Vehicle Control Unit Memory Management for Multi-User Profiles
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional vehicle control units face limitations in storing multiple user settings due to limited memory capacity, making it difficult to manage user preferences in multi-user scenarios like car sharing or rental services, where existing systems often require overwriting settings, leading to data loss and complex restoration processes.
Innovation Solution
A method and device that continuously monitor the available memory capacity of a control unit, swapping out data to an external memory when necessary, and storing new user-specific data sets, allowing for efficient management and exchange of user settings without data loss, using a central control unit with large storage capacity to manage multiple user profiles.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If data is continuously uploaded to secondary storage device, then effective storage capacity is increased, but storage space management becomes complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a secondary storage device as an intermediary between the control unit's primary storage and the user data. This mediator handles the complexity of data management by automatically uploading data to secondary storage when primary storage is full, while presenting a simplified interface to the user and control unit. The secondary storage acts as a buffer that manages the complexity internally without affecting the simplicity of the primary system.
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple user settings are stored in limited memory, then user profile switching is enabled, but data loss occurs when memory is full
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by continuously monitoring the storage capacity of the control unit's memory. When the memory is approaching full capacity, the system proactively uploads user data to the secondary storage device before the data loss occurs. This preventive approach ensures that user profiles can be switched without risk of data loss, as the secondary storage serves as a safety buffer.
3Reliability
If fixed storage medium is used for user settings, then data persistence is ensured, but flexibility in managing multiple users is reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent transforms the static, fixed storage system into a dynamic one by introducing a secondary storage device that can adaptively manage multiple user profiles. The system dynamically allocates storage space between the control unit's primary memory and the secondary storage based on usage patterns and available capacity. This dynamic approach maintains data persistence while enabling flexible multi-user management, as users can be added, removed, or modified without rigid constraints.
Data Source
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Figure 1b
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AI summary
The invention relates to a method, a device, and a computer program for managing a storage region of a controller of a vehicle. One or more user-specific datasets can be stored in the storage region. The method has the steps of monitoring (110) an available storage capacity of the storage region, obtaining (120) a new user-specific dataset, transferring (130) data from the storage region of the controller to an external storage unit if the available storage capacity is not sufficient for storing the new user-specific dataset in the storage region, and storing (140) the new user-specific dataset in the storage region.