Diagnostic Command Batching for High-Latency Vehicle Networks
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing on-board diagnostics (OBD) systems are not suitable for high-latency networks, leading to communication timeouts and session termination issues when trying to transfer diagnostic commands over networks like the Internet, where latency exceeds the limits of traditional communication protocols.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that involve a diagnostic server and interface device communicating over an open network, where the server receives ECU details, retrieves executable functions, batches instructions with specific timing parameters, and transmits them to the interface device for execution by the OBD system, ensuring commands are sent according to the timing parameters to maintain session continuity and prevent timeouts.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If a smartphone application is used to access vehicle diagnostic functions, then ease of operation is improved, but reliability is worsened due to wireless communication errors and dropped connections
Solution Approach 1:
A server acts as an intermediary between the smartphone application and the vehicle diagnostic system. The server receives diagnostic requests from the smartphone via wireless connection, processes them, and communicates with the vehicle's diagnostic port. This mediator architecture allows the smartphone to maintain simple user interface operations while the server handles the complex and reliable vehicle communication protocols, thus resolving the contradiction between ease of operation and reliability.
2Device complexity
If multiple vehicle systems are accessed through a single diagnostic port, then device complexity is reduced, but reliability is worsened due to signal interference and communication errors
Solution Approach 1:
The diagnostic system segments communication channels by assigning different frequencies or time slots to different vehicle systems (engine, transmission, brakes, etc.). The server manages multiple communication streams separately, allowing simultaneous access to multiple vehicle systems through a single physical diagnostic port without signal interference, thus reducing device complexity while maintaining reliability.
3Ease of operation
If diagnostic data is transmitted wirelessly to a smartphone, then ease of operation is improved, but loss of information is worsened due to connection drops and data transmission errors
Solution Approach 1:
The server performs preliminary data validation, formatting, and error checking before transmitting diagnostic information to the smartphone application. Complete diagnostic datasets are prepared and buffered on the server before wireless transmission, ensuring data integrity. If transmission is interrupted, the server can resume sending the remaining data without requiring the user to restart the diagnostic session, thus maintaining ease of operation while preventing information loss.
Data Source
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AI summary
Systems and methods for transferring diagnostic commands to an on-board diagnostics (OBD) system of a vehicle are provided. A diagnostic interface device has a dedicated connection to a vehicle OBD system, and is in data communication with a diagnostic server over an open network. An instruction indicator is transmitted from the diagnostic interface device to the diagnostic server, and the diagnostic server transmits several instructions to be provided to the OBD system to execute the instruction to the diagnostic interface device. The instructions are provided in a batch which includes timing parameters specific to each instruction in the batch, so that the diagnostic interface device is capable of transferring each instruction in the batch to the vehicle OBD system in accordance with the timing parameters.