Hybrid intra-vehicle communication network

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016352533-A1
Application number	US-201615165632-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	May 26, 2016
Priority date	May 29, 2015
Publication date	Dec 1, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

Technical solutions are described for facilitating intra-vehicle wireless communication among a plurality of electronic control units. An example method includes determining, by a first electronic control unit in a vehicle, a wait-time for a message, which is to be transmitted to a second electronic control unit in the vehicle via a wireless channel. The first electronic control unit executes a first availability-check, by determining availability of the wireless channel. In response to the first availability-check indicating that the wireless communication channel is available, the method includes delaying transmission of the message by the wait-time. The method also includes executing, by the first electronic control unit, after passage of the wait-time, a second availability-check. In response to the second availability-check indicating that the wireless communication channel is still available, the method includes transmitting the message for receipt by the second electronic control unit.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A computer-implemented method for facilitating intra-vehicle wireless communication among a plurality of electronic control units, the method comprising:
determining, by a first electronic control unit in a vehicle, a wait-time for a message, which is to be transmitted to a second electronic control unit in the vehicle via a wireless communication channel; executing, by the first electronic control unit, a first availability-check, which comprises determining availability of the wireless communication channel; in response to the first availability-check indicating that the wireless communication channel is available:
delaying transmission of the message by the wait-time;
after passage of the wait-time, executing, by the first electronic control unit, a second availability-check to determine the availability of the wireless communication channel; and
in response to the second availability-check indicating that the wireless communication channel still being available, transmitting the message for receipt by the second electronic control unit.

2 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises, in response to the second availability-check indicating that the wireless communication channel is unavailable, incrementing a loop-counter and reporting the loop-counter to a vehicle communication unit of the first electronic control unit.

3 . The computer-implemented method of claim 2 , wherein the method further comprises, generating, by the vehicle communication unit, an instruction to change the wait-time of the message in response to the loop-counter crossing a predetermined threshold.

4 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises:
in response to the first availability-check indicating that the wireless communication channel is unavailable, incrementing a first loop-counter and reporting the first loop-counter to a vehicle communication unit of the first electronic control unit; and in response to the second availability-check indicating that the wireless communication channel is unavailable, incrementing a second loop-counter and reporting the second loop-counter to the vehicle communication unit of the first electronic control unit.

5 . The computer-implemented method of claim 4 , wherein the method further comprises, generating, by the vehicle communication unit, an instruction to change the wait-time of the message in response to the first loop-counter crossing a first predetermined threshold and the second loop-counter crossing a second predetermined threshold.

6 . The computer-implemented method of claim 1 , wherein the wait-time is based on a priority-value of the message.

7 . The computer-implemented method of claim 6 , wherein the priority value is based on an identity of the first electronic control unit.

8 . The computer-implemented method of claim 6 , wherein the priority value is based on an identity of the second electronic control unit.

9 . The computer-implemented method of claim 6 , wherein the priority value is based on an identity of the first electronic control unit and an identity of the second electronic control unit.

10 . An electronic control unit of a vehicle comprising:
a memory; a wireless communication interface; and a processor coupled with the memory and the wireless communication interface, the processor configured to:
determine a wait-time for a message, which is to be transmitted to a second electronic control unit in the vehicle via a wireless communication channel using the wireless communication interface;
execute a first availability-check, which comprises determining availability of the wireless communication channel;
in response to the first availability-check indicating that the wireless communication channel is available:
delay transmission of the message by the wait-time; and
after passage of the wait-time, execute a second availability-check to determine the availability of the wireless communication channel; and

in response to the second availability-check indicating that the wireless communication channel still being available, transmit the message for receipt by the second electronic control unit.

11 . The electronic control unit of claim 10 , further comprising a vehicle communication unit, and wherein the processor is further configured to, in response to the second availability-check indicating that the wireless communication channel is unavailable, increment a loop-counter and report the loop-counter to the vehicle communication unit.

12 . The electronic control unit of claim 11 , wherein the processor is further configured to generate an instruction to change the wait-time of the message in response to the loop-counter crossing a predetermined threshold.

13 . The electronic control unit of claim 10 , further comprising a vehicle communication unit, and wherein the processor is further configured to:
in response to the first availability-check indicating that the wireless communication channel is unavailable, increment a first loop-counter and report the first loop-counter to the vehicle communication unit; and in response to the second availability-check indicating that the wireless communication channel is unavailable, increment a second loop-counter and report the second loop-counter to the vehicle communication unit.

14 . The electronic control unit of claim 13 , wherein the processor is further configured to generate an instruction to change the wait-time of the message in response to the first loop-counter crossing a first predetermined threshold and the second loop-counter crossing a second predetermined threshold.

15 . A computer program product for facilitating intra-vehicle wireless communication among a plurality of electronic control units, the computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer-readable memory, and the computer-readable memory including instructions to:
determine a wait-time for a message, which is to be transmitted to a second electronic control unit in the vehicle via a wireless communication channel; execute a first availability-check, which comprises determining availability of the wireless communication channel; in response to the first availability-check indicating that the wireless communication channel is available:
delay transmission of the message by the wait-time; and
after passage of the wait-time, execute a second availability-check to determine the availability of the wireless communication channel; and
in response to the second availability-check indicating that the wireless communication channel still being available, transmit the message for receipt by the second electronic control unit.

16 . The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein the computer-readable memory further comprises instructions to in response to the second availability-check indicating that the wireless communication channel is unavailable, increment a loop-counter and report the loop-counter to a vehicle communication unit.

17 . The computer program product of claim 16 , wherein the computer-readable memory further comprises instructions to change the wait-time of the message in response to the loop-counter crossing a predetermined threshold.

18 . The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein the computer-readable memory further comprises instructions to:
in response to the first availability-check indicating that the wireless communication channel is unavailable, increment a first loop-counter and report the first lo

Assignees

• Gm Global Tech Operations Llc

Inventors

• Talty Timothy J
• Lin Jiun-Ren
• Tonguz Ozan
• Shan Dan

Classifications

• H04W4/48

  for in-vehicle communication · CPC title

• H04L12/4015 Primary

  by scheduling the transmission of messages at the communication node · CPC title

• H04L43/0805

  by checking availability · CPC title

• H04W4/40

  for vehicles, e.g. vehicle-to-pedestrians [V2P] · CPC title

• H04L67/12

  specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks · CPC title