Vehicle-mounted information system, and data gathering method in diagnostic equipment

• US 20090299566A1
• Filed: 05/29/2009
• Published: 12/03/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 05/30/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: SHIMURA, Akitoshi, TANIGAWA, Keiko
• Granted Patent: US 8,095,264 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/33
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 2205/02 using a vehicle scan tool
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/008 communicating information to a remotely located station transmission systems for measured values G08C
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/085 using electronic data carriers

Abstract

A diagnostic equipment coupled to a vehicle network makes an inquiry about internal information, e.g., yes or no whether there is a logging-available memory area, with respect to each of a plurality of ECUs, and only to any of the ECUs making a response of yes, e.g., having such a memory area, a notification is made when some defect is observed. The internal information is then gathered from the ECU, and in response to an inquiry about the internal information coming from the diagnostic equipment, the ECU forwards back information about yes or no for logging thereto. When the ECU is available for logging, log data that has been periodically accumulated is forwarded back as a response with respect to a retrieval request therefor from the diagnostic equipment.

Claims

1. A vehicle-mounted information system, comprising:

a plurality of ECUs that transmit/receive control information to/from each other for controlling a vehicle over an in-vehicle network;

a device under the management and control of the ECUs; and

a diagnostic equipment that gathers, for accumulation, the control information from the network through coupling thereto, wherein

the diagnostic equipment includes;

means for determining whether the vehicle is defective or not based on the control information gathered from the network;

means for making an inquiry to each of the ECUs coupled to the network whether or not there is a memory for temporarily logging information for use with a control-target device thereof; and

means for creating, when the vehicle is determined as being defective, a defect notification message with respect to any of the ECUs whose response against the inquiry is “

yes”

, and transmitting the message to the network, and

the ECUs each include;

means for managing internal information indicating whether a memory area can be reserved for logging the information for use with the device under the management and control of its own;

means for forwarding back the internal information to the diagnostic equipment in response to the inquiry coming over the network to see whether there is the memory;

means for accumulating, in the memory of its own, when the internal information includes information telling that “

there is the memory area”

, the information to be transmitted/received to/from the control-target device of its own; and

means for stopping, when the defect notification message is provided, after accumulating the information for use with the control-target device thereof for a predetermined length of time, the accumulation thereof.

2. The vehicle-mounted information system according to claim 1, wherein

the diagnostic equipment

includes means for gathering, with respect to any of the ECUs making a response of “

no”

against the inquiry whether there is the memory, information for use with the control-target device of the ECU at a predetermined period.

3. The vehicle-mounted information system according to claim 1, wherein

the diagnostic equipment includes:

means for creating, with respect to any of the ECUs making a response of “

yes”

against the inquiry whether there is the memory, when the vehicle is determined as being defective, after a lapse of time of being able to reserve a preset amount of the log data after transmission of the defect notification message, a log data retrieval request message with respect to the ECU, and transmitting the message to the network;

means for receiving a log data retrieval response message being a response to the log data retrieval request message from the ECU; and

means for accumulating, in an accumulation unit of its own, information found in the log data retrieval response message for use between the ECU and the control-target device thereof.

4. The vehicle-mounted information system according to claim 1, wherein

the internal information indicating whether or not the memory area can be reserved for logging the information between the ECU and the control-target device thereof includes yes/no whether there is the memory area, the number of seconds required for accumulation of the log data, a sampling data format of the log data, a sampling period, and a sampling data length.

5. The vehicle-mounted information system according to claim 1, wherein

the ECUs each include means for assigning, when including the memory area, a predetermined mark to the log data being the latest when receiving the defect notification message,

the diagnostic equipment includes means for determining whether the mark is provided or not to the log data retrieval response message provided by the ECU as a response to the log data retrieval request message of its own, and

the log data retrieval response message includes a flag indicating a storage location of the log data provided with the mark at a head of a data section.

6. The vehicle-mounted information system according to claim 1, wherein

the network is configured by a plurality of networks,

the ECUs respectively include a plurality of network interfaces, and each configure a sub network with any of the ECUs related thereto, and

the ECUs each include:

means for managing the internal information of any other of the ECUs coupled to the sub network thereof; and

means for making, when receiving a memory inquiry request from the diagnostic equipment, a response thereto substituting for the internal information of the any other of the ECUs.

7. A method for gathering vehicle-mounted information by a plurality of ECUs that transmit/receive control information to/from each other for controlling a vehicle over an in-vehicle network, a device under the management and control of the ECUs, and a diagnostic equipment that gathers and accumulates the control information from the network through coupling thereto, the method comprising the steps of:

by the diagnostic equipment,

determining whether the vehicle is defective or not based on the control information gathered from the network;

making an inquiry to each of the ECUs coupled to the network whether there is a memory for temporarily logging information for use with a control-target device thereof; and

creating, when the vehicle is determined as being defective, a defect notification message with respect to any of the ECUs whose response to the inquiry is “

yes”

, and transmitting the message to the network, and

by each of the ECUs,

managing internal information indicating whether a memory area can be reserved for logging the information for use with the control-target device of its own;

forwarding back the internal information to the diagnostic equipment in response to the inquiry coming over the network to see whether there is the memory;

accumulating, in the memory of its own, when the internal information includes information telling that “

there is the memory area”

, the information to be transmitted/received to/from the control-target device of its own; and

stopping, when the defect notification message is provided, after the information for use with the control-target device thereof is accumulated for a predetermined length of time, the accumulation thereof.

8. A diagnostic equipment that is coupled to an in-vehicle network coupled with a plurality of ECUs for controlling a device mounted in a vehicle, and collects, for accumulation, information for use between the ECUs and the device, the diagnostic equipment comprising:

means for making an inquiry to each of the ECUs whether or not to have a memory capacity for accumulating the information for use with the device;

means for gathering, not from any of the ECUs having the memory capacity but from any of the ECUs not having the memory capacity, the information for use between the ECU and the device at the predetermined period, and accumulating the information in an accumulation unit of its own; and

means for collectively gathering, when the vehicle is determined as being defective, from the ECU having the memory capacity, the information for use between the ECU and the device accumulated in a memory of the ECU before and after before and after when a defect is determined as occurring, and accumulating the information in the accumulation unit of its own.