MOBILE TERMINAL, SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING AN ELECTRONIC CONTROL UNIT

• US 20130018567A1
• Filed: 12/07/2011
• Published: 01/17/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 07/12/2011
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Pantech Co. Ltd. (Pantech Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Pantech Co. Ltd. (Pantech Incorporated)
• Inventors: LIM, Sang Woo, LEE, Seung Hyun, HWANG, In Oh
• Application Number:
  US13/313,073
• Publication Number:
  US 20130018567A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 701/102
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2050/0064 using a remote, e.g. cordless, transmitter or receiver unit, e.g. remote keypad or mobile phone
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2540/043 Identity of occupants
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2554/00 Input parameters relating to objects
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2556/45 External transmission of data to or from the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2556/50 of positioning data, e.g. GPS [Global Positioning System] data
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/085 Changing the parameters of the control units, e.g. changing limit values, working points by control input
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 2200/60 said parameters being related to the driver demands or status
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 2200/70 said parameters being related to the vehicle exterior
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 2200/701 Information about vehicle position, e.g. from navigation system or GPS signal
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 2200/702 Road conditions
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 41/021 Introducing corrections for particular conditions exterior to the engine conjoint control of vehicle sub-units for propelling the vehicle B60W30/18
• CPC Class Codes: F02D 41/266 the computer being backed-up or assisted by another circuit, e.g. analogue

Abstract

A mobile terminal to control an Electronic Control Unit (ECU) of a vehicle includes a communication unit, a storage unit, and an ECU control unit. The communication unit communicates with the ECU, and the storage unit stores information collected from the ECU and status information collected inside or outside the mobile terminal. The ECU control unit determines a driving environment of the vehicle according to the status information collected, processes the information collected from the ECU, and controls the ECU. A method for controlling a vehicle ECU from a mobile terminal includes determining a driving environment, and remotely controlling the ECU from the mobile terminal based on the driving environment.

Claims

1. A mobile terminal to control an electronic control unit (ECU), comprising:

an ECU control unit to remotely control the ECU; and

a communication unit to communicate with the ECU;

wherein the ECU control unit controls the ECU based on a driving environment.

2. The mobile terminal according to claim 1, wherein the driving environment is based on at least one of:

a road condition, a current weather status, a current time, a driver associated with the mobile terminal, current traffic volume, a slope of a stop region, an oxygen amount, and a detection of a dangerous region.

3. The mobile terminal according to claim 1, further comprising:

a storage unit to store information to operate the ECU,

wherein the ECU control unit controls the ECU based on the stored information.

4. The mobile terminal according to claim 3, wherein the ECU control unit calculates a factor to control the ECU based on the stored information updated by the driving environment.

5. The mobile terminal according to claim 2, further comprising:

a position ascertaining device to obtain position information of the mobile terminal,

wherein the driving environment is determined by the position information.

6. The mobile terminal according to claim 2, wherein the ECU control unit includes:

a selection section to select status information from a lookup table in accordance with the driving environment;

a rearrangement section to match the selected status information with collected information from the ECU; and

a calculation section to calculate setting data based on the matched selected status information with the collected information.

7. The mobile terminal according to claim 6, further comprising:

a communication unit to communicate with an external device or the ECU,

wherein the communication unit communicates the calculated setting data to the external device or the ECU.

8. The mobile terminal according to claim 1, wherein the ECU control unit includes:

a selection section to select status information in accordance with a current driving environment; and

a providing section to provide the selected status information to the ECU.

9. The mobile terminal according to claim 1, further comprising:

a sensor to sense an environmental condition associated with the mobile terminal,

wherein the driving environment is determined by the environmental condition.

10. A method for controlling an electronic control unit (ECU) from a mobile terminal, comprising:

determining a driving environment; and

remotely controlling the ECU from the mobile terminal based on the driving environment.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein the driving environment is based on at least one of:

a road condition, a current weather status, a current time, a driver associated with the mobile terminal, current traffic volume, a slope of a stop region, an oxygen amount, and a detection of a dangerous region.

12. The method according to claim 10, further comprising:

storing information to operate the ECU,

remotely controlling the ECU based on the stored information.

14. The method according to claim 11, further comprising:

obtaining position information of the mobile terminal; and

determining the driving information by the position information.

15. The method according to claim 14, further comprising:

communicating with an external device; and

modifying the factor based on the communication with the external device.

16. The method according to claim 12, further comprising:

selecting status information in accordance with a current driving environment from the stored information;

matching the selected status information with information collected from the ECU; and

calculating a setting data mapped to the ECU on the basis of the matching.

17. The method according to claim 16, further comprising transmitting the calculated setting data to the ECU or an external device.

18. The method according to claim 10, further comprising:

sensing an environmental condition associated with the mobile terminal; and

determining the driving environment based on the environmental condition.

13. The method according to claim 13, further comprising calculating a factor to control the ECU based on the stored information updated by the driving environment.

19. An electronic control unit (ECU) of a vehicle, the ECU comprising:

a central processing unit (CPU) to control the ECU; and

a communication unit to communicate remotely with a device that stores control information,

wherein the CPU controls the ECU based on the control information.

20. The unit according to claim 19, wherein:

the control information is based on at least one of;

a road condition, a current weather status, a current time, and a driver associated with the device.