Communication control apparatus

• US 8,224,521 B2
• Filed: 12/09/2005
• Issued: 07/17/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/10/2004
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sumitomo Wiring Systems Limited (Sumitomo Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Sumitomo Wiring Systems Limited (Sumitomo Corporation)
• Inventors: Taniguchi, Yoshikazu, Nakashima, Masatoshi, Mori, Setsuro
• Primary Examiner(s): Black, Thomas G.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Nolan, Peter D
• Application Number:
  US11/791,029
• Publication Number:
  US 20080195260A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,412 Days
• Field of Search: 701/33, 701/34, 340/3.2, 340/825.2, 340/825.21, 340/3.21, 702/187
• US Class Current: 701/34.3
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/125 involving control of end-device applications over a network

Abstract

This invention intends to reduce a time difference in information collection time as much as possible in a vehicle installed network system for collecting information on distributed positions within a vehicle. According to this invention, information on a measurement result by a sensor (23) at a time point after a previously-defined time elapses since a specified signal transmitted regularly is received is held in a sensor data storage register (49) on a network (21) installed within a vehicle, capable of broadcasting, achieved according to a communication method in which a transmission right is supplied regularly, and the information is transmitted at a time point when the transmission right is obtained on the network (21). In the vehicle installed network system for collecting information on the distributed positions within the vehicle, the time difference in the information collection time can be reduced as much as possible.

Claims

1. A communication control system comprising:

a first communication control apparatus on a host side, and

a plurality of communication control apparatuses connected to said first communication control apparatus, wherein;

the first communication control apparatus transmits a specified signal to the plurality of communication control apparatuses by broadcasting regularly,

each of the plurality of communication control apparatuses starts measurement of time at a timing when the specified signal transmitted to the plurality of communication control apparatuses is received on a network installed within a vehicle, and collects and holds respective predetermined information after the measured time meets or exceeds a previously-defined time,

the broadcasting is achieved according to a communication method in which a transmission right is supplied regularly, and

the respective predetermined information is transmitted to the first communication control apparatus at a time point when the transmission right provided regularly on said network is obtained.

2. The communication control system according to claim 1, wherein said predetermined information is information from a sensor.

3. The communication control system according to claim 1, wherein

previously-defined time information which is a timing for collecting said predetermined information is changed by including time specifying information in the specified signal.

4. The communication control system according to claim 1, wherein

ID information which increases cyclically at every transmission is included in the specified signal, said received ID information and said predetermined information are simultaneously transmitted from an information transmission side, and a host memory address which stores said transmitted predetermined information is changed based on said ID information on an information collection side.

5. The communication control system according to claim 2, wherein

previously-defined time information which is a timing for collecting said predetermined information is changed by including time specifying information in the specified signal.

6. The communication control system according to claim 2, wherein

ID information which increases cyclically at every transmission is included in the specified signal, said received ID information and said predetermined information are simultaneously transmitted from an information transmission side, and a host memory address which stores said transmitted predetermined information is changed based on said ID information on an information collection side.

7. The communication control system according to claim 3, wherein

ID information which increases cyclically at every transmission is included in the specified signal, said received ID information and said predetermined information are simultaneously transmitted from an information transmission side, and a host memory address which stores said transmitted predetermined information is changed based on said ID information on an information collection side.

8. The communication control system according to claim 5, wherein

ID information which increases cyclically at every transmission is included in the specified signal, said received ID information and said predetermined information are simultaneously transmitted from an information transmission side, and a host memory address which stores said transmitted predetermined information is changed based on said ID information on an information collection side.

9. The communication control system according to claim 1, wherein

each of the plurality of communication control apparatuses includes a register for holding the previously-defined time.

10. The communication control system according to claim 9, wherein

each of the plurality of communication control apparatuses includes a comparator which compares the measured time since a timing when the specified signal is received and the previously-defined time, and outputs a collection timing signal after the measured time meets or exceeds the previously-defined time.

11. The communication control system according to claim 9, wherein

the first communication control apparatus transmits a signal including the previously-defined time, and

each of the plurality of communication control apparatuses holds the specified signal transmitted from the first communication control apparatus in the register.