Vehicle control device, vehicle control method, and vehicle control program

Abstract

The invention relates to a vehicle control device, a vehicle control method, and a vehicle control program. A vehicle control device configured to control a vehicle power supply includes a processor configured to: acquire input information of an operation switch configured to be capable of transitioning an on / off state of the vehicle power supply; accepting a prohibition request from one or more electronic control units mounted in the vehicle, the prohibition request being a request to prohibit transition of the vehicle power supply to an ON state; controlling the on / off state of the vehicle power supply; and prohibiting transition of the vehicle power supply to an ON state according to an operation input to the operation switch when the prohibition request is made in the OFF state of the vehicle power supply.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a vehicle control device, a vehicle control method, and a vehicle control program for controlling a power source of a vehicle. Background Art

[0002] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2010-243339 discloses a device for managing software updates of an electronic control unit that controls the operation of equipment mounted on a vehicle. It is described that in this device, when the vehicle is parked (a safe place for the vehicle), the software of the electronic control unit is updated.

[0003] When the vehicle is parked, if the user performs a power-on operation (such as pressing a push-type start switch) for starting the vehicle system while the software of the electronic control unit is being updated, the system startup process is started in a state where the vehicle is not fully prepared. In this case, the software update process that has been performed before may be wasted, and the time until the software update is completed may be longer than usual. Summary of the invention

[0004] The present disclosure provides a vehicle control device capable of preventing a vehicle power source from being turned on during a software update process of an electronic control unit.

[0005] A first method of the disclosed technology is a vehicle control device configured to control a vehicle power supply, comprising a processor, wherein the processor is configured to: obtain input information of an operating switch configured to transition the on / off state of the vehicle power supply; accept a prohibition request for prohibiting the on-state of the vehicle power supply from one or more electronic control units mounted on the vehicle; control the on / off state of the vehicle power supply; and, when the prohibition request is made in the off-state of the vehicle power supply, prohibit the transition to the on-state of the vehicle power supply caused by the input of the operating switch.

[0006] A second aspect of the disclosed technology is a vehicle control method for controlling a vehicle power supply, comprising: obtaining input information of an operating switch configured to transition the on / off state of the vehicle power supply; accepting a prohibition request for prohibiting the on state of the vehicle power supply from one or more electronic control units mounted on the vehicle; and when the prohibition request is made in the off state of the vehicle power supply, prohibiting the transition to the on state of the vehicle power supply caused by the input of the operating switch.

[0007] A third method of the disclosed technology is a vehicle control program for controlling a vehicle power supply, comprising: obtaining input information of an operating switch configured to transition the on / off state of the vehicle power supply; accepting a prohibition request from one or more electronic control units mounted on the vehicle, the prohibition request being a request prohibiting the vehicle power supply from being transitioned to the on state; and prohibiting the vehicle power supply from being transitioned to the on state based on an operation input to the operating switch when the prohibition request is present in the off state of the vehicle power supply.

[0008] According to the vehicle control device disclosed above, when a prohibition request is issued from the electronic control unit in the disconnected state of the vehicle power, the vehicle power is prohibited from being switched on even if an input of an operation switch is present. By this process, if the electronic control unit that has outputted the prohibition request is in the process of updating software, the vehicle power can be prevented from being switched on during the update. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0009] Hereinafter, features, advantages, technical and industrial significance of exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which like reference numerals represent like components, wherein:

[0010] Figure 1 This is a functional block diagram of a vehicle control device and its peripheral parts according to one embodiment of the present disclosure.

[0011] Figure 2 This is a process flow chart of power supply control executed by the vehicle control device.

[0012] Figure 3 This is a timing chart of the power supply control performed by the vehicle control device (during normal processing)

[0013] Figure 4 This is a time chart of power supply control executed by the vehicle control device (at the time of timeout processing). DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0014] When receiving an input from an operation switch to turn on the vehicle power, the vehicle control device of the present disclosure prohibits the vehicle power from being turned on, thereby preventing the vehicle system from being started during the update process of the electronic control unit software.

[0015] Hereinafter, one embodiment of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[0016] <Implementation Method>

[0017] [constitute]

[0018] Figure 11 is a functional block diagram showing a vehicle control device 10 and its peripheral components according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. Figure 1 The illustrated functional modules include a vehicle control device 10 , an operation switch 20 , a vehicle power supply unit 30 , and a plurality of electronic control units 40 .

[0019] The operation switch 20 is a structure for accepting operation inputted to the vehicle by a user such as a driver of the vehicle. The operation switch 20 may be a push-type start switch button that switches the on / off state of the vehicle power source to start or stop the vehicle system.

[0020] The vehicle power supply unit 30 is a structure for performing actions related to the control of the on / off state of the vehicle power supply based on the control (instruction) from the vehicle control device 10. The vehicle power supply unit 30 includes, for example, devices and apparatuses such as an electronic control unit (HV-ECU, etc.), relays (IG-P relay, IG-R relay, ACC relay, +BA relay, etc.).

[0021] The plurality of electronic control units 40 are various devices mounted on the vehicle. Each electronic control unit 40 is configured to include a processor, a memory, an input / output interface, etc., and the processor reads out the software (program) stored in the memory and executes it to realize the specified function. The plurality of electronic control units 40 include one or more electronic control units capable of updating software. The necessity of software update is confirmed by the vehicle-mounted device (not shown) that manages the update in a unified manner, and instructs the electronic control unit that is the update object to update whether or not to update.

[0022] In a series of processes related to the update of the software, from the perspective of vehicle safety, the process that affects the behavior of the vehicle is implemented when the vehicle power is in the disconnected state (IG-OFF) when the vehicle system is stopped while the vehicle is parked. The electronic control unit (specific electronic control unit 40) that is the update object in this embodiment outputs a "prohibition request" to prohibit the vehicle power from migrating from the disconnected state (IG-OFF) to the connected state (IG-ON) to the vehicle control device 10, so that the software update implemented when the vehicle power is in the disconnected state (IG-OFF) is not interrupted. Among them, multiple electronic control units 40 are connected to the vehicle control device 10 through an in-vehicle network 50 such as CAN (Controller Area Network) so that they can communicate.

[0023] The vehicle control device 10 is a structure for controlling the vehicle power supply. Typically, the vehicle control device 10 is configured as an electronic control unit (such as an extended body ECU) including a processor, a memory, and an input / output interface, and can read and execute software (programs) stored in the memory through the processor to implement the functions performed by the acquisition unit 11, the acceptance unit 12, and the control unit 13 described below.

[0024] The acquisition unit 11 acquires input information of the operation switch 20 for turning on / off the vehicle power supply. The input information may be, for example, an electrical signal indicating that a button of the operation switch 20 has been pressed or touched. The acquisition unit 11 determines that there is an input operation to the operation switch 20 by detecting the electrical signal.

[0025] The receiving unit 12 receives a prohibition request for prohibiting the vehicle power supply from being turned on (IG-ON) from one or more electronic control units 40 that are the target of software update among the plurality of electronic control units 40. The prohibition request may be received from all electronic control units 40 that are the target of software update, or may be received only from the last electronic control unit 40 in the execution order of the update process.

[0026] The control unit 13 performs various controls related to the on / off state of the vehicle power supply. As one of the characteristic controls performed by the control unit 13 of the present embodiment, when the power supply of the vehicle is in the off state (IG-OFF) while the vehicle is parked, the receiving unit 12 receives a prohibition request from one or more electronic control units 40, and even if the acquisition unit 11 newly acquires (detects) the input of the operation switch 20, the control of prohibiting the vehicle power supply from being transferred from the current off state (IG-OFF) to the on state (IG-ON) is mentioned. In addition, as another characteristic control performed by the control unit 13 of the present embodiment, the control of canceling the prohibition of the transfer to the on state (IG-ON) of the vehicle power supply (allowing the on state transfer of the vehicle power supply) for the electronic control unit 40 that continuously issues the prohibition request for a period longer than necessary due to the suspicion of abnormality such as a failure. These controls performed by the control unit 13 will be described in detail later.

[0027] [control]

[0028] Next, refer to Figure 2 , Figure 3 as well as Figure 4 Next, control performed by the vehicle control device 10 according to one embodiment of the present disclosure will be described.

[0029] Figure 21 is a flowchart showing the processing procedure of the power supply control executed by the vehicle control device 10 of the present embodiment. When the power supply of the vehicle is turned off (IG-OFF), the power supply control starts. Figure 2 The power supply control process illustrated in FIG.

[0030] (Step S201)

[0031] The control unit 13 of the vehicle control device 10 determines whether a predetermined time has passed since the vehicle power supply has been turned off (IG-OFF). This determination is made in order to determine that the software update process implemented in the electronic control unit 40 has been completed after the vehicle power supply has been turned off (IG-OFF). Therefore, the predetermined time is set to an arbitrary time longer than the time required from the time when the vehicle power supply has been turned off (IG-OFF) to the time when the software update process of the electronic control unit 40 has been completed. The vehicle power supply is determined to be turned off (IG-OFF) based on the input information of the operation switch 20 obtained by the acquisition unit 11, etc.

[0032] Here, with respect to the time required to complete the software update process, for example, when the software download is completed while the vehicle power is in the on state (IG-ON), the time taken to complete the installation and the time taken to complete the activation becomes the "time required to complete the update"; and when the software installation is completed while the vehicle power is in the on state (IG-ON), only the time taken to complete the activation becomes the "time required to complete the update".

[0033] When the control unit 13 determines that the predetermined time has passed since the vehicle power supply was turned off (IG-OFF) (step S201, "Yes"), the process proceeds to step S204. On the other hand, when the control unit 13 determines that the predetermined time has not passed since the vehicle power supply was turned off (IG-OFF) (step S201, "No"), the process proceeds to step S202.

[0034] (Step S202)

[0035] The receiving unit 12 of the vehicle control device 10 determines whether a prohibition request for prohibiting the vehicle power-on state (IG-ON) (hereinafter referred to as "power-on prohibition request") is received from the electronic control unit 40. The power-on prohibition request is a request to prioritize software update over vehicle system startup, and is sent from the electronic control unit 40 that has downloaded or installed software update data.

[0036] When the receiving unit 12 receives a request to prohibit power-on from at least one electronic control unit 40 (step S202, "Yes"), the process proceeds to step S203. On the other hand, when the receiving unit 12 does not receive a request to prohibit power-on from any electronic control unit 40 (step S202, "No"), the process proceeds to step S204.

[0037] (Step S203)

[0038] The control unit 13 of the vehicle control device 10 prohibits the vehicle power from becoming the on state (IG-ON) (power on prohibition). That is, even if there is an input from the operation switch 20 indicating system activation from the user, the control unit 13 controls to maintain the current off state (IG-OFF) and not to transfer the vehicle power to the on state (IG-ON). In addition, the control unit 13 notifies the electronic control unit 40 that has sent the power on prohibition request that the vehicle power is prohibited. Through this notification, the notified electronic control unit 40 can implement the software update until it is completed without worrying about the processing being interrupted.

[0039] When the control unit 13 prohibits the vehicle power from being turned on (IG-ON), the process proceeds to step S201 .

[0040] (Step S204)

[0041] The control unit 13 of the vehicle control device 10 allows the vehicle power to be turned on (IG-ON) (allowing power on). If the power on is prohibited in the above step S203, the control unit 13 cancels the prohibition of the power on. That is, when the user or the like inputs the operation switch 20 instructing system startup in the current vehicle power off state (IG-OFF), the control unit 13 performs control to allow the vehicle power to be transferred from the off state (IG-OFF) to the on state (IG-ON).

[0042] Here, when the process proceeds to step S204 without a power-on prohibition request from the electronic control unit 40 in step S202 (case 1), the software update of the electronic control unit 40 has been correctly determined and the vehicle power-on is permitted.

[0043] An example of a timing chart of the power supply control executed by the vehicle control device 10 in case 1 is as follows: Figure 3 As shown. Figure 3 As shown, when the software update is accurately performed, power-on is permitted during a period when there is no request to prohibit power-on, and power-on is prohibited during a period when there is a request to prohibit power-on.

[0044] On the other hand, when the process proceeds to step S204 after a predetermined time has passed since the vehicle power was turned off (IG-OFF) in step S201 (case 2), the vehicle power is allowed to be turned on based on the judgment that some abnormality (including failure of software update) has occurred in the electronic control unit 40. In this case, although a power-on prohibition request is continuously sent from the electronic control unit 40 where the abnormality has occurred, in order to avoid the situation where the vehicle power cannot be turned on (IG-ON), the control unit 13 discards the power-on prohibition request and allows the vehicle power to be turned on.

[0045] An example of a timing chart of the power supply control executed by the vehicle control device 10 in case 2 is as follows: Figure 4 As shown. Figure 4 As shown, if the prohibition request for power on does not disappear even after a certain period of time has passed since the vehicle power was turned off (IG-OFF) due to an abnormality such as inaccurate software update, the prohibition of power on is forcibly released and power on is allowed. In case 2, the user may be notified of the abnormality of the electronic control unit 40 by means of display, sound, etc.

[0046] When the control unit 13 permits the vehicle power to be turned on (IG-ON), the process proceeds to step S205 .

[0047] (Step S205)

[0048] The acquisition unit 11 of the vehicle control device 10 determines whether there is an input operation to the operation switch 20 for switching the vehicle power on / off from the user or the like. If the acquisition unit 11 determines that there is an input operation to the operation switch 20 (step S205, "Yes"), the process proceeds to step S206.

[0049] (Step S206)

[0050] The control unit 13 of the vehicle control device 10 controls (instructs) the vehicle power supply unit 30 so that the vehicle power supply is transferred from the disconnected state (IG-OFF) to the connected state (IG-ON). As a result, the system of the vehicle is started. If the vehicle power supply is controlled to the connected state (IG-ON), the power supply control process ends.

[0051] <Function / Effect>

[0052] As described above, according to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the vehicle control device 10 performs control to prohibit the transition from the disconnected state (IG-OFF) of the vehicle power to the connected state (IG-ON) based on the input of the operating switch 20 when there is a request to prohibit the power from being turned on from the electronic control unit 40 when the vehicle power is in the disconnected state (IG-OFF).

[0053] Through this control, for example, even if the driver who has missed the "software updating" displayed on the vehicle's information display screen wants to turn the vehicle's power on (IG-ON) and inputs the operation switch 20, the vehicle's power will not be turned on (IG-ON). This can avoid starting the system startup process in a state where the vehicle is not fully prepared, and can reliably complete the software update process that is being executed.

[0054] In addition, according to the vehicle control device 10 involved in the present embodiment, when the vehicle power is in the disconnected state (IG-OFF) and there is a request to prohibit power connection, power connection is prohibited. On the other hand, when a specified time has passed since the vehicle power became the disconnected state (IG-OFF), regardless of the presence or absence of a request to prohibit power connection, the prohibition of power connection is forcibly released and the vehicle power connection (IG-ON) is allowed.

[0055] By this control, even if the electronic control unit 40 continues to send a power-on prohibition request to the vehicle control device 10 due to reasons such as the software update process not being accurately performed, the vehicle power can be turned on (IG-ON) after a predetermined time has passed. Thus, it is possible to avoid a situation where the vehicle power cannot be turned on (IG-ON) at any time.

[0056] An embodiment of the present disclosure has been described above, but the present disclosure can be understood not only as the above-mentioned vehicle control device, but also as a method executed by a vehicle control device having a processor and a memory, a program of the method, a computer-readable non-temporary recording medium storing the program, or a vehicle equipped with a vehicle control device, etc.

[0057] The vehicle control device of the present disclosure can be used in a vehicle or the like equipped with an electronic control unit capable of performing software update processing.

Claims

1. A vehicle control device configured to control a vehicle power supply, characterized in that: comprising a processor configured to: acquiring input information of an operation switch configured to transition the on / off state of the vehicle power supply; receiving a prohibition request from one or more electronic control units mounted on the vehicle, the prohibition request being a request to prohibit transition of the vehicle power source to an on state; Controlling the on / off state of the vehicle power supply; as well as When the prohibition request is made in the OFF state of the vehicle power source, transition of the vehicle power source to the ON state in accordance with the operation input to the operation switch is prohibited.

2. The vehicle control device according to claim 1, characterized in that: The processor is configured to allow the vehicle power source to be switched to the on state in response to an operation input to the operation switch, if a predetermined time has elapsed since the vehicle power source was switched to the off state.

3. The vehicle control device according to claim 2, characterized in that: The processor is configured to receive the prohibition request from a specific electronic control unit that is a target of software update among the one or more electronic control units.

4. The vehicle control device according to claim 3, characterized in that: The processor is configured to notify the specific electronic control unit that the processor has prohibited the vehicle power source from transitioning to the on state, when the processor has prohibited the vehicle power source from transitioning to the on state.

5. The vehicle control device according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that: The predetermined time is set to be longer than the time required to complete the software update in the specific electronic control unit.

6. A vehicle control method for controlling a vehicle power supply, characterized in that: include: acquiring input information of an operation switch configured to transition the on / off state of the vehicle power supply; receiving a prohibition request from one or more electronic control units mounted on the vehicle, the prohibition request being a request to prohibit the vehicle power source from being turned on; as well as When the prohibition request is made in the OFF state of the vehicle power source, transition of the vehicle power source to the ON state in accordance with the operation input to the operation switch is prohibited.

7. A vehicle control program for controlling a vehicle power supply, characterized in that: include: acquiring input information of an operation switch configured to transition the on / off state of the vehicle power supply; receiving a prohibition request from one or more electronic control units mounted on the vehicle, the prohibition request being a request to prohibit transition of the vehicle power source to an on state; as well as When the prohibition request is made in the OFF state of the vehicle power source, transition of the vehicle power source to the ON state in accordance with the operation input to the operation switch is prohibited.

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