Management device, management program, and electronic control device

The management device enhances power-saving efficiency by managing state transitions of multiple virtual machines using tables to determine the lowest power consumption state, addressing the inefficiencies of conventional methods.

JP7754769B2Active Publication Date: 2025-10-15DENSO CORP +1
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Patent Information

Application Number
JP2022068277
Authority / Receiving Office
JP · JP
Patent Type
Patents
Current Assignee / Owner
Filing Date
2022-04-18
Publication Date
2025-10-15
Estimated Expiration
2042-04-18

AI Technical Summary

Technical Problem

Conventional power-saving technologies require all guest OSs to satisfy transition conditions before hardware resources can be stopped, leading to prolonged transition times and insufficient power-saving effects, especially when guest OSs have different transition timing requirements.

Method used

A management device that manages state transitions of a computer with multiple virtual machines, utilizing a state management table, access management table, and transition condition table to transition the computer to the power-saving state with the lowest power consumption based on the current availability of virtual machines.

Benefits of technology

Achieves significant power-saving effects by transitioning the computer in stages, even when not all virtual machines have satisfied their transition conditions, thereby improving power-saving efficiency.

✦ Generated by Eureka AI based on patent content.

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Abstract

To provide a management device which can improve power saving effect.SOLUTION: Virtual machines 11-14 shift from a wakeup state to a sleep state when a sleep condition is satisfied. A microcomputer 3 can shift to either of a normal state in which normal operation is performed and a plurality of power saving states in which power consumption is smaller than that in the normal state. An HV 2 comprises: a state management table showing information related to the state about the virtual machines 11-14; an access management table showing the information related to hardware 4-8 which the microcomputer 3 accessed by the virtual machines 11-14 comprises; and a shift condition table showing the information related to a shift condition which is a condition for making the microcomputer 3 shift to each of the plurality of power saving states. The HV 2 refers to the state management table, the access management table and the shift condition table, and makes the microcomputer 3 shift to the state to which the microcomputer can shift at the time point and in which the power consumption is smallest, among the plurality of power saving states.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1
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Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a management device that manages state transitions of a computer that runs a plurality of virtual machines, a management program that the management device executes, and an electronic control device that includes the management device. [Background technology]

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses a technology for individually transitioning the functions of multiple guest operating systems to a power-saving state. In this specification, operating system is sometimes abbreviated as OS. In the following, the technology disclosed in Patent Document 1 will be referred to as the "conventional technology." In the conventional technology, a transition condition for a power-saving state is set for each individual OS, and an OS that satisfies the transition condition is transitioned to a power-saving state. In the conventional technology, when all OSs have transitioned to a power-saving state, the hypervisor is transitioned to a power-saving state and hardware resources are stopped. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2012-178006 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0004] In conventional technology, hardware resources can only be stopped when all guest OSs satisfy the transition conditions. Therefore, if multiple guest OSs are equipped with functions that cause a relatively large time difference between the transition timings to the power-saving state, it may take a relatively long time for all guest OSs to satisfy the transition conditions, which may result in insufficient power-saving effects. For example, if the guest OSs are equipped with functions of an electronic control unit installed in a vehicle, the transition conditions may include the state of the vehicle's power supply. Note that in this specification, the electronic control unit may be abbreviated as ECU.

[0005] Vehicle power sources include a +B power source, which is turned on when the battery is connected, and an ignition power source, which is turned on when the engine is running. In this specification, ignition is sometimes abbreviated as IG. If a guest OS on a hypervisor is equipped with an ECU function whose transition condition includes the +B power source state and another ECU function whose transition condition includes the IG power source state, even if the engine is stopped and the guest OS whose transition condition includes the IG power source state transitions to a power-saving state, hardware resources cannot be shut down unless the transition condition of the guest OS whose transition condition includes the +B power source state is satisfied. As a result, significant power-saving effects cannot be achieved. This problem becomes more pronounced the greater the time difference between the transition timings of the guest OSes.

[0006] The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to provide a management device, a management program, and an electronic control device that can enhance the effect of power saving. [Means for solving the problem]

[0007] The management device described in claim 1 manages state transitions of a computer (3) that runs multiple virtual machines (11-14). Each of the multiple virtual machines transitions from a wake-up state, in which it performs a predetermined operation, to a sleep state, in which it stops operating, when a predetermined sleep condition is satisfied. The computer can transition to either a normal state, in which it performs normal operation, or one of multiple power-saving states that consume less power than the normal state.

[0008] The management device includes a state management table that represents information about the state of each of the multiple virtual machines, an access management table that represents information about hardware (4-8) that the computer has and that each of the multiple virtual machines accesses, and a transition condition table that represents information about transition conditions that are conditions for transitioning the computer to each of the multiple power saving states. The management device refers to the state management table, the access management table, and the transition condition table, and transitions the computer to one of the multiple power saving states that is available at that time and requires the least power consumption.

[0009] With this configuration, each time one of the multiple virtual machines is able to transition to a sleep state, the computer transitions to the power-saving state with the lowest power consumption among the available states at that time. In other words, with this configuration, the computer's state can be transitioned in stages to further reduce power consumption, i.e., multi-stage power-saving transitions can be realized. Therefore, with this configuration, it is possible to achieve the maximum possible power-saving effect for the computer even if all virtual machines have not transitioned to a sleep state. Therefore, with this configuration, the power-saving effect can be significantly improved compared to conventional techniques. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0010] [Figure 1] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a configuration of an integrated ECU according to an embodiment. [Figure 2]FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating an example of a status management table according to an embodiment; [Figure 3] FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of an access management table according to an embodiment. [Figure 4] FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating an example of a transition condition table according to an embodiment. [Figure 5] FIG. 10 is a diagram schematically illustrating the contents of a determination process according to an embodiment. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0011] Hereinafter, embodiments of a management device, a management program, and an electronic control device will be described with reference to the drawings. As shown in Fig. 1, the integrated ECU 1 of this embodiment is mounted on a vehicle such as an automobile, and the functions of multiple ECUs that conventionally operated independently are mounted on the chip of a single microcomputer 3 via a hypervisor 2. In this case, the functions of the multiple ECUs are mounted in units called virtual machines. Note that in this specification, the microcomputer may be abbreviated as "microcomputer," the hypervisor may be abbreviated as "HV," and the virtual machine may be abbreviated as "VM."

[0012] In this embodiment, the functions of four ECUs, namely, an engine ECU, an air conditioning ECU, a central gateway ECU, and a body ECU, are illustrated as examples of the functions of the multiple ECUs provided in the integrated ECU 1. However, the integrated ECU 1 may have the functions of two or three ECUs, or may have the functions of five or more ECUs. Note that in this specification, the central gateway is sometimes abbreviated as CGW. In this case, the engine ECU is realized by VM11, the air conditioning ECU is realized by VM12, the CGWECU is realized by VM13, and the body ECU is realized by VM14.

[0013] VMs 11 to 14 are assigned VMIDs, which are identification information for identifying each of them. In this embodiment, VM 11 is assigned "VMID=1," VM 12 is assigned "VMID=2," VM 13 is assigned "VMID=3," and VM 14 is assigned "VMID=4." The microcomputer 3 is an example of a computer, and includes two CPUs 4 and 5 and various peripherals as its hardware. The microcomputer 3 may be configured with one CPU or three or more CPUs. In this specification, hardware may be abbreviated as HW.

[0014] The various peripherals include a CAN communication interface 6 for performing CAN communication, an Ethernet communication I / F 7 for performing Ethernet communication, a timer 8, etc. CAN is an abbreviation for Controller Area Network and is a registered trademark. Ethernet is also a registered trademark. In this specification, interface may be abbreviated as I / F. Each HW included in the microcomputer 3 is assigned an HWID, which is identification information for identifying each HW. In this embodiment, the CPU 4 is assigned "HWID=1," the CPU 5 is assigned "HWID=2," the CAN communication I / F 6 is assigned "HWID=3," the Ethernet communication I / F 7 is assigned "HWID=4," and the timer 8 is assigned "HWID=5."

[0015] The microcomputer 3 can determine the status of the vehicle power supply, which is a power source installed in the vehicle, based on the presence or absence of a response from a predetermined input terminal. The vehicle power supply includes a +B power supply 9 that is turned on when the battery is connected and an IG power supply 10 that is turned on when the engine is running. The microcomputer 3 can also determine the status of CAN and Ethernet communication via the CAN communication I / F 6 and the Ethernet communication I / F 7, specifically, the presence or absence of communication. Specifically, the microcomputer 3 can determine that there is no communication if, for example, there is no communication response for a predetermined period of time.

[0016] The HV2 is used to operate the VMs 11 to 14 on the microcomputer 3 and also functions as a management device that controls the state transitions of the microcomputer 3. In this case, the integrated ECU 1 is an example of an electronic control device that includes the microcomputer 3, the VMs 11 to 14 that operate on the microcomputer 3, and the HV2 that functions as a management device. The HV2 and the VMs 11 to 14 are realized by the CPU of the microcomputer 3 executing computer programs stored in a non-transitory physical storage medium and performing processes corresponding to the computer programs, that is, they are realized by software. Of the computer programs described above, the program executed by the HV2 corresponds to a management program.

[0017] When a predetermined sleep condition is satisfied, each of VMs 11 to 14 transitions from a wake-up state in which a predetermined operation is performed to a sleep state in which the predetermined operation is stopped. The predetermined operation corresponds to various operations for realizing the functions of the ECU corresponding to each of VMs 11 to 14, such as an operation for controlling the engine in the case of VM 11, and an operation for controlling the air conditioner in the case of VM 12.

[0018] The sleep conditions may be, for example, the state of the vehicle power supply, the state of CAN and Ethernet communications, etc. In this embodiment, the sleep conditions for VM11 and VM12 include the state of the IG power supply 10, and the sleep conditions for VM13 and VM14 include the state of the +B power supply 9. When the sleep conditions are satisfied, each of VM11 to VM14 transmits a state transition request to HV2. The state transition request includes the VMID of the VM that transmitted it to identify the sender of the request. When HV2 receives the state transition request, it executes a determination process, which will be described later.

[0019] The microcomputer 3 can transition between a normal state in which it operates normally and multiple power-saving states that consume less power than the normal state. The multiple power-saving states include "HALT," "STOP," "PERIPHERALSTOP," and "DEEPSTOP." The degree of power saving, that is, the degree to which the power consumption of the microcomputer 3 is reduced, is as shown in Figure 4, which will be described later. That is, "HALT" has the smallest power saving degree and "DEEPSTOP" has the largest power saving degree. The power saving degrees of "STOP" and "PERIPHERALSTOP" are intermediate between these two states.

[0020] The HV2 includes a state management table, an access management table, and a transition condition table. These tables may be readable and writable by the HV2, and may be stored in various storage devices provided in the microcomputer 3 or in various storage devices provided outside the microcomputer 3. The state management table is a table that shows information about the state of each of the multiple VMs 11 to 14, and has the contents shown in FIG. 2, for example.

[0021] That is, the state management table associates VMIDs with VM states. VM states include the wakeup state and sleep state mentioned above. Note that in Figure 2, the wakeup state and sleep state are abbreviated as wakeup and sleep, respectively. There are as many VMIDs as there are VMs installed on HV2.

[0022] 2, it can be seen that VM11 assigned with VMID=1 and VM12 assigned with VMID=2 are in a sleep state, and VM13 assigned with VMID=3 and VM14 assigned with VMID=4 are in a wake-up state. The state management table is updated when a sleep condition is satisfied for at least one of the multiple VMs 11 to 14. Specifically, when a state transition request is transmitted from one of VMs 11 to 14, the state management table is updated so that the state of the VM associated with the VMID corresponding to the VM that transmitted the state transition request becomes a sleep state.

[0023] The access management table is a table showing information about the HW of the microcomputer 3 that is accessed by each of the multiple VMs 11 to 14, and has the contents shown in Fig. 3, for example. That is, the access management table associates information about the CPU and peripherals with the VMIDs of the multiple VMs 11 to 14 that access them.

[0024] Specifically, the access management table contains elements such as information about the HW of the microcomputer 3, the access VM, and the access state. Information about the HW of the microcomputer 3 includes the HW ID and hardware type. The hardware type is broadly categorized into "CPU" and "peripheral," and each HW is identified by its own unique name. In Figure 3, "CPU[1]" represents CPU 4, "CPU[2]" represents CPU 5, "CAN" represents CAN communication I / F 6, "Ethernet" represents Ethernet communication I / F 7, and "timer" represents timer 8.

[0025] The Access VM field contains the VMID of the VM that accesses the corresponding HW. In this case, since VMs 11 and 12 are to access CPU 4, "1, 2" are entered in the Access VM field corresponding to "HWID=1," and since VMs 13 and 14 are to access CPU 5, "3, 4" are entered in the Access VM field corresponding to "HWID=2."

[0026] In this case, since VM11 and 13 are configured to access CAN communication I / F6, "1, 3" is entered in the access VM item corresponding to "HWID=3", since VM12 is configured to access Ethernet communication I / F7, "2" is entered in the access VM item corresponding to "HWID=4", and since VM11 and 14 are configured to access timer 8, "1, 4" is entered in the access VM item corresponding to "HWID=5".

[0027] The access state is represented as "yes" when there is access to the corresponding HW, and as "no" when there is no access to the corresponding HW. The access state is updated as follows. That is, when all of the VMs with the VMIDs listed in the access VMs transition to the sleep state, the access state is updated from "yes" to "no." In other words, when at least one of the VMs with the VMIDs listed in the access VMs is in the wake-up state, the access state remains "yes." According to the access management table shown in FIG. 3, it can be seen that because VMs 11 and 12 have transitioned to the sleep state, the access states of the CPU 4 and the Ethernet communication I / F 7 are "no," and the access states of the other HWs are "yes."

[0028] The transition condition table is a table that shows information about the transition conditions, which are the conditions for transitioning the microcomputer 3 to each of multiple power-saving states, and has contents such as that shown in Figure 4. Such a transition condition table can be created based on the hardware manual of the microcomputer 3, etc. The transition condition table contains elements such as power-saving state names, which are the names of the power-saving states defined for the microcomputer 3, transition conditions, which are the conditions for transitioning to each power-saving state, and the degree of power saving in each power-saving state. Note that, below, each power-saving state will be referred to by its power-saving state name.

[0029] The transition condition for "HALT" is "there is no access from a single VM to a single CPU," and the degree of power saving is "small." For example, for a CPU accessed by two VMs, "HALT" can transition when there is no access from one of the two VMs, and reduces the power consumption of the microcontroller 3 by temporarily stopping the CPU during the gap period when the other of the two VMs is not operating, i.e., not accessing it.

[0030] The transition condition for "STOP" is "no access from any VM to a single CPU," and the power saving level is "medium." For example, for a CPU accessed by two VMs, transition to "STOP" is possible when there is no access from either of the two VMs, and by stopping the CPU, the power consumption of the microcomputer 3 is reduced. In this case, the HV2 stops accessing the stopped CPU, which further reduces power consumption.

[0031] The transition condition for "PERIPHERALSTOP" is "no access from VMs to any peripherals," and the power saving level is "medium." "PERIPHERALSTOP" can be transitioned to when there is no access from any VM to any peripherals, that is, the CAN communication I / F 6, Ethernet communication I / F 7, and timer 8, and by stopping all peripherals, the power consumption of the microcontroller 3 is reduced.

[0032] The transition conditions for "DEEPSTOP" are "no access from VMs to all CPUs" and "no access from VMs to all peripherals," and the degree of power saving is "large." "DEEPSTOP" can be transitioned to when there is no access from any VM to any CPU or peripheral, and by stopping all CPUs and all peripherals, in other words, stopping almost all functions, it reduces the power consumption of the microcontroller 3. In this case, HV2 also enters sleep state and stops its functions.

[0033] The HV2 refers to the above-mentioned tables, namely, the state management table, the access management table, and the transition condition table, and transitions the microcomputer 3 to one of the multiple power-saving states that is currently available and consumes the least amount of power. Such state transitions of the microcomputer 3 are realized by the HV2 executing a determination process. As described above, the determination process is executed when the HV2 receives a state transition request transmitted from the VMs 11 to 14, and is, for example, the process shown in FIG. 5.

[0034] First, in step S101, the VMID of the VM that sent the state transition request is acquired. The VMID is acquired by reading the VMID included in the received state transition request. After step S101 is executed, the process proceeds to step S102, where the state management table is updated. Specifically, in step S102, the state management table is updated so that the state of the VM corresponding to the VMID that matches the VMID acquired in step S101 becomes the sleep state.

[0035] After step S102 is executed, the process proceeds to step S103, where the information corresponding to the first HWID, i.e., "HWID=1", in the access management table is acquired. After step S103 is executed, the process proceeds to step S104, where it is determined whether all VMs listed in the access VMs in the information acquired in step S103 are in a sleep state. This determination can be made based on the state management table.

[0036] Here, if all the VMs are in a sleep state, the result in step S104 is "YES" and the process proceeds to step S105. On the other hand, if all the VMs are not in a sleep state, in other words, if at least one VM is in a wake-up state, the result in step S104 is "NO" and the process proceeds to step S106 without executing step S105. In step S105, the access state corresponding to the HWID acquired in step S103 is set to "none."

[0037] In step S106, it is determined whether the information acquired in step S103 is the last information, that is, whether there is any HW for which information has not been acquired other than the HW corresponding to the information acquired in step S103. If the information acquired in step S103 is not the last information, the result in step S106 is "NO" and the process proceeds to step S107. In step S107, the information corresponding to the next HWID is acquired from the information corresponding to the HWID in the access management table.

[0038] Here, "next" refers to the information corresponding to the HWID in the access management table that has not yet been acquired in this series of processes and has the smallest HWID number. After step S107 is executed, the process returns to step S104. On the other hand, if the information acquired in step S103 is the last information, the result in step S106 is "YES" and the process proceeds to step S108. In step S108, it is determined whether or not there is a power saving state to which a transition can be made at that time based on the access state of each HW in the access management table and the transition conditions in the transition condition table.

[0039] If there is no power-saving state to which a transition can be made, the result in step S108 is "NO" and the process ends. On the other hand, if there is a power-saving state to which a transition can be made, the result in step S108 is "YES" and the process proceeds to step S109. In step S109, the state of the microcomputer 3 is transitioned to the state with the greatest degree of power saving among the power-saving states to which a transition can be made. After step S109 is executed, the process ends.

[0040] Next, we will explain the specific flow of operations of each part when the determination process is executed by HV2. Note that here, it is assumed that VMs 11, 12, 13, and 14 send state transition requests to HV2 in this order, that is, they transition to sleep state in this order. First, when VM 11 sends a state transition request to HV2, HV2, which receives it, updates the state of the VM corresponding to "VMID=1" in the state management table to "sleep."

[0041] After that, HV2 checks HWID=1 to 5 in the access management table in order and updates the access state. At this time, only VM11 is in the sleep state, and the other VMs 12 to 14 are in the wake-up state, so all of the access states remain "Yes" and are not updated. HV2 then compares the access states in the access management table with the transition conditions in the transition condition table. At this time, VM11 no longer accesses CPU4, so the transition condition to "HALT" is met. Note that at this time, the transition conditions to other power-saving states are not met. Therefore, HV2 transitions the state of microcomputer 3 to "HALT."

[0042] Next, when VM12 sends a state transition request to HV2, HV2, which receives the request, updates the state of the VM corresponding to "VMID=2" in the state management table to "sleep." After that, HV2 checks HWID=1 to HWID=5 in order in the access management table and updates the access state. At this time, since VM12 is in the sleep state in addition to VM11, the access state of CPU[1] corresponding to "HWID=1," i.e., CPU4, is updated to "none," and the access state of Ethernet corresponding to "HWID=4," i.e., Ethernet communication I / F 7, is updated to "none."

[0043] Then, HV2 compares the access status in the access management table with the transition conditions in the transition condition table. At this time, because VMs 11 and 12 no longer access CPU 4, the transition conditions for "HALT" and "STOP" are met. However, the transition conditions for other power-saving states are not met at this time. Therefore, HV2 transitions the state of microcomputer 3 to "STOP," which is the state with the greatest degree of power saving among the available power-saving states.

[0044] Next, when VM13 sends a state transition request to HV2, HV2, upon receiving the request, updates the state of the VM corresponding to "VMID=3" in the state management table to "sleep." HV2 then checks HWID=1 to HWID=5 in order in the access management table and updates the access state. At this time, because VM13, in addition to VM11 and VM12, is in the sleep state, the access state of the CAN corresponding to "HWID=3," i.e., the CAN communication I / F 6, is updated to "none." HV2 then compares the access state in the access management table with the transition conditions in the transition condition table, but because no new transition conditions are satisfied, the state of the microcontroller 3 remains "STOP."

[0045] Next, when VM14 sends a state transition request to HV2, HV2, which receives the request, updates the state of the VM corresponding to "VMID=4" in the state management table to "sleep." After that, HV2 checks HWID=1 to HWID=5 in the access management table in order and updates the access state. At this time, since VM14, in addition to VM11 to VM13, is in the sleep state, the access states of all VMs are updated to "none."

[0046] Then, the HV2 compares the access states in the access management table with the transition conditions in the transition condition table. At this time, because VMs 11 to 14 no longer access all HW, the transition conditions for "PERIPHERALSTOP" and "DEEPSTOP" in addition to "HALT" and "STOP" are met. Therefore, the HV2 transitions the state of the microcomputer 3 to "DEEPSTOP," which is the state with the greatest degree of power saving among the available power saving states.

[0047] According to the present embodiment described above, the following effects can be obtained. HV2 refers to a state management table that shows information about the state of each of the multiple VMs 11 to 14, an access management table that shows information about the hardware that the microcontroller 3 has that is accessed by each of the multiple VMs 11 to 14, and a transition condition table that shows information about the transition conditions that are the conditions for transitioning the microcontroller 3 to each of the multiple power saving states, and performs a determination process to transition the microcontroller 3 to one of the multiple power saving states that is possible to transition to at that time and has the lowest power consumption.

[0048] With this configuration, each time any of the multiple VMs 11-14 is able to transition to a sleep state, the state of the microcomputer 3 transitions to the power-saving state with the lowest power consumption among the power-saving states available at that time. That is, with the above configuration, the state of the microcomputer 3 can be transitioned in stages to further reduce power consumption, i.e., multi-stage power-saving transitions can be realized. Therefore, with the above configuration, even if all of the VMs 11-14 have not transitioned to a sleep state, it is possible to obtain the power-saving effect of the microcomputer 3 to the greatest extent possible. Therefore, with this embodiment, the power-saving effect can be significantly improved compared to the prior art.

[0049] In this case, when any of VMs 11 to 14 can transition to a sleep state, HV2 transitions the state of the microcomputer 3 to a power-saving state that does not affect the operation of VMs other than the VM that can transition to a sleep state, i.e., VMs in a wake-up state. In this way, when any of VMs 11 to 14 transitions to a sleep state, it is possible to prevent the continuation of a predetermined operation of another VM from being interrupted.

[0050] In the above configuration, the sleep conditions for VM11 and VM12 include the state of the IG power supply 10, and the sleep conditions for VM13 and VM14 include the state of the +B power supply 9. In such a case, there is a high possibility that a relatively large time difference will occur between the transition timing of VM11, VM12 and VM13, VM14 to the sleep state. In the prior art, in such a case, there is a risk that a sufficient power saving effect will not be obtained. In contrast, according to the present embodiment, even if a relatively large time difference will occur between the transition timing of VMs to the sleep state, a sufficient power saving effect can be obtained because the multi-stage power saving transition is performed as described above.

[0051] The state management table of this embodiment represents information about the state of each of the multiple VMs 11 to 14, and is updated when a sleep condition is satisfied for at least one of the multiple VMs 11 to 14. Such a state management table makes it possible to manage the sleep state for each VM, and realizes the multi-stage power saving transition control described above when multiple VMs 11 to 14 are mounted on the microcomputer 3 as in this embodiment.

[0052] The microcomputer 3 of this embodiment includes, as its hardware, CPUs 4 and 5, and peripherals such as a CAN communication I / F 6, an Ethernet communication I / F 7, and a timer 8. The access management table of this embodiment associates information about the CPUs 4 and 5 and each peripheral with a VMID, which is identification information for identifying each of the multiple VMs 11 to 14 that access them. This makes it possible to have access HW information for each VM, and to gradually transition the power saving state of the microcomputer 3.

[0053] (Other embodiments) The present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above and illustrated in the drawings, but can be arbitrarily modified, combined, or expanded without departing from the spirit of the invention. The numerical values ​​and the like shown in the above embodiment are examples and are not limited to these. The present invention is not limited to applications for managing the state transitions of the microcomputer 3 that constitutes the integrated ECU 1 installed in a vehicle, but can be applied to general applications for managing the state transitions of a computer that runs multiple virtual machines.

[0054] Although the present disclosure has been described with reference to the embodiments, it is understood that the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments or structures. The present disclosure also encompasses various modifications and equivalent modifications. In addition, various combinations and forms, including only one element, more than one element, or less than one element, are also within the scope and spirit of the present disclosure.

[0055] The control unit and the method described herein may be implemented by a special-purpose computer configured by configuring a processor and memory programmed to perform one or more functions embodied in a computer program. Alternatively, the control unit and the method described herein may be implemented by a special-purpose computer configured by configuring a processor with one or more dedicated hardware logic circuits. Alternatively, the control unit and the method described herein may be implemented by one or more special-purpose computers configured by combining a processor and memory programmed to perform one or more functions with a processor configured with one or more hardware logic circuits. Furthermore, the computer program may be stored as instructions executed by a computer on a computer-readable non-transitory tangible storage medium. [Explanation of symbols]

[0056] 1...Integrated ECU, 2...Hypervisor, 3...Microcomputer, 4, 5...CPU, 6...CAN communication interface, 7...Ethernet communication I / F, 8...Timer, 11-14...Virtual machine.

Claims

1. A management device (2) that manages state transitions of a computer (3) that runs multiple virtual machines (11 to 14), When a predetermined sleep condition is satisfied, each of the plurality of virtual machines transitions from a wake-up state in which a predetermined operation is performed to a sleep state in which the operation is stopped, the computer is capable of transitioning to one of a normal state in which it operates normally and a plurality of power-saving states in which it consumes less power than the normal state; a state management table representing information about a state of each of the plurality of virtual machines; an access management table representing information about hardware (4-8) of the computer to be accessed by each of the plurality of virtual machines; a transition condition table representing information on transition conditions that are conditions for transitioning the computer to each of the plurality of power saving states; Equipped with A management device that refers to the state management table, the access management table, and the transition condition table, and transitions the computer to one of the multiple power saving states that can be transitioned to at that time and that consumes the least power.

2. The management device according to claim 1 , wherein the state management table is updated when the sleep condition is satisfied for at least one of the plurality of virtual machines.

3. The computer includes a CPU (4, 5) and peripherals (6-8) as its hardware.

3. The management device according to claim 1, wherein the access management table associates information about the CPU and peripherals with identification information for identifying each of the plurality of virtual machines accessing them.

4. A management program executed by a management device that manages state transitions of a computer running a plurality of virtual machines, When a predetermined sleep condition is satisfied, each of the plurality of virtual machines transitions from a wake-up state in which a predetermined operation is performed to a sleep state in which the operation is stopped, the computer is capable of transitioning to one of a normal state in which it operates normally and a plurality of power-saving states in which it consumes less power than the normal state; The management device a process of referring to a state management table that indicates information about the state of each of the plurality of virtual machines, an access management table that indicates information about hardware that the computer has and that is accessed by each of the plurality of virtual machines, and a transition condition table that indicates information about transition conditions that are conditions for transitioning the computer to each of the plurality of power saving states, and transitioning the computer to one of the plurality of power saving states that can be transitioned to at that time and that consumes the least amount of power; A management program that runs the

5. An electronic control device (1) including a computer (3), a plurality of virtual machines (11 to 14) running on the computer, and a management device (2) that manages state transitions of the computer, When a predetermined sleep condition is satisfied, each of the plurality of virtual machines transitions from a wake-up state in which a predetermined operation is performed to a sleep state in which the operation is stopped, the computer is capable of transitioning to one of a normal state in which it operates normally and a plurality of power-saving states in which it consumes less power than the normal state; The management device a state management table representing information about a state of each of the plurality of virtual machines; an access management table representing information about hardware (4-8) of the computer to be accessed by each of the plurality of virtual machines; a transition condition table representing information on transition conditions that are conditions for transitioning the computer to each of the plurality of power saving states; Equipped with An electronic control device that refers to the state management table, the access management table, and the transition condition table, and transitions the computer to one of the multiple power saving states that can be transitioned to at that time and that consumes the least power.

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