Method for organizing and executing a plurality of services in particular on board a motor vehicle

• US 7,454,271 B2
• Filed: 09/12/2002
• Issued: 11/18/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 09/12/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Arjun Panday, Hugo Chale Gongora, Samuel Boutin
• Original Assignee: Arjun Panday, Hugo Chale Gongora, Samuel Boutin
• Inventors: Boutin, Samuel, Chale Gongora, Hugo, Panday, Arjun
• Primary Examiner(s): Beaulieu; Yonel
• Application Number:
  US10/488,242
• Publication Number:
  US 20050283278A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,259 Days
• Field of Search: 701/1, 701/36
• US Class Current: 701/1
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/23006 Finite state modeling
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/23289 State logic control, finite state, tasks, machine, fsm
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/65 Updates security arrangements therefor G06F21/57

Abstract

A method for organizing and executing a plurality of services, in particular on a motor vehicle. According to the method, a) a plurality of cases of use are defined for each of which, within a context, a demand invokes a reaction that implements a particular functionality, and b) the reaction is selectively activated upon detection of the transmission of the demand within the context.

Claims

1. A method for executing a plurality of functionalities, comprising:

a) defining a plurality of cases of use for each of which, within a context, a demand invokes a reaction that implements one of said functionalities;

b) selectively activating the reaction upon detection of transmission of the demand within the context;

c) defining, for each functionality implemented by a system of hardware and software components, a plurality of cases of use of the functionality, each case of use being composed of;

a context corresponding to conditions of application of the case of use, in a form of computerized parameters or of physical states of hardware components,

a user'"'"'s demand, and

a response of the system to the demand, and

wherein the system carries out the response upon detection of the transmission of the demand within the context;

d) for each functionality, automating execution of the functionality with an automatic controller of the system of hardware and software components, transitions of the automatic controller representing demands of the cases of use and states representing execution of responses of the cases of use, and

e) identifying the context of the automatic controller that each represent a set of values of vehicle parameters that are not affected by the functionality but that affect the functionality.

2. A method according to claim 1, further comprising:

during a designing, for each functionality;

defining the states corresponding to execution of the responses of cases of use within their respective contexts, and, in an iterative manner, until an iteration does not add a transition, for each case of use;

identifying pairs compatible with the context of the case of use,

creating, in the automatic controller, for each of the pairs, a transition that leads to another pair by the demand of the case of use, the another pair including a state implementing the response of the case of use, and

if the state does not already exist, adding the state within the context.

3. A method according to claim 1, wherein the designing comprises:

adding a formalized case of use of the functionality, specified by an initial context or situation of the system, a user'"'"'s demand to the system, and a response of the system corresponding to a change of its state,

and, in an iterative manner for each already constructed state, performing a search to determine whether each already constructed state is compatible with the context of the added case of use and, if so, constructing a new system state linked to the state already constructed by the demand for the added case of use, the new state taking into account the already constructed state and its modification by the response of the added case of use.

4. A method according to claim 1, wherein the context represents at least one mode of operation of the system, modes being available in all functionalities.

5. A method according to claim 4, wherein the modes of operation include at least one of a mode representing an available energy level, a mode representing a type of user of the system, and a mode representing an accident or non-accident condition of a vehicle.

6. A method according to claim 5, wherein the context represents a context of the automatic controller of the system, composed of a complete combination of modes of operation of the vehicle, the context of the automatic controller thereby being available to all functionalities, the cases of use representing all responses or absences of response of the system within all context of the automatic controller, those representing together all combinations of the modes of operation of the vehicle.

7. A method according to claim 1, further comprising a completing, wherein there are envisioned, for each response, all the client demands not yet processed and a designer is asked whether processing of the demand must be performed in the state corresponding to that response.

8. A method according to claim 1, further comprising a correcting wherein, for a given state, if two states of the automatic controller are linked thereto at the output by the same demand, a determination is made whether it is necessary to eliminate one of the two states.

9. A method according to claim 1, further comprising a junction wherein, if two states have a same interface with respect to other states, the two states are combined in a single state.

10. A method according to claim 1, wherein said user'"'"'s demand is implicit.

11. A method according to claim 1, wherein said functionalities are functionalities of a motor vehicle that includes said system of hardware and software components, wherein said context includes information related to said motor vehicle and detected by sensors on said motor vehicle, and wherein said user is a driver of said motor vehicle.

12. A method according to claim 11, further comprising recording said context identified in said step of identifying.

13. A method according to claim 4, wherein the modes are unaffected by the functionalities.