Vehicle Gateway OTA Flashing With Segmented Network Isolation

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Solution Overview

Problem

Existing OTA software flashing processes in vehicles disable vehicle communication, limiting user experience during the upgrade process.

Innovation Solution

A method where a vehicle gateway determines flashing logical addresses, disables and enables communication for specific network segments based on a mapping table, and handles dual-area controllers to manage area exchanges, ensuring other vehicle functions remain operational.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If vehicle communication is disabled during OTA upgrade, then software flashing can be performed safely, but user experience deteriorates as other functions cannot be used

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvesoftware flashing safetyVSAvoiduser experience
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The vehicle communication network is segmented into multiple independent network segments. During OTA upgrade, only the specific network segment containing the target controller is disabled, while other network segments remain operational. This allows the upgrade process to proceed safely in the isolated segment while other vehicle functions continue to operate normally, thus resolving the contradiction between flashing safety and user experience.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

2Reliability

If entire vehicle communication is disabled for OTA upgrade, then interference with flashing process is prevented, but functional experience is limited

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveflashing process integrityVSAvoidfunctional experience
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

Instead of applying a uniform communication disablement across the entire vehicle network, the system applies communication isolation locally only to the specific network segment where the OTA upgrade is occurring. This localized approach ensures that the flashing process integrity is maintained in the target segment while other segments continue to provide full functional experience, thus resolving the contradiction between flashing integrity and functional versatility.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

Data Source

PatentEP4654006A1OTA upgrade method and storage medium
Publication Date: 2025.11.26 SERES AUTOMOBILE CO LTD
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  • EP4654006A1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

Provided are an OTA upgrade method and a storage medium. The method includes: determining, by a vehicle gateway in response to a segmented flashing instruction, at least one flashing logical address corresponding to the segmented flashing instruction; determining, by the vehicle gateway according to the at least one flashing logical address and a pre-configured address network segment mapping table, a flashing network segment corresponding to each flashing logical address, and forwarding the segmented flashing instruction to each flashing network segment; disabling, for each flashing network segment, a communication corresponding to the flashing network segment when the flashing network segment receives the segmented flashing instruction; performing flashing by each to-be-flashed controller in the flashing network segment in response to the segmented flashing instruction; and enabling, by the flashing network segment, the communication corresponding to the flashing network segment in a case that each to-be-flashed controller is flashed.