Zonal LIN Bus Sharing for Reduced Vehicle Cable Harness
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Solution Overview
Problem
The increasing number of LIN buses required for activating control units in motor vehicles leads to a large cable harness circumference, making it difficult to accommodate in limited vehicle space.
Innovation Solution
A system with a central control unit and zonal control modules, utilizing a first data connection to share a common LIN bus among multiple LIN masters, reducing the need for separate LIN buses and allowing integration of different bus systems, such as CAN and FlexRay, through a zonalized design.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If separate LIN buses are provided for each LIN master, then each LIN master can independently control its assigned LIN slaves, but the cable harness circumference becomes large and difficult to accommodate in limited vehicle space
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple LIN masters (first LIN master and second LIN master) are merged to share a common LIN bus, eliminating the need for separate LIN buses for each master. This reduces the overall cable harness circumference while maintaining the ability of each master to independently control its assigned LIN slaves through logical addressing and identification mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The common LIN bus is designed to serve multiple LIN masters simultaneously, making it a universal communication medium that can handle control signals from different masters to different slaves. The bus infrastructure is optimized to accommodate multiple master-slave relationships without requiring dedicated physical channels for each pair.
2Reliability
If multiple LIN buses are installed in the vehicle, then each control unit can be activated reliably, but the cable harness requires more space and becomes more complex to route
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines multiple LIN bus functions into a single common LIN bus that carries traffic from multiple masters. This merging reduces the number of separate cable runs required, simplifying installation and routing operations while maintaining reliable control activation through protocol-level multiplexing and identification.
3Quantity of substance
If a common LIN bus is shared among multiple LIN masters, then cable requirements are reduced, but data transmission efficiency must be maintained across multiple masters and slaves
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements periodic time slots for different LIN masters to transmit on the common LIN bus, ensuring structured and efficient data transmission. Each master is allocated specific time windows to send headers and receive responses, preventing collisions and maintaining transmission efficiency while sharing the physical medium among multiple masters.
Solution Approach 2:
The LIN protocol incorporates feedback mechanisms where slaves respond to headers within provided time slots, allowing masters to detect successful transmission and adjust timing accordingly. This feedback loop ensures efficient utilization of the common bus by dynamically adapting to actual transmission conditions and avoiding unnecessary retransmissions.
Data Source
AI summary
A system for data transmission in a motor vehicle includes a central control unit, a first zonal control module, and a first LIN bus. The central control unit includes at least a first LIN master and a second LIN master. The first zonal control module is operably coupled to the central control unit via a first data connection. The first LIN bus is operably coupled to the first zonal control module. A first LIN slave connected to the LIN bus is assigned to the first LIN master, and a second LIN slave connected to the LIN bus is assigned to the second LIN master.