is configured with a drive chip whose drive capability and terminal current carrying capacity meet the current requirements of the aforementioned vehicle peripheral equipment.
[0053] For example, this method deploys multiple area controllers in suitable areas of the vehicle for zoned control based on configuration and layout requirements. According to the layout area of each peripheral device in the interface summary table, it selects and places it on the nearest area controller interface to achieve the optimal wiring harness length design.
[0054] For example, if the interface types of each peripheral device have been collected and determined in the peripheral device key information summary table, then during interface allocation, they need to be assigned to area controller interfaces of the same type. Furthermore, given that the interface types are the same, the interface circuits also need to be matched accordingly to ensure normal functionality.
[0055] For example, the area controller is responsible for the vehicle's secondary intelligent power distribution and the high / low drive control of peripheral devices. Therefore, in the hardware design of these interfaces, it is necessary to focus on whether the driving capability of the drive chip and the terminal current carrying capacity meet the current requirements of the peripheral load.
[0056] Regarding the verification of driver chip capabilities: 1) First, it is necessary to ensure that the chip's withstand threshold for inrush current is higher than the inrush current when the load is working, and that it will not shut down abnormally due to excessive inrush current under normal operating conditions; 2) Ensure that the long-term operating current that the driver chip can withstand is not lower than the steady-state operating current of the load under all temperature conditions; 3) Ensure that under all temperature conditions, when all functions that may work simultaneously on the same area controller are enabled, the driver chip will not shut down the output due to overheating. This can be confirmed through testing. When allocating loads, the loads that will run for a long time should not be too concentrated, so as to avoid the design of excessive local temperature rise.
[0057] Regarding the current carrying capacity verification of terminals: 1) The terminals can withstand the long-term operating current of the load; 2) Ensure that under all temperature field conditions, when all functions that may work simultaneously on the same area controller are turned on, the temperature of the terminals and wires will not exceed the material temperature limit. This can be confirmed through testing. When distributing loads, the loads that operate for a long time should not be too concentrated, so as to avoid the design of excessive local temperature rise.
[0058] In one embodiment, the above method further includes:
[0059] Based on the operating current requirements under different operating conditions, the current detection accuracy of the driver chip, and different overcurrent situations, different overcurrent protection thresholds are set for the hardware interface of the above-mentioned area controller.
[0060] For example, one advantage of area controllers for intelligent power distribution and other drive control is their ability to detect current and promptly diagnose various overcurrent faults, such as low overload, short circuit, and stall. This method sets up rapid shutdown of faulty circuits to prevent damage to the wires in the faulty circuit and to avoid a significant drop in vehicle voltage, which could lead to serious functional failures. In existing technologies, the fusing time of traditional fuses is in the millisecond to second range; the lower the overload current, the longer the fusing time. For example, an A1 type fuse carrying a 135% overload current may have a fusing time of up to 1800 seconds. However, when this method uses an intelligent chip like the area controller for overcurrent protection, it can be programmed to adapt to different levels of overload current requirements, and the shutdown current can be controlled on demand, with a shutdown time of less than 100 microseconds. Therefore, using area controllers to replace traditional fuses and relays for power distribution and drive provides a strong guarantee for achieving autonomous driving. This method sets up overcurrent detection and rapid disconnection of fault circuits, intelligently detects abnormal currents and can switch quickly within a time of as low as 100µs, avoiding higher-level functional abnormalities of the whole vehicle. Moreover, the overcurrent threshold is programmed to follow the load current gradient, and the circuit matching wire diameter can be optimized compared with traditional fuses, realizing cost reduction and weight reduction of wiring harnesses.
[0061] For example, when setting overcurrent protection thresholds / times for corresponding interfaces (including power interfaces / high-drive outputs / low-drive outputs / H-bridges / H-bridges (PWM) / PWM outputs) on a region controller, the following principles should be considered: 1) Meet the operating current requirements under all load conditions to ensure that the set thresholds do not cause abnormal interface shutdown. 2) Consider the current detection accuracy of the driver interface chip. 3) For different overcurrent conditions, multiple different thresholds can be set to ensure more economical return path matching.
[0062] In one embodiment, the above method further includes:
[0063] If the importance level of the aforementioned vehicle peripheral equipment is higher than the preset level and the aforementioned vehicle peripheral equipment has only one power supply, then connect the power supply of the aforementioned vehicle peripheral equipment to a hardware interface in the area controller with a collision level lower than the preset collision level, or...
[0064] If the importance level of the aforementioned vehicle peripheral device is higher than the preset level and the aforementioned vehicle peripheral device has two power supplies, then the two power supplies of the aforementioned vehicle peripheral device are respectively associated with two hardware interfaces in the area controller.
[0065] For example, power interfaces for peripheral devices with high functional safety levels that must continue operating even in the event of a vehicle failure require special attention during power distribution design. If the device has only one power supply, this power supply needs to be allocated to the interface on the area controller with a reliable power input connection to ensure no power outages occur in abnormal situations such as collisions. If the device has two power supplies, the two power supplies can be allocated to the interfaces on the area controller with two different power input connections, implementing a power distribution redundancy design. This ensures that if one power supply malfunctions, such as overvoltage, undervoltage, or open circuit, the fault can be detected and quickly cut off, relying on the other intelligent power distribution for power supply.
[0066] In one embodiment, the above method further includes:
[0067] If the aforementioned area controller has at least two hardware interfaces with the same voltage requirement range, a load current difference less than a preset difference value, the connected devices have the same power mode, the connected devices have the same importance level, and the connected devices have the same functional domain, then the aforementioned at least two hardware interfaces will be merged.
[0068] Among them, the above power supply modes are constant power supply and non-constant power supply.
[0069] For example, each area controller in a vehicle is responsible for intelligent power distribution to dozens or even hundreds of external devices. If each device's power interface is assigned a separate power interface, the required number of power interfaces for the area controller will be large. Sometimes, to reduce the number of interfaces, some power interfaces are merged. The merging principles are basically the same as the traditional fuse box power distribution merging principles, mainly considering the following points: 1) Consistent voltage requirements, such as a 12V power interface cannot be merged with a 5V power interface. 2) Same power mode, such as constant power and non-constant power cannot be merged. 3) The load current difference cannot be too large, and it cannot cause an increase in the power chip specifications or wire diameter. 4) Same functional safety level. 5) The impact of functional failure on the whole vehicle cannot be significantly different. For example, the power supply for loads that fail due to functions such as engine shutdown or power loss cannot be merged with the power supply for certain comfort or entertainment functions.
[0070] In one embodiment, the above method further includes:
[0071] The current-carrying capacity of the wiring harnesses and terminals of at least two power supplies of the aforementioned area controller is adjusted based on the operating ambient temperature and wire diameter of the wiring harnesses.
[0072] For example, considering power distribution redundancy requirements, each area controller has two power inputs, and load balancing needs to be considered for these two power sources. On one hand, it's crucial to avoid exceeding the capacity limits of any single power input terminal, especially when using connectors. For instance, the temperature current carrying capacity of a 9.5mm wide tin-plated terminal is generally no more than 48A at 90°C (considering an 80% safety margin), and generally 60A at 60°C (also considering an 80% safety margin). Therefore, the power input must be evenly distributed to ensure that each power input does not exceed its capacity limit at its respective ambient temperature. On the other hand, if the load current on one line is too high, the return line diameter requirement will also increase. Sometimes, to meet voltage drop requirements, the wire diameter may need to be further increased. In this case, the wire diameter may exceed the terminal crimping range, or the excessively thick wire may cause layout difficulties. Therefore, after completing the initial interface allocation, the current carrying capacity of the two power input lines of the area controller needs to be checked and adjusted accordingly. The above methods prevent abnormal shutdown due to load surge current exceeding the chip's surge capacity limit, and also prevent functional abnormalities caused by the chip or terminal's steady-state load capacity not meeting the requirements for long-term steady-state operation.
[0073] In one embodiment, the above method further includes:
[0074] The wiring harnesses controlling the vehicle are connected in a combined manner with their respective area distributor interfaces.
[0075] For example, to facilitate assembly, vehicle wiring harnesses are typically divided into multiple segments, such as front compartment wiring harnesses, instrument panel wiring harnesses, and body wiring harnesses. These harnesses are connected by interfacing connectors. In this method, taking the left-center area controller as an example, the left-center area controller connects to external devices on the instrument panel wiring harness and the body wiring harness. When assigning interfaces to the left-center area controller, based on 3D layout feasibility, the multiple connectors on the area controller are divided into instrument panel wiring harness connectors and body wiring harness connectors. Then, the external device interfaces on the instrument panel wiring harness are assigned to the instrument panel wiring harness connectors, and the external device interfaces on the body wiring harness are assigned to the body wiring harness connectors. This reduces the number of holes required for interfacing connectors, allowing for smaller connector sizes, which optimizes the space requirements for wiring harness interfacing connectors and saves on connector costs. Simultaneously, reducing loop interruptions also contributes to loop impedance and current continuity.
[0076] For example, there is another special case that requires consideration of connector partitioning optimization for interface allocation. For instance, suppose the left front area controller has two connectors with outgoing cables between them, and the connecting loop between the branches of the two connectors is relatively long. In this case, the method allocates the interface of the external device to the area controller connector with the shortest branch length, avoiding allocation to the other connector. Although the loops seem to be equivalent, it actually avoids the situation of wire tangling caused by the long connecting loop between the two connectors.
[0077] For example, this solution is applied to a centralized automotive electrical and electronic architecture, which is a centralized architecture of central controller + regional controllers. The central controller is the central computing unit of the vehicle and the decision-making center of the vehicle, responsible for the calculation of vehicle logic and the issuance of instructions. Regional controllers, divided into areas according to their layout, are responsible for the vehicle's secondary intelligent power distribution, I / O control, and gateway functions. The central controller and each regional controller communicate via Ethernet. The regional controllers receive input signals from various sensors in the vehicle and transmit them to the central processor. After the central processor performs calculations, it issues instructions to the relevant regional controllers, which then control the corresponding actuators. The centralized electrical and electronic architecture completely makes up for the shortcomings of the distributed architecture, providing higher computing power and communication speed, resulting in a better user experience; it achieves hardware and software decoupling, facilitating OTA upgrades; it receives input and control drives locally, which is beneficial for reducing wiring harness costs and making the system lighter; it achieves intelligent power distribution and power distribution redundancy, enabling timely and effective diagnosis of overcurrent / overvoltage, etc., providing strong protection for autonomous driving, etc.
[0078] For example, the area controller in this method, as one of the core components of the aforementioned centralized electronic and electrical architecture, undertakes the functions of secondary intelligent power distribution, area I / O control, and gateway for the entire vehicle. Based on a comprehensive evaluation of the number and location of electrical equipment in the vehicle, as well as the overall demand for various hardware interfaces, multiple area controllers are distributed in suitable areas of the vehicle to achieve optimal overall vehicle cost and layout. Each area controller is responsible for intelligent power distribution, I / O control, signal routing (gateway function), and electrical diagnostic functions in its associated area. From the perspective of area controller hardware, the reasonable allocation and design of hardware interfaces are crucial to ensuring correct functional implementation, stable and reliable power distribution, optimal wiring harness cost and weight, and timely fault diagnosis and response.
[0079] For example, the vehicle provides dual power supplies to the area controller, achieving design redundancy for the area controller's own power supply; the area controller provides one or more Ethernet, CAN, and LIN signals to interact with the central controller and other ECUs as needed, realizing the area gateway function; the left-center area controller adds PEPS function compared to other area controllers, therefore the left-center area controller interface has PE antenna and PS antenna signal input; the area controller needs to receive three types of input signals: PWM, analog signals, and digital signals, and the interface matching design is performed according to the input signal type; the area controller provides various drive output interfaces to peripheral devices, including 12V power output (intelligent power distribution), 5V power output, H-bridge output, H-bridge (PWM) output, high drive output, low drive output, PWM output, analog ground output, etc., and these interfaces will be appropriately matched according to the load information.
[0080] For example, this solution can be applied to the smart power distribution interface (12V power output interface) of the area controller and other types of interfaces of the vehicle.
[0081] For example, in addition to the interface allocation design principles mentioned above, this solution also includes some interface design optimization schemes for the area controller, which are beneficial to the overall vehicle cost or other aspects. When designing the area controller interface allocation, the following can be considered: 1) External devices with low-drive configurations can be changed to high-drive configurations, reducing the need for vehicle fuses. 2) Switch signals with lower requirements can be changed from "active high" to "active low," reducing the need for vehicle fuses. 3) Wake-up sources on the doors, such as "central locking switch signal input," which were originally connected to the door control module, requiring constant power, can be changed to connect to the area controller, making the door control module an external device with non-constant power requirements, thus reducing the overall vehicle's dark current.
[0082] For example, this solution decomposes and elaborates on the design principles for allocating key hardware interfaces. Following these principles in subsequent design processes can meet the relevant requirements of peripheral devices; effectively optimize the vehicle's static current, reducing the complexity, cost, and weight of the vehicle's wiring harness; ensure that the vehicle's functional safety and collision safety requirements are met; and enable timely current diagnosis and fault isolation to protect the safety of the vehicle's wiring harness circuits and provide assurance for autonomous driving.
[0083] Furthermore, as a response to the above Figure 1 In addition to the implementation of the method shown, this embodiment of the invention also provides a regional controller configuration device for configuring the aforementioned... Figure 1 The method shown is implemented accordingly. This device embodiment corresponds to the foregoing method embodiment. For ease of reading, this device embodiment will not repeat the details of the foregoing method embodiment, but it should be clear that the device in this embodiment can implement all the contents of the foregoing method embodiment. Figure 2 As shown, the device includes: a determining unit 21 and an associating unit 22, wherein...
[0084] The determining unit 21 is used to determine the vehicle peripheral equipment information, which includes equipment importance level information.
[0085] The association unit 22 is used to associate the vehicle peripheral devices whose importance level is higher than the preset level with the hardware interface of the area controller located in the vehicle location range where the vehicle collision level is lower than the preset collision level.
[0086] For example, the above-mentioned unit is also used for:
[0087] Based on the above-mentioned equipment importance levels and vehicle collision levels, establish the correspondence between vehicle peripheral equipment and different vehicle location ranges.
[0088] Based on the above correspondence, the hardware interface configuration of the area controllers is set in different vehicle location ranges.
[0089] For example, the above-mentioned unit is also used for:
[0090] Based on the principle of proximity allocation, the aforementioned vehicle peripheral devices associated with the hardware interface of the aforementioned area controller are configured, and / or,
[0091] Configure the aforementioned area controller and vehicle peripheral devices that match the aforementioned hardware interfaces, and / or,
[0092] The aforementioned area controller is configured with a drive chip whose drive capability and terminal current carrying capacity meet the current requirements of the aforementioned vehicle peripheral equipment.
[0093] For example, the above-mentioned unit is also used for:
[0094] Based on the operating current requirements under different operating conditions, the current detection accuracy of the driver chip, and different overcurrent situations, different overcurrent protection thresholds are set for the hardware interface of the above-mentioned area controller.
[0095] For example, the above-mentioned unit is also used for:
[0096] If the importance level of the aforementioned vehicle peripheral equipment is higher than the preset level and the aforementioned vehicle peripheral equipment has only one power supply, then connect the power supply of the aforementioned vehicle peripheral equipment to a hardware interface in the area controller with a collision level lower than the preset collision level, or...
[0097] If the importance level of the aforementioned vehicle peripheral equipment is higher than the preset level and the aforementioned vehicle peripheral equipment has two power supplies, then the two power supplies of the aforementioned vehicle peripheral equipment will be respectively associated with two hardware interfaces in the area controller.
[0098] For example, the above-mentioned unit is also used for:
[0099] If the aforementioned area controller has at least two hardware interfaces with the same voltage requirement range, a load current difference less than a preset difference value, the connected devices have the same power mode, the connected devices have the same importance level, and the connected devices have the same functional domain, then the aforementioned at least two hardware interfaces will be merged.
[0100] Among them, the above power supply modes are constant power supply and non-constant power supply.
[0101] For example, the above-mentioned unit is also used for:
[0102] The current-carrying capacity of the wiring harnesses and terminals of at least two power supplies of the aforementioned area controller is adjusted based on the operating ambient temperature and wire diameter of the wiring harnesses.
[0103] By means of the above technical solution, the area controller configuration device provided by the present invention addresses the problem that as the number of vehicle wiring harnesses increases, the arrangement of wiring harnesses between the area controller and vehicle peripheral devices becomes increasingly complex and less secure. The present invention determines the vehicle peripheral device information, including device importance level information; and associates the vehicle peripheral devices with an importance level higher than a preset level with the hardware interface of the area controller located in the vehicle location range where the vehicle collision level is lower than the preset collision level. In the above scheme, this method is applied to a centralized automotive electronic and electrical architecture. The central controller is the central computing unit of the vehicle and the decision-making center of the vehicle, responsible for the calculation of vehicle logic and the issuance of instructions. The area controllers, which are divided according to their layout areas, are responsible for the vehicle's secondary intelligent power distribution, I / O control, and gateway functions. The central controller and each area controller communicate via Ethernet. The area controllers receive input signals from various sensors in the vehicle and transmit them to the central processor. After the central processor performs calculations, it issues instructions to the relevant area controllers. The area controllers control the corresponding actuators to perform actions. This scheme ensures driving safety by placing high-safety-level equipment in area controllers that are not easily collided with, thus providing strong support for functions such as autonomous driving. At the same time, it is conducive to reducing the cost and weight of wiring harnesses and realizes intelligent power distribution.
[0104] The processor contains a kernel, which retrieves the corresponding program units from memory. One or more kernels can be configured, and adjusting kernel parameters allows for a region controller configuration method. This addresses the problem of increasingly complex and insecure wiring harness arrangements between the region controller and vehicle peripherals as the number of wiring harnesses in the vehicle increases.
[0105] This invention provides a computer-readable storage medium including a stored program that, when executed by a processor, implements the aforementioned area controller configuration method.
[0106] This invention provides a processor for running a program, wherein the program executes the region controller configuration method during runtime.
[0107] This invention provides an electronic device, which includes at least one processor and at least one memory connected to the processor; wherein the processor is used to call program instructions in the memory to execute the area controller configuration method described above.
[0108] This invention provides an electronic device 30, such as... Figure 3As shown, the electronic device includes at least one processor 301, and at least one memory 302 and bus 303 connected to the processor; wherein, the processor 301 and the memory 302 communicate with each other through the bus 303; the processor 301 is used to call program instructions in the memory to execute the above-described area controller configuration method.
[0109] The smart electronic devices mentioned in this article can be PCs, tablets, mobile phones, etc.
[0110] This application also provides a computer program product, which, when executed on a process management electronic device, is suitable for executing a program that initializes the following method steps:
[0111] Determine the information of the vehicle's peripheral equipment, including the equipment's importance level information;
[0112] The aforementioned peripheral devices of the vehicle with an importance level higher than the preset level are associated with the hardware interface of the area controller located in the vehicle location range where the vehicle collision level is lower than the preset collision level.
[0113] Furthermore, the above methods also include:
[0114] Based on the above-mentioned equipment importance levels and vehicle collision levels, establish the correspondence between vehicle peripheral equipment and different vehicle location ranges.
[0115] Based on the above correspondence, the hardware interface configuration of the area controllers is set in different vehicle location ranges.
[0116] Furthermore, the above methods also include:
[0117] Based on the principle of proximity allocation, the aforementioned vehicle peripheral devices associated with the hardware interface of the aforementioned area controller are configured, and / or,
[0118] Configure the aforementioned area controller and vehicle peripheral devices that match the aforementioned hardware interfaces, and / or,
[0119] The aforementioned area controller is configured with a drive chip whose drive capability and terminal current carrying capacity meet the current requirements of the aforementioned vehicle peripheral equipment.
[0120] Furthermore, the above methods also include:
[0121] Based on the operating current requirements under different operating conditions, the current detection accuracy of the driver chip, and different overcurrent situations, different overcurrent protection thresholds are set for the hardware interface of the above-mentioned area controller.
[0122] Furthermore, the above methods also include:
[0123] If the importance level of the aforementioned vehicle peripheral equipment is higher than the preset level and the aforementioned vehicle peripheral equipment has only one power supply, then connect the power supply of the aforementioned vehicle peripheral equipment to a hardware interface in the area controller with a collision level lower than the preset collision level, or...
[0124] If the importance level of the aforementioned vehicle peripheral equipment is higher than the preset level and the aforementioned vehicle peripheral equipment has two power supplies, then the two power supplies of the aforementioned vehicle peripheral equipment will be respectively associated with two hardware interfaces in the area controller.
[0125] Furthermore, the above methods also include:
[0126] If the aforementioned area controller has at least two hardware interfaces with the same voltage requirement range, a load current difference less than a preset difference value, the connected devices have the same power mode, the connected devices have the same importance level, and the connected devices have the same functional domain, then the aforementioned at least two hardware interfaces will be merged.
[0127] Among them, the above power supply modes are constant power supply and non-constant power supply.
[0128] Furthermore, the above methods also include:
[0129] The current-carrying capacity of the wiring harnesses and terminals of at least two power supplies of the aforementioned area controller is adjusted based on the operating ambient temperature and wire diameter of the wiring harnesses.
[0130] This application is described with reference to flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams of methods, electronic devices (systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of this application. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and / or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions can be provided to a processor of a general-purpose computer, special-purpose computer, embedded processor, or other programmable process management electronic device to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable process management electronic device, generate instructions for implementing the process... Figure 1 One or more processes and / or boxes Figure 1 A device that provides the functions specified in one or more boxes.
[0131] In a typical configuration, an electronic device includes one or more processors (CPUs), memory, and a bus. The electronic device may also include input / output interfaces, network interfaces, etc.
[0132] Memory may include non-persistent memory in computer-readable media, such as random access memory (RAM) and / or non-volatile memory, like read-only memory (ROM) or flash RAM, and memory includes at least one memory chip. Memory is an example of computer-readable media.
[0133] Computer-readable media, including both permanent and non-permanent, removable and non-removable media, can store information using any method or technology. Information can be computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data. Examples of computer-readable storage media for computers include, but are not limited to, phase-change memory (PRAM), static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), other types of random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electrically erasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory or other memory technologies, CD-ROM, digital versatile optical disc (DVD) or other optical storage, magnetic tape, magnetic magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage electronic devices, or any other non-transferable medium that can be used to store information accessible to a computing electronic device. As defined herein, computer-readable media does not include transient computer-readable media, such as modulated data signals and carrier waves.
[0134] It should also be noted that the terms "comprising," "including," or any other variations thereof are intended to cover non-exclusive inclusion, such that a process, method, article, or electronic device that comprises a list of elements includes not only those elements but also other elements not expressly listed, or elements inherent to such a process, method, article, or electronic device. Unless otherwise specified, an element defined by the phrase "comprising one..." does not exclude the presence of other identical elements in the process, method, article, or electronic device that includes that element.
[0135] Those skilled in the art will understand that embodiments of this application can be provided as methods, systems, or computer program products. Therefore, this application can take the form of a completely hardware embodiment, a completely software embodiment, or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects. Furthermore, this application can take the form of a computer program product embodied on one or more computer-usable, computer-readable storage media (including, but not limited to, disk storage, CD-ROM, optical storage, etc.) containing computer-usable program code.
[0136] The above are merely embodiments of this application and are not intended to limit the scope of this application. Various modifications and variations can be made to this application by those skilled in the art. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements, etc., made within the spirit and principles of this application should be included within the scope of the claims of this application.
Claims
1. A zone controller configuration method for a vehicle, characterized by, The method comprises: determining vehicle peripheral device information, which includes device importance level information; associating vehicle peripheral devices with device importance level higher than a preset level to hardware interfaces of zone controllers arranged in vehicle location ranges with vehicle crash levels lower than a preset crash level; establishing a correspondence between vehicle peripheral devices and different vehicle location ranges based on the device importance level and the vehicle crash level; configuring hardware interfaces of zone controllers arranged in different vehicle location ranges based on the correspondence; configuring vehicle peripheral devices associated with the hardware interfaces of the zone controllers based on the principle of nearest allocation.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein, The method further comprises: configuring the zone controllers and the vehicle peripheral devices matched with the hardware interfaces, and / or configuring the zone controllers with drive chips whose driving capability and terminal current-carrying capacity meet the current demand of the vehicle peripheral devices.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein, The method further comprises: setting different overcurrent protection thresholds for the hardware interfaces of the zone controllers based on the working current requirements under different working conditions, the current detection accuracy of the drive chips, and different overcurrent conditions.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein, The method further comprises: in the case that the device importance level of the vehicle peripheral device is higher than a preset level and the vehicle peripheral device is powered by only one power supply, associating the power supply of the vehicle peripheral device to a hardware interface of a zone controller with a crash level lower than a preset crash level, or in the case that the device importance level information of the vehicle peripheral device is higher than a preset level and the vehicle peripheral device is powered by two power supplies, respectively associating the two power supplies of the vehicle peripheral device to two hardware interfaces of a zone controller.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein, The method further comprises: merging at least two hardware interfaces of a zone controller in the case that the voltage demand ranges of the at least two hardware interfaces are consistent, the load current difference is less than a preset difference value, the power supply modes of the connected devices are the same, the device importance levels of the connected devices are the same, and the functional fields of the connected devices are the same. The power supply modes mentioned above are normal power supply and abnormal power supply.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein, The method further comprises: adjusting the current-carrying capacity of the wire harness and terminals of at least two power supplies of a zone controller based on the working environment temperature and the wire diameter of the wire harness.
7. A zone controller configuration device, comprising: a determination unit configured to determine vehicle peripheral device information, which includes device importance level information; an association unit configured to associate vehicle peripheral devices with device importance level higher than a preset level to hardware interfaces of zone controllers arranged in vehicle location ranges with vehicle crash levels lower than a preset crash level; establish a correspondence between vehicle peripheral devices and different vehicle location ranges based on the device importance level and the vehicle crash level; configure hardware interfaces of zone controllers arranged in different vehicle location ranges based on the correspondence; configure vehicle peripheral devices associated with the hardware interfaces of the zone controllers based on the principle of nearest allocation.
8. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer readable storage medium comprises a stored program, wherein the program, when executed by a processor, implements the steps of the area controller configuration method according to any one of claims 1 to 6.
9. An electronic device, comprising: The electronic device comprises at least one processor and at least one memory connected to the processor; wherein the processor is configured to invoke program instructions in the memory, and execute the steps of the area controller configuration method according to any one of claims 1 to 6.
Citation Information
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