Method and system architecture for providing at least one vehicle control unit function

Abstract

The invention relates to a method for providing at least one vehicle control unit function (20), wherein vehicle status data (10) of a vehicle (50) is received and / or requested via a vehicle communication bus (52) by means of an interface device (51) of the vehicle (50), wherein the received and / or requested vehicle status data (10) is transmitted by means of the interface device (51) via a communication network (2) to a vehicle-external cloud system (3), wherein at least one vehicle control unit function (20) is executed by means of the cloud system (3) and the transmitted vehicle status data (10) is supplied to the at least one vehicle control unit function (20), wherein result data (11) generated by the at least one vehicle control unit function (20) on the basis of the supplied vehicle status data (10) is transmitted back to the interface device (51) of the vehicle (50) via the communication network (2), and wherein the result data (11) is fed into the vehicle communication bus (52) by means of the interface device (51).

Description

[0001] Description

[0002] Method and system architecture for providing at least one vehicle control unit function

[0003] The invention relates to a method and a system architecture for providing at least one vehicle control unit function.

[0004] Vehicle control unit functions are implemented in control units within vehicles. If these vehicle control unit functions need to be modified or updated, an over-the-air update can be performed. This involves copying the modified or updated vehicle control unit function into a control unit's memory, replacing the old vehicle control unit function. However, this process must be performed individually in each vehicle. Rapid changes or updates to vehicle control unit functions are not possible this way.

[0005] The invention is based on the object of improving a method and a system architecture for providing at least one vehicle control unit function.

[0006] The object is achieved according to the invention by a method having the features of patent claim 1 and a system architecture having the features of patent claim 10. Advantageous embodiments of the invention emerge from the subclaims.

[0007] In particular, a method is provided for providing at least one vehicle control unit function, wherein vehicle status data of a vehicle are received and / or queried via a vehicle communication bus by means of an interface device of the vehicle, wherein the received and / or queried vehicle status data are transmitted by means of the interface device via a communication network to a vehicle-external cloud system, wherein at least one vehicle control unit function is executed by means of the cloud system and the transmitted vehicle status data are supplied to the at least one vehicle control unit function for this purpose, wherein result data generated by the at least one vehicle control unit function based on the supplied vehicle status data are transmitted back to the interface device of the vehicle via the communication network,and wherein the result data are fed into the vehicle communication bus by means of the interface device.,

[0008] Furthermore, in particular, a system architecture for providing at least one vehicle control unit function is created, comprising at least one vehicle, a communication network, and a vehicle-external cloud system, wherein the at least one vehicle has an interface device which is configured to receive and / or query vehicle status data via a vehicle communication bus of the at least one vehicle and to transmit the vehicle status data via the communication network to the vehicle-external cloud system, wherein the cloud system is configured to execute at least one vehicle control unit function and to supply the transmitted vehicle status data to the at least one vehicle control unit function for this purpose,and to transmit result data generated by the at least one vehicle control unit function based on the supplied vehicle state data back to the interface device of the at least one vehicle via the communication network, and wherein the interface device of the at least one vehicle is further configured to feed the result data into the vehicle communication bus.

[0009] The method and the system architecture make it possible to provide and execute at least one vehicle control unit function independently of a vehicle. This allows the vehicle control unit function to be provided and maintained centrally, so that the vehicle control unit function can be changed and / or updated without having to modify a control unit in the vehicle. In particular, the vehicle control unit function in a control unit does not have to be changed for this purpose. This is achieved by receiving and / or querying vehicle status data of a vehicle via a vehicle communication bus using an interface device in the vehicle. The received and / or queried vehicle status data is transmitted to a vehicle-external cloud system via a communication network using the interface device. At least one vehicle control unit function is provided and executed using the cloud system.For this purpose, the transmitted vehicle status data is fed to the at least one vehicle control unit function as input data. Based on this input data, the at least one vehicle control unit function generates result data as output data, i.e., the result data comprises, in particular, a result of the vehicle control unit function. The result data generated by the at least one vehicle control unit function based on the supplied vehicle status data is transmitted back to the vehicle's interface device via the communications network. The result data is received by the interface device and fed into the vehicle communications bus.The transmission of the vehicle status data and the return transmission and feeding of the result data are carried out in particular in such a way that it is not possible to distinguish whether the vehicle control unit function was provided and executed by a control unit in the vehicle or by means of the cloud system. The cloud system is integrated, in particular, directly and seamlessly into an architecture of the at least one vehicle, in particular via the communication bus, by the disclosed method and system architecture.

[0010] A further advantage of the method and the system architecture is that no or very few computing resources are required in a control unit and / or in the vehicle to execute the at least one vehicle control unit function. This is particularly advantageous because the computing resources in a vehicle are fundamentally limited and generally cannot be expanded or retrofitted without considerable effort. By providing the at least one vehicle control unit function via the cloud system, however, such a limitation of the available computing resources does not exist. Due to the practically unlimited computing and memory resources, completely new types of vehicle control unit functions can be provided and / or executed.

[0011] The method and the system architecture make it possible, in particular, to relocate existing vehicle control unit functions currently executed in a vehicle to a cloud system. Furthermore, these existing vehicle control unit functions can be expanded and, in particular, increased in terms of performance due to the greater computing and storage resources of the cloud system. Furthermore, by providing and executing them on the cloud system, completely new vehicle control unit functions can be created and provided. In particular, it can be provided that a plurality of vehicles and / or a plurality of vehicle control unit functions, including vehicle-specific ones, are integrated into the method and the system architecture.

[0012] Vehicle condition data includes, in particular, operating and / or condition parameters of the vehicle. For example, the vehicle condition data may include an engine temperature, a battery temperature, a battery voltage, a battery current, an on-board electrical system voltage, an engine speed, a phase current, an interior temperature, information on solar radiation, sensor data from a rain sensor, a wheel speed, a steering angle, a steering wheel angle, etc. In principle, it may also include acquired environmental data, such as one or more acquired environmental images, radar data, ultrasound data, lidar data, etc.

[0013] The vehicle communication bus is, in particular, the vehicle's Controller Area Network (CAN) bus. However, another vehicle communication bus can also be used, such as Flexray, LIN bus, MODBUS, or Ethernet. It is also possible to provide and use multiple vehicle communication buses.

[0014] The communications network can be, for example, a mobile network (4G, LTE, 5G, etc.) or a Wi-Fi connection. A communication connection via the communications network is particularly permanent.

[0015] The cloud system comprises, in particular, a plurality of computing devices and storage devices which are interconnected in such a way that they can be provided and used as a common computing resource and storage resource.

[0016] The vehicle is, in particular, a motor vehicle. However, in principle, the vehicle can also be another land, rail, water, air, or space vehicle, such as an air taxi or a drone.

[0017] A vehicle control unit function can, for example, be one of the following functions or functionalities or include these: a function for automated driving (surroundings recognition, surroundings interpretation, etc.), a climate function for controlling a vehicle air conditioning system (air conditioning control), vehicle comfort functions, an energy management function of the vehicle, a heat management function of the vehicle and / or a vehicle battery, tire pressure detection, hands-off detection, which detects whether a driver has his hands on the steering wheel or not, an emergency braking function, a function for determining an engine temperature, a function for determining a battery temperature, etc. Furthermore, it can be provided that the vehicle control unit function carries out surroundings recognition, for example traffic sign recognition.

[0018] Parts of the system architecture, in particular the interface device in the at least one vehicle and the cloud system, can be implemented individually or collectively as a combination of hardware and software, for example, as program code executed on a microcontroller or microprocessor. However, it can also be provided that parts are implemented individually or collectively as an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) and / or a field-programmable gate array (FPGA).

[0019] In one embodiment, a configuration corresponding to the provided at least one vehicle control unit function is stored in the interface device. Depending on the at least one vehicle control unit function, it is specified which vehicle status data is received and / or queried and transmitted via the vehicle communication bus, and how the returned result data is fed into the vehicle communication bus. This allows the vehicle-dependent specification of how the respective vehicle interacts with the cloud system and which of the vehicle control unit functions is provided for which vehicle.The configuration in the interface device includes, in particular, information about which vehicle status data is transmitted to the cloud system and how the result data generated from this vehicle status data by means of the at least one vehicle control unit function is fed into the vehicle's communication bus after being transmitted back to the interface device. The configuration can be user-dependent, situation-dependent, and / or context-dependent.

[0020] In one embodiment, it is provided that the configuration further determines the time intervals at which the vehicle status data are received and / or queried and transmitted. This makes it possible to achieve prioritization in which a frequency with which vehicle status data is recorded and / or queried and transmitted and with which result data is provided is specified. This can be done in particular as a function of the respective vehicle control unit function. For example, it can be provided that vehicle status data, for example recorded camera image data, for a vehicle control unit function for automated driving is received and / or queried at a time interval of 200 ms and transmitted to the cloud system and the result data is fed in at the same time interval. In contrast, vehicle data, for example a battery voltage and a battery current, for a vehicle control unit function (ora thermal model) for determining a battery temperature is only received and / or queried and transmitted every second, and the result data is fed in at one-second intervals. In addition to time-controlled transmission of the data, event-controlled, in particular asynchronous, data transmission is also possible. In one embodiment, it is provided that, for development purposes, at least two different implementations of a vehicle control unit function provided by the cloud system are executed in parallel in the cloud system with identical input data. In this case, only the results of the first implementation of the vehicle control unit function provided by the cloud system are transmitted back to the vehicle.The results of the further implementations of the vehicle control unit function executed in parallel are only compared in the cloud system with the results of the first implementation of the vehicle control unit function in order to be able to evaluate the quality of the further implementations of the vehicle control unit function.

[0021] In one embodiment, it is provided that at least one vehicle control unit function provided by the cloud system is selected and / or provided depending on a user profile of a driver and / or passenger. This allows individual preferences of the user and / or passenger of the vehicle to be taken into account when providing the vehicle control unit function. This is particularly advantageous when comfort functions are provided. For this purpose, it can be provided that the driver and / or passenger is recognized and then at least one vehicle control unit function is selected and / or activated based on an associated user profile that is stored in a memory of the interface device and the cloud system or is transmitted to them.Alternatively or additionally, it may also be provided that a driver and / or passenger is offered several user profiles to choose from, and the driver and / or passenger can select one of the user profiles. A user profile includes, in particular, information about which vehicle control unit function is to be executed on the cloud system and, correspondingly, a configuration for the interface device, which describes the vehicle status data to be acquired and / or queried and transmitted, as well as the input of the result data.

[0022] In one embodiment, a user is offered a selection of bookable vehicle control unit functions, a user selection of at least one bookable vehicle control unit function is recorded, and the interface device and the cloud system are configured based on the recorded selection to provide the selected at least one bookable vehicle control unit function. In particular, the configuration of the interface device can be adapted for this purpose. This allows for subsequent and / or additional vehicle control unit functions to be provided and / or expanded. In particular, this allows for the provision of vehicles with different levels of functionality, where a functionality can be individually booked.In this way, the functionality of the vehicle can also be expanded during the course of its life cycle, for example if new or improved vehicle control unit functions become available later after the vehicle has been manufactured.

[0023] In one embodiment, it is provided that transmitted vehicle status data from at least one other vehicle is taken into account when providing and / or executing the at least one vehicle control unit function on the cloud system. This makes it possible to access further information from other vehicles when providing and / or executing the at least one vehicle control unit function. A vehicle control unit function can thus be operated and / or adapted, in particular improved, during ongoing operation based on data from a large number of vehicles. The vehicle control unit function can also thereby access an enlarged current data set; for example, a larger environment of the vehicle can be taken into account, in particular in the application area of ​​environment recognition, by taking into account vehicle status data from at least one other vehicle.

[0024] In one embodiment, at least one vehicle control unit function provided by the cloud system is generated and / or adapted based on collected swarm data from multiple vehicles. This allows the vehicle control unit function to be improved and / or updated using the collected swarm data.

[0025] In a further embodiment, the collected swarm data is generated and / or updated taking into account the vehicle status data transmitted to the cloud system. This allows the swarm data to be updated during ongoing operation.

[0026] In one embodiment, it is provided that at least one vehicle control unit function provided by the cloud system is replaced by an updated vehicle control unit function. This allows a vehicle control unit function to be replaced, for example, if it is outdated or if an improved vehicle control unit function can be provided. If the vehicle status data and the result data remain the same, configuration in the vehicle or in the interface device is not necessary. Otherwise, a configuration of the interface device can also be adapted. Further features for the design of the system architecture emerge from the description of embodiments of the method. The advantages of the system architecture are in each case the same as for the embodiments of the method.

[0027] The invention will be explained in more detail below using preferred embodiments with reference to the figure. Herein:

[0028] Fig. 1 is a schematic representation of an embodiment of the system architecture for providing at least one vehicle control unit function.

[0029] Figure 1 shows a schematic representation of an embodiment of system architecture 1 for providing at least one vehicle control unit function 20. System architecture 1 comprises at least one vehicle 50, a communications network 2, and an off-vehicle cloud system 3. System architecture 1 is configured to implement the method described in this disclosure. The method described in this disclosure is explained in more detail below using system architecture 1.

[0030] The at least one vehicle 50 has an interface device 51 configured to receive and / or query vehicle status data 10 via a vehicle communication bus 52, in particular via a CAN bus, of the at least one vehicle 50, and to transmit the vehicle status data 10 via the communication network 2 to the vehicle-external cloud system 3. For this purpose, a message format of the vehicle communication bus 52, in particular CAN messages, is converted into a suitable format, for example, according to the Message Queue Telemetry Transport (MQTT) protocol. The communication network 2 is in particular a wireless communication network, in particular a mobile network (4G, LTE, 5G, etc.).

[0031] The cloud system 3 is configured to execute at least one vehicle control unit function 20 and to supply the transmitted vehicle status data 10 to the at least one vehicle control unit function 20 for this purpose, and to transmit result data 11 generated by the at least one vehicle control unit function 20 based on the supplied vehicle status data 10 via the communication network 2 back to the interface device 51 of the at least one vehicle 50. For this purpose, the cloud system 20 has, for example, a Message Queue Telemetry Transport (MQTT) broker 4 (or another cloud-based interface device) configured to receive and distribute MQTT messages in a manner known per se. In particular, it is provided that the interface device 51 is configured to transmit the vehicle status data 10 as MQTT message(s) and to receive the result data 11 as MQTT message(s).

[0032] In principle, communication via gRPC (gRPC Remote Procedure Calls) or native protocols or brokerless communication is also possible.

[0033] The interface device 51 of the at least one vehicle 50 is further configured to feed the received result data 11 into the vehicle communication bus 52. For this purpose, the result data 11 is converted by the interface device 51, in particular into a message format of the vehicle communication bus 52, in particular into CAN messages. From there, the result data 11 can be further processed by control units installed in the at least one vehicle 50 (e.g., a battery controller 56). For example, the result data 11 can be displayed on a display or a display and operating device.

[0034] Fig. 1 also shows a concrete example of a vehicle control unit function 20. In this example, the vehicle control unit function 20 is intended to estimate a temperature 11-1 of the traction battery 53 based on a detected battery voltage 10-1 and a detected battery current 10-2 using a thermal model 22 of a traction battery 53 of the at least one vehicle 50. The example is greatly simplified and serves merely to explain the invention in more detail. In a real application, individual battery cells and battery cell modules are considered in particular. The battery voltage 10-1 is detected by means of a voltage sensor 54 on the traction battery 53. The battery current 10-2 is detected by means of a current sensor 55 on the traction battery 53. The detected battery voltage 10-1 and the detected battery current 10-2 are transmitted to the cloud system 3 as vehicle status data 10.There, the battery voltage 10-1 and the battery current 10-2 are fed to the vehicle control unit function 20, which, based on the thermal model 22, estimates the battery temperature 11-1, which is transmitted back as result data 11 to the at least one vehicle 50 and fed there by the interface device 51 onto the vehicle communication bus 52, in particular the CAN bus. From there, for example, a battery controller 56 of the traction battery 53 can tap the result data 11 and take the value for the battery temperature 11-1 contained therein into account when controlling and / or regulating a power flow and / or in the temperature management of the traction battery 53.

[0035] The described example for the vehicle control unit function 20 is merely illustrative and not limiting. Other vehicle control unit functions 20 can be used in a fundamentally similar manner. It is also possible to provide more vehicle status data 10, other and / or additional vehicle control unit functions 20, and / or other and / or additional result data 11.

[0036] It can be provided that a configuration 21 corresponding to the provided at least one vehicle control unit function 20 is stored in the interface device 51, in which configuration 21 it is specified, depending on the at least one vehicle control unit function 20, which vehicle status data 10 are received and / or queried and transmitted via the vehicle communication bus 52 and in what manner the returned result data 11 are fed into the vehicle communication bus 52.

[0037] It can be provided that the configuration 21 further determines the time intervals at which the vehicle status data 10 are received and / or queried and transmitted. In the example described above, for example, it can be provided that the battery voltage 10-1 and the battery current 10-2 are received and / or queried and transmitted once per second, and the battery temperature 11-1 is determined and transmitted back once per second.

[0038] It can be provided that at least one vehicle control unit function 20 provided by the cloud system is selected and / or provided depending on a user profile 12 of a driver and / or passenger. For this purpose, the user profile 12 or user information which the user profile 12 specifies can be recorded in the vehicle 50, for example by means of a recording device (not shown), and transmitted to the cloud system 20. If necessary, the configuration 21 in the interface device 51 is selected and / or adapted accordingly. In principle, it can also be provided, additionally or alternatively, that the vehicle control unit function 20 is selected depending on the situation and / or context. For example, a different vehicle control unit function 20 can be selected in rainy or snowy weather than in sunshine (e.g. in the area of ​​vehicle dynamics control).

[0039] It can be provided that a user is offered a selection of bookable vehicle control unit functions 20, a user selection 13 of at least one bookable vehicle control unit function 20 is recorded, and the interface device 51 and the cloud system 3 are configured based on the recorded selection to provide the selected at least one bookable vehicle control unit function 20. The user selection 13 can, for example, be recorded on a display and operating device (not shown) of the vehicle 50 and transmitted via the vehicle communication bus 52 to the interface device 51 and the cloud system 3. In particular, it can be provided that the bookable vehicle control unit functions 20 are offered via an online platform and can be booked there.

[0040] It can be provided that transmitted vehicle status data 10 of at least one other vehicle 60 are taken into account when providing and / or executing the at least one vehicle control unit function 20 on the cloud system 3.

[0041] It can be provided that at least one vehicle control unit function 20 provided by the cloud system 3 is generated and / or adapted as a function of collected swarm data 14 from a plurality of vehicles 51, 60. The swarm data 14 comprise, in particular, vehicle status data 10 of the vehicles 50, 60 collected over a predetermined period of time and / or collected result data 11. It can be provided, in particular, that the collected swarm data 14 is generated and / or updated taking into account the vehicle status data 10 transmitted to the cloud system 3. The swarm data 14 can, for example, be statistically evaluated in order to adapt and / or update the vehicle control unit function 20 based on an evaluation result.Furthermore, the swarm data 14 can also be used to train a machine learning method, wherein the vehicle control unit function 20 is provided at least partially by means of the trained machine learning method.

[0042] It can be provided that at least one vehicle control unit function 20 provided by the cloud system 3 is replaced by an updated vehicle control unit function 20. For this purpose, the updated vehicle control unit function 20 is loaded into a memory of the cloud system 3, and a logical connection to at least one vehicle 50 is changed such that the vehicle status data 10 is no longer fed to the previous vehicle control unit function 20, but rather to the updated vehicle control unit function 20. Likewise, the result data 11 of the previous vehicle control unit function 20 is no longer transmitted back to the vehicle 50, but rather the result data 11 of the updated vehicle control unit function 20. The previous vehicle control unit function 20 can then be deleted from the memory. List of reference symbols

[0043] System architecture

[0044] Communication network

[0045] Cloud system

[0046] (MQTT) Broker

[0047] Vehicle condition data -1 Battery voltage -2 Battery current

[0048] Result data -1 Battery temperature

[0049] User profile

[0050] User selection

[0051] Swarm data

[0052] Vehicle control unit function

[0053] Configuration thermal model (traction battery)

[0054] vehicle

[0055] Interface setup

[0056] Vehicle communication bus

[0057] Traction battery

[0058] Voltage sensor

[0059] Current sensor

[0060] Battery control other vehicle

Claims

Patent claims 1. A method for providing at least one vehicle control unit function (20), wherein vehicle status data (10) of a vehicle (50) are received and / or queried via a vehicle communication bus (52) by means of an interface device (51) of the vehicle (50), wherein the received and / or queried vehicle status data (10) are transmitted by means of the interface device (51) via a communication network (2) to a vehicle-external cloud system (3), wherein at least one vehicle control unit function (20) is executed by means of the cloud system (3) and the transmitted vehicle status data (10) are supplied to the at least one vehicle control unit function (20) for this purpose, wherein result data (11) generated by the at least one vehicle control unit function (20) based on the supplied vehicle status data (10) are transmitted back to the interface device (51) of the vehicle (50) via the communication network (2),and wherein the result data (11) are fed into the vehicle communication bus (52) by means of the interface device (51).

2. Method according to claim 1, characterized in that a configuration (21) corresponding to the provided at least one vehicle control unit function (20) is stored in the interface device (51), in which configuration it is specified, depending on the at least one vehicle control unit function (20), which vehicle status data (10) are received and / or queried and transmitted via the vehicle communication bus (52) and / or in which manner the returned result data (11) are fed into the vehicle communication bus (52).

3. Method according to claim 2, characterized in that the configuration (21) further determines at which time intervals the vehicle status data (10) are received and / or queried and transmitted.

4. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least one of the cloud system (3) provided Vehicle control unit function (20) is selected and / or provided depending on a user profile (12) of a driver and / or passenger.

5. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that a user is offered a selection of bookable vehicle control unit functions (20), a user selection (13) of at least one bookable vehicle control unit function (20) is recorded and the interface device (51) and the cloud system (3) are configured on the basis of the recorded selection to provide the selected at least one bookable vehicle control unit function (20).

6. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that transmitted vehicle status data (10) of at least one other vehicle (60) are taken into account when providing and / or executing the at least one vehicle control unit function (20) on the cloud system (3).

7. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least one vehicle control unit function (20) provided by the cloud system (3) is generated and / or adapted as a function of collected swarm data (14) of a plurality of vehicles (50, 60).

8. The method according to claim 7, characterized in that the collected swarm data (14) are generated and / or updated taking into account the vehicle status data (10) transmitted to the cloud system (3).

9. Method according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that at least one vehicle control unit function (20) provided by the cloud system (3) is replaced by an updated vehicle control unit function (20).

0. System architecture (1) for providing at least one vehicle control unit function (20), comprising: at least one vehicle (50), a communication network (2), and a vehicle-external cloud system (3), wherein the at least one vehicle (50) has an interface device (51) configured to receive and / or query vehicle status data (10) via a vehicle communication bus (52) of the at least one vehicle (50) and to transmit the vehicle status data (10) via the communication network (2) to the vehicle-external cloud system (3), wherein the cloud system (3) is configured to execute at least one vehicle control unit function (20) and to supply the transmitted vehicle status data (10) to the at least one vehicle control unit function (20) for this purpose,and to transmit result data (11) generated by the at least one vehicle control unit function (20) on the basis of the supplied vehicle state data (10) back to the interface device (51) of the at least one vehicle (50) via the communication network (2), and wherein the interface device (51) of the at least one vehicle (50) is further configured to feed the result data (11) into the vehicle communication bus (52).

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