Log collection device

Abstract

A log collection device 4 comprises: a transmission unit 41 that transmits, to a plurality of vehicle-mounted devices 5-7, 65-67, data including a log request instruction for causing the plurality of vehicle-mounted devices 5-7, 65-67 to transmit logs; a reception unit 42 that receives data including the logs transmitted by the vehicle-mounted devices 5-7, 65-67 in accordance with the log request instruction; a communication load determination unit 43 that determines communication loads of communication between the vehicle-mounted devices 5-7, 65-67 and the transmission unit 41 and communication between the vehicle-mounted devices 5-7, 65-67 and the reception unit 42; and a log storage control unit 20 that calculates a transmission timing for causing each of the vehicle-mounted devices 5-7, 65-67 to transmit the log to the reception unit 42 on the basis of the communication loads determined by the communication load determination unit 43. The transmission unit 41 transmits, to each of the vehicle-mounted devices 5-7, 65-67, the log request instruction including the transmission timing calculated by the log storage control unit 20.

Description

Log collection device

[0001] The present disclosure relates to a log collection device.

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses a log analysis device that appropriately determines the priority of log transmission depending on the log analysis results. In the technology of Patent Document 1, the log analysis device analyzes each of the logs transmitted from multiple ECUs (Electronic Control Units) depending on the content of the cyber attack, and appropriately determines the priority of each log transmission by the ECU based on the analysis results. In the technology of Patent Document 1, each ECU transmits the log with the highest transmission priority.

[0003] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2022-24266

[0004] In the technology of Patent Document 1, for example, when logs are transmitted simultaneously from each ECU, if the logs contain large data such as image data, the communication load temporarily increases.

[0005] The present disclosure has been made in consideration of the above problems, and aims to reduce the communication load when receiving logs from multiple in-vehicle devices.

[0006] One aspect of the present disclosure is a log collection device comprising: a transmitting unit that transmits data including a log request instruction to each of a plurality of on-board devices, causing each of the plurality of on-board devices to transmit a log; a receiving unit that receives data including a log transmitted by each of the on-board devices in accordance with the log request instruction transmitted by the transmitting unit; a communication load determination unit that determines the communication load of communication between the on-board device and the transmitting unit and communication between the on-board device and the receiving unit; and a log storage control unit that calculates a transmission timing for transmitting a log to the receiving unit for each on-board device based on the communication load determined by the communication load determination unit, wherein the transmitting unit transmits a log request instruction including the transmission timing calculated by the log storage control unit to each of the on-board devices.

[0007] According to the above aspect of the present disclosure, it is possible to reduce the communication load when receiving logs from a plurality of in-vehicle devices.

[0008] 1 is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of a server, a log collection device, and an in-vehicle device of a first embodiment. FIG. 1 is a table showing the data structure of a log request instruction for an in-vehicle device for which a time can be specified. FIG. 2 is a table showing the data structure of a log request instruction for an in-vehicle device for which a time cannot be specified. FIG. 3 is a sequence diagram showing the overall processing of the server, the log collection device, and the in-vehicle device for which a time can be specified of FIG. 1. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing the operation of generating data for a log request instruction. FIG. 5 is a diagram showing an example of calculation of transmission timing. FIG. 6 is a sequence diagram showing the overall processing of the server, the log collection device, and the in-vehicle device for which a time cannot be specified of FIG. 1. FIG. 7 is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of a log collection device and an in-vehicle device of a second embodiment. FIG. 8 is a sequence diagram showing the overall processing of the log collection device and the in-vehicle device for which a time can be specified of FIG.

[0009] Hereinafter, an embodiment of a log collection device according to the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0010] 1 shows the configuration of a server 1, a log collection device 4, and on-board devices 5, 6, 7, 65, 66, and 67 in a first embodiment of the present invention. As shown in Fig. 1, a vehicle management system 100 of this embodiment includes the server 1 and a vehicle 2. The vehicle 2 includes a communication device 3, a log collection device 4, and on-board devices 5, 6, 7, 65, 66, and 67.

[0011] In this embodiment, when a log collection instruction is transmitted from the server 1, the log collection device 4, which has received the log collection instruction from the server 1, issues a log request instruction to the in-vehicle devices 5, 6, 7, 65, 66, and 67. In this embodiment, an example of a method is used in which the log collection device 4 collects logs from each of the in-vehicle devices 5, 6, 7, 65, 66, and 67 by shifting the log transmission timing while taking into consideration the communication load. However, the technical concept of the present invention is not limited to this example. For example, it is also possible to apply the log collection instruction to be obtained by another communication method other than from the server.

[0012] In this embodiment, the server 1 is connected to the communication device 3 via an exterior communication network 50. However, the exterior communication network 50 is a representative communication method, and these communication methods may be the same or different. The server 1 includes a storage unit 37 and a log collection instruction unit 40. The storage unit 37 stores logs collected by the log collection device 4. The log collection instruction unit 40 transmits a log collection instruction to the log collection device 4 via the communication device 3. The log collection instruction unit 40 of the server 1 can constantly transmit a log collection instruction to the vehicle 2 to collect logs from the on-board devices 5, 6, 7, 65, 66, and 67.

[0013] The server 1 is intended to be a processing device capable of transmitting and receiving information to and from a communication device via a communication line or the like, and does not refer to a hardware form such as a so-called personal computer or built-in information device.

[0014] The communication device 3 is connected to the log collection device 4 via a communication bus 51. The communication device 3 includes a communication control unit 8 that controls communication between the server 1 and the communication device 3 and communication between the log collection device 4 and the communication device 3. The log collection device 4 functions as a master ECU and an integrated ECU that manages the on-board devices 5, 6, 7, 65, 66, and 67. The on-board devices 5, 6, 7, 65, 66, and 67 function as slave ECUs managed by the log collection device 4. Although only the on-board devices 5, 6, 7, 65, 66, and 67 are shown in FIG. 1 , the vehicle 2 also includes a plurality of other on-board devices that function as similar ECUs.

[0015] The on-board devices 5, 6, 7, 65, 66, and 67 are, for example, any of the ECUs for the powertrain, chassis, body, multimedia, and ADAS systems of the vehicle 2. The powertrain ECUs are, for example, the engine ECU, transmission ECU, and hybrid ECU. The chassis ECUs are, for example, the power steering ECU, brake ECU, and accelerator ECU.

[0016] Body-related ECUs include, for example, ECUs for wipers, automatic doors, power windows, keyless entry, power door mirrors, interior lighting, headlights, tire pressure monitoring systems, immobilizers (anti-theft devices), etc. Multimedia-related ECUs include, for example, ECUs for navigation systems, ETCs (Electronic Toll Collection Systems), audio systems, and backup monitors.

[0017] Examples of ADAS (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems) ECUs include a driving assistance ECU, a stereo camera ECU, a perimeter monitoring ECU, a locator ECU, and an autonomous driving ECU. These in-vehicle devices 5, 6, 7, 65, 66, and 67 enable the vehicle 2 to perform, for example, autonomous driving functions and connected car functions.

[0018] The log collection device 4 is connected to the in-vehicle devices 5, 6, 7, 65, 66, and 67 via a communication bus 52. However, the communication buses 51 and 52 are physically multiple communication buses, and the standards of these communication buses may all be the same or different. The standards of these communication buses 51 and 52 include CAN (registered trademark), LIN (registered trademark), FlexRay (registered trademark), Ethernet (registered trademark), etc.

[0019] The log collection device 4 is a computer equipped with a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and memory. The memory includes a main storage device and an auxiliary storage device. The main storage device is used as a working area for the CPU, a storage area for computer programs and data, and a buffer area for communication data. The main storage device is formed, for example, by a combination of RAM (Random Access Memory) and ROM (Read Only Memory). Computer programs such as an operating system and firmware are installed in the memory. The auxiliary storage device is, for example, a solid state drive (SSD) and a hard disk drive (HDD).

[0020] The CPU is not limited to a single processor and may have a multi-processor configuration. Furthermore, a single CPU connected via a single socket may have a multi-core configuration. At least some of the processing of each unit described below may be performed by a processor other than the CPU, such as a dedicated processor such as a DSP (Digital Signal Processor), a GPU (Graphics Processing Unit), a numerical calculation processor, a vector processor, or an image processing processor. Furthermore, the CPU may be configured with an integrated circuit (IC) and other digital circuits, or may be partially configured with analog circuits.

[0021] The integrated circuit includes an LSI, an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), and a PLD (Programmable Logic Device). The PLD includes, for example, an FPGA (Field-Programmable Gate Array). The CPU may be a combination of a processor and an integrated circuit. Examples of the combination of a processor and an integrated circuit include an MCU (Micro Controller Unit), an SoC (System-on-a-chip), a system LSI, and a chipset. The CPU loads a computer program stored in memory into the main storage device and executes the processing described in the program, thereby executing the processing of each part of the log collection device 4 described below.

[0022] The log collection device 4 includes, as functional blocks, a communication control unit 10, a communication control unit 11, a log storage control unit 20, and a storage unit 30. The communication control unit 10 receives a log collection instruction from the server 1 via the communication device 3. The communication device 3 transmits data acquired from the server 1 by wireless communication via the extra-vehicle communication network 50 to the log collection device 4 via the communication bus 51. When the server 1 issues a log collection instruction to the vehicle 2, the communication control unit 10 of the log collection device 4 receives the log collection instruction from the server 1 via the communication device 3. The communication control unit 10 transmits the received log collection instruction to the communication control unit 11.

[0023] The communication control unit 11 includes a transmitter 41, a receiver 42, and a communication load determination unit 43. The transmitter 41 transmits data including a log request instruction to each of the in-vehicle devices 5, 6, 7, 65, 66, and 67 to cause each of the in-vehicle devices 5, 6, 7, 65, 66, and 67 to transmit a log. The log request instruction will be described later. Data transmitted by the transmitter 41 other than the log request instruction is, for example, a message other than the log request instruction from the log collection device 4 to the in-vehicle devices 5, 6, 7, 65, 66, and 67.

[0024] The receiving unit 42 receives data including logs transmitted by each of the in-vehicle devices 5, 6, 7, 65, 66, and 67 in accordance with the log request instruction transmitted by the transmitting unit 41. The logs transmitted by each of the in-vehicle devices 5, 6, 7, 65, 66, and 67 are information recorded on the operating status of the in-vehicle devices 5, 6, 7, 65, 66, and 67, which are computers. The logs are information in chronological order that records the startup, shutdown, data transmission and reception, errors, failures, and communication history with the outside world of the in-vehicle devices 5, 6, 7, 65, 66, and 67.

[0025] The logs include image data and video data, which are large in data size. Therefore, logs cannot be transmitted simultaneously from the in-vehicle devices 5, 6, 7, 65, 66, and 67 to the log collecting device 4. For example, the in-vehicle device 6 cannot transmit a log until the in-vehicle device 5 has finished transmitting a log. Data other than logs that the receiving unit 42 receives are, for example, messages other than logs from the in-vehicle devices 5, 6, 7, 65, 66, and 67 to the log collecting device 4.

[0026] The communication load determination unit 43 determines the communication load of the communication between the in-vehicle devices 5, 6, 7, 65, 66, and 67 and the transmitter 41, and the communication between the in-vehicle devices 5, 6, 7, 65, 66, and 67 and the receiver 42. The log storage control unit 20 calculates a transmission timing for causing the receiver 42 to transmit a log for each of the in-vehicle devices 5, 6, 7, 65, 66, and 67, based on the communication load determined by the communication load determination unit 43. The transmitter 41 transmits a log request instruction including the transmission timing calculated by the log storage control unit 20 to each of the in-vehicle devices 5, 6, 7, 65, 66, and 67.

[0027] The log storage control unit 20 calculates acquisition timings for acquiring logs for each of the in-vehicle devices 5, 6, 7, 65, 66, and 67. The transmission unit 41 transmits log request instructions including the acquisition timings calculated by the log storage control unit to each of the in-vehicle devices 5, 6, 7, 65, 66, and 67. The log storage control unit 20 includes a group setting unit 44. As described below, the group setting unit 44 sets multiple groups for each of the in-vehicle devices 5, 6, 7, 65, 66, and 67. The memory unit 30 is a non-volatile memory device. The memory unit 30 stores logs collected from the in-vehicle devices 5, 6, 7, 65, 66, and 67. The memory unit 30 also stores log request instructions including the acquisition timings and transmission timings generated by the log storage control unit 20.

[0028] As described above, the in-vehicle devices 5, 6, 7, 65, 66, and 67 are any of the ECUs for the powertrain, chassis, body, multimedia, and ADAS systems in the vehicle 2. The in-vehicle devices 5, 6, 7, 65, 66, and 67 are computers similar to the log collection device 4.

[0029] The in-vehicle device 5 includes a communication control unit 13, a log storage control unit 21, and a memory unit 31. The in-vehicle device 6 includes a communication control unit 14, a log storage control unit 22, and a memory unit 32. The in-vehicle device 7 includes a communication control unit 15, a log storage control unit 23, and a memory unit 33. The in-vehicle device 65 includes a communication control unit 16, a log storage control unit 24, and a memory unit 34. The in-vehicle device 66 includes a communication control unit 17, a log storage control unit 25, and a memory unit 35. The in-vehicle device 67 includes a communication control unit 18, a log storage control unit 26, and a memory unit 36.

[0030] The communication control units 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, and 18 control communication between the in-vehicle devices 5, 6, 7, 65, 66, and 67 and the log collection device 4. The communication control units 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, and 18 receive a log request instruction transmitted from the log collection device 4. The communication control units 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, and 18 transmit the acquired logs to the log collection device 4 in accordance with the transmission timing included in the log request instruction.

[0031] The log storage control units 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, and 26 acquire logs according to the acquisition timing included in the log request instruction. The log storage control units 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, and 26 transmit the acquired logs to the log collection device 4 via the communication control units 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, and 18 according to the transmission timing included in the log request instruction.

[0032] The storage units 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, and 36 are non-volatile storage devices that store logs acquired by the log storage control units 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, and 26.

[0033] In this embodiment, the in-vehicle devices 5, 6, and 7 can specify the log acquisition time and the log transmission time. On the other hand, the in-vehicle devices 65, 66, and 67 cannot specify the log acquisition time and the log transmission time. The group setting unit 44 of the log collection device 4 described above sets multiple groups, including a group to which the in-vehicle devices 5, 6, and 7 can specify the log acquisition time and the log transmission time, and a group to which the in-vehicle devices 65, 66, and 67 cannot specify the log acquisition time and the log transmission time. The log storage control unit 20 of the log collection device 4 calculates the acquisition timing and the transmission timing for each group. Note that the group setting unit 44 may set groups based on a perspective other than whether the log acquisition time and the log transmission time can be specified.

[0034] The transmitter 41 of the log collection device 4 transmits, for each group, a log request instruction including the acquisition timing and transmission timing calculated for each group by the log storage control unit 20. The transmitter 41 simultaneously transmits the log request instruction to each of the in-vehicle devices 5, 6, and 7 and the in-vehicle devices 65, 66, and 67 that belong to the same group.

[0035] 2 is a table showing the data structure of a log request instruction 1000 for the in-vehicle devices 5, 6, and 7 for which a time can be specified. As shown in FIG. 2, data content 1001 is information including a group, a log acquisition timing, a log transmission timing, a group identification method, an acquired log data type, and a behavior specification in the event of a communication interruption. The group is the content of the group set in the in-vehicle devices 5, 6, and 7. The acquired log data type is the content of the log acquired by the in-vehicle devices 5, 6, and 7. The setting data 1002 is an explanation of the information included in the data content 1001.

[0036] The log request instruction 1000 links data content 1001 and setting data 1002. The content shown in the log request instruction 1000 is an example, and may be set arbitrarily depending on the system configuration. For example, as described above, the in-vehicle devices 5, 6, and 7 are capable of specifying a time, and therefore the log acquisition timing and log transmission timing are specified by time.

[0037] 3 is a table showing the data structure of a log request instruction 2000 for the in-vehicle devices 65, 66, and 67 for which a time cannot be specified. As shown in FIG. 3, data content 2001 is information including a group, a log acquisition timing, a log transmission timing, a group identification method, an acquired log data type, and a behavior specification in the event of a communication interruption. The group is the content of the group set in the in-vehicle devices 65, 66, and 67. The acquired log data type is the content of the log acquired by the in-vehicle devices 65, 66, and 67. The setting data 2002 is an explanation of the information included in the data content 2001.

[0038] The log request instruction 2000 links the data content 2001 and the setting data 2002. As described above, the on-board devices 65, 66, and 67 cannot specify a time, and therefore the log acquisition timing and the log transmission timing are specified as the time after the on-board devices 65, 66, and 67 receive the log request instruction. Note that the time after the log request instruction is received can be specified as 0, and the log acquisition timing and the log transmission timing can be set to immediately after the log request instruction is received.

[0039] For example, the target group of the data contents 1001 and 2001, and the acquired log data type of the data content 1001, can be used when the log storage control units 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, and 26 of the in-vehicle devices 5, 6, 7, 65, 66, and 67 determine a pre-set log type and determine what kind of log should be acquired by the in-vehicle devices 5, 6, 7, 65, 66, and 67. Furthermore, the behavior specification upon communication interruption of the data contents 1001 and 2001 can be used when the log storage control units 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, and 26 of the in-vehicle devices 5, 6, 7, 65, 66, and 67 determine a pre-set behavior upon communication interruption and determine how the in-vehicle devices 5, 6, 7, 65, 66, and 67 should behave in the event of communication interruption.

[0040] The operation of the log collection device 4 of this embodiment will be described below. Fig. 4 is a sequence diagram showing the overall processing of the server 1, log collection device 4, and on-board devices 5, 6, and 7 for which a time can be specified, as shown in Fig. 1. The following mainly describes the processing by the log collection device 4 for collecting logs from the on-board devices 5, 6, and 7 for which a time can be specified. As shown in Fig. 4, a log collection instruction is sent from the server 1 to the log collection device 4 (S101). The communication load determination unit 43 of the log collection device 4 periodically measures the communication load of the communication bus 52 connected to the log collection device 4 (S102).

[0041] The following describes the determination of the communication load by the communication load determination unit 43. In this embodiment, the communication load determination unit 43 determines the communication load based on the amount of data in the communication between the in-vehicle devices 5, 6, 7 and the transmitter 41 and the communication between the in-vehicle devices 5, 6, 7 and the receiver 42, other than when the receiver 42 receives a log. The communication load determination unit 43 calculates the amount of data being transmitted and received based on the data length and number of pieces of data transmitted and received per unit time in each of the in-vehicle devices 5, 6, 7, in the communication between the in-vehicle devices 5, 6, 7 and the transmitter 41 and the communication between the in-vehicle devices 5, 6, 7 and the receiver 42, other than when the receiver 42 receives a log, and determines the moving average of the periodic data amount as the communication load.

[0042] 5 is a diagram showing data D flowing through the communication bus 52. As shown in Fig. 5, as an example of a method for measuring the communication load, the communication load determination unit 43 sets a window W of a certain time and calculates the communication load per unit time from the DLC (data length) of message data sent and received during that time and the number of pieces of data. This is measured periodically, and a moving average is taken from an arbitrary number of communication loads per unit time, and this is used as the communication load [%] relative to the maximum communication volume of the communication bus 52.

[0043] Furthermore, in this embodiment, the communication load per unit time is not measured while logs are being transmitted from the in-vehicle devices 5, 6, and 7, and only the steady-state communication load [%] is measured. In other words, since the communication load is naturally large while logs are being transmitted from the in-vehicle devices 5, 6, and 7, measuring the communication load at times other than when the receiver 42 receives the logs is more appropriate for calculating a margin according to the communication load (described below) and for calculating the transmission timing. However, the above-mentioned communication load measurement methods are typical measurement methods, and these measurement methods may be the same or different. For example, if necessary, the communication load determination unit 43 may determine the communication load when the receiver 42 receives the log.

[0044] 4, the log storage control unit 20 of the log collection device 4 generates log request instruction data (S103). The generation of the log request instruction data by the log storage control unit 20 will be described below. The transmission timing included in the log request instruction is set to be staggered so that the logs are not transmitted at the same time from the in-vehicle devices 5, 6, and 7, thereby preventing an increase in communication load due to simultaneous transmission of logs.

[0045] The log storage control unit 20 calculates, for example, a first transmission timing for causing the first vehicle-mounted device 5 to transmit a first log, and a second transmission timing for causing the second vehicle-mounted device 6 to transmit a second log having a smaller data size than the first log.

[0046] 6 , the log storage control unit 20 determines whether a function of the first in-vehicle device 5 is being executed (S201). The function of the first in-vehicle device 5 is, for example, an autonomous driving function or a connected car function. When the function of the first in-vehicle device 5 is being executed, the log acquired by the first in-vehicle device 5 includes image data and video data, which increases the data size and the communication load on the communication bus 52.

[0047] During the period when the function of the first in-vehicle device 5 is being executed (S201), the log storage control unit 20 calculates the first transmission timing and the second transmission timing so that the second in-vehicle device 6 first transmits the second log, and then the first in-vehicle device 5 transmits the first log (S202).

[0048] That is, when the function of the first in-vehicle device 5 is executed and the data size of the first log is large, the log storage control unit 20 causes the second in-vehicle device 6, which has a smaller data size, to transmit the second log first. This prevents the second in-vehicle device 6 from having to wait a long time to transmit the second log when the first in-vehicle device 5, which has a larger data size, is caused to transmit the first log first.

[0049] On the other hand, during a period when the function of the first in-vehicle device 5 is not being executed (S202), the first transmission timing and the second transmission timing are calculated (S203) so that the first in-vehicle device 5 first transmits the first log, and then the second in-vehicle device 6 transmits the second log.

[0050] That is, when the function of the first in-vehicle device 5 is not being executed and the data size of the first log is not significantly larger than the data size of the second log, the log storage control unit 20 first transmits the first log of the first in-vehicle device 5, which has a larger data size. In this case, too, since the data size of the first log of the first in-vehicle device 5 is not significantly larger, it is possible to prevent the waiting time for the second in-vehicle device 6 to transmit the second log from becoming long.

[0051] In this manner, the log storage control unit 20 determines the first timing for first transmitting the log (S204). In the following example, the log storage control unit 20 calculates a first transmission timing for causing the first in-vehicle device 5 to transmit the first log and a second transmission timing for causing the second in-vehicle device 6 to transmit the second log after the first in-vehicle device 5.

[0052] The log storage control unit 20 calculates the time from the start of transmission of the first log to the end of transmission of the first log (S205) based on the data amount of the first log and the communication speed of the communication between the first in-vehicle device 5 and the receiving unit 42. In other words, since the data size of the log transmitted from the first in-vehicle device 5 and the communication speed of the communication bus 52 are known, the log storage control unit 20 can calculate the transmission end time when the log is transmitted from the first in-vehicle device 5.

[0053] The log storage control unit 20 calculates the second transmission timing based on the time from the start of transmission of the first log to the end of transmission of the first log and the communication load determined by the communication load determination unit 43 (S206).

[0054] 7 is a diagram showing an example of calculation of the transmission timing. When the communication load [%] measured by the communication load determination unit 43 is taken into consideration with respect to the time X from the start of transmission of the first log to the end of transmission of the first log calculated as described above, a communication load coefficient is set to the transmission end time when the log is transmitted from the first in-vehicle device 5. For example, if the communication load [%] is 40%, 1 + 0.4 = 1.4. The log transmission timing Y of the second in-vehicle device 6 is expressed by the following equation.

[0055] Y = X × (1 + 0.4) In other words, the second in-vehicle device 6 cannot transmit the second log during the time X from the start of transmission of the first log to the end of transmission of the first log. Furthermore, in this embodiment, a margin according to the communication load is added to the time X to prevent transmission of the second log from starting before transmission of the first log is completed. However, this calculation method for the log transmission timing is a typical calculation method and may be the same or different.

[0056] By setting the timing for starting transmission of this log, it is possible to reduce the increase in communication load caused by simultaneously transmitting logs from the in-vehicle devices 5, 6, and 7, and even if there is a log including image data, video data, etc., it is possible to reduce the obstruction of collection of logs including data other than image data and video data due to the increase in communication load caused by transmitting large volumes of logs such as image data and video data. In this embodiment, a third transmission timing for causing the third in-vehicle device 7 to transmit a third log after the second in-vehicle device 6 is calculated in the same manner as above.

[0057] 6, the log storage control unit 20 determines whether the in-vehicle device is one of the in-vehicle devices 5, 6, and 7 for which the log acquisition time and the log transmission time can be specified (S207). For the in-vehicle device 5, 6, and 7 for which the log acquisition time and the log transmission time can be specified, the log storage control unit 20 calculates an acquisition timing including the time to start log acquisition and a transmission timing including the time to transmit the log to the receiving unit 42 (S208).

[0058] On the other hand, as will be described later, for the in-vehicle devices 65, 66, and 67 for which the log acquisition time and the log transmission time cannot be specified, the log storage control unit 20 calculates an acquisition timing including the time from when the in-vehicle devices 65, 66, and 67 receive the log request instruction to when they start acquiring logs, and a transmission timing including the time from when the in-vehicle devices 65, 66, and 67 receive the log request instruction to when they cause the receiving unit 42 to transmit the logs (S209). The log storage control unit 20 calculates the acquisition timing and the transmission timing for each group and generates log collection instruction data for each group (S210). The log acquisition timing can be determined arbitrarily depending on the operating status of the in-vehicle devices 5, 6, 7, 65, 66, and 67, the presence or absence of malfunctions, the presence or absence of cyber-attacks, etc.

[0059] 4 , the transmitter 41 of the log collection device 4 transmits a log request instruction to the in-vehicle devices 5, 6, and 7 (S104). The transmitter 41 transmits a log request instruction including the first transmission timing calculated by the log storage control unit 20 as described above to the first in-vehicle device 5, and transmits a log request instruction including the second transmission timing calculated by the log storage control unit 20 as described above to the second in-vehicle device 6. Similarly, the transmitter 41 transmits a log request instruction including the third transmission timing calculated by the log storage control unit 20 to the third in-vehicle device 7.

[0060] The transmitter 41 transmits a log request instruction including the acquisition timing and transmission timing calculated by the log storage controller to the in-vehicle devices 5, 6, and 7 for which the log acquisition time and the log transmission time can be specified. In the example of Fig. 4, the in-vehicle devices 5, 6, and 7 belong to the same group for which the log acquisition time and the log transmission time can be specified. Therefore, the transmitter 41 simultaneously transmits a log request instruction to each of the in-vehicle devices 5, 6, and 7 belonging to the same group.

[0061] The in-vehicle devices 5, 6, and 7 that have received a log request instruction from the log collection device 4 wait without acquiring logs until the time included in the acquisition timing of the log request instruction (S105, S106, and S107). At the time included in the acquisition timing of the log request instruction, the in-vehicle devices 5, 6, and 7 start acquiring logs (S108, S109, and S110).

[0062] The in-vehicle device 5, 6, 7 that has acquired the log waits without transmitting the log until the time included in the transmission timing of the log request instruction (S111, S112, S113). At the time included in the transmission timing of the log request instruction, the in-vehicle device 5, 6, 7 starts transmitting the log (S114, S115, S116). The communication load determination unit 43 stops determining the communication load while the in-vehicle device 5, 6, 7 is transmitting the log to the receiving unit 42 at the transmission timing (S117).

[0063] The log collecting device 4 collects logs from the on-board devices 5, 6, and 7 (S118). The log collecting device 4 stores the logs collected from the on-board devices 5, 6, and 7 in the storage unit 30. The log collecting device 4 transmits the logs stored in the storage unit 30 to the server 1 via the communication control unit 10, the communication bus 51, and the communication device 3 (S119). The logs received by the server 1 are stored in the storage unit 37 of the server 1. However, in this embodiment, the means for transmitting the logs is not important.

[0064] Fig. 8 is a sequence diagram showing the overall processing of the server 1, the log collection device 4, and the in-vehicle devices 65, 66, and 67 for which time cannot be specified, as shown in Fig. 1. As shown in Fig. 8, the processing of S101 to S104 in Fig. 4 is performed in the same manner. The transmitter 41 transmits a log request instruction including the acquisition timing and transmission timing calculated by the log storage controller 20 to the in-vehicle devices 65, 66, and 67 for which the log acquisition time and the log transmission time cannot be specified.

[0065] The in-vehicle devices 65, 66, and 67 belong to the same group, and the log acquisition time and the log transmission time cannot be specified. Therefore, the transmitter 41 simultaneously transmits a log request instruction to each of the in-vehicle devices 65, 66, and 67 that belong to the same group.

[0066] The in-vehicle devices 65, 66, and 67 cannot specify the time for acquiring and transmitting logs. Therefore, upon receiving a log request instruction from the log collection device 4, the in-vehicle devices 65, 66, and 67 wait without acquiring logs until the time included in the acquisition timing of the log request instruction from the time the in-vehicle devices 65, 66, and 67 receive the log request instruction until the time the in-vehicle devices 65, 66, and 67 start acquiring logs (S108, S109, and S110).

[0067] The on-board devices 65, 66, and 67 that have acquired the logs wait without transmitting the logs until the time included in the transmission timing of the log request instruction from when the on-board devices 65, 66, and 67 receive the log request instruction until the time when the on-board devices 65, 66, and 67 start transmitting the logs (S311, S312, and S313). After the time included in the transmission timing of the log request instruction has elapsed, the on-board devices 65, 66, and 67 start transmitting the logs (S114, S115, and S116). The subsequent processing is the same as the processing shown in FIG. 4.

[0068] According to this embodiment, the communication load determination unit 43 determines the communication load of the communication between the in-vehicle devices 5, 6, 7, 65, 66, and 67 and the transmitter 41, and the communication between the in-vehicle devices 5, 6, 7, 65, 66, and 67 and the receiver 42. Based on the communication load determined by the communication load determination unit 43, the log storage control unit 20 calculates the transmission timing for transmitting a log to the receiver 42 for each of the in-vehicle devices 5, 6, 7, 65, 66, and 67.

[0069] The transmitter 41 transmits a log request instruction including the appropriate transmission timing calculated by the log storage controller 20 to each of the in-vehicle devices 5, 6, 7, 65, 66, and 67. The in-vehicle devices 5, 6, 7, 65, 66, and 67 transmit logs to the receiver 42 of the log collection device 4 according to the transmission timing included in the log request instruction. In this embodiment, the transmission timing is calculated based on the communication load, so that the communication load when receiving logs from multiple in-vehicle devices 5, 6, 7, 65, 66, and 67 can be reduced.

[0070] In this embodiment, the transmission timing is calculated based on the communication load, and therefore the communication load can be reduced while also reducing the waiting time for transmitting logs in the on-board devices 5, 6, 7, 65, 66, and 67. Reducing the waiting time for transmitting logs makes it possible to realize data processing for autonomous driving and connected cars, which require immediacy.

[0071] In this embodiment, the communication load determination unit 43 determines the communication load based on the data volume of communication between the in-vehicle devices 5, 6, 7, 65, 66, 67 and the transmitter 41 and the communication between the in-vehicle devices 5, 6, 7, 65, 66, 67 and the receiver 42, except when the receiver 42 receives a log. Therefore, the communication load can be appropriately determined based on the data volume of communication during normal operation.

[0072] In this embodiment, the communication load determination unit 43 calculates the amount of data being transmitted and received based on the data length and number of pieces of data transmitted and received per unit time in each of the on-board devices 5, 6, 7, 65, 66, 67 in communication between the on-board devices 5, 6, 7, 65, 66, 67 and the transmitter 41 and in communication between the on-board devices 5, 6, 7, 65, 66, 67 and the receiver 42, except when the receiver 42 is receiving logs, and determines the moving average of the periodic data amount as the communication load. This makes it possible to determine the communication load using a simple method.

[0073] In this embodiment, the log storage control unit 20 calculates a first transmission timing for causing the first in-vehicle device 5 to transmit the first log and a second transmission timing for causing the second in-vehicle device 6 to transmit the second log after the first in-vehicle device 5, and calculates the second transmission timing based on the time from the start of transmission of the first log to the end of transmission of the first log and the communication load determined by the communication load determination unit 43. Therefore, the second transmission timing can be appropriately calculated, and the communication load can be reduced while also reducing the waiting time for the second in-vehicle device 6 to transmit the log.

[0074] In this embodiment, the log storage control unit 20 calculates the time from the start of transmission of the first log to the end of transmission of the first log from the data volume of the first log and the communication speed of communication between the first in-vehicle device 5 and the receiving unit 42. Because the data volume of the first log and the communication speed of communication between the first in-vehicle device 5 and the receiving unit 42 are known, it is possible to calculate the time from the start of transmission of the first log to the end of transmission of the first log using a simple method. This makes it possible to reduce the communication load and shorten the waiting time for the second in-vehicle device 6 to transmit the log.

[0075] In this embodiment, the communication load determiner 43 stops determining the communication load during the period when the logs are being transmitted to the receiver 42 by the in-vehicle devices 5, 6, 7, 65, 66, and 67 at the transmission timing. This makes it possible to determine only the communication load during steady state, which is suitable for calculating the transmission timing. Furthermore, by stopping the determination of the communication load at the transmission timing when the communication load is naturally large, it is possible to reduce the resources consumed by the log collector 4.

[0076] In this embodiment, the log storage control unit 20 calculates a first transmission timing for causing the first in-vehicle device 5 to transmit a first log and a second transmission timing for causing the second in-vehicle device 6 to transmit a second log having a smaller data size than the first log. During a period in which a function of the first in-vehicle device 5 is being executed, the log storage control unit 20 calculates the first transmission timing and the second transmission timing so that the second in-vehicle device 6 transmits the second log first, and then the first in-vehicle device 5 transmits the first log. This prevents a long wait time for the second in-vehicle device 6 to transmit the second log when the first in-vehicle device 5 transmits the first log having a larger data size first.

[0077] On the other hand, in this embodiment, during a period when the function of the first in-vehicle device 5 is not being executed, the log storage control unit 20 calculates the first transmission timing and the second transmission timing so that the first in-vehicle device 5 first transmits the first log, and then the second in-vehicle device 6 transmits the second log. In this case, too, since the data size of the first log of the first in-vehicle device 5 is not particularly large, it is possible to prevent a long wait time for the second in-vehicle device 6 to transmit the second log. As described above, in this embodiment, by appropriately calculating the order of log transmission, it is possible to reduce the communication load and also reduce the wait time for the second in-vehicle device 6 to transmit the log.

[0078] In this embodiment, the log storage control unit 20 calculates the acquisition timing for acquiring a log for each of the in-vehicle devices 5, 6, 7, 65, 66, and 67. Therefore, it is possible to cause each of the in-vehicle devices 5, 6, 7, 65, 66, and 67 to acquire a log at any acquisition timing.

[0079] In this embodiment, for the in-vehicle devices 5, 6, and 7 for which the log acquisition time and the log transmission time can be specified, the log storage control unit 20 calculates an acquisition timing including the time to start log acquisition and a transmission timing including the time to transmit the log to the receiving unit 42. On the other hand, for the in-vehicle devices 65, 66, and 67 for which the log acquisition time and the log transmission time cannot be specified, the log storage control unit 20 calculates an acquisition timing including the time from when the in-vehicle devices 65, 66, and 67 receive a log request instruction to when they start acquiring the log, and a transmission timing including the time from when the in-vehicle devices 65, 66, and 67 receive a log request instruction to when they transmit the log to the receiving unit 42. Therefore, the acquisition timing and the transmission timing can be specified depending on the functions of the in-vehicle devices 5, 6, 7, 65, 66, and 67.

[0080] In this embodiment, the group setting unit 44 sets multiple groups, including a group to which the in-vehicle devices 5, 6, and 7 belong, for which the log acquisition time and the log transmission time can be specified, and a group to which the in-vehicle devices 65, 66, and 67 belong, for which the log acquisition time and the log transmission time cannot be specified. The log storage control unit 20 calculates the acquisition timing and the transmission timing for each group. The transmission unit 41 transmits, for each group, a log request instruction including the acquisition timing and the transmission timing calculated for each group by the log storage control unit 20. This allows efficient processing for each group to which the in-vehicle devices 5, 6, 7, 65, 66, and 67 belong.

[0081] In this embodiment, the transmitter 41 simultaneously transmits a log request instruction to each of the on-board devices 5, 6, and 7 and the on-board devices 65, 66, and 67 belonging to the same group. Therefore, the process of transmitting a log request instruction can be efficiently executed for each group to which the on-board devices 5, 6, 7, 65, 66, and 67 belong. [Second Embodiment] In this embodiment, the log collection device 4 transmits a log request instruction to the on-board devices 5, 6, 7, 65, 66, and 67 in response to a sign of an external cyber-attack. FIG. 9 is a functional block diagram showing the configuration of the log collection device 4 and the on-board devices 5, 6, 7, 65, 66, and 67 of the second embodiment. As shown in FIG. 9, in this embodiment, the server 1 and the communication control unit 8 are simply omitted from the vehicle management system 100 of the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1, and therefore a description thereof will be omitted.

[0082] 10 is a sequence diagram showing the overall processing of the log collection device 4 and the time-specifiable in-vehicle devices 5, 6, and 7 shown in FIG. 9. As shown in FIG. 10, in this embodiment, a log collection instruction from the server 1 is not transmitted to the log collection device 4. Similar to the processing shown in FIG. 4, the communication load determination unit 43 of the log collection device 4 periodically measures the communication load of the communication bus 52 connected to the log collection device 4 (S102). In the following example, the in-vehicle device 6 detects a sign of an external cyber-attack and transmits a message to the log collection device 4 indicating that there is a sign of an external cyber-attack (S401).

[0083] 4 described above, the log storage control unit 20 of the log collecting device 4 generates log request instruction data (S103). Thereafter, the processes of S104 to S119 of FIG. 4 are similarly performed. In this embodiment, the communication load determination unit 43 periodically measures the communication load of the log collecting device 4 and the in-vehicle devices 65, 66, and 67 for which a time cannot be specified (S102). After the in-vehicle device 6 transmits a message indicating that there is a sign of an external cyber-attack (S401), the processes of S103 to S104, S305 to S307, S108 to S110, S311 to S313, and S114 to S119 of FIG. 8 described above are performed.

[0084] In this embodiment, a log request instruction is transmitted in response to a sign of an external cyber-attack on the in-vehicle devices 5, 6, 7, 65, 66, and 67. In this embodiment, the communication load can also be reduced, while the waiting time for sending logs in the in-vehicle devices 5, 6, 7, 65, 66, and 67 can be reduced. By reducing the waiting time for sending logs, it is possible to realize data processing for autonomous driving and connected cars in the event of a cyber-attack, which requires immediacy.

[0085] Although the embodiments of the present disclosure have been described in detail above using the drawings, the specific configuration is not limited to this embodiment, and even if there are design changes and the like within the scope that does not deviate from the gist of the present disclosure, they are included in the present disclosure.

[0086] REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 Server 2 Vehicle 3 Communication device 4 Log collection device 5 In-vehicle device 6 In-vehicle device 7 In-vehicle device 8 Communication control unit 10 Communication control unit 11 Communication control unit 13 Communication control unit 14 Communication control unit 15 Communication control unit 16 Communication control unit 17 Communication control unit 18 Communication control unit 20 Log storage control unit 21 Log storage control unit 22 Log storage control unit 23 Log storage control unit 24 Log storage control unit 25 Log storage control unit 30 Memory unit 31 Memory unit 32 Memory unit 33 Memory unit 34 Memory unit 35 Memory unit 36 ​​Memory unit 37 Memory unit 41 Transmitter 42 Receiver 43 Communication load determiner 44 Group setting unit 50 Exterior communication network 51 Communication bus 52 Communication bus 65 In-vehicle device 66 In-vehicle device 67 In-vehicle device 100 Vehicle management system 1000 Log request instruction 1001 Data content 1002 Setting data 2000 Log request instruction 2001 Data content 2002 Setting data D Data

Claims

1. A log collection device comprising: a transmitter that transmits to each of a plurality of in-vehicle devices data including a log request instruction that causes each of the plurality of in-vehicle devices to transmit a log; a receiver that receives the data including the log transmitted by each of the in-vehicle devices in accordance with the log request instruction transmitted by the transmitter; a communication load determination unit that determines the communication load of communication between the in-vehicle device and the transmitter and the communication between the in-vehicle device and the receiver; and a log storage control unit that calculates a transmission timing for transmitting the log to the receiver for each of the in-vehicle devices based on the communication load determined by the communication load determination unit, wherein the transmitter transmits the log request instruction including the transmission timing calculated by the log storage control unit to each of the in-vehicle devices.

2. The log collection device according to claim 1, characterized in that the communication load determination unit determines the communication load based on the amount of data in communication between the vehicle-mounted device and the transmitter and between the vehicle-mounted device and the receiver at times other than when the log is received by the receiver.

3. The log collection device of claim 2, characterized in that the communication load determination unit calculates the amount of data being sent and received based on the data length and number of data sent and received per unit time in each of the on-board devices in communication between the on-board device and the transmission unit and in communication between the on-board device and the reception unit other than when the log is received by the reception unit, and determines the communication load as a moving average of the periodic data amount.

4. The log collection device described in claim 2, characterized in that the log storage control unit calculates a first transmission timing for causing the first vehicle-mounted device to transmit the first log and a second transmission timing for causing the second vehicle-mounted device to transmit the second log after the first vehicle-mounted device, and calculates the second transmission timing based on the time from the start of transmission of the first log to the end of transmission of the first log and the communication load determined by the communication load determination unit, and the transmission unit transmits the log request instruction including the first transmission timing calculated by the log storage control unit to the first vehicle-mounted device, and transmits the log request instruction including the second transmission timing calculated by the log storage control unit to the second vehicle-mounted device.

5. The log collection device of claim 4, characterized in that the log storage control unit calculates the time from the start of transmission of the first log to the end of transmission of the first log based on the data volume of the first log and the communication speed of communication between the first vehicle-mounted device and the receiving unit.

6. The log collection device according to claim 2, characterized in that the communication load determination unit stops determining the communication load during the period when the log is being transmitted to the receiving unit by the vehicle-mounted device at the transmission timing.

7. The log collection device described in claim 2, characterized in that the log storage control unit calculates a first transmission timing for causing the first in-vehicle device to transmit a first log and a second transmission timing for causing the second in-vehicle device to transmit a second log having a smaller data size than the first log, calculates the first transmission timing and the second transmission timing so that, during a period in which a function of the first in-vehicle device is being executed, the second in-vehicle device transmits the second log first, and then the first in-vehicle device transmits the first log, and calculates the first transmission timing and the second transmission timing so that, during a period in which a function of the first in-vehicle device is not being executed, the first in-vehicle device transmits the first log first, and then the second in-vehicle device transmits the second log.

8. The log collection device according to claim 1, characterized in that the log storage control unit calculates the acquisition timing for acquiring the log for each of the in-vehicle devices, and the transmission unit transmits the log request instruction including the acquisition timing calculated by the log storage control unit to each of the in-vehicle devices.

9. The log storage control unit, for the in-vehicle device capable of specifying the time of log acquisition and the time of log transmission, calculates the acquisition timing including the time to start acquiring the log and the transmission timing including the time to transmit the log to the receiving unit; for the in-vehicle device capable of not specifying the time of log acquisition and the time of log transmission, calculates the acquisition timing including the time from when the in-vehicle device receives the log request instruction to when it starts acquiring the log and the transmission timing including the time from when the in-vehicle device receives the log request instruction to when it transmits the log to the receiving unit; and the transmission unit, for the in-vehicle device capable of specifying the time of log acquisition and the time of log transmission, transmits the log request instruction including the acquisition timing and the transmission timing calculated by the log storage control unit to the in-vehicle device capable of specifying the time of log acquisition and the time of log transmission; The log collection device according to claim 8, characterized in that the log request instruction including the acquisition timing and the transmission timing calculated by the log storage control unit is sent to the in-vehicle device that cannot specify the time of log acquisition and the time of log transmission.

10. A log collection device as described in claim 9, further comprising a group setting unit that sets a plurality of groups for each of the in-vehicle devices, wherein the group setting unit sets a plurality of groups including a group to which the in-vehicle devices that can specify the time to acquire the log and the time to transmit the log belong, and a group to which the in-vehicle devices that cannot specify the time to acquire the log and the time to transmit the log belong, wherein the log storage control unit calculates the acquisition timing and the transmission timing for each of the groups, and wherein the transmission unit transmits the log request instruction for each of the groups, including the acquisition timing and the transmission timing calculated for each of the groups by the log storage control unit.

11. The log collection device according to claim 10, wherein the transmission unit simultaneously transmits the log request instruction to each of the in-vehicle devices belonging to the same group.

Images