State management method for electric control unit of vehicle and electric control unit

Abstract

The invention relates to a state management method for an electronic control unit for a vehicle, said electronic control unit comprising a plurality of chips, one of which functions as a master chip and the remaining chips functions as slave chips, the state management method at least comprises the following steps: respectively acquiring current chip life cycle states of the master chip and the slave chip; and comparing the chip life cycle state with a reference life cycle state pre-stored in the main chip, the reference life cycle state corresponding to an electric control unit life cycle state of the electric control unit, and determining the electric control unit life cycle state according to a comparison result. The invention also relates to a corresponding electronic control unit. The life cycle state of the electronic control unit can be accurately obtained, so that the operation performance of the electronic control unit is reliably mastered, and the abnormal state of the electronic control unit is detected in time.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to the field of vehicle control technology, and in particular to a state management method for an electronic control unit of a vehicle. The present invention also relates to a corresponding electronic control unit of a vehicle. Background Art

[0002] In recent years, with the development of technology and the improvement of living standards, people have higher and higher requirements for the functionality and safety of vehicles. To this end, the vehicle's electronic control unit has assumed an increasing number of functions, such as body stability control, lane keeping assist, automatic emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, etc. In order to meet the high computing requirements or redundancy requirements of the electronic control unit, multiple chips responsible for different functions are usually integrated into one electronic control unit.

[0003] However, in the existing ECU, each chip is provided by a different chip manufacturer or chip supplier and has a personalized life cycle state, so that the life cycle state of each chip in the ECU cannot be unified. In this case, the life cycle state of the ECU itself cannot be correctly reflected, and the abnormal state of the ECU itself cannot be detected in time, which leads to low safety of the ECU. Summary of the invention

[0004] Therefore, the purpose of the present invention is to propose an improved state management method for an electronic control unit for a vehicle, through which the life cycle state of the electronic control unit can be accurately obtained based on the chip life cycle state, so as to reliably grasp the operating performance of the electronic control unit and timely detect the abnormal state of the electronic control unit, so as to improve the safety and stability of the electronic control unit.

[0005] According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a state management method for an electric control unit of a vehicle, wherein the electric control unit comprises a plurality of chips, one of the chips functions as a master chip and the remaining chips function as slave chips, wherein the state management method comprises at least the following steps:

[0006] S1: respectively obtaining the current chip life cycle status of the master chip and the slave chip;

[0007] S2: Compare the chip life cycle state with a reference life cycle state pre-stored in the main chip, the reference life cycle state corresponds to the electric control unit life cycle state of the electric control unit, and determine the electric control unit life cycle state according to the comparison result.

[0008] Compared with the prior art, in the state management method for an electric control unit according to the present invention, the acquired chip life cycle state is compared with the pre-stored reference life cycle state, and the electric control unit life cycle state can be determined at the level of the electric control unit according to the comparison result, and the chip life cycle state of each chip can be accurately reflected through the electric control unit life cycle state. In this way, the centralized management of the life cycle state of an electric control unit with multiple chips can be achieved, and the abnormal state of the electric control unit can be detected in time, thereby improving the safety and stability of the electric control unit.

[0009] According to a second aspect of the present invention, an electronic control unit for a vehicle is provided, wherein the electronic control unit is configured to implement a state management method according to the present invention, wherein the electronic control unit comprises at least a master chip and at least one slave chip, and the master chip and the slave chip are communicatively connected. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0010] 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. The accompanying drawings include:

[0011] Figure 1 A schematic block diagram of an electronic control unit for a vehicle according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention is shown;

[0012] Figure 2 A schematic flow chart of a state management method for an electronic control unit of a vehicle according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention is shown. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0013] 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 with reference to the accompanying drawings and multiple exemplary embodiments.

[0014] It should be understood that, in this document, the expressions "first", "second", etc. are used for descriptive purposes only and should not be understood as indicating or implying relative importance, nor should they be understood as implicitly indicating the number of technical features indicated. Features defined as "first" or "second" may explicitly or implicitly indicate that at least one of the features is included.

[0015] Figure 1 A schematic block diagram of an electronic control unit 100 for a vehicle according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention is shown. Here, the electronic control unit 100 is, for example, configured as an advanced driver assistance system for the vehicle and is responsible for controlling functions such as automatic emergency braking, lane keeping assistance, automatic parking, blind spot monitoring, and adaptive cruise control of the vehicle.

[0016] like Figure 1As shown, the electric control unit 100 includes a plurality of chips, which are integrated and packaged in the electric control unit 100 and respectively implement different operations or control functions when the electric control unit 100 is running, wherein one of the chips acts as a master chip 10, and the remaining chips act as slave chips 20. Here, the electric control unit 100 includes, for example, three slave chips 20, namely, a first slave chip 201, a second slave chip 202, and a third slave chip 203. Of course, other numbers of slave chips 20 that are meaningful to those skilled in the art may also be considered. Here, the master chip 10 and each slave chip 20 are respectively connected in communication to obtain the chip life cycle status of the slave chip 20.

[0017] For example, the main chip 10 and / or the slave chip 20 of the electronic control unit 100 can be configured as a microcontroller unit (MCU) or a system on chip (SoC), wherein the chip configured as a microcontroller unit can provide relatively small memory and processing power and is suitable for small control applications with low complexity, while the chip configured as a system on chip can be suitable for applications with high requirements and high complexity, so that the electronic control unit 100 can comprehensively and specifically meet the different functional requirements of the vehicle. It is also possible that the chip of the electronic control unit 100 is configured in other ways that are considered meaningful by those skilled in the art, such as being configured as a microprocessor unit or a digital signal processor.

[0018] In particular, based on factors such as the type, function or manufacturing cost of the chip, each chip in the same electric control unit 100 may be provided by different chip manufacturers or chip suppliers. In this case, the master chip 10 and the slave chip 20 of the electric control unit 100 have different life cycle states defined by the corresponding chip manufacturers in their respective life cycles, and the chip usage rights change accordingly in each life cycle state. For example, the chip life cycle state of the master chip 20 may include: chip manufacturing state A.1, chip use state A.2, chip repair state A.3; the chip life cycle state of the first slave chip 201 may include: production state B.1, non-production state B.2; the chip life cycle state of the second slave chip 202 may include: customization state C.1, development state C.2, field state C.3, analysis state C.4; the chip life cycle state of the third slave chip 203 may include: chip manufacturer state D.1, equipment manufacturer state D.2, user use state D.3, return to equipment manufacturer state D.4, return to chip manufacturer state D.5. Of course, other chip life cycle states that are considered meaningful by those skilled in the art can also be considered. Here, the chip life cycle status of each chip of the electric control unit 100 is exemplarily shown in Table 1:

[0019]

[0020] Table 1: Chip life cycle status of each chip in the entire life cycle of the electric control unit 100

[0021] Here, the chip life cycle states of the various chips of the electric control unit 100 are not uniform. During the operation of the electric control unit 100, different chips have different chip life cycle states, which makes it difficult to determine the life cycle state of the electric control unit 100 itself.

[0022] Figure 2 A schematic flow chart of a state management method of an electronic control unit 100 for a vehicle according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention is shown. The state management method is implemented by the electronic control unit 100 according to the present invention.

[0023] like Figure 2 As shown, the state management method according to the present invention comprises at least the following steps:

[0024] S1: obtaining the current chip life cycle status of the master chip 10 and the slave chip 20 respectively through the master chip 10;

[0025] S2: Compare the chip life cycle status of each chip with the reference life cycle status pre-stored in the main chip 10, the reference life cycle status corresponds to the electric control unit life cycle status of the electric control unit 100, and determine the electric control unit life cycle status according to the comparison result.

[0026] In this way, the chip life cycle status of each chip of the electric control unit 100 can be comprehensively analyzed and the electric control unit life cycle status of the electric control unit 100 itself can be reliably determined based on the chip life cycle status, so as to comprehensively grasp and manage the life cycle status of the electric control unit 100 and each integrated chip.

[0027] Exemplarily, the electric control unit life cycle states of the electric control unit 100 include manufacturing state S.1, use state S.2, diagnostic state S.3 and abnormal state S.4. Of course, other life cycle states that are considered meaningful by those skilled in the art may also be considered. In the framework of the present invention, the "reference life cycle state" of each chip should be understood as the rated chip life cycle state that the corresponding chip should have in a specific electric control unit life cycle state. Here, the correspondence between the reference life cycle state and the rated chip life cycle state of each chip is exemplarily shown in Table 2:

[0028]

[0029] Table 2: ECU life cycle status and reference chip life cycle status of ECU 100

[0030] Here, the life cycle state of the electric control unit 100 can be determined according to the comparison and matching of the chip life cycle state of each chip obtained with the life cycle state of the reference chip. For example, if the chip life cycle states of each chip obtained are: the master chip 10 is in the chip use state A.2, the first slave chip 201 is in the non-production state B.2, the second slave chip 202 is in the field state C.3, and the third slave chip 203 is in the user use state D.3, then it can be determined that the life cycle state of the electric control unit 100 is the use state S.2. The determination of the manufacturing state S.1 and the diagnostic state S.3 of the electric control unit 100 can be carried out in a similar manner. Here, the correspondence between the life cycle state of the electric control unit and the life cycle state of the reference chip is pre-given by the developer of the electric control unit 100 and stored in the master chip 10 in a coded package. Of course, other correspondences between the life cycle state of the electric control unit and the life cycle state of the reference chip that are considered meaningful by those skilled in the art can also be considered.

[0031] In addition, when the chip life cycle states of the acquired chips do not match the reference life cycle states pre-stored in the master chip 10, it is determined that the electric control unit 100 is in the abnormal state S.4. For example, if the chip life cycle states of the acquired chips are: the master chip 10 is in the chip use state A.2, the first slave chip 201 is in the production state B.1, the second slave chip 202 is in the analysis state C.4, and the third slave chip 203 is in the user use state D.3, these chip life cycle states do not match the reference chip life cycle states in the normal electric control unit life cycle state, so it can be determined that the electric control unit 100 is in an abnormal state and there is a safety risk.

[0032] Exemplarily, in step S1, the master chip 10 can directly read the current chip life cycle status of the master chip 10, and send an instruction to obtain the chip life cycle status of the slave chip 20 to the corresponding slave chip 20. After receiving the instruction, the slave chip reads its own chip life cycle status and synchronizes the chip life cycle status to the master chip 10.

[0033] For example, Figure 1As shown, the master chip 10 includes a manager 11 and a memory 12, wherein the manager 11 can read the chip life cycle state of the master chip 10, send an instruction to obtain the chip life cycle state of the slave chip 20 to the corresponding slave chip 20, and receive a signal about the chip life cycle state from the slave chip 20, and the memory 12 is configured to store the reference life cycle state of each chip in a specific electric control unit life cycle state and transmit the reference life cycle state to the manager 11. Here, the manager 11 can compare the chip life cycle state of each chip with the reference life cycle state, thereby determining the electric control unit life cycle state of the electric control unit 100.

[0034] For example, Figure 1 As shown, each slave chip 20 of the electric control unit 100 is provided with an interface 21 , which is electrically connected to the manager 11 of the master chip 10 , respectively, to achieve an optimized communication connection between the master chip 10 and the slave chip 20 .

[0035] Exemplarily, in step S1 , the manager 11 transmits the acquired chip life cycle status of the master chip 10 and the slave chip 20 to the memory 12 to record the chip life cycle status.

[0036] For example, Figure 2 As shown, the state management method according to the present invention additionally includes step S3: when the manager 11 determines that the electric control unit 100 is in an abnormal state, the abnormal state is recorded and / or reported by the main chip 10 so as to perform the next operation to eliminate the abnormal state.

[0037] Exemplarily, when the electric control unit 100 is in an abnormal state, the electric control unit 100 stops running. This can avoid the erroneous permission of the use rights of each chip of the electric control unit 100 and improve the safety of the electric control unit 100. In addition, it can be considered that when the electric control unit 100 is started, it is first checked whether there is an unrepaired abnormal state in the electric control unit 100 or whether it is recorded in the memory 12. If there is, the electric control unit 100 stops starting and prompts the user that there is an abnormal state.

[0038] For example, Figure 2As shown, the state management method according to the present invention additionally includes step S4: the electronic control unit 100 enters the diagnostic mode after passing the identity authentication, such as key authentication, in which the master chip 101 first transmits the chip life cycle status of each chip recorded in the memory 12 and the abnormal state of the electronic control unit 100 to the detector for the electronic control unit 100, and the detector generates a conversion instruction for the chip life cycle status of the corresponding chip based on the chip life cycle status and / or the abnormal state of the electronic control unit 100 and sends the conversion instruction to the master chip 10, and the master chip 10 further sends the conversion instruction for the chip life cycle status of the slave chip 20 to the corresponding slave chip 20, and the slave chip resets the chip life cycle status after receiving the conversion instruction. When the chip life cycle status of the slave chip 20 is successfully converted, the slave chip 20 synchronizes the updated chip life cycle status to the master chip 10 again, and the master chip sends the diagnosis result to the detector. In this way, the chip life cycle status of each chip of the electronic control unit 100 is adjusted to ensure the safety performance of the electronic control unit 100.

[0039] The above explanation of the embodiments only describes the invention within the framework of the examples. Of course, the individual features of the embodiments can be freely combined with one another as long as it makes technical sense, without departing from the framework of the invention.

[0040] 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 for managing the state of an electronic control unit (100) for a vehicle, the electronic control unit comprising a plurality of chips, one of the chips acting as a master chip (10) and the remaining chips acting as slave chips (20), characterized in that: The state management method comprises at least the following steps: S1: respectively obtaining the current chip life cycle status of the master chip (10) and the slave chip (20); S2: Compare the chip life cycle state with a reference life cycle state pre-stored in the main chip (10), the reference life cycle state corresponding to the electric control unit life cycle state of the electric control unit, and determine the electric control unit life cycle state according to the comparison result.

2. The state management method according to claim 1, characterized in that: In step S1, the master chip (10) sends an instruction for acquiring the chip life cycle status to the slave chip (20), and the slave chip (20) reads its own chip life cycle status and synchronizes the chip life cycle status to the master chip (10); and / or In step S1, the acquired chip life cycle states of the master chip (10) and the slave chip (20) are recorded.

3. The state management method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that: The life cycle status of the electric control unit includes manufacturing status, use status, diagnosis status and abnormal status.

4. The state management method according to claim 3, characterized in that: When the chip life cycle state does not match any of the reference life cycle states pre-stored in the main chip (10), it is determined that the electric control unit is in the abnormal state.

5. The state management method according to claim 4, characterized in that: The state management method additionally comprises step S3: when the electric control unit (100) is in the abnormal state, recording and / or reporting the abnormal state through the main chip (10); and / or When the electric control unit (100) is in the abnormal state, the electric control unit (100) stops operating; and / or When the electronic control unit (100) is started, it is first checked whether the electronic control unit (100) has an abnormal state that has not been repaired, and if so, the electronic control unit (100) stops starting.

6. The state management method according to any one of claims 3 to 5, characterized in that: The state management method additionally comprises step S4: the electronic control unit (100) enters a diagnostic mode after passing identity authentication, in which the master chip (10) sends a conversion instruction for the chip life cycle state of the slave chip (20) to the corresponding slave chip (20), and the slave chip resets the chip life cycle state after receiving the conversion instruction.

7. The state management method according to claim 6, characterized in that: In step S4, the master chip transmits the recorded chip life cycle state and / or the abnormal state to a detector for the electric control unit (100) and receives a conversion instruction for the chip life cycle state from the detector.

8. An electronic control unit (100) for a vehicle, characterized in that: The electronic control unit (100) is configured to implement a state management method according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the electronic control unit (100) comprises at least a master chip (10) and at least one slave chip (20), and the master chip (10) and the slave chip (20) are communicatively connected.

9. The electronic control unit (100) according to claim 8, characterized in that: The master chip (10) is provided with a manager (11) and a memory (12), wherein the manager (11) is configured to at least compare a chip life cycle state and a reference life cycle state, determine the electric control unit life cycle state and send a conversion instruction for the chip life cycle state of the slave chip (20) to the corresponding slave chip (20), and the memory (12) is configured to store the chip life cycle state of the master chip (10) and the slave chip (20), the reference life cycle state and the electric control unit life cycle state of the electric control unit (100).

10. The electronic control unit (100) according to claim 8 or 9, characterized in that: The electronic control unit (100) has a plurality of slave chips (20); and / or The slave chip (20) is provided with an interface (21), and the interface is electrically connected to the manager (11) of the master chip (10); and / or The master chip (10) and / or the slave chip (20) are configured as a microcontroller unit or a system on chip.

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