Modular Vehicle Control Unit for Scalable Computing Expansion
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing control units for motor vehicles face challenges in scalability and flexibility to accommodate varying computing power requirements, particularly for advanced vehicle functions like autonomous driving, often necessitating redesign or oversizing due to unforeseen functional expansions.
Innovation Solution
A modular control unit design with a central module housing and expandable computing module units, connected via a device-internal bus system using a unique address scheme, allowing seamless integration of additional computing power without redesigning the central module.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Power
If the computing power of the processor system is increased to meet future functional requirements, then the control unit can support advanced vehicle functions like autonomous driving, but the control unit requires redesign which increases device complexity and development time
Solution Approach 1:
The control unit is divided into a central module housing and separate computing module units. Each computing module unit can be independently connected via bus connections, allowing the system to be segmented into functional components that can be individually upgraded without redesigning the entire control unit.
Solution Approach 2:
The control unit is designed with dynamic expandability, allowing computing module units to be added or removed based on future functional requirements. The bus system and address assignment mechanism enable the control unit to adapt its computing power dynamically without requiring redesign.
2Power
If additional computing module units are added to increase computing power, then the control unit can accommodate more processing requirements, but the power supply and cooling systems must be oversized to handle maximum potential load
Solution Approach 1:
The power supply and cooling systems are designed with universal capacity to support multiple computing module units. The systems can serve any combination of connected modules, allowing the same infrastructure to adapt to varying computing power requirements without oversizing for maximum potential load in all scenarios.
3Ease of operation
If a fixed address scheme is used in the bus system, then communication is simplified, but the control unit cannot accommodate additional computing module units without address conflicts
Solution Approach 1:
The address assignment mechanism is designed to be dynamic rather than fixed. The controller device automatically assigns bus addresses to computing module units based on their connection status, allowing the system to adapt to varying numbers of connected modules while maintaining simple communication protocols.
Solution Approach 2:
The controller device performs automatic address assignment for connected computing module units. This self-service mechanism eliminates the need for manual address configuration and ensures that address conflicts are avoided when modules are added or removed from the system.
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to an electronic control unit (11) for a motor vehicle (10), having a central module housing (12) and a communication unit (13), arranged in the module housing (12), that is configured to interchange communication data (22) with at least one device-external vehicle component (15) by means of at least one predetermined communication protocol. The communication unit (13) provides a device-internal bus system (17), in which a controller device (20) of the bus system (17) provides for forwarding of the communication data (22) within the control unit (11) by means of a bus protocol that has an address space that is independent of the at least one communication protocol, wherein the bus system (17) has at least one bus connection (28) for a respective additional computing module unit (29), different from the communication unit (13), of the control unit (11), and the at least one bus connection (28) is configured to connect the respective computing module unit (29) to the central module housing (12) from the outside.