Failure-diagnosis information collection system

• US 8,078,355 B2
• Filed: 06/06/2008
• Issued: 12/13/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 06/08/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: DENSO Corporation
• Original Assignee: DENSO Corporation
• Inventors: Nakagaki, Yoshio
• Primary Examiner(s): Culbreth, Eric
• Assistant Examiner(s): FRISBY, KEITH J
• Application Number:
  US12/134,814
• Publication Number:
  US 20080306650A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,285 Days
• Field of Search: 701/31, 701/34, 701/35, 701/29, 701/33, 701/114, 714/51, 714/55
• US Class Current: 701/35
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 2219/31462 Add time stamp to alarm message
• CPC Class Codes: G05B 23/0264 Control of logging system, e.g. decision on which data to store; time-stamping measurements
• 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

A failure-diagnosis information collection system facilitates failure diagnosis in a vehicle. Electronic control units (ECUs) constituting an onboard network perform abnormality detection processing for a detected abnormality. When a duration during which an abnormality recognizing condition for a detected abnormality is established reaches an abnormality recognition time, abnormality information and a principal time stamp associated with the time point are stored. When the abnormality recognizing condition is established for the first time, a first preliminary time stamp that is time-instant information associated with the time point is stored. When the duration during which the abnormality recognizing condition is established reaches half of the abnormality recognition time, a second preliminary time stamp that is time-instant information associated with the time point is stored. Consequently, an abnormality that is a major factor having triggered other multiple abnormalities can be readily identified based on the first and second preliminary time stamps.

Claims

1. A failure-diagnosis information collection system comprising:

a vehicle abnormality detection device for detecting a plurality of abnormality items, the vehicle abnormality detection device including a decision unit for deciding whether a detected one of the plurality of abnormality items has actually occurred, and if a time during which the decision unit continuously decides whether the abnormality has occurred reaches an abnormality confirmation time, storing abnormality information signifying that the abnormality has occurred, wherein;

the abnormality confirmation time varies depending on the abnormality detection device; and

the vehicle abnormality detection device includes a plurality of units storing time-instant information associated with an abnormality recognition time at which the decision unit changes from deciding that no abnormality has occurred to deciding that an abnormality has occurred, the time-instant information stored as an abnormality unconfirmed decision;

wherein;

each of the plurality of units included in the vehicle abnormality detection device stores time-instant information associated with a time at which abnormality information is stored as an abnormality confirmation time; and

each of the time-instant information associated with the abnormality recognition time and the time-instant information associated with the time at which abnormality information is stored as the abnormality confirmation time global timer value originating from a clock.

2. The failure-diagnosis information collection system according to claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of units included in the vehicle abnormality detection device includes N storage areas, where N denotes an integer greater than or equal to 2, wherein the time-instant information associated with the abnormality recognition time and N time-instant information elements associated with abnormality recognition times that begin with the latest time-instant information are stored in each of the N storage areas associated with the respective storage areas.

3. The failure-diagnosis information collection system according to claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of units included in the vehicle abnormality detection device includes a storage area in which a latest time-instant information associated with an abnormality recognition time is stored.

4. The failure-diagnosis information collection system according to claim 1, wherein when a time during which the decision unit continuously decides whether an abnormality has occurred reaches an intermediate time that is shorter than the abnormality confirmation time, each of the plurality of units included in the vehicle abnormality detection device stores time-instant information associated with an intermediate time as time-instant information in an abnormality unconfirmed stage.

5. The failure-diagnosis information collection system according to claim 4, wherein the intermediate time is one half of the abnormality confirmation time.

6. The failure-diagnosis information collection system according to claim 4, wherein each of the plurality of units included in the vehicle abnormality detection device includes M storage areas, where M denotes an integer equal to or larger than 2, each of the M storage areas storing the time-instant information associated with the intermediate time, and storing M time-instant information elements associated with intermediate times that begin with the latest time-instant information in the respective storage areas.

7. The failure-diagnosis information collection system according to claim 4, wherein each of the plurality of units included in the vehicle abnormality detection device includes one storage area in which time-instant information associated with an intermediate time is stored, and stores only the latest time-instant information associated with an intermediate time in the storage area.

8. The failure-diagnosis information collection system according to claim 1, further comprising a response unit that outputs the time-instant information together with the abnormality information stored by the abnormality detection device to an external apparatus in response to an abnormality information request sent from the external apparatus.

9. The failure-diagnosis information collection system according to claim 8, further comprising an output unit that regularly outputs time-instant information, stored by the abnormality detection device, in an abnormality unconfirmed stage, the time-instant information output to the external apparatus in response to an output request sent from the external apparatus.

10. The failure-diagnosis information collection system according to claim 9, wherein:

one or more abnormality detection devices are installed in each of a plurality of electronic control units mounted in the vehicle, the one or more abnormality detection devices communicating with one another;

the response unit is installed in each of the plurality of electronic control units, the response unit outputting time-instant information together with abnormality information stored by the abnormality detection device, the time instant information output to the external apparatus in response to the output request; and

the output unit is installed in each of the electronic control units, and regularly outputs time-instant information in an abnormality unconfirmed stage stored by the abnormality detection device, the time instant information output to the external apparatus in response to the output request.

11. The failure-diagnosis information collection system according to claim 8, wherein:

one or more abnormality detection devices are installed in each of a plurality of electronic control units that are mounted in the vehicle and communicate with one another; and

the response unit is installed in each of the plurality of the electronic control units and outputs time-instant information together with abnormality information stored by the abnormality detection device installed in the each of the plurality of electronic control units, the time-instant information output to the external apparatus in response to the abnormality information request.

12. The failure-diagnosis information collection system according to claim 1,

wherein each of the plurality of units included in the vehicle abnormality detection device maintains to store the time-instant information associated with the time at which abnormality information is stored as the abnormality confirmation time regardless of following abnormality confirmation.

13. A failure-diagnosis information collection system including a decision unit that continuously decides whether a detected abnormality has actually occurred, and, if a time during which the decision unit continuously decides whether the abnormality has occurred reaches an abnormality confirmation time, the decision unit stores abnormality information signifying that the abnormality has occurred, the failure- diagnosis information collection system comprising:

a storage unit in which N time-instant information elements associated with specific time points can be stored, where N denotes an integer greater than or equal to 2, the specific time points coming before the time during which the decision unit continuously decides whether the abnormality has occurred reaches the abnormality confirmation time after the decision unit decides for the first time that the abnormality has occurred, wherein;

up to N time-instant information elements associated with times at which the specific time points have come, beginning with the latest time-instant information are stored in the storage unit, and

each of the N time-instant information elements is a global timer value originating from a clock.

14. The failure-diagnosis information collection system according to claim 13, further comprising an output unit that regularly outputs time-instant information stored in the storage unit to the external apparatus in response to an output request sent from the external apparatus.