Electronic device and method for diagnosing vehicle

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11645878-B2
Application number	US-201916980895-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 29, 2019
Priority date	Apr 2, 2018
Publication date	May 9, 2023
Grant date	May 9, 2023

Abstract

According to various embodiments, an electronic device comprises: at least one communication circuit configured to provide communication with a vehicle device or an external electronic device; at least one processor electrically connected to the at least one communication circuit; and a memory electrically connected to the at least one processor, wherein, the memory, when executed, can store instructions configured such that the at least one processor acquires and stores first information related to a vehicle device when connected to the vehicle device, acquires second information related to the vehicle device when the electronic device satisfies specified conditions, determines the state of the vehicle device on the basis of the first information and the second information, and performs a designated operation on the basis of the determination. In addition, other embodiments are possible.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. An electronic device comprising:
at least one communication circuit configured to provide communication with a vehicle device or an external electronic device;
at least one processor electrically connected to the at least one communication circuit; and
a memory electrically connected to the at least one processor, wherein the memory stores instructions configured to cause the at least one processor, when executed, to:
when connected to the vehicle device, acquire and store first information related to the vehicle device;
in a case that the electronic device satisfies a designated condition, acquire second information related to the vehicle device from the vehicle device;
based on the first information and the second information, determine the state of the vehicle device; and
based on the determination, perform a designated operation.

2. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the electronic device comprises a device based on an on-board diagnostics (OBD) protocol, and the vehicle device comprises at least one engine control unit (ECU) embedded in a vehicle.

3. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the instructions are configured to cause the processor to:
when electrically connected to the vehicle device, determine whether or not the connection to the vehicle device is initial connection;
when it is determined that the connection to the vehicle device is initial connection, request, based on initial connection of the vehicle device, information related to the vehicle device from the external electronic device through the at least one communication circuit;
acquire, based on information received from the external electronic device in response to the request, the first information through the at least one communication circuit; and
store the acquired first information in the memory.

4. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the instructions are configured to cause the processor to:
when electrically connected to the vehicle device, determine whether or not the connection to the vehicle device is initial connection;
when it is determined that the connection to the vehicle device is initial connection, request information related to the vehicle device from the vehicle device through the at least one communication circuit;
acquire, based on information received from the vehicle device in response to the request, the first information through the at least one communication circuit; and
store the acquired first information in the memory.

5. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the designated condition comprises at least one among a condition in which the electronic device or the vehicle device is in a state related to rebooting, a condition in which the electronic device or the vehicle device is in a state related to remounting, a condition in a state related to an operation attribute of the vehicle device, or a condition in a state in which a preconfigured period is reached.

6. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the instructions are configured to cause the processor to:
in a case that the electronic device satisfies a designated condition, request information related to the vehicle device from the vehicle device through the at least one communication circuit; and
based on information received from the vehicle device in response to the request, acquire the second information through the at least one communication circuit.

7. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the instructions are configured to cause the processor to acquire, based on a message broadcasted from the vehicle device, the second information through the at least one communication circuit in case that the electronic device satisfies a designated condition.

8. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the state of the vehicle device comprises at least one among whether or not an identifier of at least one engine control unit (ECU) embedded in a vehicle is abnormal, a battery consumption amount related to an operation of the vehicle, whether or not data between the at least one ECU is abnormal, whether or not a firmware version of the at least one ECU is abnormal, or whether or not safe limit configuration for the vehicle is abnormal.

9. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the instructions are configured to cause the processor to notify an abnormality state of the vehicle device to the external electronic device through the at least one communication circuit in case that it is determined that the state of the vehicle device is detected to be abnormal.

10. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the instructions are configured to cause the processor to store an abnormality state of the vehicle device in a security area of the memory in a case that it is determined that the state of the vehicle device is detected to be abnormal.

11. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the at least one communication circuit comprises:
a first communication circuit configured to provide wireless communication with the external electronic device; and
a second communication circuit electrically connected to the vehicle device and configured to provide wired communication.

12. The electronic device of claim 1 , wherein the at least one processor comprises:
a first processor configured to request information related to the vehicle device from the vehicle device, acquire information received from the vehicle device in response to the request, and determine, based on the acquired information, the state of the vehicle device; and
a second processor configured to convert a first format of the request received from the first processor into a different second format transmittable to the vehicle device and convert a second format of information received from the vehicle device into the first format transmittable to the first processor.

13. The electronic device of claim 12 , further comprising a security circuit configured to encode or block data transmitted or received between the first processor and the second processor.

14. An electronic device comprising:
at least one communication circuit configured to provide communication with a vehicle device or a first external electronic device;
at least one processor electrically connected to the at least one communication circuit; and
a memory electrically connected to the at least one processor, wherein the memory stores instructions configured to cause the at least one processor, when executed, to: when connected to the vehicle device, acquire first information related to the vehicle device through the at least one communication circuit;
transmit at least a part of the first information through the at least one communication circuit to the first external electronic device;
in a case that the electronic device satisfies a designated condition, acquire second information related to the vehicle device from the vehicle device through the at least one communication circuit;
transmit at least a part of the second information to the first external electronic device through the at least one communication circuit; and
in response to transmission of the first information and the second information, receive, through the at least one communication circuit, information related to the state of the vehicle device determined by the first external electronic device from the first external electronic device, and perform, based on the received information, a designated operation.

15. A storage medium which non-transitorily stores instructions, wherein when executed by at least one circuit, the instructions are configured to cause the at least one circuit to p

Assignees

• Samsung Electronics Co Ltd

Inventors

• Kwon Taeho
• Park Seongyeol
• Cho Youngbin

Classifications

• B60W2556/45

  External transmission of data to or from the vehicle · CPC title

• B60W50/02

  Ensuring safety in case of control system failures, e.g. by diagnosing, circumventing or fixing failures · CPC title

• G07C5/0808

  Diagnosing performance data (testing of vehicles G01M17/00; testing of electrical installation on vehicles G01R31/005) · CPC title

• G07C5/08 Primary

  Registering or indicating performance data other than driving, working, idle, or waiting time, with or without registering driving, working, idle or waiting time · CPC title

• B60Y2306/15

  Failure diagnostics · CPC title