Vehicle ECU Communication Frame for Cross-Protocol Integrity Checks
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current communication methods between electronic control units (ECUs) in vehicles, particularly in electric power steering systems, lack robustness and fail to ensure safety aspects such as detecting stale, missed, extraneous, or integrity issues across different communication protocols, leading to potential safety hazards due to hardware limitations and protocol diversification.
Innovation Solution
A protocol-agnostic data frame is generated with a pattern identifier, rolling counter, message identifier, cyclic redundancy check (CRC), and their complements, allowing for transmission across multiple communication channels and protocols, ensuring data integrity and consistency, and enabling message replacement in case of failures.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If multiple communication protocols are used for inter-controller communication, then adaptability to different controllers is improved, but communication reliability and data integrity deteriorate due to protocol diversification and hardware limitations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a protocol-agnostic data frame as an intermediary structure that mediates communication between controllers using different protocols. The data frame includes universal fields (pattern identifier, rolling counter, message identifier, signal group, CRC) that can be interpreted by any controller regardless of its native protocol, while protocol-specific fields handle the particularities of each communication protocol. This intermediary structure resolves the contradiction by providing a common language for diverse protocols while maintaining their individual characteristics.
Solution Approach 2:
The communication data frame is segmented into distinct functional fields: protocol-agnostic fields (pattern identifier, rolling counter, message identifier, signal group) and protocol-specific fields. This segmentation allows each part to serve its specific purpose - the agnostic fields ensure broad compatibility and basic reliability, while the protocol-specific fields handle protocol particularities. The segmented structure enables controllers to process only the relevant portions according to their protocol requirements, improving both adaptability and reliability.
2Reliability
If redundancy is implemented through multiple ECUs and communication channels, then system safety is improved, but system complexity and detection difficulty worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies homogeneity by standardizing the data frame structure across all communication channels and protocols. Despite the heterogeneous nature of multiple ECUs and protocols, the data frame format remains homogeneous with consistent fields (pattern identifier, rolling counter, message identifier, signal group, CRC) that can be universally processed. This homogeneous structure simplifies the complexity of managing redundant systems by providing a uniform interface for all controllers, making detection and processing easier while maintaining safety through redundancy.
Solution Approach 2:
The data frame includes feedback mechanisms through the cyclic redundancy check (CRC) field and rolling counter that enable receiving controllers to verify data integrity and detect errors. The CRC provides feedback on whether the received data is valid, while the rolling counter helps detect stale or duplicate messages. This feedback system manages the complexity of redundant communication by providing automated error detection and validation, reducing the burden on system operators to manually monitor complex multi-channel communications.
3Measurement precision
If protocol-specific data frames are used for each communication protocol, then communication precision for each protocol is improved, but adaptability to different protocols deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The data frame structure embodies universality by being designed to work with multiple communication protocols simultaneously. The protocol-agnostic fields (pattern identifier, rolling counter, message identifier, signal group) can be universally processed by any controller regardless of its native protocol. The data frame can be transmitted over different protocols (CAN, LIN, Ethernet, etc.) while maintaining its structural integrity and meaning. This multi-functional design resolves the contradiction by enabling a single data frame format to achieve both precision (through protocol-specific field options) and adaptability (through universal agnostic fields).
Data Source
AI summary
Technical solutions are described for inter-controller communication in a protocol agnostic manner. For example, a method includes generating, by a sending controller, a protocol agnostic data frame including a pattern identifier, a rolling counter, a message identifier, a signal group, a cyclic redundancy check (CRC), a complement of the pattern identifier, and a complement of the rolling counter. The method further includes sending, by the sending controller, the protocol agnostic data frame to a first receiving controller that uses a first communication protocol, and sending, by the sending controller, the protocol agnostic data frame to a second receiving controller that uses a second communication protocol.