Vehicle Relay Communication Path Switching for High-Bandwidth ECU Data
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing relay devices with wireless functionality struggle to handle high-bandwidth communication from outside vehicles due to limitations in the bandwidth of the in-vehicle LAN, which can lead to insufficient data handling and communication quality issues.
Innovation Solution
A relay device with an external wireless communication unit, a wired communication unit, and an in-vehicle wireless communication unit, along with a communication control unit that identifies information and prioritizes communication paths based on priority levels and data volume, ensuring efficient handling of high-bandwidth data by controlling communication through wired or wireless paths.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the relay device uses the in-vehicle LAN to connect with ECUs, then the device complexity is reduced and ease of operation is improved, but the bandwidth is insufficient to handle high-bandwidth communication from outside the vehicle
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the communication system into multiple communication paths: wired communication unit for high-bandwidth data transmission and wireless communication unit for control signals. This segmentation allows the system to handle high-bandwidth communication from external devices without overloading the in-vehicle LAN, while maintaining manageable device complexity through dedicated communication channels.
Solution Approach 2:
The relay device acts as an intermediary between external communication devices and ECUs. It receives high-bandwidth data from external devices via the wired communication unit, processes and prioritizes the data, then selectively forwards it to ECUs through the in-vehicle LAN or wireless communication unit. This intermediary role prevents direct high-bandwidth traffic from overwhelming the in-vehicle network.
2Reliability
If the relay device prioritizes high-priority communications, then communication quality is improved, but the device complexity increases due to additional control mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The communication control unit changes the parameter of communication priority by assigning different priority levels to different data types. High-priority communications (e.g., safety-critical data) are assigned higher transmission priority, while low-priority communications (e.g., entertainment data) are assigned lower priority. This parameter-based prioritization improves communication quality without requiring complex control mechanisms, as it relies on simple priority tagging and queue management.
3Device complexity
If the relay device handles all communication data equally, then the device complexity is minimized, but communication quality deteriorates when high-bandwidth data from external devices competes with ECU communications
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by treating different communication streams differently based on their specific requirements. High-priority ECU communications receive preferential treatment in terms of bandwidth allocation and transmission timing, while low-priority external device communications are handled with lower priority. This localized quality differentiation ensures that critical communications maintain high quality without requiring complex global control mechanisms.
Data Source
AI summary
A relay device to be installed in a vehicle, including: an external wireless communication unit that is configured to perform wireless communication with a communication device that is provided outside of the vehicle; a wired communication unit that is configured to perform wired communication with an ECU for controlling an in-vehicle device that is installed in the vehicle; an in-vehicle wireless communication unit that is configured to perform wireless communication with the ECU; and a communication control unit that is configured to identify information transmitted from the communication device and control communication performed by the wired communication unit or the in-vehicle wireless communication unit in accordance with a result of the identification.