Electronic control device, control program, control method, control system, and electronic control system

Abstract

A base unit (11) of an electronic control device (2) determines whether or not extension units (13-16) can execute a base-mounted application (AP1) alternatively on the basis of resource information relating to the extension units if the base unit does not have resources necessary to execute the base-mounted application. The base unit causes the extension units to execute the base-mounted application alternatively if the extension units can execute the base-mounted application alternatively. The base unit prohibits execution of the base-mounted application if the extension units cannot execute the base-mounted application alternatively.

Description

Electronic control device, control program, control method, control system, and electronic control system CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[0001] This international application claims the benefit of Japanese Patent Application No. 2024-060202, filed with the Japan Patent Office on April 3, 2024, the entire disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

[0002] The present disclosure relates to a technique for executing an application on an electronic control device.

[0003] Patent Document 1 describes that the functions or performance of an electronic control device can be expanded by attaching an expansion unit to a base unit of the electronic control device.

[0004] International Publication No. 2023 / 276815

[0005] As a result of detailed investigation by the inventors, it was found that if the base unit does not have sufficient resources, even if the expansion unit has sufficient resources, the applications installed on the base unit cannot be executed, and the resources of the electronic control device cannot be used effectively.

[0006] The present disclosure improves the efficiency of utilization of resources available to electronic control units.

[0007] One aspect of the present disclosure is an electronic control device that includes a base unit equipped with a central processing unit, and is configured to be able to connect one or more expansion units equipped with a central processing unit to the base unit.

[0008] The base unit of the electronic control device of the present disclosure includes an alternative determination unit, an extended alternative unit, and an execution prohibition unit.

[0009] The substitution determination unit is configured to determine whether at least one of one or more expansion units can substitute for and execute a base-mounted application, which is an application loaded on the base unit, based on resource information regarding one or more expansion units when the base unit does not have the resources necessary to execute the base-mounted application on the base unit.

[0010] The extension replacement unit is configured to have at least one of the one or more expansion units execute the base-mounted application on behalf of the base-mounted application if at least one of the one or more expansion units can execute the base-mounted application on behalf of the base-mounted application based on the judgment result of the replacement judgment unit.

[0011] The execution prohibition unit is configured to prohibit the execution of the base-mounted application when one or more extension units cannot execute the base-mounted application on behalf of the base-mounted application based on the determination result of the substitution determination unit.

[0012] The electronic control device of the present disclosure configured in this manner can execute applications installed in the base unit on the expansion unit if the expansion unit has available resources even when the base unit has limited resources, thereby making effective use of the resources of the electronic control device. Thus, the electronic control device of the present disclosure can improve the utilization efficiency of resources available to the electronic control device.

[0013] Another aspect of the present disclosure is a control program for causing a computer in the base unit of an electronic control device, which has a base unit equipped with a central processing unit and is configured to be able to connect one or more expansion units equipped with a central processing unit to the base unit, to function as an alternative judgment unit, an expansion alternative unit, and an execution prohibition unit.

[0014] A computer controlled by the control program of the present disclosure can constitute a part of the electronic control device of the present disclosure, and can obtain the same effects as the electronic control device of the present disclosure.

[0015] Yet another aspect of the present disclosure is a control method executed by the base unit of an electronic control device that has a base unit equipped with a central processing unit and is configured to be able to connect one or more expansion units equipped with a central processing unit to the base unit.

[0016] In the control method disclosed herein, when the base unit does not have the resources necessary to execute a base-mounted application, which is an application installed on the base unit, the base unit determines, based on resource information regarding one or more expansion units, whether at least one of the one or more expansion units can execute the base-mounted application on its behalf.

[0017] If at least one of the one or more expansion units can execute the base-mounted application on behalf of the base unit based on the determination result of the substitution determination section, the base unit substitutes at least one of the one or more expansion units to execute the base-mounted application on behalf of the base unit.

[0018] If one or more extension units cannot execute the base-mounted application on behalf of the base unit based on the determination result of the substitution determination section, the base unit prohibits the execution of the base-mounted application.

[0019] The control method of the present disclosure is a method executed by the electronic control device of the present disclosure, and by executing the method, it is possible to obtain the same effects as the electronic control device of the present disclosure.

[0020] Yet another aspect of the present disclosure is a control system comprising an electronic control device having a base unit equipped with a central processing unit and configured to be able to connect one or more expansion units equipped with a central processing unit to the base unit, and a center installed outside the electronic control device and configured to communicate wirelessly with the electronic control device.

[0021] The base unit includes an alternative determination unit, an extended alternative unit, and an execution prohibition unit. The center is configured to be able to execute the base-installed application on behalf of the base unit.

[0022] The control system of the present disclosure is a system that includes the electronic control device of the present disclosure, and can obtain the same effects as the electronic control device of the present disclosure.

[0023] Another aspect of the present disclosure is an electronic control system including a base unit equipped with a central processing unit, and one or more expansion units equipped with a central processing unit and configured to be connectable to the base unit, wherein the base unit includes an alternative determination unit, an expansion alternative unit, and an execution prohibition unit.

[0024] The electronic control system of the present disclosure is a system that includes a base unit and an expansion unit of the electronic control device of the present disclosure, and can obtain the same effects as the electronic control device of the present disclosure.

[0025] 1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a vehicle control system. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of an integrated ECU. FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a center. FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing the software structures of a base unit, an expansion unit, and a center. FIG. 5 is a diagram explaining application placement and data flow changes. FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram showing a procedure for causing an application to be executed by an expansion unit when resources are insufficient. FIG. 7 is a sequence diagram showing a procedure for causing an application to be executed by a center when resources are insufficient. FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram showing a procedure when an application cannot be executed on a center when resources are insufficient. FIG. 9 is a sequence diagram showing a procedure for executing an application based on priority. FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing request processing. FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing cloud placement determination processing. FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing priority determination processing. FIG. 13 is a diagram showing a form of loading a program from the ROM of a base unit. FIG. 14 is a diagram showing a form of loading a program from the ROM of an expansion unit. FIG. 15 is a sequence diagram showing a procedure for when resources are insufficient when the integrated ECU does not have an expansion unit and a center does not exist. FIG. 16 is a sequence diagram showing a procedure for when resources are insufficient when the integrated ECU does not have an expansion unit and a center exists.

[0026] Hereinafter, embodiments of the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0027] 1, a vehicle control system 1 of this embodiment includes a plurality of integrated ECUs 2 and a center 3. ECU is an abbreviation for Electronic Control Unit.

[0028] The integrated ECU 2 is mounted on the vehicle and has a function of performing data communication with the center 3 via a wide area wireless communication network NW.

[0029] The center 3 has a function of performing data communication with a plurality of integrated ECUs 2 via a wide area wireless communication network NW.

[0030] As shown in FIG. 2, the integrated ECU 2 controls the zone ECUs 4 to 7 mounted on the vehicle, and realizes coordinated control of the entire vehicle.

[0031] The zone ECUs 4 to 7 are provided for each zone into which the vehicle is divided, and mainly control the ECUs present within that zone.

[0032] The integrated ECU 2 includes a base unit 11 and expansion units 13, 14, 15, and 16.

[0033] The base unit 11 and the expansion units 13, 14, 15, and 16 are each configured as, for example, a control board, and are housed in a housing formed in the shape of a rectangular parallelepiped box.

[0034] The housing has an opening formed on one of the six sides that make up the housing. By inserting the base unit 11 and the expansion units 13, 14, 15, and 16 through the opening in the housing, the base unit 11 and the expansion units 13, 14, 15, and 16 are individually and detachably housed within the housing. By housing the base unit 11 and the expansion units 13, 14, 15, and 16 within the housing, the base unit 11 and the expansion units 13, 14, 15, and 16 are connected to each other so that data communication is possible. The base unit 11 can operate independently or in cooperation with the expansion units 13 to 16.

[0035] The base unit 11 includes a base SoC 21, an Ethernet switch 22, a PCIe switch 23, and storage 24. SoC is an abbreviation for System on a chip. PCIe is an abbreviation for Peripheral Component Interconnect Express. Ethernet is a registered trademark. PCIe is a registered trademark.

[0036] The base SoC 21 includes a CPU 31 , a ROM 32 , and a RAM 33 .

[0037] The various functions of the base SoC 21 are realized by the CPU 31 executing a program stored on a non-transitory storage medium. In this example, the ROM 32 corresponds to the non-transitory storage medium storing the program. The execution of this program also executes a method corresponding to the program. Note that some or all of the functions executed by the CPU 31 may be implemented in hardware using one or more ICs, etc.

[0038] The Ethernet switch 22 is a network switch that has the function of relaying communications between a plurality of devices connected to the Ethernet switch 22 in accordance with the Ethernet standard.

[0039] The PCIe switch 23 is a network switch having a function of relaying communications between a plurality of devices connected to the PCIe switch 23 in accordance with the PCIe standard.

[0040] The storage 24 is a storage device configured with a rewritable nonvolatile memory.

[0041] The expansion units 13, 14, 15, and 16 include expansion SoCs 43, 44, 45, and 46, respectively.

[0042] The extended SoC 43 includes a CPU 111 , a ROM 112 , and a RAM 113 .

[0043] The extended SoC 44 includes a CPU 121 , a ROM 122 , and a RAM 123 .

[0044] The extended SoC 45 includes a CPU 131 , a ROM 132 , and a RAM 133 .

[0045] The extended SoC 46 includes a CPU 141 , a ROM 142 , and a RAM 143 .

[0046] The various functions of the extended SoCs 43, 44, 45, and 46 are realized by the CPUs 111, 121, 131, and 141 executing programs stored on non-transitory storage media. In this example, ROMs 112, 122, 132, and 142 correspond to the non-transitory storage media storing the programs. Furthermore, the execution of these programs results in the execution of methods corresponding to the programs. Note that some or all of the functions executed by the CPUs 111, 121, 131, and 141 may be implemented in hardware using one or more integrated circuits (ICs).

[0047] The Ethernet switch 22 is connected to the base SoC 21, the extended SoCs 43, 44, 45, and 46, and the zone ECUs 4, 5, 6, and 7.

[0048] The PCIe switch 23 is connected to the base SoC 21 , the expansion SoCs 43 , 44 , 45 , and 46 , and the storage 24 .

[0049] The vehicle is also equipped with a DCM 8. DCM stands for Data Communication Module. The DCM 8 is a wireless communication device for wirelessly communicating with an external communication device installed outside the vehicle. The integrated ECU 2 uses the DCM 8 to perform data communication with the center 3.

[0050] As shown in FIG. 3, the center 3 includes a control unit 51, a communication unit 52, and a storage unit 53.

[0051] The control unit 51 is an electronic control device mainly composed of a microcomputer including a CPU 61, a ROM 62, a RAM 63, etc. The various functions of the microcomputer are realized by the CPU 61 executing a program stored in a non-transitory tangible recording medium. In this example, the ROM 62 corresponds to the non-transitory tangible recording medium storing the program. Furthermore, the execution of this program results in the execution of a method corresponding to the program. Note that some or all of the functions executed by the CPU 61 may be configured as hardware using one or more ICs, etc. Furthermore, the number of microcomputers constituting the control unit 51 may be one or more.

[0052] The communication unit 52 performs data communication with the multiple integrated ECUs 2 via the wide area wireless communication network NW.

[0053] The storage unit 53 is a storage device for storing various data.

[0054] As shown in FIG. 4, the base SoC 21 is equipped with a CPU 31 .

[0055] The base SoC 21 includes middleware 34. The middleware 34 manages various functions installed in the base unit 11 so that they can be executed in parallel on the CPU 31.

[0056] The middleware 34 manages a base unit resource management function 35 and an overall resource management function 36 .

[0057] The base unit resource management function 35 is a function that manages the resources of the base unit 11, places applications on the base unit 11, executes applications, and stops applications. The resources of the base unit 11 include the hard IP of the base unit 11 and sensors connected to the base unit 11. IP is an abbreviation for Intellectual Property.

[0058] The overall resource management function 36 is a function that manages the resources of the base unit 11 and the resources of the expansion units 13 to 16 .

[0059] The base SoC 21 is equipped with a first application AP1 and a second application AP2.

[0060] The expanded SoC 43 is equipped with a CPU 111. Similarly, the expanded SoCs 44, 45, and 46 are equipped with CPUs 121, 131, and 141, respectively.

[0061] The expanded SoC 43 includes middleware 114. Similarly, the expanded SoCs 44, 45, and 46 include middleware 124, 134, and 144, respectively. The middleware 114, 124, 134, and 144 manage the various functions installed in the expansion units 13, 14, 15, and 16 so that they can be executed in parallel on the CPUs 111, 121, 131, and 141, respectively.

[0062] The middleware 114, 124, 134, and 144 manage the expansion unit resource management functions 115, 125, 135, and 145, respectively.

[0063] The expansion unit resource management functions 115, 125, 135, and 145 are functions that manage the resources of the expansion units 13, 14, 15, and 16, respectively, and place applications on the expansion units 13, 14, 15, and 16, execute applications, and stop applications.

[0064] The extended SoC 43 is equipped with a first application AP1 and a third application AP3.

[0065] The control unit 51 of the center 3 is equipped with a CPU 61. The control unit 51 includes middleware 64. The middleware 64 performs management so that various functions equipped in the control unit 51 can be executed in parallel on the CPU 61. The middleware 64 manages a cloud resource management function 65.

[0066] The cloud resource management function 65 is a function that manages the resources of the center 3, allocates applications to the center 3, executes applications, and stops applications.

[0067] The control unit 51 is equipped with a first application AP1.

[0068] 5, a front camera 71 is connected to the base unit 11. The front camera 71 outputs image data generated by capturing an image of the area in front of the vehicle to the base unit 11.

[0069] The first application AP1 executes processing using image data generated by the front camera 71, as indicated by an arrow L1.

[0070] A side camera 72 is also connected to the extension unit 13. The side camera 72 outputs image data generated by capturing an image of the side of the vehicle to the extension unit 13.

[0071] The third application AP3 executes processing using image data generated by the side camera 72, as indicated by an arrow L2.

[0072] The storage 24 is shared by the base unit 11 and the expansion unit 13 .

[0073] Next, a procedure for executing the first application AP1 in the expansion unit 13 when the base unit 11 does not have enough resources to execute the first application AP1 will be described.

[0074] As shown in process P1 in FIG. 6, the first application AP1 installed in the base unit 11 sends an execution request to the base unit resource management function 35 before starting processing.

[0075] When the base unit resource management function 35 receives an execution request from the first application AP1, it determines whether or not the resources required to execute the first application AP1 remain in the base unit 11. The base unit resource management function 35 determines whether or not the required resources remain in the base unit 11 based on the operating status of the CPU 31 and the usage status of the RAM 33.

[0076] Since the base unit 11 does not have the resources necessary to execute the first application AP1, the base unit resource management function 35 sends an execution impossible notice to the first application AP1, as shown in process P2.

[0077] When the first application AP1 receives the execution impossible notification from the base unit resource management function 35, it transmits an external resource use request to the overall resource management function 36 as shown in process P3.

[0078] When the overall resource management function 36 receives an external resource use request from the first application AP1, it performs a request order determination process to determine the order in which the extension units 13 to 16 will send application execution eligibility determination requests, as shown in process P4.

[0079] The overall resource management function 36 sends application execution availability determination requests to the expansion units 13 to 16 in the order determined in the request order determination process.

[0080] As shown in process P5, the overall resource management function 36 sends a request to the expansion unit resource management function 115 of the expansion unit 13 to determine whether or not the application can be executed.

[0081] When the expansion unit resource management function 115 receives an application execution availability determination request from the overall resource management function 36, it determines whether or not the resources required to execute the first application AP1 remain in the expansion unit 13. The expansion unit resource management function 115 determines whether or not the required resources remain in the expansion unit 13 based on whether or not the sensor used by the first application AP1 (i.e., the front camera 71) can be used in the expansion unit 13, the operating status of the CPU 111, and the usage status of the RAM 113.

[0082] Since the resources necessary to execute the first application AP1 remain in the expansion unit 13, the expansion unit resource management function 115 sends an executable notification to the overall resource management function 36 indicating that the expansion unit 13 is able to execute the first application AP1, as shown in process P6.

[0083] When the overall resource management function 36 receives an executable notification from the expansion unit resource management function 115, it sends an executable notification to the base unit resource management function 35 indicating that the expansion unit 13 is able to execute the first application AP1, as shown in process P7.

[0084] When the base unit resource management function 35 receives an executable notification from the overall resource management function 36, it sends to the overall resource management function 36 an application placement request requesting that the first application AP1 be placed on the expansion unit 13, and a data flow change request requesting that the data flow be changed to make the first application AP1 executable on the expansion unit 13, as shown in process P8.

[0085] When the overall resource management function 36 receives an application deployment request and a data flow change request from the base unit resource management function 35, it sends the received application deployment request and data flow change request to the extension unit resource management function 115, as shown in process P9.

[0086] As a result, the expansion unit 13 reads the program of the first application AP1 from the storage 24 and expands it in the RAM 113, as shown by the arrow L3 in FIG.

[0087] 5 , the base unit 11 and the expansion unit 13 change the data flow so that the first application AP1 arranged in the expansion unit 13 can use the image data from the front camera 71. Specifically, the base unit 11 transmits the image data from the front camera 71 to the expansion unit 13 through communication between the base SoC 21 and the expansion SoC 41. The expansion unit 13 transmits the image data received from the base unit 11 to the first application AP1 arranged in the expansion unit 13.

[0088] When the application placement and data flow change are completed, the expansion unit resource management function 115 instructs the first application AP1 to execute processing, as shown in processing P10 of FIG.

[0089] As a result, the first application AP1 executes processing on the expansion unit 13 as shown in process P11.

[0090] Next, a procedure for causing the center 3 to execute the first application AP1 when the base unit 11 lacks resources to execute the first application AP1 will be described.

[0091] Since the processes P1, P2, P3, P4, and P5 in FIG. 7 are the same as the processes P1, P2, P3, P4, and P5 in FIG. 7, the description thereof will be omitted.

[0092] When the expansion unit resource management function 115 receives an application execution possibility determination request from the overall resource management function 36, it determines whether or not the resources necessary to execute the first application AP1 remain in the expansion unit 13. Since the resources necessary to execute the first application AP1 do not remain in the expansion unit 13, the expansion unit resource management function 115 sends an execution impossible notice indicating that the expansion unit 13 cannot execute the first application AP1 to the overall resource management function 36, as shown in process P21 of Figure 7. Note that the expansion unit resource management functions 125, 135, and 145 of the expansion units 14, 15, and 16 also send execution impossible notices to the overall resource management function 36.

[0093] The overall resource management function 36, which has received notifications of inability to execute from all of the expansion units 13 to 16, performs cloud placement determination processing to determine whether the first application AP1 can be placed in the center 3, as shown in processing P22.

[0094] The overall resource management function 36 determines through the cloud deployment determination process that the first application AP1 can be deployed to the center 3, and sends a deployment possibility notification to the base unit resource management function 35 indicating that the first application AP1 can be deployed to the center 3, as shown in process P23.

[0095] When the base unit resource management function 35 receives a deployment availability notification from the overall resource management function 36, it sends to the overall resource management function 36 an application deployment request requesting that the first application AP1 be deployed in the center 3, and a data flow change request requesting that the data flow be changed to make the first application AP1 executable in the center 3, as shown in process P24.

[0096] When the overall resource management function 36 receives an application deployment request and a data flow change request from the base unit resource management function 35, it sends the received application deployment request and data flow change request to the cloud resource management function 65 of the center 3, as shown in process P25.

[0097] When the cloud resource management function 65 receives an application deployment request and a data flow change request from the overall resource management function 36, it receives the program of the first application AP1 from the base unit 11 and deploys it in the RAM 63, thereby deploying the first application AP1 in the center 3. The base unit 11 also changes the data flow so that image data from the front camera 71 is sent to the center 3. The center 3 further changes the data flow so that the first application AP1 deployed in the center 3 can use the image data from the front camera 71 received from the base unit 11.

[0098] When the application deployment and data flow change are complete, the cloud resource management function 65 instructs the first application AP1 deployed in the center 3 to execute the process, as shown in process P26.

[0099] As a result, the first application AP1 executes processing on the center 3 as shown in processing P27.

[0100] Next, a procedure will be described when the base unit 11 lacks resources to execute the first application AP1 and the first application AP1 cannot be executed on the center 3.

[0101] 8 are the same as the processes P1, P2, P3, P4, P5, P21, and P22 in FIG. 7, and therefore will not be described.

[0102] The overall resource management function 36 determines that the first application AP1 cannot be deployed to the center 3 through the cloud deployment determination process of process P22 in Figure 8, and sends a deployment failure notification to the base unit resource management function 35 indicating that the first application AP1 cannot be deployed to the center 3, as shown in process P31.

[0103] When the base unit resource management function 35 receives the notification that allocation is not possible from the overall resource management function 36, it transmits the received notification that allocation is not possible to the first application AP1. As a result, the first application AP1 does not execute the process.

[0104] Next, a procedure for executing the third application AP3 on the extension unit 13 when the first application AP1 is being executed on the extension unit 13 will be described.

[0105] When the first application AP1 is being executed on the expansion unit 13 as shown in process P41 of Figure 9, the third application AP3 sends an execution request to the expansion unit resource management function 115 of the expansion unit 13 as shown in process P42.

[0106] When the expansion unit resource management function 115 receives an execution request from the third application AP3, it compares the priority of the first application AP1 with the priority of the third application AP3, as shown in process P43, and determines whether to execute the third application AP3.

[0107] The expansion unit resource management function 115 determines to execute the third application AP3, and sends a stop request to the first application AP1 to stop the first application AP1, as shown in process P44.

[0108] When the first application AP1 receives the stop request, it stops processing.

[0109] The expansion unit resource management function 115 instructs the third application AP3 to execute processing, as shown in processing P45.

[0110] As a result, the third application AP3 executes processing on the expansion unit 13 as shown in process P46.

[0111] When the third application AP3 stops processing, the expansion unit resource management function 115 sends an application stop notification indicating that the third application AP3 has stopped processing to the overall resource management function 36, as shown in process P47.

[0112] When the overall resource management function 36 receives the application stop notification, it transmits the received application stop notification to the base unit resource management function 35 as shown in process P48.

[0113] When the base unit resource management function 35 receives the application stop notification, it determines whether or not the first application AP1 can be executed on the base unit 11, as shown in process P49.

[0114] The base unit resource management function 35 determines that the first application AP1 can be executed on the base unit 11, and instructs the first application AP1 located on the base unit 11 to execute the process, as shown in process P50.

[0115] As a result, the first application AP1 executes processing on the base unit 11 as shown in processing P51.

[0116] Next, a description will be given of the procedure of the request process executed by the base SoC 21 of the base unit 11. The request process is a process that starts when an execution request is received from an application.

[0117] When the request process is executed, the CPU 31 of the base SoC 21 determines in S10 whether the preset number of extension units n is greater than 0, as shown in Fig. 10. In this embodiment, n=4.

[0118] Here, if the number of extension units n is greater than 0, the CPU 31 creates a request order list in S20 indicating the order of the extension units 13 to 16 that will send application execution feasibility determination requests (hereinafter referred to as the execution feasibility determination request order). Specifically, the CPU 31 creates the request order list by determining the execution feasibility determination request order based on a preset request order determination condition.

[0119] As the request order determining condition, for example, any one of the following first determining condition, second determining condition, third determining condition, fourth determining condition, and fifth determining condition is set.

[0120] The first determination condition is the order of the slots in the housing that accommodate the expansion units 13 to 16. For example, if the expansion units 13, 14, 15, and 16 are accommodated in the first, second, third, and fourth slots of the housing, respectively, the execution feasibility determination request order is expansion unit 13, expansion unit 14, expansion unit 15, and expansion unit 16 in order of earliest to latest.

[0121] The second determination condition is that the order is based on the number of available resources.

[0122] The third determination criterion is that the characteristics of the application that is the subject of the application execution determination request are close to the characteristics of the expansion unit. For example, if the application that is the subject of the application execution determination request is an entertainment application and the expansion unit 13 mainly has entertainment applications installed, the execution determination request for the expansion unit 13 will be made earlier.

[0123] The fourth determination condition is that the security level is arranged in ascending order.

[0124] The fifth decision condition is to select in descending order of responsiveness.

[0125] In S30, the CPU 31 sets a request order indication value i stored in the RAM 33 to 1.

[0126] In S40, the CPU 31 determines whether the request order instruction value i is greater than the number n of expansion units. If the request order instruction value i is equal to or less than the number n of expansion units, the CPU 31 in S50 sends an application execution feasibility determination request to the expansion unit whose execution feasibility determination request order is the ith.

[0127] In S60, the CPU 31 determines whether or not an executable notification has been received from the i-th extension unit in the execution possibility determination request order. If an executable notification has not been received, the CPU 31 determines in S65 whether or not a preset waiting time has elapsed since the application execution possibility determination request was sent in S50.

[0128] If the waiting time has elapsed, the CPU 31 proceeds to S80. On the other hand, if the waiting time has not elapsed, the CPU 31 proceeds to S70 and determines whether or not an execution impossibility notification has been received from the i-th extension unit in the execution possibility determination request order.

[0129] If the CPU 31 has not received the execution impossible notification, the CPU 31 proceeds to S60. On the other hand, if the CPU 31 has received the execution impossible notification, the CPU 31 proceeds to S80.

[0130] When the process proceeds to S80, the CPU 31 increments the request order indication value i (i.e., adds 1), and then the process proceeds to S40.

[0131] If an executable notification is received in S60, the CPU 31 transmits the executable notification to the base unit resource management function 35 in S90, and ends the request processing.

[0132] Also, in S40, if the request order instruction value i is greater than the number of extension units n, the CPU 31 executes the cloud placement determination process described later in S100.

[0133] When the processing of S100 is completed, the CPU 31 determines in S110 whether the application that is the subject of the application execution eligibility determination request (hereinafter referred to as the target application) can be placed in the center 3 based on the determination result of S100.

[0134] If the target application can be deployed in the center 3, the CPU 31 sends a notification that deployment is possible to the base unit resource management function 35 in S120, and ends the request processing.

[0135] On the other hand, if the target application cannot be deployed in the center 3, the CPU 31 sends a notification that deployment is not possible to the base unit resource management function 35 in S130, and ends the request processing.

[0136] Also, if the number of expansion units n is equal to or less than 0 in S10, the CPU 31 sends a resource shortage notification to the base unit resource management function 35 in S140, and ends the request processing.

[0137] Next, the procedure of the cloud deployment determination process executed in S100 will be described. When the cloud deployment determination process is executed, the CPU 31 of the base SoC 21 determines whether the responsiveness of the target application is high in S210, as shown in FIG. 11 . For example, if the application requires real-time performance, the CPU 31 determines that the responsiveness is high. Here, if the responsiveness of the target application is high, the CPU 31 ends the cloud deployment determination process.

[0138] On the other hand, if the responsiveness of the target application is not high, the CPU 31 determines in S220 whether or not it is acceptable to deploy the target application in the center 3 for security reasons. For example, if the target application uses personal information of the vehicle driver, the CPU 31 determines that there is a security problem and that the target application cannot be deployed in the center 3.

[0139] Here, if the target application cannot be deployed in the center 3 for security reasons, the CPU 31 ends the cloud deployment determination process. On the other hand, if the target application can be deployed in the center 3 for security reasons, the CPU 31 determines in S230 to deploy the target application in the center 3 and ends the cloud deployment determination process.

[0140] Next, the procedure of the priority determination process executed by the expansion SoC 43 of the expansion unit 13 will be described. The priority determination process is initiated when an execution request is received from another application while an application is being executed in the expansion unit 13. The priority determination process is also executed in the expansion units 14, 15, and 16. Below, the procedure of the priority determination process will be described using the expansion unit 13 as a representative.

[0141] When the priority determination process is executed, the CPU 111 of the extended SoC 43 determines in S310, as shown in FIG. 12, whether the priority of the application that is the subject of the received execution request is higher than the priority of the application that is currently being executed.

[0142] If the priority of the application for which the execution request has been received is equal to or lower than the priority of the application currently being executed, the CPU 111 ends the priority determination process.

[0143] On the other hand, if the priority of the application that is the subject of the received execution request is higher than the priority of the application that is currently being executed, the CPU 111 stops the currently being executed application in S320, then executes the application that is the subject of the execution request, and terminates the priority determination process.

[0144] The integrated ECU 2 configured in this manner includes a base unit 11 on which a CPU 31 is mounted, and is configured so that extension units 13, 14, 15, and 16 on which CPUs 111, 121, 131, and 141 are mounted can be connected to the base unit 11.

[0145] When the base unit 11 does not have the resources necessary for executing a first application AP1 (hereinafter referred to as base-mounted application AP1) mounted on the base unit 11, the base unit 11 is configured to determine whether at least one of the expansion units 13, 14, 15, and 16 can execute the base-mounted application AP1 on its behalf based on resource information regarding the expansion units 13, 14, 15, and 16.

[0146] The base unit 11 is configured to have at least one of the extension units 13, 14, 15, and 16 execute the base-mounted application AP1 on its behalf when at least one of the extension units 13, 14, 15, and 16 can execute the base-mounted application AP1 on its behalf.

[0147] The base unit 11 is configured to prohibit the execution of the base-mounted application AP1 when the extension units 13, 14, 15, and 16 cannot execute the base-mounted application AP1 on behalf of the base unit 11.

[0148] Even if the base unit 11 does not have sufficient resources, if the expansion units 13, 14, 15, and 16 have sufficient resources, the integrated ECU 2 can execute the applications installed in the base unit 11 on the expansion units 13, 14, 15, and 16, thereby effectively utilizing the resources of the integrated ECU 2. Therefore, the integrated ECU 2 can improve the utilization efficiency of the resources available to the integrated ECU 2.

[0149] The expansion units 13, 14, 15, and 16 also include expansion unit resource management functions 115, 125, 135, and 145 configured to manage resources in the expansion units 13, 14, 15, and 16, respectively.

[0150] The base unit 11 includes a base unit resource management function 35 configured to manage resources in the base unit 11. The base unit 11 includes an overall resource management function 36 configured to manage the base unit resource management function 35 and the expansion unit resource management functions 115, 125, 135, and 145.

[0151] The base unit resource management function 35 is configured to determine whether the base unit 11 can execute the base-mounted application AP1 based on the resources in the base unit 11.

[0152] The expansion unit resource management functions 115, 125, 135, and 145 are configured to determine whether the expansion units 13, 14, 15, and 16 can execute the base-mounted application AP1 on behalf of the expansion units 13, 14, 15, and 16, respectively, based on the resources in the expansion units 13, 14, 15, and 16.

[0153] When the base unit resource management function 35 determines that the base unit 11 cannot execute the base-mounted application AP1, the overall resource management function 36 is configured to obtain an executable notification or an executable notification indicating whether the base-mounted application AP1 can be executed by the expansion unit on behalf of the expansion unit from the expansion unit resource management functions 115, 125, 135, and 145.

[0154] Such an integrated ECU 2 is equipped with an overall resource management function 36 that manages the expansion unit resource management functions 115, 125, 135, and 145, thereby making it easier to manage the resources available to the integrated ECU 2 when multiple expansion units are connected to the base unit 11.

[0155] The base unit 11 is also configured to create a request order list indicating the order in which the expansion units 13, 14, 15, and 16 should transmit application execution possibility determination requests requesting that the base unit 11 determine whether or not the base unit 11 can execute the application AP1 instead. The base unit 11 is configured to transmit the application execution possibility determination requests to the expansion units 13, 14, 15, and 16 in the order indicated in the request order list.

[0156] Such an integrated ECU 2 can preferentially send a request to determine whether an application can be executed to an extension unit that is likely to have spare resources, and can quickly determine an extension unit that can execute the base-installed application AP1 in place of the base-installed application AP1.

[0157] Furthermore, when the response of the base-mounted application AP1 is not high, the base unit 11 is configured to have the center 3, which is installed outside the integrated ECU 2 and configured to perform wireless communication with the integrated ECU 2, execute the base-mounted application AP1 on behalf of the base unit 11. Such an integrated ECU 2 can prevent the occurrence of a situation in which the integrated ECU 2 is unable to execute the base-mounted application AP1 due to a lack of available resources.

[0158] Furthermore, even if the responsiveness of the base-mounted application AP1 is not high, if there is a security problem in having the center 3 execute the base-mounted application AP1 on behalf of the base unit 11, the base unit 11 is configured to prohibit the center 3 from executing the base-mounted application AP1 on behalf of the base unit 11. Such an integrated ECU 2 can prevent security problems from occurring due to having the center 3 execute the base-mounted application AP1 on behalf of the base unit 11.

[0159] When the extension units 13, 14, 15, and 16 are executing the base application AP1 on their behalf and receive an execution request from a third application AP3 (hereinafter referred to as the extended application AP3) installed on the extension units 13, 14, 15, and 16, the extension units 13, 14, 15, and 16 are configured to execute the application with higher priority between the base application AP1 and the extended application AP3 based on the priority of the base application AP1 and the priority of the extended application AP3. Such an integrated ECU 2 can prevent a situation in which a high-priority application cannot be executed due to the extension units 13, 14, 15, and 16 executing the base application AP1 on their behalf.

[0160] Furthermore, when the extension units 13, 14, 15, and 16 execute the base-mounted application AP1 on behalf of the base unit 11, they are configured to obtain the program of the base-mounted application AP1 from the storage 24 shared by the base unit 11 and the extension units 13, 14, 15, and 16. Such an integrated ECU 2 eliminates the need for each of the extension units 13, 14, 15, and 16 to individually store the program of the base-mounted application AP1, thereby making it possible to effectively utilize the data storage area of ​​the integrated ECU 2.

[0161] The base unit 11 is also configured to determine whether or not the center 3 can execute the base-mounted application AP1 on behalf of the expansion units 13, 14, 15, and 16 when the expansion units 13, 14, 15, and 16 and the center 3 cannot execute the base-mounted application AP1 on behalf of the expansion units 13, 14, 15, and 16. The base unit 11 is configured to prohibit the execution of the base-mounted application AP1 when the expansion units 13, 14, 15, and 16 and the center 3 cannot execute the base-mounted application AP1 on behalf of the expansion units 13, 14, 15, and 16.

[0162] Such an integrated ECU 2 gives priority to the center 3 and has the extension units 13, 14, 15, and 16 execute the base-mounted application AP1 instead, thereby preventing a decrease in the responsiveness of the base-mounted application AP1 due to wireless communication between the center 3 and the integrated ECU 2.

[0163] In the embodiment described above, the CPU 31 corresponds to the central processing unit of the base unit, and the CPUs 111, 121, 131, and 141 correspond to the central processing units of the expansion units.

[0164] Furthermore, the integrated ECU 2 corresponds to an electronic control device and an electronic control system, S10 to S80 correspond to processing as an alternative judgment unit, the executable notification or inexecutable notification corresponds to resource information, S90 corresponds to processing as an extended alternative unit, and S130 and S140 correspond to processing as an execution prohibition unit.

[0165] In addition, the expansion unit resource management functions 115, 125, 135, and 145 correspond to the expansion resource management section, the base unit resource management function 35 corresponds to the base resource management section, the overall resource management function 36 corresponds to the overall resource management section, and the executable notification or the inexecutable notification corresponds to the alternative judgment result.

[0166] Furthermore, S20 corresponds to processing as a list creation unit, S50 corresponds to processing as a request sending unit, S100, S110, and S120 correspond to processing as a center substitution unit, S310 and S320 correspond to processing as a priority determination unit, storage 24 corresponds to shared memory, and vehicle control system 1 corresponds to a control system.

[0167] Although one embodiment of the present disclosure has been described above, the present disclosure is not limited to the above embodiment and can be implemented in various modifications.

[0168] [Variation 1] In the above embodiment, the expansion unit 13 reads the program of the first application AP1 from the storage 24 and expands it in the RAM 113, thereby disposing the first application AP1 in the expansion unit 13. However, as shown by arrows L5 and L6 in Fig. 13 , the expansion unit 13 may access the ROM 32 of the base unit 11 to read the program of the first application AP1 from the ROM 32 and expand it in the RAM 113, thereby disposing the first application AP1 in the expansion unit 13. The ROM 32 corresponds to a memory.

[0169] Such an integrated ECU 2 eliminates the need for each of the extension units 13, 14, 15, and 16 to individually store the program of the base-mounted application AP1, and therefore allows the data storage area of ​​the integrated ECU 2 to be used effectively.

[0170] In addition, the expansion unit 13 may access the ROM 112 of the expansion unit 13 as shown by arrows L7 and L8 in Figure 14, read the program of the first application AP1 from the ROM 112, and expand it into RAM 113, thereby placing the first application AP1 in the expansion unit 13.

[0171] [Variation 2] In the above embodiment, when the overall resource management function 36 of the base unit 11 receives an external resource use request from the first application AP1, it transmits an application execution availability determination request to the expansion units 13 to 16. However, if the integrated ECU 2 does not include the expansion units 13 to 16 and the center 3 does not exist, the overall resource management function 36 may transmit a resource shortage notification indicating that there are no external free resources to the first application AP1, as shown in process P61 in FIG.

[0172] Furthermore, when the integrated ECU 2 does not include the expansion units 13 to 16 and the center 3 is present, the overall resource management function 36 may perform a cloud deployment determination process similar to process P22, as shown in process P71 in Fig. 16. In this case, the overall resource management function 36 determines through the cloud deployment determination process that the first application AP1 can be deployed to the center 3, and transmits a deployment availability notification to the base unit resource management function 35, as shown in process P72, similar to process P23.

[0173] When the base unit resource management function 35 receives the notification that deployment is possible from the overall resource management function 36, as shown in process P73, it sends an application deployment request and a data flow change request to the overall resource management function 36, similar to process P24.

[0174] When the overall resource management function 36 receives an application deployment request and a data flow change request from the base unit resource management function 35, it sends the received application deployment request and data flow change request to the cloud resource management function 65 of the center 3, as shown in process P74, in the same manner as process P25.

[0175] When the application deployment and data flow change are complete, the cloud resource management function 65 instructs the first application AP1 deployed in the center 3 to execute processing, as shown in processing P75, in the same way as processing P26.

[0176] As a result, the first application AP1 executes processing on the center 3 as in processing P27, as shown in processing P76.

[0177] [Variation 3] In the above embodiment, the resource information is an executable notification and an executable notification. However, the expansion unit resource management functions 115, 125, 135, and 145 may transmit resource information such as whether the sensors used by the base-mounted application can be used by the expansion unit, the operating status of the CPU of the expansion unit, and the usage status of the RAM of the expansion unit to the overall resource management function 36. This allows the overall resource management function 36 to determine, based on the received resource information, whether at least one of the expansion units 13 to 16 can execute the base-mounted application instead.

[0178] The SoCs 21, 43-46 and the methods described herein may be implemented by a special-purpose computer configured with a processor and memory programmed to execute one or more functions embodied in a computer program. Alternatively, the SoCs 21, 43-46 and the methods described herein may be implemented by a special-purpose computer configured with a processor configured with one or more dedicated hardware logic circuits. Alternatively, the SoCs 21, 43-46 and the methods described herein may be implemented by one or more special-purpose computers configured with a processor and memory programmed to execute one or more functions and 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. The methods for implementing the functions of each unit included in the SoCs 21, 43-46 do not necessarily need to include software; all of the functions may be implemented using one or more hardware devices.

[0179] In the above embodiments, multiple functions of one component may be realized by multiple components, or one function of one component may be realized by multiple components. Furthermore, multiple functions of multiple components may be realized by one component, or one function realized by multiple components may be realized by one component. Furthermore, part of the configuration of the above embodiments may be omitted. Furthermore, at least part of the configuration of the above embodiments may be added to or substituted for the configuration of another of the above embodiments.

[0180] In addition to the integrated ECU 2 described above, the present disclosure can also be realized in various forms, such as a system including the integrated ECU 2 as a component, a program for causing a computer to function as the integrated ECU 2, a non-transient physical recording medium such as a semiconductor memory on which this program is recorded, and a function expansion method. [Technical Ideas Disclosed in the Present Specification] [Item 1] An electronic control device (2) comprising a base unit (11) equipped with a central processing unit (31), and configured to be connectable to the base unit with one or more expansion units (13, 14, 15, 16) equipped with central processing units (111, 121, 131, 141), wherein the base unit comprises: an alternative determination unit (S10-S80) configured to determine, when the base unit does not have the resources necessary for executing a base-mounted application (AP1) that is an application loaded on the base unit, whether or not at least one of the one or more expansion units can execute the base-mounted application on behalf of the base unit, based on resource information regarding the one or more expansion units; and an expansion alternative unit (S90) configured, when the base unit does not have the resources necessary for executing the base-mounted application on behalf of the one or more expansion units, to cause at least one of the one or more expansion units to execute the base-mounted application on behalf of the base unit, based on the determination result of the alternative determination unit. and an execution prohibition unit (S130, S140) configured to prohibit the execution of the base-mounted application if, based on the judgment result of the substitution judgment unit, one or more of the extension units cannot execute the base-mounted application on behalf of the base-mounted application.

[0181] [Item 2] In the electronic control device according to item 1, the one or more expansion units each include one or more expansion resource management units (115, 125, 135, 145) configured to manage resources in the expansion unit, and the base unit includes: a base resource management unit (35) configured to manage resources in the base unit; and an overall resource management unit (36) configured to manage the base resource management unit and the one or more expansion resource management units, the base resource management unit being configured to determine whether the base unit can execute the base-mounted application based on the resources in the base unit, and the one or more expansion resource management units being configured to determine whether the expansion unit can execute the base-mounted application on behalf of the base unit based on the resources in the expansion unit, The overall resource management unit is an electronic control device configured to obtain one or more alternative judgment results from one or more of the extended resource management units indicating whether the extended unit can execute the base-mounted application on behalf of the base unit when the base resource management unit determines that the base unit cannot execute the base-mounted application.

[0182] [Item 3] An electronic control device according to item 1 or 2, wherein the base unit further comprises: a list creation unit (S20) configured to create a request order list indicating the order in which one or more of the expansion units will send an application execution feasibility determination request requesting that the base unit determine whether the application installed on the base unit can be executed on its behalf; and a request sending unit (S50) configured to send the application execution feasibility determination request to one or more of the expansion units in the order indicated in the request order list.

[0183] [Item 4] An electronic control device according to any one of items 1 to 3, wherein the base unit further comprises a center substitute section (S100, S110, S120) configured to cause a center (3) installed outside the electronic control device and configured to perform wireless communication with the electronic control device to execute the base-mounted application on behalf of the base-mounted application when the response of the base-mounted application is not high.

[0184] [Item 5] The electronic control device according to Item 4, wherein the center substitution unit is configured to prohibit the center from substituting and executing the base-installed application when there is a security problem in having the center substituting and executing the base-installed application even if the base-installed application does not have high responsiveness.

[0185] [Item 6] An electronic control device according to any one of items 1 to 5, wherein each of the one or more extension units further comprises a priority determination unit (S310, S320) configured to, when an execution request is received from an extension application (AP3) that is an application loaded on the extension unit while the extension unit is executing the base application on behalf of the base application, execute the application with higher priority based on the priority of the base application and the priority of the extension application.

[0186] [Item 7] An electronic control device according to any one of items 1 to 6, wherein one or more of the expansion units are configured to, when executing the base-mounted application on behalf of the base-mounted application, obtain the program of the base-mounted application from a shared memory (24) shared between the base unit and one or more of the expansion units.

[0187] [Item 8] The electronic control device according to any one of items 1 to 6, wherein one or more of the expansion units are configured to retrieve a program for the base-mounted application from a memory (32) mounted on the base unit when executing the application in place of the base-mounted application.

[0188] [Item 9] An electronic control device according to item 4 or 5, wherein the center substitution unit is configured to determine, based on the determination result of the substitution determination unit, whether or not the center can execute the base-mounted application on behalf of the base-mounted application when one or more of the expansion units cannot execute the base-mounted application on behalf of the base-mounted application, and the execution prohibition unit is configured to prohibit execution of the base-mounted application when one or more of the expansion units and the center cannot execute the base-mounted application on behalf of the base-mounted application.

[0189] [Item 10] An electronic control device (2) is provided with a base unit (11) equipped with a central processing unit (31), and configured to allow connection of one or more expansion units (13, 14, 15, 16) equipped with central processing units (111, 121, 131, 141) to the base unit, and the base unit computer of the electronic control device (2) is configured to: when the base unit does not have the resources necessary to execute a base-mounted application (AP1) that is an application loaded on the base unit, a substitution determination unit (S10-S80) configured to determine whether at least one of the one or more expansion units can execute the base-mounted application on behalf of the base unit based on resource information related to the one or more expansion units; and when at least one of the one or more expansion units can execute the base-mounted application on behalf of the base unit based on the determination result of the substitution determination unit, an expansion substitution unit (S90) configured to have at least one of the one or more expansion units execute the base-mounted application on behalf of the base unit; A control program for functioning as an execution prohibition unit (S130, S140) configured to prohibit the execution of the base-mounted application when, based on the judgment result of the substitution judgment unit, one or more of the expansion units cannot execute the base-mounted application on behalf of the base-mounted application.

[0190] [Item 11] A control method executed by a base unit of an electronic control device (2) that includes a base unit (11) equipped with a central processing unit (31) and is configured to allow connection of one or more expansion units (13, 14, 15, 16) equipped with central processing units (111, 121, 131, 141) to the base unit, wherein, when the base unit does not have the resources necessary to execute a base-mounted application (AP1), which is an application loaded on the base unit, the base unit determines, based on resource information regarding one or more of the expansion units, whether at least one of the one or more expansion units can execute the base-mounted application on behalf of the base unit; when at least one of the one or more expansion units can execute the base-mounted application on behalf of the base unit, the base unit executes the base-mounted application on behalf of at least one of the one or more expansion units; and when the base unit cannot execute the base-mounted application on behalf of one or more expansion units, the base unit prohibits execution of the base-mounted application.

[0191] [Item 12] A control system (1) including a base unit (11) equipped with a central processing unit (31), an electronic control device (2) configured to be connectable to the base unit with one or more expansion units (13, 14, 15, 16) equipped with central processing units (111, 121, 131, 141), and a center (3) installed outside the electronic control device and configured to perform wireless communication with the electronic control device, wherein the base unit has: an alternative determination unit (S10-S80) configured to determine, when the base unit does not have resources necessary to execute a base-mounted application (AP1) that is an application loaded on the base unit, whether at least one of the one or more expansion units can execute the base-mounted application on behalf of the base unit, based on resource information regarding the one or more expansion units; A control system comprising: an extension substitution unit (S90) configured to have at least one of one or more of the expansion units execute the base-mounted application on behalf of the base-mounted application if, based on the judgment result of the substitution judgment unit, at least one of the one or more expansion units can execute the base-mounted application on behalf of the base-mounted application; and an execution prohibition unit (S130, S140) configured to prohibit execution of the base-mounted application if, based on the judgment result of the substitution judgment unit, one or more of the expansion units cannot execute the base-mounted application on behalf of the base-mounted application; and the center is configured to be able to execute the base-mounted application on behalf of the base-mounted application.

[0192] [Item 13] An electronic control system (2) comprising: a base unit (11) equipped with a central processing unit (31); and one or more expansion units (13, 14, 15, 16) equipped with central processing units (111, 121, 131, 141) and configured to be connectable to the base unit, wherein the base unit has: an alternative determination unit (S10-S80) configured to determine, when the base unit does not have the resources necessary to execute a base-mounted application (AP1) that is an application loaded on the base unit, whether or not at least one of the one or more expansion units can execute the base-mounted application on its behalf, based on resource information regarding the one or more expansion units; and an expansion alternative unit (S90) configured, when at least one of the one or more expansion units can execute the base-mounted application on its behalf, based on the determination result of the alternative determination unit, to have at least one of the one or more expansion units execute the base-mounted application on its behalf; and an execution prohibition unit (S130, S140) configured to prohibit the execution of the base-mounted application if, based on the judgment result of the substitution judgment unit, one or more of the extension units cannot execute the base-mounted application on behalf of the base-mounted application.

Claims

1. An electronic control device (2) comprising a base unit (11) equipped with a central processing unit (31), and configured to be connectable to the base unit with one or more expansion units (13, 14, 15, 16) equipped with central processing units (111, 121, 131, 141), wherein the base unit comprises: an alternative determination unit (S10-S80) configured to determine, when the base unit does not have the resources necessary to execute a base-mounted application (AP1), which is an application loaded on the base unit, whether or not at least one of the one or more expansion units can execute the base-mounted application on its behalf, based on resource information regarding the one or more expansion units; and an expansion alternative unit (S90) configured to, when at least one of the one or more expansion units can execute the base-mounted application on its behalf, based on the determination result of the alternative determination unit, have at least one of the one or more expansion units execute the base-mounted application on its behalf; and an execution prohibition unit (S130, S140) configured to prohibit the execution of the base-mounted application if, based on the judgment result of the substitution judgment unit, one or more of the extension units cannot execute the base-mounted application on behalf of the base-mounted application.

2. An electronic control device according to claim 1, wherein one or more of the expansion units each comprises one or more expansion resource management sections (115, 125, 135, 145) configured to manage resources in the expansion unit, and the base unit comprises: a base resource management section (35) configured to manage resources in the base unit; and an overall resource management section (36) configured to manage the base resource management section and one or more of the expansion resource management sections, wherein the base resource management section is configured to determine whether the base unit can execute the base-mounted application based on the resources in the base unit, and wherein one or more of the expansion resource management sections are each configured to determine whether the expansion unit can execute the base-mounted application on behalf of the base unit based on the resources in the expansion unit, The overall resource management unit is an electronic control device configured to obtain one or more alternative judgment results from one or more of the extended resource management units indicating whether the extended unit can execute the base-mounted application on behalf of the base unit when the base resource management unit determines that the base unit cannot execute the base-mounted application.

3. An electronic control device as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the base unit further comprises: a list creation unit (S20) configured to create a request order list indicating the order in which one or more of the expansion units will send an application execution possibility determination request requesting that the base unit determine whether or not the application installed on the base unit can be executed on its behalf; and a request sending unit (S50) configured to send the application execution possibility determination request to one or more of the expansion units in the order indicated by the request order list.

4. An electronic control device according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the base unit further comprises a center substitute section (S100, S110, S120) configured to have a center (3) installed outside the electronic control device and configured to perform wireless communication with the electronic control device execute the base-mounted application on behalf of the base-mounted application when the response of the base-mounted application is not high.

5. An electronic control device as described in claim 4, wherein the center substitution unit is configured to prohibit the center from substituting and executing the base-installed application if there is a security problem in having the center substituting and executing the base-installed application, even if the base-installed application does not have high responsiveness.

6. An electronic control device as described in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein each of one or more of the expansion units further comprises a priority determination unit (S310, S320) configured to, when an execution request is received from an expansion application (AP3) that is an application loaded on the expansion unit while the expansion unit is executing the base application on behalf of the base application, execute the application with higher priority based on the priority of the base application and the priority of the expansion application.

7. An electronic control device according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein one or more of the expansion units are configured to retrieve the program of the base-mounted application from a shared memory (24) shared between the base unit and one or more of the expansion units when executing the base-mounted application in place of the base-mounted application.

8. An electronic control device according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein one or more of the expansion units are configured to retrieve the program of the base-mounted application from a memory (32) mounted on the base unit when executing the application in place of the base-mounted application.

9. An electronic control device as described in claim 4, wherein the center substitution unit is configured to determine, based on the judgment result of the substitution judgment unit, whether or not the center can be made to execute the base-mounted application on behalf of the base-mounted application when one or more of the expansion units cannot execute the base-mounted application on behalf of the base-mounted application, and the execution prohibition unit is configured to prohibit the execution of the base-mounted application when one or more of the expansion units and the center cannot execute the base-mounted application on behalf of the base-mounted application.

10. An electronic control device (2) comprising a base unit (11) equipped with a central processing unit (31), and configured to allow connection of one or more expansion units (13, 14, 15, 16) equipped with central processing units (111, 121, 131, 141) to the base unit, a computer of the base unit, comprising: a substitution determination unit (S10-S80) configured to determine whether at least one of one or more expansion units can execute a base-mounted application (AP1) on the base unit when the base unit does not have the resources necessary for the base unit to execute the base-mounted application, which is an application installed on the base unit, based on resource information regarding one or more expansion units; an expansion substitution unit (S90) configured to have at least one of one or more expansion units execute the base-mounted application on the base unit when at least one of one or more expansion units can execute the base-mounted application on the base unit based on the determination result of the substitution determination unit; A control program for functioning as an execution prohibition unit (S130, S140) configured to prohibit the execution of the base-mounted application when, based on the judgment result of the substitution judgment unit, one or more of the expansion units cannot execute the base-mounted application on behalf of the base-mounted application.

11. A control method executed by a base unit of an electronic control device (2) comprising a base unit (11) equipped with a central processing unit (31) and configured to allow connection of one or more expansion units (13, 14, 15, 16) equipped with central processing units (111, 121, 131, 141) to the base unit, wherein, when the base unit does not have the resources necessary to execute a base-mounted application (AP1), which is an application loaded on the base unit, the base unit determines, based on resource information regarding one or more expansion units, whether at least one of the one or more expansion units can execute the base-mounted application on behalf of the base unit; when at least one of the one or more expansion units can execute the base-mounted application on behalf of the base unit, the base unit executes the base-mounted application on behalf of at least one of the one or more expansion units; and when the base unit cannot execute the base-mounted application on behalf of one or more expansion units, the base unit prohibits execution of the base-mounted application.

12. A control system (1) comprising: a base unit (11) equipped with a central processing unit (31); an electronic control device (2) configured to be able to connect one or more expansion units (13, 14, 15, 16) equipped with central processing units (111, 121, 131, 141) to the base unit; and a center (3) installed outside the electronic control device and configured to perform wireless communication with the electronic control device, wherein the base unit has: an alternative determination unit (S10-S80) configured to determine, when the base unit does not have the resources necessary to execute a base-mounted application (AP1), which is an application loaded on the base unit, whether at least one of the one or more expansion units can execute the base-mounted application on behalf of the base unit, based on resource information regarding the one or more expansion units; A control system comprising: an extension substitution unit (S90) configured to have at least one of one or more of the expansion units execute the base-mounted application on behalf of the base-mounted application if, based on the judgment result of the substitution judgment unit, at least one of the one or more expansion units can execute the base-mounted application on behalf of the base-mounted application; and an execution prohibition unit (S130, S140) configured to prohibit execution of the base-mounted application if, based on the judgment result of the substitution judgment unit, one or more of the expansion units cannot execute the base-mounted application on behalf of the base-mounted application; and the center is configured to be able to execute the base-mounted application on behalf of the base-mounted application.

13. An electronic control system (2) comprising: a base unit (11) equipped with a central processing unit (31); and one or more expansion units (13, 14, 15, 16) equipped with central processing units (111, 121, 131, 141) and configured to be connectable to the base unit, wherein the base unit has: an alternative determination unit (S10-S80) configured to determine whether at least one of the one or more expansion units can execute a base-mounted application (AP1) instead of the base unit when the base unit does not have the resources necessary to execute the base-mounted application (AP1), which is an application loaded on the base unit, based on resource information regarding the one or more expansion units; and an expansion alternative unit (S90) configured to have at least one of the one or more expansion units execute the base-mounted application instead of the base unit when at least one of the one or more expansion units can execute the base-mounted application based on the determination result of the alternative determination unit. and an execution prohibition unit (S130, S140) configured to prohibit the execution of the base-mounted application if, based on the judgment result of the substitution judgment unit, one or more of the extension units cannot execute the base-mounted application on behalf of the base-mounted application.

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