JP7666306B2 - Electronic control device, control program, and control method - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an electronic control device that controls a wireless communication device, and a control program and control method executed by the electronic control device.

In recent years, the development of connected cars, which are cars equipped with Internet communication functions, has accelerated. Technology for remotely managing and controlling a car's driving via a communication network is also being developed, and the importance of communication functions in cars is increasing.

Cellular communications such as 3G, LTE (Long Term Evolution), LTE-A (Long Term Evolution Advanced), and 5G may be used as a communication method for automobiles. In such cellular communications, a communication capacity may be set as an upper limit on the amount of data that can be sent and received per unit of time, such as a day, week, or month, depending on the contract with the communication carrier. If data is sent or received in excess of the set communication capacity, communication may become impossible or the communication speed may be restricted.

Automobiles, particularly self-driving automobiles that are expected to be monitored and controlled remotely via a communication network, require communication without time lag between the automobile and the server device that manages the automobile. For this reason, it is undesirable for communication to be disabled or for communication speed to be restricted due to exceeding communication capacity. It is expected that communication capacity can be increased by changing the contract with the communication carrier or by entering into an additional contract, but for operators that operate a large number of automobiles, such as taxis and buses, there is a problem in that changing the contract for multiple automobiles significantly increases costs.

It is expected that there will be a bias in the amount of data sent and received among multiple vehicles. For example, the amount of data sent and received will differ depending on the number of events that occur while the vehicle is traveling and the method of responding to the events. In particular, responses that require the sending and receiving of image data will consume a larger amount of data. If, among multiple vehicles with a bias in the amount of data sent and received, there is a vehicle that has sent and received a small amount of data and has spare communication capacity, if it were possible to transfer part of the communication capacity of such a vehicle to a vehicle with excess communication capacity, it would be possible to share the communication capacity among multiple vehicles and avoid an inability to communicate or restrictions on communication speed.

For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a communication capacity management device that manages communication capacity in multiple communication terminals. The communication capacity management device in Patent Document 1 transfers communication capacity granted to a wireless communication line subscribed to by a user to a wireless communication line subscribed to by another user, and manages the remaining communication capacity in each communication line.

Patent Publication 2016-052068

Here, the present inventors have found the following problems through detailed investigation.
In a wireless communication device mounted on a moving object, the amount of data transmitted and received by the wireless communication device changes according to the moving state of the moving object. Therefore, there is a possibility that a bias in the amount of data transmitted and received by the wireless communication device occurs, such that one wireless communication device transmits and receives a significantly large amount of data, while another wireless communication device transmits and receives a significantly small amount of data. In particular, in a wireless communication device that moves along a specific route, a wireless communication device that has transmitted and received a large amount of data in the past is likely to transmit and receive a large amount of data in the future. Therefore, even if a part of the communication capacity is transferred from another wireless communication device, the communication capacity may be exceeded immediately, or a communication capacity transfer process may be required periodically.

The present invention aims to provide an electronic control device or the like that can control wireless communication devices so that each wireless communication device can perform wireless communication without exceeding a set communication capacity when there is a bias in the amount of data transmitted and received among multiple wireless communication devices.

An electronic control device according to one aspect of the present disclosure is an electronic control device (100) that controls a first wireless communication unit in which first identification information indicating an authority to perform wireless communication is stored in a memory area, and a second wireless communication unit in which second identification information indicating an authority to perform wireless communication is stored in a memory area, wherein the first identification information is linked to a first communication volume indicating an amount of data transmitted and received using the first identification information, and the second identification information is linked to a second communication volume indicating an amount of data transmitted and received using the second identification information, and the electronic control device is equipped with a rewrite necessity determination unit (105) that determines whether to rewrite the first identification information stored in the memory area of the first wireless communication unit based on the first communication volume, a rewrite candidate search unit (106) that searches for the second identification information linked to the second communication volume that is less than the first communication volume when the rewrite necessity determination unit determines that the first identification information should be rewritten, and a rewrite instruction unit (107) that instructs the first wireless communication unit to rewrite the first identification information to the second identification information.

The numbers in parentheses attached to the constituent elements of the invention described in the claims and this section indicate the correspondence between the present invention and the embodiments described below, and are not intended to limit the present invention.

With the above-mentioned configuration, the electronic control device etc. disclosed herein can control multiple wireless communication devices to prevent the wireless communication devices from communicating in excess of their communication capacity.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the arrangement of an electronic control device and a wireless communication device according to a first embodiment. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of an electronic control device according to a first embodiment; FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining communication line information stored in a communication line information storage unit according to the first embodiment; FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining a planned communication volume according to the first embodiment; FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining rewriting of identification information according to the first embodiment; FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining rewriting of identification information according to the first embodiment; FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining rewriting of identification information according to the first embodiment; FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the electronic control device according to the first embodiment. FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining the operation of an electronic control device and a wireless communication device according to the first embodiment. FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining the timing of issuing an instruction to rewrite identification information in a first modified example of the first embodiment. FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining the timing of issuing an instruction to rewrite identification information in a first modified example of the first embodiment. FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining the timing of issuing an instruction to rewrite identification information in a first modified example of the first embodiment. FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining the timing of issuing an instruction to rewrite identification information in a first modified example of the first embodiment. FIG. 13 is a diagram for explaining the arrangement of an electronic control device and a wireless communication device according to a second embodiment. FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of an electronic control device according to a second embodiment. FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining the operation of the electronic control device according to the second embodiment. FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining the operation of an electronic control device and a wireless communication device according to a second embodiment. FIG. 11 is a diagram for explaining the operation of an electronic control device and a wireless communication device according to a second embodiment. Diagrams explaining other inventions

The following describes an embodiment of the present invention with reference to the drawings.

The present invention refers to the invention described in the claims or in the Means for Solving the Problems section, and is not limited to the following embodiments. Furthermore, at least the words in quotation marks refer to the words described in the claims or in the Means for Solving the Problems section, and are not limited to the following embodiments.

The configurations and methods described in the dependent claims of the claims are optional configurations and methods in the invention described in the independent claims of the claims. The configurations and methods of the embodiments corresponding to the configurations and methods described in the dependent claims, and the configurations and methods described only in the embodiments without being described in the claims, are optional configurations and methods in the present invention. The configurations and methods described in the embodiments when the description of the claims is broader than the description of the embodiments are also optional configurations and methods in the present invention in the sense that they are examples of the configurations and methods of the present invention. In either case, by being described in the independent claims of the claims, they become essential configurations and methods of the present invention.

The effects described in the embodiments are the effects when the configuration of the embodiment is an example of the present invention, and are not necessarily the effects of the present invention.

When there are multiple embodiments, the configurations disclosed in each embodiment are not limited to each embodiment, but can be combined across the embodiments. For example, a configuration disclosed in one embodiment may be combined with another embodiment. Also, the configurations disclosed in each of the multiple embodiments may be collected and combined.

The problem described in the problem that the invention is intended to solve is not a publicly known problem, but was discovered independently by the inventor, and this fact, together with the configuration and method of the present invention, affirms the inventive step of the invention.

1. Embodiment 1
(1) Arrangement of the electronic control unit 100 and the wireless communication device W Fig. 1 is a diagram for explaining the arrangement of the electronic control unit 100 and the wireless communication device W of this embodiment. As shown in Fig. 1, the electronic control unit 100 is provided in a server device installed outside the vehicle V (V1 to Vn), and communicates with the wireless communication devices W (W1 to Wn) "mounted" on the vehicles, which are "mobiles". The electronic control unit 100 is a device that controls the wireless communication devices mounted on each vehicle.

Here, the term "mobile body" refers to an object that can move and can move at any speed. It also includes cases where the moving body is stationary. For example, it includes, but is not limited to, automobiles, motorcycles, bicycles, pedestrians, ships, aircraft, and objects mounted on these vehicles.
"Mounted" includes not only the case where the device is directly fixed to the moving body, but also the case where the device is not fixed to the moving body but moves with the moving body, such as the case where the device is carried by a person riding on the moving body, or the case where the device is mounted on cargo placed on the moving body.

It is assumed that the vehicles V1 to Vn equipped with the wireless communication devices W (W1 to Wn) are managed by the same operator. For example, the vehicles V1 to Vn are commercial vehicles such as taxis and buses. Naturally, there may be multiple operators managing the vehicles V1 to Vn.

It is preferable that the wireless communication device W is equipped with multiple communication modules and is a device capable of communicating using at least two communication lines. FIG. 1 illustrates an example in which the wireless communication device W (W1 to Wn) is equipped with two communication modules, one of which communicates using communication line A and the other communication module using communication line B. In this example, both communication lines A and B are cellular communications such as W-CDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access), HSPA (High Speed Packet Access), LTE (Long Term Evolution), LTE-A (Long Term Evolution Advanced), 4G, 5G, 6G, or LPWA (Low Power Wide Area), and communication is performed via each base station. In the embodiment described below, an example in which the wireless communication device W is equipped with two communication modules is also described.

However, the wireless communication device W may communicate using wireless communication such as IEEE802.11 (Wi-Fi (registered trademark)), IEEE802.16 (WiMAX (registered trademark)), Bluetooth (registered trademark), UWB (Ultra Wide Band), ZigBee (registered trademark), or DSRC (Dedicated Short Range Communication). Alternatively, the wireless communication device W may communicate using wireless communication as one communication line and wired communication such as a LAN (Local Area Network), the Internet, or a fixed telephone line as the other communication line. The wireless communication device W may also communicate using three or more communication lines.

The wireless communication device W stores identification information in its storage area. The identification information is information indicating the "authority" to perform wireless communication, and is, for example, a user ID, password, or identifier provided by a contracted telecommunications carrier. The wireless communication device W transmits the identification information to a base station when performing cellular communication. If the identification information is authenticated by the base station, the wireless communication device W becomes able to perform wireless communication via the base station. The wireless communication device W has identification information for each communication line used. That is, the wireless communication device W using communication lines A and B stores the identification information for each of the communication lines A and B in its storage area. In the example of FIG. 1, the wireless communication device W1 stores identification information (AA-1) indicating the authority to perform wireless communication using communication line A, and identification information (BB-1) indicating the authority to perform wireless communication using communication line B. Similarly, the wireless communication devices W2 to Wn store identification information for each communication line used.

Here, "authority" refers to the ability to conduct wireless communication, and includes, for example, IDs and passwords provided by telecommunications carriers, as well as IDs and passwords provided to communication devices.

In each embodiment described below, the wireless communication device W is an in-vehicle device mounted in a vehicle. However, the wireless communication device W is not limited to an in-vehicle device. For example, the wireless communication device W may be a wireless communication terminal that is distributed by the business operator to workers for use.

(2) Configuration of the electronic control unit 100 Fig. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the electronic control unit 100. The electronic control unit 100 includes a communication line information storage unit 101, a communication line information acquisition unit 102, a rewrite control unit 103, and a communication unit 104. The rewrite control unit 103 realizes a rewrite necessity determination unit 105 and a rewrite candidate search unit 106. The communication unit 104 includes a rewrite instruction unit 107 and a completion notification receiving unit 108.

The electronic control device 100 can be configured with a general-purpose CPU (Central Processing Unit), volatile memory such as RAM, non-volatile memory such as ROM, flash memory, or a hard disk, various interfaces, and an internal bus connecting these. Then, by executing software on this hardware, it can be configured to perform the functions of each functional block described in FIG. 2. The same is true for the electronic control device 100 shown in FIG. 15 of the second embodiment. Of course, the electronic control device 100 may be realized by dedicated hardware such as an LSI.

In this embodiment, the electronic control device 100 is assumed to be in the form of a semi-finished electronic control device (ECU (Electric Control Unit), hereafter abbreviated as ECU), but is not limited to this. For example, component forms include semiconductor circuits and semiconductor modules, and finished product forms include personal computers (PCs), smartphones, mobile phones, and navigation systems. The electronic control device 100 may be composed of a single ECU or multiple ECUs. The above also applies to the electronic control device 100 of other embodiments.

The communication line information storage unit 101 stores communication line information for each wireless communication device W managed by the electronic control unit 100, such as the communication line being used, identification information stored in the memory area of the wireless communication device W, and the communication volume and communication capacity "linked" to the identification information.

Here, "linked" means that two pieces of information are inseparably associated with each other.

Figure 3 shows an example of information stored in the communication line information storage unit 101. Although Figure 3 shows only communication line information related to communication line A, the communication line information storage unit 101 may store communication line information related to communication lines other than communication line A used by wireless communication devices W1 to Wn. Note that the communication line information shown in Figure 3 is an example, and the communication line information storage unit 101 may store further information as communication line information.

According to FIG. 3, the wireless communication device W1 is a device that performs wireless communication using the communication line A, and the identification information AA-1 is stored in the storage area. The identification information AA-1 is associated with a value of 7.2 GB as a communication amount indicating the amount of data transmitted and received using the identification information AA-1. The identification information AA-1 is further associated with a value of 10 GB as a communication capacity indicating the upper limit of the amount of data that can be transmitted and received within a predetermined period using the identification information AA-1. In this embodiment, the communication amount indicates the cumulative amount of data transmitted and received from the first day of the month (the 1st), and the communication capacity indicates the upper limit of the amount of data that can be transmitted and received per month. Note that FIG. 3 illustrates an example in which all communication capacities are equal (10 GB), but the communication capacity varies depending on the contract contents, and naturally, different communication capacities may be set for each.

The communication line information acquisition unit 102 acquires, as communication line information, the identification information and the communication volume linked to the identification information from the communication line information storage unit 101. When the rewrite necessity determination unit 105 described later uses the communication volume to determine whether or not the identification information needs to be rewritten, the communication line information acquisition unit 102 may further acquire the communication volume.

The rewrite control unit 103 realizes a rewrite necessity determination unit 105 and a rewrite candidate search unit 106 .
The rewrite necessity determination unit 105 determines whether or not to rewrite the identification information (corresponding to the "first identification information") stored in the memory area of the wireless communication device W1 (corresponding to the "first wireless communication unit") based on the communication volume (corresponding to the "first communication volume") acquired by the communication line information acquisition unit 102.

For example, when the communication volume associated with the identification information (AA-1) is "greater than" a "predetermined" threshold, the rewrite necessity determination unit 105 determines to rewrite the identification information (AA-1) stored in the storage area of the wireless communication device W1. In the case of FIG. 3, the communication volume is 7.2 GB, and when this communication volume is equal to or greater than the threshold, it is determined to rewrite the identification information. Note that it is preferable to set the predetermined threshold to a value lower than the communication volume, but the value of the communication volume may also be set as the predetermined threshold. Furthermore, the predetermined threshold does not have to be a constant value, and may be a value that changes over time. For example, the threshold is set low in the first half of the month and high in the second half of the month.

Here, "predetermined" includes a case where it is always constant, as well as a case where it is uniquely determined depending on conditions.
The term "greater than or equal to" includes both cases where the value is the same as the comparison target and cases where the value is not the same.

As another example, the rewrite necessity determination unit 105 may determine whether to rewrite the identification information (AA-1) stored in the storage area of the wireless communication device W1 based on the communication capacity in addition to the communication volume. For example, the rewrite necessity determination unit 105 determines to rewrite the identification information when the difference between the communication volume and the communication capacity, i.e., the remaining communication volume indicating the remaining amount of data that can be transmitted and received in the current month, is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold. In the case of FIG. 3, the remaining communication volume linked to the identification information stored in the storage area of the wireless communication device W1 is 2.8 GB, and it is determined to rewrite the identification information when this remaining communication volume is equal to or less than the threshold.

As yet another example, the rewrite necessity determination unit 105 may determine whether or not to rewrite the identification information (AA-1) stored in the storage area of the wireless communication device W1 based on the planned communication volume indicating the amount of data that the wireless communication device W1 plans to transmit and receive in the future using the identification information (AA-1) in addition to the communication volume. For example, the rewrite necessity determination unit 105 determines to rewrite the identification information when the sum of the communication volume and the planned communication volume is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value.

The planned communication volume can be predicted, for example, using a table as shown in FIG. 4. FIG. 4 shows the predicted values of the amount of data that the wireless communication device W will transmit and receive using communication lines A and B when the vehicle V equipped with the wireless communication device W travels along routes X to Z. According to FIG. 4, when a vehicle V1 equipped with a wireless communication device W1 using communication lines A and B travels along route X, the predicted value of the amount of data that will be transmitted and received using communication line A is 0.6 GB, and the predicted value of the amount of data that will be transmitted and received using communication line B is 0.4 GB. Therefore, when the vehicle V1 equipped with the wireless communication device W1 is scheduled to travel along route X, the amount of data that the wireless communication device W1 plans to transmit and receive using the identification information (AA-1) can be predicted to be 0.6 GB.

Then, the rewrite necessity determination unit 105 determines to rewrite the identification information when the sum of the communication volume (7.2 GB) indicating the amount of data transmitted and received using the identification information (AA-1) and the planned communication volume (0.6 GB) indicating the amount of data that the wireless communication device W1 plans to transmit and receive using the identification information (AA-1) is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold value.

The expected communication volume values in the table in FIG. 4 can be calculated using average values or statistics of the amount of data actually transmitted and received when the vehicle was traveling in the past, analysis of big data, etc. Also, while FIG. 4 shows specific numerical values as expected communication volumes, an error range or standard deviation for the expected communication volumes may be set.

When the rewrite necessity determination unit 105 determines that the identification information (AA-1) should be rewritten, the rewrite candidate search unit 106 searches for identification information that is a candidate for rewriting. Here, the identification information that is a candidate for rewriting is identification information (corresponding to "second identification information") that is linked to a communication volume (corresponding to "second communication volume") that is less than the communication volume (7.2 GB) that is linked to the identification information (AA-1).

For example, the rewrite candidate search unit 106 searches for, as a rewrite candidate, the identification information associated with the smallest communication volume among the communication volumes acquired by the communication line information acquisition unit 102. According to FIG. 3, the communication volume (1.8 GB) indicating the volume of data transmitted and received using the identification information (AA-2) stored in the memory area of the wireless communication device W2 (corresponding to the "second wireless communication unit") is smaller than other communication volumes indicating the volume of data transmitted and received using other identification information. Therefore, the rewrite candidate search unit 106 searches for the identification information (AA-2) associated with the communication volume (1.8 GB) as a rewrite candidate.

As another example, the rewrite candidate search unit 106 may search for identification information that is a rewrite candidate based on the communication capacity in addition to the communication volume. For example, the rewrite candidate search unit 106 searches for identification information that is linked to the communication volume with the largest remaining communication volume, which indicates the remaining amount of data that can be transmitted and received in the current month, as a rewrite candidate.

The rewrite candidate search unit 106 may extract identification information that satisfies a predetermined condition, and search for identification information that is a rewrite candidate from among the extracted identification information. For example, identification information is extracted based on predetermined conditions such as that the identification information has not been rewritten within a specific period of time, that the associated communication volume is equal to or less than the standard communication volume for the rewrite candidate, or that the remaining communication volume, which is the difference between the communication capacity and the communication volume, is equal to or more than the standard communication volume for the rewrite candidate. If there is no identification information that satisfies the predetermined condition, the rewrite candidate search unit 106 may determine that there is no identification information that is a rewrite candidate. If there is no identification information that satisfies the predetermined condition, the rewrite process of the identification information described below is not performed.

The rewrite instruction unit 107 instructs the wireless communication device W1 to rewrite the identification information (AA-1) to the identification information (AA-2) found by the rewrite candidate search unit 106. The rewrite instruction unit 107 may transmit a signal instructing the rewrite of the identification information together with the identification information (AA-2), or may instruct the rewrite of the identification information by transmitting only the identification information. The rewrite instruction unit 107 further instructs the wireless communication device W2 to rewrite the identification information (AA-2) to the identification information (AA-1).

The rewrite instruction unit 107 may further instruct the start of communication using the rewritten identification information when the completion notification receiving unit 108 described later receives a completion notification indicating that the rewrite of the identification information has been completed from the wireless communication devices W1 and W2 that instructed the rewrite of the identification information.

The completion notification receiving unit 108 receives a completion notification indicating that the rewriting of the identification information has been completed from the wireless communication devices W1 and W2 for which the rewriting instruction unit 107 has instructed to rewrite the identification information.

Referring to Figures 5 to 7, the rewriting of the identification information stored in the memory area of the wireless communication device W will be described. Figure 5 shows the identification information (AA-1 to AA-n) stored in the memory area of the wireless communication devices W1 to Wn and the communication volume linked to each identification information.

Figure 5 (a) shows the identification information before it is rewritten. The communication volume associated with the identification information AA-1 stored in the wireless communication device W1 is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold. Therefore, the rewrite necessity determination unit 105 determines that the identification information stored in the storage area of the wireless communication device W1 should be rewritten. The rewrite candidate search unit 106 searches for the identification information AA-2 associated with the least communication volume as the identification information to be rewritten to the wireless communication device W1.

Figure 5 (b) shows the state after the identification information has been rewritten. The identification information stored in wireless communication device W1 has been rewritten from AA-1 to AA-2, and the identification information stored in wireless communication device W2 has been rewritten from AA-2 to AA-1. In addition, since each piece of identification information is linked to a communication volume, the communication volumes of wireless communication devices W1 and W2 have changed.

Figure 6 is a diagram illustrating the identification information stored in the wireless communication devices W1 and W2 in Figure 5 and the changes in communication volume associated with each identification information. The left side shows the identification information before it is rewritten, and the right side shows the identification information after it is rewritten.

In the diagram on the left, the solid lines show the amount of data transmitted and received from the 1st to the 15th by wireless communication device W1 using identification information AA-1, and by wireless communication device W2 using AA-2. Wireless communication device W1 has a large amount of communication, and if wireless communication device W1 continues to communicate using identification information AA-1, it may exceed its communication capacity by the end of the month, leading to restrictions on communication using communication line A. On the other hand, wireless communication device W2 has a small amount of communication, and if wireless communication device W2 continues to communicate using identification information AA-2, it may not use up its communication capacity by the end of the month, and may have excess communication capacity.

In the diagram on the right, the communication volume indicating the amount of data transmitted and received from the 1st to the 15th is shown by a solid line, and the communication volume from the 16th onwards is shown by a dashed line. The communication volume from the 1st to the 15th in wireless communication devices W1 and W2 changes as the identification numbers are rewritten. According to the diagram on the left of Figure 6, in wireless communication device W1, the communication volume until the end of the month does not exceed the communication capacity. Also, in wireless communication device W2, the communication volume until the end of the month is close to the communication capacity, and there is no excess communication capacity.

Figure 7 illustrates an example in which the rewrite necessity determination unit 105 determines whether to rewrite the identification information based on the planned communication volume in addition to the communication volume. Figure 7 (a) shows the identification information before it is rewritten. As shown in Figure 7 (a), when wireless communication device W1 communicates using identification information AA-1, the sum of the communication volume and the planned communication volume is equal to or greater than the communication capacity. Therefore, the rewrite necessity determination unit 105 determines to rewrite the identification information AA-1 stored in the storage area of wireless communication device W1. Meanwhile, the rewrite candidate search unit 106 searches for identification information AA-2, which is linked to the smallest communication volume, as an identification information to be rewritten to wireless communication device W1.

Figure 7 (b) shows the state after the identification information has been rewritten. The identification information stored in wireless communication device W1 has been rewritten from AA-1 to AA-2, and the identification information stored in wireless communication device W2 has been rewritten from AA-2 to AA-1. As in Figure 5, each piece of identification information is linked to a communication volume, so the communication volumes of wireless communication devices W1 and W2 have also changed. After the identification information has been rewritten, the sum of the communication volume and planned communication volume of wireless communication device W1 does not exceed the communication capacity.

The above describes the configuration of the electronic control unit 100 of this embodiment and the process related to rewriting the identification information stored in the memory area of the wireless communication device. Naturally, the electronic control unit 100 also performs similar processes on the identification information stored in the memory areas of the other wireless communication devices W2 to Wn. It is desirable for the rewrite necessity determination unit 105 to determine whether or not to rewrite each piece of identification information stored in the memory area of the wireless communication device W (W1 to Wn) at a predetermined cycle. The predetermined cycle is, for example, once a day or once every few hours.

The period for determining whether or not rewriting is necessary does not need to be constant, and the period may be changed according to the "difference" between the communication capacity and the communication volume. In this case, it is desirable to perform the determination more frequently, i.e., at a shorter period, the smaller the difference between the communication capacity and the communication volume. It can be said that the smaller the difference between the communication capacity and the communication volume, the more likely the communication volume will exceed the communication capacity. Therefore, by shortening the period for performing the determination as the difference between the communication capacity and the communication volume becomes smaller, the rewriting process is performed before the communication volume exceeds the communication capacity. For example, the period for performing the determination is changed so that if the difference between the communication capacity and the communication volume is less than 3 GB, it is once a day, if it is 3 GB or more but less than 5 GB, it is once every two days, and if it is 5 GB or more, it is once every three days.

Here, the “difference” refers to any operation that includes subtraction, and includes not only the simple difference (y−x), but also the squared difference (y ² −x ² ), the square root of the difference ((y−x) ^1/2 ), and the weighted difference (by-ax: a and b are constants).

The rewrite necessity determination unit 105 may determine whether or not to rewrite each piece of identification information at different periods, or may determine whether or not to rewrite all of the identification information at the same timing. In this case, the necessity of rewriting the other pieces of identification information may also be determined according to the period of the identification information that minimizes the difference between the communication capacity and the communication amount.

The rewrite necessity determination unit 105 may determine whether or not to rewrite the identification information at a specific timing instead of or in addition to the predetermined cycle. For example, the rewrite necessity determination unit 105 determines whether or not to rewrite the identification information when the wireless communication device W (W1 to Wn) starts or stops, and/or when the communication volume, the total value, or the difference between the communication capacity and the communication volume transmitted or received by the wireless communication device W (W1 to Wn) reaches a predetermined value. Furthermore, even when the determination is made at such timing, the frequency of the determination may be changed according to the difference between the communication capacity and the communication volume.

For example, the rewrite necessity determination unit 105 does not perform rewrite when the difference between the communication capacity and the communication amount is less than 3 GB, and when the difference is 3 GB or more and less than 5 GB, the determination is made at the start of the wireless communication device W, and when the difference is 5 GB or more, the determination is made at the start and at the end. In another example, when the difference between the communication capacity and the communication amount is less than 3 GB, the rewrite necessity determination unit 105 makes a determination once for every increase in the communication amount transmitted and received of 1 GB, when the difference is 3 GB or more and less than 5 GB, the determination is made once for every increase in the communication amount transmitted and received of 500 MB, and when the difference is 5 GB or more, the determination is made once for every increase in the communication amount transmitted and received of 200 MB. In yet another example, when the difference between the communication capacity and the communication amount is less than 3 GB, the rewrite necessity determination unit 105 makes a determination once for every increase in the communication amount transmitted and received of 1 GB, when the difference is 3 GB or more and less than 5 GB, the determination is made once for every increase in the communication amount transmitted and received of 500 MB in addition to the start, and when the difference is 5 GB or more, the determination is made once for every increase in the communication amount transmitted and received of 200 MB in addition to the start and the end. In this way, the smaller the difference between communication capacity and communication volume, the more frequently the determination is made.

(3) Operation of the Electronic Control Device The operation of the electronic control device 100 will be described with reference to Figures 8 and 9. Figure 8 shows the operation of the electronic control device 100, and Figure 9 shows the operation of the wireless communication device W1 related to the electronic control device 100. The reference symbols shown in Figures 8 and 9 correspond to each other, and the same reference symbols indicate the same processes. Figure 9 describes only the operation of the wireless communication device W1, but the wireless communication device W2 also performs the same operation as the wireless communication device W1.

The operation of the electronic control unit 100 shown in Figures 8 and 9 not only shows a method executed by the electronic control unit 100, but also shows the processing procedure of a program that can be executed by the electronic control unit 100. Furthermore, these processes are not limited to the order shown in Figures 8 and 9. In other words, the order may be changed as long as there are no constraints, such as a relationship in which a certain step uses the result of the previous step. The same applies to Figures 16 to 18 of embodiment 2.

The communication line information acquisition unit 102 acquires communication line information of the wireless communication devices W (W1 to Wn) managed by the electronic control unit 100 from the communication line information storage unit 101 (FIG. 8: S101).
The rewrite necessity determining unit 105 determines whether or not to rewrite the identification information stored in the storage area of the wireless communication device W1 based on the communication volume, which is the communication line information acquired in S101 (FIG. 8: S102).
When it is determined in S102 that the identification information is to be rewritten (FIG. 8: S102: Y), the rewrite candidate search unit 106 searches for identification information that is a rewrite candidate (FIG. 8: S103). In this embodiment, the identification information (AA-2) of the wireless communication device W2 is searched for as a rewrite candidate.
If there is identification information that is a candidate for rewriting as a result of searching for identification information in S103 (FIG. 8: S104: Y), the rewrite instruction unit 107 instructs the wireless communication device W1 to rewrite the identification information (AA-1) to the identification information (AA-2) searched for in S103 (FIG. 8: S105). The rewrite instruction unit 107 further instructs the wireless communication device W2 to rewrite the identification information (AA-2) to the identification information (AA-1) (FIG. 8: S105). Here, the rewrite instruction unit 107 instructs the rewrite of the identification information using a communication line B different from the communication line A that rewrites the identification information.

In the wireless communication device W1, the communication module B that performs wireless communication using the communication line B receives the instruction to rewrite the identification information (FIG. 9: S105). Note that the communication module A may be used to issue the instruction to rewrite the identification information.
When receiving the instruction to rewrite the identification information, the communications module B notifies the CPU of the instruction to rewrite the identification information (FIG. 9: S201).
When an instruction to rewrite the identification information is notified in S201, the CPU instructs communication module A, which communicates using the identification information instructed to be rewritten, to stop communication using the identification information (FIG. 9: S203).
When communication module A stops communication in S203, it notifies the CPU that communication has been stopped (FIG. 9: S204).
When notified of the end of communication, the CPU instructs communication module A to rewrite the identification information (FIG. 9: S205).
The communications module A rewrites the identification information (FIG. 9: S206).
When the rewriting of the identification information is completed in S206, the communication module A notifies the CPU of the completion of the rewriting (FIG. 9: S207). Then, when the rewriting completion is notified from the communication module A, the CPU notifies the electronic control device 100 of the completion of the rewriting via the communication module B (FIGS. 8 and 9: S106).

When the completion notification receiving unit 108 of the electronic control device 100 receives a rewrite completion notification from the wireless communication devices W1 and W2 that instructed the rewrite of the identification information (FIGS. 8 and 9: S106), the rewrite instruction unit 107 instructs the start of communication using the rewritten identification information (FIGS. 8 and 9: S107). At this time, because communication module A of the wireless communication device W1 has stopped communication, the rewrite instruction unit 107 transmits an instruction to start communication using communication line B.

Upon receiving the instruction to start communication, communication module B notifies the CPU of the instruction to start communication (FIG. 9: S208).
When the instruction to start communication is issued in S208, the CPU instructs communication module A to start communication using the rewritten identification information (FIG. 9: S209).
Then, the communications module A starts communications using the rewritten identification information (AA-2) (FIG. 9: S210).

(4) Modification 1
In the above embodiment, an example is described in which the necessity of rewriting the identification information is determined, and the rewriting candidate is searched for, and then the two wireless communication devices are immediately instructed to rewrite the identification information. However, the instruction to rewrite the identification information may be given at any timing after the search for the rewriting candidate is performed. In this modified example, a configuration is described in which the rewrite instruction unit 107 instructs the rewriting of the identification information according to the operating status of the vehicle in which the wireless communication device W is mounted.

In order for the wireless communication device W to receive an instruction to rewrite the identification information from the electronic control device 100 or to perform a process to rewrite the identification information, the wireless communication device W must be activated. However, if the rewrite process is performed while the vehicle V equipped with the wireless communication device W is operating (e.g., traveling), wireless communication using the communication line that is rewriting the identification information cannot be performed while the rewrite process is being performed. In addition, while the vehicle V is not operating (e.g., while the vehicle V is parked), the power of the vehicle V is not turned on, and thus the wireless communication device W equipped in the vehicle V is not activated, so that it is not possible to receive an instruction to rewrite the identification information or perform the rewrite process. Therefore, the rewrite instruction unit 107 instructs the rewrite of the identification information according to the operating status of the vehicle V.

An example of timing for issuing an instruction to rewrite the identification information will be described with reference to FIGS.
FIG. 10 shows a simplified operation schedule of a vehicle V1 equipped with a wireless communication device W1 and a vehicle V2 equipped with a wireless communication device W2. According to FIG. 10, on both the 15th and 16th, the vehicle V1 operates from 8:00 to 16:00, and the vehicle V2 operates from 10:00 to 19:00. At other times, the vehicles V1 and V2, and the wireless communication devices W1 and W2, are not activated. For example, when the electronic control device 100 provided in the server device determines whether or not rewriting is necessary at 22:00 on the 15th, the wireless communication devices W1 and W2 are not activated, so that the rewriting process of the identification information cannot be performed. As shown in the lower part of FIG. 10, if the rewriting process of the identification information is performed after the vehicles V1 and V2 are activated on the day after the determination of whether or not rewriting is necessary (the 16th), a situation occurs in which the identification information AA-2 is simultaneously stored in both the wireless communication device W1 of the vehicle V1 and the wireless communication device V2 of the vehicle V2 immediately after the vehicle V1 is activated.

As an example, the wireless communication device 100 instructs the rewriting of the identification information according to a schedule as shown in FIG. 11. Specifically, the electronic control device 100 instructs the wireless communication device W2 of the vehicle V2 to rewrite the identification information when the operation of the vehicle V2 ends on the 16th, i.e., when the wireless communication device W2 finishes starting up. On the other hand, the electronic control device 100 instructs the wireless communication device W1 of the vehicle V1 to rewrite the identification information when the operation of the vehicle V1 starts on the 17th, i.e., when the wireless communication device W1 starts starting up. This makes it possible to prevent a situation in which one identification information is stored simultaneously in the storage areas of two wireless communication devices.

Figure 12 shows an example in which the operation schedules of vehicles V1 and V2 are different from those in Figures 10 and 11. In Figure 12, on the 16th, vehicle V1 operates from 7:00 to 19:00, and vehicle V2 operates from 8:00 to 16:00. In this example, the electronic control unit 100 instructs the wireless communication device W2 of vehicle V2 to delete the identification information AA-2 stored in the memory area when the operation of vehicle V2 ends on the 16th. However, at this point, no instruction is given to switch to new identification information. This is because if the switching process is performed here, a situation will occur in which the identification information AA-1 is simultaneously stored in both the wireless communication device W1 of vehicle V1 and the wireless communication device V2 of vehicle V2 immediately after vehicle V2 starts up on the 17th. On the other hand, the electronic control unit 100 instructs the wireless communication device W1 of vehicle V1 to rewrite the identification information when the operation of vehicle V1 ends on the 16th, that is, when the wireless communication device W1 stops starting up. The electronic control unit 100 then instructs the wireless communication device W2 of the vehicle V2 to rewrite the identification information when the vehicle V1 starts to operate on the 17th, i.e., when the wireless communication device W2 starts to start up.

Figure 13 shows the timing at which the electronic control unit 100 issues an instruction to rewrite the identification information depending on the relationship between the timing at which vehicles V1 and V2 start and end operation. As shown in Figure 13, when vehicles V1 and V2 start operation at the same time, or when vehicles V1 and V2 end operation at the same time, an instruction to rewrite the identification information is issued at the timing at which they start or end operation at the same time. In contrast, when vehicles V1 and V2 do not start and end operation at the same time, an instruction to rewrite the identification information is issued at the timing shown in Figures 11 to 13, thereby preventing a situation in which one identification information is stored simultaneously in the storage areas of two wireless communication devices.

(5) Modification 2
In the present embodiment, an example has been described in which the identification information determined to need to be rewritten and the identification information searched for as a rewrite candidate are rewritten to essentially exchange the identification information, but the identification information does not necessarily have to be exchanged. For example, the identification information AA-1 stored in the wireless communication device W1 may be rewritten to the identification information AA-2 that is a rewrite candidate, the identification information AA-2 stored in the wireless communication device W2 may be rewritten to the identification information AA-3, and the identification information AA-3 stored in the wireless communication device W3 may be rewritten to the identification information AA-1.

(6) Modification 3
In this embodiment, as shown in Fig. 1, an example has been described in which the electronic control unit 100 provided in the server device instructs a plurality of wireless communication devices W (W1 to Wn) mounted on a vehicle to rewrite the identification information. However, the electronic control unit 100 of this embodiment may be configured to be mounted on a vehicle and to instruct a plurality of wireless communication devices (W1 to Wn) mounted on a vehicle different from the vehicle on which the electronic control unit 100 is mounted to rewrite the identification information.

(7) Summary According to the present embodiment, by replacing the identification information used by a wireless communication device for wireless communication with the identification information used by another wireless communication device, it becomes possible to exchange the communication volume associated with the identification information with the other wireless communication device. As a result, even if there is a bias in the amount of data transmitted and received by each wireless communication device, each wireless communication device can perform wireless communication without exceeding the communication capacity.

3. Embodiment 2
In the first embodiment, an example has been described in which the electronic control unit 100 is a server device. In the present embodiment, a configuration in which the electronic control unit 100 is mounted on a vehicle together with a wireless communication device W will be described, focusing on differences from the first embodiment.

(1) Arrangement of the electronic control unit 100 and the wireless communication device W Fig. 14 is a diagram for explaining the arrangement of the electronic control unit 100 and the wireless communication device W of this embodiment. As shown in Fig. 14, the electronic control unit 100 is "mounted" on a vehicle, which is a "moving body", together with the wireless communication device W. The electronic control unit 100 controls a wireless communication device mounted on the same vehicle and a wireless communication device mounted on another vehicle that performs wireless communication using identification information searched for as a rewrite candidate.

In the embodiment described below, an example is described in which the electronic control device 100 is mounted on a vehicle V1 (corresponding to the "first moving body") together with a wireless communication device W1.

(2) Configuration of the Electronic Control Unit 100 Fig. 15 is a diagram showing an example of the configuration of the electronic control unit 100 of this embodiment. In addition to the components shown in Fig. 2, a rewrite information request unit 109 is provided.

The communication line information storage unit 101 of this embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that it stores only the communication line information of the wireless communication device W1 mounted in the same vehicle as the electronic control device 100. In other words, the communication line information storage unit 101 stores the identification information used by the wireless communication device W1 and the communication volume and communication capacity associated with the identification information.

The rewrite necessity determination unit 105 determines whether or not to rewrite the identification information stored in the storage area of the wireless communication device W1 (corresponding to the "first wireless communication unit"). The method by which the rewrite necessity determination unit 105 determines whether or not to rewrite the identification information is the same as in the first embodiment.

Here, in this embodiment, when the rewrite necessity determination unit 105 determines that the identification information is to be rewritten, the rewrite information request unit 109 requests rewrite information from the wireless communication devices W2 to Wn mounted on the other vehicles. The rewrite information request unit 109 further receives rewrite information transmitted from the wireless communication devices W2 to Wn. The rewrite information is information used by the rewrite candidate search unit 106 to search for a rewrite candidate. Specifically, the rewrite information request unit 109 requests the wireless communication devices W2 to Wn for the identification information stored in the storage area and the communication volume associated with the identification information as rewrite information. As in the first embodiment, when the rewrite candidate search unit 106 searches for a rewrite candidate based on the communication capacity in addition to the communication volume, the communication capacity associated with the identification information may be requested as rewrite information in addition to the identification information and the communication volume.

The wireless communication devices W2 to Wn, which have received a request for rewrite information from the electronic control device 100, transmit the rewrite information to the electronic control device 100. Here, when the wireless communication devices W2 to Wn are requested to transmit rewrite information, they may determine whether or not the identification information stored in the storage area of each wireless communication device can be rewritten based on the communication volume of each wireless communication device. In this case, if the wireless communication devices W2 to Wn determine that the identification information cannot be rewritten, they transmit information indicating that the identification information cannot be rewritten as rewrite information in response to the request from the rewrite information request unit 109. Alternatively, they may not respond to the request from the rewrite information request unit 109. On the other hand, if the wireless communication devices determine that the identification information can be rewritten, they transmit the identification information and the communication volume as rewrite information in response to the request from the rewrite information request unit 109.

The rewrite candidate search unit 106 searches for identification information that is a rewrite candidate based on the rewrite information received by the rewrite information request unit 109. The method by which the rewrite candidate search unit 106 searches for identification information that is a rewrite candidate is the same as in the first embodiment.

The rewrite instruction unit 107 instructs the wireless communication device (corresponding to the "second wireless communication unit") that stores the identification information searched for by the rewrite candidate search unit 106 to rewrite the identification information. As in the first embodiment, in the present embodiment, the case where the rewrite candidate search unit 106 searches for identification information stored in the storage area of the wireless communication device W2 as a rewrite candidate will be described below. The rewrite instruction unit 107 in this embodiment further instructs the wireless communication device W1 mounted on the same vehicle V1 as the electronic control device 100 to rewrite the identification information.

In this embodiment, it is assumed that the wireless communication device W2 always rewrites the identification information when it receives an instruction to rewrite the identification information. However, the wireless communication device W2 may determine not to perform the process of rewriting the identification information after receiving an instruction to rewrite the identification information from the electronic control device 100. For example, when the communication volume linked to the identification information instructed to be rewritten is large and the remaining communication volume is small, the wireless communication device W2 determines not to perform the process of rewriting the identification information. In this case, the wireless communication device W2 transmits a signal to the electronic control device 100 indicating that the rewrite instruction is rejected.

(3) Operation of the Electronic Control Unit The operation of the electronic control unit 100 of this embodiment will be described with reference to Figures 16 to 18. The same reference numerals as those in Figures 8 and 9 of the first embodiment indicate the same processes, and detailed description thereof will be omitted.

In FIG. 16, when it is determined in S102 that the identification information is to be rewritten (FIG. 16: S102: Y), a request for rewriting information is made to other wireless communication devices (FIGS. 16, 17: S110). Here, the rewriting information request unit 109 requests the rewriting information using a communication line B different from the communication line A that rewrites the identification information.

In the wireless communication device W2, the communication module B, which performs wireless communication using the communication line B, receives the request for rewriting information for the identification information (FIG. 17: S110).
When receiving the update information request, the communications module B notifies the CPU of the update information request (FIG. 17: S301).
When a rewrite information request is notified in S301, the CPU transmits the identification information used by communication module A for wireless communication using communication line A and the communication volume linked to the identification information as rewrite information to the electronic control device 100 via communication module B (Figure 17: S302, S303).

The rewrite candidate search unit 106 of the electronic control device 100 searches for rewrite candidates based on the received rewrite information (Figures 16 and 17: S103).

FIG. 18 shows the process in the case where the identification information of the wireless communication device W2 is searched for as a rewrite candidate in S103 of FIG.
The rewrite instruction unit 107 instructs the wireless communication device W2 to rewrite the identification information (AA-2) to the identification information (AA-1) (FIGS. 16 and 18: S111). In FIG. 18, the processes of S201 to S207 after the electronic control device 100 instructs the wireless communication device W2 to rewrite the identification information are the same as those in the first embodiment.

The rewrite instruction unit 107 of this embodiment further instructs the communication module A of the wireless communication device W1 mounted in the same vehicle as the electronic control device 100 to stop communication using the identification information (AA-1) (FIGS. 16 and 18: S112).
The communications module A, which has received the instruction to stop communications in S112, stops communications using the identification information (AA-1) (FIG. 18: S401).

In S106, when the wireless communication device W2 notifies the completion of the rewrite (FIGS. 16 and 18: S106), the rewrite instruction unit 107 instructs the communication module A to rewrite the identification information (S113).
Then, the communications module A rewrites the identification information (AA-1) to the identification information (AA-2) (FIG. 18: S402).

As in the first embodiment, the present embodiment also describes an example in which a wireless communication device uses two cellular communications. However, in the present embodiment, vehicle-to-vehicle communication that does not go through a base station may be used as communication between wireless communication devices mounted on vehicles.

(4) Summary According to this embodiment, the electronic control unit 100 mounted on a vehicle determines whether or not the identification information stored in the storage area of the wireless communication device mounted on the same vehicle needs to be rewritten, and issues an instruction to rewrite the identification information. This enables the wireless communication device mounted on the same vehicle as the electronic control unit 100 to perform wireless communication without exceeding the communication capacity.

In the above-described first and second embodiments, a configuration has been described in which the necessity of rewriting the identification information is determined based on the communication volume, and the identification information is rewritten as necessary, thereby preventing the wireless communication device from communicating beyond the communication capacity. As an alternative method, a route along which a vehicle equipped with a wireless communication device will travel, or a vehicle to travel, may be selected according to the communication volume, without rewriting the identification information.

For example, when a vehicle capable of using communication lines A and B travels along route X where the communication environment for communication line A is good, the wireless communication device mounted on the vehicle is likely to transmit and receive a larger amount of data using communication line A than the amount of data using communication line B. On the other hand, when a vehicle capable of using communication lines A and B travels along route Y where the communication environment for communication line B is good, the wireless communication device mounted on the vehicle is likely to transmit and receive a larger amount of data using communication line B than the amount of data using communication line A.

The wireless communication device provided in the server device selects vehicles to travel on each route depending on the amount of communication. As described above, when a vehicle travels on route X, the amount of data to be transmitted and received using communication line A is large. Therefore, as a vehicle to travel on route X, a vehicle equipped with a wireless communication device having a large amount of remaining communication on communication line A is selected. On the other hand, when a vehicle travels on route Y, the amount of data to be transmitted and received using communication line B is large. Therefore, as a vehicle to travel on route Y, a vehicle equipped with a wireless communication device having a large amount of remaining communication on communication line B is selected.

For example, assume that the wireless communication device has the communication line information shown in FIG. 3. According to the communication line information shown in FIG. 3, the communication line A of the wireless communication device W2 has the largest remaining communication amount. Therefore, a vehicle equipped with the wireless communication device W2 is selected as the vehicle to travel on the route X. Using a similar method, a vehicle equipped with a wireless communication device having the largest remaining communication amount on the communication line B is selected as the vehicle to travel on the route Y.

As another example, when selecting one vehicle to run from among multiple vehicles, the vehicle to run may be selected based on the remaining communication capacity of all communication lines that can be used by each wireless communication device.

Figure 19a shows the communication volume indicating the amount of data transmitted and received by wireless communication device W1 from the 1st to the 15th. The solid line indicates the communication volume on communication line A, and the dashed line indicates the communication volume on communication line B. Here, the electronic control device may calculate the remaining communication volume on communication line A and the remaining communication volume on communication line B in wireless communication device W1, and determine the smaller of the calculated remaining communication volumes as the evaluation value. For example, in the example of Figure 19a, the value of the remaining communication volume on communication line A is determined as the evaluation value. The electronic control device further determines evaluation values in the same manner for all wireless communication devices managed by the electronic control device.

Figure 19b shows the planned communication volume indicating the amount of data that the wireless communication device W1 plans to transmit and receive, in addition to the communication volume indicating the amount of data transmitted and received by the wireless communication device W1 from the 1st to the 15th. The planned communication volume may be calculated using a method similar to that of the first embodiment described above. For example, the electronic control device calculates the planned communication volume, which is the difference between the communication capacity and the sum of the communication volume and the planned communication volume, for each of the communication lines A and B, and obtains the smaller planned communication volume value among the calculated planned communication volumes as the evaluation value. In the example of Figure 19b, the value of the planned communication volume for communication line B is obtained as the evaluation value. The electronic control device further obtains evaluation values in the same manner for all wireless communication devices managed by the electronic control device.

When the electronic control unit finds the evaluation values of all wireless communication devices, it selects the vehicle equipped with the wireless communication device corresponding to the maximum evaluation value among these evaluation values as the next vehicle to travel. By selecting the one with the largest remaining communication capacity among multiple wireless communication devices, it is possible to reduce the possibility of exceeding the communication capacity even while the vehicle is traveling.

5. Summary The features of the electronic control device and the like in each embodiment of the present invention have been described above.

The terms used in each embodiment are merely examples and may be replaced with synonymous terms or terms with equivalent functions.

The block diagrams used to explain the embodiments classify and organize the device configuration by function. The blocks showing each function are realized by any combination of hardware or software. In addition, since they show functions, such block diagrams can also be understood as disclosures of method inventions and program inventions that realize the methods.

The order of the functional blocks that can be understood as processes, flows, and methods described in each embodiment may be changed as long as there are no constraints such as a relationship in which one step uses the results of another step that precedes it.

The terms 1st, 2nd, through Nth (N is an integer) used in each embodiment and in the claims are used to distinguish between two or more configurations or methods of the same type, and do not limit the order or superiority or inferiority.

Each embodiment is based on a device that controls a wireless communication device mounted on a moving object, but the present invention also includes a device that controls any wireless communication device, unless otherwise limited by the claims.

Moreover, examples of the form of the electronic control device of the present invention include the following.
Examples of the component form include a PLD, a semiconductor element, an electronic circuit, a module, and a microcomputer.
Examples of semi-finished products include an electronic control unit (ECU) and a system board.
Finished product forms include mobile phones, smartphones, tablets, personal computers (PCs), workstations, and servers.
Other examples include devices with communication functions, such as video cameras, still cameras, and car navigation systems.

Additionally, necessary functions such as an antenna and a communication interface may be added to the electronic control device.

In addition, the present invention can be realized not only by dedicated hardware having the configuration and functions described in each embodiment, but also as a combination of a program for implementing the present invention recorded on a recording medium such as a memory or hard disk, and general-purpose hardware having a dedicated or general-purpose CPU and memory capable of executing the program.

Programs stored in non-transient, physical recording media (e.g., external storage devices (hard disks, USB memory, CDs/BDs, etc.) or internal storage devices (RAM, ROM, etc.)) of dedicated or general-purpose hardware can also be provided to the dedicated or general-purpose hardware via the recording media, or via a communication line from a server without using a recording media. This makes it possible to always provide the latest functions through program upgrades.

The electronic control device of the present invention is intended primarily for use as a device that controls wireless communication devices installed in automobiles, but may also be used as a device that controls any wireless communication device.

100 Electronic control device, 105 Rewrite necessity determination unit, 106 Rewrite candidate search unit, 107 Rewrite instruction unit, 109 Rewrite information request unit

Claims (13)

An electronic control device (100) for controlling a first wireless communication unit in which first identification information indicating an authority to perform wireless communication is stored in a storage area, and a second wireless communication unit in which second identification information indicating an authority to perform wireless communication is stored in a storage area,
A first communication amount indicating an amount of data transmitted and received using the first identification information is associated with the first identification information, and a second communication amount indicating an amount of data transmitted and received using the second identification information is associated with the second identification information,
a rewrite necessity determination unit (105) that determines whether or not to rewrite the first identification information stored in the storage area of the first wireless communication unit based on the first communication amount;
a rewrite candidate search unit (106) that searches for the second identification information associated with the second communication amount less than the first communication amount when the rewrite necessity determination unit determines that the first identification information is to be rewritten;
a rewrite instruction unit (107) for instructing the first wireless communication unit to rewrite the first identification information to the second identification information;
An electronic control device comprising: the rewrite necessity determination unit determines to rewrite the first identification information when the first communication amount is equal to or greater than a predetermined threshold.
The electronic control device according to claim 1. The first identification information is further associated with a first communication capacity indicating an upper limit of an amount of data that can be transmitted and received using the first identification information;
the rewrite necessity determination unit determines whether or not to rewrite the first identification information based on the first communication capacity in addition to the first communication amount.
The electronic control device according to claim 1. the rewrite necessity determination unit determines whether to rewrite the first identification information based on a planned communication volume indicating a data volume that the first wireless communication unit plans to transmit and receive by using the first identification information, in addition to the first communication volume;
The electronic control device according to claim 1. the rewrite candidate search unit searches for the second identification information associated with the second communication amount that is smaller than another communication amount indicating an amount of data transmitted and received using identification information different from the first identification information and the second identification information;
The electronic control device according to claim 1. The first identification information is further associated with a first communication capacity indicating an upper limit of an amount of data that can be transmitted and received using the first identification information;
the rewrite necessity determination unit determines whether or not to rewrite the first identification information with a higher frequency as a difference between the first communication capacity and the first communication amount is smaller.
The electronic control device according to claim 1. The electronic control device is provided in a server device,
the first wireless communication unit is mounted on a first moving object,
The second wireless communication unit is mounted on a second moving object.
The electronic control device according to any one of claims 1 to 6. the rewrite instruction unit instructs to rewrite the first identification information to the second identification information after the rewrite necessity determination unit determines to rewrite the first identification information and when the first wireless communication unit starts or ends its startup.
8. The electronic control device according to claim 7. the rewrite instruction unit instructs the second wireless communication unit to rewrite the second identification information to the first identification information at a timing different from a timing at which the rewrite instruction unit instructs the first wireless communication unit to rewrite the first identification information.
9. The electronic control device according to claim 8. the electronic control device and the first wireless communication unit are mounted on a first moving body,
The second wireless communication unit is mounted on a second moving object.
The electronic control device according to any one of claims 1 to 6. The electronic control device further comprises:
a rewrite information request unit (109) for requesting the second identification information and the second communication amount to the second wireless communication unit when the rewrite necessity determination unit determines that the first identification information is to be rewritten;
The electronic control device according to claim 10. A control program for a wireless communication unit executable by an electronic control device that controls a first wireless communication unit having first identification information indicative of an authority to perform wireless communication stored in a storage area and a second wireless communication unit having second identification information indicative of an authority to perform wireless communication stored in a storage area,
A first communication amount indicating an amount of data transmitted and received using the first identification information is associated with the first identification information, and a second communication amount indicating an amount of data transmitted and received using the second identification information is associated with the second identification information,
determining whether or not to rewrite the first identification information stored in the storage area of the first wireless communication unit based on the first communication amount;
When it is determined that the first identification information is to be rewritten, searching for the second identification information associated with the second communication amount that is smaller than the first communication amount;
instructing the first wireless communication unit to rewrite the first identification information to the second identification information;
Control program.
A control method for a wireless communication unit executed by an electronic control device that controls a first wireless communication unit having first identification information indicative of an authority to perform wireless communication stored in a storage area and a second wireless communication unit having second identification information indicative of an authority to perform wireless communication stored in a storage area, the method comprising:
A first communication amount indicating an amount of data transmitted and received using the first identification information is associated with the first identification information, and a second communication amount indicating an amount of data transmitted and received using the second identification information is associated with the second identification information,
determining whether or not to rewrite the first identification information stored in the storage area of the first wireless communication unit based on the first communication amount;
When it is determined that the first identification information is to be rewritten, searching for the second identification information associated with the second communication amount that is smaller than the first communication amount;
instructing the first wireless communication unit to rewrite the first identification information to the second identification information;
Control methods.