Method, system, vehicle and program product for operating an electronic control unit of a vehicle

Abstract

The invention relates to a method (100) for operating an electronic control unit (2) of a vehicle (1), the electronic control unit (2) being not powered by a standby power source and comprising a processor and a memory, the method (100) comprising a step S110 of determining all electronic control units (2) in the vehicle (1) that are not powered by a standby power source; s120, judging whether at least one electronic control unit (2) in the electronic control units (2) meets at least one predetermined power supply condition or not; and a step S130 of powering the at least one electronic control unit (2) if the condition is satisfied. The invention further relates to a corresponding system, a vehicle and a computer program product. According to the invention, the power supply operation of the electronic control unit can be flexibly realized. Therefore, the risk of data loss caused by long-time power failure of the electronic control unit can be efficiently and reliably prevented, and the data integrity is improved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of vehicles, in particular to a method for operating an electronic control unit of a vehicle and a corresponding system. In addition, the present invention also relates to a corresponding vehicle and a computer program product. Background Art

[0002] With the continuous development of vehicles, a large number of electronic control units ECU (Electronic Control Unit) are deployed in vehicles, which can realize different functions of vehicle operation accordingly. Generally, these electronic control units include at least a processor and a memory and process and store data when powered.

[0003] When some electronic control units in the vehicle are always powered, such as waking up the vehicle's electronic control unit by sensing the car key, it is generally called standby power supply mode. Standby power is a low-power power supply method used to maintain the function of the device when the device is in standby mode. In this power supply mode, the main power source of the device (such as battery or AC power) is still turned off, but some key components in the device (such as electronic control unit) can be powered to maintain the function of the device. When the device needs to be used, the standby power can quickly wake up the device to restore its normal function.

[0004] However, some other electronic control units in the vehicle are not powered by the standby power supply. After the vehicle's power supply system is turned off, these electronic control units are not powered. Generally speaking, the charge in the memory will gradually leak over time. If the vehicle is parked for a long time, such as several months, and the memory is not powered for a long time, the data stored in the memory may also be lost. In addition, the larger the amount of data stored in the memory, the greater the risk of data loss.

[0005] Therefore, there is still a need for improvement in the prior art to address at least some of the above issues. Summary of the invention

[0006] Based on this, the present invention proposes an efficient solution, which can not only overcome the deficiencies in the prior art solutions, but also ensure that the data in the memory of the electronic control unit will not be lost, thereby improving data integrity and storage reliability.

[0007] According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for operating an electronic control unit of a vehicle, the electronic control unit not being powered by a standby power supply and comprising a processor and a memory, wherein the method comprises the following steps:

[0008] Step S110: determining all electronic control units in the vehicle that are not powered by the standby power supply;

[0009] Step S120: determining whether at least one of the electronic control units satisfies at least one predetermined power supply condition; and

[0010] Step S130: If the conditions are met, power is supplied to the at least one electronic control unit.

[0011] The basic concept of the present invention is that by monitoring all electronic control units in the vehicle that are not powered by the standby power supply, it is possible to reliably and accurately determine which electronic control unit or units meet the power supply conditions, and based on this, perform corresponding operations on the electronic control units, such as power supply or update timestamp information. As a result, the power supply operation of the electronic control unit can be flexibly implemented. Thereby, the risk of data loss caused by long-term power failure of the electronic control unit can be efficiently and reliably prevented, and data integrity can be improved.

[0012] Advantageous configurations of the technical solution of the present invention can be obtained from the following optional implementations.

[0013] According to an optional implementation of the method of the present invention, in step S110, digital information of each electronic control unit is retrieved, wherein the digital information includes a maximum power-off time period threshold of the electronic control unit and a power-off timestamp of the last power-off.

[0014] According to an optional embodiment of the method of the present invention, step S120 further includes the following sub-steps:

[0015] Sub-step S121: obtaining a time period from the last power failure of the at least one electronic control unit based on the power failure timestamp; and

[0016] Sub-step S122: Compare the obtained time period with a maximum power-off time period threshold of the at least one electronic control unit; if the obtained time period is greater than or equal to the maximum power-off time period threshold, the at least one predetermined power supply condition is satisfied.

[0017] According to an optional embodiment of the method of the present invention, step S130 further includes the following sub-steps:

[0018] Sub-step S131: determining whether the memory of the at least one electronic control unit satisfies at least one predetermined memory condition;

[0019] Sub-step S132: if satisfied, output a control signal to power the at least one electronic control unit, and reset the power-off timestamp of the at least one electronic control unit based on the power supply end time and store the reset power-off timestamp; and

[0020] Sub-step S133: If not satisfied, updating the maximum power-off time period threshold of the at least one electronic control unit based on the current moment and storing the updated maximum power-off time period threshold.

[0021] According to an alternative embodiment of the method according to the invention, it is provided that the at least one predetermined memory condition comprises a memory unit type and / or a memory data type and / or a memory data amount and / or a memory capacity.

[0022] According to an optional embodiment of the method of the present invention, it is provided that the maximum power-off time period threshold is determined based on a storage unit type and / or a memory data type and / or a memory data amount and / or a memory capacity.

[0023] According to an alternative embodiment of the method according to the invention, it is provided that the memory is a non-volatile memory.

[0024] The memory of the electronic control unit comprises at least one of the following memory cell types: SLC, MLC, TLC, QLC.

[0025] According to an optional embodiment of the method of the present invention, it is provided that the maximum power-off time period thresholds of the electronic control units are the same as or different from each other.

[0026] According to an optional implementation of the method of the present invention, the memory capacity of the electronic control unit is the effective capacity of the memory after regular monitoring of the health status of the memory.

[0027] According to an alternative embodiment of the method according to the invention, it is provided that the method is repeatedly performed in a predetermined time cycle.

[0028] According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system for operating an electronic control unit of a vehicle, the system being configured to be suitable for performing the method according to the present invention and comprising:

[0029] a control module configured to retrieve and store digital information of each electronic control unit that is not powered by the standby power supply, determine whether at least one of the electronic control units satisfies at least one predetermined power supply condition, and execute operations on the electronic control unit based on the determination result;

[0030] A power supply module is configured to supply power to the electronic control unit based on the control module control signal.

[0031] According to an optional embodiment of the system of the present invention, the control module is an electronic control unit powered by a standby power supply.

[0032] According to an alternative embodiment of the system according to the invention, it is provided that the system is an electrical power supply system of the vehicle.

[0033] According to a third aspect of the present invention, a vehicle, in particular an autonomously driven vehicle, is provided, the vehicle comprising a system according to the present invention.

[0034] According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, a computer program product is provided, such as a computer-readable program carrier, which includes or stores computer program instructions, which, when executed by a processor, at least assist in implementing the steps of method 100 according to the present invention.

[0035] Further features of the present invention become apparent from the claims, the drawings and the description of the drawings. The features and feature combinations mentioned in the above description and the features and feature combinations mentioned in the following description of the drawings and / or shown only in the drawings can be used not only in the corresponding specified combinations, but also in other combinations without departing from the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the following contents are also regarded as being covered and disclosed by the present invention: these contents are not explicitly shown in the drawings and are not explicitly explained, but are derived from combinations consisting of separate features from the explained contents and are generated by these combinations. The following contents and feature combinations are also regarded as being disclosed: they do not have all the features of the originally drafted independent claims. In addition, the following contents and feature combinations are regarded as being particularly disclosed by the above contents: they exceed or deviate from the feature combinations defined in the reference relationship of the claims. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0036] The present invention will be described in more detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings, so that the principles, features and advantages of the present invention can be better understood. In the accompanying drawings:

[0037] Figure 1 A schematic diagram showing an exemplary embodiment of a vehicle according to the invention;

[0038] Figure 2 A schematic diagram showing an exemplary embodiment of a system for operating an electronic control unit of a vehicle according to the present invention;

[0039] Figure 3 A flow chart showing an exemplary embodiment of a method for operating an electronic control unit of a vehicle according to the present invention;

[0040] Figure 4 A flow chart showing another exemplary embodiment of a method according to the present invention for operating an electronic control unit of a vehicle; and

[0041] Figure 5 A flow chart showing a further exemplary embodiment of a method according to the invention for operating an electronic control unit of a vehicle is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0042] In order to make the technical problems, technical solutions and beneficial technical effects to be solved by the present invention more clearly understood, the present invention will be further described in detail below in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and multiple exemplary embodiments. It should be understood that the specific embodiments described herein are only used to explain the present invention and are not used to limit the scope of protection of the present invention.

[0043] In this specification, for the sake of convenience, the words and phrases indicating the orientation or positional relationship such as "middle", "upper", "lower", "front", "back", "vertical", "horizontal", "top", "bottom", "inside", "outside" and the like are used to illustrate the positional relationship of the constituent elements with reference to the drawings. This is only for the convenience of describing this specification and simplifying the description, and does not indicate or imply that the device or element referred to has a specific orientation, is constructed and operates in a specific orientation, and therefore cannot be understood as a limitation of the present disclosure. The positional relationship of the constituent elements is appropriately changed according to the direction of describing each constituent element. Therefore, it is not limited to the words and phrases described in the specification, and can be appropriately replaced according to the situation.

[0044] Generally, a vehicle includes a plurality of electronic control units ECU, which may be used to correspondingly control different functional components in the vehicle and / or implement corresponding functions of the vehicle.

[0045] These electronic control units ECU are divided into electronic control units that are powered by a standby power supply and electronic control units that are not powered by the standby power supply.

[0046] Standby power is a low-power power supply mode, which is used to maintain the function of the device when the device is in standby mode. In this power supply mode, the main power source of the device (such as battery or AC) is still turned off, but some key components in the device, such as the electronic control unit ECU, can continue to be powered to maintain the function of the device. When the device needs to be used, the standby power can quickly wake up the device to restore its normal function.

[0047] The standby power supply mode is widely used in the electronic control unit ECU of the vehicle because it allows the electronic control unit ECU to remain "online" without consuming too much power to maintain specific functions of the vehicle, such as safety and convenience functions. For example, the inductive car key system in the vehicle can keep the electronic control unit ECU online through the standby power supply mode so that the key signal can be quickly recognized and the vehicle can be started when the owner approaches the vehicle.

[0048] In contrast, the electronic control units that are not powered by the standby power supply are not continuously powered after the vehicle is powered off. In other words, there is no such low-power power supply method for these electronic control units or the functions implemented by these electronic control units do not require the standby power supply.

[0049] An electronic control unit ECU usually includes a processor and a memory, especially a non-volatile memory. For an electronic control unit that is not powered by a standby power supply, if the memory is not powered for a long time, the charge in the memory will gradually leak over time. Therefore, the data stored in the memory will also be lost.

[0050] In order to solve the defects in the prior art, embodiments of the present invention are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0051] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a vehicle 1 according to the invention is shown.

[0052] In this embodiment, the vehicle 1 is exemplarily configured as a passenger vehicle. Of course, the vehicle 1 may also be another type of vehicle, such as a commercial vehicle.

[0053] The vehicle 1 includes a plurality of electronic control units, including an electronic control unit powered by a standby power supply and an electronic control unit 2 not powered by the standby power supply. Figure 1 As shown, for the sake of clarity, only one electronic control unit 2 which is not powered by the standby power supply is shown by way of example.

[0054] Furthermore, the vehicle 1 comprises a system 3 which executes the method 100 according to the invention.

[0055] Figure 2 A schematic diagram shows an exemplary embodiment of a system 3 according to the invention for operating an electronic control unit 2 of a vehicle 1 .

[0056] According to this embodiment, the system 3 is designed, for example, as a power supply system for supplying electrical energy to the vehicle 1 .

[0057] like Figure 2As shown, the system 3 includes a control module 31. The control module 31 is configured to be suitable for retrieving and storing digital information of each electronic control unit 2 that is not powered by the standby power supply, judging whether at least one of the electronic control units 2 meets at least one predetermined power supply condition, and executing the operation of the electronic control unit 2 based on the judgment result.

[0058] The control module 31 is an electronic control unit which is powered by the standby power supply and in this embodiment is the electronic control unit of the power supply system itself.

[0059] In addition, the system 3 further includes a power supply module 32. The power supply module 32 is configured to supply power to the electronic control unit 2 based on the control signal of the control module 31 (see Figure 2 ).

[0060] In another embodiment not shown, the control module 31 may also be constructed as a separate electronic control unit powered by the standby power supply and the power supply module 32 capable of controlling the power supply system of the vehicle 1 to power the electronic control unit 2 not powered by the standby power supply.

[0061] Figure 2 Four electronic control units 2 that are not powered by the standby power supply are also shown as an example, and they can be connected to the control module 31 of the system 3 in a manner that supports data transmission (see Figure 2 The memories of these electronic control units 2 are designed as non-volatile memories and can include different memory cell types, such as SLC, MLC, TLC, QLC, etc.

[0062] The different storage unit types of memory depend on different component functions and corresponding application scenarios. Generally, SLC memory has better performance and longer life than MLC, TLC and QLC memory, but the price is relatively higher and the storage capacity is relatively less. Therefore, SLC memory is mainly used in application scenarios that require high reliability and high performance, such as enterprise-level storage, embedded systems, etc. MLC, TLC and QLC memory have higher storage density and lower cost, but their life and performance may be worse than SLC memory.

[0063] In this embodiment, the control module 31 or the electronic control unit powered by the standby power supply should have a time acquisition function, a communication capability with the power supply unit, and a basic computing capability. Here, time is not limited to GNSS time or vehicle system time. The basic computing capability includes the ability to obtain a timestamp, a maximum power-off time threshold, the current time, and the ability to update or reset the maximum power-off time threshold.

[0064] Next, combine Figures 3 to 5Various embodiments of the method 100 of the present invention are described in detail.

[0065] Figure 3 The flowchart of an exemplary embodiment of a method 100 according to the present invention for operating an electronic control unit 2 of a vehicle 1 is shown. In this embodiment, the method 100 exemplarily includes steps S110 to S130.

[0066] In step S110, the control module 31 of the system 3 determines all electronic control units 2 in the vehicle 1 that are not powered by the standby power supply. Figure 2 , exemplarily determining four electronic control units 2 that are not powered by the standby power supply.

[0067] In step S120, the control module 31 may determine whether at least one of the electronic control units 2, especially all four electronic control units 2, meets at least one predetermined power supply condition. According to this embodiment, it may be determined for each electronic control unit 2 whether it meets at least one predetermined power supply condition.

[0068] In step S130, if at least one predetermined power supply condition is met, the control module 31 sends a control signal to the power supply module 32 of the system 3, and the power supply module 32 supplies power to the electronic control unit 2 in response to the control signal. Therefore, the electronic control unit 2 is powered and the data stored in the storage unit of its memory is transferred and stored in another storage unit of the memory, thereby avoiding data loss and reduction of memory performance and life due to long-term power failure.

[0069] The method of the present invention can be repeatedly executed at a predetermined time period. According to one embodiment, the time period is set to 30 days. Therefore, for the electronic control unit 2 that is not powered by the standby power supply, the method 100 of the present invention is executed once every 30 days. As a result, the risk of data loss of the memory of all electronic control units 2 that are not powered by the standby power supply can be reliably and cost-effectively avoided.

[0070] Figure 4 A flow chart of a further exemplary embodiment of a method 100 according to the present invention for operating an electronic control unit 2 of a vehicle 1 is shown.

[0071] and Figure 3 Similar to the embodiment in FIG. 1 , in step S110 , all electronic control units 2 in the vehicle 1 that are not powered by the standby power supply are determined.

[0072] In step S110, the control module 31 retrieves digital information of each electronic control unit 2. In this embodiment, the digital information includes a maximum power-off time threshold of the electronic control units 2 and a power-off timestamp of the last power-off of the electronic control units 2.

[0073] According to one embodiment, the control module 31 retrieves the digital information of the electronic control unit 2 when each electronic control unit 2 is powered on.

[0074] The digital information can be stored and retrieved as, for example, a vehicle bus signal, a diagnostic signal, configuration information, etc. The maximum power-off time period threshold included in the digital information indicates the minimum duration of the risk of data loss that may occur in the memory of the electronic control unit 2 since the last power failure due to factors such as its memory characteristics, application scenarios, and the amount of stored data.

[0075] For a plurality of electronic control units 2 , their maximum power-off time period thresholds may be the same as each other. Alternatively, different maximum power-off time period thresholds may be set for different electronic control units 2 .

[0076] According to one embodiment, the maximum power-off time period threshold is determined based on the storage unit type and / or the storage data type and / or the storage data amount and / or the storage capacity. For example, for SLC storage units, since they have better storage performance, a longer maximum power-off time period threshold can be set. For another example, for a storage with a larger amount of data, a shorter maximum power-off time period threshold can be set.

[0077] Generally, after a certain period of time, the memory capacity may decrease as the data is read, written and stored. In this embodiment, the memory capacity of the electronic control unit 2 should be understood as the effective capacity of the memory after the health status of the memory is regularly monitored. Therefore, the maximum power-off time period threshold can be determined based on the effective capacity of the memory. The larger the effective capacity, the larger the maximum power-off time period threshold can be set.

[0078] In step S120 , the control module 31 determines whether at least one of the electronic control units 2 satisfies at least one predetermined power supply condition.

[0079] According to this embodiment, step S120 further includes sub-steps S121 and S122. In sub-step S121, the control module 31 can obtain the time period from the last power failure of at least one electronic control unit 2 based on the power failure timestamp. Here, the control module 31 obtains the time period from the last power failure by using the current time and the power failure timestamp.

[0080] In sub-step S122, the control module 31 compares the obtained time period with the maximum power-off time period threshold of the at least one electronic control unit 2. If the obtained time period is greater than or equal to the corresponding maximum power-off time period threshold, at least one predetermined power supply condition is met.

[0081] However, in step S130 , when at least one predetermined power supply condition is met, the control module 31 sends a control signal to the power supply module 32 of the system 3 , and the power supply module 32 supplies power to the at least one electronic control unit 2 in response to the control signal.

[0082] Figure 5 A flow chart of a further exemplary embodiment of a method 100 according to the invention for operating an electronic control unit 2 of a vehicle 1 is shown.

[0083] and Figure 4 The difference of the embodiment is that step S130 also includes sub-step S131, sub-step S132 and sub-step S133.

[0084] In sub-step S131 , instead of directly outputting a control signal for supplying power to the electronic control unit 2 to the power supply module 32 , the control module 31 determines whether the memory of the electronic control unit 2 satisfies at least one predetermined memory condition.

[0085] According to this embodiment, the at least one predetermined memory condition comprises a memory unit type and / or a memory data type and / or a memory data amount and / or a memory capacity.

[0086] For example, if the storage unit type is MLC or TLC or QLC, the at least one predetermined memory condition is satisfied. For another example, although the storage unit type is SLC, the amount of data stored therein is large, and the at least one predetermined memory condition is also satisfied. Then, when the at least one predetermined memory condition is satisfied, the control module 31 outputs a control signal to the power supply module 32 to supply power to the electronic control unit 2, and resets the power-off timestamp of the electronic control unit 2 based on the power supply end time and stores the reset power-off timestamp.

[0087] In step S133, if the at least one predetermined memory condition is not met, instead of powering on the electronic control unit 2, the control module 31 resets the power-off timestamp of the electronic control unit 2 based on the current moment and stores the reset power-off timestamp. For example, if the storage unit type of the memory of the electronic control unit 2 is SLC, and the amount of stored data is small, it is not necessary to power on the electronic control unit 2, but only to reset the power-off timestamp based on the current moment. Therefore, the stored power-off timestamp is reset to the current moment and is used as the new power-off timestamp of the electronic control unit 2 when the method 100 of the present invention is executed next time. As a result, the method 100 of the present invention can be executed more flexibly and with reduced energy consumption.

[0088] Furthermore, the present invention also relates to a computer program product for at least assisting in the implementation of the steps of the method 100 according to the present invention.

[0089] Other advantages and alternative embodiments of the present invention are obvious to those skilled in the art. Therefore, the present invention in its broader sense is not limited to the specific details, representative structures and exemplary embodiments shown and described. On the contrary, those skilled in the art can make various modifications and substitutions without departing from the basic spirit and scope of the present invention.

Claims

1. A method (100) for operating an electronic control unit (2) of a vehicle (1), the electronic control unit (2) not being powered by a standby power supply and comprising a processor and a memory, wherein: The method (100) comprises the following steps: Step S110: determining all electronic control units (2) in the vehicle (1) that are not powered by a standby power supply; Step S120: determining whether at least one electronic control unit (2) among the electronic control units (2) satisfies at least one predetermined power supply condition; and Step S130: If the conditions are met, power is supplied to the at least one electronic control unit (2).

2. The method (100) according to claim 1, wherein: In step S110, digital information of each electronic control unit (2) is retrieved, wherein the digital information includes a maximum power-off time period threshold of the electronic control unit (2) and a power-off timestamp of the last power-off.

3. The method (100) according to claim 2, wherein: Step S120 also includes the following sub-steps: Sub-step S121: obtaining the time period from the last power failure of the at least one electronic control unit (2) based on the power failure timestamp; and Sub-step S122: comparing the obtained time period with a maximum power-off time period threshold of the at least one electronic control unit (2); if the obtained time period is greater than or equal to the maximum power-off time period threshold, the at least one predetermined power supply condition is satisfied.

4. The method (100) according to claim 2 or 3, wherein: Step S130 also includes the following sub-steps: Sub-step S131: determining whether the memory of the at least one electronic control unit (2) satisfies at least one predetermined memory condition; Sub-step S132: if the conditions are met, output a control signal to supply power to the at least one electronic control unit (2), and reset the power-off timestamp of the at least one electronic control unit (2) based on the power supply end time and store the reset power-off timestamp; and Sub-step S133: If not satisfied, then updating the maximum power-off time threshold of the at least one electronic control unit (2) based on the current moment and storing the updated maximum power-off time threshold.

5. The method (100) according to claim 4, wherein: The at least one predetermined memory condition comprises a memory unit type and / or a memory data type and / or a memory data amount and / or a memory capacity; and / or The maximum power-off time period threshold is determined based on a storage unit type and / or a memory data type and / or a memory data amount and / or a memory capacity.

6. The method (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein: The memory is a non-volatile memory; and / or The memory of the electronic control unit (2) comprises at least one of the following memory cell types: SLC, MLC, TLC, QLC; and / or The maximum power-off time period thresholds of the electronic control units (2) are the same as or different from each other; and / or The memory capacity of the electronic control unit (2) is the effective capacity of the memory after regular monitoring of the health status of the memory; and / or The method is repeatedly executed at a predetermined time period.

7. A system (3) for operating an electronic control unit (2) of a vehicle (1), the system (3) being adapted to perform a method (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 6 and comprising: A control module (31), the control module (31) being configured to retrieve and store digital information of each electronic control unit (2) not powered by the standby power supply, determine whether at least one electronic control unit (2) among the electronic control units (2) satisfies at least one predetermined power supply condition, and execute operation of the electronic control unit (2) based on the determination result; A power supply module (32), wherein the power supply module (32) is configured to supply power to the electronic control unit (2) based on a control signal of the control module (31).

8. The system (3) according to claim 7, wherein: The control module (31) is an electronic control unit powered by a standby power supply; and / or The system (3) is a power supply system of the vehicle (1).

9. A vehicle (1), in particular an autonomous vehicle, comprising a system (3) according to claim 8.

10. A computer program product, such as a computer-readable program carrier, comprising or storing computer program instructions, which, when executed by a processor, at least assist in implementing the steps of the method (100) according to any one of claims 1 to 6.

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