SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MANAGEMENT OF SOFTWARE UPDATES AT A VEHICLE COMPUTING SYSTEM

• US 20150301821A1
• Filed: 04/17/2014
• Published: 10/22/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 04/17/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Livio, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Myine Electronics, Inc. (Ford Motor Company)
• Inventors: DANNE, Philip Joseph, GROVER, Joey Ray, SMEREKA, Scott, FISCHER, Joel J.
• Granted Patent: US 9,436,456 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• 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: H04L 67/06 specially adapted for file transfer, e.g. file transfer protocol [FTP]

Abstract

A vehicle software management system includes a transceiver configured to communicate information with a server, and a processor in communication with the transceiver. The processor may be configured to receive a file manifest from the server and transmit a list of to-be updated application file(s) based on the file manifest to the server. The processor may be further configured to receive one or more application files from the server based on the list. The processor may be further configured to flash one or more systems using the one or more application files based on at least one of destination file location, installation type, and file identification.

Claims

1. A vehicle software management system comprising:

a transceiver configured to communicate information with a server;

a processor in communication with the transceiver, the processor configured to;

receive a file manifest from the server;

transmit to the server a list of one or more to-be updated application files based on the file manifest to the server;

receive one or more application files from the server based on the list; and

flash one or more memory locations in the vehicle with the one or more application files based on at least one of destination file location, installation type, and file identification included within the manifest.

2. The vehicle software management system of claim 1, wherein the processer is further configured to communicate with the server using a nomadic device in communication with the transceiver.

3. The vehicle software management system of claim 1, wherein the processer is further configured to communicate with the server using at least one of an embedded cellular device and an embedded modem in communication with the transceiver.

4. The vehicle software management system of claim 1, wherein the one or more application files is at least one of software and firmware.

5. The vehicle software management system of claim 1, wherein the one or more memory locations is at least one of a driver, device, and control module.

6. The vehicle software management system of claim 1, wherein the installation type of the one or more applications files includes at least one of an active command, kill command, reboot command, image command, and system command.

7. The vehicle software management system of claim 6, wherein the reboot command is an instruction that is executed by the processor to store a copy of the one or more application files for flashing the one or more memory locations during an initialization of the processor.

8. The vehicle software management system of claim 1, wherein the destination file location is an instruction that is executed by the processor to flash a memory location for an identified component.

9. The vehicle software management system of claim 1, wherein the processer is further configured to receive a download corruption message based on the flash of the one or more systems, and attempt a second flash of the one or more systems using the one or more application files.

10. A reprogramming network comprising:

a server in communication with a transceiver and a processor configured to;

recognize a vehicle computing system (VCS) request to communicate based on an identification received via the transceiver;

generate an application manifest based on the identification of the VCS;

transmit the application manifest to the VCS;

receive a management criteria having a request for an application file; and

transmit the application file to the VCS based on the management criteria.

11. The reprogramming network of claim 10, wherein the management criteria is a command for at least one of a partial or full transmission of the application file.

12. The reprogramming network of claim 10, wherein the application manifest includes at least one of destination file location, installation type, and file identification.

13. The reprogramming network of claim 10, wherein the processor is further configured to receive a corruption message from the VCS and update the application manifest based on the corruption message.

14. The reprogramming network of claim 10, wherein the transceiver is configured to communicate with at least one of a nomadic device in communication with the VCS and an embedded communication module in communication with the VCS.

15. The reprogramming network of claim 10, wherein the identification is at least one of an assigned identification for the VCS, a list of currently installed application files at the VCS, and version information of the list of currently installed application files.

16. A nomadic device comprising:

one or more transceivers configured to communicate information with a vehicle computing system and a server;

a processor in communication with the one or more transceivers, the processor configured to;

receive a file manifest from the server;

transmit the file manifest to the vehicle computing system (VCS);

receive a list of one or more to-be updated applications based on the file manifest from the VCS and transmit the list to the server;

receive one or more application files from the server; and

transmit one or more application files having at least one of a destination file location, an installation type, and a file identification.

17. The nomadic device of claim 16, wherein the file manifest is a list of one or more applications based on a recognized VCS.

18. The nomadic device of claim 16, wherein the installation type of the one or more applications files includes at least one of an active command, kill command, reboot command, image command, and system command.

19. The nomadic device of claim 18, wherein the active command is an instruction that is executed by the VCS to flash one or more memory locations in the vehicle with the one or more application files upon arrival.

20. The nomadic device of claim 16, wherein the list of one or more to-be updated applications includes a request for one or more application files and a command for at least one of a partial or full transmission request of the one or more application files.