Vehicle Controller Update Administration Module
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current over-the-air update technologies for vehicle controllers face challenges in ensuring compatibility and safety, as improper updates can lead to system instability and security vulnerabilities, including the risk of unauthorized access.
Innovation Solution
An administration module is introduced to formulate policies for updating vehicle controllers based on context information, including compatibility and hardware specifics, to ensure updates are compatible and secure, with error handling mechanisms to manage update failures.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If over-the-air update is implemented to deliver new data and functions, then productivity and convenience are improved, but system reliability and security deteriorate due to risk of incompatible updates causing malfunction
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by performing compatibility verification before the actual update process. The verification module checks whether the patch package is compatible with the target ECU's hardware architecture, software version, and configuration parameters prior to installation, preventing incompatible updates from reaching the device and thus maintaining system reliability while enabling efficient over-the-air updates
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary verification module that acts as a mediator between the update delivery system and the ECU. This verification module independently assesses patch compatibility against the target ECU's characteristics, serving as a buffer that prevents direct installation of incompatible updates while allowing compatible ones to proceed, thus resolving the contradiction between update efficiency and system stability
2Reliability
If compatibility checking is performed for each controller individually, then update reliability is improved, but device complexity and computation cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies copying by creating a centralized verification module that contains a copy of the compatibility verification logic. Instead of each ECU performing complex compatibility checks locally, the verification module prepares compatibility assessments in advance and stores them, allowing ECUs to simply retrieve and apply pre-verified compatibility information during updates, significantly reducing computation overhead while maintaining reliability
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the compatibility verification function from the ECU itself and places it in a separate verification module. This extraction removes the computational burden of compatibility checking from the controller, allowing the ECU to focus on execution while the verification module handles the complex compatibility assessment independently, thus reducing device complexity while preserving update reliability
3Productivity
If homogeneous controllers are updated together in parallel, then productivity is improved, but adaptability deteriorates when controllers have different configurations due to design iterations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by customizing the update package and verification parameters for each specific ECU configuration rather than using a universal update approach. The verification module examines individual ECU characteristics such as hardware architecture, software version, and configuration parameters to determine the appropriate update strategy for each device, enabling parallel processing of homogeneous ECUs while adapting to heterogeneous configurations through configuration-based update selection
Data Source
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AI summary
A network architecture for updating control units in a remote network such as in a vehicle comprises an administration module, a verification module and an agent module. The administration module formulates a policy for governing the update of control units based on context information about the control units provided to the administration module. In formulating the policy, the administration unit takes account of compatibility between the control units with regard to versions of the update so that the update can succeed. Or, if the update fails in whole or part, a stable state of the remote network can nevertheless still be obtained, since the administration module may provide error handling procedures for the agent module when errors are encountered during update.