JP7729045B2 - Information processing device - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an information processing device.

It has been disclosed that a driving diagnostic ECU installed in a delivery vehicle transmits the remaining battery charge of the delivery vehicle to a server device installed outside the vehicle (for example, Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2020-144617

One aspect of the disclosure aims to provide an information processing device that, when a request for a second process with a higher priority is received during the execution of a first process that sends the execution results to a specified server, can prevent the execution results of the first process from being mixed with the execution results of the second process.

One aspect of the present disclosure is
An information processing device mounted on a vehicle,
When a request for a second process having a higher priority than the first process is received from a predetermined server during execution of a first process for transmitting information about the state of the vehicle to the predetermined server as a result of the execution of the first process, the first process is stopped and a memory for recording the execution result of the first process is cleared;
executing the second processing and recording an execution result of the second processing in the memory;
transmitting the execution result of the second process recorded in the memory to the predetermined server;
A control unit that executes
It is an information processing device.

According to the present disclosure, when a request for a second process with a higher priority is received during the execution of a first process that sends the execution results to a specified server, it is possible to prevent the execution results of the first process and the second process from being mixed together.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of a system configuration of a vehicle remote monitoring system according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware configuration of the in-vehicle device. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of the functional configuration of the in-vehicle device. FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing an example of a process for transmitting diagnostic information of an in-vehicle device. FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an example of a diagnostic information transmission process of an in-vehicle device. FIG. 6 is a diagram showing an example of a sequence of the diagnostic information transmission process.

There is a vehicle equipped with an information processing device having a communication function. Information regarding the state of the vehicle is transmitted by the information processing device to, for example, a predetermined server, and the state of the vehicle is monitored by the predetermined server. Monitoring the state of the vehicle by a predetermined server is called remote monitoring. Information regarding the vehicle transmitted to the predetermined server in remote monitoring includes, for example, the mileage of the vehicle, information indicating whether each sensor mounted on the vehicle is operating normally, and, if the vehicle is an electric vehicle, the remaining battery charge.

In remote monitoring, the information processing device installed in the vehicle transmits information about the vehicle's status to a specified server either periodically or on a one-off basis in response to a request. Typically, one-off transmissions are given a higher priority than periodic transmissions. Therefore, if a request for one-off transmission occurs while periodic transmissions of information about the vehicle's status are being performed, the one-off transmission will interrupt and be executed with priority.

If a one-off transmission process interrupts the execution of a periodic transmission process, the data transmission process for the periodic transmission process may not be completed, and information obtained by the previously executed periodic process may remain in the transmission memory. In this case, the information obtained by the one-off transmission process is added to the transmission memory, and when the data is transmitted in the one-off transmission process, all of the information in the transmission memory is sent to the specified server as a result of the execution of the one-off transmission process.

As a result, data that contains a mixture of the results of periodic and one-off transmission processes will be sent to a specific server. For example, the information required about the vehicle's condition differs between periodic and one-off transmission processes, so mixing the results of these two processes is problematic.

In one aspect of the present disclosure, an information processing device mounted on a vehicle includes a control unit that, when a request for a second process having a higher priority than the first process is received from a specified server while executing a first process that sends information related to the vehicle's status to the specified server as a result of the process, stops the first process, clears memory that records the execution results of the first process, executes the second process, records the execution results of the second process in memory, and sends the execution results of the second process recorded in memory to the specified server.

The information processing device is a computer with a communication function. The information processing device is, for example, a data communication device, a car navigation device, etc. The control unit is, for example, a processor such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit). The first process is, for example, a process of periodically transmitting information about the vehicle status to a predetermined server. The second process is a process of temporarily transmitting information about the vehicle status to the predetermined server. Note that both the first process and the second process are not limited to processes of transmitting information about the vehicle status, but may be processes of transmitting the execution result of the process to a predetermined server. Note that the execution result of the process of transmitting information about the vehicle status is the acquired information about the vehicle status.

According to one aspect of the present disclosure, even if a second process interrupts the execution of a first process, the memory that holds the data to be transmitted is cleared before the second process is performed, thereby preventing the execution results of the first process and the second process from being mixed in the memory. This also prevents the execution results of the first process and the second process from being mixed and sent to a specified server.

In addition, the present disclosure can also be specified as other aspects, such as a method for a computer to execute the processing of the information processing device, a program for causing a computer to execute the processing of the information processing device, and a non-transitory computer-readable recording medium on which the program is recorded.

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. The configurations of the following embodiments are examples, and the present invention is not limited to the configurations of the embodiments.

First Embodiment
1 is a diagram showing an example of the system configuration of a vehicle remote monitoring system 100 according to the first embodiment. The vehicle remote monitoring system 100 is a system that remotely monitors the state of a vehicle equipped with an on-board device having a communication function. The vehicle remote monitoring system 100 includes an on-board device 1 mounted on a vehicle 10, and a center server 2. The on-board device 1 is capable of wireless communication and can communicate with the center server 2 via a public communication network such as the Internet, for example.

The in-vehicle device 1 transmits information about the vehicle's condition to the center server 2. Based on the information about the vehicle's condition received from the in-vehicle device 1, the center server 2 performs tasks such as determining whether the vehicle 10 requires inspection and maintenance, and detecting any abnormalities in the vehicle's 10 components. Information about the vehicle's condition includes, for example, the vehicle's mileage, information indicating the status of each component, and information indicating whether any abnormalities have occurred in each component. Information about the vehicle's condition is, for example, information obtained by a self-diagnosis function provided in the vehicle 10. Information about the vehicle's condition will hereinafter be referred to as "diagnosis information," an abbreviation of "diagnosis information."

The process of transmitting diagnostic information from the in-vehicle device 1 to the center server 2 can be performed periodically or one-off. Hereinafter, the process of transmitting diagnostic information periodically will be referred to as the periodic transmission process. The process of transmitting diagnostic information one-off will be referred to as the one-off transmission process.

Periodic transmission processing is performed, for example, once every few hours to once a day. One-time transmission processing is performed, for example, when an external request is received from the center server 2, or when a request is made internally in the vehicle 10, such as when the in-vehicle device 1 itself detects an abnormality in the vehicle 10. The content of the diagnostic information sent by periodic transmission processing is set in advance. On the other hand, the content of the diagnostic information sent by one-time transmission processing is specified by the request. Requests for one-time transmission processing are often given a higher priority than periodic transmission processing, as real-time performance is often important. Therefore, if a request for one-time transmission processing occurs while periodic transmission processing is being executed, the one-time transmission processing is treated as an interrupt processing and is executed with priority over the periodic transmission processing that is currently being executed.

In both the periodic and one-off diagnostic information transmission processes, the transmission data is written to the same transmission memory. In one diagnostic information transmission process, all data recorded in the transmission memory is converted into a file and transmitted. Therefore, for example, when a one-off transmission process interrupts the periodic diagnostic information transmission process, if diagnostic information obtained by the periodic transmission process remains in the transmission memory, it is transmitted to the center server 2 as a single file together with the diagnostic information obtained by the one-off transmission process.

In the first embodiment, when an interruption by a one-time transmission process occurs while the periodic transmission process of diagnostic information is being executed, the in-vehicle device 1 stops the periodic transmission process and then clears the transmission memory. This empties the transmission memory, preventing diagnostic information obtained by the periodic transmission process from being mixed in with files sent to the center server 2 by the one-time transmission process.

The diagnostic information is an example of "information relating to the vehicle's condition." The periodic transmission process is an example of "first processing." The one-off transmission process is an example of "second processing." The result of executing the periodic transmission process and the one-off transmission process is to send a file containing the acquired diagnostic information to the center server 2.

2 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the in-vehicle device 1. The in-vehicle device 1 includes, as its hardware configuration, a CPU 101, a memory 102, an external storage device 103, a communication unit 104, a CAN (Controller Area Network) control unit 105, and an interface 107. The in-vehicle device 1 is also connected to a CAN 110 via the interface 107. Various ECUs (Electronic Control Units) mounted on the vehicle 10 are also connected to the CAN 110. The memory 102 and the external storage device 103 are computer-readable recording media. The in-vehicle device 1 is an example of an "information processing device."

The external storage device 103 stores various programs and data used by the CPU 101 when executing each program. The external storage device 103 is, for example, an EPROM (Erasable Programmable ROM) and/or a hard disk drive. Programs stored in the external storage device 103 include, for example, an operating system (OS), a remote monitoring program, a self-diagnostic program, and various other application programs. The remote monitoring program is a program for sending diagnostic information to an external device. The self-diagnostic program is a program for collecting diagnostic information.

Memory 102 is a storage device that provides the CPU 101 with a storage area and a working area for loading programs stored in the external storage device 103, and is used as a buffer. Memory 102 includes, for example, semiconductor memory such as ROM (Read Only Memory) and RAM (Random Access Memory).

The CPU 101 performs various processes by loading the OS and various application programs stored in the external storage device 103 into the memory 102 and executing them. The number of CPUs 101 is not limited to one, and multiple CPUs 101 may be provided. The CPU 101 is an example of a "control unit" of an "information processing device."

The communication unit 104 is an interface for inputting and outputting information to and from a network. The communication unit 104 connects to an access network by wireless communication, and connects to a public line network such as the Internet through the access network. Examples of wireless networks that the communication unit 104 connects to include LTE (Long Term Evolution), LTE-Advanced,
Other examples include mobile communication methods such as 5G (5th Generation), Wi-Fi, and DSRC (Dedicated Short Range Communications). Communication with the center server 2 is performed via a communication unit 104.

The CAN control unit 105 is, for example, an MCU (Micro Control Unit) that controls the CAN 110. Commands for the CAN 110 are input to the CAN control unit 105 and output from the CAN control unit 105 to the CAN 110. Responses to commands from the CAN 110 are input to the CAN control unit 105 and output from the CAN control unit 105 to the CPU 101.

The interface 107 connects the in-vehicle device 1 to hardware components other than the in-vehicle device 1. The interface 107 is connected to, for example, a CAN 110.
2 is an example of the hardware configuration of the in-vehicle device 1, and is not limited to this.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of the functional configuration of the in-vehicle device 1. The in-vehicle device 1 includes, as its functional configuration, a diagnostic management unit 11, a remote monitoring unit 12, a CAN control unit 13, and a transmission memory 14. The diagnostic management unit 11 is realized, for example, by the CPU 101 executing a self-diagnosis program. The diagnostic management unit 11 manages tasks related to self-diagnosis processing. In the first embodiment, when a task related to remote monitoring, i.e., a periodic transmission process or a one-time transmission process of diagnostic information, occurs, the diagnostic management unit 11 instructs the remote monitoring unit 12 to start the periodic transmission process or the one-time transmission process of diagnostic information. The diagnostic management unit 11 detects the occurrence of the periodic transmission process of diagnostic information at a predetermined cycle. The diagnostic management unit 11 detects the occurrence of the one-time transmission process of diagnostic information by receiving a request to obtain diagnostic information from the center server 2.

The remote monitoring unit 12 is realized, for example, by the CPU 101 executing a remote monitoring program. The remote monitoring unit 12 controls the remote monitoring process, i.e., the process of transmitting diagnostic information. The remote monitoring unit 12 receives an instruction from the diagnostic management unit 11 to start the process of periodically transmitting diagnostic information or the process of one-off transmitting diagnostic information. The process content is the same for the process of periodically transmitting diagnostic information and the process of one-off transmitting diagnostic information, and is as follows:

When the remote monitoring unit 12 receives an input of an instruction to start the periodic transmission process or the one-time transmission process of diagnostic information, it outputs a diagnostic information acquisition command to the CAN control unit 13 and receives the diagnostic information input from the CAN control unit 13 in response. In the case of the periodic transmission process of diagnostic information, the diagnostic information is acquired from a predetermined target ECU 120. In the case of the one-time transmission process of diagnostic information, the diagnostic information is acquired from the ECU 120 specified by the diagnostic information acquisition request. The remote monitoring unit 12 writes the acquired diagnostic information to the transmission memory 14, and when acquisition of diagnostic information from all target ECUs 120 is completed, the remote monitoring unit 12 files the diagnostic information in the transmission memory 14 and transmits the file to the center server 2. After the remote monitoring unit 12 files the diagnostic information in the transmission memory 14, it clears the transmission memory 14.

However, when the remote monitoring unit 12 receives an instruction from the diagnostic management unit 11 to start a one-time transmission process of diagnostic information, it determines whether or not a periodic transmission process of diagnostic information is currently being executed before starting the one-time transmission process. If the periodic transmission process of diagnostic information is currently being executed, the remote monitoring unit 12 stops the ongoing periodic transmission process because the one-time transmission process has a higher priority. Furthermore, the remote monitoring unit 12 determines whether the diagnostic information acquired by the periodic transmission process has been output, i.e., whether or not the transmission memory 14 has been cleared. If the transmission memory 14 has not been cleared, the remote monitoring unit 12 clears the transmission memory 14 before starting the one-time transmission process.

The CAN control unit 13 is a functional component equivalent to the CAN control unit 105. The CAN control unit 13 controls the CAN 110. In the first embodiment, the output of commands to each ECU 120 connected to the CAN 110 and the input of data from each ECU 120 to the CPU 101 are performed via the CAN control unit 13.

Transmission memory 14 is part of the storage area within memory 102. Transmission memory 14 is a temporary storage location for data to be transmitted. During the periodic and one-time diagnostic information transmission processes, diagnostic information is written to transmission memory 14. Once all the diagnostic information is collected, the diagnostic information in transmission memory 14 is converted into a file, and then transmission memory 14 is cleared. Clearing transmission memory 14 means that all data stored in transmission memory 14 is deleted, and the storage area reserved for transmission memory 14 is released.

<Processing flow>
4 is an example of a flowchart of the process of transmitting diagnostic information by the in-vehicle device 1. The process shown in FIG. 4 is repeatedly executed at a predetermined interval. The process shown in FIG. 4 is executed mainly by the CPU 101, but for convenience, the process will be described mainly by the functional components. The same applies to the subsequent flowcharts.

In OP101, the remote monitoring unit 12 determines whether an instruction to start a one-off transmission process has been input from the diagnostic management unit 11. For example, when the diagnostic management unit 11 receives a request to acquire diagnostic information from the center server 2, the diagnostic management unit 11 outputs an instruction to start a one-off transmission process to the remote monitoring unit 12. If an instruction to start a one-off transmission process has been input (OP101: YES), the processing proceeds to OP104. If an instruction to start a one-off transmission process has not been input (OP101: NO), the processing proceeds to OP102.

In OP102, the remote monitoring unit 12 determines whether an instruction to start periodic transmission processing has been input from the diagnostic management unit 11. The diagnostic management unit 11 outputs an instruction to start periodic transmission processing to the remote monitoring unit 12, for example, at a predetermined cycle. If an instruction to start periodic transmission processing has been input (OP102: YES), the processing proceeds to OP103. If an instruction to start periodic transmission processing has not been input (OP102: NO), the processing shown in FIG. 4 ends.

The processing from OP104 to OP107 is performed when an instruction to start a one-time transmission process is input. In OP104, the remote monitoring unit 12 determines whether or not the periodic transmission process is currently being executed. If the periodic transmission process is currently being executed (OP104: YES), the processing proceeds to OP105. If the periodic transmission process is not currently being executed (OP104: NO), the processing proceeds to OP103.

In OP105, the remote monitoring unit 12 stops the ongoing periodic transmission process. This causes the one-time transmission process to interrupt. In OP106, the remote monitoring unit 12 determines whether the transmission memory 14 is empty. If the transmission memory 14 is empty (OP106: YES), the processing proceeds to OP103. If the transmission memory 14 is not empty (OP106: NO), the processing proceeds to OP107. In OP107, the remote monitoring unit 12 clears the transmission memory 14.

In OP103, the remote monitoring unit 12 executes a diagnostic information transmission process to collect and transmit diagnostic information. The diagnostic information transmission process in OP103 will be described in detail later. Upon completion of the diagnostic information transmission process, the process shown in FIG. 4 ends.

Figure 5 is an example flowchart of the diagnostic information transmission process of the in-vehicle device 1. The process shown in Figure 5 corresponds to the process of OP103 in Figure 4.

In OP201, the remote monitoring unit 12 acquires diagnostic information from the target ECU 120 via the CAN control unit 13 and writes it to the transmission memory 14. In OP202, the remote monitoring unit 12 generates a file containing all of the diagnostic information recorded in the transmission memory 14. The format of the file is not limited to a specific format. In OP103, the remote monitoring unit 12 transmits the generated file to the center server 2. Thereafter, the processing shown in FIG. 5 ends, and at the same time, the processing shown in FIG. 4 also ends.

Figure 6 shows an example of the sequence of the diagnostic information transmission process. Figure 6 shows an example of the sequence when a one-time transmission process interrupts the execution of the periodic transmission process of diagnostic information.

In S11, the diagnostic management unit 11 performs the following when a predetermined period has elapsed:
The remote monitoring unit 12 outputs an instruction to start the periodic transmission process to the remote monitoring unit 12. In S12, the remote monitoring unit 12 receives an input of the instruction to start the periodic transmission process from the diagnostic management unit 11 (FIG. 4, OP102: YES), and thus starts the periodic transmission process (FIG. 4, OP103). In S13, the remote monitoring unit 12 outputs a diagnostic information acquisition command to the CAN 110 via the CAN control unit 13, acquires diagnostic information in response to the diagnostic information acquisition command in S14, and writes the diagnostic information to the transmission memory 14 in S15. The processes from S13 to S15 are repeated until all the diagnostic information for the target ECU 120 is collected (FIG. 5, OP201).

In steps S21 to S23, the remote monitoring unit 12 sends an acquisition command for the last diagnostic information via the CAN control unit 13 (S21), acquires the last diagnostic information (S22), and writes it to the transmission memory 14 (S23).

At step S31, the center server 2 sends a request to acquire diagnostic information to the in-vehicle device 1. At step S32, the diagnostic management unit 11 receives the request to acquire diagnostic information from the center server 2 and outputs an instruction to start a one-time transmission process to the remote monitoring unit 12.

In S33, the remote monitoring unit 12 receives an instruction to start a one-time transmission process (FIG. 4, OP101: YES), and because periodic transmission process is currently being executed (FIG. 4, OP104: YES), it stops the currently executing periodic transmission process (FIG. 4, OP105). In S34, because the diagnostic information written in S15, S23, etc. is recorded in the transmission memory 14 (FIG. 4, OP106: NO), the remote monitoring unit 12 clears the transmission memory 14 (FIG. 4, OP107). Thereafter, in S40, the remote monitoring unit 12 starts a one-time transmission process (FIG. 4, OP103). In steps S41 to S43, similar to steps S13 to S15, the remote monitoring unit 12 outputs a diagnostic information acquisition command to the CAN 110 via the CAN control unit 13 (S41), acquires diagnostic information in response to the diagnostic information acquisition command (S42), and writes the diagnostic information to the transmission memory 14 (S43). The processing of steps S41 to S43 is repeated until all diagnostic information for the ECU 120 specified by the diagnostic information acquisition request is collected (FIG. 5, OP201).

In steps S51 to S53, the remote monitoring unit 12 sends an acquisition command for the last diagnostic information via the CAN control unit 13 (S51), acquires the last diagnostic information (S52), and writes it to the transmission memory 14 (S53).

In S61, the remote monitoring unit 12 generates a file containing the diagnostic information recorded in the transmission memory 14 (FIG. 5, OP202). In S62, the remote monitoring unit 12 transmits the generated file to the center server 2 (FIG. 5, OP203). After that, the periodic transmission process does not have to be executed until the next execution timing, or it may be restarted from the beginning.

<Operation and effect of the first embodiment>
In the first embodiment, when a one-time transmission process interrupts the execution of a periodic transmission process of diagnostic information, the in-vehicle device 1 first clears the transmission memory 14 and then starts the one-time transmission process. This prevents the diagnostic information acquired by the periodic transmission process from being mixed with the diagnostic information acquired by the one-time transmission process in the transmission memory 14. As a result, the diagnostic information acquired by the one-time transmission process from being mixed with the diagnostic information acquired by the one-time transmission process in the file transmitted to the center server 2.

<Other embodiments>
The above-described embodiment is merely an example, and the present invention can be implemented by appropriately modifying it within the scope that does not deviate from the gist of the present invention.

The processes and means described in this disclosure can be freely combined and implemented as long as no technical contradictions arise.

Furthermore, processing described as being performed by one device may be shared and executed by multiple devices. Alternatively, processing described as being performed by different devices may be executed by a single device. In a computer system, the hardware configuration (server configuration) used to realize each function can be flexibly changed.

The present invention can also be realized by supplying a computer program that implements the functions described in the above embodiments to a computer, and having one or more processors in the computer read and execute the program. Such a computer program may be provided to the computer on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium connectable to the computer's system bus, or provided to the computer via a network. Non-transitory computer-readable storage media include, for example, any type of disk, such as a magnetic disk (e.g., a floppy disk, a hard disk drive (HDD), etc.), an optical disk (e.g., a CD-ROM, a DVD disk, a Blu-ray disk), a read-only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), an EPROM, an EEPROM, a magnetic card, a flash memory, an optical card, or any type of medium suitable for storing electronic instructions.

REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1. In-vehicle device 2. Center server 10. Vehicle 11. Diagnosis management unit 12. Remote monitoring unit 13. CAN control unit 14. Transmission memory 100. Vehicle remote monitoring system 101. CPU
102. Memory 103. External storage device 104. Communication unit 105. CAN control unit 107. Interface 110. CAN
120..ECU

Claims (1)

An information processing device mounted on a vehicle,
When a request for a second process having a higher priority than the first process is received from a predetermined server while the first process is being executed, the first process is stopped and the memory is cleared;
executing the second process;
a control unit that executes the
the first process and the second process include collecting information about the state of the vehicle , recording the information in the memory, and transmitting the information to the predetermined server;
Information processing device.