Transfer device

Abstract

Provided is a transfer apparatus capable of suppressing a shortage of memory resources even when diagnostic requests for a plurality of electronic apparatuses are received from an external diagnostic device. A transfer apparatus 20 receives, from an external diagnostic device 10, a diagnostic request, which is a message from the external diagnostic device 10 to a plurality of ECUs 18, and transfers the diagnostic request to a portion of the plurality of ECUs 18. After the transfer apparatus receives a diagnostic response, which is a message from the ECUs 18 to the external diagnostic device 10, from the portion of the ECUs 18 and transfers the diagnostic response to the external diagnostic device 10, the transfer apparatus 20 transfers the diagnostic request to another ECU 18 that is different from the portion of the ECUs 18.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a transfer device.

Background Art

[0002] In recent years, in addition to the increase in the number of ECUs (Electronic Control Units) mounted on vehicles, the increase in the number of functions and the memory capacity of each ECU is expected to increase the amount of data exchanged between the vehicle and an external diagnostic device. In order to perform diagnostic communication more efficiently, diagnostic communication conforming to DoIP (Diagnostics over Internet Protocol), which is a diagnostic communication standard using the Internet protocol, is being studied.

[0003] Patent Document 1 discloses a diagnostic communication technology conforming to DoIP. The technology disclosed in Patent Document 1 provides a vehicle communication control device capable of avoiding the occurrence of ECU operation interference due to messages from a plurality of external tools connected to an external network outside the vehicle.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0004]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0005] The diagnostic communication network compliant with DoIP is composed of an external IP network outside the vehicle and an in-vehicle network (LAN). An external diagnostic device connected to the external IP network outside the vehicle performs diagnostic communication with an ECU connected to the in-vehicle network. As the external IP network outside the vehicle, for example, Ethernet (registered trademark) is often used. As the in-vehicle network, a network compliant with a communication protocol such as CAN or CANFD is often used. Therefore, in a diagnostic communication network system compliant with DoIP, a transfer device is often provided that performs protocol conversion of a diagnostic request, which is a message stored in an Ethernet frame transmitted from an external diagnostic device, and transfers it to the ECU. After transferring a diagnostic request from the external diagnostic device to the ECU, when this transfer device receives a diagnostic response, which is a message from the ECU, it performs protocol conversion of the diagnostic response and transfers it to the external diagnostic device. Therefore, the transfer device needs to secure a buffer area for temporarily storing the diagnostic response.

[0006] In a diagnostic communication network system compliant with DoIP, there are cases where an external diagnostic device simultaneously transmits diagnostic requests to a plurality of ECUs to be diagnosed. In this case, since the transfer device can receive diagnostic responses from a plurality of ECUs simultaneously, it is necessary to secure a buffer area for each number of ECUs that can be the diagnosis target. Then, a problem may occur that the memory usage amount of the transfer device increases and the memory resources become insufficient. The technology disclosed in Patent Document 1 does not consider such problems at all and there is room for improvement.

[0007] The present invention has been made in view of the above, and an object thereof is to provide a transfer device capable of suppressing a shortage of memory resources even when receiving diagnostic requests for a plurality of electronic devices from an external diagnostic device.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0008] In order to solve the above problems, a transfer device according to the present invention is a transfer device that transfers a message from one to the other between a plurality of electronic devices mounted on a vehicle and an external diagnostic device, which receives a diagnostic request that is a message from the external diagnostic device for the plurality of electronic devices from the external diagnostic device, transfers the diagnostic request to a part of the plurality of electronic devices, receives a diagnostic response that is a message from the electronic device for the external diagnostic device from the part of the electronic devices, transfers it to the external diagnostic device, and then transfers the diagnostic request to another electronic device different from the part of the electronic devices.

Advantages of the Invention

[0009] According to the present invention, even when receiving a diagnostic request for a plurality of electronic devices from an external diagnostic device, it is possible to provide a transfer device capable of suppressing insufficient memory resources. Problems, configurations, and effects other than the above will be clarified by the description of the following embodiments.

Brief Description of the Drawings

[0010]

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Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0011] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. For configurations denoted by the same reference numerals in each embodiment, unless otherwise specified, they have the same functions in each embodiment, and the description thereof will be omitted.

[0012] FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the configuration of a diagnostic communication network system 1 compliant with DoIP.

[0013] The diagnostic communication network system 1 compliant with DoIP includes an external diagnostic device 10, a DoIP edge node 12, a DoIP entity 14, a DoIP gateway 16, and a plurality of ECUs 18 to be diagnosed.

[0014] The external diagnostic device 10 and the DoIP edge node 12 are connected via a DoIP network 2. The DoIP edge node 12 is connected to each of the DoIP entity 14 and the DoIP gateway 16 via the DoIP network 2. The DoIP gateway 16 is connected to each of the plurality of ECUs 18 via an in-vehicle network 3.

[0015] Note that the DoIP gateway 16 may be incorporated in the DoIP edge node 12. In this case, the DoIP edge node 12 can be connected to each of the plurality of ECUs 18 via the in-vehicle network 3. Further, the ECU 18 is an example of the "electronic device" of the present invention.

[0016] The DoIP network 2 may be, for example, Ethernet. The in-vehicle network 3 may be, for example, a local area network (LAN) compliant with a communication protocol such as CAN or CANFD. In the present embodiment, the description will be made assuming that the DoIP network 2 is Ethernet and the in-vehicle network 3 is a LAN compliant with CAN.

[0017] The external diagnostic device 10 sends a diagnostic request to the ECU 18 to be diagnosed. The diagnostic request is a message that instructs the ECU 18 to be diagnosed to execute diagnostic processing. The diagnostic request is generated in accordance with DoIP defined in ISO 13400, and an identifier for specifying the ECU 18 to be diagnosed is incorporated in the diagnostic request. There are two types of this identifier: an identifier for specifying one ECU 18 as the diagnostic target (hereinafter also referred to as "physical address") and an identifier for specifying a plurality of ECUs 18 as the diagnostic target (hereinafter also referred to as "functional address").

[0018] The DoIP edge node 12 is an ECU directly connected to the external diagnostic device 10. The DoIP edge node 12 transfers the diagnostic request sent from the external diagnostic device 10 to the DoIP entity 14 or the DoIP gateway 16 in accordance with DoIP. The DoIP edge node 12 transfers a diagnostic response corresponding to the diagnostic request sent from the DoIP entity 14 or the DoIP gateway 16 to the external diagnostic device 10 in accordance with DoIP. The diagnostic response is a message including the result of the diagnostic processing executed in response to the diagnostic request.

[0019] The DoIP entity 14 is an ECU to be diagnosed directly connected to the DoIP edge node 12. The DoIP entity 14 receives a diagnostic request from the DoIP edge node 12 and sends a diagnostic response to the DoIP edge node 12 in accordance with DoIP.

[0020] The DoIP gateway 16 receives the diagnostic request transferred from the DoIP edge node 12 and temporarily stores it in the buffer area. The DoIP gateway 16 converts the diagnostic request stored in the buffer area into the format of the CAN protocol and transfers it to the ECU 18 to be diagnosed. The DoIP gateway 16 receives the diagnostic response sent from the ECU 18 to be diagnosed and temporarily stores it in the buffer area. The DoIP gateway 16 converts the diagnostic response stored in the buffer area into the format of DoIP and transfers it to the external diagnostic device 10 via the DoIP edge node 12.

[0021] In the case where the DoIP gateway 16 is incorporated in the DoIP edge node 12, the DoIP edge node 12 performs the above protocol conversion and transfers diagnostic requests and diagnostic responses between the external diagnostic device 10 and the ECU 18 to be diagnosed.

[0022] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the functional configuration of the transfer device 20.

[0023] The transfer device 20 is a device that transfers messages from one to the other between a plurality of ECUs 18 mounted on a vehicle and an external diagnostic device 10. The transfer device 20 in the present embodiment is an ECU that transfers diagnostic requests and diagnostic responses between a plurality of ECUs 18 to be diagnosed and an external diagnostic device 10. The transfer device 20 is constituted by the DoIP gateway 16 or the DoIP edge node 12 shown in FIG. 1.

[0024] The transfer device 20 includes a storage area 22 which is a buffer area for temporarily storing diagnostic requests and diagnostic responses. The transfer device 20 includes a diagnostic request receiving unit 28 that receives a diagnostic request transmitted from the external diagnostic device 10, and a diagnostic request transfer unit 30 that performs protocol conversion of the diagnostic request and transfers it to the ECU 18. The transfer device 20 includes a diagnostic response receiving unit 32 that receives a diagnostic response transmitted from the ECU 18, and a diagnostic response transfer unit 34 that performs protocol conversion of the diagnostic response and transfers it to the external diagnostic device 10.

[0025] Furthermore, the transfer device 20 includes a transfer destination search unit 26 that searches for a transfer destination of a diagnostic request from an identifier included in the diagnostic request transmitted from the external diagnostic device 10, an information management unit 24 that manages the progress of diagnosis, and a transfer control unit 36 that controls the transfer of diagnostic requests and diagnostic responses based on the progress status managed by the information management unit 24.

[0026] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of a table for managing the progress of diagnosis.

[0027] The information management unit 24 may manage the progress status of diagnosis for each ECU 18 to be diagnosed using a table as shown in FIG. 3. The information management unit 24 may update the information indicating the progress status of diagnosis each time the reception status or transfer status of a diagnosis request or diagnosis response changes in the transfer device 20. Examples of the information indicating the progress status of diagnosis include a reception standby state for a diagnosis request, a reception in-progress state for a diagnosis request, a transfer standby state for a diagnosis request, a transfer in-progress state for a diagnosis request, a reception standby state for a diagnosis response, a reception in-progress state for a diagnosis response, a transfer standby state for a diagnosis response, a transfer in-progress state for a diagnosis response, and a transfer completion state for a diagnosis response, etc. Note that the transfer device 20 may have a configuration other than the configuration shown in FIG. 2.

[0028] FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram showing an overview of the operations of the respective components of the transfer device 20. FIG. 4 explains the case where the external diagnostic machine 10 transmits a diagnosis request for a plurality of ECUs 18 to be diagnosed by designating the plurality of ECUs 18 with a plurality of physical addresses or functional addresses.

[0029] In step S40, the diagnosis request reception unit 28 receives a diagnosis request for a plurality of ECUs 18 from the external diagnostic machine 10. Here, it is assumed that the diagnosis request reception unit 28 has received a diagnosis request for the ECUs 1 and 2 to be diagnosed as a diagnosis request for a plurality of ECUs 18.

[0030] In step S42, the diagnosis request reception unit 28 notifies the transfer control unit 36 that it has received the diagnosis request.

[0031] In step S44, the transfer control unit 36 instructs the transfer destination search unit 26 to search for each transfer destination of the diagnosis request for a plurality of ECUs 18.

[0032] In step S46, the transfer destination search unit 26 searches for each transfer destination of the diagnosis request for a plurality of ECUs 18 and notifies each transfer destination to the transfer control unit 36.

[0033] In step S48, the transfer control unit 36 instructs the diagnostic request transfer unit 30 to transfer a diagnostic request to a part of the plurality of ECUs 18. Here, it is assumed that the transfer control unit 36 instructs the diagnostic request transfer unit 30 to transfer the diagnostic request to ECU1.

[0034] In step S50, the diagnostic request transfer unit 30 transfers the diagnostic request to the ECU 18 instructed by the transfer control unit 36. Here, the diagnostic request transfer unit 30 transfers the diagnostic request to ECU1.

[0035] In step S52, when the transfer of the diagnostic request is completed, the diagnostic request transfer unit 30 notifies the transfer control unit 36 that the transfer of the diagnostic request has been completed. Here, the diagnostic request transfer unit 30 notifies the transfer control unit 36 that the transfer of the diagnostic request to ECU1 has been completed.

[0036] In step S54, the transfer control unit 36 instructs the information management unit 24 to update the information indicating the progress of the diagnosis.

[0037] In step S56, the information management unit 24 updates the information indicating the progress of the diagnosis and notifies the transfer control unit 36. Here, the information management unit 24 updates the progress of the diagnosis in ECU1 to the "waiting state for receiving a diagnostic response".

[0038] In step S58, the diagnostic response receiving unit 32 receives the diagnostic responses from some of the ECUs 18 to which the diagnostic requests have been transferred. Here, the diagnostic response receiving unit 32 receives the diagnostic response from ECU1 to which the diagnostic request has been transferred.

[0039] In step S60, the diagnostic response receiving unit 32 notifies the transfer control unit 36 that it has received the diagnostic response.

[0040] In step S62, the transfer control unit 36 instructs the diagnostic response transfer unit 34 to transfer the diagnostic response to the external diagnostic device 10.

[0041] In step S64, the diagnostic response transfer unit 34 transfers the diagnostic response instructed by the transfer control unit 36 to the external diagnostic device 10. Here, the diagnostic response transfer unit 34 transfers the diagnostic response from ECU1 to the external diagnostic device 10.

[0042] In step S66, when the transfer of the diagnostic response is completed, the diagnostic response transfer unit 34 notifies the transfer control unit 36 that the transfer of the diagnostic response has been completed. Here, the diagnostic response transfer unit 34 notifies the transfer control unit 36 that the transfer of the diagnostic response from ECU1 has been completed.

[0043] In step S68, the transfer control unit 36 instructs the information management unit 24 to update the information indicating the progress status of the diagnosis.

[0044] In step S70, the information management unit 24 updates the information indicating the progress status of the diagnosis and notifies the transfer control unit 36. Here, the information management unit 24 updates the progress status of the diagnosis in ECU1 to the "transfer completed state of the diagnostic response".

[0045] In step S72, the transfer control unit 36 instructs the diagnostic request transfer unit 30 to transfer a diagnostic request to other ECU18s among the plurality of ECU18s to which the diagnostic request has not been transferred. Here, the transfer control unit 36 instructs the diagnostic request transfer unit 30 to transfer a diagnostic request to ECU2.

[0046] In step S74, the diagnostic request transfer unit 30 transfers the diagnostic request to the ECU18 instructed by the transfer control unit 36. Here, the diagnostic request transfer unit 30 transfers the diagnostic request to ECU2.

[0047] In steps S76 to S94, the transfer device 20 performs processes related to the transfer of the diagnostic request to ECU2 and processes related to the transfer of the diagnostic response from ECU2 in the same manner as in steps S52 to S70.

[0048] FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing the processes performed by the transfer device 20 when receiving a diagnostic request from the external diagnostic device 10.

[0049] Step S100 indicates the stage before starting the processes of steps S102 to S106 shown in FIG. 5. In step S100, the state of the transfer device 20 is a state of waiting for a diagnosis request from the external diagnostic device 10. The progress status of the diagnosis managed by the information management unit 24 may be set to the "waiting state for receiving a diagnosis request" for all ECUs 18 that can be the diagnosis target.

[0050] In step S102, when the transfer device 20 receives an Ethernet frame, it performs protocol analysis of the Ethernet frame and determines whether it is a frame indicating a diagnosis request from the external diagnostic device 10 according to DoIP. When the received Ethernet frame indicates a diagnosis request, the transfer device 20 stores the message stored in the Ethernet frame in the storage area 22. In this way, the transfer device 20 can receive the diagnosis request transmitted from the external diagnostic device 10 and store it in the storage area 22.

[0051] In step S104, the transfer device 20 searches for a transfer destination in order to transfer the diagnosis request only to the ECU 18 specified in the diagnosis request. As a method for searching for the transfer destination, a method may be mentioned in which a table associating the identifier included in the diagnosis request, the physical address of the transfer destination ECU 18, and information such as the bus of the transfer destination is stored in advance, and the transfer destination search unit 26 uses this table to search for the transfer destination. However, the method for searching for the transfer destination is not limited to the method using this table. After the search is completed, the transfer device 20 updates the progress status of the diagnosis managed by the information management unit 24 as follows. That is, the transfer device 20 updates the progress status of the diagnosis in the transfer destination ECU 18 to the "waiting state for transferring a diagnosis request".

[0052] In step S106, the transfer device 20 transfers the diagnostic request to the destination ECU 18. Here, the transfer device 20 may need to transfer the diagnostic request to a plurality of ECUs 18. This is because the identifier included in the diagnostic request received in step S102 is a functional address, or the identifier is a physical address but a plurality of diagnostic requests are received. In this case, if the transfer device 20 transfers the diagnostic request to a plurality of ECUs 18 simultaneously, the transfer device 20 can receive diagnostic responses from each of the plurality of ECUs 18 at the same time, so it is necessary to secure a buffer area for the number of ECUs 18 to be diagnosed. However, if a buffer area is secured for the number of ECUs 18 to be diagnosed, the memory usage of the transfer device 20 increases, and there is a possibility that the memory resources are insufficient.

[0053] Therefore, even when the transfer device 20 of the present embodiment receives a diagnostic request for a plurality of ECUs 18 in step S102, in step S106, the transfer device 20 transfers the diagnostic request to some of the plurality of ECUs 18. Here, it is assumed that the transfer device 20 transfers the diagnostic request to one ECU 18.

[0054] As a method of transferring the diagnostic request to one ECU 18, there is a method of designating the physical address assigned to each ECU 18 as the transfer destination. After the transfer of the diagnostic request is completed, the transfer device 20 updates the progress status of the diagnosis managed by the information management unit 24 as follows. That is, the transfer device 20 updates the progress status of the diagnosis in the destination ECU 18 to the "waiting state for receiving a diagnostic response". After the update is completed, the transfer device 20 ends the process shown in FIG. 5 and performs the process shown in FIG. 6.

[0055] In addition, when there is sufficient memory resource in the transfer device 20, instead of transferring a diagnosis request to one ECU 18 in step S106, the transfer device 20 may transfer the diagnosis request to two or more ECUs 18 in step S106. However, the number of ECUs 18 to which the diagnosis request is transferred in step S106 should be less than the number of ECUs 18 specified by the diagnosis request when receiving diagnosis requests for a plurality of ECUs 18 in step S102.

[0056] When transferring a diagnosis request to the ECU 18 in step S106, the transfer device 20 sequentially transfers the diagnosis request to the ECU 18 according to a predetermined priority for each ECU 18 to be diagnosed. The method for determining this priority is not particularly limited. This priority may be determined in the same way as the priority in communication arbitration performed according to the communication protocol of the in-vehicle network 3, for example. When the communication protocol of the in-vehicle network 3 is CAN, the priority in communication arbitration is determined using the CAN ID (identifier) and RTR. Also in the priority when transferring the diagnosis request to the ECU 18 in step S106, the CAN ID and RTR may be used to determine it in the same way as the priority in communication arbitration.

[0057] FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing the processing performed by the transfer device 20 when receiving a diagnosis response from the ECU 18.

[0058] Step S200 indicates the stage before starting the processing of steps S202 to S208 shown in FIG. 6. In step S200, the state of the transfer device 20 is a state of waiting for a diagnosis response from the ECU 18 to which the diagnosis request has been transferred.

[0059] The size of the diagnosis response may exceed the size of the frame defined in the communication protocol of the in-vehicle network 3. In this case, the ECU 18 to which the diagnosis request has been transferred divides one diagnosis response into a plurality of frames and transmits it to the transfer device 20.

[0060] In step S202, the transfer device 20 receives a frame constituting a diagnostic response from the ECU 18.

[0061] In step S204, the transfer device 20 stores the received frame in the storage area 22.

[0062] In step S206, the transfer device 20 determines whether all the frames constituting one diagnostic response have been received. When the communication protocol of the in-vehicle network 3 is CAN, when the ECU 18 divides a diagnostic response into a plurality of CAN frames and transmits them, the total size of the plurality of CAN frames constituting one diagnostic response is stored in the first CAN frame and transmitted. By using this total size information, the transfer device 20 can determine whether all the frames constituting one diagnostic response have been received. If the transfer device 20 has received all the frames, it proceeds to step S208. If the transfer device 20 has not received all the frames, it returns to step S202.

[0063] In step S208, the transfer device 20 updates the progress status of the diagnosis managed by the information management unit 24 as follows. That is, the transfer device 20 updates the progress status of the diagnosis in the ECU 18 that is the transmission source of the diagnostic response to the "transfer waiting state for diagnostic response". After the update is completed, the transfer device 20 ends the process shown in FIG. 6 and performs the process shown in FIG. 7.

[0064] FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing the process performed by the transfer device 20 when transferring a diagnostic response to the external diagnostic device 10.

[0065] Step S300 indicates the stage before starting the processes of steps S302 to S312 shown in FIG. 7. In step S300, the state of the transfer device 20 is the state before transferring the diagnostic response from the ECU 18 to be diagnosed to the external diagnostic device 10.

[0066] In step S302, the transfer device 20 determines whether there is an ECU 18 in which the progress status of the diagnosis managed by the information management unit 24 is the "transfer waiting state for diagnosis response". If the transfer device 20 has an ECU 18 in the "transfer waiting state for diagnosis response", it proceeds to step S304. If the transfer device 20 does not have an ECU 18 in the "transfer waiting state for diagnosis response", it proceeds to step S310.

[0067] In step S304, the transfer device 20 transfers the frames constituting the diagnosis response to the external diagnostic device 10. When transferring to the external diagnostic device 10, the transfer device 20 generates an Ethernet frame including the diagnosis response in accordance with DoIP and transfers it to the external diagnostic device 10.

[0068] In step S306, the transfer device 20 determines whether all the frames constituting one diagnosis response have been transferred to the external diagnostic device 10. If the transfer device 20 has transferred all the frames, it proceeds to step S308. If the transfer device 20 has not transferred all the frames, it proceeds to step S304.

[0069] In step S308, the transfer device 20 updates the progress status of the diagnosis managed by the information management unit 24 as follows. That is, the transfer device 20 updates the progress status of the diagnosis in the ECU 18 that has transferred the diagnosis response to the "transfer completed state of diagnosis response". After the update is completed, the transfer device 20 proceeds to step S310.

[0070] In step S310, the transfer device 20 determines whether the progress status of the diagnosis in all the ECUs 18 specified in the diagnosis request received in step S102 is the "transfer completed state of diagnosis response". If the progress status of the diagnosis in all the ECUs 18 is the "transfer completed state of diagnosis response", the process shown in FIG. 7 ends. If the progress status of the diagnosis in all the ECUs 18 is not the "transfer completed state of diagnosis response", the transfer device 20 proceeds to step S312.

[0071] In step S312, the transfer device 20 transfers a diagnostic request to an ECU 18 to which the diagnostic request has not been transferred among the plurality of ECUs 18 specified in the diagnostic request received in step S102. The specific processing content is the same as that in step S106.

[0072] As described above, the transfer device 20 of the present embodiment receives a diagnostic request, which is a message from the external diagnostic device 10 for a plurality of ECUs 18, from the external diagnostic device 10 and transfers the diagnostic request to a part of the plurality of ECUs 18. At this time, the transfer device 20 can sequentially transfer the diagnostic requests according to a predetermined priority for each ECU 18 to be diagnosed. Then, after receiving a diagnostic response, which is a message from the ECU 18 to the external diagnostic device 10, from the part of the ECUs 18 and transferring it to the external diagnostic device 10, the transfer device 20 transfers a diagnostic request to other ECUs 18 different from the part of the ECUs 18.

[0073] Thereby, the transfer device 20 of the present embodiment can make the number of diagnostic responses that can be received simultaneously from the ECUs 18 smaller than the number of ECUs 18 that can be diagnostic targets. The transfer device 20 does not need to secure a buffer area for the number of ECUs 18 that can be diagnostic targets, and can suppress the memory usage amount more than before. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to provide a transfer device 20 that can suppress a shortage of memory resources even when receiving diagnostic requests for a plurality of ECUs 18 from the external diagnostic device 10.

[0074] Furthermore, after transferring the diagnostic response from the part of the ECUs 18 to the external diagnostic device 10, the transfer device 20 of the present embodiment receives the diagnostic response from the other ECUs 18.

[0075] As a result, the transfer device 20 of the present embodiment does not receive diagnostic responses from some ECUs 18 and diagnostic responses from other ECUs 18 at the same time. Since the transfer device 20 does not need to secure a buffer area for storing diagnostic responses from some ECUs 18 and diagnostic responses from other ECUs 18 at the same time, the memory usage can be further suppressed. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, even when receiving diagnostic requests for a plurality of ECUs 18 from the external diagnostic device 10, it is possible to provide a transfer device 20 that further suppresses the shortage of memory resources.

[0076] Furthermore, the ECU 18 of the present embodiment divides the diagnostic response into a plurality of frames and transmits it to the transfer device 20. After receiving all the frames constituting the diagnostic response from the ECU 18, the transfer device 20 of the present embodiment transfers all the frames to the external diagnostic device 10.

[0077] As a result, the transfer device 20 of the present embodiment can continuously transfer all the frames constituting the diagnostic response to the external diagnostic device 10. At the external diagnostic device 10, frames constituting one diagnostic response and frames constituting another diagnostic response are not transferred in a mixed order. Therefore, the transfer device 20 of the present embodiment can prevent a situation where the external diagnostic device 10 cannot identify the source ECU 18 of the transferred frame. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to provide a transfer device 20 that can surely realize the message transfer function between the external diagnostic device 10 and a plurality of ECUs 18.

[0078] Furthermore, after transferring all the frames constituting the diagnostic response from some ECUs 18 to the external diagnostic device 10, the transfer device 20 of the present embodiment transfers a diagnostic request to other ECUs 18.

[0079] As a result, the transfer device 20 of the present embodiment does not need to secure a buffer area for storing diagnostic responses from some ECUs 18 and diagnostic responses from other ECUs 18 simultaneously, so the memory usage can be further suppressed. In addition, in the transfer device 20 of the present embodiment, frames from some ECUs 18 and frames from other ECUs 18 are not transferred in a mixed order regardless of sequence, so it is possible to prevent a situation where the external diagnostic device 10 cannot identify the ECU 18 that is the transmission source of the frame. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, it is possible to provide a transfer device 20 that suppresses the shortage of memory resources and reliably realizes the message transfer function.

[0080] Furthermore, when transferring a diagnostic request to some ECUs 18, the transfer device 20 of the present embodiment sequentially transfers the diagnostic requests according to a predetermined priority for each ECU 18.

[0081] As a result, the transfer device 20 of the present embodiment can sequentially receive diagnostic responses from the ECUs 18, so there is no need to secure a buffer area for storing diagnostic responses from a plurality of ECUs 18 simultaneously, and the memory usage can be further suppressed. Therefore, according to the present embodiment, even when receiving diagnostic requests for a plurality of ECUs 18 from the external diagnostic device 10, it is possible to provide a transfer device 20 that further suppresses the shortage of memory resources.

[0082] [Others] Note that the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiment, and includes various modifications. For example, the above-described embodiment has been described in detail for easy understanding of the present invention, and is not necessarily limited to the one having all the configurations described. Also, a part of the configuration of one embodiment can be replaced with the configuration of another embodiment, and the configuration of another embodiment can be added to the configuration of one embodiment. Also, for a part of the configuration of each embodiment, addition, deletion, or replacement with other configurations is possible.

[0083] Furthermore, each of the above-described configurations, functions, processing units, processing means, etc. may be realized by hardware, for example, by designing a part or all of them in an integrated circuit. Also, each of the above-described configurations, functions, etc. may be realized by software by a processor interpreting and executing a program for realizing each function. Information such as a program, tape, file, etc. for realizing each function can be stored in a memory, a recording device such as a hard disk or an SSD (solid state drive), or a recording medium such as an IC card, an SD card, or a DVD.

[0084] Also, the control lines and information lines show those considered necessary for explanation, and not necessarily all control lines and information lines are shown on the product. In reality, it may be considered that almost all configurations are interconnected.

Description of Reference Numerals

[0085] 10…External diagnostic device, 18…ECU (electronic control unit), 20…Transfer device

Claims

1. A transfer device that transfers messages from one to the other between a plurality of electronic devices mounted on a vehicle and an external diagnostic device, receives a diagnostic request, which is a message from the external diagnostic device for the plurality of electronic devices, from the external diagnostic device, transfers the diagnostic request to a part of the plurality of electronic devices, after receiving a diagnostic response, which is a message from the electronic device for the external diagnostic device, from the part of the electronic devices and transferring it to the external diagnostic device, transfers the diagnostic request to other electronic devices different from the part of the electronic devices, when transferring the diagnostic request to the part of the electronic devices, sequentially transfer the diagnostic request according to a predetermined priority order for each of the electronic devices The transfer device is characterized by the above.

2. After transferring the diagnostic response from the part of the electronic devices to the external diagnostic device, the transfer device receives the diagnostic response from the other electronic devices The transfer device according to claim 1, characterized by the above.

3. A transfer device that transfers messages from one to the other between a plurality of electronic devices mounted on a vehicle and an external diagnostic device, receives a diagnostic request, which is a message from the external diagnostic device for the plurality of electronic devices, from the external diagnostic device, transfers the diagnostic request to a part of the plurality of electronic devices, after receiving a diagnostic response, which is a message from the electronic device for the external diagnostic device, from the part of the electronic devices and transferring it to the external diagnostic device, transfers the diagnostic request to other electronic devices different from the part of the electronic devices, the electronic device divides the diagnostic response into a plurality of frames and transmits them to the transfer device, the transfer device transfers all the frames constituting the diagnostic response to the external diagnostic device after receiving all the frames from the electronic device The transfer device is characterized by the above.

4. After transferring all the frames to the external diagnostic device, the transfer device transfers the diagnostic request to the other electronic devices The transfer device according to claim 3, characterized by the above.

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