Redundancy Master Node for LIN Bus Failover
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Solution Overview
Problem
In a Local Interconnect Network (LIN) bus used in the automotive industry, if the master node (Electronic Control Unit, ECU) fails, communication and functionality of slave nodes are disrupted, as all communication is initiated by the master node.
Innovation Solution
A redundancy master node is connected to the LIN bus, which monitors communication. If the primary master node fails to respond, the redundancy node assumes the role of master node, ensuring continuous communication and functionality.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a single master node is used in the LIN bus to initiate all communication, then the device complexity is reduced and ease of operation is improved, but the reliability deteriorates because the entire network fails if the master node fails
Solution Approach 1:
A redundancy master node is pre-configured and connected to the LIN bus in standby mode before any failure occurs. This redundancy node monitors the master node's communications and is ready to take over immediately if the master node fails, thus improving reliability without requiring complex runtime reconfiguration of the network architecture
Solution Approach 2:
The redundancy master node continuously monitors the LIN bus communications and detects when the primary master node fails to respond. This feedback mechanism triggers an automatic switchover to the redundancy node, ensuring reliable network operation while maintaining a relatively simple overall system structure with minimal active components
2Reliability
If a redundancy master node is added to monitor and take over in case of failure, then the reliability is improved, but the device complexity increases due to additional nodes and monitoring mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The redundancy master node is integrated into the existing LIN bus infrastructure, sharing the same physical communication medium and protocol stack as the primary master node. This merging approach allows failover capability without duplicating the entire master node functionality, thus improving reliability while minimizing the increase in device complexity
3Reliability
If the redundancy node remains in standby mode monitoring communications, then the reliability is improved through automatic failover, but the use of energy increases due to continuous monitoring activity
Solution Approach 1:
The redundancy master node performs partial monitoring of LIN bus communications, focusing only on critical master node transmissions rather than continuously analyzing all bus traffic. This partial action approach provides sufficient failover detection capability while reducing the energy consumption of the standby node compared to full continuous monitoring
Data Source
AI summary
A method of controlling communication over a Local Interconnect Network (LIN) bus is provided. The method comprises a redundancy master node detecting whether or not a first master node responds to data transmitted over the LIN bus; wherein in case the first master node does not respond, the redundancy master node will act as master node on the LIN bus.