JP4293224B2 - Control unit and distributed control system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an embedded system, and in particular, a plurality of embedded systems are CAN.
The present invention relates to a distributed control system interconnected by a field network such as (Controller Area Nerwork) or Foundation Fieldbus, for example, a powertrain control system in an automobile, a field device control system for factory automation or process automation, a medical device, or a robot control system.

As prior art 1, LON (Local Operating), which is one of the field networks
Network) and OSEK-COM, which is a standard communication protocol for vehicle control, include a library method that is called by an application program (AP) for communication processing.

This method is described in the document “OSEK / VDX Communication Version 2.0a (ftp: // www-iit.
etec.uni-karlsruhe.de/pub/osek/) ”.

Further, as the prior art 2, there is a memory transfer method (= Reflective Memory method) adopted in many industrial systems. This is the document "REFLECTIVE MEMORYNETWORK
Details on WHITE PAPER (available from http://www.vmic.com/).

  In prior art 1, in order to use communication processing, an AP developer needs to describe communication processing and AP activation timing in the AP.

  However, as the unit moves to a distributed control system configuration in which each unit is interconnected by a field network in the future, in particular, the guarantee of the worst execution time of the process of performing sensor input to actuator output including communication processing across the network, that is, Inconvenience occurs when guaranteeing end-to-end real-time (real-time).

The reason is basically that, when this RT guarantee is realized independently for each AP in consideration of communication processing and AP activation timing, the AP is not versatile at least for the RT guarantee. This is because every time the configuration changes, the AP must be completely rewritten. As field network protocol standardization progresses in the future, there is a strong demand from customers to connect different vendor units to each other. However, when these units are connected to each other, the AP in the unit cannot be rewritten. For the above reasons, it is very difficult to guarantee RT performance.

  On the other hand, in the prior art 2, the AP and communication processing are separated via the shared memory and operate asynchronously with each other. In general, the communication process is a process of periodically transferring and updating the value of the shared memory on the system on each unit. Therefore, the worst execution time of each AP and the worst execution time of communication processing can be easily guaranteed.

  However, since the AP and the communication process are asynchronous, a data propagation delay occurs, so that the worst execution time of the process of performing the sensor input to the actuator output including the communication process across the network is long. For this reason, it is difficult to apply the prior art 2 to a process having a severe worst execution time. In the prior art 2, since the value in the shared memory is periodically transferred and updated even if data is not updated, traffic on the network is wasted.

  The present invention can facilitate the guarantee of RT characteristics, can shorten the worst execution time of the process of performing the sensor input to the actuator output including the communication process across the network, and has a system configuration. The purpose is to improve software productivity by keeping the amount of software change small even if it is changed.

The above object is achieved by providing the following means in a software platform configured by middleware, OS, interrupt processing, driver software, and the like that controls and manages the execution of the AP:
(1) AP configuration information storage means for storing the execution order of AP modules or communication processes, or RT communication service information of each communication process.

  (2) Module activation control means that refers to the AP configuration information storage means and executes AP modules according to the execution order stored in the AP configuration information storage means or executes communication processing.

  The module activation control unit refers to the AP configuration information storage unit and executes the AP module or the communication process according to the AP module stored in the AP configuration information storage unit or the execution order of the communication process.

  When the module activation control unit executes the AP module or executes the communication process, the AP and the communication process are completely separated.

  Also, the change of the AP module execution order, the communication process execution order, and the communication process RT communication service contents can be realized by changing the AP configuration information storage means.

According to the present invention,
By changing the AP configuration information storage means, the execution order of the AP modules, the execution order of the communication processes, and the communication processing priority of the message object can be changed. Furthermore, the communication process with the AP can be performed asynchronously or synchronously. Since it can be operated, it becomes easy to shorten the worst execution time of the process of performing the sensor input to the actuator output including the communication process across the network, and it is possible to easily guarantee the RT property.

  There is no communication processing in the AP, both are completely separated, and the execution order of the AP module and communication processing and the RT communication service information of each communication processing can be changed. However, it is possible to improve software productivity by keeping the amount of software change small.

  Hereinafter, it demonstrates according to drawing.

  FIG. 1 shows a distributed control system of the present invention.

The distributed control system is configured by connecting a plurality of units 1a, 1b,. Each unit includes an application program (AP) 11, a distributed control middleware 12, a real-time operating system (RTOS) 13, and a network communication processing driver 14. The AP 11 includes a plurality of AP modules 21a,
21b, ..., 21n. The distributed control middleware 12 includes a plurality of module activation control tasks 22a,..., 22k, AP configuration information 23, a plurality of message objects 24a,. Further, the AP configuration information 23 includes AP module configuration information 23a and message / object configuration information 23b. In addition, arrows 31a to 31n, 32a to 32k, 33a to 33k, 34a to 34m, 35a to 35k, 36, 25a, 25b and the like in the figure are control flows.

  FIG. 2 shows the AP module configuration information 23a.

  The left column of the table shown in the figure is an AP module to be executed in the system, and the right column is a module activation control task (AP module or message object) indicating the module to be executed next after the execution of the AP module in the left column. Transmission / reception processing) is registered.

In the example shown in the figure, the module activation control task executes the transmission of the message object MsgObj1 after execution of the AP module M1, and the AP module: M2 is executed next after the execution of the AP module M2. It shows that it is M3. AP module: After executing M3, the module to be executed next is NULL, but this NULL indicates that the module to be executed next does not exist, that is, the end of the module activation control task. Also, after executing the AP module: M4, the next object to be executed is the message object:
MsgObj3 transmission.

  FIG. 3 shows the message object configuration information 23b.

  The first column (leftmost column) of the table shown in the figure is the name of the message object in the system, the second column is the communication processing priority, and the third column is a flag indicating whether the communication processing is intra-unit communication or inter-unit communication. Internal / external communication, the fourth column is the communication service type, the fifth column is the next module to be executed after executing the message object transmission process, and the sixth column (rightmost column) is the message object reception process. After execution, the module to be executed next is registered. The communication processing priority is set only during inter-unit communication, and is not set (NULL) in intra-unit communication.

  There are two types of communication services, synchronous communication and asynchronous communication.

  (1) In synchronous communication, in the case of message transmission processing, processing for transmitting an immediate message to the receiving side is executed after the processing. In the case of message reception processing, the processing is immediately performed after a message reception event occurs. A communication service to be executed.

  (2) In asynchronous communication, in the case of message transmission processing, there is no guarantee that processing for transmitting a message to the receiving side will be immediately executed after the transmission processing. Basically, a process for transmitting a message to the receiving side is executed in an execution control task B different from the module activation control task A that executes the transmission process, regardless of the module activation control task A. In the case of message reception processing, the message reception processing is a communication service that is executed at other events (periodic timer, sensor input, etc.) that are not related to the message reception event.

  In the example shown in the figure, MsgObj1 has a communication priority of NULL, unit internal communication, and synchronous communication service. The module activation control task executes the MsgObj1 reception process after the MsgObj1 transmission process is executed, and the module activation control task executes the MsgObj1 reception process and then executes the AP module: M2. It is shown that.

MsgObj2 is a unit external communication and synchronous communication service with medium communication priority. After the module activation control task executes the MsgObj2 transmission process, the next execution is NULL, that is, indicates the end of the module activation control task.
After the MsgObj2 reception process is executed, it is indicated that the AP module: M4 is executed next.

  On the other hand, MsgObj3 has a low communication priority and is a unit external communication and asynchronous communication service. After the MsgObj3 transmission process is executed by the module activation control task, the next execution is AP module: M5, and after the MsgObj3 reception process is executed, the module activation control task executes NULL, that is, a module. Indicates the end of the start control task.

  The AP module configuration information 23a and the message / object configuration information 23b in the AP configuration information 23 are stored on the memory in the unit 1a as shared data that can be referred to by the module activation control tasks 22a,.

  In this embodiment, the AP configuration information 23 is composed of two tables of AP module configuration information 23a and message / object configuration information 23b shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, but these are integrated into one table. It doesn't matter. It is also possible to divide the table in which the next execution module of each module is registered together with the AP module and the message object, and the table in which information excluding the next execution module of the message object in FIG. These pieces of information need not be in the form of a table. For example, a structure of each module configuration information unit may be defined and managed by a pointer.

  Next, a basic operation example of the present invention will be described below. In FIG. 1, the main components of the operation are module activation control tasks 22a to 22k. Here, the operation example of FIG. 1 will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 26 showing the operation of the module activation control task. .

  At 501, the module activation control task is activated by RTOS 13. The activated task executes the module to be executed first at 502 (Note: Details of 501 and 502 will be described later in FIG. 4).

  After executing the module, the AP configuration information 23 is referred to at 503 to obtain the next execution module.

  Whether the next execution module is a message object is checked in 504. If it is not a message, it is checked whether it is an AP module in 505. If it is not an AP module, the task selects all modules to be executed. Since the processing has ended, the processing of the task ends.

  If the next execution module is an AP module at 505, the AP module is executed at 507, and when the execution is completed, the process returns to 503 and the process is repeated by referring to the AP configuration information 23.

  If the next execution module is a message object at 504, it is confirmed at 508 whether it is a transmission process or a reception process. If it is a reception process, RT communication control is called in 509 to execute the reception process. If it is a transmission process, RT communication control is called in 510 to execute the transmission process.

  When the communication process 508 or 510 ends, the process returns to 503 and the process is repeated by referring to the AP configuration information 23.

The communication service of the message object registered in the AP configuration information 23 is described in the RT communication processing control 25, and the module activation control task calls 25,
25, the inter-unit communication is executed via the RTOS (13) to the network communication driver 14.

The RT communication processing control 25 determines the communication processing priority of the message object to be communicated, whether communication within a unit or between units, communication service, AP configuration information 23 (more precisely, message object configuration information 23b). The communication process is executed by referring to. The RT communication processing control 25 is, for example, a document “OSEK / VDX Communication Version”.
It can be realized by the OSEK-COM communication library described in “2.0a”.

  The module activation control task is activated by the RTOS 13 as shown in FIG.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an operation flow of interrupt processing.

In the figure, reference numerals 101a to 101m denote interrupt processing. The interrupt process 101m is composed of processes 111-115. The same applies to other interrupt processing. Reference numeral 102 denotes an interrupt vector table. Reference numerals 103a to 103n denote RTOS intra-task control blocks (TCB). The TCB stores task execution priority, module information to be executed first after activation, task status, and the like. Reference numeral 104 denotes an interrupt cause / start task correspondence table.

The operation of the interrupt process is as follows. In response to the input of the interrupt signal, the microprocessor interrupts the processing that has been executed so far, stores the intermediate result, and refers to the interrupt vector table 102 to start the interrupt processing corresponding to the interrupt factor (= vector number). As an example, when the interrupt process activated by the vector number M is the interrupt process M of 101 m, first, the cause of the interrupt is identified at 111. Specifically, in the case of an interrupt from a communication LSI, by referring to the control register of the communication LSI, it is possible to determine whether the cause of the interrupt is transmission completion, a message has been received from the outside, or an error has occurred. Identify. Here, if the cause of the interruption is cause 2, the activation task is found by referring to the interruption cause-activation task correspondence table 104 at 112. In 104, the activation task of cause 2 is the module activation control task 2, and in 113, the TCB2 (103b) of the module activation control task 2 is referred to and the task state can be executed. And at 114
The process is passed to the RTOS 13 and the interrupt process is terminated (115).

  On the other hand, the RTOS 13 activates the task with the highest priority among the tasks in the executable state, and executes the module to be executed first. The means for starting the task with the highest priority among a plurality of tasks in the executable state is realized by a task scheduler which is a standard in RTOS and includes a plurality of scheduling queues provided for each priority. The

As an example, when the module activation control task 2 is activated in FIG. 4, the module to be executed first is “MsgObj2 reception” by referring to TCB2 (103b). The subsequent operation of the task is as follows based on the previous explanation of FIGS.
(1) Referring to FIG. 3, after executing the reception process of the message object name: MsgObj2, the AP module: M4 is executed next.

  (2) Referring to FIG. 2, after executing the AP module: M4, the next execution is message object: MsgObj3 transmission.

  (3) Referring to FIG. 3, after executing the message object name: MsgObj3 transmission process, the AP module: M5 is executed next.

(4) Referring to FIG. 2, after executing the AP module: M5, what is executed next is NULL, that is, the end of the operation of the task.

From the above, the operation of the task is summarized as follows:
MsgObj2 reception → M4 → MsgObj3 transmission → M5 → end An example of the operation of the module activation control task by referring to the AP configuration information is described below. First, if the module activation control task A in a certain unit first executes the AP module: M1, the execution order of the modules is as follows by tracing the next execution module of FIGS. Become:
M1 → MsgObj1 reception → MsgObj1 transmission → M2 → M3 → end Also, if the module activation control task B in another unit executes MsgObj2 reception first, by tracing the next execution module in FIGS. The order of module execution is as follows:
MsgObj2 reception->M4-> MsgObj3 transmission->M5-> end As described above, the module activation control task only performs function (= module) activation, such as the c language main function consisting only of function calls, and executes the module. This is a framework (framework) for executing AP processing such as order control.

  Although the module activation control task calls and executes the AP module, the AP module does not call and execute the module activation control task and OS service (system call). The API is an AP module. This is the opposite of the prior art API being OS services and libraries.

  In this embodiment, the AP configuration information 23 in each unit in FIG. 1 holds all the information in the tables shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, that is, the information shares the same information between the units. Become. Alternatively, for each unit, it is possible to easily hold only information used by the unit, that is, information related to the module within the unit (AP module or message object).

  In this embodiment, the message object is handled as a module other than the module AP executed by the module activation control tasks 22a to 22k. However, for input / output objects other than messages, for example, specific sensor objects and actuator objects, input / output objects corresponding to the message objects 34 a to 34 m and input / output objects corresponding to the RT communication processing control 25. By storing the input / output object configuration information in the control module and the AP configuration information 23, execution control similar to the message object can be performed for various input / output objects.

In this embodiment, the module activation control tasks 22a to 22k are tasks.
It may be an internal function of RTOS13. In this case, task switching overhead is reduced, but the RTOS size is increased and portability is deteriorated.

  In this embodiment, the RT communication processing control 25 is a software module called from the message objects 24a to 24m, and is executed by the module activation control tasks 22a to 22k, but 25 is the module activation control tasks 22a to 22k. It may be another independent task, or 25 may be an internal function of RTOS 13. When 25 is a task, parallel processing with 22a to 22k can be performed more flexibly, while task switching overhead increases. If 25 is an RTOS internal function, task switching overhead is reduced, but the RTOS size increases and portability deteriorates.

  In this embodiment, the RT communication processing control 25 does not directly control the network communication processing driver 14, but a configuration in which the 25 directly controls 14 may be used. In this case, the overhead is reduced by the amount not passing through the RTOS. On the other hand, when 25 executes 14, it is necessary to perform exclusive control processing of shared resources, and the program description in 25 becomes complicated.

  Here, a system change example due to AP configuration information change will be described with a specific example.

(1) Basic Configuration FIG. 5 shows the operation of a module activation control task in a throttle control unit used for realizing auto cruise control of an automobile.

  In FIG. 5, the unit 1 is connected to the network 2. The unit 1 includes a target driving force calculation 21y and a throttle opening calculation 21z that are AP modules, and a target vehicle speed 24y and a target driving force 24z that are message objects. The unit 1 receives the target vehicle speed information 43 via the network 2. Unit 1 outputs the throttle opening from unit output 42. Reference numeral 22 denotes a module activation control task A.

  The operation of the module activation control task A (22) in FIG. 5 is set by the parameters shown in FIGS.

  FIG. 6 shows an interrupt cause-start task correspondence table in the throttle control unit 1. This correspondence table indicates that the module activation control task A (22) is periodically activated by a 30 ms timer.

  FIG. 7 shows a TCB (task control block) of the module activation control task A. The task execution priority is high, indicating that the first module to be executed after activation is reception of the target vehicle speed 24y.

  FIG. 8 shows AP module configuration information. After the execution of the AP module: target driving force calculation 21y, the message object: target driving force 24z is transmitted, and the AP module: throttle opening calculation 21z indicates that the task is completed.

  FIG. 9 shows message object configuration information. Message object: Communication of the target vehicle speed 24y is medium communication, inter-unit communication, and asynchronous communication service. After the module activation control task executes the transmission process of the target vehicle speed 24y, the task ends. After the module activation control task executes the reception process of the target vehicle speed 24y, it is the AP module: target driving force calculation 21y that is executed next. It is shown that. On the other hand, the communication of the message object: target driving force 24z is NULL, intra-unit communication, and synchronous communication service. After the module activation control task executes the transmission process of the target driving force 24z and receives the target driving force 24z, and after the module activation control task executes the reception process of the target driving force 24z, the next execution is the AP module: throttle It shows that the opening calculation is 21z.

The operation of the module activation control task A (22) is periodically activated by the 30 ms timer according to the parameter values in FIGS. 6 to 9 described above, and the module execution order is as follows:
Target vehicle speed 24y reception → target driving force calculation 21y → target driving force 24z transmission → target driving force 24z reception → throttle opening calculation 21z execution → task end

(2) Function distribution FIG. 10 shows the operation of the module activation control task when the function of the throttle control unit of FIG. 5 is distributed to two units.

In FIG. 10, units 1 y and 1 z are connected to the network 2. The unit 1y includes a target driving force calculation 21y that is an AP module and a target vehicle speed 24y and a target driving force 24z1 that are message objects. The unit 1 y receives the target vehicle speed information 43 via the network 2. The unit 1 y transmits the target driving force information 44 to the network 2. 22y is a module activation control task A in the unit 1y. The unit 1z includes a throttle opening calculation 21z that is an AP module and a target driving force 24z2 that is a message object. The unit 1 z receives the target driving force information 44 via the network 2. The unit 1z outputs the throttle opening from the unit output 42. 22z is a module activation control task B in the unit 1z.

The operations of the module activation control task A (22y) and task B (22z) in FIG. 10 are set by the parameters shown in FIGS.

  FIG. 11 shows an interrupt cause-startup task correspondence table for each of the driving force management unit 1y and the throttle control unit 1z. From the figure, it is shown that the module activation control task A (22y) and task B (22z) are the periodic activation by the 30 ms timer and the reception event activation of the target driving force 24z2, respectively.

  FIG. 12 shows TCBs (task control blocks) of module activation control tasks A and B. Both task A and task B have a high task execution priority, and the first module to be executed after activation indicates that task A receives the target vehicle speed 24y and task B receives the target driving force 24z2.

  FIG. 13 shows AP module configuration information. After the AP module: target driving force calculation 21y is executed, the message object: target driving force 24z1 is transmitted next, and after the AP module: throttle opening calculation 21z is executed, the task is completed.

  FIG. 14 shows message object configuration information. Message object: Communication of the target vehicle speed 24y is medium communication, inter-unit communication, and asynchronous communication service. After the module activation control task executes the transmission process of the target vehicle speed 24y, the task ends. After the module activation control task executes the reception process of the target vehicle speed 24y, it is the AP module: target driving force calculation 21y that is executed next. It is shown that. On the other hand, the communication of the message object: target driving force 24z1, 24z2 (both are the same object and the configuration information is shared between the units) has a high communication priority, and is a communication between units and a synchronous communication service. . After the module activation control task executes the target driving force transmission process, the task ends, and after the module activation control task executes the target driving force reception process, the AP module: throttle opening calculation 21z is executed next. It is shown that.

The operation of the module activation control task A (22y) is periodically activated by the 30 ms timer according to the parameter values of FIGS. 11 to 14 described above, and the module execution order is as follows:
Target vehicle speed 24y reception → target driving force calculation 21y → target driving force transmission → task end The operation of the module activation control task B (22z) is activated by a target driving force reception event, and the module execution order is as follows: Become:
Target driving force reception → throttle opening calculation 21z execution → task end Therefore, when the system configuration is changed from (1) to (2), it can be dealt with only by changing the following parameters.

  -New registration of the module activation control task B (22z) in the cause-of-activation task correspondence table in the throttle control unit 1z.

  New registration of TCB (task control block) of module activation control task B (22z).

  -AP configuration information is changed in three parts: message object: communication processing priority of target driving force, internal / external communication, and next execution module at the time of transmission.

(3) New Function FIG. 15 shows the operation of the module activation control task when a radar unit is newly added to the system configuration of FIG.

  In FIG. 15, units 1x, 1y, 1z are connected to the network 2. The unit 1x includes an inter-vehicle distance calculation 21w and a target vehicle speed calculation 21x that are AP modules, and an inter-vehicle distance 24x and a target vehicle speed 24y1 that are message objects. The unit 1x inputs the lator information from the unit input 41. The unit 1 x transmits the target vehicle speed information 45 to the network 2. Reference numeral 22x denotes a module activation control task C in the unit 1x. The unit 1y1 includes a target driving force calculation 21y that is an AP module and a target vehicle speed 24y2 and a target driving force 24z1 that are message objects. The unit 1 y 1 receives the target vehicle speed information 43 via the network 2. The unit 1 y 1 transmits the target driving force information 44 to the network 2. 22y is a module activation control task A in the unit 1y1. The unit 1z includes a throttle opening calculation 21z that is an AP module and a target driving force 24z2 that is a message object. The unit 1 z receives the target driving force information 44 via the network 2. The unit 1z outputs the throttle opening from the unit output 42. 22z is a module activation control task B in the unit 1z.

Module activation control task A (22y), task B (22z), task C in FIG.
The operation (22x) is set by the parameters shown in FIGS.

  FIG. 16 shows an interrupt cause-starting task correspondence table for each of the driving force management unit 1y, the throttle control unit 1z, and the radar unit 1z. From the figure, the module activation control task A (22y), task B (22z), and task C (22x) are activated by the reception event of the target vehicle speed 24y2, activated by the reception event of the target driving force 24z2, and periodically activated by the 30 ms timer. It is shown that.

  FIG. 17 shows TCBs (task control blocks) of module activation control tasks A, B, and C. Task A, Task B, and Task C have high task execution priority, and the first module to be executed after startup is that Task A receives the target vehicle speed 24y2, Task B receives the target driving force 24z2, and Task C calculates the inter-vehicle distance. It is 21w.

  FIG. 18 shows AP module configuration information. AP module: After executing the target driving force calculation 21y, the message object: target driving force 24z1 is transmitted next. AP module: After the throttle opening calculation 21z is executed, the task ends and the inter-vehicle distance calculation 21w is executed. Thereafter, transmission processing of message object: inter-vehicle distance 24x is executed, and after execution of target vehicle speed calculation 21x, transmission processing of message object: target vehicle speed 24y1 is executed next.

  FIG. 19 shows message object configuration information. Communication of message objects: target vehicle speeds 24y1 and 24y2 (both are the same object and configuration information is shared between units) is communication between units and synchronous communication service with medium communication priority. After the module activation control task executes the target vehicle speed transmission process, the task ends. After the module activation control task executes the target vehicle speed reception process, the next execution is the AP module: target driving force calculation 21y. Show. On the other hand, the communication of the message object: target driving force 24z1, 24z2 (both are the same object and the configuration information is shared between the units) has a high communication priority, and is a communication between units and a synchronous communication service. . After the module activation control task executes the target driving force transmission process, the task ends, and after the module activation control task executes the target driving force reception process, the AP module: throttle opening calculation 21z is executed next. It is shown that. Further, the communication of the message object: inter-vehicle distance 24x has the communication priority of NULL, intra-unit communication, and synchronous communication service. After the module activation control task executes the inter-vehicle distance transmission process, the message object: inter-vehicle distance reception process execution, and the module activation control task executes the inter-vehicle distance reception process, and then executes the AP module: target. It shows that the vehicle speed calculation is 21x.

The operation of the module activation control task A (22y) is activated by the reception event of the target vehicle speed according to the parameter values of FIGS. 16 to 19 described above, and the module execution order is as follows:
Target vehicle speed reception → target driving force calculation 21y → target driving force transmission → task end Also, the operation of the module activation control task B (22z) is activated by the reception event of the target driving force, and the module execution order is as follows. :
Target driving force reception → throttle opening calculation 21z execution → task end Furthermore, the operation of the module activation control task C (22x) is periodically activated by a 30 ms timer, and the module execution order is as follows:
Inter-vehicle distance calculation 21w → Inter-vehicle distance transmission → Inter-vehicle distance reception → Target vehicle speed calculation 21x → Target vehicle speed transmission → End of task Therefore, if there is a system configuration change from (2) to (3), only change the following parameters it can.

  -Change of cause of interrupt in 1y1 interrupt cause-startup task correspondence table in the driving force management unit.

  -New registration of module activation control task C (22x) in the 1x interrupt cause-activation task correspondence table in the radar unit.

  New registration of TCB (task control block) of module activation control task C (22x).

  AP configuration information is changed by AP module: inter-vehicle distance calculation 21w, new registration of target vehicle speed calculation 21x, message object: communication service type of target vehicle speed, message object: new registration of inter-vehicle distance.

(4) Function Movement FIG. 20 shows the operation of the module activation control task when a module is moved from one unit to another unit in the system configuration of FIG.

In FIG. 20, the units 1v, 1w, 1z are connected to the network 2. The unit 1v includes an inter-vehicle distance calculation 21w that is an AP module and an inter-vehicle distance 24x1 that is a message object. The unit 1v inputs the lator information from the unit input 41. The unit 1 v transmits the inter-vehicle distance information 45 to the network 2. 22v is a module activation control task C in the unit 1v. The unit 1w includes a target vehicle speed calculation 21x and a target driving force calculation 21y that are AP modules, an inter-vehicle distance 24x2 that is a message object, a target vehicle speed 24y, and a target driving force 24z1. The unit 1 w receives the inter-vehicle distance information 45 via the network 2. The unit 1 w transmits the target driving force information 44 to the network 2. Reference numeral 22w denotes a module activation control task A in the unit 1w. The unit 1z includes a throttle opening calculation 21z that is an AP module and a target driving force 24z2 that is a message object. The unit 1 z receives the target driving force information 44 via the network 2. The unit 1z outputs the throttle opening from the unit output 42. 22z is a module activation control task B in the unit 1z.

Module activation control task A (22w), task B (22z), task C in FIG.
The operation (22v) is set by the parameters shown in FIGS.

  FIG. 21 shows an interrupt cause-startup task correspondence table for each of the driving force management unit 1w, the throttle control unit 1z, and the radar unit 1v. From the figure, the module activation control task A (22w), task B (22z), and task C (22v) are activated by a reception event at an inter-vehicle distance of 24x2, activated by a reception event at a target driving force 24z2, and periodically activated by a 30 ms timer. .

  FIG. 22 shows TCBs (task control blocks) of module activation control tasks A, B, and C. Task A, Task B, and Task C all have high task execution priority. The first module to be executed after startup is Task A receives the inter-vehicle distance 24x2, Task B receives the target driving force 24z2, and Task C calculates the inter-vehicle distance. It is 21w.

  FIG. 23 shows AP module configuration information. AP module: After executing the target driving force calculation 21y, the message object: target driving force 24z1 is transmitted next. AP module: After the throttle opening calculation 21z is executed, the task ends and the inter-vehicle distance calculation 21w is executed. Thereafter, transmission processing of message object: inter-vehicle distance 24x is executed, and after execution of target vehicle speed calculation 21x, transmission processing of message object: target vehicle speed 24y1 is executed next. FIG. 23 is the same as FIG.

  FIG. 24 shows message object configuration information. Message object: The communication of the target vehicle speed 24y has a communication priority of NULL, intra-unit communication, and synchronous communication service. After the module activation control task executes the target vehicle speed transmission process, the message object: target vehicle speed reception process execution, and after the module activation control task executes the target vehicle speed reception process, the AP module: target It shows that the driving force calculation is 21y. On the other hand, the communication of the message object: target driving force 24z1, 24z2 (both are the same object and the configuration information is shared between the units) has a high communication priority, and is a communication between units and a synchronous communication service. . After the module activation control task executes the target driving force transmission process, the task ends, and after the module activation control task executes the target driving force reception process, the AP module: throttle opening calculation 21z is executed next. It is shown that. Further, the communication of the message object: inter-vehicle distance 24x1, 24x2 (both are the same object and the configuration information is shared between the units) is a low communication priority, inter-unit communication, and synchronous communication service. After the module activation control task executes the inter-vehicle distance transmission process, the message object: inter-vehicle distance reception process execution, and the module activation control task executes the inter-vehicle distance reception process, and then executes the AP module: target. It shows that the vehicle speed calculation is 21x.

Based on the parameter values of FIGS. 21 to 24 described above, the operation of the module activation control task A (22w) is activated by the reception event of the inter-vehicle distance, and the module execution order is as follows:
Inter-vehicle distance reception → target vehicle speed calculation 21x → target vehicle speed transmission → target vehicle speed reception → target driving force calculation 21y → target driving force transmission → task end The operation of module activation control task B (22z) is a target driving force reception event. The module execution order is as follows:
Target driving force reception → throttle opening calculation 21z execution → task end Furthermore, the operation of the module activation control task C (22v) is periodically activated by a 30 ms timer, and the module execution order is as follows:
Inter-vehicle distance calculation 21w → inter-vehicle distance transmission → task end Therefore, when there is a system configuration change from (3) to (4), it can be handled only by changing the following parameters.

  -Change of cause of interrupt in 1y1 interrupt cause-startup task correspondence table in the driving force management unit.

  Module change to be executed first after TCB (task control block) of module activation control task A (22w) is activated.

  -AP configuration information is changed with no AP module configuration information, message object: target vehicle speed, communication processing priority of inter-vehicle distance, internal / external communication, change of next execution module at transmission.

  As described above, the module activation control task includes AP configuration information (AP module configuration information, message / object configuration information), further, activation task information in the interrupt cause-activation task correspondence table, and task execution in the task control block. Any system configuration can be supported by changing the priority information and the module information to be executed first after startup. Thus, even if the system configuration is changed, the amount of software change can be kept small, so that it is possible to improve software productivity.

  Furthermore, by changing these information, the execution order of AP modules, the execution order of communication processing, and the communication processing priority of message objects can be changed, and the AP and communication processing can be operated asynchronously or synchronously. Therefore, it becomes possible to shorten the worst execution time of the process of performing sensor input to actuator output including communication processing across the network.

  FIG. 25 shows a configuration diagram of the AP configuration information setting system.

  In the figure, a plurality of units 1a1,..., 1n1 and a personal computer 51 are connected to a network 2. Each unit includes an application program (AP) 11, a distributed control middleware 12, a real-time operating system (RTOS) 13, a network communication processing driver 14, and an initialization process 15. The AP 11 includes a plurality of AP modules 21a, 21b, ..., 21n. The distributed control processing middleware includes a plurality of module activation control tasks 22a,..., 22k, AP configuration information 23, a plurality of message objects 24a,. Further, 23 comprises AP module configuration information 23a and message / object configuration information 23b. In addition, arrows 31a to 31n, 32a to 32k, 33a to 33k, 34a to 34m, 35a to 35k, 36, 25a, 25b, 37, and 37a in the figure are control flows. A general-purpose computer 51 such as a center control unit or a personal computer is connected to the AP configuration information storage disk 52.

The operation of the AP configuration information setting system is as follows. The AP configuration information storage disk 52 stores all healing unit AP configuration information. When the system is started up, the computer 51 sends the unit configuration information to the unit that requires the AP configuration information to be rewritten from the AP configuration information storage disk 52. AP configuration information (interrupt cause-activated task correspondence table 104, task control blocks 103a to 103n shown in FIG. 4) is divided into a plurality of packets and transmitted via the network. In the receiving unit, the initialization process 15 receives the transmitted packet via the network communication driver 14 and stores it in the AP configuration information 23.

In the above description, the AP configuration information is stored in the disk 52 and is described only when the computer 51 stores the information in the intra-unit AP configuration information 23. In addition to the AP configuration information, the interrupt cause-start task in FIG. Information of the correspondence table 104 and the task control blocks 103a to 103n may also be stored in the AP configuration information storage disk 52, and the computer 51 may transmit the information to the unit for storage.

  With this system, the operation of the module activation control task in the unit can be changed even after the unit is already installed in the unit, so the unit can be removed from the system even if there is a system configuration change such as adding a new unit. You do n’t have to remove it.

  Here, the embodiment in which the AP configuration information is set via the network has been described, but it is also possible to set the AP configuration information of the unit via a serial cable such as RS232 other than the network. In this case, serial cable driver software is required in the unit 1a1, and the initialization process 38 uses serial cable driver software instead of the network communication processing driver 14.

  Furthermore, the AP configuration information can be set directly in the memory area of the AP configuration information 23 using a ROM writer.

  FIG. 27 shows a configuration diagram of the AP configuration information generation tool.

  In the figure, system configuration information 601 is input information of the tool, AP configuration information generation tool 602, and AP configuration information 23 is output information. The tool 602 includes two tools, a syntax analysis tool 6021 and a data generation tool 6022.

  The system configuration information 601 includes task information, AP information, and message object information described below.

(1) System information-Task execution order of distributed control processing (execution of multiple tasks from input to output), task names to be executed, and data flow.

  -Worst execution time of distributed control processing.

  -Processing delay due to shared resource access contention with other tasks.

  -Execution delay time inherited from the previous task.

  -End-to-end deadline until the completion of distributed control processing.

(2) Task information-Module execution order, module name to execute and data flow-Task execution priority-Task activation type (cyclic timer activation or event activation).

・ Task start cycle time
-Cycle time (cyclic start type distributed control processing).

  -Minimum event occurrence time (event-driven type distributed control processing).

  ・ The worst response time of the invoking task.

(3) AP information-Pointer to all included AP modules.

  -Number of input information and data type of each AP module.

  -Number of output information and data type of each AP module.

(4) Message object information-Pointers to all message objects to be included.

  The data type of each message object.

  -Message type (synchronous communication or asynchronous communication).

  -Timeout period until transmission processing and reception processing are completed.

  -Maximum number of transmission processing retries.

  ・ Communication error handling adopted.

  The syntax analysis tool 6021 is a tool for extracting AP configuration information from the system configuration information 601 and can be realized by a general syntax analysis tool. The data generation tool 6022 converts the output from the tool 6021 into the format of the AP configuration information 23.

  With this tool, it is not necessary to manually create the AP configuration information 23, and software productivity is improved.

  FIG. 28 shows a configuration diagram of the distributed control processing middleware code generation tool.

  In the figure, system configuration information 601 is input information of the tool, distributed control processing middleware code generation tool is 605, and distributed control processing middleware code is 604. The tool 605 includes an AP configuration information generation tool 602, AP configuration information 23 that is intermediate data, and a code generation tool 603.

The code generation tool 603 generates a module activation control task code from the module activation control task (22a to 22k in FIG. 1) whose operation is described in FIG. 26 and the AP configuration information 23 which is reference data of the task. The generated code may be a high-level language source file, an assembler code, or an object file.

  The code generated by this tool can be made smaller in size than the code of the process that the module activation control task described above refers to the AP configuration information, so that memory saving and execution time overhead can be reduced.

It is a figure which shows the unit structure showing one Example of this invention. It is the figure which showed an example of AP module structure information 23a. It is the figure which showed an example of the message object structure information 23b. It is the figure which showed the operation | movement flow of an interruption process. It is the figure which showed the operation | movement of the module starting control task in a throttle control unit. It is the figure which showed the interruption cause in the throttle control unit 1-starting task correspondence table. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a TCB (task control block) of a module activation control task A. It is the figure which showed AP module structure information. It is the figure which showed message object structure information. It is the figure which showed the operation | movement of the module starting control task at the time of function distribution. It is the figure which showed the interruption cause in the throttle control unit 1-starting task correspondence table. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a TCB (task control block) of a module activation control task A. It is the figure which showed AP module structure information. It is the figure which showed message object structure information. It is the figure which showed the operation | movement of the module starting control task at the time of adding a unit. It is the figure which showed the interruption cause in the throttle control unit 1-starting task correspondence table. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a TCB (task control block) of a module activation control task A. It is the figure which showed AP module structure information. It is the figure which showed message object structure information. It is the figure which showed operation | movement of the module starting control task at the time of moving a module from one unit to another unit. It is the figure which showed the interruption cause in the throttle control unit 1-starting task correspondence table. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a TCB (task control block) of a module activation control task A. It is the figure which showed AP module structure information. It is the figure which showed message object structure information. It is the figure which showed the structure of AP configuration information setting system. It is the figure which showed the flowchart showing operation | movement of a module starting control task. It is the figure which showed the structure of AP configuration information generation tool. It is the figure which showed the structure of the distributed control processing middleware code generation tool.

Explanation of symbols

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Unit, 11 ... Application program, 12 ... Distributed control middleware, 13 ... Real time operating system, 14 ... Network communication processing driver, 20 ... Network, 21 ... Application program module, 22 ... Module start task, 23 ... Application Program configuration information, 24 ... Message object, 25 ... Real-time communication processing control, 31-38 ... Control flow, 41 ... Input to unit, 42 ... Output from unit, 43-45 ... Information via network, 51 ... Computer 52 ... AP configuration information storage disk 101 ... Interrupt processing 102 ... Interrupt vector table 103 ... Task control block in real time operating system 104 ... Interrupt cause-start task correspondence table 111 to 115 ... the contents of the interrupt processing.

Claims (5)

A distributed control system comprising a plurality of units having communication means for connecting to a network and performing distributed control of an automobile,
As a plurality of units, a sensor unit for detecting the state of the automobile,
An arithmetic unit for calculating the state of the car,
A distributed control system, wherein a communication processing priority of a message object related to the sensor unit and the arithmetic unit is made higher than a task execution priority of an AP module executed in the distributed control system. In claim 1,
As a plurality of units, provided with an actuator unit having an actuator,
Distributed control , wherein a communication processing priority of a message object related to the sensor unit , the arithmetic unit, and the actuator unit is made higher than a task execution priority of an AP module executed in the distributed control system system. In claim 1 or claim 2,
The sensor unit includes a radar that measures an inter-vehicle distance. In one of claims 1 to 3,
The distributed control system, wherein the arithmetic unit controls a driving force of an automobile. In one of claims 1 to 4,
The unit includes message / object configuration information storage means for storing communication processing priority indicating priority in processing using a plurality of units of a message object for executing communication processing. .

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