Data processing: vehicles – navigation – and relative location – Vehicle control – guidance – operation – or indication – With indicator or control of power plant
Patent
1998-03-19
2000-12-26
Hua, Ly V.
Data processing: vehicles, navigation, and relative location
Vehicle control, guidance, operation, or indication
With indicator or control of power plant
701115, 701 1, 714 5, 713 1, G06F 1900, G06G 770
Patent
active
061673447
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a method for operating a control apparatus having a programmable memory unit. The programming of the memory unit takes place with a sequential execution of a plurality of memory programming control operations.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A method of this kind is, for example, disclosed in DE 43 32 499 A1. The control apparatus described in this publication is a motor vehicle control apparatus having programmable memory units in the form of flash EPROMs. The memory units are, stated more precisely, erasable nonvolatile memory units. The use of flash EPROMs gains increasingly in significance because they incorporate the advantages of a normal EPROM (high memory cell density in a small space) and an EEPROM (electric and therefore simple and convenient erasing of memory content).
For initial programming, that is, erasing and/or overwriting the flash EPROMs (preferably, in dependence upon motor vehicle type in the motor vehicle manufacturing facility) or, for later reprogramming the same (during customer service for removal of defects or appropriate individual customer wishes), an external programming apparatus, for example, in the form of a personal computer, is connected to the control apparatus. With a programming apparatus of this kind, the execution of control programs stored in the control apparatus for erasing and overwriting data in the flash EPROM is initiated and, if required, the newly stored data are made available.
A series of protective mechanisms, which has to be overcome, is provided to prevent a deliberate misuse or an inadvertent erasure or overwriting of data in the flash EPROM. Accordingly, for example, first the external programming apparatus must be connected to the control apparatus and a corresponding communication must be initiated before even the corresponding control program in the control apparatus can be activated to erase and/or overwrite contents of the flash EPROMs. During the execution of the corresponding control program itself, there are still various hurdles to be overcome in order to establish the preconditions that the flash EPROM can be programmed or erased (for example, the flash EPROM must be unlocked by applying predetermined address and/or data combinations in advance of programming the same).
Even though a plurality of measures is provided in order to prevent an inadvertent or misuse erasure or overwriting of data in the flash EPROM, this can nonetheless take place because of a chain of unfortunate circumstances.
The cause of the above are, most of all, disturbances or malfunctions of the control apparatus and/or of the programming apparatus which, for example, can be caused by hardware faults, EMF incident radiation or, under circumstances, by targeted manipulation for misuse purposes.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the invention to improve a method in that an erasure and/or overwriting (which is triggered by disturbances and/or is deliberate) of data, which are stored in a programmable memory unit, can be precluded in a simple manner.
Accordingly, a checking step and a decision step are provided. In the checking step, it can be determined whether all, selected individual or several of the memory programming control operations have been carried out. In the decision step, a decision is made while considering the checking results as to whether the programming operation is to be continued while executing further memory programming control operations.
The provision of these steps makes possible, at any desired time point, a check as to whether all or at least the essential ones of the control operations (which have been carried out according to directives) have actually been carried out or, in lieu thereof, for example, have been omitted or were carried out incompletely or too frequently. If one establishes as the most important control operations those control operations which permit the decision to be made as to whether the control sequence (stated more precisely, the sequence of the triggering
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Fackler Rupert
Franz Carsten
Crockett Robert G.
Hua Ly V.
Ottesen Walter
Robert & Bosch GmbH
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