Vehicle Master ECU Coordination for Simultaneous OTA Activation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing vehicle electronic control systems face challenges in seamlessly switching from an old program to a new program across multiple electronic control units (ECUs) during Over The Air (OTA) updates, leading to inconvenient user experiences due to temporary operational disruptions during restarts.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle master device is configured to acquire and distribute update data to ECUs, with a rewrite target specifying unit, a rewrite completion determination unit, an activation executable determination unit, and an activation request instruction unit that collectively manage the program rewrite and activation process for all ECUs simultaneously, ensuring smooth transitions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If program rewrite is performed for multiple ECUs sequentially or with independent restarts, then the rewrite process can be completed, but temporary operational disruptions occur during restarts
Solution Approach 1:
The master device determines whether activation is executable before instructing ECUs to restart. This preliminary check ensures that all ECUs are ready for simultaneous activation, preventing operational disruptions by coordinating the restart timing based on rewrite completion status of all target ECUs.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent merges the activation timing of multiple ECUs by instructing them to activate simultaneously after rewrite completion. Instead of independent sequential restarts, all ECUs are coordinated to restart together, eliminating temporary operational disruptions caused by staggered restarts.
2Productivity
If activation timing is not coordinated across multiple ECUs, then individual ECUs can restart independently, but system stability deteriorates due to temporary operational disruptions
Solution Approach 1:
The master device receives rewrite completion notifications from ECUs and uses this feedback to determine the optimal activation timing. The activation executable determination unit checks whether all ECUs have completed rewriting before instructing simultaneous activation, ensuring system stability while maintaining rewrite efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs a preliminary check to determine whether activation is executable before instructing ECUs to restart. This advance verification ensures that the system is in a stable state for simultaneous activation, preventing disruptions while maintaining efficient rewrite processing.
3Ease of operation
If ECUs are restarted simultaneously after rewrite completion, then operational continuity is maintained, but coordination complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The master device acts as an intermediary that coordinates activation between multiple ECUs. It receives rewrite completion status from each ECU, determines whether activation is executable, and instructs simultaneous activation to all ECUs. This central coordination simplifies the overall system complexity compared to distributed coordination protocols.
Data Source
AI summary
A vehicle master device includes a rewrite target specifying unit that is configured to identify a plurality of rewrite target ECUs, a rewrite completion determination unit that is configured to determine whether a program rewrite is completed for all the plurality of rewrite target ECUs specified by the rewrite target specifying unit, an activation executable determination unit that is configured to determine whether activation is executable when the rewrite completion determination unit determines that the program rewrite is completed for all the plurality of rewrite target ECUs, and an activation request instruction unit that is configured to instruct all the plurality of rewrite target ECUs at the same time to perform the activation when the activation executable determination unit determines that activation is executable.