CONTROL UNIT AND PROGRAM FOR SAME

• US 20090271804A1
• Filed: 04/23/2009
• Published: 10/29/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 04/23/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: DENSO Corporation
• Original Assignee: DENSO Corporation
• Inventors: NAGANO, Yuuji, Ban, Yoshinori
• Granted Patent: US 9,951,705 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 719/318
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 41/2425 Particular ways of programming the data
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 41/26 using computer, e.g. microprocessor
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 19/0426 Programming the control sequence
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/085 using electronic data carriers

Abstract

The first memory of a control unit has a control program stored therein, and an update of the control program is performed at a predetermined timing. After the update of the control program, the second memory in the control unit is referred to, and an event code stored in the second memory is extracted if the event code does not correspond to any one of event code group respectively associated with events that can possibly be generated by the updated control program. Due to the decreased necessity for use as reference data, the extracted event code may be considered as un-necessary and may be deleted, for example, from the memory.

Claims

1. A control unit comprising:

a first non-volatile memory for storing a control program, the control program that controls a controlled object;

a second non-volatile memory for storing an event code that corresponds to an event caused in the controlled object;

an extraction unit for extracting an event code that does not match any one of event codes stored in the second non-volatile memory after an update of the control program, a set of the event codes respectively in association with possible events caused by the updated control program; and

a determination unit for determining the extracted event code extracted by the extraction unit as a useless event code that is not required to be stored in the second non-volatile memory.

2. The control unit of claim 1 further comprising a result notification unit for notifying a determination result by the determination unit.

3. The control unit of claim 1 further comprising:

a code delete unit for deleting the event code that is determined by the determination unit from among the event codes stored in the second non-volatile memory.

4. The control unit of claim 1, wherein

the extraction unit starts extraction of the event code when the control unit is started posterior to the update of the control program stored in the first memory.

5. The control unit of claim 1, wherein

the extraction unit starts extraction of the event code when the controlled object gets out of a transitional period of control start time to enter into a stably-controlled condition posterior to the update of the control program stored in the first memory.

6. The control unit of claim 1, wherein,

if a process for diagnosing the controlled object are configured to be executed for various diagnosis posterior to a start of control of the controlled object according to the control program,

the extraction unit starts extraction of the event code when the process for diagnosing the controlled object has normally ended posterior to the update of the control program in the first memory.

7. The control unit of claim 1, wherein

the extraction unit extracts, from among the event codes specified in an instruction, an event code that does not match with any one of the event codes in an event code group corresponding to a group of events that can possibly be generated by the control program, when the extraction unit receives, from outside of the control unit, the instruction for specifying a specific event code, and the specified event code is stored in the second memory.

8. The control unit of claim 1, wherein,

in case that the control program stored in the first memory is updated together with a data table for having registration of an event code group corresponding to a group of events that can possibly be generated by the control program,

the extraction unit extracts, from among the event codes stored in the event codes, an event code that does not match with any one of the event codes registered in the data table posterior to the update of the control program and the data table stored in the first memory.

9. The control unit of claim 1, wherein

the control unit is an electronic control unit disposed in a vehicle,

the event is a trouble condition generated in the controlled object, and

the event code is a trouble code of predetermined trouble information for detecting and storing the trouble condition when the electronic control unit performs a diagnosis of the controlled object.

10. A program product stored in a computer-readable storage medium for performing a series of acts, the acts control a computer to be serving as all of the units recited in claim 1.