Vehicle Gateway Canonical Protocol Abstraction Layer
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Solution Overview
Problem
The increasing diversity and complexity of communication protocols in vehicles, particularly due to 'C2X' communication and external device connections, complicate the development of gateways and require extensive manual planning and implementation, making it difficult to adapt to changing vehicle architectures and integrate new components dynamically.
Innovation Solution
A canonical protocol is introduced as an abstraction layer that allows for loss-free transmission and conversion between diverse protocols, simplifying gateway development and enabling dynamic reconfiguration of communication paths, with a shared data or service description mechanism for independent protocol conversion.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If diverse communication protocols are introduced to support C2X communication and external device connections, then adaptability and communication capability are improved, but gateway development complexity and conversion overhead increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a canonical protocol as an intermediary layer between diverse communication protocols. This canonical protocol serves as a mediator that enables loss-free transmission and conversion between different protocol families (CAN, FlexRay, IP-based protocols, C2X protocols) without requiring direct conversion mechanisms between each pair of protocols, thereby reducing gateway complexity while maintaining high adaptability
Solution Approach 2:
The canonical protocol is designed as a universal communication framework that can handle multiple protocol types and communication patterns simultaneously. It provides a unified abstraction layer that supports various message types, data formats, and communication mechanisms, allowing a single gateway implementation to work with diverse protocols without requiring protocol-specific conversion logic for each case
2Reliability
If manual planning and implementation are used for gateway development, then conversion accuracy is maintained, but development time and adaptability to changing architectures decrease
Solution Approach 1:
The patent establishes a pre-defined canonical protocol framework with standardized message structures, data types, and communication mechanisms before actual protocol conversion is needed. This preliminary action creates a ready-to-use conversion infrastructure that automatically handles protocol transformations, eliminating the need for manual planning and implementation while ensuring conversion accuracy through pre-validated conversion rules
Solution Approach 2:
The canonical protocol implementation enables gateways to automatically perform protocol conversion without requiring manual intervention for each conversion task. The system self-configures conversion paths, automatically maps message structures between protocols, and handles runtime protocol adaptations without human involvement, thereby reducing development time while maintaining reliability through consistent automated conversion processes
3Adaptability or versatility
If protocol conversion mechanisms are developed for each new protocol, then complete protocol support is achieved, but development overhead and system complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of developing direct conversion mechanisms between every pair of protocols, the patent uses the canonical protocol as a mediator that all protocols convert to and from. This intermediary approach means that when a new protocol is introduced, only conversion to/from the canonical protocol needs to be implemented, not conversions to all existing protocols, dramatically reducing development overhead while maintaining complete protocol support
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the protocol conversion process into two independent parts: (1) conversion from specific protocols to the canonical protocol, and (2) conversion from the canonical protocol to target protocols. This segmentation allows each protocol to be integrated independently through a standardized interface, reducing the complexity from O(n²) direct conversions to O(n) canonical conversions, thereby easing development while achieving complete protocol support
Data Source
AI summary
A method for transmitting a message in a vehicle, in which the message is received according to a source protocol, a communication mechanism which is used by the message and corresponds to the source protocol is converted in such a way that the communication mechanism corresponds to a canonical protocol, the communication mechanism corresponding to the canonical protocol is converted in such a way that the communication mechanism corresponds to a predefined target protocol, and the message is transmitted according to the target protocol.