Vehicle Application Deployment Planner for Dynamic ECU Configuration
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Solution Overview
Problem
The deployment of vehicle software applications in modern vehicles is complicated by the presence of multiple electronic control units (ECUs) with varying configurations and dependencies, requiring specific deployment sequences and optimal resource allocation, which existing technologies struggle to manage efficiently.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle software deployment management system that sends signed serialized data chunks of the software application and generates deployment plans dynamically based on vehicle data, using a protocol-agnostic transmission format to ensure efficient deployment across various ECU configurations, and an in-vehicle application deployment planner/orchestrator that reconstructs and executes these plans optimally.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a vehicle software application is deployed to multiple ECUs with varying configurations, then the software can be implemented across diverse vehicle systems, but the deployment complexity increases due to compatibility requirements and dependency management
Solution Approach 1:
The software application is divided into multiple software components that can be independently deployed to different ECUs. Each component is packaged with metadata describing its ECU compatibility requirements and dependencies, allowing the deployment system to selectively distribute components to appropriate ECUs based on their configurations, thereby managing complexity while maintaining versatility
Solution Approach 2:
The deployment system dynamically adjusts deployment parameters based on ECU configuration parameters. By comparing ECU capabilities (processor type, memory, supported protocols) with software component requirements, the system automatically selects compatible ECUs for each component, resolving the contradiction between adaptability and complexity
2Ease of manufacture
If software components are transferred to ECUs using a communication protocol, then the deployment can be standardized, but the transfer speed may be restricted or slowed down by protocol limitations
Solution Approach 1:
The system dynamically selects communication protocols and transfer methods based on the specific ECU and software component being deployed. For large software components, it may switch to faster binary protocols or direct memory access methods when possible, while maintaining standardized higher-level protocol support for smaller components and ECUs with limited capabilities, thus balancing standardization with transfer speed
3Reliability
If the deployment plan specifies a particular sequence for deploying software components to ECUs, then dependency requirements can be satisfied, but the deployment time increases due to sequential transfer requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The deployment system performs preliminary analysis of software component dependencies before actual deployment begins. It constructs a dependency graph and determines the optimal deployment sequence in advance, allowing the system to prepare and pre-stage software components in the correct order, thereby satisfying dependency requirements while minimizing actual deployment time through efficient sequential execution
Data Source
AI summary
A system comprising one or more computing devices implements a vehicle application deployment planner. The vehicle application deployment planner may utilize received vehicle information to dynamically generate one or more vehicle deployment plans to send to respective vehicles. The deployment plans may also be dynamically updated based on newly received vehicle information. The application deployment planner may generate updated deployment plans for already deployed applications in response to chances in vehicle conditions as indicated in the received vehicle information. In some embodiments, the deployment plan may be processed by an in-vehicle application deployment planner/orchestrator of the vehicle to deploy the particular vehicle software application.