FlexRay communication using ethernet

• US 10,462,069 B2
• Filed: 04/06/2015
• Issued: 10/29/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 07/23/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Avago Technologies International Sales Pte Limited (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Avago Technologies International Sales Pte Limited (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: Kim, Yongbum, Brown, Kevin
• Primary Examiner(s): Ahmed, Atique
• Application Number:
  US14/679,942
• Publication Number:
  US 20150229585A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,667 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/40163 by assigning priority to messages according to a message field
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/40241 Flexray
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/40273 the transportation system being a vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/805 QOS or priority aware
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/35 Switches specially adapted for specific applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/351 for local area network [LAN], e.g. Ethernet switches
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/555 Error detection
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks

Abstract

Systems and methods for implementing FlexRay communications between FlexRay nodes using Ethernet are provided. An Ethernet switch includes ports, each of which receives an Ethernet data packet from a respective FlexRay node. Each Ethernet data packet includes a FlexRay message, which includes at least one of a data frame and a frame identification. The Ethernet switch also includes a controller module that is configured to route the Ethernet data packets to their respective destinations.

Claims

1. A switch device comprising:

a plurality of ports, the plurality of ports comprising a first port configured to receive a first Ethernet data packet from a first FlexRay node of a plurality of FlexRay nodes over a first physical Ethernet link, the first Ethernet data packet comprising a first FlexRay message; and

a controller circuit configured to determine a prioritization of the first Ethernet data packet based at least in part on a frame identification contained in the first FlexRay message, route, via a second port of the plurality of ports, the first Ethernet data packet comprising the first FlexRay message to a second FlexRay node over a second physical Ethernet link that is separate from the first physical Ethernet link, and suspend the routing of the first Ethernet data packet when it has been determined that a received second Ethernet data packet has higher priority than the first Ethernet data packet.

2. The switch device of claim 1, wherein the first Ethernet data packet comprising the first FlexRay message is received at the first port of the plurality of ports no later than the second Ethernet data packet comprising a second FlexRay message is received at the second port of the plurality of ports, wherein the first and second FlexRay messages each comprise at least one of a data frame and the frame identification (ID), and the controller circuit is further configured to:

determine whether the second FlexRay message has higher priority than the first FlexRay message based on a first frame ID contained in the first FlexRay message and a second frame ID contained in the second FlexRay message; and

route the second Ethernet data packet to a destination no later than routing the first Ethernet data packet to the second FlexRay node when it has been determined that the second FlexRay message contained in the second Ethernet data packet has higher priority than the first FlexRay message contained in the first Ethernet data packet.

3. The switch device of claim 2, further comprising a clock circuit coupled to the controller circuit, wherein the clock circuit is configured to provide a primary reference clock to the controller circuit, and wherein the controller circuit is configured to provide the primary reference clock to the first and second FlexRay nodes over the first and second physical Ethernet links, respectively.

4. The switch device of claim 3, wherein the clock circuit is further configured to generate a transmit clock based on a timing of the second FlexRay message contained in the second Ethernet data packet, and wherein the controller circuit is configured to route the second Ethernet data packet based on the transmit clock.

5. The switch device of claim 2, wherein the controller circuit is configured to route the second Ethernet data packet to the destination before routing the first Ethernet data packet to the second FlexRay node when it has been determined that the second FlexRay message contained in the second Ethernet data packet has higher priority than the first FlexRay message contained in the first Ethernet data packet.

6. The switch device of claim 2, wherein each of the first and second frame IDs identifies a time slot in which a corresponding data frame is scheduled to be transmitted, wherein the second frame ID associated with the second Ethernet data packet identifies a dynamic time slot, wherein the first frame ID associated with the first Ethernet data packet identifies a dynamic time slot, and wherein the second frame ID associated with the second Ethernet data packet is less than the first frame ID associated with the first Ethernet data packet.

7. The switch device of claim 1, wherein the controller circuit is further configured to resume routing of the first Ethernet data packet after the second Ethernet data packet has been routed.

8. The switch device of claim 2, wherein the controller circuit is further configured to determine the destination.

9. The switch device of claim 8, wherein the destination comprises a) a single one of the plurality of FlexRay nodes excluding the second FlexRay node corresponding to the second one of the plurality of ports, b) two or more of the plurality of FlexRay nodes excluding the second FlexRay node corresponding to the second one of the plurality of ports, or c) all of the plurality of FlexRay nodes excluding the second FlexRay node corresponding to the second one of the plurality of ports.

10. The switch device of claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of FlexRay nodes comprises a FlexRay controller and an Ethernet adaptation circuit.

11. The switch device of claim 1, wherein the controller circuit is configured to detect a FlexRay message error and to transmit an Ethernet fault message to one or more of the plurality of FlexRay nodes based on detection of the FlexRay message error.

12. A FlexRay device coupled to a vehicle component, the FlexRay device comprising:

a FlexRay circuit configured to generate a FlexRay message; and

an Ethernet adaptation circuit configured to generate an Ethernet data packet based on the FlexRay message and to provide the Ethernet data packet to a transceiver for transmission to a destination over an Ethernet physical channel during a time slot determined from information contained in the FlexRay message, wherein a priority of the Ethernet data packet is inversely proportional to a frame identification of the FlexRay message.

13. The FlexRay device of claim 12, wherein the Ethernet adaptation circuit is further configured to receive a reference clock, the FlexRay circuit is further configured to generate the FlexRay message based on the reference clock, and the FlexRay message comprises a data frame and a frame identification (ID) identifying the time slot based on the reference clock in which the data frame is scheduled to be transmitted.

14. The FlexRay device of claim 13, further comprising the transceiver, wherein the transceiver is configured to transmit the Ethernet data packet to the destination, wherein the transceiver is configured to receive the reference clock over the Ethernet physical channel, and wherein the transceiver is configured to transmit the Ethernet data packet during the time slot indicated in the FlexRay message.

15. The FlexRay device of claim 12, wherein the Ethernet adaptation circuit is configured to encapsulate the FlexRay message as the Ethernet data packet.

16. The FlexRay device of claim 12, wherein the Ethernet physical channel comprises a shared Ethernet bus.

17. The FlexRay device of claim 12, wherein the Ethernet adaptation circuit is configured to detect an Ethernet fault message and provide a FlexRay message error to the FlexRay circuit based on detection of the Ethernet fault message.

18. A method comprising:

generating a FlexRay message;

encapsulating, by a FlexRay node, the FlexRay message in an Ethernet data packet; and

transmitting, by the FlexRay node, the Ethernet data packet comprising the encapsulated FlexRay message to a destination FlexRay node over an Ethernet physical channel during a time slot determined from information contained in the encapsulated FlexRay message, wherein a priority of Ethernet data packet is indicated as inversely proportional to a frame identification of the FlexRay message.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

receiving a reference clock; and

generating the FlexRay message based at least in part on the reference clock, wherein the FlexRay message comprises a data frame and a frame identification (ID) identifying the time slot based on the reference clock in which the data frame is scheduled to be transmitted.