Method for providing in-vehicle diagnostic devices and diagnostic information services

Abstract

Even when using existing software components that provide diagnostic information services, it will be possible to assign arbitrary attributes to the diagnostic process and change the set attributes. [Solution] Extended diagnostic attribute information is prepared by extending the standard diagnostic attribute information used in existing software components to define the attributes of the diagnostic function 100. If a diagnostic service request from the diagnostic device 20 can be processed without referring to the extended diagnostic attribute information, the diagnostic communication management unit 300 obtains diagnostic service information from the diagnostic event management unit 200 and creates a diagnostic service response. If it is necessary to refer to the extended diagnostic attribute information to process the diagnostic service request, the diagnostic service request is forwarded to the extended diagnostic information acquisition management unit 310. The extended diagnostic information acquisition management unit 310 obtains the diagnostic service information from the diagnostic event management unit 200, refers to the extended diagnostic attribute information, performs processing on the diagnostic service information, and creates a diagnostic service response.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to an in-vehicle diagnostic device for diagnosing various devices provided in vehicles such as automobiles, and a method for providing diagnostic information services using the in-vehicle diagnostic device.

Background Art

[0002] Conventionally, with regard to technologies applied to vehicles such as automobiles, standardization has been promoted from the viewpoints of development costs and development efficiency. For example, in AUTOSAR (AUTomotive Open System ARchitecture), which was established mainly in the European automotive industry, standardization has been carried out for control software and the like implemented in electronic control units (ECUs) that control various devices mounted on vehicles.

[0003] On the other hand, regarding vehicles such as automobiles, various regulations have been imposed from viewpoints such as the environment and safety, and regulations and the like determined in each country must be complied with regarding vehicle diagnosis. Under such circumstances, tools for assisting in creating software that complies with regulations based on standardized technologies have also been provided. For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a vehicle control device in which a diagnostic information management unit is configured by software components of a platform to manage diagnostic results.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] Traditionally, existing software components provided by vendors required setting attributes for each diagnostic process performed within the ECU during programming, and diagnostic information was collected and managed according to these set attributes. However, since some of the attributes set for diagnostic processes are related to legal regulations, it was not possible to arbitrarily set attributes for diagnostic processes or to change the set attributes.

[0006] The object of the present invention is to solve the problems of the prior art described above and to provide an in-vehicle diagnostic device that can assign arbitrary attributes to diagnostic processing or change attributes assigned to diagnostic processing while utilizing existing software components. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] In one preferred embodiment, the in-vehicle diagnostic device according to the present invention includes: a diagnostic event management unit that acquires diagnostic service information created by a plurality of diagnostic functions and stores and manages the diagnostic service information in a diagnostic information storage unit; a diagnostic attribute information storage unit that stores diagnostic attribute information including standard diagnostic attribute information that defines the attributes of the diagnostic functions and is used for managing the diagnostic service information by the diagnostic event management unit, and extended diagnostic attribute information that extends the attributes defined by the standard diagnostic attribute information; and when the diagnostic service information requested by an external diagnostic service request requires processing based on the extended diagnostic attribute information, the diagnostic service information is acquired from the diagnostic event management unit based on the diagnostic service request, and the acquired diagnostic service information is extended to the extended diagnostic attribute information. The system includes an extended diagnostic information acquisition management unit that processes and creates an extended diagnostic service response based on the information provided, and a diagnostic communication management unit that receives diagnostic service requests sent from externally connected diagnostic devices, and if the diagnostic service information requested by the diagnostic service request requires processing based on extended diagnostic attribute information, it forwards the received diagnostic service request to the extended diagnostic information acquisition management unit, and if the diagnostic service information requested by the diagnostic service request does not require processing based on extended diagnostic attribute information, it acquires diagnostic service information from the diagnostic event management unit based on the diagnostic service request to create a standard diagnostic service response, and transmits the standard diagnostic service response and the extended diagnostic service response to the diagnostic device as a diagnostic service response to the diagnostic service request.

[0008] Furthermore, in one preferred embodiment, the method for providing a diagnostic service according to the present invention is implemented in an in-vehicle diagnostic device mounted in a vehicle, and is a method for providing a diagnostic service that provides diagnostic service information acquired by a diagnostic function, wherein the method defines the attributes of a diagnostic function that diagnoses a vehicle, stores diagnostic attribute information including standard diagnostic attribute information used for managing diagnostic service information acquired by the diagnostic function and extended diagnostic attribute information that extends the attributes defined by the standard diagnostic attribute information, stores the diagnostic service information acquired by the diagnostic function in a diagnostic information storage unit, receives a diagnostic service request sent from an externally connected diagnostic device, and if processing that refers to extended diagnostic attribute information is not required for the diagnostic service information requested by the diagnostic service request, obtains the diagnostic service information from the diagnostic information storage unit based on the diagnostic service request and creates a standard diagnostic service response, and if processing that refers to extended diagnostic attribute information is required for the diagnostic service information requested by the service request, obtains the diagnostic service information from the diagnostic information storage unit based on the service request, performs processing on the diagnostic service information by referring to the extended diagnostic attribute information and creates an extended diagnostic service response, and transmits the standard diagnostic service response and the extended diagnostic service response to the diagnostic device as a response to the diagnostic service request. [Effects of the Invention]

[0009] According to the present invention, even when existing software components are used for software components that provide diagnostic information services, it is possible to assign arbitrary attributes to the diagnostic process or change the set attributes while complying with legal regulations. Other problems solved and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the description and drawings herein. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0010] [Figure 1] This is a schematic diagram showing the positioning of the in-vehicle diagnostic device. [Figure 2] This is a schematic block diagram showing the configuration of an in-vehicle diagnostic system. [Figure 3] This is a data structure diagram showing an example of diagnostic attribute class information 221. [Figure 4] This is a flowchart showing the flow of diagnostic service processing performed by an in-vehicle diagnostic device. [Modes for carrying out the invention]

[0011] Hereinafter, representative embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The embodiments and drawings described below are illustrative examples for illustrating the present invention, and have been omitted or simplified as appropriate for clarity of explanation. Furthermore, please note that in order to facilitate understanding of the invention, the position, size, shape, and extent of each component shown in the drawings may not necessarily represent them precisely. In each drawing, parts having the same configuration and / or function are denoted by the same reference numeral. In addition, in the following description, unless particularly necessary, redundant explanations of parts having the same configuration and / or function will be omitted.

[0012] Figure 1 is a schematic diagram showing the positioning of the in-vehicle diagnostic device in this embodiment. In this embodiment, the in-vehicle diagnostic device 14 is implemented as a function of an electronic control unit (ECU) 12 that is mounted in a vehicle 10 such as an automobile and controls various devices provided by the vehicle 10.

[0013] The ECU12 may be, for example, an ECU that controls the combustion of the engine in the vehicle 10, a brake ECU that controls the brakes, a steering ECU that controls the power steering, or any other ECU. The ECU12 is configured to include, for example, a processing unit such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit) or a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) (not shown), a memory for storing and holding programs executed by the processing unit and data used for control, and an input / output device for inputting and outputting various control signals. The various functions of the ECU12 are realized by the processing unit executing a program stored in the memory. The ECU12 is configured to be connected to, for example, equipment installed inside or outside the vehicle 10 via a communication line such as CAN (Controller Area Network), and to be able to communicate data with those devices.

[0014] The on-board diagnostic device 14 is implemented in the ECU 12 as one of its various functions, and, as described later, diagnoses the status of equipment controlled by the ECU 12 and the status of the ECU 12 itself. The on-board diagnostic device 14 is connected to a diagnostic device 20 located outside the vehicle 10 via a communication line, and in response to a diagnostic service request from the diagnostic device 20, it can provide the diagnostic device 20 with diagnostic information, including the results of the diagnosis. As described above, the functions of each part of the on-board diagnostic device 14 are realized by the arithmetic unit of the ECU 12 executing a program stored in its memory.

[0015] The diagnostic device 20 is configured to be operated by the user to communicate with the ECU 12, access diagnostic information services provided by the in-vehicle diagnostic device 14, and read or manipulate information regarding the status of the vehicle 10.

[0016] Figure 2 is a schematic block diagram showing the configuration of the in-vehicle diagnostic device 14.

[0017] The in-vehicle diagnostic device 14 includes a diagnostic function 100, a diagnostic event management unit 200, a diagnostic communication management unit 300, and an extended diagnostic information acquisition management unit 310.

[0018] The diagnostic function 100 performs various diagnoses regarding the operating status and fault status of equipment controlled by the ECU 12 on which the in-vehicle diagnostic device 14 is implemented, or the status of processes being executed by the ECU 12, and acquires diagnostic information. The diagnostic function 100 may include multiple diagnostic functions depending on the information to be acquired.

[0019] The diagnostic event management unit 200 includes a diagnostic information storage unit 210 that stores and retains diagnostic service information related to diagnosis, such as fault information 211, diagnostic information 212, and measurement data 213 acquired by the diagnostic function 100, and manages the recording and retrieval of the diagnostic service information. Here, fault information 211 is information indicating the location and state of a fault or failure when a fault or failure occurs in the equipment controlled by the ECU 12 or in the ECU 12 itself. Diagnostic information 212 is information indicating the diagnostic results, such as the setting status and operating status of the equipment controlled by the ECU 12 or in the ECU 12 itself. Measurement data 213 may include, for example, data such as measured values ​​of various physical quantities related to the controlled equipment, such as temperature, voltage, and current. Specifically, the diagnostic information storage unit 210 can be configured by, for example, a non-volatile storage device such as flash memory provided by the ECU 12.

[0020] The diagnostic event management unit 200 also manages a diagnostic attribute information storage unit 220 that stores a plurality of diagnostic attribute class information 221 defining the attributes of the diagnostic functions 100. The diagnostic attribute class information 221 includes setting information regarding the importance of the diagnosis performed by each diagnostic function 100, the content of the diagnosis, and the handling of the diagnostic results. Each individual diagnostic function 100 is associated with one of the diagnostic attribute class information 221, and the information regarding the acquired diagnosis is managed by the diagnostic event management unit 200 based on the diagnostic attribute class information 221. The diagnostic attribute class information 221 is read out and used by the diagnostic event management unit 200 and the extended diagnostic information acquisition management unit 310 as necessary. The diagnostic attribute information storage unit 220 can actually be realized using a non-volatile storage device such as a flash memory provided in the ECU 12, similar to the diagnostic information storage unit 210.

[0021] The diagnostic communication management unit 300 receives a diagnostic service request sent from the diagnostic instrument 20, acquires diagnostic service information corresponding to the content of the request sent in the diagnostic service request, and transmits the acquired diagnostic service information to the diagnostic instrument 20 as a diagnostic service response. When the required diagnostic service information does not require processing by referring to the extended diagnostic attribute information described later, the diagnostic communication management unit 300 accesses the diagnostic event management unit 200, acquires the diagnostic service information corresponding to the request, and responds to the request of the diagnostic instrument 20. When the required diagnostic service information requires processing by referring to the extended diagnostic attribute information, the diagnostic communication management unit 300 sends the diagnostic service request to the extended diagnostic information acquisition management unit 310, and is configured to send the diagnostic service response created by the extended diagnostic information acquisition management unit 310 to the diagnostic instrument 20 as a response to the diagnostic service request.

[0022] The extended diagnostic information acquisition management unit 310 accesses the diagnostic event management unit 200 based on the diagnostic service request transferred from the diagnostic communication management unit 300, and acquires diagnostic service information regarding the requested diagnosis. At this time, the diagnostic communication management unit 300 refers to the diagnostic attribute class information 221 managed by the diagnostic event management unit 200, processes the diagnostic service information acquired from the diagnostic event management unit 200, creates a diagnostic service response, and sends it to the diagnostic communication management unit 300 as a response to the diagnostic instrument 20.

[0023] In this embodiment, the diagnostic event management unit 200 has, for example, the function of DEM (Diagnostic Event Manager) in AUTOSAR, and can use software components provided in accordance with AUTOSAR. Further, the diagnostic communication management unit 300 has, for example, the function of DCM (Digagnostic Communication Manager) in AUTOSAR, and can use software components provided in accordance with AUTOSAR, similar to the diagnostic event management unit 200.

[0024] FIG. 3 is a data configuration diagram showing an example of the diagnostic attribute class information 221.

[0025] A plurality of diagnostic attribute class information 221 is stored in the diagnostic attribute information storage unit 220. The diagnostic attribute class information 221 can be defined to include at least one of diagnostic attribute information including the importance of the diagnosis, setting values related to the diagnosis, and attribute values related to the diagnosis.

[0026] The importance of a diagnosis indicates the importance of the diagnostic function 100 to which the diagnostic attribute class information 221 is associated. For example, a smaller value indicates a more important diagnostic function. Diagnostic settings can be used to set parameters related to the handling of diagnostic results in the associated diagnostic function 100. Diagnostic settings may include, for example, the number of times fault information is acquired or the number of trips until the abnormality indicated by the fault information is confirmed as a fault when fault information is acquired. Diagnostic attribute values ​​can be used to set attribute values ​​such as the characteristics of the associated diagnostic function 100. Diagnostic attribute values ​​may include, for example, information such as whether the associated diagnostic function 100 is an engine-related diagnosis or whether it is a diagnosis that triggers the illumination of the engine warning light.

[0027] In this embodiment, the diagnostic attribute class information 221 may include diagnostic attribute information 223 (hereinafter referred to as extended diagnostic attribute information) which is arbitrarily set to extend the attributes of the standard diagnostic attribute information 222, in addition to the diagnostic attribute information 222 (hereinafter referred to as standard diagnostic attribute information) which is expected to be used when the diagnostic event management unit 200 manages diagnostic service information. That is, the diagnostic attribute class information 221 may include a first diagnostic attribute class information 221a which includes at least one standard diagnostic attribute information 222 and does not include extended diagnostic attribute information, as well as a second diagnostic attribute class information 221b which includes at least one standard diagnostic attribute information 222 and at least one extended diagnostic attribute information 223. The diagnostic event management unit 200 manages the diagnostic service information acquired by the diagnostic function 100 based on the standard diagnostic attribute information 222 included in the diagnostic attribute class information 221 to which the diagnostic function 100 is associated. The extended diagnostic attribute information 223 is referenced when the extended diagnostic information acquisition management unit 310 processes the diagnostic service information in response to a diagnostic service request.

[0028] As described above, the diagnostic attribute class information 221 is used to define the attributes of each diagnostic function 100. Each diagnostic function 100 is associated with one of the diagnostic attribute class information 221, and its attributes are defined by the diagnostic attribute information contained in the associated diagnostic attribute class information 221. Each diagnostic attribute class information 221 may be associated with one diagnostic function 100, or with two or more diagnostic functions 100. Alternatively, at some point in time, there may be no diagnostic function 100 associated with it.

[0029] The association between the diagnostic attribute class information 221 and the diagnostic function 100 can be changed, and by changing the diagnostic attribute class information 221 associated with the diagnostic function 100, the attributes of the diagnostic function 100 can be changed. The association between the diagnostic function 100 and the diagnostic attribute class information 221 may be configured to be changed while the in-vehicle diagnostic device 14 is operating.

[0030] Figure 4 is a flowchart showing the flow of the diagnostic service processing performed by the in-vehicle diagnostic device 14.

[0031] When the in-vehicle diagnostic device 14 receives a diagnostic service request from the diagnostic instrument 20, the diagnostic communication management unit 300 receives the request (step S100).

[0032] A diagnostic service request includes identification information that identifies the content of the requested service, and the diagnostic communication management unit 300 processes the received diagnostic service request based on the identification information. The identification information may include, for example, the type of service requested, information about the diagnostic service information to be obtained, and identification information that identifies the diagnostic function 100 that obtained the diagnostic service information. Processing of the received diagnostic service request is divided, for example, depending on whether the diagnostic service request requires processing that refers to extended diagnostic attribute information regarding the diagnostic service information. Such processing can be divided, for example, based on the identification information (step S102).

[0033] If a diagnostic service request requires processing that references extended diagnostic attribute information regarding the diagnostic service information, the diagnostic communication management unit 300 sends the received diagnostic service request to the extended diagnostic information acquisition management unit 310. When the extended diagnostic information acquisition management unit 310 receives the diagnostic service request from the diagnostic communication management unit 300, it requests the diagnostic event management unit 200 to acquire the requested diagnostic service information based on the identification information (step S104).

[0034] When the diagnostic event management unit 200 receives a request from the extended diagnostic information acquisition management unit 310 to acquire diagnostic service information, it reads the corresponding diagnostic service information from the diagnostic information storage unit 210 based on the identification information and passes the acquired diagnostic service information to the extended diagnostic information acquisition management unit 310 (step S106).

[0035] When the Extended Diagnostic Information Acquisition Management Unit 310 acquires diagnostic service information from the Diagnostic Event Management Unit 200, it performs extended diagnostic information response processing by referring to the standard diagnostic attribute information 222 and / or extended diagnostic attribute information 223 included in the diagnostic attribute class information 221 to which the diagnostic function 100 that acquired the diagnostic service information is associated, and creates an extended diagnostic service response. For example, the Extended Diagnostic Information Acquisition Management Unit 310 has extended diagnostic attribute information 223 that indicates whether or not to include the diagnostic result in the response to the diagnostic service request. If the attribute is set to true (TRUE), it creates a diagnostic service response that includes the acquired diagnostic service information. If the attribute is set to false (FALSE), it creates an extended diagnostic service response that does not include the acquired diagnostic service information.

[0036] The created extended diagnostic service response is sent from the extended diagnostic information acquisition management unit 310 to the diagnostic communication management unit 300 (step S108).

[0037] On the other hand, in step S102, if the received diagnostic service request does not require processing that refers to extended diagnostic attribute information regarding the diagnostic service information, the diagnostic communication management unit 300 requests the diagnostic event management unit 200 to acquire the requested diagnostic service information based on the identification information included in the diagnostic service request (step S110).

[0038] When the diagnostic event management unit 200 receives a request from the diagnostic communication management unit 300 to acquire diagnostic service information, it reads the corresponding diagnostic service information from the diagnostic information storage unit 210 based on the identification information, similar to step S106, and passes the acquired diagnostic service information to the diagnostic communication management unit 300 (step S112).

[0039] When the diagnostic communication management unit 300 obtains diagnostic service information from the diagnostic event management unit 200, it performs standard diagnostic information response processing and creates a standard diagnostic service response that includes the obtained diagnostic service information (step S114).

[0040] When the diagnostic communication management unit 300 receives an extended diagnostic service response created by the extended diagnostic information acquisition management unit 310 in step S108, or when it creates a standard diagnostic service response in step S114, it sends the standard diagnostic service response and / or extended diagnostic service response to the diagnostic device 20 as a response to the diagnostic service request received in step S100, and completes the process (step S116).

[0041] According to this embodiment, by using the extended diagnostic attribute information 223, it becomes possible to provide an extended diagnostic information service by arbitrarily setting or changing the attributes of the diagnostic function, such as diagnostic importance and setting values, for a standard diagnostic information service provided by a vendor as a software component. For example, if applying software components provided on the market as a diagnostic event management unit 200 or a diagnostic communication management unit 300 would make it impossible to comply with legal regulations by changing the diagnostic attribute class information to which the diagnostic function 100 is linked, it becomes possible to provide a diagnostic information service that complies with legal regulations by setting this as an attribute value using the extended diagnostic attribute information and performing processing that takes legal regulations into consideration in the extended diagnostic information acquisition management unit 310.

[0042] In the embodiment described above, the diagnostic communication management unit 300 distributes the processing of diagnostic service requests based on whether or not processing that references extended diagnostic attribute information is required for the requested diagnostic service information. It is also possible to configure this so that, for example, if the requested diagnostic service information is obtained by a diagnostic function linked to diagnostic attribute class information that includes extended diagnostic attribute information, the processing of that diagnostic request service is performed by the extended diagnostic information acquisition management unit 310. In this case, the extended diagnostic information acquisition management unit 310 only needs to refer to the extended diagnostic attribute information as necessary and process the diagnostic service information.

[0043] Although the present invention has been described above using representative embodiments as examples, the present invention is not limited thereto and can be implemented in various ways without departing from the spirit of the invention as described in the claims. Furthermore, the embodiments described above are explained in detail for the purpose of clearly illustrating the present invention and are not necessarily limited to those having all the configurations described. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0044] 10…Vehicle, 20…Diagnostic device, 12…ECU, 14…In-vehicle diagnostic device, 100…Diagnostic function, 200…Diagnostic event management unit, 210…Diagnostic information storage unit, 220…Diagnostic attribute information storage unit, 221…Diagnostic attribute class information, 222…Standard diagnostic attribute information, 223…Extended diagnostic attribute information, 300…Diagnostic communication management unit, 310…Extended diagnostic information acquisition management unit

Claims

1. A diagnostic event management unit acquires diagnostic service information created by multiple diagnostic functions and stores and manages the diagnostic service information in a diagnostic information storage unit. A diagnostic attribute information storage unit stores diagnostic attribute information that includes standard diagnostic attribute information used by the diagnostic event management unit to manage the diagnostic service information and which defines the attributes of the diagnostic function, and extended diagnostic attribute information which extends the attributes defined by the standard diagnostic attribute information. When the diagnostic service information requested by an external diagnostic service request requires processing based on the extended diagnostic attribute information, the extended diagnostic information acquisition management unit acquires the diagnostic service information from the diagnostic event management unit based on the diagnostic service request, processes the acquired diagnostic service information based on the extended diagnostic attribute information, and creates an extended diagnostic service response. A diagnostic communication management unit receives the diagnostic service request sent from an externally connected diagnostic device, and if the diagnostic service information requested by the diagnostic service request requires processing based on the extended diagnostic attribute information, it forwards the received diagnostic service request to the extended diagnostic information acquisition management unit, and if the diagnostic service information requested by the diagnostic service request does not require processing based on the extended diagnostic attribute information, it acquires the diagnostic service information from the diagnostic event management unit based on the diagnostic service request to create a standard diagnostic service response, and transmits the standard diagnostic service response and the extended diagnostic service response to the diagnostic device as a diagnostic service response to the diagnostic service request. An in-vehicle diagnostic device having the following features.

2. The in-vehicle diagnostic device according to claim 1, wherein the diagnostic attribute information includes a plurality of first diagnostic attribute class information including at least one standard diagnostic attribute information, and at least one second diagnostic attribute class information including at least one standard diagnostic attribute information and at least one extended diagnostic attribute information, and each of the plurality of diagnostic functions is associated with either the first diagnostic attribute class information or the second diagnostic attribute class information.

3. The in-vehicle diagnostic device according to claim 2, wherein the diagnostic service request includes identification information that identifies the content of the requested service, and the diagnostic communication management unit is configured to transfer the diagnostic service request to the extended diagnostic information acquisition management unit based on the identification information.

4. The in-vehicle diagnostic device according to claim 2, wherein the at least one standard diagnostic attribute information is information indicating the importance of the diagnostic function.

5. The in-vehicle diagnostic device according to claim 2, wherein the association between the diagnostic function and the at least one second diagnostic attribute class information and the at least one second diagnostic attribute class information can be changed during operation.

6. A method for providing a diagnostic information service, which is performed by an in-vehicle diagnostic device installed in a vehicle and provides diagnostic service information acquired by the diagnostic function, The system defines the attributes of the diagnostic function that performs the diagnosis of the vehicle, stores diagnostic attribute information that includes standard diagnostic attribute information used for managing diagnostic service information acquired by the diagnostic function, and extended diagnostic attribute information that extends the attributes defined by the standard diagnostic attribute information, The diagnostic service information obtained by the diagnostic function is stored in the diagnostic information storage unit. It receives diagnostic service requests sent from externally connected diagnostic devices. If processing that refers to the extended diagnostic attribute information is not required for the diagnostic service information requested by the diagnostic service request, the diagnostic service information is obtained from the diagnostic information storage unit based on the diagnostic service request and a standard diagnostic service response is created. If processing is required for the diagnostic service information requested by the diagnostic service request, the diagnostic service information is obtained from the diagnostic information storage unit based on the diagnostic service request, and processing is performed on the diagnostic service information by referring to the extended diagnostic attribute information to create an extended diagnostic service response. The standard diagnostic service response and the extended diagnostic service response are transmitted to the diagnostic device as responses to the diagnostic service request. Method of providing diagnostic information services.

Images