Centralized Gateway Storage for In-Vehicle Software Updates
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Solution Overview
Problem
In-vehicle systems require large storage capacity for software updates across numerous electronic control units (ECUs), leading to inefficient memory utilization and potential update interruptions due to power supply issues or software defects, resulting in increased costs and incomplete updates.
Innovation Solution
Implementing an in-vehicle system with a central ECU managing multiple zone ECUs, utilizing a dedicated update memory area for all software updates, prioritizing downloads based on data size and completion status, and executing updates during ignition-off states to minimize power consumption and interruptions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a dedicated storage area with large capacity is provided for each ECU to store update software, then software update capability is enabled, but memory utilization efficiency decreases and system cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the storage function for update software across multiple ECUs into a single centralized storage area in the gateway device. Instead of each ECU having its own dedicated storage, the gateway consolidates all update software storage, thereby reducing total storage requirements while maintaining update capabilities for all ECUs.
Solution Approach 2:
The gateway device acts as an intermediary between the external update source and the ECUs. It stores update software temporarily and distributes it to target ECUs, eliminating the need for each ECU to have its own large storage area while ensuring reliable software updates.
2Reliability
If the same update process is executed from beginning when update interruption occurs, then update can be retried, but update time increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The gateway device performs preliminary actions by downloading and storing the complete update software package before the actual ECU update begins. This preliminary download ensures that even if the update is interrupted, the complete update data is already available in the gateway, allowing resumption without re-downloading.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback mechanisms where the gateway tracks the completion status of update processes for each ECU. When an interruption is detected, the system uses this feedback information to resume the update from the correct position rather than starting over, reducing total update time.
Data Source
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AI summary
There are provided an updating method for in-vehicle software and an in-vehicle system for updating a software, the updating method including: securing one area in a memory on a zone control unit included in the in-vehicle system, the one area being capable of storing one update data for updating the zone control unit and lower control units which are an update object; repeatedly checking whether the update data exists in a predetermined software supply source; downloading the update data from the software supply source to store the update data in the one area, when the update data satisfying one download condition exists in the software supply source; and preferentially selecting the one update data with the highest priority from a plurality of update data to execute the downloading, when the plurality of update data satisfying the one download condition exist concurrently in the software supply source.