Vehicle Gateway Aggregating CAN Frames to Ethernet
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vehicle network systems face inefficiencies when relaying messages between electronic control units using different communication protocols, such as CAN and Ethernet, leading to increased costs due to the need for dual interfaces in ECUs, and lack of clear configuration for message transmission from CAN-based ECUs to Ethernet-based ECUs.
Innovation Solution
A gateway device that connects to both networks, receives frames from a CAN network, processes them, and transmits aggregated data as Ethernet frames to the Ethernet network, optimizing transmission efficiency by determining which frames to transmit based on CAN-IDs and destination information, and arranging data in priority or order of reception.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a gateway relays messages between CAN and Ethernet networks, then communication between different protocols is enabled, but transmission efficiency decreases due to protocol conversion overhead
Solution Approach 1:
The gateway segments the message relay process into distinct phases: receiving CAN frames, storing them in a buffer, determining transmission eligibility based on destination addresses, and transmitting to Ethernet ECUs. This segmentation allows efficient batch processing of multiple CAN frames before Ethernet transmission, reducing protocol conversion overhead while maintaining protocol compatibility.
Solution Approach 2:
The gateway performs preliminary actions by receiving and buffering multiple CAN frames before determining which ones need to be transmitted to the Ethernet network. The destination address determination is made in advance of the actual Ethernet transmission, allowing the gateway to prepare transmission queues and optimize network bandwidth utilization, thereby improving overall transmission efficiency.
2Ease of operation
If ECUs have dual interfaces for both CAN and Ethernet, then direct communication is enabled, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The gateway serves as an intermediary device between CAN-based ECUs and Ethernet-based ECUs. CAN ECUs only need a simple CAN interface, and Ethernet ECUs only need an Ethernet interface. The gateway handles the protocol conversion and message routing, eliminating the need for ECUs to have dual interfaces while maintaining full communication capability between different network types.
Solution Approach 2:
The gateway is designed as a universal communication node that can interface with both CAN and Ethernet networks simultaneously. It performs multiple functions including message reception from CAN, destination address determination, message buffering, and Ethernet transmission, thereby enabling communication between diverse protocols without requiring each ECU to be multi-functional.
3Reliability
If all received CAN frames are transmitted to Ethernet network, then data completeness is improved, but transmission redundancy increases
Solution Approach 1:
The gateway implements a feedback mechanism where the destination address of each received CAN frame is determined and checked against the Ethernet ECU's address. Only frames whose destination matches an Ethernet ECU are selected for transmission. This feedback-based filtering ensures that complete and relevant data is transmitted to the correct destinations while eliminating redundant transmissions, thereby improving energy efficiency without compromising data completeness.
4Productivity
If multiple CAN frames are aggregated into a single Ethernet frame, then transmission efficiency improves, but frame processing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The gateway merges multiple CAN frames into a single Ethernet frame for transmission. It aggregates the data from multiple CAN frames, prepares a single Ethernet frame structure, and transmits them together over the Ethernet network. This merging significantly improves transmission efficiency by reducing the number of Ethernet transmissions required, while the gateway's buffer and processing logic manage the complexity of frame aggregation.
Data Source
AI summary
A network system includes a first network through which a frame of a first type is transmitted in accordance with a first communication protocol and includes a second network in which a frame of a second type is transmitted in accordance with a second communication protocol. A gateway device is connected to the first network and the second network. The gateway device sequentially receives frames of the first type from the first network and determines whether to transmit data regarding the received frames of the first type to the second network. The gateway device transmits, to the second network, a frame of the second type including data regarding a plurality of the frames of the first type determined to be transmitted to the second network when a condition relating to a number of frames of the first type received by the gateway device is satisfied.