SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONTROLLING, BY ENGINE CONTROL UNIT, FAULT CODE

• US 20160335818A1
• Filed: 12/10/2015
• Published: 11/17/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 05/13/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hyundai AutoEver Corp. (Hyundai Mobis Co., Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Hyundai Autron Co., Ltd. (Hyundai Mobis Co., Ltd.)
• Inventors: LEE, Tae-Kyoung, KIM, Dae-Hyun
• Granted Patent: US 10,186,092 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 2205/02 using a vehicle scan tool
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/0808 Diagnosing performance data testing of vehicles G01M17/00; testing of electrical installation on vehicles G01R31/005
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 5/085 using electronic data carriers

Abstract

Disclosed herein are a system and method for controlling, by an engine control unit, fault code. The system includes an engine control unit configured to have pieces of fault code classified according to the components of an engine or sensors for sending data to the engine and defined in the engine control unit as a plurality of groups and a tester configured to send activation/deactivation commands to one or more groups for the pieces of fault code defined in the engine control unit. An aging test can be conveniently performed because the fabrication and installation of dedicated software for the aging test are not required. Furthermore, an additional reprogramming process is not required after an aging test. Accordingly, the fabrication period of a vehicle can be reduced, efficiency of production can be improved, the process can be simplified, and a probability that an error may occur in an additional reprogramming process can be significantly reduced.

Claims

1. An engine control unit, comprising:

a fault code definition unit configured to have pieces of fault code defined in the fault code definition unit;

a fault code control unit configured to control an activation/deactivation of the pieces of fault code defined in the fault code definition unit;

a fault code storage unit configured to store fault code detected by performing a test; and

a fault code output unit configured to output the fault code stored in the fault code storage unit.

2. The engine control unit of claim 1, wherein the pieces of fault code are classified according to components of an engine or sensors for sending data to the engine and defined in the fault code definition unit as a plurality of groups.

3. The engine control unit of claim 2, wherein the fault code control unit comprises a fault code activation/deactivation unit configured to activate one or more of the plurality of groups defined in the fault code definition unit and deactivating remaining groups.

4. The engine control unit of claim 3, wherein the fault code control unit further comprises a monitoring unit configured to monitor the one or more groups activated by the fault code activation/deactivation unit at a specific time interval.

5. The engine control unit of claim 3, wherein the one or more groups activated by the fault code activation/deactivation unit comprise groups in which fault code for a component which requires a test has been defined.

6. The engine control unit of claim 3, wherein the remaining groups deactivated by the fault code activation/deactivation unit comprise groups in which fault code for a component which does not require a test has been defined.

7. The engine control unit of claim 1, wherein the engine control unit comprises a communication unit configured to communicate with a tester.

8. The engine control unit of claim 7, wherein the communication unit receives fault code activation/deactivation commands from the tester and sends the fault code activation/deactivation commands to the fault code control unit.

9. The engine control unit of claim 7, wherein the communication unit receives a fault code output command from the tester and sends the fault code output command to the fault code output unit.

10. A system for controlling, by an engine control unit, fault code, comprising:

an engine control unit configured to have pieces of fault code classified according to components of an engine or sensors for sending data to the engine and defined in the engine control unit as a plurality of groups; and

a tester configured to send activation/deactivation commands to one or more groups for the pieces of fault code defined in the engine control unit.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the deactivation command is transmitted to a group in which fault code for a component which does not require a test has been defined.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the engine control unit comprises a communication unit configured to communicate with the tester.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the communication unit receives a fault code activation/deactivation command from the tester and sends the fault code activation/deactivation command to a fault code control unit.

14. The system of claim 10, wherein the engine control unit comprises a fault code storage unit configured to store fault code detected by performing a test.

15. A method for controlling, by an engine control unit, fault code in the engine control unit in which pieces of fault code are classified according to components of an engine or sensors for sending data to the engine and are defined as a plurality of groups, the method comprising steps of:

(a) sending, by a tester, a deactivation command for one or more groups to a fault code control unit through a communication unit;

(b) deactivating, by the fault code control unit, the one or more groups;

(c) performing, by a fault code definition unit, a test; and

(d) storing, by a fault code storage unit, detected fault code if, as a result of the test, the fault code is detected.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the deactivation command is transmitted to a group in which fault code for a component which does not require a test has been defined.

17. The method of claim 15, further comprising steps of:

after the step (d),

(e) sending, by the tester, an output command for the detected fault code to a fault code output unit through the communication unit; and

(f) loading, by the fault code output unit, the fault code stored in the fault code storage unit and sending the loaded fault code to the tester through the communication unit.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising a step of (g) sending, by the tester, an activation command to the one or more groups to which the deactivation command has been transmitted to the fault code control unit through the communication unit, after the step (f).