Downloading system onboard of a vehicle

0001The present invention relates to a system for downloading data files into computers on board a motor vehicle.

0002More particularly, the invention relates to such a download system in which a download tool is used which is adapted to be connected to an information transmission network to which the computers are also connected.

0003In the state of the art, such tools are already used, either in assembly line or in after-sales service, to ensure the downloading of data files into computers on board motor vehicles.

0004Motor vehicles indeed include more and more computers, among which there are multi-function engine computers, automatic gearbox computers, power steering computers, intelligent service unit computers, etc.

0005Various systems for downloading the data files into these computers have already been developed.

0006Thus, for example, these systems can be adapted to download the computers sequentially, that is to say that the computers are downloaded one after the other.

0007This type of download takes a relatively long time which is incompatible with use on a mass production line of vehicles.

0008A new channel was then developed for downloading by cyclic transmission of successive data frames on the network, each intended for a corresponding computer, as described for example in document FR-A-2 798 484, in the name of the plaintiff.

0009The problem with the latter system is that a single file is created taking into account the performance of the computers from the files of the various computers to be downloaded, depending on the structure and operation of these computers, so that any modification of this structure or this functioning must also result in a corresponding modification of the single file by reorganization for example of frames, which results in the need to manage separate file references for the manufacturer.

0010The object of the invention is therefore to solve these problems.

0011To this end, the subject of the invention is a system for downloading data files into computers on board a motor vehicle, using a download tool adapted to be connected to a transmission network of '' information to which the computers are also connected, the tool being suitable for implementing a multi-computer download and comprising means for forming data frames from the corresponding files for these computers and means for transmitting these to the corresponding computers through the network, the computers being adapted to send to corresponding reception means of the tool, end of frame processing information received to control the transmission means in order to trigger the transmission of a next frame on the network, characterized in that the transmission means comprise means for recognizing the information of end of frame processing received in order to identify the computer that sent it, and means for selecting the corresponding next frame to be sent over the network to this computer in order to dynamically adapt the transmission of the frames to the various computers, as a function of the transmission by them of information of end of frame processing and optimize their download.

0012According to another characteristic, the download tool is adapted to be connected to the vehicle network through centralized connection means thereof.

0013According to yet another characteristic, this system includes means for storing the frames formed for each computer, associated with multiplexing means adapted to be connected to the vehicle network and controlled by control means connected to the means for receiving end information. frame processing, to select the next frame to send.

0014The invention will be better understood on reading the description which follows, given solely by way of example and made with reference to the appended drawings, in which:<ul id="ul0001" list-style="dash" compact="compact"><li>Figs. 1 and 2 represent timing diagrams illustrating the operation of a state of the art download system; and</li><li>Fig.3 shows a block diagram illustrating the structure of a download system according to the invention.</li></ul>

0015It is known that in the prior art, systems for downloading data files into computers on board a motor vehicle, using a download tool suitable for being connected to a information transmission network to which the computers are also connected.

0016We can for example refer to the document mentioned above for a description of such a system.

0017The tool is then suitable for implementing a multi-computer download, that is to say it ensures the download of several computers at the same time, which is to be compared to the sequential download of these, in which the computers are downloaded one after the other.

0018The tool then comprises means for forming data frames from the corresponding files for these computers and means for transmitting these frames to the corresponding computers through the network, from a single file created for this purpose. effect.

0019The computers are then adapted to transmit to the corresponding reception means of the tool, information for the end of processing of the received frame, to control the transmission means in order to trigger the emission of a next frame on the network. .

0020This is illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, for an example of a system for downloading two computers, one for multi-function engine control or CMM computer, and the other for automatic gearbox or BVA computer, To download.

0021In the example illustrated, the CMM computer is less efficient than that of BVA insofar as it is possible to transmit two download frames to the BVA computer during the processing of the data of a frame received by the CMM computer.

0022When defining the single file of frames to be transmitted over the network from the files corresponding to the CMM computer and the BVA computer, the distribution of the frames is as follows:<tables id="tabl0001" num="0001"><img file="EP1265418A2_D0001.tif" /></tables>

0023It can be seen from this table and the view in FIG. 1, that the first frame emitted on the network by the tool is a CMM frame No. 1 (E CMM frame No. 1).

0024The second and third frames sent on the network are BVA n ° 1 and BVA n ° 2 frames (E BVA n ° 1 and n ° 2 frame).

0025In fact, it can be seen in the light of FIG. 1 that the information at the end of frame processing emitted by the CMM computer (R1) only arrives after a relatively long period of time, which to the download tool, to send two frames to the BVA computer, insofar as it is much more efficient in terms of frame processing than the CMM computer.

0026If now during the lifetime of a vehicle, the CMM computer is replaced or modified in one way or another, for example by changing the technology of its data storage means, either because a new developed component is cheaper either because the old component is no longer manufactured, in order to benefit from an improvement in the performance of the download system, to take account of this improvement in the processing characteristics of the CMM computer, change the structure of the single file created.

0027In the example described, it will be estimated that the CMM computer has the same processing characteristics as the BVA computer, after its replacement.

0028Thus, the frame processing speeds by the new CMM and BVA computer are equivalent.

0029It is then necessary to modify the structure of the single file created for the CMM computer and the BVA computer.

0030This then becomes the following:<tables id="tabl0002" num="0002"><img file="EP1265418A2_D0002.tif" /></tables>

0031The frames destined for the CMM engine multifunction computer and the automatic gearbox computer BVA are then interleaved, one being intended for the CMM computer and the other, for the BVA computer and so on.

0032The corresponding processing by the computers is shown in Figure 2, where we see that the frames are sent alternately to the CMM computer and the BVA computer.

0033In the light of these explanations, it can be seen that the manufacturer then has to manage two separate file references in order to be able to manage the on-board systems.

0034As indicated above, the object of the invention is to solve these problems.

0035However, it is first of all necessary to analyze the various components which take part in the time of downloading of a file in a computer.

0036The first component is the control time which brings together a set of services, namely:<ul id="ul0002" list-style="dash" compact="compact"><li>initialization of the communication;</li><li>identification of the file and the calculator;</li><li>unlocking (memory protection by secure access);</li><li>erasing memory;</li><li>self-checking of the code received and written in memory;</li><li>traceability of the programmed file; and</li><li>end of communication.</li></ul>

0037The second component is the transfer and response time of the computer, which is directly dependent on the speed of the network used and the available bandwidth.

0038The third component is the time to write the data from the file to memory and which necessarily depends on the technology of the component used.

0039To improve the speed of the download, it is proposed to optimize the total time allocated to the download operation by masking as much as possible, the time for writing data to memory and processing requests sent by the download tool to a computer, by transferring frames to the other computers, dynamically and automatically depending on the performance of each of them.

0040Of course, this is done in accordance with the standardized communication standards adopted for example at European level by all the motor vehicle manufacturers, namely for example by using the KEYWORD 2000 and ISO 15 765 protocols, defining the segmentation of the requests KEYWORD 2000 when using a CAN network for example.

0041This is illustrated in Figure 3, where there is shown a block diagram illustrating the general structure and operation of a download system according to the invention.

0042This system has two main parts, namely, a download tool designated by the general reference 1 and a vehicle designated by the general reference 2.

0043These two parts can be connected through centralized connection means of the vehicle, designated by the general reference 3 and comprising for example complementary connectors of the vehicle and the tool, which can be assembled or disassembled when it is desired to ensure the download.

0044In the example described, the computer system on board the vehicle comprises three computers designated by the references 4,5 and 6, connected by an information transmission network designated by the general reference 7.

0045Thus, for example, the computer 4 can be a multi-function engine computer CMM, the computer 5, an automatic gearbox computer BVA and the computer 6, a power steering computer DAE.

0046Of course, a different number of computers can be envisaged.

0047Each of these computers is associated with a corresponding data file to be downloaded, these files being designated by the references 8,9 and 10 respectively.

0048These delivery files, which are the same as those delivered to after-sales services, are delivered with the corresponding computers by a supplier.

0049From these files, data frames are formed for the various computers and these frames are stored in corresponding storage means of the tool, designated by the references 11, 12 and 13 respectively for the CMM, BVA and DAE frames. .

0050These frame storage means are connected to means for transmitting them to the corresponding computers across the network, these transmission means being designated by the general reference 14 in this figure and comprising multiplexing means 15 connected at the input to the storage means 11, 12, 13 of the frames associated with the various computers and at the output to the centralized connection means of the vehicle to allow the transmission of frames intended for computers across the network 7.

0051These multiplexing means 15 are controlled by control means designated by the general reference 16 which are themselves connected to means 17 for receiving information at the end of frame processing, to control the transmission means in order to trigger the transmission of a next frame on the network.

0052In fact, and as indicated above, the computers are adapted to transmit to the tool, information at the end of frame processing received.

0053In the system according to the invention, the control means 16 are adapted to recognize the end of frame processing information received from a computer in order to identify this computer in order to select, using the multiplexing means, the following frame corresponding to send on the network to this computer, which allows the dynamic transmission of the transmission of frames to the different computers, depending on the transmission by them of information at the end of frame processing and thus to optimize their download.

0054It can therefore be seen that this allows interleaving of the frames transmitted over the network, which adapts dynamically and automatically according to the performance of the computers and the lengths of the associated files.

0055Concretely, this is obtained by having an independent frame pointer for each computer file, these pointers being for example called * FILE_ CMM, * FILE_ BVA and * FILE_ DAE in this figure 3.

0056These pointers are capable of evolving independently of each other in order to be able to transmit several frames to a computer which processes the frames very quickly, that is to say for example if it writes them very quickly in memory, during that another computer will only receive its frames at a slower pace, more suited to its technology.

0057This is then done automatically by the fact that in order to be able to send a new frame over the network to a computer, it suffices to detect that a response to the previous frame has been obtained, which is achieved in the tool thanks to the reception means 17 and control means 16, which are adapted to recognize the end of frame processing information received and select the corresponding next frame to be sent to the corresponding computer on the network.

0058This makes it possible to obtain a significant saving of time, not only on the actual download operation, but also on the system development operation, since there is no single file to create, which in the state of the art was produced more or less empirically, for each possible combination of vehicle computers.

0059It is also conceivable that in the event of changes in the life of a product, for example by replacing an obsolete technology computer with a more efficient computer or use of more efficient information storage means, the same file and the same structure can be extended, because the download tool automatically adapts the frame rate to this new computer according to this new technology, insofar as this rate is regulated by the reception by the tool, of the corresponding information at the end of frame processing.

0060This would not have been the case with a single prior art file, since it would have had to be modified as explained above in order to adapt it to the new characteristics of the new computer.

0061We understand that this structure has a number of advantages insofar as it allows the downloading of several computers of a vehicle in a single operation, for example in the last minutes of assembly of the vehicle in the factory, directly in the production line, from a single download tool.

0062Connecting the download tool to the vehicle network is very simple, for example on a centralized connection socket available on any vehicle.

0063This also makes it possible to reduce the diversity of parts to be produced for the supplier, since there are fewer computer references to manage, insofar as the computers are no longer delivered downloaded from the vehicle manufacturer.

0064It is therefore possible to reduce the storage areas of these parts in the factory by reducing the diversity of supply of parts, to simplify the assembly for the online operator, because there too, there is a reduced diversity of parts around therefore less risk of errors and simplify supply management while limiting the risk of shortages of parts, because as there are fewer references produced, there are fewer parts to store in spare parts stores, for example in after-sales service.

0065The overall download time is optimized by a self-adaptation of the download time of each computer and this optimization of the global download time is carried out by taking into account for each computer its performance, and in particular the performance of its means of storage of information, formed for example of a FLASH EPROM type memory, because depending on the technology of the component used and the size of its download file, the writing time in memory is variable.

0066Finally, the formats of the download files delivered by the suppliers are identical for mounting and for the after-sales network.

0067As the manufacturer does not have a single file gathering all the files to download in a vehicle, the supplier can continue to deliver a computer and a download file with an initial format already selected for the procedure at the manufacturer. manufacturer and this file format is exactly the same as that delivered in after-sales service.

0068The liability clauses are therefore retained, since the delivery files are not transformed and there is no need to manage additional references.