System for installing control program in electronic control unit mounted on automotive vehicle

• US 6,795,754 B2
• Filed: 08/22/2002
• Issued: 09/21/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 10/24/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: DENSO Corporation
• Original Assignee: DENSO Corporation
• Inventors: Kashiwagi, Tomoyuki, Sunami, Kenji
• Primary Examiner(s): ARTHUR JEANGLAUDE, GERTRUDE
• Application Number:
  US10/225,249
• Publication Number:
  US 20030078701A1
• Time in Patent Office: 761 Days
• Field of Search: 701/1, 701/29, 701/32, 701/33, 701/35, 701/66, 701/97, 701/30, 340/439, 340/459
• US Class Current: 701/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/61 Installation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/64 Retargetable

Abstract

A control program for an electronic control unit (ECU) is installed at an end of a manufacturing line after the ECU is mounted on an automotive vehicle. The ECU common to all types of vehicles is mounted on each vehicle, and the vehicle type is identified based on data sent from the ECU to a program-installing device. The control program suitable to the identified vehicle type is formulated in the program-installing device by selecting program modules from an object library storing various types of modules and by linking those selected modules into the control program. The control program thus formulated is installed in the ECU at the end of the manufacturing line. In this manner, memory capacities both in the ECU and in the program-installing device are considerably saved.

Claims

1. A system for installing a control program in an electronic control unit mounted on a vehicle in which the electronic control unit common to various types of vehicles is mounted on each vehicle and then the control program specific to each vehicle type is installed, the system comprising:

means for identifying the types of vehicles;

an object library storing objects each constituting a program module, controls performed by the electronic control unit being divided into a plurality of control functions, a plurality of objects each specific to each vehicle type being provided for each control function;

means for formulating the control program specific to the vehicle type identified by the identifying means, by selecting an object specific to that vehicle type from the objects stored in the object library for each control function and by linking and assembling those selected objects into the control program; and

means for installing the formulated control program in the electronic control unit mounted on the vehicle, the type of vehicle being identified by the identification means.

2. The system as in claim 1, wherein:

the identifying means receives data for identifying the vehicle type from the electronic control unit mounted on the vehicle, the identifying data being formulated based on a signal specific to the vehicle type sent from the vehicle to the electronic control unit.

3. The system as in claim 2, wherein:

the signal specific to the vehicle type is an electric signal having a frequency identifying the vehicle type.

4. The system as in claim 2, wherein:

the signal specific to the vehicle type is a voltage signal having a voltage level identifying the vehicle type.

5. The system as in claim 1, wherein:

the system further includes means for inspecting whether the control program installed in the electronic control unit coincides with the control program formulated by the formulating means.

6. The system as in claim 5, wherein:

the inspecting means comprises calculating means included in the electronic control unit and comparing means included in the installing means;

the calculating means calculates a Check-Sum of the control program installed therein and sends the Check-Sum to the installing means; and

the comparing means compares the Check-Sum sent from the calculating means with a Check-Sum of the control program formulated by the formulating means.

7. The system as in claim 5, wherein:

the inspecting means comprises calculating means included in the electronic control unit and comparing means included in the installing means;

the calculating means calculates a Cyclic-Redundancy-Check value of the control program installed therein and sends the Cyclic-Redundancy-Check value to the installing means; and

the comparing means compares the Cyclic-Redundancy-Check value sent from the calculating means with a Cyclic-Redundancy-Check value of the control program formulated by the formulating means.

8. The system as in claim 2, wherein:

the system further includes means for confirming the vehicle type identified by the identifying means; and

the confirming means receives data for identifying the vehicle type from other electronic control units mounted on the same vehicle on which the former electronic control unit is mounted, compares the identifying data sent from the former electronic control unit with the identifying data received from the other electronic control units, and confirms that the vehicle type is correctly identified if all the identifying data are identical.

12. A system as in claim 1, wherein the control program is installed in an electronic control unit mounted on a vehicle at the end of the manufacturing line.

9. A method of installing a control program in an electronic control unit, the method comprising:

mounting an electronic control unit, which is common to various types of vehicles, on each vehicle;

identifying a type of a vehicle on which the electronic control unit is mounted based on identifying data sent from the electronic control unit to a program-installing device, the identifying data being formed in the electronic control unit according to a signal identifying the vehicle type fed from the vehicle to the electronic control unit;

formulating the control program specific to the identified vehicle type in the program-installing device by selecting a program module for each control function from among program modules stored in a library and by linking and assembling the program modules selected for each control function into the control program; and

installing the formulated control program in the electronic control unit mounted on the vehicle, the type of vehicle being identified based on the identifying data.

10. The method of installing a control program as in claim 9, the method further including:

inspecting whether the control program formulated in the program-installing device is correctly installed in the electronic unit by comparing a check code representing the installed control program with a check code representing the formulated control program.

11. The method of installing a control program as in claim 10, the method further including:

confirming whether the vehicle type identified based on the identifying data sent from the electronic control unit is correct by comparing the identifying data with other identifying data sent from other electronic control units mounted on the same vehicle on which the former electronic control unit is mounted.

13. A method as in claim 9, wherein the control program is installed in an electronic control unit mounted on a vehicle at the end of the manufacturing line.

14. The method as in claim 9, further comprising:

inspecting whether the control program installed in the electronic control unit coincides with the formulated control program by calculating a Check-Sum of the installed control program, calculating a Check-Sum of the formulated control program and comparing the Check-Sum of the installed control program and the Check-Sum of the formulated control program.

15. The method as in claim 9, further comprising:

inspecting whether the control program installed in the electronic control unit coincides with the formulated control program by calculating a Cyclic Redundancy Check value of the installed control program, calculating a Cyclic Redundancy Check value of the formulated control program and comparing the Cyclic Redundancy Check value of the installed control program and the Cyclic Redundancy Check value of the formulated control program.

16. A system for transmitting a control program to an electronic control unit mounted on a vehicle, the electronic control unit being common to various types of vehicles, the system comprising:

receiver for receiving vehicle identification data from the electronic control unit mounted in the vehicle;

an object library storing a plurality of objects each constituting a program module;

means for formulating a control program specific to the vehicle type identified by the received vehicle identification data by selecting a subset of the objects specific to that vehicle type identified from the plurality of objects stored in the object library and by linking and assembling the selected subset of the plurality of objects into the control program; and

means for transmitting the formulated control program to the electronic control unit mounted on the vehicle, the type of vehicle being identified based on the received vehicle identification data.

17. A method of operating a device to transmit a control program to an electronic control unit which is common to various types of vehicles, the method comprising:

identifying a type of a vehicle on which the electronic control unit is mounted based on identifying data received from the electronic control unit;

storing a plurality of objects each constituting a program module in an object library;

formulating the control program specific to the identified vehicle type based on the received identifying data by selecting a subset of the plurality of objects stored in the object library and by linking the selected subset of the plurality of objects into the control program; and

transmitting the formulated control program to the electronic control unit mounted on the vehicle, the type of vehicle being identified based on the received identifying data.