Control device

Abstract

To provide a control device that can perform software update processing for an electronic control unit while ensuring startability of a vehicle when a temperature of a battery is low.SOLUTION: A control device that controls software update for an electronic control unit mounted on a vehicle comprises: a monitoring unit that monitors a storage amount and a temperature of a battery that supplies power for executing software update processing; a determination unit that determines whether the storage amount of the battery is greater than or equal to a first storage amount, and whether or not the temperature of the battery is greater than or equal to a first temperature; and a control unit that performs, when a temperature of the battery when starting the vehicle is less than a second temperature which is lower than the first temperature, after the vehicle has finished traveling, when the determination unit determines that the storage amount of the battery is equal to or greater than the first storage amount of the battery and the temperature of the battery is equal to or greater than the first temperature, controls to execute the update processing.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a control device that controls software updates for an electronic control unit mounted on a vehicle. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses a system that uses update data downloaded from a server to update software in an electronic control unit mounted on a vehicle. This system discloses that if the amount of charge stored in the battery is equal to or greater than the amount of power required for the software update process, the update process is executed, and if the amount of charge stored in the battery is less than the amount of power required for the software update process, the battery is charged until the amount of charge stored in the battery is equal to or greater than the amount of power required for the update process, and then the update process is executed. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP 2019-057136 A Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] A lead battery may be used as a battery that supplies power for software update processing. However, the characteristics of this lead battery are highly dependent on temperature, and even if the battery can output (secure) the required power (amount of power) at room temperature, it may not be able to output the required power at low temperatures. For this reason, if the battery temperature is low and the update processing is started based only on the battery's stored power, the power supply may be cut off midway (power failure), and the update may end in an incomplete state. In addition, even if the software update processing is completed, there may be cases where there is not enough power remaining to start the vehicle. Therefore, there is room for further improvement in the judgment conditions for permitting the execution of the software update processing of the electronic control unit.

[0005] The present disclosure has been made in consideration of the above-mentioned problems, and aims to provide a control device that enables software update processing of an electronic control unit to be performed while ensuring the starting ability of the vehicle when the battery temperature is low. [Means for solving the problem]

[0006] In order to solve the above problems, one aspect of the disclosed technology is a control device that controls software updates of an electronic control unit mounted on a vehicle, the control device including: a monitoring unit that monitors the amount of stored power and the temperature of a battery that supplies power for performing a software update process; a determination unit that determines whether the amount of stored power in the battery is equal to or greater than a first amount of stored power and whether the temperature of the battery is equal to or greater than a first temperature; and a control unit that controls the execution of the update process when the temperature of the battery at the start of the vehicle is less than a second temperature that is lower than the first temperature, and when the temperature of the battery at the time of starting the vehicle is less than a second temperature that is lower than the first temperature, after the vehicle has stopped traveling, the determination unit determines that the amount of stored power in the battery is equal to or greater than the first amount of stored power and that the temperature of the battery is equal to or greater than the first temperature. Effect of the Invention

[0007] According to the control device of the present disclosure, when the battery temperature is low (lower than the second temperature), it is possible to perform software update processing of the electronic control unit while ensuring the startability of the vehicle. Therefore, it is possible to prevent the software update processing of the electronic control unit from ending in an incomplete state. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0008] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a vehicle system including a control device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure; [Figure 2A] A flowchart of the software update control process executed by the control device [Figure 2B] A flowchart of the software update control process executed by the control device [Diagram 3] FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining an example of setting a first temperature and a second temperature of an auxiliary battery. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0009] The control device mounted on the vehicle of the present disclosure controls whether to perform software update processing of the electronic control unit based on the amount of charge stored in the auxiliary battery and the temperature of the auxiliary battery. This makes it possible to perform software update processing of the electronic control unit while ensuring the startability of the vehicle when the temperature of the auxiliary battery is low. Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[0010] <Embodiment> [composition] Fig. 1 is a schematic configuration diagram of a vehicle system 1 including a control device 70 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. The vehicle system 1 illustrated in Fig. 1 includes a high-voltage battery 10, a DC-DC converter (DDC) 20, an auxiliary battery 30, an in-vehicle device 40, an OTA control unit 50, a plug-in charger 60, and a control device 70. Examples of vehicles on which the vehicle system 1 is mounted include a plug-in hybrid vehicle (PHEV) and a battery electric vehicle (BEV).

[0011] The high-voltage battery 10 is a battery for supplying power to the DCDC converter 20. The high-voltage battery 10 can also store power from an external power source via a plug-in charger 60 that can be connected to the external power source (not shown). A secondary battery such as a lithium-ion battery that is configured to be chargeable and dischargeable is used for the high-voltage battery 10. Note that a starter motor, a driving motor, and the like are connected to the high-voltage battery 10 in the vehicle, but are not shown in the figure.

[0012] The DC-DC converter (DDC) 20 is a power converter that reduces the high-voltage power supplied from the high-voltage battery 10 to a predetermined low-voltage power and outputs it to the auxiliary battery 30, the in-vehicle device 40, and the like.

[0013] The auxiliary battery 30 is a battery for supplying power to the in-vehicle device 40, the OTA control unit 50, etc. A lead battery (secondary battery) configured to be chargeable and dischargeable is used for this auxiliary battery 30. The auxiliary battery 30 can store (charge) the power output from the DCDC converter 20, and can also supply (discharge) the power stored in itself to the in-vehicle device 40, the OTA control unit 50, etc.

[0014] The in-vehicle device 40 is a device and / or equipment such as an electronic control unit (ECU) or an actuator mounted on the vehicle, and operates mainly with power supplied from the auxiliary battery 30. One or more of the in-vehicle devices 40 may be mounted on the vehicle depending on the specifications of the vehicle.

[0015] The OTA control unit 50 is a device having a function of performing software update of an electronic control unit (target electronic control unit) to be updated. The OTA control unit 50 is wirelessly connected to a server via a communication network such as the Internet through a communication device (such as a data communication module) (not shown) mounted on the vehicle. The OTA control unit 50 downloads software (update data) from the server and installs the downloaded software in the target electronic control unit, thereby performing so-called OTA (Over The Air) control for updating the software of the electronic control unit. Power for the OTA control unit 50 to perform the software update process is supplied from the auxiliary battery 30.

[0016] The plug-in charger 60 can be connected to an external power source (not shown) via a predetermined connection plug. When connected to an external power source, the plug-in charger 60 can supply power to the high-voltage battery 10 (external charging) and to the DC-DC converter 20.

[0017] The control device 70 is configured to manage the states and give operational instructions to the high-voltage battery 10, the auxiliary battery 30, and the OTA control unit 50. In particular, the control device 70 of this embodiment can control software update of the target electronic control unit by the OTA control unit 50 based on the state of the vehicle (operated / non-operated), the temperature outside the vehicle (outside air temperature), and the state of the auxiliary battery 30. This control device 70 includes a monitoring unit 71, a determination unit 72, and a control unit 73.

[0018] The control device 70 is typically composed of a processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a memory such as a RAM (Random Access Memory), a readable and writable storage medium such as a hard disk drive (HDD) or a solid state drive (SSD), and an input / output interface, and realizes all or part of the functions performed by the monitoring unit 71, judgment unit 72, and control unit 73 by the processor reading and executing programs stored in the memory.

[0019] The monitoring unit 71 monitors the state of the auxiliary battery 30 to obtain desired physical quantities. Examples of the physical quantities of the auxiliary battery 30 include voltage, current, temperature, and the amount of stored power (SOC: State Of Charge). The voltage, current, and temperature of the auxiliary battery 30 can be obtained via a detection element such as a sensor provided in the auxiliary battery 30. The amount of stored power of the auxiliary battery 30 can be derived by performing a calculation or the like using the physical quantities obtained via the detection elements.

[0020] The determination unit 72 determines whether the amount of stored power of the auxiliary battery 30 acquired by the monitoring unit 71 is equal to or greater than a predetermined amount of stored power (first amount of stored power). The determination unit 72 also determines whether the temperature of the auxiliary battery 30 acquired by the monitoring unit 71 is equal to or greater than a predetermined temperature (first temperature, second temperature). A method for setting the first amount of stored power, the first temperature, and the second temperature will be described later.

[0021] The control unit 73 selectively controls whether to cause the OTA control unit 50 to perform software update processing of the electronic control unit after the vehicle has stopped traveling, based on the result of the determination by the determination unit 72. The control performed by the control unit 73 will be described in detail below.

[0022] [control] Next, the control executed by the control device 70 according to this embodiment will be described with further reference to Figures 2A, 2B, and 3. Figures 2A and 2B are flowcharts explaining the processing procedure of the software update control executed by the control device 70. The processing of Figure 2A and the processing of Figure 2B are connected by connectors X and Y. Figure 3 is a diagram explaining the relationship between the time elapsed since the start of the vehicle (horizontal axis) and the temperature of the auxiliary battery 30 (vertical axis).

[0023] 2A and 2B is started when the vehicle starts (operates). Examples of starting the vehicle include when the ignition is turned on (IG-ON) and the engine starts, and when the power supply system is started (READY-ON) and the vehicle is ready to run.

[0024] (Step S201) The monitoring unit 71 of the control device 70 acquires the temperature Ta of the auxiliary battery 30 when the vehicle is started. The temperature acquired here is the temperature when the auxiliary battery 30 has become accustomed to the ambient temperature. Therefore, when the vehicle has not been used for a long time (for example, the ignition has been turned off for a predetermined time or longer), the outside air temperature may be used as the temperature Ta of the auxiliary battery 30. When the monitoring unit 71 acquires the temperature Ta of the auxiliary battery 30 at the time of startup, the process proceeds to step S202.

[0025] (Step S202) The determination unit 72 of the control device 70 determines whether or not the temperature Ta of the auxiliary battery 30 at the time of starting acquired by the monitoring unit 71 is lower than a predetermined second temperature T2. This determination is performed to confirm whether or not the temperature around the auxiliary battery 30 is low enough to require the application of the software update control. Therefore, the second temperature T2 is set to an appropriate temperature (for example, 5° C.) based on the temperature dependency of the auxiliary battery 30 and the OTA performance required for the vehicle. If the determination unit 72 determines that the temperature Ta of the auxiliary battery 30 at the time of starting the vehicle is lower than the second temperature T2 (step S202, Yes), the process proceeds to step S203. On the other hand, if the determination unit 72 determines that the temperature Ta of the auxiliary battery 30 at the time of starting the vehicle is equal to or higher than the second temperature T2 (step S202, No), the process proceeds to step S212.

[0026] (Step S203) The monitoring unit 71 of the control device 70 acquires the temperature Tb of the auxiliary battery 30 when the required time for the OTA update process has elapsed since the start of the vehicle. The OTA update process is a process for updating software of a target electronic control unit that the OTA control unit 50 is waiting to execute (waiting for permission to process). The required time for the OTA update process is the time (first time) required from the start to the completion of the OTA update process. This first time may include a retry time when the download or installation of update data fails. The required time for the OTA update process may be known in advance by the vehicle through an experiment, for example, or may be provided by a server via OTA. When the monitoring unit 71 acquires the temperature Tb of the auxiliary battery 30 when the required time for the OTA update process has elapsed, the process proceeds to step S204.

[0027] (Step S204) The determination unit 72 of the control device 70 calculates a change amount ΔT (=Tb-Ta) which is a difference between the temperature Ta of the auxiliary battery 30 acquired by the monitoring unit 71 and the temperature Tb of the auxiliary battery 30. Then, the determination unit 72 derives a first temperature T1 from the calculated change amount ΔT of the temperature of the auxiliary battery 30. This first temperature T1 is a temperature for determining permission to perform the OTA update process, and is derived by adding the change amount ΔT of the battery temperature to the second temperature T2 (T1=T2+ΔT). See FIG. 3. This derivation method is based on the inventor's knowledge that the change amount ΔT of the battery temperature that rises during the time equivalent to the required time of the OTA update process corresponds to the battery temperature that drops due to natural heat dissipation in the actual OTA update process. Therefore, the change amount ΔT of the battery temperature is added to the second temperature T2 at which the software update control needs to be applied to provide a temperature offset, and this is to prevent the power supply from being cut off during the update process and the update from ending in an incomplete state. When the first temperature T1 of the auxiliary battery 30 is derived by the determination unit 72, the process proceeds to step S205.

[0028] (Step S205) The determination unit 72 of the control device 70 derives the first stored amount from the amount of power required for the OTA update process. The amount of power required for the OTA update process is the amount of power consumed by the OTA control unit 50, the target electronic control unit, etc. from the start to the completion of the process of updating the software of the target electronic control unit that the OTA control unit 50 is waiting to execute (waiting for permission to execute). The amount of power required for this OTA update process is given in advance, for example, from a server. The determination unit 72 derives a value obtained by adding the amount of power required for the OTA update process to a predetermined amount of stored power in the auxiliary battery 30 as the first stored amount. For the predetermined amount of stored power in the auxiliary battery 30, a predetermined value equal to or greater than a lower limit of the amount of stored power that is not in an over-discharged state is used. When the determination unit 72 derives the first stored amount in the auxiliary battery 30, the process proceeds to step S206.

[0029] (Step S206) The determination unit 72 of the control device 70 determines whether the amount of stored power in the auxiliary battery 30 is equal to or greater than the first amount of stored power. This determination is made to confirm that the auxiliary battery 30 is in a state in which it will not be in an over-discharged state (dead battery) even if the OTA update process is executed. If the determination unit 72 determines that the amount of stored power in the auxiliary battery 30 is equal to or greater than the first amount of stored power (Yes in step S206), the process proceeds to step S207. On the other hand, if the determination unit 72 determines that the amount of stored power in the auxiliary battery 30 is less than the first amount of stored power (No in step S206), the process waits until the amount of stored power in the auxiliary battery 30 becomes equal to or greater than the first amount of stored power. In this case, the auxiliary battery 30 may be forced to be charged until the amount of stored power in the auxiliary battery 30 becomes equal to or greater than the first amount of stored power.

[0030] (Step S207) The control unit 73 of the control device 70 judges whether the vehicle has finished traveling. The end of vehicle traveling refers to the ignition being turned off (IG-OFF) and the engine being stopped, or the power supply system being stopped (READY-OFF) and the vehicle being in a state in which it cannot travel. If the control unit 73 judges that the vehicle has finished traveling (step S207, Yes), the process proceeds to step S208. On the other hand, if the control unit 73 does not judge that the vehicle has finished traveling (step S207, No), the process waits for the vehicle to finish traveling.

[0031] (Step S208) The determination unit 72 of the control device 70 determines whether the temperature of the auxiliary battery 30 when the vehicle stops traveling is equal to or higher than the first temperature T1. This determination is made to check whether the current temperature of the auxiliary battery 30 is at a temperature that will not affect the OTA update process even if it naturally drops from that temperature. If the determination unit 72 determines that the temperature of the auxiliary battery 30 is equal to or higher than the first temperature T1 (step S208, Yes), the process proceeds to step S209. On the other hand, if the determination unit 72 determines that the temperature of the auxiliary battery 30 is lower than the first temperature T1 (step S208, No), the process proceeds to step S212.

[0032] (Step S209) After the vehicle has stopped traveling, the control unit 73 of the control device 70 determines whether external charging using an external power source is being performed via the plug-in charger 60. This determination is made because there is a risk that the temperature of the auxiliary battery 30 will drop and affect the OTA update process while the high-voltage battery 10 is being charged by external charging after the vehicle has stopped traveling. If the control unit 73 determines that external charging is being performed (Yes in step S209), the process proceeds to step S210. On the other hand, if the control unit 73 determines that external charging is not being performed (No in step S209), the process proceeds to step S211.

[0033] (Step S210) The control unit 73 of the control device 70 performs control to stop external charging via the plug-in charger 60. This makes it possible to reduce power consumption of the auxiliary battery 30 caused by the external charging process, and makes it possible to perform a software update targeting the electronic control unit that performs the external charging process. When the control unit 73 performs control to stop external charging via the plug-in charger 60, the process proceeds to step S211.

[0034] (Step S211) The control unit 73 of the control device 70 performs an OTA update process for the software that is waiting to be executed by the OTA control unit 50. When the OTA update process is performed by the control unit 73, this software update control ends.

[0035] (Step S212) The control unit 73 of the control device 70 ends the software update control without performing the OTA update process of the software that is waiting to be executed by the OTA control unit 50. In this case, the decision on whether to allow the execution of the OTA update process is left to the next time the vehicle is started (next trip).

[0036] <Actions, Effects, etc.> As described above, according to the control device 70 of one embodiment of the present disclosure, both the stored power and temperature of the auxiliary battery 30 that supplies power for performing the OTA update process are monitored, and the OTA update process is performed when the stored power of the auxiliary battery 30 is sufficient to cover the power consumed in the OTA update process (above the first stored power amount) when the vehicle stops traveling, and when the temperature of the auxiliary battery 30 is at a temperature that will not affect the update even if it drops during the OTA update process (above the first temperature T1).

[0037] By setting this first temperature T1 based on the amount of change ΔT in the temperature of the auxiliary battery 30 at low temperatures, a margin can be secured for a temperature drop in the auxiliary battery 30 after the vehicle has stopped traveling. Therefore, even if the software update process of the electronic control unit is started, it is possible to prevent the process from ending in an incomplete state. As a result, even if the temperature of the auxiliary battery 30 is low (lower than the second temperature T2), it is possible to ensure the startability of the vehicle and to perform the software update process of the electronic control unit.

[0038] The above describes one embodiment of the present disclosure, but the present disclosure can be understood as a control device, a method executed by a control device having a processor and a memory, a program for executing the method, a computer-readable non-transitory storage medium storing the program, and a system including a control device and a vehicle. [Industrial Applicability]

[0039] The control device of the present disclosure can be used in vehicles and the like that are capable of executing software update processing using OTA technology. [Explanation of symbols]

[0040] 1 Vehicle Systems 10 High voltage battery 20 DC-DC Converter (DDC) 30 Auxiliary battery 40 In-vehicle equipment 50 OTA control unit 60 Plug-in Charger 70 Control device 71 Monitoring Department 72 Judgment section 73 Control Unit

Claims

1. A control device that controls software updates of an electronic control unit mounted on a vehicle, a monitoring unit that monitors a charge amount and a temperature of a battery that supplies power for performing the software update process; a determination unit that determines whether an amount of stored power in the battery is equal to or greater than a first amount of stored power and whether a temperature of the battery is equal to or greater than a first temperature; a control unit that performs control to execute the software update process when, when the temperature of the battery at the start of the vehicle is lower than a second temperature lower than the first temperature, after the vehicle has stopped traveling, the determination unit determines that the amount of stored power in the battery is equal to or greater than the first amount of stored power and that the temperature of the battery is equal to or greater than the first temperature.

2. The control device according to claim 1 , wherein the first stored power amount is set to a value equal to or greater than a sum of an amount of power required to start the vehicle and an amount of power required to complete the software update process.

3. 2. The control device according to claim 1, wherein when the software update process requires a first time from start to completion, the first temperature is set to a value obtained by adding an amount of change in temperature of the battery from when the vehicle is started until the first time has elapsed to the second temperature.

4. The control device according to claim 3 , wherein the time required to complete the software update process includes a retry time when the software update process fails.

5. The control device according to claim 3 , wherein the temperature of the battery at the time of starting the vehicle is set to an outside air temperature of the vehicle.

6. The control device according to claim 1 , wherein, in a case where external charging is being performed on the vehicle, the control unit performs control to stop the external charging when the software update process is performed.

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