Vehicle information communication system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12411675-B2
Application number	US-202117167342-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 4, 2021
Priority date	Aug 10, 2018
Publication date	Sep 9, 2025
Grant date	Sep 9, 2025

Abstract

A vehicle information communication system including a center device and an in-vehicle device is provided. When pieces of configuration information regarding configurations of respective devices are received from electronic control units, the in-vehicle device transmits a configuration information list including the pieces of configuration information to the center device. The center device includes a configuration information storage unit storing the configuration information list approved with respect a vehicle type, compares the configuration information list received from the in-vehicle device with the configuration information list stored in the configuration information storage unit. When the center device determines that the configuration information list received from the in-vehicle device is disapproved, the center device transmits a presence of abnormality to the in-vehicle device.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A vehicle information communication system comprising:
a center device that includes at least one first processor and a first memory connected with the at least one first processor, the first memory storing at least one first computer executable program that, when executed by the at least one first processor, configures the at least one first processor to manage data to be written in a plurality of electronic control units (ECUs) mounted in a vehicle;
an in-vehicle device that includes at least one second processor and a second memory connected with the at least one second processor and that is mounted in the vehicle, the second memory storing a second computer executable program that, when executed by the at least one second processor, configures the at least one second processor to implement (i) a vehicle inside communication unit that performs communication with the plurality of ECUs mounted in the vehicle, and (ii) a vehicle outside communication unit that performs wireless communication with the center device and performs data communication with the vehicle inside communication unit, wherein
when a plurality of pieces of configuration information regarding configurations of respective devices are received from the plurality of ECUs, the in-vehicle device transmits a configuration information list including the plurality of pieces of configuration information to the center device,
the at least one first computer executable program, when executed by the at least one first processor, configures the at least one first processor to implement a configuration information storage unit that (i) stores, in the first memory, an approved configuration information list with respect to a vehicle type, the approved configuration information list including a plurality of pieces of configuration information each of which is configuration information for a vehicle approved by either a public authority or a third-party organization, each of the plurality of pieces of configuration information stored in the configuration information storage unit including restriction information of a vehicle related to a program update, and the restriction information including group information of ECUs, a bus load table of a communication bus, and information regarding battery load, (ii) compares the configuration information list received from the in-vehicle device with the approved configuration information list with respect to the vehicle type that is stored in the configuration information storage unit to determine whether or not a combination of ECUs included in the plurality of ECUs mounted on the vehicle is appropriate, and (iii) transmits a presence of abnormality to the in-vehicle device when the center device determines that the configuration information list received from the in-vehicle device is disapproved,
the at least one first computer executable program, when executed by the at least one first processor, configures the at least one first processor to implement a vehicle-side configuration information storage unit that is configured as a database and stores, in the first memory, data of each of a plurality of vehicles, and upon receiving the configuration information list from the in-vehicle device, stores the received configuration information list in the vehicle-side configuration information storage unit, regardless of whether the configuration information list is approved or disapproved,
the vehicle-side configuration information storage unit stores a hash value generated by applying a hash function to data values of the plurality of pieces of configuration information included in the configuration information list received from the in-vehicle device,
the in-vehicle device, based on a notification indicating that a program update is available, downloads and installs an update file and activates a new program, and
the configuration information list received from the in-vehicle device includes a plurality of ECU software IDs that contain information regarding versions of application programs of each ECU, and the center device determines whether the configuration information list received from the in-vehicle device is approved or disapproved based on information indicating a combination of the plurality of ECU software IDs transmitted from the in-vehicle device and a plurality of ECU software IDs included in the approved configuration information list stored in the configuration information storage unit.

2. The vehicle information communication system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one first computer executable program, when executed by the at least one first processor, configures the at least one first processor to implement a communication unit that performs communication with a management device that manages information on produced vehicles, and the center device transmits detection of the abnormality to the management device.

3. The vehicle information communication system of claim 1 , wherein the configuration information list includes a vehicle software identification (ID), wherein only one vehicle software ID is assigned to a respective vehicle and is updated as a version of any of one or more application programs is updated, and using the vehicle software ID, the center device determines whether it is approved or disapproved.

4. The vehicle information communication system of claim 1 , wherein the center device determines that it is disapproved when a configuration information regarding any one of the plurality of ECUs does not conform with a value stored in the configuration information storage unit.

5. The vehicle information communication system of claim 4 , wherein in a case where there is a particular ECU whose configuration information does not conform with a value stored in the configuration information storage unit, the center device determines that it is disapproved, even when the particular ECU is not subject to an application program update.

6. The vehicle information communication system of claim 1 , wherein the at least one first computer executable program, when executed by the at least one first processor, configures the at least one first processor to implement an update notification information storage unit storing, in the first memory, notification information on program update of a vehicle, and
when the center device determines that the configuration information list received from the in-vehicle device is approved, the center device refers to the update notification information storage unit, and when a program update of a corresponding vehicle is available, transmits the notification information to the in-vehicle device.

7. The vehicle information communication system according to claim 1 , wherein:
when the center device determines that the configuration information list received from the in-vehicle device is approved, the center device determines whether or not a program update for a corresponding vehicle is available; and
when the program update is available, the center device transmits to the in-vehicle device a notification indicative that the program update is available.

8. The vehicle information communication system according to claim 1 , further comprising: a display device that displays a notification to a user of the vehicle, wherein, in receiving a notification of the presence of the abnormality from the center device, the in-vehicle device instructs the display device to display the notification.

9. The vehicle information communication system according to claim 1 , further comprising:
a display device that displays various notifications to a user of the vehicle, wherein:
in receiving from the center device a notification indicative that the program update is available, the in-vehicle device

Assignees

• Denso Corp

Inventors

• Sakurai Nao
• Takahashi Shuhei
• Harata Yuzo
• Uehara Kazuhiro
• Hasegawa Takuya
• Kawasaki Takuya
• Hayakawa Kazuaki

Classifications

• G07C5/0808

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

• G06F3/0673

  Single storage device · CPC title

• G06F3/0659

  Command handling arrangements, e.g. command buffers, queues, command scheduling · CPC title

• G06F3/0604

  Improving or facilitating administration, e.g. storage management · CPC title

• G06F2221/033

  Test or assess software · CPC title