Control device for controlling/regulating the operational sequences of a motor vehicle, and a method for starting such a control device

Translation of description of equivalent WO 0225434 A2

Control unit for controlling / regulating the operating procedures in a motor vehicle and a method for start-up of such a control device

State of the art

The invention relates to a control device for controlling / regulating the operating procedures in a motor vehicle and a corresponding method and a method for start-up of such a control device, and each corresponding computer programs on a storage medium according to the preambles of the independent claims.

The Funktionsbläufe ECUs, used to control / regulate the operations in a motor vehicle are controlled by a registered program with associated data. These are from the customer or from

Manufacturers of the controller input. This program is dependent on the execution of the frequency of the CPU of the control device. One of the most common mistakes is that programming a program that is not designed for the frequency of the CPU. Such a program is not executable and not reprogrammed because the routines must be to establish the communication in the frequency-dependent part of the Software and thus a communication to the outside is not possible. The control unit program is in such a case no longer accessible from the outside and the control unit is to rear rotor. For safety reasons, it must be prevented that the starting process an incorrectly programmed program is executed.

Object of the present invention is therefore to develop a control apparatus and method which prevent execution of wrong programmed program and enable correction of the faulty program and the commissioning of such a control unit.

The object is achieved in accordance with the 'characterizing features of the respective independent claims.

Advantageous embodiments of the invention result from the additional claims.

ADVANTAGES OF THE INVENTION

In the invention, it is assumed that a control device and a method for controlling / regulating the operating procedures in a motor vehicle having a CPU with a predetermined clock frequency and a storage medium. The storage medium includes a frequency-dependent program. Frequency Dependent means that the program is dependent on run of the clock frequency of the CPU. The control unit according to the invention is characterized in that in addition a frequency-independent program is provided in the storage medium, which allows a review of the frequency of the CPU and to initiate appropriate reprogramming of the program. The invention still further relates to a respective computer program on a storage means which carries out an inventive method for controlling / regulating of operations or an inventive method for starting of a control device according to the invention when executed on a computer, in particular a control unit. The computer programs can be executed on the one hand a control device according to the invention or an external programmer. Both possible cases are subsumed under the term of execution on a computer.

The inventive approach according to the independent claims is ensured that even when a faulty program programmed communication is possible to the outside. The frequency-independent program checks before executing the frequency-dependent program, whether its execution is possible, that is, whether the expected frequency of the CPU of the Programme's frequency. If this is the case, then the

continued implementation of the program. Otherwise, a measure for reprogramming the wrong programmed program is initiated by the frequency-independent program.

This ensures that a faulty programmed program does not come to perform and a correction of the program is possible.

The storage medium may be a floppy disk or CD-ROM, for example, a hard disk, an EPROM, flash EPROM, etc. but also a portable storage medium such as. Preferably, information on the clock frequency of the CPU in one's nonvolatile memory, in particular an EPROM or ROM are stored or can be determined by this non-volatile memory. For this they can be read for verification. It may be the storage medium as well as a further storage means.

In the process for start-up of a control device according to the invention first the clock frequency of the CPU is determined by means of a routine in the frequency-independent program and / or read out from the nonvolatile memory. Based on the determined frequency is checked whether the program has been programmed correctly. be In case of a wrong programmed program

Measures for reprogramming thereof initiated. If a correctly programmed program before or after reprogramming whose execution is started.

The process can take place before the initial startup

be controller performed. But it is also conceivable that this comes to perform again at every start.

It is advantageous if information about the frequency of the CPU is stored as a ROM in a non-erasable memory. The routine for determining the clock reads this information via a first interface between the program and ROM.

Preferably, the routine is to check the determined clock frequency of a boolean value. This indicates whether the program has been programmed correctly or incorrectly. The boolean value is passed via a second interface of the program. The routine for determining the CPU frequency has two interfaces; One is the interface to the ROM via which the information about the current frequency of the CPU used to be obtained. The second

Interface represents the connection to the program. Here the need to set in the program, expected CPU processing speed and the result of the comparison, namely the boolean value is passed. The boolean value is TRUE if the detected CPU frequency of the expected

Clock frequency, that corresponds to the frequency of the program. Otherwise, the value FALSE.

It can advantageously be provided a tolerance range. Small deviations between the expected frequency, determined from the frequency-dependent program, and the frequency of the CPU, so within a predetermined tolerance range, which does not limit the functionality may be admitted. Within the tolerance range with respect to a

Frequency deviation can therefore expediently also output TRUE when using boolean values.

The code of the routine is expediently located in the same range as the initialization of

Control program. This can be guaranteed that the code in executing the initialization is always present. The call of the routine is to be possible at the beginning of initialization. The further execution of initialization is only permitted if the

Check routine has returned the value TRUE. This early version has the background that otherwise may already registers are reconfigured according to the requirements of the program and the execution of frequency-independent program, thereby disturbing. There is further characterized also no reason to process more configuration data before Aussprung from a wrong program or implement such functionality in a correct program before considering the CPU frequency.

Further advantages and advantageous embodiments will be apparent from the description and claims.

drawings

The present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying two drawings (Figures 1 and 2}.

Figure 1 shows an inventive control unit 1 with a programmer 15 in cal atic representation.

Figure 2 illustrates the sequence of the inventive method.

Description of Embodiments

The control device 1 comprises a CPU 2, a ROM 3, a

Storage medium 4 and an input / output unit 5. The individual components are connected to one another via a data bus. 6 The storage medium 4 here can be divided into two portions, namely a frequency-dependent and frequency-independent portion.

The storage medium 4 includes the frequency-dependent program and the frequency-independent program which is independent of the clock frequency of the CPU 2 runs and in front of the Execution of the program checks the speed of the CPU 2 and optionally initiates measures to reprogram the program. The information regarding the frequency of the CPU 2 are provided as available from the ROM. 3 About the input / output unit 5, which is, for example, serial or parallel type, the control unit 1 communicates with a control or programming device 15. It should be noted that this programmer is shown purely schematically in Figure 1, and means of ensuring

Communication between the control apparatus 1 and the Steuerbzw. Programmer not 15^"are shown in detail. This external programming device, which may be a conventional personal computer, is used to enter programs and / or data, for example, a new program and / or data version. It is also conceivable to use other media and / or device as an external programming device. The control unit 1 shown serves for controlling operational sequences, in particular in a motor vehicle, that is, for example, for a transmission control, engine control, a brake control (ABS, ASR, ESP, etc.), a steering control, a vehicle motion control and / or an adaptive path control ( ACC), etc.

Figure 2 illustrates the sequence of the inventive method.

In a step 7 in Figure 2, the controller 1 (Figure 1) is put into operation. Right at the beginning the speed of the CPU 2 is checked by reading CPU internal configuration registers and determined by comparing the information stored in the frequency-dependent program in step 8 whether the storage medium 4 (Figure 1) saved operation program for the CPU clock speed 2 (Figure 1) is designed. The information on the clock frequency provided by the ROM 3 (Figure 1) is available. If the program was programmed incorrectly, ie stored in frequency-dependent program frequency does not correspond to the determined by the ROM, 9 measures to reprogram the program be initiated in step. For this, the execution of the control program is terminated and returns the flow of control to the ROM. The sequence control in the ROM allows reprogramming of the frequency-dependent control program. Is the

finished reprogramming or was from the beginning a correctly programmed program available, it comes in step 10 to execute the program.

It is also conceivable for a reprogramming of the program once the speed of the CPU 2 (Figure 1) to check or to check the conformity of the CPU clock frequency and the expected frequency of the frequency-dependent program and to begin only subsequently to the execution of the program ,

According to the presented method for starting up the controller or the control / regulation of operations, in particular in a motor vehicle, these methods are feasible if corresponding computer programs are stored on a storage medium or media, and they reach a computer, in particular a control unit for execution ,

The aforementioned storage means or the storage medium containing the corresponding computer program, a hard disk, an EPROM, flash EPROM, etc. So an integrated storage means but also a portable storage medium such as be, for example, a floppy disk or CD-ROM. then runs the computer program in accordance with the method according to the invention on a computer from the method are carried out according to at least one of the method claims. Here, the respective computer program can based on the embodiment of a hand on the control unit 1 and on the other hand run on the programmer 15th Also, a combined flow on both (1 and 15) is also conceivable.

The independence of the CPU frequency of freuquenzunabhängige proportion or the frequency-independent program can be achieved in a further embodiment, the fact that they have the possibility at a variety or adapt all possible CPU clock rates.