Vehicle-mounted electric appliance control system, application method thereof and vehicle

Abstract

The invention discloses a vehicle-mounted electric appliance control system, an application method thereof and a vehicle, and belongs to the field of vehicle control. The system comprises an access device, a plurality of terminals, a repeater, a vehicle-mounted electric appliance and a power supply, each terminal comprises a terminal controller and a first wireless communication module which are connected with each other, the access device is connected with the terminal controller of at least one terminal, and the repeater is connected with the terminal controller of at least one terminal. Each terminal controller is connected with at least one vehicle-mounted electric appliance; the plurality of terminals are wirelessly connected with one another through respective first wireless communication modules; the repeater is connected with the access equipment and is wirelessly connected with each first wireless communication module at the same time; and the power supply is respectively connected with the terminal, the repeater and the vehicle-mounted electric appliance and is used for supplying power. The wireless communication technology is adopted to replace a current wired control mode, and the problems that an existing vehicle is long in wire harness and high in cost are effectively solved.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention belongs to the field of vehicle control, and in particular relates to a vehicle-mounted electrical appliance control system and an application method thereof, as well as a vehicle. Background Art

[0002] As the electrical systems of automobiles, especially new energy vehicles, become more and more complex and integrated, the control of low-voltage electrical appliances mostly uses control signals activated by switch buttons or touch screens, which are input to the controller through copper wires. The controller receives the input control signal, calculates or processes it logically, and then drives and turns on the power supply, outputting the power to the appliance through copper wires. In addition, one appliance requires a power route or even multiple power lines.

[0003] With the development of numerous vehicle functions, the number of onboard functional modules has increased exponentially, posing a significant challenge to traditional wired technology. Current mainstream vehicles are equipped with over 100 electronic control units and over a thousand sensors and actuators. Wiring harnesses based on traditional distributed electrical architectures typically exceed 5 kilometers in length, accounting for 4%-6% of the vehicle's weight. Traditional wired technology systems have multiple drawbacks. For example, the stacking of copper wires and insulation materials causes wiring harnesses to expand in size, increasing interior space and assembly complexity. From an economic perspective, the cost of wiring harness raw materials accounts for over 20% of the total vehicle electronic component cost, and customized wiring processes increase development cycles and manufacturing costs. Although CAN / LIN bus technology enables some signal integration, wired harnesses still occupy a significant amount of space in vehicles.

[0004] To this end, the present invention proposes a vehicle-mounted electrical appliance control system, an application method thereof, and a vehicle. Summary of the Invention

[0005] The present invention aims to overcome the deficiencies of the prior art and proposes a vehicle-mounted electrical appliance control system, an application method thereof, and a vehicle, in order to achieve the following objectives: by adopting wireless communication technology to replace the current wired control method, the problem of lengthy and high-cost wiring harnesses in existing vehicles is effectively solved.

[0006] In order to achieve the above-mentioned purpose, the technical solution adopted by the present invention is: a vehicle-mounted electrical appliance control system, the system includes an access device, a terminal, a repeater, vehicle-mounted electrical appliances, and a power supply, wherein: there are multiple terminals, each terminal includes a terminal controller and a first wireless communication module connected to each other, the access device is connected to the terminal controller of at least one terminal, and each terminal controller is connected to at least one vehicle-mounted electrical appliance; the multiple terminals are wirelessly connected to each other through their respective first wireless communication modules; the repeater is connected to the access device and is wirelessly connected to each first wireless communication module at the same time; the power supply is respectively connected to the terminal, repeater, and vehicle-mounted electrical appliance for power supply.

[0007] Preferably, the power supply includes a battery monitoring unit, a battery, and a wiring terminal. The battery is connected to the terminal, repeater, and vehicle-mounted electrical appliances through corresponding wiring terminals for power supply; the battery monitoring unit is connected to the battery for monitoring the battery status; the battery includes a vehicle-mounted storage battery and a power battery.

[0008] Preferably, the access device includes a voice input and output device, physical buttons, virtual buttons and a terminal APP.

[0009] Preferably, the terminal controller includes a central processing unit (CPU), a microcontroller unit (MCU), a digital signal processor (DSP), a programmable logic controller (PLC), and a field programmable gate array (FPGA).

[0010] Preferably, the repeater includes a ReceiveCounter monitor and a second wireless communication module that are connected to each other. The ReceiveCounter monitor is wirelessly connected to the first wireless communication module of each terminal through the second wireless communication module, and is used to monitor the ReceiveCounter built into each terminal controller. At the same time, the ReceiveCounter monitor is also connected to the access device, and is used to obtain instructions from the access device and forward them to the corresponding terminal when an abnormality is detected in the ReceiveCounter of any terminal.

[0011] Preferably, one of the multiple terminals is selected as a repeater, and the terminal controller of the terminal selected as the repeater is connected to the access device as a ReceiveCounter monitor.

[0012] Preferably, the wireless communication module includes a receiver and a transmitter, the receiver is connected to the terminal controller or ReceiveCounter monitor, and is used to obtain the signal sent by the transmitter of other wireless communication modules and forward it to the terminal controller or ReceiveCounter monitor; the transmitter is connected to the terminal controller or ReceiveCounter monitor, and is used to send the output signal of the terminal controller or ReceiveCounter monitor to other wireless communication modules.

[0013] This application also proposes an application method of a vehicle-mounted electrical appliance control system, the method comprising the following steps:

[0014] Step S1: The access device sends an operation instruction of the vehicle electrical appliance to the terminal controller connected thereto;

[0015] Step S2: the terminal controller broadcasts the operation instruction to the first wireless communication module of each terminal through its first wireless communication module;

[0016] Step S3: During the broadcast process, the repeater monitors the ReceiveCounter of each terminal. If the ReceiveCounter of any terminal is found to be abnormal, the repeater obtains the operation instruction from the access device again and forwards it to the first wireless communication module of the terminal.

[0017] Step S4: The terminal controller of each terminal receives the operation instruction through its corresponding first wireless communication module and determines whether to execute the operation according to its own software configuration; if the operation is executed, a corresponding control signal is generated and sent to the corresponding vehicle-mounted electrical appliance connected thereto;

[0018] Step S5: The vehicle-mounted electrical appliances perform corresponding operations according to the control signal.

[0019] Preferably, in step S3, when the repeater detects that the ReceiveCounter of any terminal is not counted or the count stops increasing before the expected number of received frames is reached, it is regarded as an abnormality and the number of abnormalities of the corresponding terminal is recorded; if the number of abnormalities of the corresponding terminal exceeds the preset threshold, the corresponding terminal fault is marked and reported.

[0020] The present application also proposes a vehicle, which includes the vehicle-mounted electrical appliance control system.

[0021] The technical effects of the present invention are:

[0022] (1) The present invention uses low-latency, low-power, safe and reliable wireless communication instead of wired communication, effectively meeting the demands of cost control and curb weight reduction in the vehicle production process.

[0023] (2) The present invention constructs a distributed network (based on the first / second wireless communication modules) through wireless communication modules between multiple terminals, changing the traditional centralized wiring harness control to wireless broadcast communication. This design significantly reduces the length and complexity of the wiring harness in the vehicle, especially for decentralized on-board electrical appliances such as window lifts and air conditioners, which can significantly reduce the wiring harness cost. At the same time, the terminal is deployed near the on-board electrical appliances or access devices, and can retain wired connections, taking into account both communication stability and flexibility.

[0024] (3) The present invention is equipped with a repeater to monitor the ReceiveCounter of each terminal, effectively avoiding erroneous operations caused by signal loss or interference. For example, in chassis areas with severe electromagnetic interference, this mechanism can significantly improve the success rate of command transmission. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0025] Figure 1 A structural block diagram of a vehicle-mounted electrical appliance control system provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0026] Figure 2 A schematic diagram of terminal distribution on a vehicle body provided by an embodiment of the present invention;

[0027] Figure 3 A flowchart of an application method of a vehicle-mounted electrical appliance control system provided by an embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0028] The specific implementation methods of the present invention are further explained in detail below by describing the embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings. The purpose is to help those skilled in the art to have a more complete, accurate and in-depth understanding of the inventive concept and technical solution of the present invention, and to facilitate its implementation. It should be noted that the words "first", "second" and so on described in this application are only used to facilitate the description of the technical solution to distinguish components. The corresponding component configurations may be the same or different, and this does not limit this application. The "connection" described in this application, unless emphasized, includes both wired connection and wireless connection. In order to make the technical solution of the present invention clearer, the present invention is explained as follows.

[0029] The present invention provides a vehicle-mounted electrical appliance control system, such as Figure 1 As shown, the system includes an access device, a terminal, a repeater, an on-board electrical appliance, and a power supply, wherein: there are multiple terminals, each terminal includes a terminal controller and a first wireless communication module that are connected to each other, the access device is connected to the terminal controller of at least one terminal, and each terminal controller is connected to at least one on-board electrical appliance; the multiple terminals are wirelessly connected to each other through their respective first wireless communication modules; the repeater is connected to the access device and is wirelessly connected to each first wireless communication module at the same time; the power supply is respectively connected to the terminal, repeater, and on-board electrical appliance for power supply. In specific implementation, each terminal is set near the access device or on-board electrical appliance, such as Figure 2 The multiple terminals of the present invention realize broadcast communication based on wireless technology through the first wireless communication module, which significantly reduces the distribution of vehicle wiring harnesses and reduces costs.

[0030] Specifically, the access device of the present invention is used to generate operation instructions according to user operations, including voice input and output devices, physical buttons, virtual buttons and terminal APP. During specific implementation, the access device is connected to the terminal controller of at least one terminal. Since the terminal is set nearby, a wired connection is usually used between the terminal controller and the access device to ensure connection stability. Furthermore, the voice input and output device includes one or more of the following: a voice assistant, a speaker, and a microphone. The physical buttons include one or more of the following: a physical lever, a physical button, and a physical knob. The virtual buttons include one or more of the following: a touch screen of the central control system and a virtual button of the center console accessories. The terminal APP includes one or more of the following: a mobile phone APP and a terminal background. The present invention supports the diversified signal input methods of diversified access devices, meets the operational needs of different users, and improves the user experience.

[0031] The power supply of the present invention is used to supply power to terminals, repeaters, and on-board electrical appliances, and includes a battery monitoring unit, a battery, and wiring terminals. The wiring terminals are used to adapt the battery power supply to the terminal, repeater, and on-board electrical appliances. The battery is connected to the terminal, repeater, and on-board electrical appliances through corresponding wiring terminals for power supply. The battery monitoring unit (BMS) is connected to the battery for monitoring the battery status, including the battery's temperature, voltage, current, and charge, etc. For example, when the battery charge is lower than a preset threshold, an alarm signal can be sent. In addition, the battery of the present invention includes an on-board storage battery or a power battery, and the main storage units in the vehicle can be used to power this system.

[0032] The terminal controller of the present invention is used to receive and process operation instructions. The processing includes generating a control signal after decrypting the operation instruction, or forwarding the operation instruction after encryption. Correspondingly, the terminal controller of the present invention has a built-in ReceiveCounter. ReceiveCounter refers to a counter or a counter variable, which is used to count the received data, including the number of data frames, etc., so as to ensure the accuracy and completeness of the received data according to the value of the counter, and in the present invention, the accuracy and completeness of the operation instruction are ensured. Commonly used terminal controllers that can be used in the present invention include a central processing unit CPU, a microcontroller unit MCU, a digital signal processor DSP, an editable logic controller PLC, and a field programmable gate array FPGA. During specific implementation, they can be flexibly selected according to actual conditions.

[0033] Each terminal controller deploys software. During implementation, a function configuration list is assigned to each terminal controller software based on the complexity of the logic and the computing power requirements of the software module. If a function list entry is set to 1, it indicates that the terminal controller is responsible for the operation. Therefore, after receiving an operation instruction, each terminal controller determines whether it can execute the corresponding operation based on its own function configuration list.

[0034] In order to ensure that each terminal controller can accurately receive the operation instructions and avoid missed operations and erroneous operations due to failure to receive the operation instructions or incorrect receipt of the operation instructions, the present invention is also provided with a repeater to monitor the data. For example, in the chassis area with severe electromagnetic interference, the setting of the repeater can significantly improve the success rate of instruction transmission. Specifically, the repeater of the present invention includes a ReceiveCounter monitor and a second wireless communication module that are connected to each other. The ReceiveCounter monitor is wirelessly connected to the first wireless communication module of each terminal through the second wireless communication module, and is used to monitor the built-in ReceiveCounter of each terminal to identify anomalies. The ReceiveCounter anomaly indicates that the received data is incorrect or the wireless communication is congested. At the same time, the ReceiveCounter monitor is also connected to the access device, and is used to obtain the instructions of the access device and forward them to the corresponding terminal when the ReceiveCounter anomaly of any terminal is detected.

[0035] A ReceiveCounter monitor is essentially a controller equipped with a ReceiveCounter monitoring function. Therefore, in a preferred embodiment of this application, due to vehicle body length or material considerations, a terminal is deployed on the vehicle body as a repeater through software deployment to monitor signal reception. The terminal controller of the terminal selected as a repeater connects to the access device as a ReceiveCounter monitor, and the terminal's corresponding first wireless communication module acts as a second wireless communication module to wirelessly communicate with each terminal.

[0036] In addition, in the present invention, the difference between the first wireless communication module and the second wireless communication module lies only in their locations of application: one is used in a repeater, and the other is used in a terminal. The two modules have the same structural components and are both used for wireless communication with other devices. Specifically, the wireless communication module includes a receiver and a transmitter. The receiver is connected to a terminal controller or a ReceiveCounter monitor and is used to acquire signals sent by transmitters of other wireless communication modules and forward them to the terminal controller or ReceiveCounter monitor. The transmitter is connected to a terminal controller or a ReceiveCounter monitor and is used to transmit the output signals of the terminal controller or ReceiveCounter monitor to other wireless communication modules. In a specific implementation, the receiver and transmitter can be either discrete semiconductor chips or integrated semiconductor chips.

[0037] After an operation command is sent to the correct terminal controller, the corresponding terminal controller generates a control signal and sends it to the corresponding onboard electrical appliance to execute the operation command, such as turning the power switch on or off. Vehicles have a wide variety of onboard electrical appliances, including power windows, air conditioning, rearview mirror adjustment, power trunk lid, lighting, and other electrical devices. Because the terminal is located near the onboard electrical appliances, a wired connection is typically used between the terminal controller and the onboard electrical appliances to ensure connection stability.

[0038] This invention uses wireless communication modules between multiple terminals to build a distributed network (based on the first and second wireless communication modules), replacing traditional centralized wiring harness control with wireless broadcast communication. This design significantly reduces the length and complexity of in-vehicle wiring harnesses, especially for decentralized onboard appliances such as window lifts and air conditioning, significantly reducing wiring harness costs. Furthermore, terminals can be deployed close to onboard appliances or access devices, while retaining wired connections, ensuring both communication stability and flexibility.

[0039] At the same time, according to the above-mentioned vehicle-mounted electrical appliance control system, the present invention also proposes an application method of the vehicle-mounted electrical appliance control system, such as Figure 3 As shown, the method includes the following steps:

[0040] Step S1: The access device sends an operation instruction of the vehicle electrical appliance to the terminal controller connected thereto;

[0041] Step S2: the terminal controller broadcasts the operation instruction to the first wireless communication module of each terminal through its first wireless communication module;

[0042] Step S3: During the broadcast process, the repeater monitors the ReceiveCounter of each terminal. If the ReceiveCounter of any terminal is found to be abnormal, the repeater obtains the operation instruction from the access device again and forwards it to the first wireless communication module of the corresponding terminal.

[0043] Among them, when the repeater detects that the ReceiveCounter of any terminal has not counted or the count stops increasing before the expected number of frames received is reached, it is regarded as an abnormality and the number of abnormalities of the corresponding terminal is recorded; if the number of abnormalities of the corresponding terminal exceeds the preset threshold, the corresponding terminal fault is marked and reported.

[0044] Step S4: The terminal controller of each terminal receives the operation instruction through its corresponding first wireless communication module and determines whether to execute the operation according to its own software configuration; if the operation is executed, a corresponding control signal is generated and sent to the corresponding vehicle-mounted electrical appliance connected thereto;

[0045] Step S5: The vehicle-mounted electrical appliances perform corresponding operations according to the control signal.

[0046] This will be explained below by the following examples.

[0047] Example 1:

[0048] If the vehicle has a central control system, a terminal can be placed nearby to transmit the operating instructions of the central control to the terminal via wire. In addition, this embodiment also places a terminal at the rearview mirror position on the co-pilot side and connects it to the electric rearview mirror adjuster via wire. When operating the adjuster, for example, adjusting the position of the co-pilot side rearview mirror on the main driver's side, the driver inputs the operating instructions through the central control system. The terminal on the central control system side receives the instructions and broadcasts them to all terminals. Only the terminal at the co-pilot side rearview mirror position responds after receiving the operating instructions. During the broadcast process, if the ReceiveCounter of the terminal at the co-pilot side rearview mirror position is abnormal, the repeater will detect the abnormality, obtain the operating instructions from the central control system, and directly forward them to the first wireless communication module of the corresponding terminal, so that subsequent tasks can be carried out normally.

[0049] Furthermore, the present invention also proposes a vehicle based on the above-mentioned vehicle-mounted electrical appliance control system, wherein the vehicle includes the vehicle-mounted electrical appliance control system. The vehicle can be a conventional vehicle (such as a fuel vehicle, etc.) or a new energy vehicle (such as a pure electric vehicle, a hybrid vehicle, a fuel cell vehicle, etc.). In view of the fact that in existing vehicles, the power supply and signal transmission of almost all electrical components require the laying of wiring harnesses, a large number of wiring harnesses increase the weight of the vehicle body, making it inconvenient to assemble and maintain. At the same time, the wiring harnesses in the moving parts also have problems such as easy wear and tear. Therefore, the vehicle-mounted electrical appliance control system of the present invention is introduced to solve the problem.

[0050] The present invention has been described above with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the specific implementation of the present invention is not limited to the above-described method. Any non-substantial improvements made using the method concepts and technical solutions of the present invention, or any direct application of the above-described concepts and technical solutions to other situations without modification, fall within the scope of protection of the present invention.

Claims

1. A vehicle-mounted electrical appliance control system, characterized in that: The system includes an access device, a terminal, a repeater, vehicle-mounted electrical appliances, and a power supply, wherein: there are multiple terminals, each terminal includes a terminal controller and a first wireless communication module connected to each other, the access device is connected to the terminal controller of at least one terminal, and each terminal controller is connected to at least one vehicle-mounted electrical appliance; the multiple terminals are wirelessly connected to each other through their respective first wireless communication modules; the repeater is connected to the access device and is wirelessly connected to each first wireless communication module at the same time; the power supply is respectively connected to the terminal, repeater, and vehicle-mounted electrical appliances for power supply.

2. The vehicle-mounted electrical appliance control system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The power supply includes a battery monitoring unit, a battery, and a connection terminal. The battery is connected to the terminal, repeater, and on-board electrical appliances through corresponding connection terminals for power supply; the battery monitoring unit is connected to the battery for monitoring the battery status; the battery includes an on-board storage battery and a power battery.

3. The vehicle-mounted electrical appliance control system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The access device includes a voice input and output device, physical buttons, virtual buttons and a terminal APP.

4. The vehicle-mounted electrical appliance control system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The terminal controller includes a central processing unit (CPU), a micro control unit (MCU), a digital signal processor (DSP), a programmable logic controller (PLC), and a field programmable gate array (FPGA).

5. The vehicle-mounted electrical appliance control system according to claim 1, characterized in that: The repeater includes a ReceiveCounter monitor and a second wireless communication module that are connected to each other. The ReceiveCounter monitor is wirelessly connected to the first wireless communication module of each terminal through the second wireless communication module, and is used to monitor the ReceiveCounter built into each terminal controller. At the same time, the ReceiveCounter monitor is also connected to the access device, and is used to obtain instructions from the access device and forward them to the corresponding terminal when an abnormality is detected in the ReceiveCounter of any terminal.

6. The vehicle-mounted electrical appliance control system according to claim 5, characterized in that: One of the multiple terminals is selected as a repeater, and the terminal controller of the terminal selected as the repeater is connected to the access device as a ReceiveCounter monitor.

7. The vehicle-mounted electrical appliance control system according to any one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that: The wireless communication module includes a receiver and a transmitter. The receiver is connected to the terminal controller or ReceiveCounter monitor, and is used to obtain the signals sent by the transmitters of other wireless communication modules and forward them to the terminal controller or ReceiveCounter monitor; the transmitter is connected to the terminal controller or ReceiveCounter monitor, and is used to send the output signals of the terminal controller or ReceiveCounter monitor to other wireless communication modules.

8. An application method of the vehicle-mounted electrical appliance control system according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that: The method comprises the following steps: Step S1: The access device sends an operation instruction of the vehicle electrical appliance to the terminal controller connected thereto; Step S2: the terminal controller broadcasts the operation instruction to the first wireless communication module of each terminal through its first wireless communication module; Step S3: During the broadcast process, the repeater monitors the ReceiveCounter of each terminal. If the ReceiveCounter of any terminal is found to be abnormal, the repeater obtains the operation instruction from the access device again and forwards it to the first wireless communication module of the terminal. Step S4: The terminal controller of each terminal receives the operation instruction through its corresponding first wireless communication module and determines whether to execute the operation according to its own software configuration; if the operation is executed, a corresponding control signal is generated and sent to the corresponding vehicle-mounted electrical appliance connected thereto; Step S5: The vehicle-mounted electrical appliances perform corresponding operations according to the control signal.

9. The application method of the vehicle-mounted electrical appliance control system according to claim 8, characterized in that: In step S3, when the repeater detects that the ReceiveCounter of any terminal is not counted or the count stops increasing before the expected number of frames received is reached, it is regarded as an abnormality and the number of abnormalities of the corresponding terminal is recorded; if the number of abnormalities of the corresponding terminal exceeds the preset threshold, the corresponding terminal fault is marked and reported.

10. A vehicle according to any one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that: The vehicle includes the vehicle-mounted electrical appliance control system.

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