Software writing method

Abstract

The present application provides a software writing method which does not require a dedicated software writing device or a software writing dedicated process, and can increase the size of software that can be written at the time of vehicle manufacturing. A software writing method which writes software at the time of vehicle manufacturing to an electronic control device mounted on a vehicle in a process of manufacturing the vehicle, the software writing method including the steps of: determining whether an electronic control device as a software writing target, i.e., a target ECU, has been installed on the vehicle; and in the case where the target ECU is installed on the vehicle, writing target ECU software stored by a software distribution server to the target ECU through OTA.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to a method for writing vehicle manufacturing software into the Electronic Control Unit (ECU) of a vehicle during the vehicle manufacturing process. Background Technology

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses a method for writing vehicle control software into an electronic control device mounted on a vehicle. In the writing method described in Patent Document 1, during the vehicle manufacturing process, a dedicated writing unit pre-stored with the writing software is wired to the electronic control device, and the software is written from the writing unit to the electronic control device.

[0003] Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2005-202594 Summary of the Invention

[0004] The wired software writing using the dedicated writing unit described in Patent Document 1 needs to be performed between the end of the vehicle assembly process and the start of the next completion and inspection process. Therefore, there is a problem that the writing time is limited and the software size is restricted. Furthermore, there is a problem that a dedicated writing unit for pre-storing the written software is required or a dedicated process for writing the software is required.

[0005] Therefore, there is still room for further research into methods for writing vehicle manufacturing software into the electronic control devices mounted on the vehicle during the vehicle manufacturing process.

[0006] The present invention was made in view of the above-mentioned problems, and its object is to provide a software writing method that does not require a dedicated software writing unit or a dedicated software writing process, and can increase the size of software that can be written during vehicle manufacturing.

[0007] To address the aforementioned issues, one aspect of the present invention is a software writing method, which, during the vehicle manufacturing process, writes vehicle manufacturing software into an electronic control unit (ECU) mounted on the vehicle. The software writing method includes the following steps: determining whether the target ECU, which is the target of the software writing, has been installed in the vehicle; and if the target ECU is installed in the vehicle, writing the target ECU stored on the software distribution server into the target ECU via OTA (Over-The-Air).

[0008] Invention Effects

[0009] According to the software writing method of the present invention described above, no dedicated software writing device or dedicated software writing process is required, and the size of software that can be written during vehicle manufacturing can be increased. Attached Figure Description

[0010] Figure 1 This is a schematic structural diagram of a system for performing a software writing method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0011] Figure 2 This is a timing diagram illustrating the software writing method according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0012] Figure 3 This is a flowchart used to compare the present invention with conventional production processes in a factory. Detailed Implementation

[0013] The software writing method of the present invention enables the OTA-enabled state during the vehicle assembly process, from the stage when the wireless communication device and the electronic control device of the writing target are installed in the vehicle, and executes the writing of the software of the electronic control device of the writing target stored in the software distribution server via OTA.

[0014] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

[0015] <Implementation Method>

[0016] [structure]

[0017] Figure 1 This is a block diagram illustrating a schematic structural example of a system 10 used to implement a software writing method according to an embodiment of the present invention. Figure 1 The system 10 illustrated in the figure consists of a power manager 100 installed in the vehicle, an OTA master controller 200, a target ECU 300, other ECUs 400 and a DCM 500, and a software distribution server 700 located outside the vehicle.

[0018] The power manager 100, OTA master controller 200, target ECU 300, other ECUs 400 and DCM 500 can communicate with each other via in-vehicle LAN such as USB, Ethernet (registered trademark) and CAN.

[0019] The power manager 100 comprises a battery or power control ECU that serves as the vehicle's power source, and is a device (power management device) used to manage the power supply status of the vehicle. The power manager 100 is capable of controlling and managing the power supply status of the OTA master controller 200, the target ECU 300, other ECUs 400, and the DCM 500.

[0020] The target ECU300 is an electronic control device (as the target of software writing) that requires software to be written (imported) during vehicle manufacturing. Additionally, Figure 1 The number of target ECU300 shown is 1, but more than 2 target ECU300 can also be installed on the vehicle.

[0021] Other ECU400s are electronic control devices that do not require special software programming during vehicle manufacturing. Additionally, Figure 1 The number of other ECU400 shown is 1, but more than 2 other ECU400 can also be installed on the vehicle.

[0022] The OTA master controller 200 is an OTA device used to write the vehicle manufacturing software to the target ECU 300, which is the target electronic control unit for software writing, via Over-the-Air (OTA) technology. The OTA master controller 200 can obtain the software for the target ECU 300 from the software distribution server 700 via the DCM 500. Details regarding the processing performed by the OTA master controller 200 will be described later.

[0023] The DCM500 is a wireless communication device for wireless data communication with the software distribution server 700. The DCM500 receives the corresponding software from the software distribution server 700 upon request from the OTA master controller 200 and sends it to the OTA master controller 200.

[0024] The software distribution server 700 is a device that has the function of registering and managing programs for updating the software of the electronic control unit (ECU) installed in the vehicle. Furthermore, the software distribution server 700 has the function of communicating with the vehicle (DCM 500) assembled in the factory to acquire, send, and manage vehicle information. In this embodiment, the software distribution server 700 has at least the software (initial software for the target ECU) that must first be written into the target ECU 300 during vehicle manufacturing.

[0025] The aforementioned power manager 100, OTA master controller 200, target ECU 300, other ECUs 400, and DCM 500 are sequentially installed onto the vehicle (body) during the vehicle assembly process in vehicle manufacturing. This invention provides a method for writing vehicle manufacturing-era software into the target ECU 300 during this vehicle assembly process.

[0026] [control]

[0027] refer to Figure 2 The software writing method according to one embodiment of the present invention will be described. Figure 2 This diagram illustrates the timing of the software write process performed by the power manager 100, OTA master controller 200, target ECU 300, other ECUs 400, DCM 500, and software distribution server 700.

[0028] Figure 2The processing sequence shown begins at least with the installation of the power manager 100, OTA master controller 200, and DCM 500 into the vehicle (steps S101, S201, S501). Furthermore, the OTA function is activated from the stage when these three structures are installed into the vehicle.

[0029] The power manager 100 supplies power to the OTA master controller 200 (step S102). The OTA master controller 200, which has been supplied with power, executes the pre-defined startup process for the first power supply (step S202). Through this process, if the OTA master controller 200 starts, the vehicle's function is switched to factory OTA mode.

[0030] In factory OTA mode, if the target ECU 300, which requires software to be written during vehicle manufacturing, is installed on the vehicle (step S301), the OTA master controller 200 requests power supply from the power manager 100 to start the target ECU 300 and DCM 500 (step S203). Furthermore, the OTA master controller 200 has pre-existing information regarding which electronic control device is the target ECU 300, and can determine the time when the target ECU 300 is installed on the vehicle based on this information. Upon receiving the power supply request from the OTA master controller 200, the power manager 100 supplies power to the target ECU 300 and DCM 500 (step S103).

[0031] If power is supplied to DCM500, OTA master controller 200 requests DCM500 to distribute the vehicle manufacturing software that needs to be written to target ECU300 (step S204). Upon receiving the vehicle manufacturing software distribution request, DCM500 requests software distribution server 700 to distribute the vehicle manufacturing software that needs to be written to target ECU300 (step S502).

[0032] The software distribution server 700 searches for the corresponding vehicle manufacturing software based on the distribution request from the DCM 500 (step S701). In this search, inherent identification information such as the vehicle's VIN or the target ECU 300's ID can be used. Then, the software distribution server 700 distributes the searched vehicle manufacturing software to the DCM 500 (step S702).

[0033] The DCM 500, which receives the vehicle manufacturing software from the software distribution server 700, distributes the vehicle manufacturing software to the OTA master controller 200 (step S503). The OTA master controller 200 detects the start of software distribution by receiving the vehicle manufacturing software from the DCM 500 (step S205).

[0034] Upon detecting the start of software distribution, the OTA master controller 200 requests a communication stop from all other ECUs 400 installed in the vehicle (step S206). This communication stop request is made to restrict communication from other ECUs 400 that is not needed during the OTA software writing process. This communication stop is implemented at least from the start of writing software to the target ECU 300 until its completion. The other ECUs 400 that receive the communication stop request from the OTA master controller 200 send a response to the communication stop request to the OTA master controller 200 (step S401). Then, the other ECUs 400 cease communication processing via the in-vehicle LAN, transitioning their own state to a stop-and-go standby state (step S402).

[0035] Upon receiving a communication stop response from another ECU 400, the OTA master controller 200 requests the target ECU 300 to transition to factory OTA state (step S207). Upon receiving the request to transition to factory OTA state, the target ECU 300 executes the pre-defined startup process for the first power supply (step S302). Through this process, the target ECU 300 transitions to factory OTA state. Then, the target ECU 300 sends a response indicating the transition to factory OTA state to the OTA master controller 200 (step S303).

[0036] The OTA master controller 200 performs the process of writing the vehicle manufacturing software to the target ECU 300 (step S208). If the writing of the vehicle manufacturing software is complete, the target ECU 300 notifies the OTA master controller 200 and DCM 500 that the software writing is complete (steps S304, S305). Upon receiving the software writing completion notification from the target ECU 300, the DCM 500 also notifies the software distribution server 700 that the software writing in the target ECU 300 is complete (step S504).

[0037] Upon receiving confirmation of software write completion from the target ECU 300, the OTA master controller 200 sends a communication stop cancellation request to all other ECUs 400 that requested communication stop (step S209). The other ECUs 400 that received the communication stop cancellation request from the OTA master controller 200 resume communication processing via the vehicle LAN, transitioning them to the stop-cancelled state (step S403).

[0038] The OTA master controller 200, which sent a communication stop cancellation request to all other ECUs 400, performs the process of canceling the factory OTA mode, causing the vehicle's functions to switch back to normal mode (step S210). Through the above steps, the process of writing the vehicle manufacturing software to the target ECU 300 ends.

[0039] In addition, if there are multiple target ECUs 300 that need to be programmed with vehicle manufacturing software, the required vehicle manufacturing software should be programmed separately according to the above steps each time a target ECU 300 is installed on the vehicle.

[0040] <Function / Effect>

[0041] As described above, according to an embodiment of the software writing method of the present invention, during vehicle manufacturing, from the stage (time t) when the wireless communication device (DCM) and the electronic control device (target ECU) to be written are installed on the vehicle during the vehicle assembly process, the state with OTA function is made valid, and software is written to the target ECU via OTA in parallel even during other processes (see reference). Figure 3 This process extends the software write time, thus enabling the writing of larger software files to the target ECU.

[0042] Furthermore, in the software writing method described in this embodiment, as a factory OTA mode, communication between electronic control devices (other ECUs) that are not the target of the writing is stopped only when the vehicle is assembled in the factory, and software is written to the target ECU via OTA, thus enabling the writing speed (communication speed) to be increased.

[0043] Furthermore, the software writing method according to this embodiment is not only able to increase the size of the software during writing compared to the conventional writing method described in Patent Document 1, but also effective in eliminating the need for a dedicated software writing unit or a dedicated process for software writing.

[0044] The above describes one embodiment of the present invention. However, the present invention can be used not only as a software writing method, but also as a program for executing the method, a computer-readable non-temporary storage medium storing the program, a system for executing the method, and a vehicle equipped with the system.

[0045] Industrial availability

[0046] The software writing method of the present invention can be used in situations such as writing vehicle manufacturing software into the electronic control device mounted on the vehicle during the vehicle manufacturing process.

[0047] Symbol Explanation

[0048] 10 - System, 100 - Power Manager, 200 - OTA Master Controller, 300 - Target ECU, 400 - Other ECUs, 500 - DCM, 700 - Software Distribution Server.

Claims

1. A software writing method, wherein during the vehicle manufacturing process, software for vehicle manufacturing is written into an electronic control device mounted on the vehicle, the software writing method being characterized by comprising the following steps: Determine whether the electronic control device (ECU) to which the software is intended has been written has been installed in the vehicle; and When the target ECU is installed in the vehicle, the target ECU stored in the software distribution server is written to the target ECU using the software via OTA.

2. The software writing method according to claim 1, characterized in that, It also includes the following steps: During the period from the start to the end of the writing of the software to the target ECU, communication of the electronic control devices other than the target ECU is stopped.

3. The software writing method according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that, It also includes the following steps: The OTA function is made effective when the wireless communication device that performs communication with the software distribution server, the OTA device that performs the writing of the software obtained through the wireless communication device to the electronic control device, and the power management device that manages the power supply of the vehicle are all installed in the vehicle.

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