Extensible Mapping for Vehicle System Bus Command Translation

Resolve Bottlenecks,
Find Innovative Solutions
Generate Solutions

Solution Overview

Problem

Existing vehicle head units face challenges in efficiently controlling diverse vehicle systems due to varying control bus protocols and vendor-specific implementations, leading to time-consuming and costly manual configuration of command sets.

Innovation Solution

The implementation of an extensible mapping between a standard command set and local command sets conforming to specific control bus protocols, allowing the vehicle head unit to automatically translate between them, and the use of a hardware abstraction layer (HAL) to adapt command sets and expose additional vehicle system functionality.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If manufacturers statically code command sets to conform to particular control bus protocols, then the vehicle head unit can reliably control vehicle systems, but the development time and cost increase significantly

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecontrol reliabilityVSAvoiddevelopment time
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The command set is segmented into a standardized core portion and protocol-specific portions. The standardized portion contains universal commands that work across different control bus protocols, while protocol-specific portions are generated automatically through mapping files that define translations between standardized commands and vendor-specific commands, eliminating manual coding for each protocol variant.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #1Segmentation

Solution Approach 2:

A universal standardized command set is designed that can function across multiple control bus protocols (CAN, LIN, FlexRay, Ethernet). This universal command set serves as a common interface layer, allowing the head unit to control diverse vehicle systems without requiring separate command sets for each protocol, thus reducing development time while maintaining reliability through protocol-specific mapping.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

2Manufacturing precision

If manufacturers manually configure command sets for each vehicle system configuration, then the command sets can be optimized for specific systems, but the process becomes time consuming and expensive

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecommand set optimizationVSAvoiddevelopment productivity
Core Design Contradiction:
Manufacturing precisionVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

Protocol-specific command mappings are pre-defined in mapping files that contain translation rules between standardized commands and vendor-specific commands. These mapping files are prepared in advance for different control bus protocols and vehicle system configurations, allowing the system to automatically generate optimized command sets without manual configuration during the development phase, thus maintaining precision while improving productivity.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Solution Approach 2:

Instead of manually creating optimized command sets for each vehicle system configuration, the system uses templates and mapping files that can be copied and adapted to different protocols and configurations. The standardized command set serves as a master template that is automatically translated into protocol-specific command sets, preserving optimization while eliminating repetitive manual work.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #26Copying

3Productivity

If the operating system is hard coded to support particular control bus protocols, then the system can operate efficiently with those protocols, but adapting to new or changing protocols becomes difficult

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveoperational efficiencyVSAvoidprotocol adaptability
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The system transitions from static hard-coded protocol support to dynamic protocol adaptation. The standardized command set and mapping files allow the operating system to dynamically adapt to different control bus protocols at runtime without requiring hard-coded changes. This enables the system to maintain operational efficiency with existing protocols while easily adapting to new or changing protocols by simply updating mapping files rather than recompiling the operating system.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

Data Source

PatentEP3698242B1Extensible mapping for vehicle system buses
Publication Date: 2025.02.19 GOOGLE LLC
  • EP3698242B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3698242B1 patent drawingFigure 2A
  • EP3698242B1 patent drawingFigure 2B

AI summary

In general, techniques are described for extensible mappings for vehicle system busses. A device configured to interact with a vehicle may perform the techniques. The device may comprise a memory that stores an extensible mapping between a local control message and a standard control message. The device may also include a processor configured to execute an operating system to control a system of the vehicle. The operating system may generate the standard control message, where the standard control message includes a first representation of a command set. The processor may translate, based on the extensible mapping, the standard control message to obtain the local control message, the local control message including a second representation of the command set. The processor may transmit, via a control bus coupled to the processor and the system, the local control message to initiate an operational state change of the system.