Dual Microcontroller Interface for Motor Vehicle Data Exchange
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Solution Overview
Problem
Modern motor vehicle systems face increasing complexity and resource demands, leading to challenges in fail-safety, integration costs, and production times due to the need for numerous components and sophisticated software customization in multicore microcontroller systems.
Innovation Solution
An electronic control unit with dual microcontroller units, each executing independent operating systems, allows for efficient integration and customization of software modules, with one unit handling basic motor vehicle system functions and the other providing resources for computation-intensive tasks, using a hardware-based protection concept for memory and peripheral access.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If software modules are customized for each motor vehicle manufacturer and integrated into basic software, then the system can meet specific functional requirements and resource demands, but the integration complexity and development time increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The system divides software into separate modules that can be independently developed, tested, and integrated. Each software module can be customized for different motor vehicle manufacturers while maintaining a standardized interface with the basic software, thereby reducing integration complexity while preserving customization capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The control unit is designed with universal communication interfaces and standardized data exchange formats that allow different customized software modules to operate on a common platform. This enables multiple manufacturers' software to run on the same hardware architecture without requiring complete system redesign.
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple components and sensors are integrated to provide assistance functions, then the system functionality and driver support improve, but the volume of information and system complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple control units with identical or similar functionality are merged into a single control unit through virtualization and time-multiplexed execution. This allows the system to maintain the functional capabilities of multiple separate units while physically consolidating them, thereby reducing information volume and system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
A standardized interface layer acts as an intermediary between various sensors, actuators, and software modules. This mediator layer abstracts the complexity of multiple components, providing a unified access point that reduces the burden of handling extensive interrelationships between system elements.
3Reliability
If redundant control computers are implemented with full redundancy, then system reliability and fail-safety improve, but the hardware resources and system costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically allocates hardware resources between redundant control functions based on operational requirements. During normal operation, full redundancy is maintained for safety-critical functions, but non-critical functions can share resources or be deactivated, thereby reducing overall hardware consumption while maintaining reliability where needed.
Solution Approach 2:
Redundancy is applied selectively to different parts of the control system based on their criticality. Safety-critical control functions receive full redundant protection, while non-critical functions use reduced or no redundancy, optimizing the balance between reliability and hardware resource utilization.
4Power
If computation-intensive assistance systems are added to meet future resource demands, then the system capability and safety improve, but the software integration difficulty and production time increase
Solution Approach 1:
Software modules are pre-configured, pre-compiled, and pre-tested before integration into the control unit. Standardized interfaces and deployment mechanisms allow these pre-prepared modules to be quickly integrated during production, reducing assembly time and enabling the inclusion of computation-intensive assistance systems without proportionally increasing production time.
Data Source
AI summary
An electronic control unit for controlling and/or regulating at least one motor vehicle includes at least one integrated microcontroller system for executing software and at least two microcontroller units that each executes at least one independent operating system. The at least one interface is provided for the purpose of interchanging information between the microcontroller units. The electronic control unit includes a first microcontroller unit configured to control and/or regulate of a first motor vehicle system, and a second microcontroller unit configured to use the interface of the first microcontroller unit to provide defaults for the control and/or regulation of the first motor vehicle system.