Self-healing learning system for one or more controllers

• US 10,747,604 B1
• Filed: 04/24/2020
• Issued: 08/18/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 07/25/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Aurora Labs Limited
• Original Assignee: Aurora Labs Limited
• Inventors: Fox, Zohar
• Primary Examiner(s): Bui, Hanh Thi-Minh
• Application Number:
  US16/857,547
• Publication Number:
  US 20200250023A1
• Time in Patent Office: 116 Days
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 2050/021 Means for detecting failure or malfunction
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/02 Ensuring safety in case of control system failures, e.g. by diagnosing, circumventing or fixing failures
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/0205 Diagnosing or detecting failures; Failure detection models
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/0225 Failure correction strategy
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/04 Monitoring the functioning of the control system
• CPC Class Codes: B60W 50/045 Monitoring control system parameters
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0721 within a central processing unit [CPU]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0751 Error or fault detection not based on redundancy power supply failures G06F1/30; network fault management H04L41/06
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/079 Root cause analysis, i.e. error or fault diagnosis in a hardware test environment G06F11/22; in a software test environment G06F11/36
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0793 Remedial or corrective actions recovery from an exception in an instruction pipeline G06F9/3861; by retry G06F11/1402; for recovering from a failure of a protocol instance or entity H04L69/40
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1433 during software upgrading
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1629 Error detection by comparing the output of redundant processing systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3612 by runtime analysis performance monitoring G06F11/3466
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 12/0284 Multiple user address space allocation, e.g. using different base addresses interprocessor communication G06F15/163
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 12/0646 Configuration or reconfiguration
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/188 Virtual file systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/57 Certifying or maintaining trusted computer platforms, e.g. secure boots or power-downs, version controls, system software checks, secure updates or assessing vulnerabilities
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/572 Secure firmware programming, e.g. of basic input output system [BIOS]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/577 Assessing vulnerabilities and evaluating computer system security
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2212/1008 Correctness of operation, e.g. memory ordering
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2212/1044 : Space efficiency improvement
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2212/1056 : Simplification
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/033 : Test or assess software
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/60 : Software deployment
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/65 : Updates security arrangements therefor G06F21/57
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/654 : using techniques specially adapted for alterable solid state memories, e.g. for EEPROM or flash memories
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/656 : while running
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/658 : Incremental updates; Differential updates
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/66 : of program code stored in read-only memory [ROM]
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/71 : Version control security arrangements therefor G06F21/57; Configuration management
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4401 : Bootstrapping security arrangements therefor G06F21/57
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/445 : Program loading or initiating bootstrapping G06F9/4401; security arrangements for program loading or initiating G06F21/57
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/44521 : Dynamic linking or loading; Link editing at or after load time, e.g. Java class loading
• CPC Class Codes: G06N 20/00 : Machine learning
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 : Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management

Abstract

Disclosed embodiments relate to automatically providing updates to at least one vehicle. Operations may include receiving, at a server remote from the at least one vehicle, Electronic Control Unit (ECU) activity data from the at least one vehicle, the ECU activity data corresponding to actual operation of the ECU in the at least one vehicle; determining, at the server and based on the ECU activity data, a software vulnerability affecting the at least one vehicle, the software vulnerability being determined based on a deviation between the received ECU activity data and expected ECU activity data; identifying, at the server, an ECU software update based on the determined software vulnerability; and sending, from the server, a delta file configured to update software on the ECU with a software update corresponding to the identified ECU software update.

Claims

1. A non-transitory computer readable medium including instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations for automatically providing software changes, comprising:

identifying a software vulnerability based on anomalous activity data of a controller;

identifying a controller software change based on the identified software vulnerability, wherein the identified controller software change is configured to adjust the controller from executing a first version of controller software to a second version of controller software; and

sending, to the controller, a multidimensional delta file configured based on the identified controller software change, wherein;

the multidimensional delta file is configured to cause at least a portion of the first version of controller software on the controller to become non-executable, and

the multidimensional delta file comprises startup code integrated into the multidimensional delta file, wherein the startup code is configured for executing the multidimensional delta file on the controller and configured to link execution of current code stored on the controller with execution of a segment of code from the multidimensional delta file.

2. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the linked execution of current code and the segment of code from the multidimensional delta file form a functional equivalent of a software update that is functioning prior to rebooting the controller.

3. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the controller is configured to utilize a virtual file system (VFS) to manage and track a plurality of functional units associated with the multidimensional delta file.

4. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 3, wherein the second version of controller software is the first version of controller software having one or more functional units disabled by the VFS.

5. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the second version of controller software is deployed subsequent to the first version of controller software.

6. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the second version of controller software is deployed prior to the first version of controller software.

7. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the multidimensional delta file or startup code is configured to extract code for updating memory addresses in the controller and update the memory addresses in the controller.

8. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the multidimensional delta file or startup code is configured to update a program counter of the controller to execute an instruction from the multidimensional delta file without erasing existing content of a memory component of the controller.

9. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, the operations further comprising determining the first version of controller software by requesting direct access to a memory component of the controller.

10. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, the operations further comprising determining the first version of controller software by examining a record of a software version previously deployed to the controller.

11. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the multidimensional delta file comprises position-independent code.

12. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the first controller is part of a plurality of controllers being monitored as a group, the operations further comprising:

identifying a second controller determined to be similar to the first controller; and

sending the multidimensional delta file to the second controller based on the determined similarity.

13. A method for performing operations for automatically providing software changes, the method comprising:

identifying a software vulnerability based on anomalous activity data of a controller;

identifying a controller software change based on the identified software vulnerability, wherein the identified controller software change is configured to adjust the controller from executing a first version of controller software to a second version of controller software; and

sending, to the controller, a multidimensional delta file configured based on the identified controller software change, wherein;

the multidimensional delta file is configured to cause at least a portion of the first version of controller software on the controller to become non-executable, and

the multidimensional delta file comprises startup code integrated into the multidimensional delta file, wherein the startup code is configured for executing the multidimensional delta file on the controller and configured to link execution of current code stored on the controller with execution of a segment of code from the multidimensional delta file.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the linked execution of current code and the segment of code from the multidimensional delta file form a functional equivalent of a software update that is functioning prior to rebooting the controller.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the controller is configured to utilize a virtual file system (VFS) to manage and track a plurality of functional units associated with the multidimensional delta file.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the second version of controller software is the first version of controller software having one or more functional units disabled by the VFS.

17. The method of claim 13, wherein the first controller is part of a plurality of controllers being monitored as a group, the operations further comprising:

identifying a second controller determined to be similar to the first controller; and

sending the multidimensional delta file to the second controller based on the determined similarity.