Software upgrading method, device and equipment for rear wheel steering control chip

Abstract

The application discloses a rear wheel steering control chip software upgrading method, device and equipment, the rear wheel steering control chip includes a first area for running and storing rear wheel steering control software and a second area for storing rear wheel steering control software, the method comprises the following steps: if the upgrade wake-up instruction sent by the OTA upgrading module in the vehicle is received, the storage states of the two areas are acquired respectively; if the storage state of any area of the two areas is a valid storage state, and the storage state of the other area is an invalid storage state, then the rear wheel steering control software in the area corresponding to the invalid storage state is erased, the rear wheel steering control software in the area corresponding to the valid storage state is copied to the area corresponding to the invalid storage state, and the storage states of the two areas are set to the valid storage state; if the storage states of the two areas are both valid storage states, and the upgrade update instruction is not received, then the rear wheel steering control software in the first area is run.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This application belongs to the field of vehicle upgrade technology, and in particular relates to a method, apparatus and equipment for upgrading a rear wheel steering control chip. Background Technology

[0002] After the rear-wheel steering assembly in a vehicle enters mass production, automakers will identify quality issues caused by software problems in the rear-wheel steering control chip based on customer feedback. After optimizing the software, they will push an update to the vehicles, for example, through Over-the-Air (OTA) technology. However, during the update process, various factors can interfere with the software upgrade, leading to failure and ultimately causing the rear-wheel steering assembly to malfunction, affecting customer use.

[0003] In related technologies, the storage space of the rear-wheel steering control chip is typically divided into two regions, A and B, via software. If an upgrade using the rear-wheel steering control software in region A fails, the software in region B can be run to restore the functionality of the rear-wheel steering assembly. This solution requires a chip capable of running rear-wheel steering control software in both regions, resulting in higher costs. Summary of the Invention

[0004] The embodiments of this application provide a software upgrade method, apparatus, and device for a rear-wheel steering control chip. This allows for upgrades, at least to a certain extent, of rear-wheel steering control chips that can only run rear-wheel steering control software in a fixed area. When an upgrade fails and a certain area becomes invalid, the rear-wheel steering control software can be copied to make that area valid, and then the rear-wheel steering control software can be run from the area where it can run to achieve software upgrade or restoration. This allows vehicles using low-cost rear-wheel steering control chips to avoid the loss of function of the rear-wheel steering assembly after an upgrade failure, thus reducing vehicle production costs while ensuring upgrade success rate.

[0005] Other features and advantages of this application will become apparent from the following detailed description, or may be learned in part from practice of this application.

[0006] According to a first aspect of the embodiments of this application, a software upgrade method for a rear-wheel steering control chip is provided. The rear-wheel steering control chip includes two regions, namely a first region and a second region. The first region is used to run and store rear-wheel steering control software, and the second region is used to store the rear-wheel steering control software. The software upgrade method for the rear-wheel steering control chip includes: If an upgrade wake-up command is received from the OTA upgrade module in the vehicle, the following upgrade steps will be executed: The storage status of the two regions is obtained separately; the storage status is used to indicate whether the normal rear wheel steering control software has been stored in the corresponding region. If the storage state of one of the two regions is valid and the storage state of the other region is invalid, then erase the rear wheel steering control software in the region corresponding to the invalid storage state, copy the rear wheel steering control software in the region corresponding to the valid storage state to the region corresponding to the invalid storage state, and set the storage state of both regions to valid. If both regions are in a valid storage state and no upgrade / update command has been received from the OTA upgrade module, then the rear wheel steering control software in the first region will be run.

[0007] In some embodiments, the software upgrade method for the rear wheel steering control chip further includes: If both regions are in valid storage status and an upgrade update command is received from the OTA upgrade module, then the rear wheel steering control software and storage status in both regions will be updated. The rear wheel steering control chip was restarted, and the upgrade process was repeated.

[0008] In some embodiments, updating the rear-wheel steering control software and its stored state in both regions includes: Update the rear wheel steering control software in the first area to the new rear wheel steering control software; Verify the storage status of the first region; If the verification result indicates that the storage status of the first region is valid, then the storage status of the first region is set to valid, and the rear wheel steering control software and storage status in the second region are updated according to the new rear wheel steering control software in the first region.

[0009] In some embodiments, updating the rear-wheel steering control software in the first region to new rear-wheel steering control software includes: Set the storage status of the first region to invalid storage status; Erase the rear wheel steering control software in the first area; Store the new rear wheel steering control software in the first area.

[0010] In some embodiments, the rear-wheel steering control chip further includes a cache area for storing new rear-wheel steering control software in the first area, including: Store the new rear wheel steering control software from the cache area to the first area; Clear the new rear wheel steering control software from the cache area.

[0011] In some embodiments, the rear-wheel steering control chip further includes a cache region, and the software upgrade method for the rear-wheel steering control chip further includes: If the number of bytes in the new rear-wheel steering control software is not an integer multiple of the data transmission bandwidth between the rear-wheel steering control chip and the OTA upgrade module, then the number of bytes in the new rear-wheel steering control software will be padded to an integer multiple of the data transmission bandwidth before being stored in the cache area.

[0012] In some embodiments, updating the rear-wheel steering control software and its stored state in the second region according to the new rear-wheel steering control software in the first region includes: Set the storage status of the second region to invalid storage status; Erase the rear wheel steering control software in the second area; Copy the new rear wheel steering control software from the first region to the second region and reset the storage state of the second region.

[0013] In some embodiments, re-determining the storage state of the second region includes: Verify the storage status of the second region; If the verification result indicates that the storage status of the second region is valid, then the storage status of the second region will be set to valid.

[0014] In some embodiments, the software upgrade method for the rear wheel steering control chip further includes: If the verification result indicates that the storage status of the first area is invalid, the rear wheel steering control chip will be restarted and the upgrade steps will be re-executed.

[0015] In some embodiments, the software upgrade method for the rear wheel steering control chip further includes: If an abnormal communication is detected with the OTA upgrade module, the storage state of both areas is maintained, the rear wheel steering control chip is restarted, and the upgrade steps are re-executed.

[0016] In some embodiments, the software upgrade method for the rear wheel steering control chip further includes: If the rear wheel steering control chip loses power during the process of updating the rear wheel steering control software and storage state in the two areas, the storage state of the two areas will be maintained. After the rear wheel steering control chip is powered on again, the upgrade procedure is repeated.

[0017] According to a second aspect of the embodiments of this application, a software upgrade device for a rear wheel steering control chip is provided. The rear wheel steering control chip includes two regions, namely a first region and a second region. The first region is used to run and store rear wheel steering control software, and the second region is used to store the rear wheel steering control software. The device includes: The software upgrade unit, upon receiving an upgrade wake-up command from the OTA upgrade module in the vehicle, executes the following upgrade steps: The storage status of the two regions is obtained separately; the storage status is used to indicate whether the normal rear wheel steering control software has been stored in the corresponding region. If the storage state of one of the two regions is valid and the storage state of the other region is invalid, then erase the rear wheel steering control software in the region corresponding to the invalid storage state, copy the rear wheel steering control software in the region corresponding to the valid storage state to the region corresponding to the invalid storage state, and set the storage state of both regions to valid. If both regions are in a valid storage state and no upgrade / update command has been received from the OTA upgrade module, then the rear wheel steering control software in the first region will be run.

[0018] According to a third aspect of the embodiments of this application, a software upgrade device for a rear wheel steering control chip is provided, including a processor and a memory. The memory stores computer program instructions that can be executed by the processor. When the processor executes the computer program instructions, it implements the steps of the method as described in any of the first aspects above.

[0019] According to a fourth aspect of the embodiments of this application, a computer-readable storage medium is provided, which stores computer program instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform the steps of the method as described in any of the first aspects above.

[0020] According to a fifth aspect of the embodiments of this application, a computer program product is provided, including a computer program that, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to perform the steps of the method as described in any of the first aspects above.

[0021] The rear-wheel steering control chip in this application includes two areas. The first area can run the rear-wheel steering control software, while the second area can only store the software and cannot run it. For this type of low-cost chip, upon receiving an upgrade wake-up command, the storage status of the two areas is obtained. If the storage status of either area is valid, and the storage status of the other area becomes invalid due to upgrade failure, the rear-wheel steering control software in the area corresponding to the invalid storage status can be erased. The rear-wheel steering control software in the area corresponding to the valid storage status can be copied to the area corresponding to the invalid storage status, making both areas valid. Then, the rear-wheel steering control software in the first area is run, enabling software upgrades or restoration of the rear-wheel steering control chip in the first area. This allows vehicles using low-cost rear-wheel steering control chips to avoid the loss of rear-wheel steering assembly functionality after upgrade failure, ensuring upgrade success rate while reducing vehicle production costs.

[0022] It should be understood that the above general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only, and do not limit this application. Attached Figure Description

[0023] The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form part of this specification, illustrate embodiments consistent with this application and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of this application. It is obvious that the drawings described below are merely some embodiments of this application, and those skilled in the art can obtain other drawings based on these drawings without any inventive effort. In the drawings: Figure 1 A flowchart illustrating a software upgrade method for a rear wheel steering control chip according to some embodiments of this application is shown. Figure 2 A schematic diagram showing the region division of a rear wheel steering control chip according to some embodiments of this application is provided. Figure 3 A flowchart illustrating a software upgrade method for a rear wheel steering control chip according to other embodiments of this application is shown; Figure 4 It shows Figure 3 A detailed flowchart of the process; Figure 5 A block diagram of a software upgrade device for a rear wheel steering control chip according to some embodiments of this application is shown; Figure 6 A schematic diagram of a software upgrade device for a rear wheel steering control chip according to some embodiments of this application is shown. Detailed Implementation

[0024] The technical solutions of the embodiments of this application will be clearly and completely described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Obviously, the described embodiments are only some embodiments of this application, and not all embodiments. Based on the embodiments of this application, all other embodiments obtained by those skilled in the art without creative effort are within the scope of protection of this application.

[0025] Furthermore, the described features, structures, or characteristics can be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. Numerous specific details are provided in the following description to give a thorough understanding of embodiments of this application. However, those skilled in the art will recognize that the technical solutions of this application can be practiced without one or more of the specific details, or other methods, components, apparatuses, steps, etc., can be employed. In other instances, well-known methods, apparatuses, implementations, or operations are not shown or described in detail to avoid obscuring various aspects of this application.

[0026] The block diagrams shown in the accompanying drawings are merely functional entities and do not necessarily correspond to physically independent entities. That is, these functional entities can be implemented in software, in one or more hardware modules or integrated circuits, or in different network and / or processor devices and / or microcontroller devices.

[0027] The flowcharts shown in the accompanying drawings are merely illustrative and do not necessarily include all content and operations / steps, nor do they necessarily have to be performed in the described order. For example, some operations / steps can be broken down, while others can be combined or partially combined; therefore, the actual execution order may change depending on the specific circumstances.

[0028] It should also be noted that the terms "first," "second," etc., in the specification, claims, and accompanying drawings of this application are used to distinguish similar objects and are not necessarily used to describe a specific order or sequence. It should be understood that such uses of these terms can be interchanged where appropriate so that the embodiments of this application described herein can be implemented in orders other than those illustrated or described.

[0029] To enable those skilled in the art to better understand this application, the application scenarios involved in this application will be briefly described first.

[0030] In related technologies, two methods are typically used to avoid the loss of function of the rear-wheel steering assembly after a software upgrade failure. The first method uses a rear-wheel steering control chip with backup functionality. After a failed upgrade, the pre-backed-up rear-wheel steering control software is retrieved for restoration. This solution is costly because it requires a chip with backup functionality. The second method uses a chip without backup functionality. The storage space of the rear-wheel steering control chip is divided into two areas, A and B, via software. If an upgrade using the rear-wheel steering control software in area A fails, the software in area B can be run to restore the function of the rear-wheel steering assembly. This solution requires a chip that can run the rear-wheel steering control software in both areas, and is also costly.

[0031] Considering that some vehicles' rear-wheel steering control chips do not have backup capabilities, and are not the advanced chips involved in the second solution that can run rear-wheel steering control software from either region A or B, in order to use or continue using lower-cost chips that can only run rear-wheel steering control software from one fixed region, and to prevent the rear-wheel steering assembly from losing functionality due to upgrade failure during the upgrade process, the inventors designed the following upgrade method for such chips: The rear-wheel steering control chip includes two regions, where the first region is used to run and store the rear-wheel steering control software, and the second region is only used to store the rear-wheel steering control software; if an upgrade wake-up command is received from the vehicle's OTA module, then... The upgrade steps are as follows: Obtain the storage status of both regions; the storage status indicates whether the corresponding region has stored normal rear-wheel steering control software; if the storage status of one region is valid and the storage status of the other region is invalid, erase the rear-wheel steering control software in the region corresponding to the invalid storage status, copy the rear-wheel steering control software in the region corresponding to the valid storage status to the region corresponding to the invalid storage status, and set the storage status of both regions to valid; if the storage status of both regions is valid and no upgrade / update command has been received from the OTA module, run the rear-wheel steering control software in the first region.

[0032] In contrast to the first existing technology, the software upgrade method of this application divides the rear wheel steering control chip into regions, and can copy the rear wheel steering control software in one region to another region, so that the rear wheel steering control software is stored in both regions, thus eliminating the need for the chip to have a backup function.

[0033] Regarding the second existing technology, when an upgrade failure renders a certain area invalid, this method can make that area valid by copying the rear wheel steering control software, and then run the rear wheel steering control software from the area where it can run to achieve software upgrade or recovery. This allows vehicles using lower-cost chips to avoid the loss of function of the rear wheel steering assembly after an upgrade failure, thus reducing vehicle production costs while ensuring the success rate of the upgrade.

[0034] Figure 1 A flowchart illustrating a software upgrade method for a rear-wheel steering control chip according to some embodiments of this application is shown. Figure 1 As shown, a software upgrade method for a rear-wheel steering control chip is provided. The rear-wheel steering control chip includes two regions: a first region and a second region. The first region is used to run and store the rear-wheel steering control software, and the second region is used to store the rear-wheel steering control software. The software upgrade method may include the following steps: Step 101: If an upgrade wake-up command is received from the OTA upgrade module in the vehicle, then execute the following upgrade steps 1011~1013: Step 1011: Obtain the storage status of the two regions respectively; wherein, the storage status is used to characterize whether normal rear wheel steering control software has been stored in the corresponding region; Step 1012: If the storage state of one of the two regions is a valid storage state and the storage state of the other region is an invalid storage state, then erase the rear wheel steering control software in the region corresponding to the invalid storage state, copy the rear wheel steering control software in the region corresponding to the valid storage state to the region corresponding to the invalid storage state, and set the storage state of both regions to a valid storage state. Step 1013: If the storage status of both regions is valid and no upgrade update instruction has been received from the OTA upgrade module, then run the rear wheel steering control software in the first region.

[0035] Understandably, after automakers optimize the rear-wheel steering control software due to vehicle quality issues caused by the software in the rear-wheel steering control chip, they will push the new rear-wheel steering control software to the vehicle's OTA update module. Upon receiving the new rear-wheel steering control software, the vehicle's OTA update module will send an upgrade wake-up command to the rear-wheel steering control chip, which will then initiate the upgrade process.

[0036] Figure 2 A schematic diagram illustrating the region division of a rear-wheel steering control chip according to some embodiments of this application is shown. For example... Figure 2As shown, the rear-wheel steering control chip may include a first area, a second area, a cache area, and a control area. The first area is used to run and store the rear-wheel steering control software. The second area is used to store only the rear-wheel steering control software. The cache area is used to temporarily store the rear-wheel steering control software sent by the vehicle's OTA upgrade module. The control area is used to control the software upgrade process. In some examples, the control area may store a bootloader (BOOT), which interacts with the vehicle's OTA upgrade module to realize the software upgrade control inside the rear-wheel steering control chip.

[0037] Understandably, when a software upgrade is required for the rear wheel steering control chip in a vehicle, the control area in the rear wheel steering control chip will receive an upgrade wake-up command sent by the vehicle's OTA upgrade module. After receiving the upgrade wake-up command, steps 1011-1013 are executed to run the rear wheel steering control software from the first area.

[0038] In step 1011, the storage state of the first region can be obtained by acquiring the flag bits of the first region and the second region. If the flag bit of the first region is a valid storage state, it indicates that the storage state of the first region is valid; if the flag bit of the first region is an invalid storage state, it indicates that the storage state of the first region is invalid. Similarly, if the flag bit of the second region is a valid storage state, it indicates that the storage state of the second region is valid; if the flag bit of the second region is an invalid storage state, it indicates that the storage state of the second region is invalid.

[0039] In some embodiments, normal rear-wheel steering control software can be understood as complete and correct version rear-wheel steering control software. If complete and correct version rear-wheel steering control software is stored in a certain area, the flag bit of that area will be set to valid storage state. If rear-wheel steering control software is not stored in that area, the stored rear-wheel steering control software is incomplete, or the version is incorrect, the flag bit of that area will be set to invalid storage state.

[0040] In step 1012, if the storage state of the first region is valid and the storage state of the second region is invalid, then the rear wheel steering control software in the second region is erased, the rear wheel steering control software in the first region is copied to the second region, and the storage states of both the first and second regions are set to valid. If the storage state of the second region is valid and the storage state of the first region is invalid, then the rear wheel steering control software in the first region is erased, the rear wheel steering control software in the second region is copied to the first region, and the storage states of both the first and second regions are set to valid.

[0041] In step 1013, regardless of whether the storage status of the two regions is originally in a valid storage state or is converted to a valid storage state after copying the rear wheel steering control software, if no upgrade update instruction is received from the vehicle's OTA upgrade module, it means that the rear wheel steering control software in the first region and the second region is the latest version of the software, and the rear wheel steering control software in the first region can be run to realize the software upgrade of the rear wheel steering control chip.

[0042] The rear-wheel steering control chip in this application includes two areas. The first area can run the rear-wheel steering control software, while the second area can only store the software and cannot run it. For this type of low-cost chip, after receiving an upgrade wake-up command from the OTA upgrade module, the storage status of the two areas is obtained. If the storage status of either area is valid, and the storage status of the other area becomes invalid due to upgrade failure, the rear-wheel steering control software in the area corresponding to the invalid storage status can be erased. The rear-wheel steering control software in the area corresponding to the valid storage status can be copied to the area corresponding to the invalid storage status, making the storage status of both areas valid. Then, the rear-wheel steering control software in the first area is run, realizing software upgrade of the rear-wheel steering control chip in the first area. This allows the vehicle to avoid the loss of function of the rear-wheel steering assembly after upgrade failure when using a low-cost chip, ensuring successful upgrade while reducing vehicle production costs.

[0043] In some embodiments, the software upgrade method may further include: if the storage states of both regions are valid storage states and an upgrade update instruction sent by the OTA upgrade module is received, then the rear wheel steering control software and storage states in the two regions are updated; the rear wheel steering control chip is restarted, and the upgrade steps are re-executed.

[0044] Understandably, if both regions are in a valid storage state and an upgrade / update command is received, it means that the rear wheel steering control software in both regions is not the latest version. The rear wheel steering control software and its storage state in both regions need to be updated so that the rear wheel steering control software in both regions is the new rear wheel steering control software. Then, the new rear wheel steering control software in the first region is run to upgrade the software of the rear wheel steering control chip.

[0045] By updating the rear wheel steering control software and its stored state in both regions, continuous upgrades to the software in the rear wheel steering control chip are achieved. This allows the software in the rear wheel steering control chip to be continuously optimized based on usage, reducing software development costs and shortening the software development cycle.

[0046] In some embodiments, updating the rear wheel steering control software and its storage state in the two regions may include: updating the rear wheel steering control software in the first region to a new rear wheel steering control software; verifying the storage state in the first region; if the verification result indicates that the storage state in the first region is a valid storage state, then setting the storage state in the first region to valid, and updating the rear wheel steering control software and its storage state in the second region according to the new rear wheel steering control software in the first region.

[0047] Understandably, if the vehicle's OTA upgrade module sends an upgrade update command to the control area of ​​the rear wheel steering control chip, the control area of ​​the rear wheel steering control chip will download the new rear wheel steering control software to the cache area of ​​the rear wheel steering control chip for temporary storage, and update the rear wheel steering control software in the first area to the new rear wheel steering control software.

[0048] The storage status of the first area is verified. Specifically, it can be verified whether the new rear wheel steering control software with a complete and correct version has been stored in the first area. If the new rear wheel steering control software with a complete and correct version has been stored in the first area, the verification result is that the storage status of the first area is a valid storage status. If the new rear wheel steering control software is not stored in the first area, or the stored new rear wheel steering control software is incomplete or has an incorrect version, the verification result is that the storage status of the first area is an invalid storage status.

[0049] It should be noted that since the rear wheel steering control chip does not have a backup function, the rear wheel steering control software in the second area needs to be updated according to the new rear wheel steering control software in the first area. During the process of updating the rear wheel steering control software, the storage state of the second area will change, so the storage state of the second area needs to be updated synchronously.

[0050] In some embodiments, updating the rear wheel steering control software in the first region to new rear wheel steering control software includes: setting the storage state of the first region to an invalid storage state; erasing the rear wheel steering control software in the first region; and storing the new rear wheel steering control software in the first region.

[0051] During implementation, new rear-wheel steering control software in the cache area can be stored in the first area, and the cache area can be cleared of new rear-wheel steering control software.

[0052] Understandably, if new rear-wheel steering control software is repeatedly downloaded to the cache area during a software upgrade, the new rear-wheel steering control software will be repeatedly stored in the first area. To ensure the correctness of the new rear-wheel steering control software in the first area and avoid storage status verification failure in the first area, after each new rear-wheel steering control software is stored in the cache area to the first area, the new rear-wheel steering control software in the cache area can be cleared first, and then the subsequent rear-wheel steering control software can be downloaded to the cache area again.

[0053] In some embodiments, if the number of bytes of the new rear wheel steering control software is not equal to an integer multiple of the data transmission bandwidth between the rear wheel steering control chip and the OTA upgrade module, the number of bytes of the new rear wheel steering control software is padded to an integer multiple of the data transmission bandwidth and then stored in the cache area.

[0054] The data transmission bandwidth between the rear wheel steering control chip and the OTA upgrade module refers to the number of bytes transmitted in one frame of data between the rear wheel steering control chip and the OTA upgrade module. It is related to the vehicle's network resources and the design of the rear wheel steering control chip. This application does not limit its specific value.

[0055] Understandably, if the number of bytes of the new rear-wheel steering control software is not an integer multiple of the data transmission bandwidth between the rear-wheel steering control chip and the OTA upgrade module, the new rear-wheel steering control software cannot fully utilize the bandwidth. This will result in the last frame of data transmitted from the OTA upgrade module to the rear-wheel steering control chip containing other data besides the new rear-wheel steering control software. Consequently, the cache area may contain other versions of the rear-wheel steering control software in addition to the new one.

[0056] To solve this problem, during the process of transmitting new rear wheel steering control software from the OTA upgrade module to the buffer area of ​​the rear wheel steering control chip, if the number of bytes transmitted in the last frame of data is less than the data transmission bandwidth, then the bytes transmitted in the last frame of data are padded with 0s to fill the bandwidth.

[0057] By performing byte padding on the new rear-wheel steering control software, we can avoid the existence of multiple versions of the new rear-wheel steering control software in the first area, thus ensuring the correctness of the new rear-wheel steering control software in the first area.

[0058] In some embodiments, updating the rear wheel steering control software and its storage state in the second region according to the new rear wheel steering control software in the first region includes: setting the storage state of the second region to an invalid storage state; erasing the rear wheel steering control software in the second region; copying the new rear wheel steering control software from the first region to the second region; and re-determining the storage state of the second region.

[0059] During the implementation process, considering that the new rear wheel steering control software in the first area has been verified, after copying the new rear wheel steering control software in the first area to the second area, the storage status of the second area can be directly determined as a valid storage status.

[0060] If the copying process of the new rear-wheel steering control software from the first region to the second region is interrupted, resulting in the new rear-wheel steering control software not being completely copied to the second region, then the storage status of the second region can be further verified. If the verification result shows that the storage status of the second region is a valid storage status, then the storage status of the second region is set to a valid storage status.

[0061] By verifying the storage status of the second area, the accuracy of the storage status of the second area can be improved, thereby enhancing the accuracy of upgrade control.

[0062] In some embodiments, if the verification result indicates that the storage state of the first region is invalid, the rear wheel steering control chip is restarted and the upgrade steps are re-executed.

[0063] Understandably, if the verification result shows that the storage state of the first area is invalid, after the rear wheel steering control chip is restarted, the storage state of the first area will still be invalid. The rear wheel steering control software and storage state in the second area will not be modified, so the storage state of the second area will still be valid. After re-executing the upgrade steps, the rear wheel steering control software in the second area can be copied to the first area, and the old rear wheel steering control software can be run in the first area to restore the software in the rear wheel steering control chip to the old version, so as to ensure that the function of the rear wheel steering assembly can still be used.

[0064] Considering that upgrade anomalies may occur during the software upgrade process, this application designs an upgrade control method for such anomalies.

[0065] Understandably, there are two types of abnormal upgrade situations: one is due to communication abnormalities with the OTA upgrade module, resulting in timeouts, skipped steps, or repeated execution of steps; the other is due to power outages, which interrupt and terminate the steps.

[0066] In some embodiments, if an abnormal communication with the OTA upgrade module is detected, the storage state of both regions is maintained, the rear wheel steering control chip is restarted, and the upgrade steps are re-executed.

[0067] If an abnormal communication with the OTA upgrade module is detected, resulting in timeouts, skipped steps, or repeated execution of steps, the storage state of the first region may be either valid or invalid, depending on the specific circumstances. Similarly, the storage state of the second region may also be either valid or invalid, depending on the specific circumstances. After maintaining the storage states of both regions and restarting the rear wheel steering control chip, steps 1011 to 1012 can be used to ensure that the storage states of both regions are valid. Then, step 1013 can be used to run the rear wheel steering control software in the first region.

[0068] By maintaining the storage state of both regions in the event of a communication failure with the OTA upgrade module, the rear wheel steering control chip is restarted, and the upgrade steps are re-executed. This ensures that the rear wheel steering assembly remains functional even after an upgrade failure, thus improving vehicle stability.

[0069] In some embodiments, if the rear wheel steering control chip loses power during the update of the rear wheel steering control software and storage state in the two regions, the storage state of the two regions is maintained; after the rear wheel steering control chip is powered on again, the upgrade steps are re-executed.

[0070] If power is cut off before verifying the storage state of the first region, the storage state of the first region may be either valid or invalid. However, the rear wheel steering control software in the second region remains unchanged, so the storage state of the second region is valid. If power is cut off after setting the storage state of the second region to invalid, the storage state of the first region is valid, and the storage state of the second region is invalid. In both cases, after maintaining the storage states of the two regions, if the rear wheel steering control chip is powered on again, steps 1011 to 1012 can be used to make the storage states of both regions valid, and then step 1013 can be used to run the rear wheel steering control software in the first region.

[0071] By maintaining the storage state of both regions during a power outage during the upgrade, the storage state of both regions can be re-verified, thus avoiding the impact of the power outage on the storage state of both regions. This ensures that the rear wheel steering assembly remains functional even after the upgrade fails, as the upgrade process can be re-executed after the rear wheel steering control chip is powered on again, thereby improving vehicle stability.

[0072] Based on the same concept, this application proposes another software upgrade method for the rear wheel steering control chip. Figure 3 A flowchart illustrating a software upgrade method for a rear-wheel steering control chip according to other embodiments of this application is shown. Figure 3As shown, the software upgrade method for the rear wheel steering control chip may include the following steps: Step 301: If an upgrade wake-up command is received from the OTA upgrade module in the vehicle, then the following upgrade steps 3011~3014 are executed: Step 3011: Obtain the storage status of the two regions respectively; wherein, the storage status is used to characterize whether normal rear wheel steering control software has been stored in the corresponding region; Step 3012: If the storage state of one of the two regions is a valid storage state and the storage state of the other region is an invalid storage state, then erase the rear wheel steering control software in the region corresponding to the invalid storage state, copy the rear wheel steering control software in the region corresponding to the valid storage state to the region corresponding to the invalid storage state, and set the storage state of both regions to a valid storage state. Step 3013: If the storage status of both regions is valid and no upgrade update instruction is received from the OTA upgrade module, then run the rear wheel steering control software in the first region. Step 3014: If both regions are in valid storage state and an upgrade update command is received from the OTA upgrade module, then the storage state of the first region is set to invalid storage state, the rear wheel steering control software in the first region is erased, the new rear wheel steering control software is stored in the first region, the storage state of the first region is verified, if the verification result is that the storage state of the first region is valid, then the storage state of the first region is set to valid, the storage state of the second region is set to invalid storage state, the rear wheel steering control software in the second region is erased, the new rear wheel steering control software in the first region is copied to the second region, the storage state of the second region is verified, if the verification result is that the storage state of the second region is valid, then the storage state of the second region is set to valid storage state, the rear wheel steering control chip is restarted, and upgrade steps 3011-3013 are re-executed.

[0073] Figure 4 It shows Figure 3 A detailed flowchart of the process. (For example...) Figure 4 As shown, taking area A as the first area and area B as the second area, after the vehicle is powered on, there are three possible storage states for areas A and B. Regardless of the state, the rear wheel steering control software can eventually be run from the first area, and the area that became invalid due to upgrade failure can be restored to an effective storage state.

[0074] Scenario 1: Both storage areas A and B are in valid storage status. (Following the steps...) This means determining whether the storage status of areas A and B is valid. If both areas A and B are valid, and no upgrade or update command has been received, the system will start from area A to run the rear wheel steering control software.

[0075] The second scenario: Storage area A is in a valid storage state, while storage area B is in an invalid storage state. This can be resolved through the following steps. To enable the rear wheel steering control software to run from area A, it is necessary to determine whether the storage status of areas A and B is valid. If the storage status of area A is valid and the storage status of area B is invalid, the rear wheel steering control software in area A is copied to area B. After both areas are valid, the software is started from area A.

[0076] The third scenario: Area A's storage status is invalid, while Area B's storage status is valid. This can be resolved through the following steps... To enable the rear-wheel steering control software to run from area A, it is necessary to determine whether the storage status of areas A and B is valid. If the storage status of area A is invalid and the storage status of area B is valid, the rear-wheel steering control software in area B is copied to area A. After both areas are valid, the software is started from area A.

[0077] If both regions are in a valid storage state, but an upgrade / update command is received, then the rear wheel steering control software and its storage state in regions A and B need to be updated. The normal procedure is as follows: Step , Figure 4Step 22 includes steps 12 to 14 and step 21, and step 23 includes steps 15 to 20. This process involves, upon receiving an upgrade / update command, setting the flag bit in area A to an invalid storage state, erasing area A, downloading the new rear-wheel steering control software to area A, and verifying the storage state of area A. If the storage state of area A is valid, the flag bit in area A is set to valid storage, the flag bit in area B is set to invalid storage, the old rear-wheel steering control software in area B is erased, the new rear-wheel steering control software from area A is downloaded to area B, the flag bit in area B is set to valid storage, and then the rear-wheel steering control chip is reset to restart. After this process is completed normally, the storage states of both areas are valid. This process ensures that if, during the upgrade process, there are timeouts, skipped steps, or repeated execution of steps due to communication abnormalities with the vehicle's OTA upgrade module (orange dashed line, i.e., the dashed box indicated by the external OTA program), or if there are step terminations or abnormal exits due to the operation of the chip's internal program (green dashed line, i.e., the dashed box indicated by the rear steering chip's internal program), the rear wheel steering control software will not fail to operate.

[0078] If the program stalls before reaching step 22 or skips step 22 to execute step 23, then since the rear wheel steering control software and its stored state in area A remain unchanged, the stored state in area A is valid. The rear wheel steering control software and its stored state in area B are updated normally, so the stored state in area B is also valid. Because both areas are valid, the software in the rear wheel steering control chip can be restored according to the first scenario described above.

[0079] If the program stalls before reaching step 23 or skips step 23 to execute step 24, the storage state in area A may be valid or invalid. The rear wheel steering control software and its storage state in area B remain unchanged, therefore the storage state in area B is valid. The software in the rear wheel steering control chip can be restored according to either the first or third scenario described above.

[0080] If the program fails to reset at step 24, the upgrade will automatically stop when the upgrade command exits or is stuck at the preset time in step 24 (e.g., 5 minutes). The rear wheel steering control chip will restart, and the stored states in areas A and B will both be valid. The software in the rear wheel steering control chip can be restored according to the first scenario described above.

[0081] To prevent the new rear-wheel steering control software from being repeatedly downloaded to area A and causing area A verification failure, if the number of bytes of the new rear-wheel steering control software is not an integer multiple of the data transmission bandwidth between the rear-wheel steering control chip and the OTA upgrade module (e.g., less than 3840 bytes), the bytes of the new rear-wheel steering control software can be padded with 0s as placeholders. Furthermore, after each download of the new rear-wheel steering control software from the cache area to area A, the cache area should be cleared before downloading the data from the OTA upgrade module.

[0082] If the program jumps to step 23 due to a timeout in step 22, the new rear wheel steering control software in area A will not be fully downloaded. The verification in area A in step 15 will fail, and the program will jump to step 23 to wait for a reset. In this case, the storage state of area A will be invalid, while the storage state of area B will be valid. After the reset, the software in the rear wheel steering control chip can be restored according to the third scenario described above.

[0083] If the program jumps to step 24 due to a timeout in step 23, the storage state of area A will be valid, while the storage state of area B will be invalid. After a reset, the software in the rear wheel steering control chip can be restored according to the second scenario described above.

[0084] When the program reaches step 24, there will be three possible scenarios. Regardless of which scenario applies, after resetting, the software in the rear wheel steering control chip can be restored according to one of the three scenarios mentioned above.

[0085] If the power is cut off before step 16, the storage state of area A may be valid or invalid, while the storage state of area B is valid. After power is restored, the program starts from step 1 and can restore the software in the rear wheel steering control chip according to the first or third case mentioned above.

[0086] If the power is cut off after step 18, the storage state of area A is valid and the storage state of area B is invalid. After power is restored, the program starts from step 1 and the software in the rear wheel steering control chip can be restored according to the second situation mentioned above.

[0087] This application, through the design of upgrade steps and the design of updating the rear wheel steering control software and storage status in the two areas, can prevent the loss of function of the rear wheel steering assembly due to upgrade failure caused by communication problems, power supply problems, etc. during the upgrade process. This solution does not require the vehicle to replace with a new chip, which not only greatly reduces the chip hardware cost, but also avoids compatibility problems caused by replacing with a new chip, thus ensuring the stability of the vehicle.

[0088] The following describes an apparatus embodiment of this application, which can be used to execute the software upgrade method in the above embodiments of this application. For details not disclosed in the apparatus embodiments of this application, please refer to the embodiments of the software upgrade method described above.

[0089] See Figure 5 This diagram illustrates a block diagram of a software upgrade device for the rear wheel steering control chip in an embodiment of this application. Figure 5 As shown, the software upgrade device for the rear wheel steering control chip in this application embodiment includes: a software upgrade unit 501, configured to perform the following upgrade steps if an upgrade wake-up command is received from an OTA upgrade module in the vehicle: acquiring the storage status of two regions respectively; wherein, the storage status is used to characterize whether normal rear wheel steering control software has been stored in the corresponding region; if the storage status of one region is a valid storage status and the storage status of the other region is an invalid storage status, then erasing the rear wheel steering control software in the region corresponding to the invalid storage status, copying the rear wheel steering control software in the region corresponding to the valid storage status to the region corresponding to the invalid storage status, and setting the storage status of both regions to a valid storage status; if the storage status of both regions is a valid storage status and no upgrade update command has been received from the OTA upgrade module, then running the rear wheel steering control software in the first region.

[0090] In some embodiments, based on the foregoing scheme, the software upgrade unit 501 is further configured to update the rear wheel steering control software and storage status in the two regions if the storage status of both regions is a valid storage status and an upgrade update instruction sent by the OTA upgrade module is received; control the rear wheel steering control chip to restart and re-execute the upgrade steps.

[0091] In some embodiments, based on the foregoing scheme, the software upgrade unit 501 is further configured to update the rear wheel steering control software in the first region to a new rear wheel steering control software; verify the storage state of the first region; if the verification result is that the storage state of the first region is a valid storage state, then set the storage state of the first region to be valid, and update the rear wheel steering control software and storage state in the second region according to the new rear wheel steering control software in the first region.

[0092] In some embodiments, based on the foregoing scheme, the software upgrade unit 501 is further configured to set the storage state of the first region to an invalid storage state; erase the rear wheel steering control software in the first region; and store new rear wheel steering control software in the first region.

[0093] In some embodiments, based on the foregoing scheme, the rear wheel steering control chip further includes a cache area, and the software upgrade unit 501 is further configured to store new rear wheel steering control software in the cache area to the first area; and clear the new rear wheel steering control software in the cache area.

[0094] In some embodiments, based on the foregoing scheme, the rear wheel steering control chip further includes a cache area, and the software upgrade unit 501 is further configured to, if the number of bytes of the new rear wheel steering control software is not equal to an integer multiple of the data transmission bandwidth between the rear wheel steering control chip and the OTA upgrade module, fill the number of bytes of the new rear wheel steering control software to an integer multiple of the data transmission bandwidth and then store it in the cache area.

[0095] In some embodiments, based on the foregoing scheme, the software upgrade unit 501 is further configured to set the storage state of the second region to an invalid storage state; erase the rear wheel steering control software in the second region; copy the new rear wheel steering control software in the first region to the second region; and redetermine the storage state of the second region.

[0096] In some embodiments, based on the aforementioned scheme, the software upgrade unit 501 is further configured to verify the storage status of the second region; if the verification result indicates that the storage status of the second region is a valid storage status, then the storage status of the second region is set to a valid storage status.

[0097] In some embodiments, based on the foregoing scheme, the software upgrade unit 501 is further configured to: if the verification result indicates that the storage state of the first region is invalid, control the rear wheel steering control chip to restart and re-execute the upgrade steps.

[0098] In some embodiments, based on the foregoing scheme, the software upgrade unit 501 is further configured to maintain the storage state of the two regions, control the rear wheel steering control chip to restart, and re-execute the upgrade steps if an abnormality in communication with the OTA upgrade module is detected.

[0099] In some embodiments, based on the foregoing scheme, the software upgrade module 501 is further configured to maintain the storage state of the two regions if the rear wheel steering control chip loses power during the process of updating the rear wheel steering control software and storage state in the two regions; and to re-execute the upgrade steps after the rear wheel steering control chip is powered on again.

[0100] Based on the same inventive concept, embodiments of this application also provide a software upgrade device, see reference. Figure 6The diagram shows a schematic of the structure of a software upgrade device according to an embodiment of this application. The software upgrade device includes one or more memories 604, one or more processors 602, and at least one computer program (computer program instruction) stored on the memory 604 and executable on the processor 602. When the processor 602 executes the computer program, it implements the method described above.

[0101] Among them, Figure 6 In this document, a bus architecture (represented by bus 600) is used. Bus 600 may include any number of interconnected buses and bridges, linking various circuits including one or more processors represented by processor 602 and memory represented by memory 604. Bus 600 may also link various other circuits such as peripheral devices, voltage regulators, and power management circuits, which are well known in the art and therefore will not be described further herein. Bus interface 605 provides an interface between bus 600 and receiver 601 and transmitter 603. Receiver 601 and transmitter 603 may be the same element, i.e., a transceiver, providing a unit for communicating with various other devices over a transmission medium. Processor 602 is responsible for managing bus 600 and general processing, while memory 604 can be used to store data used by processor 602 during operation.

[0102] Based on the same inventive concept, embodiments of this application provide a computer-readable storage medium storing computer program instructions, which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform the steps of the method described above.

[0103] Based on the same inventive concept, embodiments of this application provide a computer program product, including a computer program, which, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to perform the steps of the method described above.

[0104] The functions described herein may be implemented in hardware, software executed by a processor, firmware, or any combination thereof. If implemented in software executed by a processor, the functions may be stored as one or more instructions or codes on or transmitted via a computer-readable medium. Other examples and embodiments are within the scope and spirit of this application and the appended claims. For example, due to the nature of software, the functions described above may be implemented using software executed by a processor, hardware, firmware, hardwired, or any combination thereof. Furthermore, the functional units may be integrated into a single processing unit, or each unit may exist physically separately, or two or more units may be integrated into a single unit.

[0105] In the several embodiments provided in this application, it should be understood that the disclosed technical content can be implemented in other ways. The device embodiments described above are merely illustrative; for example, the division of units can be a logical functional division, and in actual implementation, there may be other division methods. For instance, multiple units or components may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be ignored or not executed. Furthermore, the displayed or discussed mutual coupling, direct coupling, or communication connection may be through some interfaces; the indirect coupling or communication connection between units or modules may be electrical or other forms.

[0106] The units described as separate components may or may not be physically separate. Similarly, the components of the control device may or may not be physical units; they may be located in one place or distributed across multiple units. Some or all of the units can be selected to achieve the purpose of this embodiment, depending on actual needs.

[0107] If the integrated unit is implemented as a software functional unit and sold or used as an independent product, it can be stored in a computer-readable storage medium. Based on this understanding, the technical solution of this application, in essence, or the part that contributes to the prior art, or all or part of the technical solution, can be embodied in the form of a software product. This computer software product is stored in a storage medium and includes several instructions to cause a computer device (which may be a personal computer, server, or network device, etc.) to execute all or part of the steps of the methods described in the various embodiments of this application. The aforementioned storage medium includes various media capable of storing computer program instructions, such as USB flash drives, read-only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), portable hard drives, magnetic disks, or optical disks.

[0108] The above description is merely an embodiment of this application and is not intended to limit this application. Various modifications and variations can be made to this application by those skilled in the art. Any modifications, equivalent substitutions, improvements, etc., made within the spirit and principles of this application should be included within the scope of the claims of this application.

Claims

1. A software upgrade method for a rear-wheel steering control chip, characterized in that, The rear-wheel steering control chip includes two regions, namely a first region and a second region. The first region is used to run and store the rear-wheel steering control software, and the second region is used to store the rear-wheel steering control software. The method includes: If an upgrade wake-up command is received from the over-the-air (OTA) upgrade module in the vehicle, the following upgrade steps will be executed: The storage status of the two regions is obtained respectively; wherein, the storage status is used to characterize whether normal rear wheel steering control software has been stored in the corresponding region; If the storage state of either of the two regions is valid and the storage state of the other region is invalid, then the rear wheel steering control software in the region corresponding to the invalid storage state is erased, the rear wheel steering control software in the region corresponding to the valid storage state is copied to the region corresponding to the invalid storage state, and the storage state of both regions is set to valid. If both regions are in a valid storage state and no upgrade / update instruction has been received from the OTA upgrade module, then the rear wheel steering control software in the first region will be run.

2. The software upgrade method for the rear wheel steering control chip according to claim 1, characterized in that, Also includes: If the storage status of both regions is valid and the upgrade update instruction sent by the OTA upgrade module is received, then the rear wheel steering control software and storage status in the two regions are updated. The rear wheel steering control chip is restarted, and the upgrade steps are re-executed.

3. The software upgrade method for the rear wheel steering control chip according to claim 1, characterized in that, The update of the rear wheel steering control software and its stored state in the two regions includes: Update the rear wheel steering control software in the first area to the new rear wheel steering control software; Verify the storage status of the first region; If the verification result indicates that the storage status of the first region is valid, then the storage status of the first region is set to valid, and the rear wheel steering control software and storage status in the second region are updated according to the new rear wheel steering control software in the first region.

4. The software upgrade method for the rear wheel steering control chip according to claim 3, characterized in that, The step of updating the rear-wheel steering control software in the first region to the new rear-wheel steering control software includes: Set the storage status of the first region to invalid storage status; Erase the rear wheel steering control software in the first area; Store the new rear wheel steering control software in the first area.

5. The software upgrade method for the rear wheel steering control chip according to claim 4, characterized in that, The rear wheel steering control chip also includes a cache area, and storing new rear wheel steering control software in the first area includes: Store the new rear wheel steering control software in the cache area into the first area; Clear the new rear wheel steering control software from the cache area.

6. The software upgrade method for the rear wheel steering control chip according to claim 3, characterized in that, The rear wheel steering control chip also includes a buffer area, and the method further includes: If the number of bytes of the new rear wheel steering control software is not equal to an integer multiple of the data transmission bandwidth between the rear wheel steering control chip and the OTA upgrade module, then the number of bytes of the new rear wheel steering control software is padded to an integer multiple of the data transmission bandwidth and stored in the cache area.

7. The software upgrade method for the rear wheel steering control chip according to claim 3, characterized in that, The step of updating the rear wheel steering control software and its stored state in the second region based on the new rear wheel steering control software in the first region includes: Set the storage status of the second region to invalid storage status; Erase the rear wheel steering control software in the second area; Copy the new rear wheel steering control software from the first region to the second region, and reset the storage state of the second region.

8. The software upgrade method for the rear wheel steering control chip according to claim 7, characterized in that, The process of redetermining the storage state of the second region includes: Verify the storage status of the second region; If the verification result indicates that the storage status of the second region is valid, then the storage status of the second region is set to valid.

9. The software upgrade method for the rear wheel steering control chip according to claim 3, characterized in that, Also includes: If the verification result indicates that the storage state of the first area is invalid, then the rear wheel steering control chip is restarted and the upgrade steps are re-executed.

10. The software upgrade method for the rear wheel steering control chip according to claim 3, characterized in that, Also includes: If a communication anomaly is detected with the OTA upgrade module, the storage state of the two regions is maintained, the rear wheel steering control chip is restarted, and the upgrade steps are re-executed.

11. The software upgrade method for the rear wheel steering control chip according to claim 3, characterized in that, Also includes: If the rear wheel steering control chip loses power during the process of updating the rear wheel steering control software and storage state in the two regions, the storage state of the two regions is maintained. After the rear wheel steering control chip is powered on again, the upgrade steps are executed again.

12. A software upgrade device for a rear wheel steering control chip, characterized in that, The rear-wheel steering control chip includes two regions, namely a first region and a second region. The first region is used to run and store the rear-wheel steering control software, and the second region is used to store the rear-wheel steering control software. The device includes: The software upgrade unit, upon receiving an upgrade wake-up command from the OTA upgrade module in the vehicle, executes the following upgrade steps: The storage status of the two regions is obtained respectively; wherein, the storage status is used to characterize whether normal rear wheel steering control software has been stored in the corresponding region; If the storage state of either of the two regions is valid and the storage state of the other region is invalid, then the rear wheel steering control software in the region corresponding to the invalid storage state is erased, the rear wheel steering control software in the region corresponding to the valid storage state is copied to the region corresponding to the invalid storage state, and the storage state of both regions is set to valid. If both regions are in a valid storage state and no upgrade / update instruction has been received from the OTA upgrade module, then the rear wheel steering control software in the first region will be run.

13. A software upgrade device for a rear-wheel steering control chip, comprising a processor and a memory, characterized in that, The memory stores computer program instructions that can be executed by the processor, and when the processor executes the computer program instructions, it implements the steps of the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 11.

14. A computer-readable storage medium, characterized in that, The computer-readable storage medium stores computer program instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform the steps of the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 11.

15. A computer program product, characterized in that, It includes a computer program, which, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to perform the steps of the method as described in any one of claims 1 to 11.

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