Software change management device, software change management system, and software change management method

Abstract

A software change management device (3) comprises a change detection part (31) and a reporting part (32), and manages changes caused by events different from an update to updating software provided from a server (5) to a vehicle (9) by means of communication via a network (13). The change detection part detects a software change for each electronic control unit (7). The reporting part reports configuration information of software in which a change was detected by the change detection part. The configuration information includes information of an electronic control unit for which a software change has been detected by the change detection part, and version information of the software in which the change was detected by the change detection part. The configuration information is used by the server when updating the content of a database (52) of a server relating to the software version used by each electronic control unit.

Description

Software Change Management Device, Software Change Management System, and Software Change Management Method

[0001] The present invention relates to a software change management device, a software change management system, and a software change management method.

[0002] As a technology for updating the software of an electronic control unit (ECU: Electronic Control Unit) that controls the operation of a vehicle, OTA (Over The Air) technology is known. In Patent Document 1, a method for updating software when the ECU of a vehicle is replaced at a maintenance factory is proposed. In this method, in a group of multiple ECUs that cooperate to realize a certain function, when a change occurs in the combination of software versions, data of a software ID that defines the combination of versions is wirelessly transmitted to the server of the center. The server collates the software ID of the received data with the software ID in the database of the server, and when software update is necessary, transmits the data of the software for update wirelessly to the vehicle. In the vehicle, the software of the vehicle is updated to a different version based on the data received from the server. The Internet is used for wireless data transmission and reception.

[0003] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2022-175460

[0004] For example, when the software of the ECU is reprogrammed at a vehicle sales company, the center side that provides the software for update to the vehicle by OTA cannot grasp that the software has been reprogrammed.

[0005] The present invention has been made in view of the above circumstances, and an object of the present invention is to improve the traceability of the version of the software in use managed by the server of the center.

[0006] One aspect of the present invention that solves the above-mentioned problems provides a device for managing software changes of one or more electronic control units mounted on a vehicle. The software change management device according to this aspect comprises a change detection unit and a notification unit, and manages changes caused by events different from updates to update software provided to the vehicle from a server via network communication. The change detection unit detects software changes for each electronic control unit. The notification unit notifies the configuration information of the software whose change has been detected by the change detection unit. The configuration information includes information of the electronic control unit whose software change has been detected by the change detection unit, and version information of the software whose change has been detected by the change detection unit. The configuration information is used by the server when updating the contents of the server's database regarding the version of the software used in each electronic control unit.

[0007] According to the present invention, the traceability of version information of vehicle programs managed by the center's server can be improved.

[0008] Figure 1 shows an example of the configuration of a software change management system according to an embodiment. Figure 2 is a sequence diagram illustrating an example of the update procedure after software changes. This is an example graph.

[0009] Embodiments and modifications thereof of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. In the drawings, identical parts are denoted by the same reference numerals and their descriptions are omitted. The present invention can be applied, for example, to a vehicle equipped with an electronic control unit that updates its software using OTA (Over The Air) technology. The software change management device is installed in the vehicle equipped with the electronic control unit. The vehicle's change management device can constitute a software change management system together with a server at a center that provides the vehicle with software for updating the electronic control unit.

[0010] As shown in Figure 1, the software change management system 1 according to this embodiment includes a software change management device 3 and a server 5. The software change management method according to this embodiment can be implemented in the software change management device 3. Hereinafter, the software change management system 1 will be abbreviated as change management system 1, and the software change management device 3 will be abbreviated as change management device 3. The change management device 3 is installed in a vehicle 9 equipped with one or more electronic control units 7. The electronic control unit 7 is sometimes called an ECU (Electronic Control Unit). The server 5 is installed in a center 11 located away from the vehicle 9. The server 5 provides the vehicle 9 with update software for the electronic control units 7 via communication over a network 13 including the Internet. The software of the electronic control units 7 installed in the vehicle 9 can be updated with the update software provided by the server 5 for each electronic control unit 7.

[0011] The change management device 3 has a function for always connecting to the internet wirelessly. The change management device 3 is communicated with the electronic control unit 7 of the same vehicle 9 via the vehicle's in-vehicle network 15. The change management device 3 can update the software of the electronic control unit 7 with update software provided from the server 5 via the internet. The change management device 3 manages changes to the software of the electronic control unit 7 due to events other than updates to the update software. The change management device 3 has a general-purpose microcontroller. The general-purpose microcontroller comprises an arithmetic unit and an input / output unit. The arithmetic unit comprises a CPU (Central Processing Unit) and memory. The memory includes a read-only ROM (Read Only Memory) and a read and writeable RAM (Random Access Memory). The arithmetic unit of the change management device 3 can virtually construct multiple information processing circuits by having the CPU execute a program stored in the ROM. The information processing circuits constructed in the arithmetic unit of the change management device 3 can constitute, for example, the change detection unit 31 and the notification unit 32 of the change management device 3. The information processing circuit of the change management device 3 may be configured with dedicated hardware. Dedicated hardware may include application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) arranged to perform the necessary information processing functions, or devices such as conventional circuit components.

[0012] The change detection unit 31 detects changes to the software of each electronic control unit 7 due to events other than updates to update software, for each electronic control unit 7. The change detection unit 31 may, for example, detect the replacement of an electronic control unit 7 in the market as a change in the software of the replaced electronic control unit 7. The market is, for example, a repair shop that repairs vehicles 9. The change detection unit 31 can recognize the replacement of an electronic control unit 7, for example, by interruptions in repeated communication with each electronic control unit 7 via the in-vehicle network 15. The change detection unit 31 may, for example, detect the reprogramming of the software of an electronic control unit 7 as a change in the software of the reprogrammed electronic control unit 7. Reprogramming refers to rewriting the software of an electronic control unit 7 using, for example, a terminal (not shown) connected to the in-vehicle network 15. Reprogramming is performed as an event different from updating the software of an electronic control unit 7 to update software provided by the server 5. The change detection unit 31 can recognize the reprogramming of the software of an electronic control unit 7, for example, by triggering the connection of a terminal to the in-vehicle network 15. The change detection unit 31 may detect a software change when it recognizes the replacement of the electronic control unit 7 or when it recognizes the reprogramming of the software of the electronic control unit 7. The change detection unit 31 may, for example, intermittently and repeatedly detect the software version for each electronic control unit 7 and detect a software change if the versions before and after the consecutively detected versions are different. The notification unit 32 notifies the server 5 of the configuration information of the software whose change was detected by the change detection unit 31. The software configuration information includes information that identifies the electronic control unit 7 whose software change was detected by the change detection unit 31, and version information that represents the version of the software whose change was detected by the change detection unit 31.

[0013] Server 5 provides update software for the electronic control unit 7 to the vehicle 9. Server 5 is connected to the internet. Server 5 can communicate individually with the change management device 3 of each vehicle 9 via the internet. Server 5 has a general-purpose microcontroller equipped with a calculation unit and an input / output unit, similar to the change management device 3. The memory of the calculation unit may include a storage device such as an SSD (Solid State Drive) or HDD (Hard Disk Drive). The storage device can constitute, for example, the storage unit 51 of Server 5. A database 52 is constructed in the storage unit 51 to manage the version of the software used in the electronic control unit 7 of the vehicle 9 for each electronic control unit 7. The calculation unit can virtually construct multiple information processing circuits by having the CPU execute a program stored in ROM. The information processing circuits of the calculation unit of Server 5 can consist of, for example, an update unit 53, a grouping unit 54, and a provision unit 55. The update unit 53 updates the contents of the database 52 to correspond to the updated version of the software changed in the vehicle 9. When updating the contents of the database 52, the update unit 53 uses the software configuration information that has been notified by the change detection unit 31 of the change management device 3 and which has been detected as a change by the change detection unit 31 of the change management device 3. The grouping unit 54 groups one or more vehicles 9 that manage the same version information for the software of the same electronic control unit 7 in the database 52. The provision unit 55 provides the update software for the same electronic control unit 7 to the grouped vehicles 9 via communication over the network 13.

[0014] In this embodiment of the change management system 1, an example of the procedure for updating the software of the electronic control unit 7 to update software provided to the vehicle 9 from the server 5 after the software has been modified in the vehicle 9 will be described. As shown in Figure 2, in the change management device 3 of the vehicle 9, when a change in the software of the electronic control unit 7 is detected by the change detection unit 31 (step S11), the configuration information of the software whose change was detected is notified to the server 5 by the notification unit 32 (step S13). The server 5 receives information from the server 5 that is not a response to an event requested from the change management device 3, so normally the received information is discarded without being acquired. However, the server 5 acquires the received information without discarding it, even if it is unrequested information, only when it receives software update information notified by the notification unit 32. The update unit 53 of the server 5 updates the contents of the database 52 in the storage unit 51 based on the notified software configuration information (step S15). As a result of this update, the contents of the database 52 are updated to the latest content in which the changed software version has changed to the changed version. When the server 5 provides the update software for the electronic control unit 7 to the vehicle 9 after the database 52 has been updated, the server 5 creates a campaign for the software update based on the latest contents of the database 52 (step S17). The created campaign includes data for the update software, information identifying the electronic control unit 7 to which the software will be updated, and information identifying the vehicle 9 to which the software of the electronic control unit 7 will be updated. The update software is created for each version of the software. The change management device 3 of the vehicle 9 periodically queries the server 5 to see if there is a software update campaign for the version of the software currently used in its electronic control unit 7 (step S19). If the vehicle 9 of the querying change management device 3 has an electronic control unit 7 using the version of the software to be updated, the server 5 has it download the data of the created update campaign (step S21).The change management device 3 of the vehicle 9, from which the data has been downloaded, updates the software of the electronic control unit 7 to be updated with the update software for the downloaded update campaign (step S23).

[0015] Server 5 creates a campaign for software updates for each software version. When generating a campaign in step S17, Server 5 uses the grouping unit 54 to group one or more vehicles 9 whose version information matches the software version targeted by the campaign and which are managed in the database 52. When allowing the vehicles to download the update software for the update campaign in step S21, Server 5 provides the update software to the vehicles 9 grouped by the grouping unit 54 via communication through the network 13 by the provisioning unit 55.

[0016] For example, the replacement of the electronic control unit 7 or the reprogramming of its software at a vehicle 9 repair shop or dealership is performed as a different event from a software update to the update software provided by the server 5 in the center 11. Since this event is not performed at the direction of the server 5, the server 5 cannot detect the software change caused by an event different from a software update to the update software. Even if the software of the vehicle 9's electronic control unit 7 is changed by an event different from an update, the version information of the software currently used by the vehicle 9's electronic control unit 7, managed in the server 5's database 52, remains unchanged from the content before the change. If the server 5 creates a campaign to update the software of the vehicle 9's electronic control unit 7 based on the contents of the database 52 after the software change, the content of that campaign will not correspond to the software of the electronic control unit 7 currently used in the vehicle 9. Even if the vehicle 9 receives the data from this campaign, the software update of the vehicle 9's electronic control unit 7 will not be performed successfully and will be canceled. In order for the changed software in the vehicle 9 to be successfully updated by a campaign created by the server 5, the server 5 needs to create a campaign that matches the content of the changed software. If the change management device 3 does not have a change detection unit 31 or a notification unit 32, the software changes made in the vehicle 9 will not be reflected in the contents of the database 52 on the server 5, and the server 5 will not be able to create a campaign that matches the changed software content.

[0017] In this embodiment, since the change management device 3 has a change detection unit 31 or a notification unit 32, it can make the server 5 aware of the version of the electronic control unit 7 software that has been changed by an event other than an update, and update the contents of the server 5's database 52 to the latest content. This update improves the traceability of the software version used in the electronic control unit 7 managed by the server 5's database 52. When the software of the electronic control unit 7 in the vehicle 9 is changed, the software version managed in the database 52 is updated each time, so that update software can be quickly provided to the target vehicle 9 when a software update is necessary.

[0018] For example, even if the software of the electronic control unit 7 is changed due to an event such as replacement or reprogramming of the electronic control unit 7, the server 5 can be made aware of the changed software version. If the software versions of the electronic control unit 7 detected consecutively by the change detection unit 31 of the change management device 3 are different, it is considered that the software was changed and the version changed between consecutive detection timings. The change detection unit 31 can detect changes in the software of the electronic control unit 7 by detecting that the software versions of the electronic control unit 7 detected intermittently and repeatedly are different before and after consecutive detections. The provision unit 55 provides the update software to the grouped vehicles 9 by the grouping unit 54, so that the update software can be provided without fail to one or more vehicles 9 that are using the campaign-targeted version of the software in the electronic control unit 7.

[0019] The embodiments described above are merely examples of the present invention. Therefore, the present invention is not limited to the embodiments described above, and various modifications are possible in forms other than those described above, as long as they do not depart from the technical spirit of the present invention, depending on the design and other factors.

[0020] 1 Software change management system 3 Software change management device 5 Server 7 Electronic control unit 9 Vehicle 13 Network 31 Change detection unit 32 Notification unit 51 Storage unit 52 Database 53 Update unit 54 Grouping unit 55 Provision unit

Claims

1. A software change management device for managing changes to the software of one or more electronic control units installed in a vehicle, which are caused by events other than updates to update software provided to the vehicle from a server via network communication, comprising: a change detection unit that detects changes to the software for each electronic control unit; and a notification unit that notifies the server of the configuration information of the software whose changes have been detected by the change detection unit, which the server uses when updating the contents of the server's database regarding the version of the software used in the electronic control unit for each electronic control unit, wherein the configuration information includes information of the electronic control unit whose software changes have been detected by the change detection unit, and version information of the software whose changes have been detected by the change detection unit.

2. The software change management device according to claim 1, wherein the change detection unit detects the replacement of the electronic control unit as a change in the software of the replaced electronic control unit.

3. The software change management device according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the change detection unit detects the reprogramming of the software in the electronic control unit as a change in the software of the reprogrammed electronic control unit.

4. The software change management device according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the change detection unit intermittently and repeatedly detects the version of the software for each electronic control unit, and detects a change in the software when the versions before and after the consecutively detected versions are different.

5. A system for managing changes to the software of one or more electronic control units installed in a vehicle, which are caused by events other than updates to update software provided to the vehicle via network communication, comprising: a change management device in the vehicle that manages changes to the software for each electronic control unit; and a server that provides the update software to the vehicle, wherein the change management device comprises: a change detection unit that detects changes to the software for each electronic control unit; and a notification unit that notifies the server of configuration information of the software for which the change detection unit has detected a change, wherein the configuration information includes information of the electronic control unit for which the change detection unit has detected a change to the software, and version information of the software for which the change detection unit has detected a change, and the server comprises: a storage unit that has constructed a database relating to the version of the software used in the electronic control unit for each electronic control unit; and an update unit that updates the contents of the database in the storage unit based on the configuration information notified from the change management device, wherein the system is a software change management system.

6. The software change management system according to claim 5, wherein the server further comprises: a grouping unit that groups one or more vehicles that manage the same version information for the same electronic control unit software in the database; and a providing unit that provides the update software for the same electronic control unit to the grouped vehicles by communication over the network.

7. A method for managing changes to the software of one or more electronic control units installed in a vehicle, which are caused by events other than updates to update software provided to the vehicle from a server via network communication, the method comprising: detecting the software change for each electronic control unit in the vehicle; notifying the server of configuration information including information of the electronic control unit that detected the software change and version information of the software that detected the change; and updating the contents of a database relating to the version of the software used by each electronic control unit in the electronic control unit based on the configuration information notified to the server.

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