JP7778587B2 - Vehicle control device - Google Patents

Description

This invention relates to a vehicle control device that controls the rewriting and updating of software in an on-board electronic control unit installed in a vehicle powered by an engine with update software transmitted via wireless communication.

Conventionally, when rewriting and updating the software of onboard electronic control units such as multiple ECUs (Electronic Control Units) installed in an automobile, a fault diagnosis device owned by the automobile dealership is used, and the fault diagnosis device is connected to the onboard electronic control units via a wired connection. The updated software is then sent to the onboard electronic control units to be updated by the fault diagnosis device.

In this case, there is a problem that the work locations and workers who can rewrite and update the software in the on-board electronic control unit are limited to automobile dealerships and the like. Furthermore, because the electronic control of the vehicle by the on-board electronic control unit is interrupted during the work, the work cannot be carried out while the vehicle is in a drivable state. As a result, the rewriting and updating work must be carried out with the ignition on, or otherwise when the alternator is not operating. If the work takes a long time, the work must be carried out while taking into consideration the risk of the battery running out due to discharge during the rewriting and updating.

On the other hand, in recent years, the introduction of connected cars, which refer to automobiles connected to the Internet, has progressed, and with the introduction of such connected cars, software updates for on-board electronic control units are now being performed wirelessly rather than via wired connections as in the past (see, for example, Patent Document 1). In such cases, updates via wireless communication generally use OTA (Over The Air) technology.

An overview of this over-the-air (OTA) update is as follows: First, the automobile manufacturer creates software update data (hereafter referred to as update software) and registers it in a data center known as an OTA center. The update software is then wirelessly distributed from the OTA center to the automobile to be updated. The distributed update software is received by the receiving function of the automobile's telematics ECU, and the on-board electronic control unit (ECU, etc.) to be updated is automatically updated with the update software.

However, even in the case of automatic over-the-air rewriting, as mentioned above, it is necessary to take into consideration the risk of the battery running out due to discharging during the rewriting. Therefore, it is conceivable to send and receive update notifications and perform the rewriting update to the updated software only when the battery is fully charged while driving.

That is, as shown in Figure 3, while the ignition (hereinafter referred to as IG) is on and the telematics ECU is powered on while driving, the telematics ECU connects (synchronizes) with the OTA center. When the telematics ECU receives an update notification from the OTA center indicating that an update is required, the telematics ECU downloads the specified update software from the OTA center and temporarily stores it in the vehicle's memory, provided that the battery is fully charged. Thereafter, when the IG is turned off and the vehicle is stopped, the telematics ECU maintains its power on state (self-retention) while performing an overwrite process with the update software stored in memory, and after the overwrite is complete, the self-retention is released and the telematics ECU's power is turned off.

JP 2017-97620 A

However, if you normally only drive for short periods of time and over short distances, and receive an update notification when the battery is low, and then stop the vehicle with the battery not fully charged and still at a low charge, there is a risk that the update software will not be able to be completed because there will not be enough battery power remaining to complete the update after stopping.

On the other hand, it is possible to have the vehicle user check whether the remaining battery charge is sufficient to complete the update software rewrite when an update notification is received, and have the rewrite proceed if there is sufficient battery charge, but this places an unnecessary burden on the user.

The present invention aims to maintain a charged state in the vehicle battery that allows the vehicle to complete the rewrite of software to the updated software when an update notification is received for the software of the vehicle's electronic control unit.

In order to achieve the above object, a vehicle control device of the present invention is a vehicle control device that controls software of an onboard electronic control unit (ECU) mounted on a vehicle powered by an engine to be rewritten and updated with update software transmitted via wireless communication, the vehicle control device comprising: communication means for receiving the update software transmitted via wireless communication from outside the vehicle; power storage state detection means for detecting a power storage state of an onboard battery that is charged to a target charging voltage by a power generation device that generates power by driving the engine; derivation means for deriving an update time required for the rewriting and updating based on the data volume of the update software received by the communication means; and control means for controlling power storage to maintain the onboard battery in a predetermined power storage state based on either the power storage state detected by the power storage state detection means or the update time derived by the derivation means, wherein the control for ensuring power storage by the control means includes control to prohibit idling stop and control to increase the target charging voltage by the power generation device , where the predetermined power storage state is, for example, a higher power storage state.

With this configuration, the charge state detection means detects the charge state of the onboard battery, which is charged by a power generation device that generates power when the engine is driven, the derivation means derives the update time required for the rewrite update based on the data volume of the update software received by the communication means, and the control means controls the accumulation of charge to maintain the onboard battery in a predetermined charge state based on at least one of the charge state of the onboard battery detected by the charge state detection means and the update time derived by the derivation means. Therefore, when an update notification for the software of the onboard electronic control unit is received, the charge state of the onboard battery can be maintained such that the rewrite to the update software can be completed.

Furthermore , if the vehicle has an idling stop function, control that prohibits idling stop is effective, and if the vehicle does not have an idling stop function, control that increases the target charging voltage by the power generation device is effective, making it possible to maintain the charge state of the vehicle battery at a high level more effectively depending on whether or not the vehicle has an idling stop function.

This invention controls the battery charge to maintain a predetermined charge state based on at least one of the charge state of the vehicle battery and the update time calculated based on the data capacity of the update software. Therefore, when a software update notification for the vehicle electronic control unit is received, the battery charge state can be maintained to complete the rewrite to the update software without requiring the user to check the remaining charge of the vehicle battery, making it possible to automatically update in a timely manner when an update notification is received.

1 is a block diagram of an embodiment of a vehicle control device of the present invention. 2 is a flowchart illustrating the operation of FIG. 1 . FIG. 10 is an explanatory diagram of the operation of a conventional example.

One embodiment of the vehicle control device of the present invention installed in an idle-stop vehicle will be described in detail with reference to Figures 1 and 2.

As shown in Figure 1, the vehicle control device 1 installed in an idle-stop vehicle is connected to an OTA (Over The Air) center 3, a data center, via the Internet 2, and is configured so that update software created in advance by the automobile manufacturer and registered in the OTA center 3 can be downloaded via the Internet 2.

The vehicle control device 1 is configured as shown in FIG. 1 and includes a TCU (Telematics Control Unit) 11, which serves as the communication means of the present invention and is connected to an OTA center 3 outside the vehicle via the Internet 2 to transmit and receive various data and information; a charge state detection means 12 that detects the charge state of an on-board battery 6 that is charged by an alternator 5 that serves as the power generation device of the present invention; a derivation means 13 that derives the update time T required for rewriting and updating the update software received by the TCU 11; and a dual bank memory (IDS) that temporarily stores the specified update software downloaded via the Internet 2 and the TCU 11 in one of the dual bank memories M1 and M2 when the TCU 11 receives an update notification from the OTA center 3 indicating that an update is necessary, and then temporarily stores the specified update software in the IDS (Idling Stop System) that controls idling stop control. The system is equipped with a control means 14 that rewrites and updates the software of the ECUs to be updated, among the ECU 9 (Stop) and other ECUs 10 that handle other controls, with the update software stored in the dual bank memories M1 and M2.

Here, battery 6 is, for example, a lead battery with a nominal voltage of 12V. When an engine (not shown) is driven, alternator 5, which serves as the power generating device of the present invention, generates electricity and charges the battery with this generated power. That is, when the driver gets in the vehicle and turns on the ignition (IG) to start the engine (not shown), the starter relay turns on, power is supplied from battery 6 to the starter, and the starter starts. This starts the stopped engine, and alternator 5 begins generating electricity, charging battery 6 with the power generated by alternator 5. The target charging voltage for charging battery 6 by alternator 5 is switched to 12V or 13.5V by charge control means 7 (shown in FIG. 1). When rapid charging is required, the target charging voltage is switched to a maximum value of 15.5V.

The battery state detection means 12 detects the percentage of battery capacity (hereinafter referred to as SOC (State of Charge)) based on the integrated value of battery current detected by a current sensor 8, for example, as shown in Figure 1. When the battery 6 is fully charged, the SOC is 100%, and the SOC changes to 95%, 90%, 88%, 85%, etc. depending on the remaining charge of the battery 6. The battery state detection means 12 detects the SOC of the battery 6 as a percentage, and outputs the detected SOC to the control means 14 as information regarding the battery 6's state of charge. Here, the higher the SOC value, the higher the state of charge of the battery 6, and the lower the SOC value, the lower the state of charge of the battery 6.

The derivation means 13 derives the update time T required to rewrite and update the update software based on the data volume of the update software received by the TCU 11 and the known communication speed of CAN (Controller Area Network) communication, which is commonly used for in-vehicle communication, and outputs the update time T derived by the derivation means 13 to the control means 14.

In an idle-stop vehicle, the IDSECU 9 executes idle-stop control from the time the driver gets in the vehicle and turns on the ignition (IG) to start the engine for the first time, until the IG is turned off to stop the engine.

For example, if a traffic light turns red and the driver depresses the brake pedal, and a predetermined stopping condition is met, such as the master cylinder pressure reaching a predetermined depression pressure, the engine will automatically stop when the vehicle speed drops below a predetermined speed, even if the vehicle does not come to a complete stop. On the other hand, if a predetermined restart condition is met, such as the driver releasing the brake pedal when the traffic light turns green and the master cylinder pressure dropping to a predetermined release pressure, the starter will be activated based on a restart command from the IDSECU 9, and the stopped engine will automatically restart.

In this way, in an idle-stop vehicle, the engine automatically stops and restarts alternately while the vehicle is running, from when the IG is turned on until it is turned off, and when the engine is restarted, the starter is driven, temporarily causing rapid drain on the battery 6.

Then, when the TCU 11 receives an update notification from the OTA center 3 indicating that an update is available, the control means 14 performs control such as prohibiting idling stop control by the IDSECU 9 and switching the target charging voltage of the battery 6 by the charging control means 7 and alternator 5 to a maximum value (e.g., 15.5 V) to rapidly charge the battery 6, based on both the SOC detected as the battery charge state by the battery charge state detection means 12 and the update time T derived by the derivation means 13, in order to maintain the remaining battery charge at a predetermined charge state that allows the update software to be completely rewritten.

At this time, if the SOC of the battery 6 is 100%, i.e., close to full charge, the remaining capacity of the battery 6 is sufficient to complete the rewriting of the update software, so the control means 14 rewrites the update software of the ECU to be updated without prohibiting idling stop control by the IDSECU 9, which is a control to ensure power storage to maintain the battery 6 in a predetermined power storage state, or switching the target charging voltage of the battery 6 to its maximum value by the charging control means 7 and alternator 5.

On the other hand, if the SOC of the battery 6 is not 100% when the TCU 11 receives an update notification from the OTA center 3 that an update is available, the remaining capacity of the battery 6 is not sufficient to complete the rewriting of the update software. Therefore, depending on the SOC value at that time, control is performed to ensure power storage to maintain the battery 6 in a predetermined power storage state by either only prohibiting idling stop control, or by both prohibiting idling stop control and switching the target charging voltage of the battery 6 to its maximum value.

Next, the control procedure for ensuring power storage by the control means 14 to maintain the battery 6 in a predetermined power storage state will be explained with reference to the flowchart in Figure 2.

As shown in FIG. 2, the control means 14 determines whether the TCU 11 has received an update notification from the OTA center 3 via the Internet 2 indicating whether or not an update is available (step S1). If the result of this determination is NO, no update is necessary, and normal control is executed (step S2), which does not prohibit idling stop control by the IDSECU 9 or switch the target charging voltage of the battery 6 to its maximum value by the charging control means 7 and alternator 5, and then operation ends.

On the other hand, when the TCU 11 receives an update notification from the OTA center 3 via the Internet 2 indicating that an update is available, the process proceeds to step S3 after the judgment in step S1 described above. Based on the data size of the update software received by the TCU 11 and the communication speed of the CAN communication, the derivation means 13 derives the update time T required to rewrite and update to the update software (step S3). It then determines whether the derived update time T is 30 minutes or more (step S4). If the result of this judgment is YES, it then determines whether the SOC of the battery 6 detected by the power storage state detection means 12 is 90% or less (step S5).

If the determination result in step S5 is YES, it means that the remaining capacity of battery 6 is not sufficient to complete the rewrite update of the update software, the update time T is long, the SOC of battery 6 is low, and the rewrite update is expected to consume a lot of power. Therefore, it is determined that the battery 6 needs to be kept in a high charged state. As a result, as control to ensure that battery 6 is in a predetermined charged state, both control to prohibit idling stop control and control to switch the target charging voltage of battery 6 to its maximum value are performed (step S6), and then operation ends.

Furthermore, if the determination result in step S5 above is NO, meaning that the SOC of battery 6 is not 90% or less, then in step S7 it is determined whether the SOC of battery 6 is 95% or less (step S7). If the determination result is YES, it can be determined that there is a relatively sufficient remaining charge in battery 6 to complete the rewriting update of the update software. Therefore, as control to ensure power storage to maintain battery 6 in a predetermined power storage state, only control to prohibit idling stop control is performed (step S8), and then operation ends.

Also, if the determination result in step S7 is NO, it can be determined that the SOC of battery 6 is 96% or higher and the remaining capacity of battery 6 is sufficient to complete the rewriting update of the update software. Therefore, normal control is performed to maintain battery 6 in a predetermined charged state, without prohibiting idling stop control or switching the target charging voltage of battery 6 to the maximum value (step S9), and then operation ends.

However, if the determination result in step S4 above is NO, that is, if the update time T derived in step S3 is less than 30 minutes, the process proceeds to step S10, where it is determined whether the derived update time T is 20 minutes or more (step S10). If the determination result is YES, it is determined that the update time T is relatively short, at least 20 minutes but less than 30 minutes, and it is determined whether the SOC of the battery 6 detected by the charge state detection means 12 is 85% or less (step S11).

If the determination result in step S10 is YES, then although the SOC of battery 6 is 85% or less and the remaining charge is not sufficient to complete the rewrite of the update software, since the update time T is short and the power consumed in the rewrite update is expected to be relatively small, it is determined that there is no need to keep the battery 6 in a highly charged state. Therefore, as a control to ensure the battery 6 is in a predetermined charged state, only control to prohibit idling stop control is performed (step S12), and then operation ends.

On the other hand, if the determination result in step S11 is NO, the update time T is relatively short, at between 20 and 30 minutes, the SOC of battery 6 is 86% or more, and it can be determined that the remaining charge of battery 6 is sufficient to complete the rewrite update of the update software. Therefore, normal control is performed to maintain battery 6 in a predetermined charge state, without prohibiting idling stop control or switching the target charge voltage of battery 6 to the maximum value (step S13), and then operation ends.

However, if the determination result in step S10 above is NO, meaning that the update time T derived in step S3 is less than 20 minutes, it is expected that the update time T is short and the power consumed in the rewrite update will be very small, so it can be determined that there is no need to keep the battery 6 in a high charged state. Therefore, the process proceeds to step S2, where normal control is executed to maintain battery 6 in a predetermined charged state, without inhibiting idling stop control or switching the target charging voltage of battery 6 to the maximum value (step S2), and then the operation ends.

If the determination in step S1 above indicates that an update is required, the update notification will specify the ECU to be updated. After steps S6, S8, S9, S12, and S13 are performed, the ECU identified as the target for update will be rewritten and updated.

That is, if the determination in step S1 of FIG. 2 indicates that an update is required, the TCU 11 receives the update software distributed from the OTA center 3 via the Internet 2, and the control means 14 stores the received update software in one of the dual bank memories M1 and M2. After processing steps S6, S8, S9, S12, and S13 of FIG. 2, the IDSECU 9 or any other ECU 10 to be updated is rewritten with the update software stored in the dual bank memories M1 and M2, allowing for update while the vehicle is in motion. However, the update software distributed from the OTA center 3 may also be stored in a single bank memory instead of the dual bank memories M1 and M2. It goes without saying that update rewriting may also be performed while the vehicle is stopped.

Therefore, according to the above-described embodiment, the battery storage state detection means 12 detects the SOC, which is the state of charge of the battery 6, which is charged by the alternator 5 that generates electricity when the engine is driven. When the TCU 11 receives update software distributed from the OTA center 3, the derivation means 13 derives the update time T required for the rewrite update based on the data size of the received update software and the communication speed of the CAN communication (in-vehicle communication). The control means 14 controls the battery storage to maintain a high state of charge (predetermined state of charge) based on either the SOC of the battery 6 detected by the battery storage state detection means 12 or the update time T derived by the derivation means 13. This makes it possible to automatically update the battery in a timely manner when an update notification is received, while maintaining a state of charge that allows the battery to complete the rewrite to the update software, without imposing a burden on the user, such as by having them check the remaining charge of the vehicle battery.

Furthermore, the lower the SOC (state of charge) of the battery 6 detected by the state of charge detection means 12 is below a predetermined level, and the longer the update time T derived by the derivation means 13 is than a predetermined time, the more control is performed to maintain the battery 6 in a higher state of charge, by both prohibiting idling stop control and switching the target charging voltage of the battery 6 to its maximum value. This makes it possible to maintain the state of charge of the battery 6 to a level that allows the rewrite update to the update software to be completed more reliably.

Furthermore, in an idle-stop vehicle, by controlling the IDSECU9 to prohibit idle-stop control as a means of ensuring power storage in the battery 6, it is possible to reduce power consumption in the battery 6 due to idle-stop control during normal driving, and to maintain the battery 6 in a highly charged state while automatically updating it in a timely manner when an update notification is received.

In addition, by controlling the battery 6 to switch its target charging voltage to its maximum value (15.5V) to ensure the battery 6 is charged quickly, the battery 6 can be effectively kept at a high charged state and automatically updated when an update notification is received, even if the user normally only drives for short periods of time and short distances.

The present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and various modifications other than those described above are possible as long as they do not deviate from the spirit of the invention.

For example, in the above embodiment, whether or not to perform power storage control to maintain the battery 6 in a high power storage state was determined based on both the update time T derived by the derivation means 13 and the SOC, which is the power storage state of the battery 6 detected by the power storage state detection means 12. However, the determination may be based on either the update time T or the SOC.

In addition, in the above-described embodiment, an example was shown in which both the control to prohibit idling stop control and the control to switch the target charging voltage of battery 6 to its maximum value were performed as the control to ensure power storage to maintain battery 6 in a high charged state. However, it is also possible to perform either the control to prohibit idling stop control or the control to switch the target charging voltage of battery 6 to its maximum value. In particular, when the present invention is applied to a vehicle without an idling stop function, it is preferable to only perform the control to switch the target charging voltage of battery 6 to its maximum value as the control to ensure power storage to maintain battery 6 in a predetermined charged state, and to perform the rewrite update when the vehicle is stopped after the control to ensure power storage of battery 6 has been performed.

Furthermore, in the above embodiment, the determination thresholds for the update time T in steps S4 and S10 of FIG. 2 were set to 30 minutes or more and 20 minutes or more, and the determination thresholds for the SOC of battery 6 in steps S5, S7, and S11 were set to 90% or less, 95% or less, and 85% or less, but the determination thresholds in this case are not limited to these numerical values.

In addition, in the above-described embodiment, when controlling the switching of the target charging voltage of battery 6, which is the control for ensuring the storage of power in battery 6, the target charging voltage is switched to the maximum value of 15.5 V, but the maximum value is not limited to this value.

In addition, in the above embodiment, an example was shown in which the vehicle was connected to an OTA center 3 outside the vehicle via the TCU 11 and the Internet 2, but the communication means is not limited to the TCU 11 and may be a DCM (Data Communication Module), and the data center outside the vehicle to which the communication means is connected may be an external server other than an OTA center. In short, any configuration is sufficient as long as wireless communication is possible via the Internet, etc.

The present invention can also be applied to a vehicle control device that controls the software of an on-board electronic control device installed in a vehicle powered by an engine to be rewritten and updated with update software transmitted via wireless communication.

1 ... Vehicle control device 3 ... OTA center 5 ... Alternator (power generation device)
6... Vehicle battery 9... IDSECU
10...Other ECUs
11...TCU (communication means)
12 ... Charge state detection means 13 ... Derivation means 14 ... Control means M1, M2 ... Dual bank memory

Claims (1)

A vehicle control device that controls software of an on-board electronic control device mounted on a vehicle using an engine as a drive source to be rewritten and updated with update software transmitted via wireless communication,
a communication means for receiving the update software transmitted from outside the vehicle by wireless communication;
a power storage state detection means for detecting a power storage state of an on-board battery that is charged to a target charging voltage by a power generation device that generates power by driving the engine;
a deriving means for deriving an update time required for rewriting and updating based on the data volume of the update software received by the communication means;
a control unit that controls power storage to maintain the in-vehicle battery in a predetermined power storage state, based on at least one of the power storage state detected by the power storage state detection unit and the update time derived by the derivation unit ,
The control for securing the stored electricity by the control means is
The control includes a control for prohibiting idling stop and a control for increasing the target charging voltage by the power generation device.
A vehicle control device characterized by: