Communications system for managing messages across a vehicle data bus
First Claim
1. A communications system for a work vehicle, comprising:
- a data bus supported by the work vehicle for communicating messages;
a plurality of control units coupled to the data bus, each control unit configured to control a function of the work vehicle, each control unit including a processor configured to control communications with at least one other control unit on the data bus, the communications including transmission of first messages onto the data bus and reception of second messages from the data bus;
wherein the processor of each control unit is further configured to schedule the transmission of only a predefined number of the first messages on the data bus during a predefined time period, the predefined number selected so that each control unit can transmit its scheduled messages within the predefined time period;
each of the first messages transmitted by each control unit being assigned a transmission update rate, and the processor of each control unit being also configured to schedule the transmission of the first messages to meet the respective assigned update rates; and
the processor of each control unit further being configured to perform a request to transmit a scheduled operation wherein, in response to the a request made by the processor, a requested message corresponding to the request is made available for immediate transmission.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A communications system for a work vehicle is shown for managing communications between control units which control various functions of the vehicle. The system includes a data bus supported by the vehicle for communicating messages between control units on the bus. Each control unit has a processor for controlling bi-directional communications with the other control units, including the transmission of first messages onto the data bus and reception of second messages from the bus. The processor of each control unit schedules the transmission of only a predefined number of the first messages on the bus during a predefined time period. This number of first messages is selected to insure that each control unit is able to transmit its scheduled messages within the time period. The processor of each control unit efficiently sorts the second messages in reference to a plurality of lookup tables to distinguish between undesired messages and a set of desired messages, and to save each of the desired messages in a memory location defined to store the respective message. When the same message is received from multiple control units, the same messages are stored in a shared memory location, where the stored message can be overwritten by a more recently received same message, or in unique memory locations so that the particular same messages received from different control units can be distinguished.
138 Citations
24 Claims
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1. A communications system for a work vehicle, comprising:
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a data bus supported by the work vehicle for communicating messages;
a plurality of control units coupled to the data bus, each control unit configured to control a function of the work vehicle, each control unit including a processor configured to control communications with at least one other control unit on the data bus, the communications including transmission of first messages onto the data bus and reception of second messages from the data bus;
wherein the processor of each control unit is further configured to schedule the transmission of only a predefined number of the first messages on the data bus during a predefined time period, the predefined number selected so that each control unit can transmit its scheduled messages within the predefined time period;
each of the first messages transmitted by each control unit being assigned a transmission update rate, and the processor of each control unit being also configured to schedule the transmission of the first messages to meet the respective assigned update rates; and
the processor of each control unit further being configured to perform a request to transmit a scheduled operation wherein, in response to the a request made by the processor, a requested message corresponding to the request is made available for immediate transmission. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A communications system for a work vehicle, comprising:
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a data bus supported by the work vehicle for communicating messages;
a plurality of control units coupled to the data bus, each control unit configured to control a function of the work vehicle, each control unit including a processor configured to control communications with at least one other control unit on the data bus, the communications including transmission of first messages onto the data bus and reception of second messages from the data bus;
wherein the processor of each control unit is further configured to schedule the transmission of only a predefined number of the first messages on the data bus during a predefined time period, the predefined number selected so that each control unit can transmit its scheduled messages within the predefined time period;
each of the first messages transmitted by each control unit being assigned a transmission update rate, and the processor of each control unit is also configured to schedule the transmission of the first messages to meet the respective assigned update rates;
the processor of each control unit being further configured to perform an expedited transmission scheduling operation wherein, in response to a predetermined condition, one of the first messages is made available for transmission before the time the one of the first messages would otherwise be transmitted based upon its assigned transmission update rate; and
wherein the processor of each control unit is also configured to perform a request to transmit a scheduled operation wherein, in response to the a request made by the processor, a requested message corresponding to the request is made available for immediate transmission.
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10. A communications system for a work vehicle, comprising:
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a data bus supported by the work vehicle for communicating messages; and
a plurality of control units coupled to the data bus, each control unit configured to control a function of the work vehicle, each control unit including a processor for controlling communications with a at least one other control unit on the data bus, the communications including transmission of first messages onto the data bus and reception of second messages from the data bus, the second messages including both undesired messages and a set of desired messages;
wherein the processor of each control unit is further configured to sort the second messages in reference to a plurality of lookup tables to distinguish between the undesired messages and the set of desired messages, and to save each of the desired messages in a memory location defined to store the respective message. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23)
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24. A communications system for a work vehicle, comprising:
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a data bus supported by the work vehicle for communicating messages; and
a plurality of control units coupled to the data bus, each control unit configured to control a function of the work vehicle, each control unit including a processor configured to control communications with at least one other control unit on the data bus, the communications including transmission of first messages onto the data bus and reception of second messages from the data bus, the second messages including both undesired messages and a set of desired messages;
wherein the processor of each control unit is further configured to schedule the transmission of only a predefined number of the first messages on the data bus during a predefined time period, the predefined number selected so that each control unit can transmit its scheduled messages within the predefined time period; and
wherein the processor of each control unit is further configured to sort the second messages in reference to a plurality of lookup tables to distinguish between the undesired messages and the set of desired messages, and to save each of the desired messages in a memory location defined to store the respective message.
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Specification