Communication control apparatus and network system

Abstract

To provide a communication control device and a network system capable of improving the number of communications that can be accommodated in a network while securing traveling safety of a vehicle in an SDV.SOLUTION: With respect to communication related to a plurality of applications, a communication requirement that is a requirement for communication performance of the communication and a priority determined according to a degree of influence of the communication on an operation of a system including a network are stored for each application, it is determined whether (communication performance of) the communication satisfies the communication requirement (communication requirement satisfaction state), and the communication requirement for first communication is updated on the basis of a priority of the first communication determined not to satisfy the communication requirement and priorities of other communications determined to satisfy the communication requirement.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 4

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a communication control device and a network system, and more particularly to an in-vehicle communication control device that controls an in-vehicle network and an in-vehicle network system equipped with the same. [Background technology]

[0002] Autonomous driving and safe driving support technologies are advancing by leaps and bounds, and will continue to evolve in the future. Automakers are not only applying these technological advances to new models, but are also considering applying them to vehicles already on the market. One technology for this is OTA (Over-the-Air) update technology. Vehicles whose behavior can be changed by software, such as by installing software as needed via OTA, are called SDVs (Software-Defined Vehicles).

[0003] A vehicle system is composed of multiple electronic control units (ECUs) connected via a network. Here, ECU is used as a general term for sensors such as cameras, actuators that operate the engine and steering, and devices that perform calculations for control. The ECU sends and receives data via the in-vehicle network, and obtains information for vehicle control by calculating the data using apps. Sending and receiving data places a load on the in-vehicle network, but the load on the in-vehicle network varies depending on the placement of apps.

[0004] To ensure the functionality of in-vehicle applications, it is necessary not only to secure processing time through application scheduling, but also to ensure performance through communication scheduling for communication functions.Communication scheduling requires a network design that utilizes the Quality of Service (QoS) function, which adjusts the data transmission priority of network switches, and the Time-Sensitive Network (TSN) function, which controls the transmission timing and transmission bandwidth of transmitted data.

[0005] In network design, a method for designing network parameters based on communication requirements such as communication delay required by an application is disclosed, for example, in Patent Document 1. Patent Document 1 discloses a method for specifying, in a wireless communication system, the traffic to be transmitted in each time slot based on the counter value, which is a counter value that takes into consideration, for example, transmission timing and allowable delay amount for traffic that each communication device is about to transmit. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0006] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Publication No. 2020-155857 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0007] The technology described in Patent Document 1 schedules the transmission timing of variable-length packets for fixed-length time slots. Therefore, the time slots are longer than the maximum length of variable-length packets, and therefore, in principle, there are periods when packets are not transmitted. In other words, because communication performance is ensured by providing a margin for individual communications, communication bandwidth utilization cannot be improved. As a result, the number of applications that can be accommodated in SDVs may reach a plateau, potentially making it impossible to install desired applications, especially in low-cost ECUs installed in mass-market vehicles. Furthermore, when reducing the margin for communication settings in in-vehicle networks to increase the number of communications that can be accommodated in the network and enable app installation (addition) by SDVs, the degree to which applications affect vehicle driving safety varies. For example, communications related to vehicle driving control, such as engine / motor, brakes, and steering, should be prioritized, communications related to sensor data for recognizing the driving environment around the vehicle should be secured as much as possible, and information and entertainment communications, such as audio / video, should be permitted only when available. Therefore, simply increasing the number of applications used in SDVs may affect vehicle driving safety.

[0008] Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a communication control device and a network system that enable the addition of applications to an SDV while ensuring the driving safety of the vehicle. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] In order to solve the above problem, the communication control device of the present invention is a communication control device that controls communication of a network including a plurality of communication devices, and is equipped with a communication requirement memory unit that stores, for each application, communication requirements that are requirements for the communication performance of the communication, and a priority determined according to the degree of impact that the communication has on the operation of a system including the network, for communications related to a plurality of applications; a communication performance monitoring unit that determines whether the communication satisfies the communication requirements; a communication requirement update unit that updates the communication requirements for the first communication based on the priority of a first communication that is determined by the communication performance monitoring unit not to satisfy the communication requirements and the priority of another communication that is determined to satisfy the communication requirements; a communication setting creation unit that creates communication settings for the network based on the communication requirements updated by the communication requirement update unit; and a setting unit that sets the communication settings created by the communication setting creation unit to the network. [Effects of the Invention]

[0010] According to the present invention, when placing an application in an ECU, which is a communication device, the placement is performed taking into consideration the resources within the ECU and the communication resources between ECUs, and by ensuring the execution performance and communication performance of the application, stable operation of the application is ensured, thereby providing a communication control device and network system that enables the addition of applications in an SDV while ensuring the driving safety of the vehicle.

[0011] Problems, configurations, and effects other than those described above will become apparent from the following description of the embodiments. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0012] [Figure 1A] 1 is a diagram showing an electrical and electronic architecture (architecture by domain) inside a vehicle equipped with an in-vehicle network system according to the present invention. [Figure 1B] 1 is a diagram of an electrical and electronic architecture (zone architecture) inside a vehicle equipped with an in-vehicle network system according to the present invention. [Figure 2A]Hardware configuration diagram of the domain ECU. [Figure 2B] Zone ECU hardware configuration diagram. [Figure 2C] Gateway hardware configuration diagram. [Figure 2D] Central ECU hardware configuration diagram. [Figure 3] A diagram of the configuration of the ECU and the software that runs on it. [Figure 4] FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a network system according to a first embodiment. [Figure 5] 4 is a flowchart showing the overall operation of the communication control device 21 in the first embodiment. [Figure 6] The application requirement storage table 100 is held by the communication requirement storage unit 50. [Figure 7] 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of a communication performance monitoring unit 51. [Figure 8] 10 is a flowchart showing the operation of a communication requirement update unit 52. [Figure 9] 10 is a flowchart showing details of step S122 of the operation of the communication requirement update unit 52. [Figure 10] FIG. 10 is a functional block diagram of a network system according to a second embodiment. [Figure 11] 10 is a flowchart showing the overall operation of a communication control device 21 in a second embodiment. [Figure 12] 10 is a flowchart showing the overall operation of a communication control device 21 in a third embodiment. [Figure 13] FIG. 10 is a functional block diagram of a network system according to a fourth embodiment. [Figure 14] A communication setting storage table 200 held by the communication setting storage unit 55. [Figure 15] 10 is a flowchart showing the operation of a communication requirement update unit 52 in the fourth embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0013] [First Example] A first embodiment of an in-vehicle network system according to the present invention will be described below with reference to FIGS. 1A to 9. FIG.

[0014] 1A and 1B are diagrams showing the electrical and electronic architecture inside a vehicle equipped with an in-vehicle network system according to the present invention. Two configurations are shown here as typical electrical and electronic architectures, but the application of the present invention is not limited to these.

[0015] FIG. 1A shows the logical configuration of an electrical and electronic architecture called a domain-specific architecture. This architecture classifies ECUs within a vehicle 1 into functional divisions called domains, and systematically connects ECUs belonging to the same domain. Each domain is equipped with a domain ECU 3a to 3d (hereinafter collectively referred to as domain ECU 3) that manages the domain. Furthermore, the domain ECUs 3 are interconnected via a gateway 2 for inter-domain communication. Examples of domains include an Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) domain that manages safe driving assistance, a Power Train / Chassis (PT / CH) domain that controls the vehicle's longitudinal and lateral movement, a Body domain that controls electrical equipment such as power windows, and an Infotainment domain that controls navigation and audio. An ADAS ECU 3a, a PT / CH ECU 3b, a Body ECU 3c, and an Infotainment ECU 3d (hereinafter collectively referred to as domain ECU 3) are installed for each domain. The domain ECUs 3a to 3d are connected to ECUs 4 and 5, such as sensors 4a to 4d (hereinafter collectively referred to as sensors 4) and actuators 5a to 5d (hereinafter collectively referred to as actuators 5), via buses 6a to 6d (hereinafter collectively referred to as buses 6), such as a CAN (Controller Area Network) or a LIN (Local Interconnect Network), that are appropriate for each domain. Multiple ECUs 4 and 5 may be connected to a single bus 6. In addition, the gateway 2 is connected to a TCU (Telematics Control Unit) 7, which communicates with external servers, clouds, etc. via a wireless network.

[0016] Domain ECUs may have different performance and functional requirements for each domain. For example, ADAS ECUs and Infotainment ECUs handle large volumes of data such as video, so they use hardware with high processing performance. On the other hand, PT / CH ECUs use highly reliable hardware because they are directly connected safely.

[0017] FIG. 1B illustrates the physical configuration of an electrical and electronic architecture known as a zone architecture. This architecture classifies ECUs 4 and 5 according to their spatial location within the vehicle 1 and connects them to zone ECUs 9a to 9d (hereinafter collectively referred to as zone ECUs 9) that oversee the ECUs. The architecture includes one or more zone ECUs 9, a central ECU 8 that is connected to the zone ECUs 9 and executes multiple applications across multiple domains, and sensors 4 and actuators 5 connected to the zone ECUs 9. As the name suggests, the zone ECUs 9 are positioned in various positions within the vehicle 1, such as the front, rear, left, and right sides. The zone ECUs 9 are connected to sensors 4, actuators 5, or both, that are located near their installation positions. Furthermore, the zone ECUs 9 are connected to other zone ECUs 9 via a shared bus 10, which uses a common communication method between domains. The common communication method is assumed to be a switching network using Ethernet (registered trademark). Additionally, a TCU 7 is connected. The TCU 7 may be connected to the central ECU 8 or any of the zone ECUs 9; however, FIG. 1B illustrates an example in which the TCU 7 is connected to the central ECU 8.

[0018] 2A to 2D respectively show the hardware configurations of the domain ECU 3, the zone ECU 9, the gateway 2, and the central ECU 8. The thick lines in Fig. 2A to 2D represent a common communication method, which is a connection method between communication devices in the zone architecture, and the thin lines represent other communication methods.

[0019] Figure 2A shows the hardware configuration of the domain ECU 3 in the domain-specific architecture (Figure 1A). The domain ECU 3 has an internal CPU (Central Processing Unit) 11 for processing information received from the sensors 4 and actuators 5 or the gateway 2, and memory 12 for storing data used for calculations by the CPU 11. From the CPU 11, there are buses for connection to the gateway 2 and to the sensors 4 and actuators 5.

[0020] 2B shows the hardware configuration of a zone ECU 9 in the zone architecture (FIG. 1B). The zone ECU 9 includes a network switch 13 that accommodates a shared bus 10 for connecting to other zone ECUs 9 or for connecting to sensors 4 and actuators 5. The zone ECU 9 also includes a CPU 11 for processing information received from the sensors 4 and actuators 5 or the shared bus 10, and is connected to the network switch 13. The CPU 11 is also connected to a memory 12. If the sensors 4 and actuators 5 support a common communication method, the memory 12 may be directly connected to the network switch 13. If the sensors 4 and actuators 5 do not support a common communication method, the memory 12 can be connected to the CPU 11 and then converted to the common communication method.

[0021] 2C and 2D show the hardware configurations of the gateway 2 in the domain architecture (FIG. 1A) and the central ECU 8 in the zone architecture (FIG. 1B). They have roughly the same configuration, including a CPU 11, memory 12, and a network switch 13 for connecting to the domain ECU 3 or the zone ECU 9.

[0022] 3 is a diagram showing the configuration of software executed in a typical ECU. Each ECU, such as the domain ECU 3, gateway 2, zone ECU 9, or central ECU 8, includes hardware 32, which includes a central processing unit (CPU) or microcontroller unit (MCU), memory, and peripheral circuits for executing the software; middleware 31 (which may include an operating system, etc.) that runs on the hardware 32 and provides functions commonly used by various pieces of software; and application 30, which implements functions required for controlling vehicle operation. Unless otherwise specified, the various functional blocks in this embodiment are implemented on the middleware 31. However, the same effects can be obtained even if some or all of the various functions in this embodiment are implemented as the hardware 32 or application 30.

[0023] FIG. 4 is a functional block diagram of a network system according to a first embodiment of the present invention. This function is executed as middleware 31 on each of the ECUs 2, 3, 8, and 9 in FIG. 1. The network system 19 according to this embodiment comprises an in-vehicle network 20, a communication control device 21, and an application management device 22. These devices may be implemented as different ECUs, or some or all of them may be implemented as a single ECU. The application management device 22 may have some or all of its functions located inside or outside the vehicle. Examples of devices located outside the vehicle include an OTA server for software updates via OTA and rewriting tools for ECU rewriting at a dealer. The in-vehicle network 20 is a communication path for applications to communicate, and is configured by connecting multiple ECUs (e.g., domain ECU 3, gateway 2, zone ECU 9, central ECU 8) that are communication devices. The in-vehicle network 20 transfers data from a source application to a destination application. The communication control device 21 controls communication of an in-vehicle network 20 including multiple ECUs (such as the domain ECU 3, gateway 2, zone ECU 9, and central ECU 8). The application management device 22 is a device that manages the distribution and updating of applications in the SDV. The application management device 22 transfers application data to the destination ECU and makes the new application executable on the ECU (not shown). In addition, the application management device 22 transfers data related to application communication to the communication control device 21 as application metadata attached to the application data itself. Here, the data related to application communication in this embodiment refers to all the data shown in FIG. 6, which will be described later.

[0024] The functional blocks of the network system according to the first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the overall network system processing flowchart of FIG. 5 (particularly, the flowchart showing the overall operation of the communication control device 21). First, when the vehicle is started and the network system begins its operation, it performs the processes of S100 to S107, and upon completion, the vehicle becomes ready to travel. In S100, the application management device 22 creates an application deployment plan for the ECU while the vehicle is stopped. The application deployment plan determines which ECU will execute the application based on ECU performance, available resources, etc. Next, in S101, the communication control device 21 creates communication settings for the in-vehicle network 20 and applies them to the in-vehicle network 20. In S102, the communication control device 21 performs a communication test on the in-vehicle network 20, simulating communication related to the application while the vehicle is traveling. In response to this communication test, in S103, the in-vehicle network 20 measures the communication performance of each application. Thereafter, in S104, the communication control device 21 acquires the communication performance of each application measured by the in-vehicle network 20. In S105, the communication control device 21 compares the acquired communication performance for each application with the stored communication requirements for each communication of the application, and if there is any communication that does not satisfy the communication requirements (Yes), in S106 the communication control device 21 updates the communication requirements. Thereafter, the process returns to S101, and the process from the creation of the communication settings onwards is carried out again, for example, by creating the communication settings for the in-vehicle network 20 again. In S105, if there is no communication that does not satisfy the communication requirements (No), the communication of the application satisfies the communication requirements, and therefore the application can be operated. Therefore, in S107, the application management device 22 starts the operation of the application and ends the process.

[0025] FIG. 4 also shows a functional block diagram of the communication control device 21 and the in-vehicle network 20 for implementing the processing of FIG. 5. The communication control device 21 further includes a communication requirement storage unit 50, a communication performance monitoring unit 51, a communication requirement update unit 52, a communication setting creation unit 53, and a setting unit 54. Each ECU included in the in-vehicle network 20 is provided with performance acquisition units 60a to 60c (hereinafter collectively referred to as the performance acquisition unit 60), which measure the communication performance of each communication flow, which is the unit of performance measurement. Communication performance includes, for example, transmission delay time, communication bandwidth, packet loss rate, and jitter. A communication flow can be identified by communication identification information, which is a combination of, for example, source and destination ECUs, source and destination applications, and so on. The performance acquisition unit 60 holds and stores the communication performance for each communication identification information and transmits it to the communication control device 21.

[0026] The communication requirement storage unit 50 stores communication requirements of an application based on metadata related to the application distributed from the application management device 22. The communication requirements are requirements for the communication performance of communication related to the application, and include requirements for transmission delay time, communication bandwidth, packet loss rate, jitter, etc. The communication requirements in this embodiment are communication delay requirements for transmission delay time and communication bandwidth requirements for communication bandwidth. FIG. 6 shows a communication requirement storage table 100 stored in the communication requirement storage unit 50. The communication requirement storage table 100 (also referred to as the application requirement storage table 100) stores, for each combination of a source 101 and a destination 102, which are communication identification information (i.e., for each application), information on communication parameters such as a communication priority 103, a communication cycle time 104, and a packet length 105, as well as information on communication requirements such as a transmission delay requirement 106 and a communication bandwidth requirement 107.

[0027] The communication priority 103 is set according to the degree of influence that the communication has on the operation of the network system including the in-vehicle network 20. The communication priority 103 is set to a value corresponding to the safety of the communication flow during vehicle driving, thereby ensuring the safety of vehicle driving. For example, the priority of communication related to vehicle driving control, such as engine / motor, brakes, and steering, is set high ("3" in FIG. 6), the priority of communication related to sensor data for recognizing the driving environment around the vehicle is set medium ("2" in FIG. 6), and the priority of information and entertainment communication, such as audio and video, is set low ("1" in FIG. 6). In other words, the vehicle 1 equipped with this network system is equipped with actuators for driving the vehicle, sensors for recognizing the driving environment around the vehicle, etc., and the priority of communication related to sensor data is set lower than the priority of communication related to actuator control (the priority of communication related to actuator control is set higher than the priority of communication related to sensor data), and the priority of communication other than communication related to actuator control and communication related to sensor data is set lower than the priority of communication related to actuator control and communication related to sensor data. Whether the communication flow is for driving control, sensor data, or information / entertainment communication can be determined by referring to the information of the sender 101. The value of the communication priority 103 may be set by the application management device 22 before the application is added to the ECU (before processing by the communication control device 21), or may be set by the communication control device 21 in accordance with the application for each vehicle.

[0028] The communication performance monitoring unit 51 acquires the communication performance for each communication from the performance acquisition unit 60 of the in-vehicle network 20, and monitors whether the communication performance satisfies the communication requirements (communication requirement fulfillment state). FIG. 7 shows a flowchart of the communication performance monitoring unit 51. This shows details of S104 in the overall processing flowchart of FIG. 5. First, in S110, the communication performance monitoring unit 51 acquires the communication requirements for each communication flow from the communication requirement storage unit 50. In particular, it acquires information on the communication requirements such as the transmission delay requirement 106 and the communication bandwidth requirement 107. Next, in S111, it acquires the communication performance for each communication flow from the performance acquisition unit 60 of the in-vehicle network 20. Next, in S112, it compares the communication requirements acquired in S110 with the communication performance acquired in S111 for each communication flow. Finally, in S113, it outputs the communication requirement fulfillment state for each communication flow.

[0029] The communication requirement update unit 52 updates the communication requirements for each communication flow in accordance with the communication requirement fulfillment state for each communication flow obtained from the communication performance monitoring unit 51. Figure 8 shows a flowchart of the communication requirement update unit 52. This shows details of S106 in the overall processing flowchart of Figure 5. First, in S120, the communication requirement update unit 52 obtains the communication requirements for each communication flow from the communication requirement storage unit 50. Next, in S121, it obtains the communication requirement fulfillment state for each communication flow from the communication performance monitoring unit 51. Next, in S122, it updates the communication requirements for communication flows that do not fulfill the communication requirements (details will be explained later). Finally, in S123, it outputs the updated communication requirements for each communication flow.

[0030] 9 shows a detailed flowchart of S122 in the communication requirement update unit 52. First, in S130, the communication requirement update unit 52 determines whether there is a first communication whose communication performance does not satisfy the communication requirements. This determination is made based on the communication requirement satisfaction state for each communication flow obtained from the communication performance monitoring unit 51. If there is no first communication (No), the process ends. If there is a first communication (Yes), the process proceeds to S131. In S131, it determines whether there is a second communication that has a lower priority than the first communication and satisfies the communication requirements. That is, the priority of the first communication is obtained, and a search is made for a communication flow that satisfies the communication requirements and has a lower priority than the first communication. If there is a second communication (Yes in S131), the communication requirements for the second communication (not the first communication) are updated in S132. If there is no second communication (No in S131), the communication requirements for the first communication are updated in S133. In other words, the communication requirement update unit 52 determines whether to update the communication requirements for the first communication or whether to update the communication requirements for the other communications (other than the first communication) based on the priority of the first communication whose communication performance is determined not to satisfy the communication requirements and the priority of the other communications whose communication performance is determined to satisfy the communication requirements. Here, updating the communication requirements in S132 means setting the communication requirements more leniently, for example, setting the transmission delay requirement for a communication flow having a transmission delay requirement to a value greater than the value set by the application management device 22, or setting the communication bandwidth requirement for a communication flow having a communication bandwidth requirement to a value smaller than the value set by the application management device 22. On the other hand, updating the communication requirements in S133 means setting the communication requirements more strictly, for example, setting the transmission delay requirement for a communication flow having a transmission delay requirement to a value smaller than the value set by the application management device 22, or setting the communication bandwidth requirement for a communication flow having a communication bandwidth requirement to a value greater than the value set by the application management device 22.

[0031] The communication setting creation unit 53 creates communication settings for the in-vehicle network 20 using the communication requirements updated by the communication requirement update unit 52. The creation of the communication settings can be performed using any known technology, such as the technology described in Patent Document 1.

[0032] The setting unit 54 applies (sets) the communication settings created by the communication setting creation unit 53 to the in-vehicle network 20. This can be implemented using any known technology, such as NETCONF (Internet Engineering Task Force, Request for Comments: 6241) or SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol; Internet Engineering Task Force, Request for Comments: 3411). When applying the communication settings to the in-vehicle network 20, the setting unit 54 also sets performance acquisition conditions for the performance acquisition unit 60. In other words, the setting unit 54 sets information on communication performance to be acquired for communication identification information consisting of a combination of the source and destination ECUs, source and destination applications, etc.

[0033] After the setting unit 54 has completed the communication setting, the communication control device 21 performs a communication test on the in-vehicle network 20 that simulates communication related to an application while the vehicle is traveling.

[0034] As described above, in the first embodiment, by updating the communication requirements, the performance margin of the communication settings for the communication requirements of each inserted communication flow is reduced, and it becomes possible to accommodate communication flows that could not be accommodated due to a lack of resources through simple communication design. By setting the value of the communication priority 103 to a value corresponding to the safety of the communication flow during vehicle travel, it is possible to ensure the safety of vehicle travel. In particular, in the first embodiment, by completing the communication design before the vehicle travels, it is possible to reliably ensure the safety of vehicle travel due to changes in the network settings.

[0035] [Second Example] Next, a second embodiment of an in-vehicle network system according to the present invention will be described with reference to Figures 10 and 11. The second embodiment shows a configuration required for enabling application updates while the SDV is traveling. In the second embodiment, communication settings are created and communication performance is monitored in real time for applications added while the vehicle is traveling. If there is a communication flow whose communication performance does not satisfy the communication requirements, the communication settings are first restored to the state before the application was added, and then the communication requirements are updated and the communication settings are created again.

[0036] 10 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a network system according to the second embodiment. In addition to the configuration of the first embodiment, a communication setting storage unit 55 is added to the communication control device 21. The communication setting storage unit 55 stores communication settings of the in-vehicle network 20 that were created in the past, and by reading these settings as needed, it is possible to easily return to the previous communication settings.

[0037] FIG. 11 is an overall network system processing flowchart (particularly a flowchart showing the overall operation of the communication control device 21) in the second embodiment. Processing steps similar to those in the first embodiment are denoted by the same reference numerals. The network system 19 starts its operation when the application management device 22 adds an application (S200). Next, in S101, the communication control device 21 creates a communication setting for the in-vehicle network 20 and applies it to the in-vehicle network 20. In the following S201, the communication performance for each application is measured for communications actually performed in the in-vehicle network 20. Thereafter, in S104, the communication control device 21 acquires the communication performance for each application measured by the in-vehicle network 20. In S105, the communication control device 21 compares the acquired communication performance for each application with the stored communication requirements for each communication of the application. If there is any communication that does not satisfy the communication requirements (Yes), the communication control device 21 further checks in S202 whether the communication that does not satisfy the communication requirements is new communication by an application newly added by the application management device 22. If the communication that does not satisfy the communication requirements is new communication (Yes in S202), in S203, the communication control device 21 switches the communication settings of the in-vehicle network 20 back to the communication settings before the application was added in S200. That is, the communication control device 21 acquires, from the communication setting storage unit 55, the past communication settings at the time when the communication other than the new communication satisfied the communication requirements, and sets the past communication settings acquired from the communication setting storage unit 55 for the in-vehicle network 20 (easily restoring to the past communication settings). After completing the switchback or simultaneously with the switchback, in S106, the communication control device 21 updates the communication requirements and returns to S101, as in the first embodiment. If, in S202, the communication that does not satisfy the communication requirements is not new communication (No in S202), the communication settings are not switched back and the process returns to S101. Thereafter, the process from the creation of the communication settings onward is performed again, for example, by creating the communication settings for the in-vehicle network 20 again. If, in S105, there is no communication that does not satisfy the communication requirements (No), the process ends.

[0038] The operation of each functional block of the communication control device 21 is the same as that of the first embodiment, except for the communication setting storage unit 55 added in the second embodiment.

[0039] The second embodiment makes it possible to accommodate communication flows that could not be accommodated due to resource shortages through simple communication design, while ensuring the safety of the vehicle when an application is added while the vehicle is in motion.

[0040] [Third Example] Next, a third embodiment of the in-vehicle network system according to the present invention will be described with reference to Fig. 12. In the third embodiment, in order to update communication settings in response to sudden changes in the communication state in the in-vehicle network 20, the communication state is monitored in real time and communication requirements are updated to update the communication settings, thereby ensuring communication for applications that have a significant impact on the driving safety of the vehicle. Furthermore, when the communication state recovers, the communication settings are restored to their original state, thereby improving the availability of communication for applications other than those that have a significant impact on the driving safety of the vehicle.

[0041] The configuration of the network system in the third embodiment is the same as that in the first embodiment. In the third embodiment, the above object can be achieved by the operation of the overall processing flowchart shown in Fig. 12 without changing the operation of each functional block of the network system.

[0042] In FIG. 12, the network system shown in the figure operates in a short time (for example, about 10 milliseconds, which is the shortest control period of the in-vehicle system). First, in S201, the in-vehicle network 20 measures the communication performance for each application. Next, in S104, the communication control device 21 acquires the communication performance for each application measured by the in-vehicle network 20. Next, in S300, the communication control device 21 determines whether the acquired communication performance has changed compared to the communication performance acquired last time. If there has been no change (No), the operation for the current period ends. If there has been a change (Yes), the communication control device 21 determines in S105 whether there is any communication that does not satisfy the communication requirements. If there is any communication that does not satisfy the communication requirements (Yes in S105), that is, if there was any communication that did not satisfy the communication requirements up until the previous period but there was any communication that does not satisfy the communication requirements in the current period, and therefore it can be determined that communication performance degradation has occurred as a change in communication state, the communication control device 21 updates the communication requirements in S106 and executes S101. If there is no communication that does not satisfy the communication requirements (No in S105), that is, if there was communication that did not satisfy the communication requirements in the previous cycle but there is no communication that does not satisfy the communication requirements in the current cycle (due to the update of the communication requirements), and it can be determined that the communication performance degradation has been resolved and communication has been restored, in S301 the communication control device 21 restores the communication requirements to the original (in other words, the communication requirements before the update) and executes S101. Then, in S101, the communication control device 21 creates communication settings for the in-vehicle network 20 and applies them to the in-vehicle network 20. This flow ends in S101 and waits for the execution of the next cycle.

[0043] According to the third embodiment, even if a sudden change in the communication state occurs in the in-vehicle network 20, it is possible to prevent degradation of communication performance of communications that have a large impact on the driving safety of the vehicle, thereby improving the driving safety of the vehicle.

[0044] [Fourth Example] Next, a fourth embodiment of the in-vehicle network system according to the present invention will be described with reference to Figures 13 to 15. In the fourth embodiment, for communication of an application added to an SDV, communication settings created for the communication requirements of the application are stored, and communication settings created in the past for similar communication requirements are searched for and reused for the communication requirements of an application to be added subsequently, thereby making the creation of communication settings more efficient. Here, similar communication requirements are, for example, those in which the communication requirements of an application for which communication settings were created in the past fall within a predetermined error range (for example, within 5%) compared to the values ​​of each communication requirement of the application to be added. Note that when only some of the communication requirements are prioritized depending on the application, for example, when priority is given to communication bandwidth but not to latency, the communication requirements to be searched for may be limited to those that fall within a predetermined error range for the prioritized communication requirement.

[0045] The configuration of the network system in the fourth embodiment is shown in FIG. 13. The fourth embodiment includes a communication setting storage unit 55, similar to the second embodiment, but the connection relationship is different. The communication setting storage unit 55 receives and stores information about communication requirements and communication settings created for the communication requirements from the communication setting creation unit 53. The communication setting storage unit 55 then provides previously created communication settings for the communication requirements in response to a reference from the communication requirement update unit 52. The network system 19 may also include an external communication device 23 as an additional component. The communication setting storage unit 55 transmits and stores the stored communication requirements and communication settings via the external communication device 23 to an external location such as a cloud, and further searches for and receives communication settings for similar communication requirements from an external location such as a cloud, for use in creating communication settings for the device itself. This configuration allows communication settings for communication requirements created in a vehicle to be transmitted to an external location, shared with other vehicles, and used in other vehicles as well.

[0046] 14 shows an overview of the communication setting storage table 200 in the communication setting storage unit 55. The communication setting storage table 200 holds original communication requirements 201 received from the application management device 22, updated communication requirements 202 updated by the communication control device 21, and communication settings 203 for the updated communication requirements 202.

[0047] 15 shows a flowchart of the communication requirement update unit 52 in the fourth embodiment. First, in S130, the communication requirement update unit 52 determines whether there is a first communication whose communication performance does not satisfy the communication requirements. If there is no first communication (No), the process ends. If there is a first communication (Yes), the process proceeds to S131. In S131, it determines whether there is a second communication that has a lower priority than the first communication and satisfies the communication requirements. If there is a second communication (Yes in S131), in S400, the communication setting storage unit 55 is searched for communication requirements similar to the communication requirements of the second communication. If the search results in communication requirements similar to the communication requirements of the second communication (Yes in S400), in S402, communication settings for the communication requirements similar to the communication requirements of the second communication are obtained from the communication setting storage unit 55 and used. If the search results in no communication requirements similar to those of the second communication (No in S400), in S132, the communication requirements of the second communication (not the first communication) are updated, as in the first embodiment.

[0048] If there is no second communication (No in S131), in S401, the communication setting storage unit 55 is searched for communication requirements similar to the communication requirements of the first communication. If the search results in communication requirements similar to the communication requirements of the first communication (Yes in S401), in S403, communication settings for the communication requirements similar to the communication requirements of the first communication are obtained from the communication setting storage unit 55 and used. If the search results in no communication requirements similar to the communication requirements of the first communication (No in S401), in S133, the communication requirements of the first communication are updated as in the first embodiment.

[0049] When the communication requirement update unit 52 acquires past communication settings from the communication setting storage unit 55, the communication setting creation unit 53 does nothing.

[0050] The fourth embodiment makes it possible to make the creation of communication settings more efficient, and when adding an application to an SDV, it is possible to reduce the time from adding the application to starting operation.

[0051] [Summary of the first to fourth embodiments] As described above, the communication control device 21 according to this embodiment is a communication control device 21 that controls communication of a network (in-vehicle network 20) ​​that includes a plurality of communication devices (ECUs), and includes: a communication requirement storage unit 50 that stores, for each application, communication requirements that are requirements for the communication performance of the communication and priorities determined according to the degree of impact that the communication has on the operation of a system including the network, a communication performance monitoring unit 51 that determines whether the communication (communication performance of) satisfies the communication requirements (communication requirement satisfaction state), a communication requirement update unit 52 that updates the communication requirements for the first communication based on the priority of a first communication that is determined by the communication performance monitoring unit 51 not to satisfy the communication requirements and the priority of another communication that is determined to satisfy the communication requirements, a communication setting creation unit 53 that creates communication settings for the network based on the communication requirements updated by the communication requirement update unit 52, and a setting unit 54 that sets the communication settings created by the communication setting creation unit 53 for the network.

[0052] Furthermore, in the communication control device 21 according to this embodiment, the communication requirement update unit 52 updates the communication requirements of the second communication that has a lower priority than the first communication and is determined to satisfy the communication requirements (S132 in FIG. 9).

[0053] Furthermore, in this embodiment, before the application operates, the communication control device 21 performs communication of the application using the communication settings created by the communication setting creation unit 53 (communication test), acquires the communication performance of the communication using the communication performance monitoring unit 51, and starts operation of the application if the acquired communication performance of the communication satisfies the communication requirements (S107 in Figure 5), and does not start operation of the application if the acquired communication performance of the communication does not satisfy the communication requirements, updates the communication requirements, and recreates the communication settings for the network (S106 and subsequent steps in Figure 5).

[0054] In addition, the communication control device 21 according to this embodiment further has a communication setting memory unit 55 that stores the communication settings created in the past, and when the first communication that is determined not to satisfy the communication requirements is a communication related to a newly added application, the communication requirement update unit 52 acquires from the communication setting memory unit 55 the past communication settings at the time when a communication other than the communication related to the newly added application satisfied the communication requirements, and the setting unit 54 sets the past communication settings acquired from the communication setting memory unit 55 to the network (second embodiment).

[0055] Furthermore, in the communication control device 21 according to this embodiment, the communication performance monitoring unit 51 further monitors communication performance degradation in real time, and the communication requirement update unit 52 updates the communication requirements when the communication performance degradation occurs, and restores the communication requirements to their original state when the communication performance degradation is resolved (third embodiment).

[0056] In addition, the communication control device 21 according to this embodiment further has a communication setting memory unit 55 that stores the communication settings previously created for the communication requirements, and the communication requirement update unit 52 searches the communication setting memory unit 55 for communication requirements similar to the communication requirements, and if a communication requirement similar to the communication requirement is found, obtains the communication settings for the communication requirement similar to the communication requirement from the communication setting memory unit 55, and the setting unit 54 configures the network using the communication settings obtained from the communication setting memory unit 55 (fourth embodiment).

[0057] Furthermore, in the communication control device 21 according to this embodiment, the communication setting memory unit 55 transmits the stored communication requirements and communication settings to the outside to share them with other communication control devices, and (for example, if no communication requirements similar to the communication requirements are found) receives the communication requirements and communication settings stored in the other communication control devices from the outside and uses them to create the communication settings in the device itself (fourth embodiment).

[0058] Furthermore, in the communication control device 21 according to this embodiment, the communication requirement update unit 52 determines whether to update the communication requirements of the first communication or whether to update the communication requirements of the other communication based on the priority of the first communication that is determined by the communication performance monitoring unit 51 not to satisfy the communication requirements and the priority of the other communication that is determined to satisfy the communication requirements.

[0059] In addition, in the communication control device 21 according to this embodiment, if there is a second communication that has a lower priority than the first communication and is determined to satisfy the communication requirements, the communication requirement update unit 52 updates the communication requirements for the second communication, and if there is no second communication that has a lower priority than the first communication and is determined to satisfy the communication requirements, the communication requirement update unit 52 updates the communication requirements for the first communication.

[0060] Furthermore, the network system 19 according to this embodiment is a network system 19 having the aforementioned communication control device 21, and further includes an application management device 22 that adds (distributes) the application, and a network (on-board network 20) ​​that is a communication path for the application to communicate and is composed of a plurality of communication devices (ECUs), and further includes a performance acquisition unit 60 that acquires communication performance for each of the applications within the communication devices (ECUs) that constitute the network (on-board network 20).

[0061] In the network system 19 according to this embodiment, the priority is determined by the application management device 22 before the application is added to the communication device (ECU).

[0062] In the network system 19 according to this embodiment, the priority is determined by the communication control device 21 .

[0063] That is, the communication control device 21 according to this embodiment updates the communication requirements in accordance with the degree of influence of the application on the driving safety of the vehicle, and manages the update of communication settings, switching back, and the like.

[0064] According to this embodiment, when placing an application in an ECU, which is a communication device, the placement is performed taking into consideration the resources within the ECU and the communication resources between ECUs, and by ensuring the execution performance and communication performance of the application, stable operation of the application is ensured, thereby providing a communication control device and network system that enables the addition of applications in an SDV while ensuring the driving safety of the vehicle.

[0065] The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments and includes various modifications. For example, the above-described embodiments have been described in detail to clearly explain the present invention, and the present invention is not necessarily limited to those including all of the described configurations. Furthermore, it is possible to replace part of the configuration of one embodiment with the configuration of another embodiment, or to add the configuration of another embodiment to the configuration of one embodiment. Furthermore, it is possible to add, delete, or replace part of the configuration of each embodiment with other configurations.

[0066] In addition, the control lines and information lines shown are those that are considered necessary for the explanation, and do not necessarily show all the control lines and information lines in the product. In reality, it can be assumed that almost all components are interconnected. [Explanation of symbols]

[0067] 1 vehicle 2 Gateway 3-domain ECU 4 sensors 5 Actuators 6 Bus 7. TCU 8 Central ECU 9 Zone ECU 10 Shared Bus 11 CPU 12 Memory 13 Network Switch 19 Network Systems 20 In-vehicle network 21 Communication control device 22 Application Management Device 23 External communication device 30 Applications 31 Middleware 32 Hardware 100 Communication requirements storage table 200 Communication setting memory table

Claims

1. A communication control device that controls communication of a network including a plurality of communication devices, a communication requirement storage unit that stores, for each of a plurality of applications, communication requirements that are requirements for communication performance of the communication and priorities determined according to the degree of impact that the communication has on the operation of a system including the network; and a communication performance monitoring unit that determines whether the communication satisfies the communication requirements; a communication requirement update unit that updates the communication requirements for the first communication based on a priority of a first communication that is determined by the communication performance monitoring unit not to satisfy the communication requirements and a priority of another communication that is determined to satisfy the communication requirements; a communication setting creating unit that creates communication settings for the network based on the communication requirements updated by the communication requirement updating unit; a setting unit that sets the communication settings created by the communication setting creation unit to the network.

2. 2. The communication control device according to claim 1, A communication control device characterized in that the communication requirement update unit updates the communication requirements of a second communication that has a lower priority than the first communication and is determined to satisfy the communication requirements.

3. 2. The communication control device according to claim 1, Before the application is operated, the application communicates using the communication settings created by the communication setting creation unit, and the communication performance monitoring unit acquires the communication performance of the communication. If the acquired communication performance of the communication satisfies the communication requirements, the operation of the application is started; A communication control device characterized in that if the communication performance of the communication acquired does not satisfy the communication requirements, the application does not start operation, the communication requirements are updated, and the communication settings for the network are recreated.

4. 2. The communication control device according to claim 1, further comprising a communication setting storage unit that stores the communication settings created in the past; when the first communication determined not to satisfy the communication requirements is a communication related to a newly added application, the communication requirement update unit acquires, from the communication setting storage unit, past communication settings at a time when a communication other than the communication related to the newly added application satisfied the communication requirements; The communication control device is characterized in that the setting unit sets the past communication settings acquired from the communication setting storage unit to the network.

5. 2. The communication control device according to claim 1, The communication performance monitoring unit further monitors communication performance degradation in real time, The communication control device is characterized in that the communication requirement update unit updates the communication requirements when the communication performance degradation occurs, and restores the communication requirements to their original state when the communication performance degradation is resolved.

6. 2. The communication control device according to claim 1, a communication setting storage unit that stores the communication settings previously created for the communication requirements; the communication requirement update unit searches the communication setting storage unit for a communication requirement similar to the communication requirement, and when a communication requirement similar to the communication requirement is found, acquires communication settings for the communication requirement similar to the communication requirement from the communication setting storage unit; The communication control device is characterized in that the setting unit sets the network using the communication settings acquired from the communication setting storage unit.

7. 7. The communication control device according to claim 6, The communication setting memory unit transmits the stored communication requirements and communication settings to the outside to share them with other communication control devices, receives the communication requirements and communication settings stored in the other communication control devices from the outside, and uses them to create the communication settings in the communication control device itself.

8. 2. The communication control device according to claim 1, The communication control device is characterized in that the communication requirement update unit determines whether to update the communication requirements of the first communication or whether to update the communication requirements of the other communication based on the priority of the first communication that the communication performance monitoring unit has determined does not satisfy the communication requirements and the priority of the other communication that has been determined to satisfy the communication requirements.

9. 2. The communication control device according to claim 1, The communication control device is characterized in that the communication requirement update unit updates the communication requirements of the second communication when there is a second communication that has a lower priority than the first communication and is determined to satisfy the communication requirements, and updates the communication requirements of the first communication when there is no second communication that has a lower priority than the first communication and is determined to satisfy the communication requirements.

10. A network system having the communication control device according to claim 1, an application management device for adding the application; a network that is a communication path for the application to communicate and is configured from a plurality of communication devices; A network system further comprising a performance acquisition unit in the communication device that configures the network, the performance acquisition unit acquiring communication performance for each application.

11. 11. The network system according to claim 10, The network system is characterized in that the priority is determined by the application management device before the application is added to the communication device.

12. 11. The network system according to claim 10, A network system characterized in that the priority is determined by the communication control device.

13. 11. The network system according to claim 10, The network system is mounted on a vehicle, the vehicle further comprising an actuator for driving the vehicle; A network system characterized in that a priority of communications other than those relating to the control of the actuator is set lower than a priority of communications relating to the control of the actuator.

14. 14. The network system according to claim 13, The vehicle further includes a sensor for recognizing a driving environment around the vehicle, a priority of communication related to the sensor data is set lower than a priority of communication related to the control of the actuator; A network system characterized in that the priority of communications other than communications related to the control of the actuators and communications related to the data of the sensors is set lower than the priority of communications related to the control of the actuators and communications related to the data of the sensors.

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