Data processing: vehicles – navigation – and relative location – Vehicle control – guidance – operation – or indication
Reexamination Certificate
2000-04-24
2001-07-17
Nguyen, Tan (Department: 3661)
Data processing: vehicles, navigation, and relative location
Vehicle control, guidance, operation, or indication
C701S036000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06263262
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to a control system of a vehicle.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
A control system of this kind is known, for example, from DE-AS 41 11 023 (U. S. Pat. No. 5,351,776). There, a control of the total vehicle is suggested at least with respect to drive train and brakes. The control has a hierarchal order structure for the control tasks. The control structure described there includes coordination elements which convert an order, which proceeds from a higher hierarchal level, into orders for elements of a subordinate hierarchal level. The contents of the orders define physical quantities which determine the interfaces between the individual hierarchal levels. The orders are transmitted from above to below in the hierarchal structure. The described interfaces orientate themselves to the physical conditions of the vehicle motion, especially of the drive train and the brakes. A view of a vehicle control which goes beyond, for example, while considering the chassis electronics and the on-board electrical system control is not described.
Because of the increasing networking of systems in the vehicle technology, which previously were independent, the exclusive view of the drive train and the brakes is no longer adequate. Rather, it is necessary to provide a control structure of the total vehicle with the aid of which also systems lying outside of the drive train control and the brake control can be linked and their tasks can be coordinated.
This task is achieved with the features of the independent patent claims.
A structure for a vehicle which satisfies these requirements is known from the SAE paper 980200 “CARTRONIC—An Open Architecture for Networking the Control Systems of an Automobile” by Torsten Bertram, Rainer Bitzer, Rainer Mayer and Asmus Volkart. The individual elements of a vehicle control are assigned to pregiven components in different detailing levels. Data are exchanged between these components in the context of predetermined communication relationships. In an uppermost detailing level, the following are provided: a central coordinator as well as the components: on-board electrical system, vehicle motion, chassis and interior as well as drive. These components are refined further in several levels respectively. For example, the component “drive” is subdivided into a coordinator, the engine, the clutch and the transmission. With respect to the distribution and the administration of the resources, which are available in the vehicle, as well as the consumers which consume these resources, the resource, which is common to the consumers, is, according to this structure, arranged on the same level with the consumers and the coordinator responsible for the resource. For example, the resource “drive”, which is resource for the vehicle motion component as well as for the chassis and interior, is arranged in the first level.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention describes the administration and distribution of the resources which are available in the vehicle. Under resources, a power is understood which is made available by components (so-called sources) to other components (so-called sinks or consumers) for consumption. Examples of such resources are the resource “mechanical power” which is generated by the drive (engine, clutch, transmission) or the resource “electrical power” which is made available by the generator and the battery.
It is especially advantageous that a software component is installed at a central location. This software component monitors the power which is made available and the power consumption of the vehicle components. The strategy followed is applied centrally. If, for example, a requirement of power is determined which is too high at one operating point, then operating-point dependent, vehicle-specific power limitations are determined for the individual consumers or consumer groups in accordance with this applied strategy. The individual components then initiate corresponding measures such as the switchoff of individual consumers. This is done within this limitation in accordance with local criteria which the central component does not know. Stated otherwise, this means that the specific technical possibilities are applied locally and the central strategy is applied centrally so that a retroactive free exchange of software components is possible, for example, for a hardware change (use of other aggregates, et cetera).
It is especially advantageous that the resulting requirement of the consumers is summed by the software component which gives orders to the power source, and is converted into physical quantities such as torque or rpm while considering the boundary conditions which are present. In this way, larger software components stay operable in an autarchic manner and this leads to leaner programs for reduced or distributed function size and facilitates a distributed development and test of the individual components.
It is especially advantageous that the resource (for example, the engine-transmission unit), which is common to the consumers, is arranged in a consumer (drive/brake) of the component “vehicle motion”. The coordinator (total vehicle coordinator), which is responsible for the administration and distribution of these resources, does not know the resource (only via the component “drive/brake”). In this way, a simpler, more vertical structure is made available having a reduced number of interfaces.
In an advantageous manner, the communication relationships can be reduced to request and inquiry relationships in the first detailing level between the coordinator “total vehicle” and the components which are arranged there; that is, no measures for forming specific orders are to be provided in the coordinator.
In this embodiment too, the modular detailing of the structure for changed function size remains constant. Changed orders have only additional communications or communications which drop away as a consequence.
In comparison to the structure introduced in the above-mentioned SAE paper, the structure described hereinafter is invariant with respect to added consumers or consumers which drop away because the coordinator must not inexorably be arranged on the same detailing level as the source and the consumer.
Furthermore, it is advantageous that the resource administration is understandable and can be integrated simply into the structure of the total vehicle. In an advantageous manner, this leads to a total architecture of the total vehicle having a free optimizable hardware topology.
It is especially advantageous that the resource administration and resource distribution can be arranged independently and thereby offers the possibility to reuse already tested software modules having standardized physical interfaces.
Furthermore, an understandable total power management is made possible having less interfaces and components which are substantially independent of each other. In this way, a good exchangeability of components results which can be developed and tested independently of each other because of the few defined interfaces.
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patent: 5513107 (1996-04-01), Gormley
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patent: 196 37 209 (1998-04-01), None
Bauer Juergen
Bellmann Holger
Bitzer Rainer
Bolz Martin-Peter
Diehl Udo
Nguyen Tan
Ottesen Walter
Robert & Bosch GmbH
Tran Dalena
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