Motor vehicle and method for driving such a

Abstract

In order to enable component groups in a motor vehicle to use different protocols, a higher-level software application (Ü-App) is placed upstream of the protocol-specific software applications (App1, App2, App3) in the motor vehicle (1), which can receive input commands according to a first input protocol and translate this into different output protocols so that the protocol-specific software applications (App1, App2, App3) can control different control units.

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a motor vehicle and a method for controlling (actuators and / or sensors) of a motor vehicle.

[0002] The invention is based on the situation that the motor vehicle has a central control unit. For actuators and / or sensors, there are a plurality of subordinate control units, wherein two and preferably more subordinate control units are designed to receive control commands according to different protocols.

[0003] The assembly of a vehicle model involves a large number of units at the vehicle manufacturer and also at suppliers. This results in some actuators being controlled using one protocol, other actuators being controlled using a second protocol, and so on.

[0004] It is then the responsibility of the vehicle manufacturer to bring all the units together.

[0005] US patent 2024 / 0 211 229 A1 discloses a method for programming vehicle control units. This development utilizes application programming interfaces (APIs), where an input protocol for the API is translated into a uniform protocol for all electronic control units (ECUs) in a vehicle. US patent 2024 / 0 171 948 A1 discloses a data integration system for a vehicle computer system with a central system app or API (application programming interface) that is linked to a plurality of other apps.

[0006] A general trend is the development of applications ("apps") for vehicles, which users can load into the infotainment system. This becomes complicated when an app needs to indirectly access multiple subordinate control units. For example, an app that a user wants to use to provide an in-car experience might require access to the lighting, seat heating, climate control, and so on. This becomes problematic when different protocols are used.

[0007] DE 10 2007 012 304 A1 describes an interface in a vehicle for connecting to a mobile computing device for data exchange between the interface and the mobile computing device, wherein the interface is connected to a vehicle data bus for data exchange with at least one vehicle system, and wherein the data exchange between the mobile computing device and the interface takes place according to a first data protocol and the data exchange between the interface and the at least one vehicle system takes place according to a second data protocol that differs from the first data protocol.

[0008] US Patent 6,430,164 B1 discloses a communication device that is specifically intended for use in a vehicle and is suitable for the use of different protocols there.

[0009] DE 102 37 715 A1 relates to a device for accessing a vehicle control system via a wireless connection. DE 10 2016 002 945 A1 deals with providing several online vehicle functionalities.

[0010] The invention is directed in particular to the case where actuators are controlled. However, the control can also alternatively or additionally involve sensors, in particular activating them to receive input data.

[0011] The object of the invention is to facilitate access to actuators or the control units upstream of them (subordinate to the central control unit).

[0012] The problem is solved by the motor vehicle with the features according to claim 1 or claim 2 and the method with the features according to claim 9 or claim 10.

[0013] The motor vehicle according to the invention, which, as described above, comprises a central control unit and subordinate control units to which different protocols are assigned, has a central control unit in which a protocol-specific software application is provided for each protocol used by a subordinate control unit. A suitable app is thus stored on the central control unit (hardware). The central control unit also provides a higher-level application (further software is stored on the hardware and can be run, "central app"), which is designed to receive input commands according to a first input protocol.The higher-level software application is further designed to issue first output commands according to a first output protocol for a first protocol-specific software application based on first input commands according to the first input protocol, and to issue second output commands according to a second output protocol for a second protocol-specific software application based on second input commands according to the first input protocol.

[0014] In other words, the higher-level software application has the function of translating the first and second input commands into their respective output commands, and doing so in the appropriate protocol.

[0015] In this way, an external app (which, as described above, is stored on the vehicle's infotainment system) can be easily programmed, as it only needs to use the first input protocol. The app stored on the smartphone, however, does not need to consider the protocols required by the subordinate control units. This significantly simplifies app programming.

[0016] In the invention, the higher-level software application provides an interface that utilizes the Android® Interface Definition Language (AIDL). The higher-level software application is therefore an AIDL interface. Alternatively or additionally, the output protocols in the invention include the ASI® and RSI® protocols (from e.Solutions GmbH), the SOME / IP (Scalable Service-Oriented Middleware over IP) protocol, and / or the VHAL (Vehicle Hardware Abstraction Layer) protocol. Such protocols are frequently used in vehicle component groups.

[0017] According to another aspect of the invention, the higher-level software application is designed to receive, in addition to a first input command according to a first input protocol, a second input command from another user application according to the first or a second input protocol, to interpret the received input commands, and to translate the entirety of input commands into consistent commands for at least one lower-level software application.

[0018] According to a preferred embodiment of the invention in all aspects, the higher-level software application is further designed to output third output commands in response to third input commands according to a third output protocol for a third protocol-specific software application and to output fourth output commands according to a fourth output protocol for a fourth protocol-specific software application.

[0019] In other words, it becomes possible to control two of the subordinate apps (protocol-specific software applications) using a single input command (in this case, the third one), thereby ultimately supplying control commands to a multiple actuators and / or sensors. In this case, the higher-level software application functions as a distributor (a kind of "hub").

[0020] Preferably, in this context, there is an overlap with the first and second input commands insofar as the third output protocol for the third software application corresponds to the first output protocol for the first software application. Alternatively or additionally, the fourth output protocol for the fourth software application can correspond to the second output protocol for the second software application.

[0021] It is therefore possible that the third input command controls the same actuators and / or sensors as the first and / or second input commands, with the third input command having the special characteristic of being able to control multiple actuators and / or sensors simultaneously. This also applies to groups of actuators and / or sensors, insofar as these can be controlled by the protocol-specific software application, especially if they are assigned to a common subordinate control unit.

[0022] According to a further preferred embodiment of the invention in all aspects, the higher-level software application is further designed to transfer further input commands according to a second input protocol into output commands for a protocol-specific software application according to its protocol.

[0023] In other words, this case provides increased flexibility regarding external apps (the vehicle's infotainment system) insofar as not only the first but also a second input protocol can be used.

[0024] According to a further preferred embodiment of the invention, the higher-level software application is designed to receive a priority indication with the input commands and, in the event of a content-related and / or temporal conflict between the command target of several incoming input commands, to issue output commands such that an input command with a higher priority is given more consideration than an input command with a lower priority (priority orchestration).

[0025] Therefore, especially when multiple external apps send input commands to the central control unit, conflicts can arise. For example, one app might activate a vehicle interior experience where the climate control provides cool air, while another external app, preparing for a trip, might want the vehicle preheated. In this case, the vehicle interior experience would have to be prioritized over the commands. The central control unit then orchestrates the commands. Besides complete contradictions in the command objectives (where a command objective defines the selection of actuators and / or sensors as well as the method of their control), capacity optimization (for example, with regard to the vehicle battery) can also occur.For example, input commands that use an external app to indicate that the user is approaching the vehicle, for which, for example, the door needs to be opened and / or the lights switched on, etc., can take priority in processing over activating the infotainment system and the like, which another external app may want to do.

[0026] According to a further preferred embodiment of the invention, subordinate control units control at least two of the following actuator(s) from the group of: a) Lighting equipment, b) Air conditioning system, c) Actuators relating to a motor vehicle chassis, d) an actuator for driving mode selection (for example, for selecting comfort mode or sport mode), e) (at least) an actuator for a roof module, f) (at least) an actuator for a window regulator, g) (at least) an actuator for a door opening (preferably including for the trunk door), h) Actuators for seat massage, i) (at least one) actuator for seat heating, j) (at least) an actuator for seat adjustment, k) (at least) a tire pressure actuator.

[0027] The more (more than two, in particular three, four, five, six, seven, eight, or all nine types of actuators mentioned) from the aforementioned selection are accessible by the invention, the better external apps can access units of the motor vehicle.

[0028] The inventive method for controlling (actuators and / or sensors) a motor vehicle, in particular a motor vehicle as described above, also according to a preferred embodiment, comprises: - Receiving, by the motor vehicle, an initial input command from a user application according to an initial input protocol; - Translation of the input command by a higher-level software application of the motor vehicle into a command for at least one lower-level software application of the motor vehicle according to a first output protocol; - Providing, through the subordinate software application, a control command for at least one subordinate control unit of the motor vehicle (using the associated output protocol); - Control by means of at least one control unit of at least one associated actuator and / or sensor.

[0029] In the method according to the invention, the higher-level software application provides an interface that uses the Android® Interface Definition Language (AIDL). The higher-level software application is therefore an AIDL interface. Alternatively or additionally, the output protocols in the invention include the ASI® and RSI® protocols (from e.Solutions GmbH), the SOME / IP (Scalable Service-Oriented Middleware over IP) protocol, and / or the VHAL (Vehicle Hardware Abstraction Layer) protocol. Such protocols are frequently used in vehicle component groups.

[0030] The procedure reflects the provision of the overarching software application in the motor vehicle, insofar as an external app (user application) ultimately accesses the motor vehicle.

[0031] According to a second aspect of the method according to the invention, this includes: - Receiving a second input command from another user application according to a second input protocol; and - Interpreting the received input commands and translating the entire set of input commands into consistent commands for at least one subordinate software application.

[0032] In this case, "interpreting" includes, for example, the use of a language model (for which the aforementioned Android® Interface Definition Language interface is suitable). Translating the entire set of input commands can involve omitting an aspect entirely from the command in one of the user applications. Alternatively, if a device for providing artificial intelligence or similar is used, a kind of mediation between the commands can take place.

[0033] According to a preferred embodiment, it is provided that the first and second input commands each receive information about a priority, and these priorities are taken into account when translating the entire set of input commands into conflict-free commands.

[0034] According to a preferred embodiment of the method according to the invention, in all aspects the input command is translated into several commands which are transmitted to different subordinate software applications.

[0035] Alternatively or additionally, a subordinate software application transmits at least one control command to each of the different subordinate control units.

[0036] In both of the aforementioned preferred embodiments, it is therefore provided that an input command ultimately leads, through branching (at the software application level and / or at the control unit level), to the control of a plurality of actuators and / or sensors. This is particularly desirable when a user application (external app) is to be used.

[0037] For use cases or application situations that may arise during the procedure and are not explicitly described here, it may be provided that, according to the procedure, an error message and / or a request for user feedback is issued and / or a default setting and / or a predetermined initial state is set.

[0038] The invention also includes the control device(s) for the motor vehicle. The control device may comprise a data processing device or a processor circuit configured to perform an embodiment of the method according to the invention. For this purpose, the processor circuit may comprise at least one microprocessor and / or at least one microcontroller and / or at least one FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) and / or at least one DSP (Digital Signal Processor). In particular, a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), or an NPU (Neural Processing Unit) may be used as the microprocessor. Furthermore, the processor circuit may comprise program code configured to perform the embodiment of the method according to the invention when executed by the processor circuit.The program code can be stored in a data memory of the processor device. The processor device can be based, for example, on at least one circuit board and / or on at least one SoC (System on Chip).

[0039] The invention also includes further developments of the method according to the invention, which have features already described in connection with the further developments of the motor vehicle according to the invention. For this reason, the corresponding further developments of the method according to the invention are not described again here.

[0040] The motor vehicle according to the invention is preferably designed as a motor vehicle, in particular as a passenger car or truck, or as a passenger bus or motorcycle.

[0041] As a further solution, the invention also includes a computer-readable storage medium comprising program code which, when executed by a computer or a computer network, causes it to execute an embodiment of the method according to the invention. The storage medium can be provided at least partially as a non-volatile data storage medium (e.g., as flash memory and / or as an SSD - solid state drive) and / or at least partially as a volatile data storage medium (e.g., as RAM - random access memory). The storage medium can be located within the computer or computer network. However, the storage medium can also be operated, for example, as an app store server and / or cloud server on the internet. The computer or computer network can provide a processor circuit with, for example, at least one microprocessor.The program code can be provided as binary code, assembly code, source code of a programming language (e.g., Kotlin / Java), or a program script (e.g., Python). Alternatively, the computer-readable storage medium can be implemented as a signal containing computer-readable data, such as a time-varying voltage signal or a radio signal.

[0042] The invention also includes combinations of the features of the described embodiments. The invention therefore also includes realizations that each exhibit a combination of the features of several of the described embodiments, provided that the embodiments have not been described as mutually exclusive.

[0043] The following are exemplary embodiments of the invention described. This is illustrated by: Fig. 1 schematically the components of a motor vehicle according to an embodiment of the invention and two external apps in which external software applications can be operated; and Fig. 2 a flowchart to illustrate the steps of an embodiment of the method according to the invention.

[0044] The exemplary embodiments described below are preferred embodiments of the invention. In these exemplary embodiments, the described components each represent individual features of the invention, which can be considered independently of one another and each further develops the invention independently. Therefore, the disclosure is intended to include combinations of features of the embodiments other than those shown. Furthermore, the described embodiments can also be supplemented by further features of the invention already described.

[0045] In the figures, identical reference symbols denote functionally equivalent elements.

[0046] A in Fig. The motor vehicle shown in Figure 1, designated as a whole by the letter 1, comprises a central control unit ZS, to which subordinate control units US1, US2, US3, and US4 are subordinate. While the subordinate control unit US1 in turn controls the further subordinate control unit US2, the control unit US2 controls the actuators A1, A2, and A3 (for example, A1: for ambient lighting, A2: for climate control, A3: any actuator). In this example, the subordinate control unit US3 controls a chassis (actuator group A4), and optionally, sensors Sx can also be controlled. The subordinate control unit US4 represents one or more further subordinate control units, to which respective actuators (not shown here) and optionally also sensors are assigned.

[0047] The core of the invention is that the central control unit contains a higher-level software application, Ü-App, to which protocol-specific software applications, App1, App2, and App3, are subordinate. In the example given, the protocol-specific software application App1 can use the RSI protocol, the protocol-specific software application App2 the SOME / IP protocol, and the protocol-specific software application App3 the VHAL protocol. The higher-level software application Ü-App is capable of translating input commands formulated in a first input protocol into the respective protocols RSI, SOME / IP, and VHAL, so that the protocol-specific software applications App1, App2, and App3 then only need to forward control commands to their assigned subordinate control units, which ultimately use these commands to control the actuators A1, A2, A3, A4, and sensors Sx, respectively. In the example given, Fig.1. The RSI protocol is used for the subordinate control unit US1, the SOME / IP protocol for the subordinate control unit US2, and the VHAL protocol for the subordinate control units US2, US3, and US4.

[0048] In this example, the overarching software application Ü-App uses the Android® Interface Definition Language (AIDL), thus representing an AIDL interface.

[0049] The user apps N-App1, N-App2, and N-App3 are each assigned AIDL® interfaces IF1, IF2, and IF3, respectively. Therefore, a uniform input protocol (AIDL) is possible. This has the advantage that virtually any app can be programmed, which can then access combinations of actuators A1, A2, A3, A4, and optionally sensors Sx, without the user apps N-App1, N-App2, and N-App3 having to use the protocols (RSI, SOME / IP, VHAL, etc.) specified by the protocol-specific software applications App1, App2, and App3 themselves.

[0050] The inventive method according to one embodiment comprises the following steps: In step S10, an input command is received from a user application (N-App1, N-App2 or N-App3) according to a first input protocol (in this case AIDL). In step S12, the input command is then translated by the higher-level software application Ü-App in the central control unit into a command for at least one subordinate software application (App2) of the motor vehicle 1 in a first output protocol.

[0051] Subsequently, in step S14, the subordinate software application App2 of the motor vehicle provides a control command in a first output protocol for at least one subordinate control unit of the motor vehicle (in this case US2) (using the assigned output protocol), and the control (step S16) is carried out by the at least one control unit US2 of at least one actuator A1, A2, A3 and / or sensor assigned to it.

[0052] Overall, the examples show how an Audi API service can be provided.

Claims

[1] Motor vehicle (1) with a central control unit (CCU) and a plurality of subordinate control units (US1, US2, US3, US4) for actuators (A1, A2, A3, A4) and / or sensors (Sx), wherein two subordinate control units (US1, US2, US3, US4) are designed to receive control commands according to different protocols, wherein the central control unit (CCU) provides a protocol-specific software application (App1, App2, App3) for each protocol used for a subordinate control unit (US1, US2, US3, US4), wherein the central control unit (CCU) also provides a superior software application (Ü-App) designed to receive input commands according to a first input protocol, and which is further designed toto issue first output commands according to a first output protocol for a first protocol-specific software application (App1) based on first input commands according to the first input protocol, and to issue second output commands according to a second output protocol for a second protocol-specific software application (App2, App3) based on second input commands according to the first input protocol, wherein the higher-level software application provides an interface that uses the Android® Interface Definition Language and / or wherein the output protocols include the ASI and RSI protocols, the SOME / IP protocol and / or the VHAL protocol. [2] Motor vehicle (1) with a central control unit (CCU) and a plurality of subordinate control units (US1, US2, US3, US4) for actuators (A1, A2, A3, A4) and / or sensors (Sx), wherein two subordinate control units (US1, US2, US3, US4) are designed to receive control commands according to different protocols, wherein the central control unit (CCU) provides a protocol-specific software application (App1, App2, App3) for each protocol used for a subordinate control unit (US1, US2, US3, US4), wherein the central control unit (CCU) also provides a superior software application (Ü-App) designed to receive input commands according to a first input protocol, and which is further designed toto issue first output commands according to a first output protocol for a first protocol-specific software application (App1) based on first input commands according to the first input protocol, and to issue second output commands according to a second output protocol for a second protocol-specific software application (App2, App3) based on second input commands according to the first input protocol, wherein the higher-level software application is designed to receive, in addition to a first input command according to a first input protocol, a second input command from another user application according to the first or a second input protocol, to interpret the received input commands, and to translate the entirety of input commands into consistent commands for at least one lower-level software application. [3] Motor vehicle according to claim 2, wherein the higher-level software application provides an interface that uses the Android® Interface Definition Language and / or wherein the output protocols include the ASI and RSI protocols, the SOME / IP protocol and / or the VHAL protocol. [4] Motor vehicle (1) according to one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the higher-level software application (Ü-App) is further designed to output third output commands in response to third input commands in accordance with a third output protocol for a third protocol-specific software application and to output fourth output commands in accordance with a fourth output protocol for a fourth protocol-specific software application. [5] Motor vehicle (1) according to claim 4, wherein the third output protocol for the third software application corresponds to the first output protocol for the first software application and / or the fourth output protocol for the fourth software application corresponds to the second output protocol for the second software application. [6] Motor vehicle (1) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the superior software application (Ü-App) is further designed to transfer further input commands according to a second input protocol into output commands for a protocol-specific software application according to its protocol. [7] Motor vehicle (1) according to one of the preceding claims, wherein the higher-level software application is designed to obtain a priority indication with the input commands and, in the event of a content-related and / or temporal conflict between the command target of several incoming input commands, to issue output commands such that an input command with a higher priority is given priority over an input command with a lower priority. [8] Motor vehicle according to one of the preceding claims, wherein subordinate control units (US1, US2, US3, US4) control at least two of the following actuators: a) Lighting equipment (A1), b) Air conditioning unit (A2), c) Actuators (A4) relating to a chassis of the motor vehicle (1), d) an actuator for driving style selection, e) an actuator for a roof module, f) an actuator for a window regulator, g) an actuator for a door opening, h) Actuators for seat massage, i) an actuator for seat heating, j) an actuator for seat adjustment, k) a tire pressure actuator. [9] Method for controlling a motor vehicle, in particular a motor vehicle (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, comprising: - Receiving, by the motor vehicle (1), a first input command from a user application (N-App1, N-App2, N-App3) according to a first input protocol; - Translation of the input command by a higher-level software application (Ü-App) of the motor vehicle (1) into a command for at least one lower-level software application (App1, App2, App3) of the motor vehicle (1) into a first output protocol; - Providing, through a subordinate software application (App1, App2, App3) a control command to at least one subordinate control unit (US2, US3, US4) of the motor vehicle (1); - Control by means of at least one control unit (US2, US3) of at least one associated actuator (A1, A2, A3, A4) and / or sensor, wherein the higher-level software application provides an interface that uses the Android® Interface Definition Language and / or wherein the output protocols include the ASI and RSI protocols, the SOME / IP protocol and / or the VHAL protocol. [10] Method for controlling a motor vehicle, in particular a motor vehicle (1) according to any one of the preceding claims, comprising: - Receiving, by the motor vehicle (1), a first input command from a user application (N-App1, N-App2, N-App3) according to a first input protocol; - Translation of the input command by a higher-level software application (Ü-App) of the motor vehicle (1) into a command for at least one lower-level software application (App1, App2, App3) of the motor vehicle (1) into a first output protocol; - Providing, through a subordinate software application (App1, App2, App3) a control command to at least one subordinate control unit (US2, US3, US4) of the motor vehicle (1); - Control by which at least one control unit (US2, US3) controls at least one associated actuator (A1, A2, A3, A4) and / or sensor, and with: - Receiving a second input command from another user application according to the first or a second input protocol; and - Interpreting the received input commands and translating the entire set of input commands into consistent commands for at least one subordinate software application. [11] Method according to claim 10, wherein the first and second input commands each receive information about a priority and these priorities are taken into account when translating the set of input commands. [12] Method according to any one of claims 9 to 11, wherein the first input command is translated into several commands which are transmitted to different subordinate software applications. [13] Method according to any one of claims 9 to 12, wherein a subordinate software application (App3) transmits at least one control command to each of different subordinate control units (US2, US3, US4).

Images