Vehicle ECU Communication Control for Power Saving
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Solution Overview
Problem
The existing CAN bus communication systems in vehicles face issues with unnecessary power consumption due to continuous communication errors when only required ECUs are activated, leading to prolonged power usage even after temporary anomalies.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a communication device and method that dynamically assesses the necessity of information communication based on vehicle conditions and external information, allowing for temporary cessation of communication during non-essential operations and resuming only when necessary, thereby reducing power consumption.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Use of energy by moving object
If ECUs are activated only when required to reduce power consumption, then power consumption is reduced, but communication errors occur continuously when communication partners are not activated
Solution Approach 1:
The communication control unit dynamically adjusts communication behavior based on vehicle state. When the vehicle is in a state where communication is unnecessary (e.g., parked, charging), the system suspends communication attempts. When communication becomes necessary (e.g., vehicle started, charging completed), communication resumes automatically. This dynamic adaptation resolves the contradiction by making communication reliability conditional on actual communication needs.
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes the communication parameter from continuous operation to conditional operation based on vehicle state parameters. By monitoring vehicle state (charging status, ignition state, operation status), the system adjusts whether communication should be performed, effectively changing the operational parameter of the communication system to resolve the contradiction between power saving and communication reliability.
2Reliability
If communication is continuously performed to ensure reliability, then communication reliability is maintained, but power consumption increases unnecessarily
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of performing full continuous communication, the system performs partial communication only when necessary. By suspending communication during states where it is unnecessary (parked, charging) and resuming when needed, the system applies partial action principle to maintain sufficient reliability while reducing excessive power consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
The communication control unit autonomously determines when communication is necessary based on vehicle state information, and automatically suspends or resumes communication without external intervention. This self-service mechanism resolves the contradiction by making the system self-regulating based on actual communication needs.
3Reliability
If communication error count is reset automatically to restart communication, then communication can resume after temporary anomalies, but unnecessary communication continues consuming power
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary assessment of vehicle state before resuming communication after an error. Instead of immediately resetting the error count and restarting communication, the system first checks whether the vehicle is in a state where communication is necessary. This preliminary action prevents unnecessary communication and power consumption while still enabling recovery when needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses feedback from vehicle state monitoring (charging status, ignition state, operation status) to control communication resumption. The communication control unit continuously monitors vehicle state and uses this feedback to determine whether to resume communication after an error, resolving the contradiction by making recovery conditional on actual communication needs.
Data Source
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AI summary
A first ECU (11) acquires external information from an external device, and performs information communication based on a communication message stipulated in a CAN protocol via a communication bus (10). The first ECU (11) is provided with: a communication necessity/unnecessity determination unit (113) which determines the necessity or unnecessity of the information communication via the communication bus (10) on the basis of the acquired external information; and a communication control unit (114) which, when the information communication is determined to be necessary, stops the information communication for a given period on condition that a communication error is detected, and resumes the information communication after a lapse of the given period, and when the information communication is determined to be unnecessary, stops the transmission of the communication message until a predetermined transmission resumption condition is satisfied.