Frame conversion apparatus for converting controller area network frame into ethernet frame and frame conversion method thereof

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9294590-B2
Application number	US-201313973417-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 22, 2013
Priority date	Nov 6, 2012
Publication date	Mar 22, 2016
Grant date	Mar 22, 2016

Abstract

A frame conversion apparatus for converting a CAN frame into an Ethernet frame and a frame conversion method thereof, configured to efficiently convert CAN frame data into Ethernet frame data, to achieve high-speed and high-volume transmission.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A frame conversion apparatus for converting a Controller Area Network (CAN) frame into an Ethernet frame, the apparatus comprising:
a hardware computing device, and
a non-transitory storage medium containing program instructions stored thereon, execution of which by the hardware computing device causes the frame conversion apparatus to provide functions of:
a CAN frame receiving unit configured to receive CAN frames from a CAN network domain;
a CAN frame analysis unit configured to analyze the CAN frames received by the CAN frame receiving unit, and extract data to be transmitted;
an Ethernet frame generating unit configured to generate an Ethernet frame including an identifier, a first frame region which is selective and includes information about a length of data transmitted, and a plurality of second frame regions which selectively include information about a data segment assembly sequence, as a data field, wherein the data extracted by the CAN frame analysis unit to be transmitted is disassembled into segments of data in units of a certain number of bytes and the disassembled segments of data are arranged by distribution to the first frame region and the second frame regions; and
an Ethernet frame transmitting unit configured to transmit the Ethernet frame generated by the Ethernet frame generating unit to an Ethernet network domain, wherein
the Ethernet frame generating unit, in a case in which all of the second frame regions cannot be transmitted in a single Ethernet frame and are transmitted in a plurality of Ethernet frames, includes only the identifier and the second frame regions, not the first frame region, in a second and following Ethernet frames, and includes the information about the data segment assembly sequence in each preceding second frame region among second frame regions included in the second and following Ethernet frames.

2. The frame conversion apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the Ethernet frame generating unit, in a case in which all of the second frame regions can be transmitted in a single Ethernet frame, includes only the data segments and not the information about the data segment assembly sequence in the second frame region.

3. The frame conversion apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the Ethernet frame generating unit dynamically adjusts numbers of the first frame region and the second frame regions included in an Ethernet frame so as to minimize an unused portion of the Ethernet frame.

4. A frame conversion method of a frame conversion apparatus for converting a Controller Area Network (CAN) frame into an Ethernet frame, the method comprising:
receiving CAN frames from a CAN network domain;
analyzing the received CAN frames to extract data to be transmitted;
generating an Ethernet frame including an identifier, a first frame region which includes information about a length of data transmitted, and a plurality of second frame regions which selectively include information about a data segment assembly sequence, as a data field, wherein the data extracted in the analyzing of the CAN frames to be transmitted is disassembled into segments of data in units of a certain number of bytes and the disassembled segments of data are arranged by distribution to the first frame region and the second frame regions; and
transmitting the generated Ethernet frame to an Ethernet network domain, wherein
the generating an Ethernet frame includes, in a case in which all of the second frame regions cannot be transmitted in a single Ethernet frame and are transmitted in a plurality of Ethernet frames, including only the identifier and the second frame regions, not the first frame region, in a second and following Ethernet frames, and including the information about the data segment assembly sequence in each preceding second frame region among second frame regions included in the second and following Ethernet frames.

5. The frame conversion method of claim 4 , wherein the generating of the Ethernet frame, in a case in which all of the second frame regions can be transmitted in a single Ethernet frame, comprises including only the data segments and not the information about the data segment assembly sequence in the second frame region.

6. The frame conversion method of claim 4 , wherein the generating of the Ethernet frame comprises dynamically adjusting numbers of the first frame region and the second frame regions included in an Ethernet frame so as to minimize an unused portion of the Ethernet frame.

Assignees

• Korea Electronics Telecomm

Inventors

• Hwang Hyun-Yong
• Lee Jeong-Hwan
• Han Tae-Man

Classifications

• H04L69/08 Primary

  Protocols for interworking; Protocol conversion · CPC title

• H04L12/413 Primary

  with random access, e.g. carrier-sense multiple-access with collision detection [CSMA-CD] · CPC title

• H04L12/4625

  Single bridge functionality, e.g. connection of two networks over a single bridge · CPC title

• H04L2012/40215

  Controller Area Network CAN · CPC title

• H04L65/00 Primary

  Network arrangements, protocols or services for supporting real-time applications in data packet communication (real-time or near real-time messaging, e.g. instant messaging [IM] H04L51/04; selective video distribution H04N21/00) · CPC title