In-vehicle gateway apparatus, communication system for vehicle and program product for transmitting vehicle related data set

• US 10,291,687 B2
• Filed: 01/07/2013
• Issued: 05/14/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 01/16/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: DENSO Corporation
• Original Assignee: DENSO Corporation
• Inventors: Nakamura, Shuuji
• Primary Examiner(s): Louie, Oscar A
• Assistant Examiner(s): Gebre, Messeret F
• Application Number:
  US13/735,292
• Publication Number:
  US 20130185389A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,318 Days
• Field of Search: 709219, 709217
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/40189 by using a plurality of bus systems
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/40273 the transportation system being a vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46

Abstract

An in-vehicle gateway apparatus includes a first communication section and a second communication section. The first communication section receives a vehicle related data set including multiple data elements from a data transmit apparatus. The second communication section transmits a processed data set processed based on the vehicle related data set to an in-vehicle LAN group including a first in-vehicle LAN and a second in-vehicle LAN. The second in-vehicle LAN has a communication speed lower than a communication speed of the first in-vehicle LAN. The second communication section transmits a first processed data set processed based on the vehicle related data set to the first in-vehicle LAN, and transmits a second processed data set processed based on the vehicle related data set and having less data elements than the first processed data set to the second in-vehicle LAN.

Claims

1. An in-vehicle gateway apparatus comprising:

a first communication section, which receives a vehicle related data set from a data transmit apparatus, the vehicle related data set including a plurality of data elements;

a second communication section, which transmits a processed data set processed based on the vehicle related data set to an in-vehicle local area network (LAN) group, the in-vehicle LAN group being communicably coupled to the second communication section and at least including a first in-vehicle LAN and a second in-vehicle LAN; and

a control section generating, based on the vehicle related data set, a first processed data set and a second processed data set so that the second processed data set has a number of data elements less than a number of data elements of the first processed data set,

wherein the first in-vehicle LAN has a first communication speed defined by a first communication protocol of the first in-vehicle LAN, and the second in-vehicle LAN has a second communication speed, which is lower than the first communication speed, defined by a second communication protocol of the second in-vehicle LAN,

wherein the second communication section transmits the first processed data set, which is generated based on the vehicle related data set, to the first in-vehicle LAN based on the first communication protocol, and transmits the second processed data set, which is generated based on the vehicle related data set, to the second in-vehicle LAN based on the second communication protocol;

wherein, each of the first in-vehicle LAN and the second in-vehicle LAN is coupled to one or more electronic control units, each of the one or more electronic control units performs a predetermined operation based on a corresponding processed data set transmitted from the second communication section, the corresponding processed data set is one of the first processed data set or the second processed data set,

wherein, the second communication section specifies, from the vehicle related data set, a transmission target data element that is to be transmitted to the one or more electronic control units and to be used by the one or more electronic control units,

wherein the second communication section removes, from the vehicle related data set, data elements other than the transmission target data element to generate the first processed data set or the second processed data set;

wherein the plurality of data elements included in the vehicle related data set are provided by different types of data elements that are related to a travelling of the vehicle;

wherein the second communication section adapts an amount of data of the vehicle related data set to each of the first in-vehicle LAN and the second in-vehicle LAN in accordance with contents of each of the data elements in the vehicle related data set, so that the amount of data of the vehicle related data is reduced;

wherein, when the vehicle related data set includes a predetermined data element that is also included in the first processed data set and the second processed data set, the second communication section synchronizes a transmit time to transmit the predetermined data element included in the first processed data set and the predetermined data element included in the second processed data set and transmits the first processed data set to the first in-vehicle LAN and the second processed data set to the second in-vehicle LAN based at the synchronized transmit time; and

wherein the first communication section, the second communication section, and the control section are implemented by at least one processor and memory storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, implement the first communication section, the second communication section, and the control section.

2. The in-vehicle gateway apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein the in-vehicle LAN group further includes a third in-vehicle LAN,

wherein the third in-vehicle LAN has a third communication speed, which is lower than the second communication speed, defined by a third communication protocol of the third in-vehicle LAN,

wherein the second communication section transmits a third processed data set, which is processed based on the vehicle related data set and has less data elements than the second processed data set, to the third in-vehicle LAN based on the third communication protocol.

3. The in-vehicle gateway apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein, when the first communication section receives a plurality of vehicle related data sets in a time order,

the second communication section:

transmits a plurality of first processed data sets, which are respectively processed based on the vehicle related data sets received in the time order, to the first in-vehicle LAN in a rearranged order, which is different from the time order; and

transmits a plurality of second processed data sets, which are respectively processed based on the vehicle related data sets received in the time order, to the second in-vehicle LAN in the rearranged order.

4. The in-vehicle gateway apparatus according to claim 1,

wherein, one of the first in-vehicle LAN and the second in-vehicle LAN is coupled to one or more electronic control units, each of which has a predetermined identification data element and performs a predetermined operation based on a corresponding processed data set transmitted from the second communication section, the corresponding processed data set being one of the first processed data set and the second processed data set, and

wherein, when the second communication section transmits the corresponding processed data set to one of the electronic control units, the second communication section adds the predetermined identification data element of the one of the electronic control units to the corresponding processed data set.

5. The in-vehicle gateway apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of data elements provided by the different types of data elements that are related to the travelling of the vehicle include a road shape point data element, a road junction data element and a traffic lane data element.

6. The in-vehicle gateway apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the second communication section removes entire data elements.

7. The in-vehicle gateway apparatus according to claim 1, wherein:

the different types of data elements include a road shape point data element, a road junction data element, a traffic lane data element, a road curvature data element, and a road grade data element.

8. The in-vehicle gateway apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the different types of data elements further include a topographic data element.

9. The in-vehicle gateway apparatus according to claim 8, wherein the different types of data elements further include a facility data element.

10. The in-vehicle gateway apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the different types of data elements further include a place name data element.

11. The in-vehicle gateway apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the control section generates the first and second data sets by removing data elements that are not needed by the one or more electronic control units.

12. A communication system for a vehicle comprising:

a controller, which transmits a vehicle related data set including a plurality of data elements;

an in-vehicle gateway communicably coupled to the controller, the in-vehicle gateway including;

a first communication section, which receives the vehicle related data set from the controller; and

a second communication section, which transmits a processed data set processed based on the vehicle related data set to an in-vehicle local area network (LAN) group, the in-vehicle LAN group being communicably coupled to the second communication section and at least including a first in-vehicle LAN and a second in-vehicle LAN;

a control section generating, based on the vehicle related data set, a first processed data set and a second processed data set so that the second processed data set has a number of data elements less than a number of data elements of the first processed data set, and

a plurality of electronic control units at least including a first electronic control unit, which is communicably coupled to the first in-vehicle LAN, and a second electronic control unit, which is communicably coupled to the second in-vehicle LAN,

wherein the first in-vehicle LAN has a first communication speed defined by a first communication protocol of the first in-vehicle LAN, and the second in-vehicle LAN has a second communication speed defined by a second communication protocol of the second in-vehicle LAN, the second communication speed being lower than the first communication speed,

wherein the second communication section transmits the first processed data set, which is processed based on the vehicle related data set, to the first in-vehicle LAN based on the first communication protocol, and transmits the second processed data set, which is processed based on the vehicle related data set, to the second in-vehicle LAN based on the second communication protocol,

wherein the first electronic control unit performs a predetermined operation based on the first processed data set, and the second electronic control unit performs a predetermined operation based on the second processed data set;

wherein, each of the first in-vehicle LAN and the second in-vehicle LAN is coupled to one or more electronic control units, each of the one or more electronic control units performs a predetermined operation based on a corresponding processed data set transmitted from the second communication section, the corresponding processed data set is one of the first processed data set or the second processed data set,

wherein, the second communication section specifies, from the vehicle related data set, a transmission target data element that is to be transmitted to the one or more electronic control units and to be used by the one or more electronic control units,

wherein the second communication section removes, from the vehicle related data set, data elements other than the transmission target data element to generate the first processed data set or the second processed data set;

wherein the plurality of data elements included in the vehicle related data set are provided by different types of data elements that are related to a travelling of the vehicle;

wherein the second communication section adapts an amount of data of the vehicle related data set to each of the first in-vehicle LAN and the second in-vehicle LAN in accordance with contents of each of the data elements in the vehicle related data set, so that the amount of data of the vehicle related data is reduced;

wherein, when the vehicle related data set includes a predetermined data element that is also included in the first processed data set and the second processed data set, the second communication section synchronizes a transmit time to transmit the predetermined data element included in the first processed data set and the predetermined data element included in the second processed data set and transmits the first processed data set to the first in-vehicle LAN and the second processed data set to the second in-vehicle LAN based at the synchronized transmit time; and

wherein the first communication section, the second communication section, and the control section are implemented by at least one processor and memory storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, implement the first communication section, the second communication section, and the control section.

13. The communication system according to claim 12, wherein the plurality of data elements provided by the different types of data elements that are related to the travelling of the vehicle include a road shape point data element, a road junction data element and a traffic lane data element.

14. The communication system according to claim 12, wherein the second communication section removes entire data elements.

15. A program product stored in a non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising instructions for execution by a computer, the computer being coupled to a data transmit apparatus, which transmits a vehicle related data set including a plurality of data elements, and a plurality of in-vehicle local area networks (LANs) having different communication protocols with one another, the in-vehicle LANs at least including a first in-vehicle LAN and a second in-vehicle LAN, which has a communication speed lower than a communication speed of the first in-vehicle LAN,

the instructions for implementing:

receiving the vehicle related data set from the data transmit apparatus;

processing the vehicle related data set to generate a first processed data set and a second processed data set, the first processed data set including all of the data elements included in the vehicle related data set, the second processed data set including a number of data elements fewer than a number of data elements of the first processed data set;

transmitting the first processed data set to the first in-vehicle LAN based on a first communication protocol of the first in-vehicle LAN;

transmitting the second processed data set to the second in-vehicle LAN based on a second communication protocol of the second in-vehicle LAN;

wherein, each of the first in-vehicle LAN and the second in-vehicle LAN is coupled to one or more electronic control units, each of the one or more electronic control units performs a predetermined operation based on a corresponding processed data set transmitted from a second communication section, the corresponding processed data set is one of the first processed data set or the second processed data set,

wherein, the second communication section specifies, from the vehicle related data set, a transmission target data element that is to be transmitted to the one or more electronic control units and to be used by the one or more electronic control units,

wherein the second communication section removes, from the vehicle related data set, data elements other than the transmission target data element to generate the first processed data set or the second processed data set;

wherein the plurality of data elements included in the vehicle related data set are provided by different types of data elements that are related to a travelling of the vehicle;

wherein the second communication section adapts an amount of data of the vehicle related data set to each of the first in-vehicle LAN and the second in-vehicle LAN in accordance with contents of each of the data elements in the vehicle related data set, so that the amount of data of the vehicle related data is reduced; and

wherein, when the vehicle related data set includes a predetermined data element that is also included in the first processed data set and the second processed data set, the second communication section synchronizes a transmit time to transmit the predetermined data element included in the first processed data set and the predetermined data element included in the second processed data set and transmits the first processed data set to the first in-vehicle LAN and the second processed data set to the second in-vehicle LAN based at the synchronized transmit time.

16. The program product according to claim 15, wherein the plurality of data elements provided by the different types of data elements that are related to the travelling of the vehicle include a road shape point data element, a road junction data element and a traffic lane data element.

17. The program product according to claim 15, wherein the second communication section removes entire data elements.

18. A system comprising:

an in-vehicle local area network (LAN) group having a first in-vehicle LAN and a second in-vehicle LAN;

a controller; and

an in-vehicle gateway communicably coupled to the in-vehicle LAN group and to the controller, the in-vehicle gateway being configured to receive a vehicle related data set from the controller and configured to transmit a processed data set processed based on the vehicle related data set to the in-vehicle LAN group, the vehicle related data set including a plurality of data elements;

wherein the gateway is configured to generate, based on the vehicle related data set, a first processed data set and a second processed data set with a number of data elements of the second processed data set being less than a number of data elements of the first processed data set;

wherein the first in-vehicle LAN has a first communication speed defined by a first communication protocol of the first in-vehicle LAN and the second in-vehicle LAN has a second communication speed, which is lower than the first communication speed, defined by a second communication protocol of the second in-vehicle LAN;

wherein the in-vehicle gateway is further configured to transmit the first processed data set, which is generated based on the vehicle related data set, to the first in-vehicle LAN based on the first communication protocol and to transmit the second processed data set, which is generated based on the vehicle related data set, to the second in-vehicle LAN based on the second communication protocol;

wherein each of the first in-vehicle LAN and the second in-vehicle LAN is coupled to at least one electronic control unit configured to perform a predetermined operation based on a corresponding processed data set transmitted from the in-vehicle gateway, the corresponding processed data set being one of the first processed data set or the second processed data set;

wherein the in-vehicle gateway is configured to specify, from the vehicle related data set, a transmission target data element that is to be transmitted to the at least one electronic control unit and to be used by the at least one electronic control unit and configured to remove data elements from the vehicle related data set other than the transmission target data element to generate the first processed data set or the second processed data set;

wherein the plurality of data elements included in the vehicle related data set are provided by different types of data elements that are related to a travelling of a vehicle;

wherein the in-vehicle gateway is configured to adapt an amount of data of the vehicle related data set to each of the first in-vehicle LAN and the second in-vehicle LAN in accordance with contents of each of the data elements in the vehicle related data set so that the amount of data in the vehicle related data set is reduced; and

wherein, when the vehicle related data set includes a predetermined data element that is also included in the first processed data set and the second processed data set, the in-vehicle gateway is configured to synchronize a transmit time to transmit the predetermined data element included in the first processed data set and the predetermined data element included in the second processed data set and to transmit the first processed data set to the first in-vehicle LAN and the second processed data set to the second in-vehicle LAN based at the synchronized transmit time.