Vehicle Data Bus Fault Tracing via Message Identifiers
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current fault reporting systems in motor vehicle data bus systems are inefficient, as faults spread independently across control devices, making it difficult and time-consuming for technicians to identify the root cause of issues, as each control device sets diagnostic trouble codes autonomously and lacks a mechanism to trace fault propagation effectively.
Innovation Solution
A data bus system with identification devices that assign unique identifiers to messages, allowing for tracing of message propagation between control devices, including fault detection and recording of identifiers to track changes in message propagation patterns, enabling easier identification of fault origins and reducing system loading.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If each control device sets diagnostic trouble codes autonomously and independently, then fault detection coverage is improved, but fault tracing complexity increases and diagnostic time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a data bus as an intermediary communication channel between control devices. Each control device writes fault-related information to the data bus with its unique identifier, allowing centralized collection and correlation of fault data without requiring complex inter-device communication protocols or manual tracing procedures.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent combines fault detection functionality across multiple control devices into a unified fault memory structure. Instead of each device maintaining completely independent fault records, the system merges fault information from multiple sources into a centralized repository that can be read and analyzed together, reducing diagnostic complexity.
2Ease of operation
If each control device sets diagnostic trouble codes autonomously, then local fault detection capability is improved, but diagnostic time and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements feedback by continuously monitoring the data bus for fault messages from various control devices. When a fault is detected, the information is immediately written to the fault memory with source identification, providing real-time feedback to the diagnostic system without requiring manual intervention or time-consuming traversal of individual device memories.
Solution Approach 2:
Each control device autonomously monitors its own operational parameters and automatically writes fault information to the shared fault memory when anomalies are detected. This self-service approach eliminates the need for external diagnostic systems to query each device individually, significantly reducing diagnostic time.
3Reliability
If no fault input is written into control device memories under certain data bus system conditions, then apparent false trouble spots are reduced, but fault propagation tracing capability deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by implementing condition-based fault recording at each control device. Each device evaluates specific conditions (such as data bus error rates or message validity) locally and decides whether to write fault information based on those local assessments, filtering out false positives while maintaining traceability of genuine faults.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary validation of fault messages before writing them to memory. By checking conditions in advance (such as verifying message sources or error thresholds), the system prevents false trouble spots from being recorded while ensuring that legitimate fault propagation information is captured for later tracing.
Data Source
AI summary
A data bus system of a motor vehicle includes at least one first and one second control device which communicates with each another via at least one data bus. In order to be able to localize errors more easily, the system has at least one identification device which provides an identifier to each of the messages sent by the first and the second control device. The first control device receives a first message, and the identification device causes the first control device to provide the message sent therefrom with a first identifier. The second control device receives the message sent by the first control device with the first identifier, and the identification device causes the second control device to provide the message sent therefrom with a second identifier.