SYSTEM AND METHOD TO IMPROVE CONTROL MODULE REFLASH TIME

• US 20140245284A1
• Filed: 02/25/2013
• Published: 08/28/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 02/25/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC (General Motors Company)
• Original Assignee: GM Global Technology Operations LLC (General Motors Company)
• Inventors: Alrabady, Ansaf I., Wist, Alan D.
• Granted Patent: US 9,075,686 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 717/173
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/65 Updates security arrangements therefor G06F21/57
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/654 using techniques specially adapted for alterable solid state memories, e.g. for EEPROM or flash memories
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/658 Incremental updates; Differential updates

Abstract

A control module reflash system includes a control module located in a vehicle that controls at least one function of the vehicle according to stored vehicle software. An external interface module receives a software file from a source external to the vehicle and receives a part number for the stored vehicle software in the control module. The external interface module retrieves a comparison software file from the source external to the vehicle corresponding to the part number and compares the software file and the comparison software file. The external interface module identifies differences between the software file and the comparison software file, generates a compressed file based on the differences, and provides the compressed file to the control module. The control module generates a flash file based on the received compressed file and the stored vehicle software and modifies the stored vehicle software based on the flash file.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a control module, located in a vehicle, that controls at least one function of the vehicle according to stored vehicle software; and

an external interface module that receives a software file from a source external to the vehicle and receives a part number for the stored vehicle software in the control module, that retrieves a comparison software file from the source external to the vehicle corresponding to the part number, that compares the software file and the comparison software file, that identifies differences between the software file and the comparison software file, that generates a compressed file based on the differences, and that provides the compressed file to the control module,

wherein the control module generates a flash file based on the compressed file and the stored vehicle software and modifies the stored vehicle software based on the flash file.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the external interface module includes a comparison module that identifies the differences between the software file and the comparison software file by comparing a first byte of code in the software file with a corresponding first byte of code in the comparison software file.

3. The system of claim 2, wherein the comparison module returns a “

0”

if a first bit in the software file is the same as a first bit in the comparison software file and returns a “

1”

if the first bit in the software file is different than the first bit in the comparison software file.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the external interface module determines whether the compressed file contains all “

0s” and

sends a “

stop”

signal instead of the flash file if the compressed file contains all “

0s.”

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the control module does not copy the flash file into the control module if the decompression module sends the “

stop”

signal.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the external interface module sends the compressed file over a vehicle communication bus to the control module, and wherein the vehicle communication bus is one of a controller area network, a local interconnect network, a media oriented systems transport communication network, a FlexRay communication network, and an Ethernet communication network.

7. The system of claim 1, further comprising a decompression module that decompresses the compressed file and generates the flash file by performing a bitwise comparison using exclusive-or logic between the decompressed compressed file and the stored vehicle software.

8. The system of claim 1, further comprising a flash module that erases the stored vehicle software from the control module and copies the flash file to the control module.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the software file is a calibration file.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the external interface module identifies differences between the software file and the comparison software file by performing a bitwise comparison using exclusive-or logic between the software file and the comparison software file.

11. A method comprising:

comparing lines of code in a software file provided by a source external to the vehicle and a comparison software file corresponding to a part number of a stored vehicle software located in a vehicle control module;

identifying differences between the software file and the comparison software file;

generating a compressed file based on the differences;

generating a flash file based on the compressed file and the stored vehicle software; and

modifying the stored vehicle software based on the flash file.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising identifying the differences between the software file and the comparison software file by comparing a first byte of code in the software file with a corresponding first byte of code in the comparison software file.

13. The method of claim 12, further comprising returning a “

0”

if a first bit in the software file is the same as a first bit in the comparison software file and returning a “

1”

if the first bit in the software file is different than the first bit in the comparison software file.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising determining whether the compressed file contains all “

0s” and

retaining the current vehicle software if the compressed file contains all “

0s.”

15. The method of claim 11, further comprising decompressing the compressed file to generate a decompressed file.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the flash file is generated by performing a bitwise comparison using exclusive-or logic between the decompressed file and the stored vehicle software.

17. The method of claim 11, further comprising communicating the compressed file over a vehicle communication bus, wherein the vehicle communication bus is one of a controller area network, a local interconnect network, a media oriented systems transport communication network, a FlexRay communication network, and an Ethernet communication network.

18. The method of claim 11, further comprising erasing the stored vehicle software before copying the flash file.

19. The method of claim 11, further comprising identifying differences between the software file and the comparison software file by performing a bitwise comparison using exclusive-or logic between the software file and the comparison software file.

20. The method of claim 11, wherein the software file is a calibration file.