Method and device for detecting electronic control unit of vehicle, equipment and medium

Abstract

The invention provides a method and device for detecting an electronic control unit of a vehicle, equipment and a medium, and relates to the technical field of vehicles, in particular to the fields of automatic driving, vehicle electric detection and intelligent automobiles. According to the implementation scheme, a central controller of a vehicle sends a detection request to at least one electronic control unit in the vehicle through a gateway of the vehicle; receiving message data returned by the at least one electronic control unit through the gateway; the at least one electronic control unit is further in communication connection with the vehicle-mounted communication module, and the method further comprises the steps that in response to the fact that the communication connection between the at least one electronic control unit and the gateway breaks down, the vehicle-mounted communication module is used for transmitting the message data returned by the at least one electronic control unit, and determining a detection result based on the message data.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This disclosure relates to the field of vehicle technology, and more particularly to the fields of autonomous driving, vehicle electronic testing, and intelligent vehicles. Specifically, it relates to a method, apparatus, vehicle, electronic device, computer-readable storage medium, and computer program product for testing the electronic control unit of a vehicle. Background Technology

[0002] In the manufacturing process of modern vehicles, especially new energy vehicles, the end-of-line (EOL) electrical testing is a crucial step to ensure the normal functioning of the vehicle's Electronic Control Unit (ECU). In existing vehicle production processes, the electrical testing process is frequently interrupted due to software malfunctions in the vehicle controller (inability to send electrical testing commands) or communication bus failures (inability to transmit electrical testing data). Once the electrical testing fails, subsequent stages of the vehicle production line cannot continue, severely impacting the factory's production rhythm and vehicle delivery efficiency.

[0003] The methods described in this section are not necessarily methods that had been previously conceived or adopted. Unless otherwise specified, no method described in this section should be assumed to be prior art simply because it is included in this section. Similarly, unless otherwise specified, the issues mentioned in this section should not be considered to be accepted in any prior art. Summary of the Invention

[0004] This disclosure provides a method, apparatus, electronic device, computer-readable storage medium, and computer program product for detecting electronic control units of a vehicle.

[0005] According to one aspect of this disclosure, a method for detecting an electronic control unit (ECU) of a vehicle is provided, comprising: sending a detection request to at least one ECU in the vehicle via a gateway using a central controller of the vehicle; receiving message data returned by the at least one ECU via the gateway; and determining a detection result based on the message data, wherein the at least one ECU is also communicatively connected to an in-vehicle communication module, the method further comprising: in response to determining that a communication connection between the at least one ECU and the gateway has failed, transmitting the message data returned by the at least one ECU via the in-vehicle communication module for determining the detection result based on the message data.

[0006] According to one aspect of this disclosure, an apparatus for detecting an electronic control unit (ECU) of a vehicle is provided, comprising: a transmitting unit configured to send a detection request to at least one ECU in the vehicle via a gateway of the vehicle using a central controller of the vehicle; a receiving unit configured to receive message data returned by the at least one ECU via the gateway; and a determining unit configured to determine a detection result based on the message data, wherein the at least one ECU is also communicatively connected to an in-vehicle communication module. The apparatus further comprises: a transmitting unit configured to, in response to determining that a communication connection between the at least one ECU and the gateway has failed, transmit the message data returned by the at least one ECU via the in-vehicle communication module for determining the detection result based on the message data.

[0007] According to one aspect of this disclosure, an electronic device is provided, comprising: at least one processor; and a memory communicatively connected to the at least one processor; wherein the memory stores instructions executable by the at least one processor, the instructions being executed by the at least one processor to enable the at least one processor to perform the above-described method for detecting an electronic control unit of a vehicle.

[0008] According to one aspect of this disclosure, a vehicle is provided, comprising: a central controller; a gateway communicatively connected to the central controller; at least one electronic control unit communicatively connected to the gateway; an on-board communication module communicatively connected to the at least one electronic control unit; and the aforementioned electronic equipment.

[0009] According to one aspect of this disclosure, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium is provided storing computer instructions, wherein the computer instructions are used to cause the computer to perform the above-described method for detecting an electronic control unit of a vehicle.

[0010] According to one aspect of this disclosure, a computer program product is provided, including a computer program, wherein the computer program, when executed by a processor, is capable of implementing the above-described method for detecting an electronic control unit of a vehicle.

[0011] According to one or more embodiments of this disclosure, the impact of interruptions in the vehicle electronic control unit testing process on vehicle production efficiency can be reduced, and the reliability of the testing system can be improved.

[0012] It should be understood that the description in this section is not intended to identify key or essential features of the embodiments of this disclosure, nor is it intended to limit the scope of this disclosure. Other features of this disclosure will become readily apparent from the following description. Attached Figure Description

[0013] The accompanying drawings exemplify embodiments and form part of the specification, serving together with the textual description to explain exemplary implementations of the embodiments. The illustrated embodiments are for illustrative purposes only and do not limit the scope of the claims. Throughout the drawings, the same reference numerals refer to similar but not necessarily identical elements.

[0014] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of an exemplary system in which various methods described herein may be implemented, according to exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure; Figure 2 A flowchart is shown of a method for detecting an electronic control unit of a vehicle according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure; Figure 3 A schematic diagram of the structure of an electronic control unit for detecting a vehicle, according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, is shown. Figure 4 A schematic diagram illustrating a process for detecting an electronic control unit of a vehicle according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. Figure 5 A schematic diagram of another process for detecting an electronic control unit of a vehicle according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure is shown; Figure 6 A schematic diagram of another process for detecting an electronic control unit of a vehicle according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure is shown; Figure 7 A structural block diagram of an apparatus for detecting an electronic control unit of a vehicle according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure is shown; Figure 8 A structural block diagram of an exemplary electronic device that can be used to implement embodiments of the present disclosure is shown. Detailed Implementation

[0015] The exemplary embodiments of this disclosure are described below with reference to the accompanying drawings, including various details of the embodiments to aid understanding, and should be considered merely exemplary. Therefore, those skilled in the art will recognize that various changes and modifications can be made to the embodiments described herein without departing from the scope of this disclosure. Similarly, for clarity and brevity, descriptions of well-known functions and structures are omitted in the following description.

[0016] In this disclosure, unless otherwise stated, the use of terms such as "first," "second," etc., to describe various elements is not intended to limit the positional, temporal, or importance relationships of these elements; such terms are merely used to distinguish one element from another. In some examples, the first element and the second element may refer to the same instance of that element, while in other cases, based on the context, they may refer to different instances.

[0017] The terminology used in the description of the various examples described in this disclosure is for the purpose of describing particular examples only and is not intended to be limiting. Unless the context explicitly indicates otherwise, an element may be one or more unless the number of elements is specifically limited. Furthermore, the term "and / or" as used in this disclosure covers any one of the listed items and all possible combinations thereof.

[0018] The embodiments of this disclosure will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0019] Figure 1 A schematic diagram of an exemplary system 100 in which the various methods and apparatus described herein can be implemented according to embodiments of this disclosure is shown. Reference Figure 1 The system 100 includes a motor vehicle 110, a server 120, and one or more communication networks 130 that couple the motor vehicle 110 to the server 120.

[0020] In embodiments of this disclosure, the motor vehicle 110 may include a computing device according to embodiments of this disclosure and / or be configured to perform a method according to embodiments of this disclosure.

[0021] Server 120 may run one or more services or software applications for methods of detecting the electronic control unit of a vehicle. In some embodiments, server 120 may also provide other services or software applications, which may include non-virtual environments and virtual environments. Figure 1 In the configuration shown, server 120 may include one or more components that implement the functions performed by server 120. These components may include software components, hardware components, or combinations thereof that can be executed by one or more processors. A user of motor vehicle 110 may sequentially interact with server 120 using one or more client applications to utilize the services provided by these components. It should be understood that various different system configurations are possible and may differ from system 100. Therefore, Figure 1 This is an example of a system used to implement the various methods described herein, and is not intended to be limiting.

[0022] Server 120 may include one or more general-purpose computers, special-purpose server computers (e.g., PC (personal computer) servers, UNIX servers, mid-range servers), blade servers, mainframe computers, server clusters, or any other suitable arrangement and / or combination. Server 120 may include one or more virtual machines running a virtual operating system, or other computing architectures involving virtualization (e.g., one or more flexible pools of logical storage devices that can be virtualized to maintain virtual storage devices for servers). In various embodiments, server 120 may run one or more services or software applications that provide the functionality described below.

[0023] The computing unit in server 120 can run one or more operating systems, including any of the aforementioned operating systems and any commercially available server operating system. Server 120 can also run any of a variety of additional server applications and / or middleware applications, including HTTP servers, FTP servers, CGI servers, JAVA servers, database servers, etc.

[0024] In some implementations, server 120 may include one or more applications to analyze and merge data feeds and / or event updates received from vehicle 110. Server 120 may also include one or more applications to display data feeds and / or real-time events via one or more display devices of vehicle 110.

[0025] Network 130 can be any type of network well known to those skilled in the art, and can use any of a variety of available protocols (including, but not limited to, TCP / IP, SNA, IPX, etc.) to support data communication. By way of example only, one or more networks 130 can be satellite communication networks, local area networks (LANs), Ethernet-based networks, token ring networks, wide area networks (WANs), the Internet, virtual networks, virtual private networks (VPNs), intranets, extranets, blockchain networks, public switched telephone networks (PSTNs), infrared networks, wireless networks (including, for example, Bluetooth, WiFi), and / or any combination of these with other networks.

[0026] System 100 may also include one or more databases 150. In some embodiments, these databases may be used to store data and other information. For example, one or more of the databases 150 may be used to store information such as audio files and video files. The data repository 150 may reside in various locations. For example, a data repository used by server 120 may be local to server 120, or it may be located away from server 120 and may communicate with server 120 via a network-based or dedicated connection. The data repository 150 may be of different types. In some embodiments, the data repository used by server 120 may be a database, such as a relational database. One or more of these databases may store, update, and retrieve data from and from the database in response to commands.

[0027] In some embodiments, one or more of the databases 150 may also be used by an application to store application data. The databases used by the application may be of different types, such as key-value stores, object stores, or regular stores supported by a file system.

[0028] Motor vehicle 110 may include sensors 111 for sensing the surrounding environment. Sensors 111 may include one or more of the following sensors: a visual camera, an infrared camera, an ultrasonic sensor, a millimeter-wave radar, and a lidar (LiDAR). Different sensors can provide different detection accuracy and range. Cameras may be mounted in front of, behind, or at other locations on the vehicle. Visual cameras can capture the situation inside and outside the vehicle in real time and present it to the driver and / or passengers. In addition, by analyzing the images captured by the visual cameras, information such as traffic light indications, intersection conditions, and the operating status of other vehicles can be obtained. Infrared cameras can capture objects in night vision conditions. Ultrasonic sensors may be mounted around the vehicle to measure the distance of objects outside the vehicle using the strong directionality of ultrasound. Millimeter-wave radar may be mounted in front of, behind, or at other locations on the vehicle to measure the distance of objects outside the vehicle using the characteristics of electromagnetic waves. LiDAR may be mounted in front of, behind, or at other locations on the vehicle to detect the edges and shape information of objects, thereby performing object recognition and tracking. Due to the Doppler effect, the radar device can also measure the speed changes of the vehicle and moving objects.

[0029] The motor vehicle 110 may also include a communication device 112. The communication device 112 may include a satellite positioning module capable of receiving satellite positioning signals (e.g., BeiDou, GPS, GLONASS, and GALILEO) from satellite 141 and generating coordinates based on these signals. The communication device 112 may also include a module for communicating with a mobile communication base station 142. The mobile communication network can implement any suitable communication technology, such as current or emerging wireless communication technologies (e.g., 5G technology) like GSM / GPRS, CDMA, and LTE. The communication device 112 may also have a vehicle-to-everything (V2X) module, configured to enable vehicle-to-the-world communication, for example, vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communication with other vehicles 143 and vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) communication with infrastructure 144. Furthermore, the communication device 112 may also have a module configured to communicate with a user terminal 145 (including but not limited to smartphones, tablets, or wearable devices such as watches) via, for example, a wireless local area network conforming to the IEEE 802.11 standard or Bluetooth. Using the communication device 112, the motor vehicle 110 can also access the server 120 via the network 130.

[0030] The motor vehicle 110 may also include a control unit 113. The control unit 113 may include a processor, such as a central processing unit (CPU) or a graphics processing unit (GPU), or other dedicated processors, that communicates with various types of computer-readable storage devices or media. The control unit 113 may include an autonomous driving system for automatically controlling various actuators in the vehicle. The autonomous driving system is configured to control the powertrain, steering system, and braking system of the motor vehicle 110 (not shown) via multiple actuators in response to inputs from multiple sensors 111 or other input devices to control acceleration, steering, and braking respectively, without human intervention or with limited human intervention. Some processing functions of the control unit 113 can be implemented via cloud computing. For example, some processing can be performed using an onboard processor while other processing can be performed using cloud computing resources. The control unit 113 may be configured to perform methods according to this disclosure. Furthermore, the control unit 113 may be implemented as an example of a computing device on the motor vehicle side (client) according to this disclosure.

[0031] Figure 1 The system 100 can be configured and operated in various ways to enable the application of the various methods and apparatus described in this disclosure.

[0032] Vehicle production lines include an End-of-Line (EOL) inspection stage. Before a vehicle rolls off the line, an electrical inspection is performed to test the vehicle's electronic systems to ensure the quality of the vehicles. Related technologies typically use fixed testing patterns to inspect vehicle electronic systems, such as manual testing using diagnostic equipment via the On-Board Diagnostics (OBD) interface. This method cannot handle complex and ever-changing software environments. When the testing system malfunctions, the vehicle quality inspection process cannot proceed, leading to production line interruptions and affecting vehicle delivery.

[0033] Based on this, this disclosure provides a method for testing the electronic control unit of a vehicle. An on-board communication module is set up as a redundant data upload path. When the main diagnostic link consisting of the central controller, gateway and electronic control unit fails and the message cannot be transmitted, the on-board communication module is used to transmit the message data. This ensures that the step of determining the test results for the vehicle's electronic system based on the message data can proceed normally, avoiding interruption of the electronic testing process and affecting vehicle production efficiency, thereby improving system reliability.

[0034] Figure 2 A flowchart of a method 200 for detecting an electronic control unit of a vehicle according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. Figure 2 As shown, method 200 includes: Step S201: Use the vehicle's central controller to send a detection request to at least one electronic control unit in the vehicle via the vehicle's gateway; Step S202: Receive message data returned by the at least one electronic control unit via the gateway; and Step S203: Determine the detection result based on the message data, wherein the at least one electronic control unit is also communicatively connected to the vehicle communication module, and method 200 further includes: Step S204: In response to determining that the communication connection between the at least one electronic control unit and the gateway has failed, the vehicle communication module is used to transmit the message data returned by the at least one electronic control unit for determining the detection result based on the message data.

[0035] By applying the above-mentioned method 200 for testing the electronic control unit of a vehicle, an on-board communication module is set up as a redundant data upload path. When the main diagnostic link composed of the central controller, gateway and electronic control unit fails and the message cannot be transmitted, the on-board communication module is used to transmit the message data of the electronic control unit. This ensures that the step of determining the test results of the vehicle's electronic system based on the message data can proceed normally, avoids interruption of the electronic testing process and affects vehicle production efficiency, and improves system reliability.

[0036] In some examples, the vehicle's central controller can be a centrally located controller in the vehicle's cabin, namely the Cockpit Domain Controller (CDC), or it can also be referred to as the vehicle's infotainment system. In this example, the central controller is set as the default primary requester in the vehicle's electrical inspection chain, responsible for initiating detection and diagnostic tasks for the vehicle's electronic systems during the EOL (End-of-Life) electrical inspection process.

[0037] In some examples, an Electronic Control Unit (ECU) is an embedded unit in a vehicle used to control one or more electrical systems or subsystems. The electrical testing system disclosed herein tests the various ECUs in a vehicle, such as the autonomous driving controller, body domain controller, and other domain controllers, to ensure the quality of the electronic and electrical systems of the delivered vehicle.

[0038] In some examples, the gateway (GW) is the communication hub of the vehicle's internal network, responsible for routing between electronic control units on different buses (such as CAN bus and Ethernet). Therefore, in step S201, the central controller, as the main requesting end, needs to perform a vehicle electrical test via the GW, which corresponds to the main link of the vehicle electrical test: central controller → gateway → vehicle electronic control unit. The gateway (GW) plays a crucial routing role in this link.

[0039] In some examples, a test request may be one or more diagnostic commands or test sequences sent to the electronic control unit (ECU) to trigger it to execute a specific self-test procedure or report its status. By receiving the message data sent by the ECU in response to the test request, it is possible to determine whether the ECU is functioning correctly. In some examples, the message data may include the ECU's status information, software version number, self-test results, and fault information returned by the ECU, such as fault codes.

[0040] After receiving the message data returned by the electronic control unit in step S202, the detection result for the electronic control unit can be further determined based on step S203. For example, the message data returned by the electronic control unit can be compared with the expected standard response. For example, if the message data contains a specific fault code, it is determined that the electronic control unit has failed the test; if the message data meets expectations (e.g., normal status, no fault information), it is determined that the electronic control unit has passed the test.

[0041] In some examples, the vehicle communication module may be a Telematics Box (TBX). According to the method provided in this disclosure, the TBX communicates with a device capable of displaying message data or a device capable of determining test results based on the message data (e.g., a display screen showing message data to inspectors, an automatic testing device, or a cloud platform). This allows the vehicle's electronic inspection process to proceed by uploading message data returned by the electronic control unit. For example, when the communication connection between the vehicle's central controller and the electronic control unit via the gateway is fault-free, inspectors or automatic testing programs can receive message data through the vehicle's central control system. Alternatively, inspectors or automatic testing programs can also receive message data transmitted from the gateway to the cloud platform. When the communication connection between the gateway and the electronic control unit fails, preventing message transmission, message data can be received through the link transmitting information to the cloud platform via the vehicle communication module, thereby completing the inspection of the vehicle's electronic control unit.

[0042] According to some embodiments, the implementation of transmitting the message data returned by the at least one electronic control unit using the vehicle communication module in step S204 is as follows: the message data returned by the at least one electronic control unit is transmitted to the cloud platform using the vehicle communication module, so that the cloud platform can determine the detection result based on the message data. In this case, the cloud platform can be used as a redundant module for determining the electronic inspection result, thereby improving the fault tolerance of the vehicle electronic inspection system.

[0043] As described above, the device capable of receiving vehicle electrical inspection messages (i.e., messages returned by the electronic control unit) and determining the inspection results based on these messages can be the vehicle's central controller, automatic inspection device, etc. In the above embodiments, the cloud platform is configured to have the capability to determine the vehicle electrical inspection results, or to further perform fault analysis and location based on the message data returned by the electronic control unit. In this case, when the main electrical inspection link in the vehicle fails (e.g., a gateway or central controller failure), causing the vehicle to be unable to receive message data or determine the inspection results based on the message data, the vehicle communication module can be used to directly upload the original message data returned by the electronic control unit to the cloud platform for analysis via the electronic control unit's communication link to determine the vehicle electrical inspection results, thereby improving the robustness and reliability of the vehicle electrical inspection system.

[0044] In some examples, possible scenarios for communication connection failure between the gateway and the electronic control unit (ECU) include, but are not limited to: routing anomalies or software errors in the gateway itself; and physical bus failures between the gateway and one or more ECUs (e.g., a bus off issue), preventing the correct transmission of message data between the gateway and the ECU. In some examples, when communication connection between the gateway and the ECU fails, the system can identify the communication failure through a timeout mechanism. For example, if the gateway does not receive a response message from the ECU within a preset time after forwarding a detection request, it can determine that the communication connection between the gateway and the ECU has failed. In other examples, the bus controller can actively detect a bus off state (BusOff issue), which clearly indicates a serious physical bus failure. The system can then determine that the communication connection has failed and apply step S204 to ensure the continued progress of the ECU testing process. After applying step S204 to transmit the ECU's message data using the vehicle communication module, the test results for the ECU can be determined based on the methods described above, which will not be repeated here.

[0045] According to some embodiments, the gateway is communicatively connected to the vehicle communication module, the communication connection between the gateway and the at least one electronic control unit is the main communication link, and the communication connection between the gateway and the vehicle communication module and the communication link between the vehicle communication module and the at least one electronic control unit are auxiliary communication links. By setting the gateway-electronic control unit communication connection as the main link and the gateway-vehicle communication module-electronic control unit communication connection as an auxiliary link in the vehicle electronic testing system, routing conflicts between the gateway and the vehicle communication module can be avoided, while ensuring the redundancy function of the vehicle communication module, thereby achieving efficient and stable redundant electronic testing.

[0046] In some examples, both the gateway and the vehicle communication module are configured as nodes with routing capabilities. Following the implementation described above, the gateway is set as the default primary node, while the vehicle communication module is set as an auxiliary node. The primary communication link (gateway-electronic control unit) and the auxiliary communication link (gateway-vehicle communication module-electronic control unit) coexist, utilizing the communication capabilities of the auxiliary link to share the routing load on the gateway or as a redundant backup for the communication hub. By applying this design, routing conflicts between the gateway and the vehicle communication module can be avoided, ensuring system stability.

[0047] In some examples, the gateway and the in-vehicle communication module can also be viewed as two parallel routing nodes, both connected to the downstream electronic control unit (ECU) bus. For instance, diagnostic requests from the central controller can be configured to be sent only to the gateway, which acts as the master node. When the system detects that the gateway cannot access the ECU, it can switch routing strategies to forward the diagnostic request to the in-vehicle communication module's node. The in-vehicle communication module then performs the electrical diagnostics on other ECUs in the vehicle, thus preventing interruptions in the electrical diagnostic process from affecting the vehicle production line.

[0048] According to some embodiments, method 200 further includes: in response to determining that a communication connection between the at least one electronic control unit and the gateway has failed, transmitting fault information using the vehicle communication module. This allows the fault information from the vehicle communication module gateway to be transmitted simultaneously to a fault analysis device, such as being reported to a cloud platform, to support more efficient fault analysis and improve maintenance efficiency.

[0049] In some examples, when the main communication link between the gateway and the electronic control unit (ECU) fails, the vehicle communication module can not only upload message data from the ECU, but also further report gateway fault information, such as reporting the fault information to a cloud platform. The cloud platform can then perform intelligent analysis based on the fault information and the ECU's status information (whether there is message data or the specific content of the message data) to achieve more efficient intelligent fault diagnosis and location, thereby improving vehicle maintenance efficiency.

[0050] According to some embodiments, the vehicle communication module is in a default off state. Method 200 further includes: in response to determining that the communication connection between the at least one electronic control unit and the gateway has failed, activating the vehicle communication module. By setting the vehicle communication module to a default off state, it is possible to avoid the vehicle communication module, as an auxiliary routing node, occupying bus resources when the system is operating normally (i.e., when the main link is normal). The vehicle communication module is only activated when the main link (gateway-electronic control unit) is determined to have failed, reducing system load while ensuring that redundant links intervene in a timely manner when a failure occurs.

[0051] In some examples, the vehicle communication module can also be kept always on to alleviate the routing burden on the gateway. For instance, a vehicle electronic diagnostic system can distribute routing and diagnostic tasks to the gateway and the vehicle communication module. Simultaneously, the vehicle communication module can upload diagnostic information (such as the status information of the electronic control unit) to the cloud platform, enabling it to share the gateway's routing and data reporting functions, thereby improving the efficiency of testing the vehicle's electronic control units.

[0052] According to some embodiments, the vehicle is equipped with an external diagnostic device that communicates with the gateway. Method 200 further includes: in response to determining that the central controller or the communication connection between the central controller and the gateway has failed, sending a test request to the at least one electronic control unit using the external diagnostic device. This allows for the addition of an external diagnostic device as a redundant backup for the central controller. When the central controller's primary request terminal fails, the system can automatically switch to the external diagnostic device to send the test request, ensuring the continued execution of the electronic diagnostic process and improving system reliability.

[0053] In some examples, external diagnostic devices can be various types of diagnostic instruments, such as traditional handheld diagnostic devices or production line diagnostic computers. External diagnostic devices can be plugged into the vehicle via the vehicle's On-Board Diagnostics (OBD) interface to connect to the vehicle's internal network (such as a gateway). As described above, the external diagnostic device serves as a redundant request endpoint. When the vehicle's central controller fails to send a test request to the electronic control unit (ECU), the testing personnel or automated testing program can use the external diagnostic device to send the test request, thereby enabling electrical testing of the vehicle's ECU and preventing interruptions in the electrical testing process from affecting the vehicle production line.

[0054] According to some embodiments, in response to determining that the central controller or the communication connection between the central controller and the gateway has failed, sending a detection request to the at least one electronic control unit using the external diagnostic device includes: in response to determining that the central controller has not received message data returned by the at least one electronic control unit, sending a detection request to the at least one electronic control unit using the external diagnostic device. Therefore, by determining whether the central controller has received a response message from the electronic control unit, it is possible to automatically determine whether the primary request link is abnormal, and to more timely and accurately determine the timing of the switchover between the primary and backup request ends.

[0055] In some examples, other methods can be used to determine whether a fault has occurred in the central controller or the communication connection between the central controller and the gateway. For example, a heartbeat mechanism can be used for fault monitoring. In this example, the central controller can be configured to periodically send heartbeat messages to the gateway. If the gateway does not receive a heartbeat message from the central controller within a specified time, or if the central controller fails to receive a correct response from the gateway multiple times after sending a test request, it can be determined that a fault has occurred in the central controller or the link between the central controller and the gateway. This triggers a switchover of the requesting end, allowing external diagnostic equipment to send a test request to the vehicle's electronic control unit, ensuring the continued progress of the electronic diagnostic process.

[0056] According to some embodiments, the vehicle further includes an on-board diagnostic system interface (OBS) communicatively connected to the gateway. The external diagnostic device is plugged into the vehicle via the OBS interface, which is a horizontally arranged interface with snap-fit ​​mechanisms. This allows for the configuration of the physical interface between the external diagnostic device and the vehicle based on a horizontally arranged design with snap-fit ​​mechanisms, improving the physical stability of the external diagnostic device connection and thus ensuring communication stability.

[0057] Figure 3 A schematic diagram of the structure of a system for detecting an electronic control unit of a vehicle according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. Figure 3 As shown, the system includes a central controller 01, an external diagnostic device 02, a gateway 03, an onboard communication module 04, and an electronic control unit 05. In this example, the central controller 01 and the external diagnostic device 02 can be used to send test requests, with the external diagnostic device 02 serving as a redundant backup for the requesting end. Both the central controller 01 and the external diagnostic device 02 are communicatively connected to the gateway 03. The gateway 03 is connected to the electronic control unit 05 under test via a main communication link and an auxiliary communication link. The auxiliary communication link includes the onboard communication module 04, which can be used to transmit vehicle electronic test message data, thus achieving redundancy of the communication hub.

[0058] Figure 4 A schematic diagram illustrating a process for detecting an electronic control unit of a vehicle according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. Figure 4 As shown, the detection process based on the diagnostic main link involves the central controller 01 acting as the main requesting end, sending a detection request to the electronic control unit 05 via the routing of the gateway 03, and receiving a response message. Figure 5 A schematic diagram of another process for detecting an electronic control unit of a vehicle according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. Figure 5 As shown, the detection process based on redundant communication links involves the central controller 01 issuing a detection request, which is transmitted to the electronic control unit 05 via the gateway 03 and then via the vehicle communication module 04, which acts as an auxiliary routing node. This enables the electronic control unit 05 to perform self-tests and send back message data. Figure 6 A schematic diagram of another process for detecting an electronic control unit of a vehicle according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. Figure 6 As shown, when the corresponding link of the central controller 01 malfunctions, the system switches to the external diagnostic device 02 as the requesting end. The test request is issued by the external diagnostic device 02, passes through the gateway 03, and can be routed to the electronic control unit 05 via the main link or auxiliary link (via the vehicle communication module 04), so that the electronic control unit 05 can perform self-test and send back message data.

[0059] Building upon the three processes described above for detecting vehicle electronic control units, as previously illustrated, in some examples, a cloud platform can be further utilized as a redundant module for determining the electronic detection results. For instance, it can be selected in... Figure 3 An additional cloud platform 06 is added. This creates a quadruple-redundancy electronic inspection system on top of the previous triple-redundant system. When a gateway or central controller in the vehicle malfunctions, preventing the vehicle from receiving message data or determining test results based on the message data, the vehicle communication module can directly upload the raw message data returned by the electronic control unit to the cloud platform for analysis via the electronic control unit's communication link. The cloud platform can perform fault analysis and location based on the message data returned by the electronic control unit, ensuring that even if the main link at the vehicle end is abnormal, the data analysis and result determination of the electronic inspection process can still be taken over by the cloud. This avoids invalid electronic inspections and production line downtime, thereby improving the robustness and reliability of the vehicle electronic inspection system.

[0060] Based on the above approach, quadruple redundancy of the vehicle electronic inspection link is achieved, which can improve the reliability of testing the vehicle's electronic control unit, avoid interruption of the electronic inspection process from affecting vehicle production efficiency, and improve system reliability.

[0061] According to one aspect of this disclosure, an apparatus for detecting an electronic control unit of a vehicle is also provided. Figure 7 A structural block diagram of an apparatus 700 for detecting an electronic control unit of a vehicle according to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure is shown. Figure 7 As shown, the device 700 includes: The sending unit 701 is configured to send a detection request to at least one electronic control unit in the vehicle via the vehicle's gateway using the vehicle's central controller. Receiving unit 702 is configured to receive message data returned by the at least one electronic control unit via the gateway; and Determining unit 703 is configured to determine the detection result based on the message data. The at least one electronic control unit is also communicatively connected to the vehicle communication module, and the device 700 further includes: The transmission unit 704 is configured to, in response to determining that the communication connection between the at least one electronic control unit and the gateway has failed, transmit message data returned by the at least one electronic control unit using the vehicle communication module, for determining a detection result based on the message data.

[0062] According to some embodiments, the gateway is communicatively connected to the vehicle communication module, the communication connection between the gateway and the at least one electronic control unit is the main communication link, and the communication connection between the gateway and the vehicle communication module and the communication link between the vehicle communication module and the at least one electronic control unit are auxiliary communication links.

[0063] According to some embodiments, the transmission unit 704 is also configured to transmit fault information using the vehicle communication module in response to determining that a communication connection between the at least one electronic control unit and the gateway has failed.

[0064] According to some embodiments, the vehicle communication module is in a default off state, and the device further includes a startup unit configured to start the vehicle communication module in response to determining that the communication connection between the at least one electronic control unit and the gateway has failed.

[0065] According to some embodiments, the vehicle is equipped with an external diagnostic device that communicates with the gateway, and the sending unit 701 is further configured to send a test request to the at least one electronic control unit using the external diagnostic device in response to determining that the central controller or the communication connection between the central controller and the gateway has failed.

[0066] According to some embodiments, the sending unit 701 is configured to: in response to determining that the central controller has not received message data returned by the at least one electronic control unit, send a detection request to the at least one electronic control unit using the external diagnostic device.

[0067] According to some embodiments, the vehicle also includes an on-board diagnostic system interface that is communicatively connected to the gateway. The external diagnostic device is plugged into the vehicle through the on-board diagnostic system interface, which is a horizontally arranged interface with a snap-fit ​​mechanism.

[0068] According to one aspect of this disclosure, an electronic device is also provided, comprising: at least one processor; and a memory communicatively connected to the at least one processor; wherein the memory stores instructions executable by the at least one processor, the instructions being executed by the at least one processor to enable the at least one processor to perform the above-described method for detecting an electronic control unit of a vehicle.

[0069] According to one aspect of this disclosure, a vehicle is also provided, comprising: a central controller; a gateway communicatively connected to the central controller; at least one electronic control unit communicatively connected to the gateway; an on-board communication module communicatively connected to the at least one electronic control unit; and the aforementioned electronic equipment.

[0070] According to one aspect of this disclosure, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing computer instructions is also provided, wherein the computer instructions are used to cause the computer to perform the above-described method for detecting an electronic control unit of a vehicle.

[0071] According to one aspect of this disclosure, a computer program product is also provided, comprising a computer program, wherein the computer program, when executed by a processor, implements the above-described method for detecting an electronic control unit of a vehicle.

[0072] refer to Figure 8 The present invention describes a structural block diagram of an electronic device 800 that can serve as a server or client of the present disclosure, which is an example of a hardware device that can be applied to various aspects of the present disclosure. The electronic device is intended to represent various forms of digital electronic computer devices, such as laptop computers, desktop computers, workstations, personal digital assistants, servers, blade servers, mainframe computers, and other suitable computers. The electronic device can also represent various forms of mobile devices, such as personal digital processors, cellular phones, smartphones, wearable devices, and other similar computing devices. The components shown herein, their connections and relationships, and their functions are merely illustrative and are not intended to limit the implementation of the present disclosure described and / or claimed herein.

[0073] like Figure 8 As shown, device 800 includes a computing unit 801, which can perform various appropriate actions and processes based on a computer program stored in read-only memory (ROM) 802 or a computer program loaded from storage unit 808 into random access memory (RAM) 803. RAM 803 may also store various programs and data required for the operation of device 800. The computing unit 801, ROM 802, and RAM 803 are interconnected via bus 804. Input / output (I / O) interface 805 is also connected to bus 804.

[0074] Multiple components in device 800 are connected to I / O interface 805, including: input unit 806, output unit 807, storage unit 808, and communication unit 809. Input unit 806 can be any type of device capable of inputting information to device 800. Input unit 806 can receive input numerical or character information and generate key signal inputs related to user settings and / or function control of the electronic device, and may include, but is not limited to, a mouse, keyboard, touchscreen, trackpad, trackball, joystick, microphone, and / or remote control. Output unit 807 can be any type of device capable of presenting information, and may include, but is not limited to, a monitor, speaker, video / audio output terminal, vibrator, and / or printer. Storage unit 808 may include, but is not limited to, a hard disk and an optical disk. Communication unit 809 allows device 800 to exchange information / data with other devices through computer networks such as the Internet and / or various telecommunications networks, and may include, but is not limited to, modems, network cards, infrared communication devices, wireless communication transceivers, and / or chipsets, such as Bluetooth devices, 802.11 devices, WiFi devices, WiMax devices, cellular communication devices, and / or the like.

[0075] The computing unit 801 can be a variety of general-purpose and / or special-purpose processing components with processing and computing capabilities. Some examples of the computing unit 801 include, but are not limited to, a central processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), various special-purpose artificial intelligence (AI) computing chips, various computing units running machine learning model algorithms, a digital signal processor (DSP), and any suitable processor, controller, microcontroller, etc. The computing unit 801 performs the various methods and processes described above, such as a method for detecting an electronic control unit of a vehicle. For example, in some embodiments, the method for detecting an electronic control unit of a vehicle may be implemented as a computer software program tangibly contained in a machine-readable medium, such as storage unit 808. In some embodiments, part or all of the computer program may be loaded and / or installed on device 800 via ROM 802 and / or communication unit 809. When the computer program is loaded into RAM 803 and executed by the computing unit 801, one or more steps of the method for detecting an electronic control unit of a vehicle described above may be performed. Alternatively, in other embodiments, the computing unit 801 may be configured by any other suitable means (e.g., by means of firmware) to perform a method for detecting the electronic control unit of the vehicle.

[0076] Various embodiments of the systems and techniques described above herein can be implemented in digital electronic circuit systems, integrated circuit systems, field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), application-specific standard products (ASSPs), systems-on-a-chip (SoCs), complex programmable logic devices (CPLDs), computer hardware, firmware, software, and / or combinations thereof. These various embodiments may include implementations in one or more computer programs that can be executed and / or interpreted on a programmable system including at least one programmable processor, which may be a dedicated or general-purpose programmable processor, capable of receiving data and instructions from a storage system, at least one input device, and at least one output device, and transmitting data and instructions to the storage system, the at least one input device, and the at least one output device.

[0077] The program code used to implement the methods of this disclosure may be written in any combination of one or more programming languages. This program code may be provided to a processor or controller of a general-purpose computer, special-purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus, such that when executed by the processor or controller, the program code causes the functions / operations specified in the flowcharts and / or block diagrams to be implemented. The program code may be executed entirely on a machine, partially on a machine, as a standalone software package partially on a machine and partially on a remote machine, or entirely on a remote machine or server.

[0078] In the context of this disclosure, a machine-readable medium can be a tangible medium that may contain or store a program for use by or in conjunction with an instruction execution system, apparatus, or device. A machine-readable medium can be a machine-readable signal medium or a machine-readable storage medium. A machine-readable medium can be, but is not limited to, electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor systems, apparatus, or devices, or any suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples of machine-readable storage media include electrical connections based on one or more wires, portable computer disks, hard disks, random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROM or flash memory), optical fiber, portable compact disk read-only memory (CD-ROM), optical storage devices, magnetic storage devices, or any suitable combination of the foregoing.

[0079] To provide interaction with a user, the systems and techniques described herein can be implemented on a computer having: a display device for displaying information to the user (e.g., a CRT (cathode ray tube) or LCD (liquid crystal display) monitor); and a keyboard and pointing device (e.g., a mouse or trackball) through which the user provides input to the computer. Other types of devices can also be used to provide interaction with the user; for example, feedback provided to the user can be any form of sensory feedback (e.g., visual feedback, auditory feedback, or tactile feedback); and input from the user can be received in any form (including sound input, voice input, or tactile input).

[0080] The systems and technologies described herein can be implemented in computing systems that include backend components (e.g., as data servers), or middleware components (e.g., application servers), or frontend components (e.g., user computers with graphical user interfaces or web browsers through which users can interact with implementations of the systems and technologies described herein), or any combination of such backend, middleware, or frontend components. The components of the system can be interconnected via digital data communication of any form or medium (e.g., communication networks). Examples of communication networks include local area networks (LANs), wide area networks (WANs), the Internet, and blockchain networks.

[0081] Computer systems can include clients and servers. Clients and servers are generally located far apart and typically interact via communication networks. Client-server relationships are created by computer programs running on the respective computers and having a client-server relationship with each other. Servers can be cloud servers, servers in distributed systems, or servers incorporating blockchain technology.

[0082] It should be understood that the various forms of processes shown above can be used to rearrange, add, or delete steps. For example, the steps described in this disclosure can be performed in parallel, sequentially, or in a different order, as long as the desired result of the technical solution disclosed in this disclosure can be achieved, and this is not limited herein.

[0083] While embodiments or examples of this disclosure have been described with reference to the accompanying drawings, it should be understood that the methods, systems, and devices described above are merely exemplary embodiments or examples, and the scope of the invention is not limited by these embodiments or examples, but only by the granted claims and their equivalents. Various elements in the embodiments or examples may be omitted or replaced by their equivalents. Furthermore, the steps may be performed in a different order than that described in this disclosure. Further, various elements in the embodiments or examples may be combined in various ways. Importantly, as the technology evolves, many elements described herein can be replaced by equivalents that appear after this disclosure.

Claims

1. A method for detecting an electronic control unit of a vehicle, comprising: The vehicle’s central controller sends a detection request to at least one electronic control unit in the vehicle via the vehicle’s gateway. Receive message data returned by the at least one electronic control unit via the gateway; as well as The detection result is determined based on the message data. The at least one electronic control unit is also communicatively connected to an on-board communication module, and the method further includes: In response to determining that the communication connection between the at least one electronic control unit and the gateway has failed, the vehicle communication module is used to transmit message data returned by the at least one electronic control unit for determining the detection result based on the message data.

2. The method as described in claim 1, wherein, The gateway is communicatively connected to the vehicle communication module. The communication connection between the gateway and the at least one electronic control unit is the main communication link. The communication connection between the gateway and the vehicle communication module and the communication link between the vehicle communication module and the at least one electronic control unit are auxiliary communication links.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising: In response to determining that the communication connection between the at least one electronic control unit and the gateway has failed, fault information is transmitted using the vehicle communication module.

4. The method as described in claim 2 or 3, wherein, The vehicle communication module is in a default off state, and the method further includes: In response to determining that the communication connection between the at least one electronic control unit and the gateway has failed, the vehicle communication module is activated.

5. The method according to any one of claims 1-4, wherein, The step of using the vehicle communication module to transmit message data returned by the at least one electronic control unit for determining the detection result based on the message data includes: The vehicle communication module is used to transmit the message data returned by the at least one electronic control unit to the cloud platform, so that the cloud platform can determine the detection result based on the message data.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1-5, wherein, The vehicle is equipped with an external diagnostic device that communicates with the gateway, and the method further includes: In response to determining that the central controller or the communication connection between the central controller and the gateway has failed, a test request is sent to the at least one electronic control unit using the external diagnostic device.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein, The step of responding to determining that a fault has occurred in the central controller or the communication connection between the central controller and the gateway, by sending a detection request to the at least one electronic control unit using the external diagnostic device, includes: In response to determining that the central controller has not received message data returned by the at least one electronic control unit, a test request is sent to the at least one electronic control unit using the external diagnostic device.

8. The method of claim 6 or 7, wherein, The vehicle also includes an on-board diagnostic system interface that is communicatively connected to the gateway. The external diagnostic device is plugged into the vehicle through the on-board diagnostic system interface, which is a horizontally arranged interface with a snap-fit ​​mechanism.

9. An apparatus for detecting an electronic control unit of a vehicle, comprising: The transmitting unit is configured to send a detection request to at least one electronic control unit in the vehicle via the vehicle's gateway using the vehicle's central controller. The receiving unit is configured to receive message data returned by the at least one electronic control unit via the gateway; as well as The determining unit is configured to determine the detection result based on the message data. The at least one electronic control unit is also communicatively connected to an on-board communication module, and the device further includes: The transmission unit is configured to, in response to determining that a communication connection between the at least one electronic control unit and the gateway has failed, transmit message data returned by the at least one electronic control unit using the vehicle communication module, for determining a detection result based on the message data.

10. An electronic device, comprising: At least one processor; as well as A memory that is communicatively connected to the at least one processor; in The memory stores instructions that can be executed by the at least one processor to enable the at least one processor to perform the method of any one of claims 1-8.

11. A vehicle comprising: Central controller; The gateway that communicates with the central controller; At least one electronic control unit that is communicatively connected to the gateway; An onboard communication module communicatively connected to the at least one electronic control unit; and The electronic device as claimed in claim 10.

12. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing computer instructions, wherein, The computer instructions are used to cause the computer to perform the method according to any one of claims 1-8.

13. A computer program product comprising a computer program, wherein, The computer program, when executed by a processor, implements the method according to any one of claims 1-8.

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