ECU Program Sorting for Faster In-Vehicle Software Updates

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing vehicle control systems face issues with increased communication time, power consumption, and security risks when updating programs for multiple computing processing units due to unnecessary transmission of programs already stored in other units, leading to prolonged communication times and potential vehicle operation failures.

Innovation Solution

A vehicle control apparatus with a program sorting unit that identifies and excludes programs already stored in other units from external transmission, using in-vehicle communication for updating programs, thereby reducing external communication bandwidth and ensuring function safety levels.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If all updating programs are transmitted from outside the vehicle to ensure complete program updates, then program update reliability is improved, but communication time and power consumption increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveprogram update reliabilityVSAvoidcommunication time

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts and identifies programs that already exist in other ECUs within the vehicle, separating them from the updating programs that need to be transmitted from outside. By taking out these redundant programs from the transmission list, the system reduces communication time and data volume while ensuring that only necessary programs are updated from external sources.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent merges the program storage resources across multiple ECUs by allowing one ECU to supply programs to another ECU through in-vehicle communication. This combining of existing program resources within the vehicle system eliminates the need to transmit duplicate programs from external sources, reducing communication overhead while maintaining update reliability.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #5Merging (Combining)

2Reliability

If all updating programs are transmitted from outside the vehicle to ensure complete program updates, then program update reliability is improved, but power consumption increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveprogram update reliabilityVSAvoidpower consumption

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSUse of energy by moving object

Solution Approach 1:

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

Inventive Principle:

Principle #5Merging (Combining)

3Reliability

If all updating programs are transmitted from outside the vehicle to ensure complete program updates, then program update reliability is improved, but security risks increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveprogram update reliabilityVSAvoidsecurity risks

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

Inventive Principle:

Principle #5Merging (Combining)

4Loss of time

If programs are shared among ECUs through in-vehicle communication to reduce external communication, then communication time is reduced, but system complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvecommunication timeVSAvoidsystem complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of timeVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent implements preliminary action by having ECUs report their stored program information to the vehicle control apparatus before the update process begins. The vehicle control apparatus pre-analyzes this information to identify which programs can be supplied from existing ECUs, preparing a transmission plan that minimizes external communication needs before the actual update occurs.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

The patent implements feedback mechanisms where ECUs report their program storage status to the vehicle control apparatus, which then uses this information to determine the optimal source for each updating program. This feedback loop enables dynamic decision-making about program transmission paths, balancing the use of in-vehicle resources with external transmission needs.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

Data Source

PatentUS12561126B2Vehicle control apparatus

Publication Date: 2026.02.24 MITSUBISHI ELECTRIC CORP

AI summary

A vehicle control apparatus according to the present disclosure includestwo or more computing processing units,storage apparatuses in each of which a program is stored,an in-vehicle communication channel,an outside-communication unit that receives updating-program information and data related to an updating program,a program sorting unit that sorts updating program into an existing program and into a new program,a new-program writing unit that receives a new program from the outside and then writes the new program in a storage area for the computing processing unit that executes an updating program, andan existing-program writing unit that reads an existing program from the storage area where the existing program exists, by way of the in-vehicle communication channel, and then writes the existing program in a storage area for the computing processing unit that executes an updating program.