Vehicular communications system initializing abnormal control unit
First Claim
1. A communications system comprising:
- a communications network;
a plurality of control units that are provided inside a vehicle, control respective in-vehicle devices, and exchange data with each other through the communications network; and
an initializing unit that monitors operating states of the control units through the communications network, and sends, when the initializing unit detects a given control unit which is in an abnormal operating state, a restart command to the given control unit through the communications network, wherein the given control unit restarts itself to return to an initial state when the given control unit receives the restart command from the initializing unit.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A vehicular communications system connects, through a communications network, with a plurality of electronic control units (ECUs) that control respective in-vehicle devices. The vehicular communications system further connects with a master ECU that monitors, for diagnosis, operating states of the ECUs through the communications network. When the master ECU detects a given ECU that is in an abnormal state, it restarts, through the communications network, the given ECU to return to an initial state. When the master ECU initializes the given ECU, it stores a record of initializing the given ECU in its EEPROM, and initializes, when necessary, a built-in memory of the given ECU. The master ECU can be constructed as initializing the given ECU based on an initialization request command from an outside of the vehicle through wireless communications.
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Citations
16 Claims
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1. A communications system comprising:
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a communications network;
a plurality of control units that are provided inside a vehicle, control respective in-vehicle devices, and exchange data with each other through the communications network; and
an initializing unit that monitors operating states of the control units through the communications network, and sends, when the initializing unit detects a given control unit which is in an abnormal operating state, a restart command to the given control unit through the communications network, wherein the given control unit restarts itself to return to an initial state when the given control unit receives the restart command from the initializing unit. - View Dependent Claims (4, 5, 6, 7)
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2. A communications system comprising:
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a communications network;
a wireless communications unit that executes wireless communicates with an external device outside the vehicle;
a plurality of control units that are provided inside a vehicle, control respective in-vehicle devices, and exchange data with each other through the communications network; and
an initializing unit that receives, from the external device, an initialization command for initialing a given control unit of the control units, and thereby sends, to the given control unit through the communications network, a restart command, wherein the given control unit restarts itself to return to an initial state when it receives the restart command from the initializing unit. - View Dependent Claims (3)
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8. An initializing unit provided in a communications system that includes:
- a communications network; and
a plurality of control units that are inside a vehicle, control respective in-vehicle devices, and exchange data with each other through the communications network, the initializing unit comprising;communications means for exchanging data through the communications network;
monitoring means for monitoring operating states of the control units through the communications network; and
restart commanding means for sending, when a given control unit of the control units is detected to be in an abnormal operating state by the monitoring means, a restart command for restarting the given control unit to return to an initial state, to the communications network through the communications means. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12)
- a communications network; and
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9. An initializing unit provided in a communications system that includes:
- a communications network; and
a plurality of control units that are inside a vehicle, control respective in-vehicle devices, and exchange data with each other through the communications network, the initializing unit comprising;communications means for exchanging data through the communications network;
wireless communications means for executing wireless communications with an external device outside the vehicle; and
restart commanding means for sending, when an initialization command for initialing a given control unit of the control units is received from the external device through the wireless communications means, to the communications network through the communications means, a restart command for restarting the given control unit to return to an initial state. - View Dependent Claims (10)
- a communications network; and
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13. An in-vehicle control unit that is disposed in a vehicle and provided in a communications system having a communications network and an initializing unit connected with the communications network, the in-vehicle control unit comprising:
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communications means for receiving data from the initializing unit through the communications network; and
restart means for restarting itself to return to an initial state when a restart command from the initializing unit is received by the communications means. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16)
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Specification