VEHICLE GATEWAY DEVICE

• US 20120204166A1
• Filed: 11/06/2009
• Published: 08/09/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 11/06/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Toyota Jidosha Kabushiki Kaisha (Toyota Motor Corporation)
• Inventors: Ichihara, Masaaki
• Granted Patent: US 9,214,085 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 717/168
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096716 where the received information does not generate an automatic action on the vehicle control
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/09675 where a selection from the received information takes place in the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: G08G 1/096775 where the origin of the information is a central station

Abstract

The invention has been made in order to solve the above-mentioned problems and an object of the invention is to provide a vehicle gateway device that updates information smoothly while preventing an increase in the memory capacity of a gateway. A vehicle gateway device according to the invention is provided in a vehicle and can update information acquired by communication with outside the vehicle. The vehicle gateway device determines whether the update information acquired by communication with outside the vehicle is information for a vehicle system related to vehicle control, records and manages the update information when it is determined that the update information is information for the vehicle system, and transmits the update information to an information processing unit when it is determined that the update information is not information for the vehicle system. In this way, a recording medium with low memory capacity can be used to update information and information update management can be simplified.

Claims

1. A vehicle gateway device that is provided in a vehicle and can software update information acquired by communication with outside of the vehicle, comprising:

a first device including determining portion that determines whether the software update information acquired by communication with outside of the vehicle is information for a vehicle system, an information recording and management device that records the information and manages the update of the software update information when the determining portion determines that the software update information acquired by communication with outside of the vehicle is the information for the vehicle system; and

a transmitting device that transmits the software update information when the determining portion determines that the software update information acquired by communication with outside of the vehicle is not the information for the vehicle system; and

a second device including an information recording and management device that records the software update information transmitted by the transmitting device and manages the update of the software update information.

2. The vehicle gateway device according to claim 1,

wherein the first device connects three networks including an information system network, a vehicle system network, and a vehicle external communication network, and

the second device is a navigation device that performs a vehicle route guidance.

3. (canceled)