Vehicle Data Collection Gateway With Multi-Stage ECU Buffering
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vehicle data collection systems fail to collect data before the satisfaction of a collection condition, leading to communication constraints and increased costs due to the need for non-volatile memories in all ECUs or volatile memories with varying capacities, making flexible data collection difficult.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle data collection device with a multi-stage holding unit that accumulates and manages data before and after the collection condition is satisfied, using a transmission standby unit to store data until communication is established, and adjusts the number of data pieces held based on the collection setting to avoid communication constraints and cost increases.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If non-volatile memory is provided in ECU to accumulate vehicle data before collection condition is satisfied, then vehicle data before condition satisfaction can be collected, but communication constraints increase and cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a gateway device as an intermediary between ECUs and the external server. The gateway accumulates vehicle data from multiple ECUs in its own storage unit before transmitting to the server, eliminating the need for each ECU to have non-volatile memory. This mediator approach resolves the contradiction by centralizing the accumulation function, reducing communication constraints among ECUs, and lowering overall system cost.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges the data accumulation function from individual ECUs to a centralized gateway device. Instead of each ECU maintaining its own storage capacity, the gateway consolidates storage resources, reducing redundant communication overhead and lowering the total cost of non-volatile memory across the system while maintaining complete data collection capability.
2Ease of operation
If non-volatile memories are provided in all ECUs to avoid communication constraints, then data accumulation is simplified, but cost increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The gateway device serves multiple functions: it acts as a data accumulation point, a communication coordinator, and a preprocessing unit. By making the gateway multi-functional, the patent eliminates the need for expensive non-volatile memory in every ECU, reducing overall memory capacity cost while maintaining ease of data accumulation through the gateway's centralized management.
Solution Approach 2:
The gateway as an intermediary centralizes the expensive non-volatile memory resource, so only one device in the system needs substantial storage capacity. This eliminates the need to provision memory in multiple ECUs, dramatically reducing the total quantity of memory capacity required while keeping the data accumulation process simple through the gateway's coordination.
3Quantity of substance
If volatile memory with varying capacities is used in ECUs, then cost is reduced, but flexible data collection becomes difficult due to capacity limitations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the data collection system into two parts: ECUs with small volatile memory for data buffering, and a gateway with larger storage capacity for comprehensive data accumulation. This segmentation allows ECUs to use cost-effective small memory while the gateway provides the necessary capacity for flexible collection of various data types and durations, resolving the adaptability issue.
Solution Approach 2:
The gateway acts as a mediator that compensates for the limited capacity of ECU volatile memories. It receives and accumulates data from multiple ECUs, providing the system with flexible data collection capability regardless of individual ECU memory constraints, thus enabling versatile data collection without requiring large memory in each ECU.
Data Source
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AI summary
An object of the present invention is to flexibly collect vehicle data before and after a vehicle data collection condition is satisfied while suppressing communication constraints and cost increases. A vehicle data collection device 5 includes a setting unit 40 which determines a collection setting that is setting information for each ECU corresponding to a collection request; a collection condition determination unit 51 which sets a collection condition based on the collection setting, and determines whether the collection condition is satisfied; a collected data output unit 52 which sets collected data based on the collection setting, and acquires the collected data from each ECU; a multi-stage holding unit 53 which holds collected data output before the collection condition is satisfied and collected data output after the collection condition is satisfied based on the collection setting; a transmission standby unit 60 which keeps the held collected data in a standby state for transmission; and a transmission unit 31 which transmits the collected data kept in the standby state by the transmission standby unit 60 to a request source. The collection request includes a set value related to the number of pieces of collected data held in a multi-stage holding unit 53. The setting unit 40 determines the collection setting by changing the number of pieces of collected data held in the multi-stage holding unit 53 from the set value.