Management information rewriting system and vehicle equipped with said system

Abstract

To smoothly rewrite information only for update without performing complicated processing in performing rewriting processing of management information related to a plurality of ECUs due to update of on-vehicle software.SOLUTION: A management information rewriting system includes: a first ECU in which management information related to a plurality of ECUs is stored in a nonvolatile memory; and a second ECU connected to the first ECU through an on-vehicle network so as to be able to transmit and receive information to update on-vehicle software. The management information rewriting system is a system for rewriting management information due to update of the on-vehicle software. The second ECU receives the entire information of the management information from the nonvolatile memory of the first ECU, rewrites a part of information related to update of the on-vehicle software in the management information to new information, and transmits the entire information of the rewritten management information to the first ECU to store the entire information in the nonvolatile memory.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 8

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a management information rewriting system that rewrites management information when on-board software is updated, and to a vehicle equipped with the system. [Background technology]

[0002] In recent years, the number of electronic control units (ECUs) installed in vehicles has been increasing, interconnected via in-vehicle networks such as CAN (Controller Area Network) and MOST (Media Oriented Systems Transport). The in-vehicle software that runs these ECUs is also growing in both volume and complexity. This has created a need for manufacturers to efficiently and securely manage in-vehicle software throughout the vehicle's lifecycle.

[0003] When managing in-vehicle software, information regarding regulatory approvals and licenses is managed by an identifier called RXSWIN (Rx Software Identification Number), and approval information for in-vehicle software related to all managed ECUs in a vehicle is managed by legal number.

[0004] Conventionally, when updating in-vehicle software, an ECU (for example, a CGW (Central Gateway ECU)) connected to all terminal ECUs via an in-vehicle network controls the update. According to this, the CGW receives update data from an external server via a communication network, transmits the update data received via the in-vehicle network to the terminal ECU to be updated, receives post-update verification data from the terminal ECU to be updated, and performs control to verify whether the update was successful (see Patent Document 1 below). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0005] [Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2019-36251 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0006] In a configuration in which RXSWIN management information is readably stored in the non-volatile memory of an ECU installed in a vehicle, when the on-board software of a specific terminal ECU is updated, it becomes necessary to rewrite the RXSWIN management information to correspond to the on-board software update. In this case, since the RXSWIN management information stores information related to multiple ECUs (SWIN: Software Identification Number) linked by legal number, if the CGW is tasked with rewriting this management information, the CGW will have to find the legal number related to the ECU whose software has been updated from within the management information and rewrite the information, which is a cumbersome process.

[0007] Furthermore, if a new legal number is created when the vehicle software is updated, such as when an extension is added to the legal number, the CGW does not have information on how the management information before the vehicle software update was changed after the update, and therefore cannot find the information to be rewritten from the RXSWIN management information before the rewrite. For this reason, in such cases, the problem arises that the CGW cannot handle the rewriting of the RXSWIN management information by its own processing.

[0008] The present invention addresses this problem by enabling smooth rewriting of only the updated information without complex processing when rewriting management information related to multiple ECUs in conjunction with an update of in-vehicle software. [Means for solving the problem]

[0009] In order to solve such problems, the present invention has the following configuration. A management information rewriting system comprising a first ECU in which management information relating to a plurality of ECUs is stored in non-volatile memory, and a second ECU connected to the first ECU via an in-vehicle network so that information can be sent and received and which updates in-vehicle software, the management information rewriting system rewriting the management information in conjunction with an update of the in-vehicle software, wherein the second ECU receives all of the management information from the non-volatile memory of the first ECU, rewrites some of the information in the management information relating to the update of the in-vehicle software with new information, and transmits all of the rewritten management information to the first ECU and stores it in the non-volatile memory. [Effects of the Invention]

[0010] According to this feature, when rewriting management information related to multiple ECUs in conjunction with an update of in-vehicle software, the processing load on the first ECU in which the management information is stored can be reduced, and only the information to be updated can be smoothly rewritten. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0011] [Figure 1] 1 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of the system configuration of a management information rewriting system according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the hardware configuration of an electronic control unit (ECU). [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the basic operation of the management information rewriting system. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the basic operation of the management information rewriting system. [Figure 5] FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the basic operation of the management information rewriting system. [Figure 6] FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the basic operation of the management information rewriting system. [Figure 7] FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram showing the functional units of a second ECU in the management information rewriting system. [Figure 8] FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram showing the processing flow of a second ECU in the management information rewriting system. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0012] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In the following description, the same reference numerals in different drawings denote parts with the same functions, and duplicated descriptions in each drawing will be omitted as appropriate.

[0013] 1, a management information rewriting system 1 mounted on a vehicle 100 includes various ECUs 2 connected to each other so as to be able to transmit and receive information via communication lines L1 to L4 that constitute an in-vehicle network L. Here, the communication lines L1 to L4 of the in-vehicle network L are, for example, CAN-type communication buses (CAN buses), but are not limited to this and may be communication lines of other types.

[0014] Here, among the various ECUs 2, the first ECU 2A is, for example, a gateway unit (for example, CGW) connected to a plurality of terminal ECUs 2C via communication lines L1 to L4 and having a relay function for the communication lines L1 to L4, and the second ECU 2B is, for example, a data communication module (DCM) for wireless communication with an external network N to which an external server S is connected.

[0015] The different communication lines L1 to L3 connected to the first ECU 2A form local area networks (LANs) with different communication systems for each of the communication lines L1 to L3. Each LAN is, for example, a driving control system LAN that performs control to stabilize vehicle behavior, engine control, or air conditioning control, a body system LAN that controls door locks, seat operation, or power windows, or a multimedia system LAN that controls an audio device or a navigation system, and one or more terminal ECUs 2C that function for each of these communication systems are connected to each of the communication lines L1 to L3.

[0016] As shown in FIG. 2, each ECU 2 includes, as hardware, a processor 21 , a memory 22 , a storage 23 , an input / output interface 24 , and a communication interface 25 , and these pieces of hardware are connected to a bus 20 .

[0017] The processor 21 is configured as, for example, a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and controls the operation of the ECU 2. The memory 22 includes, for example, a ROM (Read Only Memory), which is a nonvolatile memory, and a RAM (Random Access Memory), which is a volatile memory, and realizes volatile or nonvolatile storage of various data such as programs executed by the processor 21, and providing a working area for the processor 21 to execute programs.

[0018] The storage 23 includes, for example, a hard disk drive (HDD) or a solid state drive (SSD) and stores various types of information in a non-volatile manner. The input / output interface 24 controls the input of information to the ECU 2 and the output of information from the ECU 2. The communication interface 25 enables the ECU 2 to communicate with other devices via a network such as the above-mentioned in-vehicle network L or external network N.

[0019] 3 to 6, the basic operation of the management information rewriting system 1 will be described. As shown in FIG. 3, management information m1 is stored in the information storage unit M1 of the first ECU 2A(2). The management information m1 is information relating to the plurality of ECUs 2 mounted on the vehicle 100. An example of the management information m1 is the management information of the RXSWIN mentioned above, in which information relating to the plurality of ECUs is stored as an information string linked by legal numbers (R1, R2, R3, ..., Rn). The information storage unit M1 is a non-volatile memory, and is either a ROM in the memory 22 mentioned above or a part of the storage 23.

[0020] In contrast, the information storage unit M2 of the second ECU 2B(2) stores software update information when the in-vehicle software of the second ECU 2B(2) is updated by OTA update, as shown in Fig. 3. The software update information here is information related to legal regulations for the updated software, and in the illustrated example, information indicating that "R3_SWIN-3" before the update has been changed to "R3.1_SWIN-30" after the update is stored. The information storage unit M2 is a volatile memory, such as the RAM in the memory 22 described above.

[0021] 4, in the management information rewriting system 1, the second ECU 2B, whose in-vehicle software has been updated, receives the entire management information m1 from the information storage unit M1 of the first ECU 2A in which the management information m1 is stored. The second ECU 2B then stores the entire management information m1 in its own information storage unit M2.

[0022] As shown in Figure 5, the second ECU 2B uses the pre-update information "R3_SWIN-3" of the software update information stored in the information storage unit M2 to extract some of the information related to the software update to be rewritten from the entire information in the management information m1, and rewrites that information to the post-update information "R3.1_SWIN-30".

[0023] When this rewriting is completed, the second ECU 2B transmits the rewritten management information m2 stored in the information storage unit M2 to the first ECU 2A, as shown in Fig. 6. Then, the first ECU 2A stores the received rewritten management information m2 in the information storage unit M1. After the rewriting, the rewritten management information m2 stored in the information storage unit M2 is erased at an appropriate timing.

[0024] To execute the above-described operations, the ROM of the memory 22 of the second ECU 2B(2) stores programs that cause the processor 21 to function as the following functional units. As shown in FIG. 7, the management information receiving unit 21A, which is a first functional unit, receives all of the management information m1 stored in the information storage unit M1 of the first ECU 2A. The rewrite portion extracting unit 21B, which is a second functional unit, extracts a portion of the information related to the update of the in-vehicle software from the received management information m1. The update information rewriting unit 21C, which is a third functional unit, rewrites the portion of the information extracted by the rewrite portion extracting unit 21B with new information associated with the update of the in-vehicle software. The management information transmitting unit 21D, which is a fourth functional unit, transmits all of the rewritten management information m2 stored in its own information storage unit M2 to the first ECU 2A(2).

[0025] 8 shows a processing flow of the second ECU 2B(2) in the management information rewriting system 1. For example, when the second ECU 2B(2) functioning as a DCM updates in-vehicle software by OTA update (step S1), the second ECU 2B(2) also acquires software update information (step S2). Then, in order to rewrite the management information m1, the second ECU 2B(2) receives the entire information of the management information m1 from the first ECU 2A(2) (step S3).

[0026] When the second ECU 2B(2) receives the management information m1 from the first ECU 2A(2), it stores it in its own information storage unit M2 and uses the acquired software update information to extract information on a portion of the updated part from the entire management information m1 (step S4). At this time, the information before the update in the software update information is used to search for the relevant information from the information string of the management information m1.

[0027] The second ECU 2B(2) extracts a portion of the updated information from the entire management information m1, and then rewrites the pre-update information with the updated information using the updated information from the software update information (step S5).The second ECU 2B(2) then transmits the entire rewritten management information m2 to the first ECU 2A(2) (step S6), and ends the process.The first ECU 2A(2) then stores the transmitted rewritten management information m2 in the information storage unit M1.

[0028] According to this management information rewriting system 1, the first ECU 2A(2) (e.g., CGW) simply transmits the entire stored management information m1 to the second ECU 2B(2). This eliminates the need for the first ECU 2A(2) to receive software update information from the second ECU 2B(2) or to extract the updated portion using the received update information. This reduces the processing load on the first ECU 2A(2). Furthermore, if the first ECU 2A(2) is a gateway unit, it can focus on relaying between individual LANs.

[0029] In contrast, the second ECU 2B(2) originally acquired the software update information when its own in-vehicle software was updated. Using the software update information, the second ECU 2B(2) can easily identify which part of the management information m1 should be rewritten with new information accompanying the in-vehicle software update. This allows for smooth rewriting of the management information m1 through simple processing. According to the management information rewriting system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention, during an OTA update, the entire pre-rewrite management information m1 is transmitted to the ECU (second ECU 2B) whose in-vehicle software has been updated, thereby enabling smooth rewriting of the management information m1.

[0030] Although the embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above with reference to the drawings, the specific configurations are not limited to these embodiments, and the present invention also includes design changes within the scope of the present invention. Furthermore, the above-described embodiments can be combined by utilizing each other's technologies as long as there are no particular contradictions or problems in their purposes, configurations, etc. [Explanation of symbols]

[0031] 1: Management information rewriting system, 2: ECU, 2A: First ECU, 2B: Second ECU, 2C: Terminal ECU, 21: Processor, 21A: Management information receiving unit, 21B: Rewrite part extraction unit, 21C: Update information rewriting unit, 21D: Management information transmission unit, 22: Memory, 23: Storage, 24: Input / output interface, 25: Communication interface, 100: Vehicle, M1, M2: Information storage unit, m1, m2: Management information, S: Server, N: External network

Claims

1. A management information rewriting system comprising: a first ECU in which management information relating to a plurality of ECUs is stored in a non-volatile memory; and a second ECU connected to the first ECU via an in-vehicle network so as to be able to transmit and receive information, and for which in-vehicle software is updated; and the management information rewriting system rewrites the management information in accordance with an update of the in-vehicle software, The second ECU receiving the entire management information from the nonvolatile memory of the first ECU; Rewrite some of the information related to updating the in-vehicle software in the management information with new information; A management information rewriting system, characterized in that the entire rewritten management information is transmitted to the first ECU and stored in the nonvolatile memory.

2. 2. The management information rewriting system according to claim 1, wherein the second ECU is an information communication module that performs wireless communication with an external network.

3. 2. The management information rewriting system according to claim 1, wherein the first ECU is a gateway unit connected to a plurality of ECUs via an in-vehicle network.

4. The management information rewriting system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the second ECU has update information for the in-vehicle software, and extracts part of the information related to the update of the in-vehicle software from the management information based on the update information.

5. A vehicle equipped with the management information rewriting system according to any one of claims 1 to 4.

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