JP2005145247A - Program writing system and method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem in a conventional program writing system wherein it is difficult to identify the cause of a fault when the fault occurs in an ECU after the ECU is incorporated in a vehicle and a software is written. <P>SOLUTION: The program writing system writes in the ECU 1 a program constituted of a basic program common to all specifications and different individual programs for respective specifications, and has a program writing device 15 for prewriting the basic program and the various individual programs corresponding to the respective specifications in a process prior to a process in a vehicle plant where the ECU 1 is incorporated in the vehicle, and a selection information writing device 16 for writing selection information for determining which individual program is selected and used among the various individual programs prewritten, in the process in the vehicle plant. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2005,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a program writing system and method for writing a program composed of a basic program common to all specifications and a different individual program for each specification into an in-vehicle electronic control device.

In recent years, for the purpose of reducing the cost of an in-vehicle electronic control device (hereinafter also referred to as ECU), an ECU having common hardware can be applied to a plurality of types of vehicles. After the assembly, a control program suitable for the type of the assembled vehicle is written in the ECU.
In this case, a program writing apparatus for writing a control program into the ECU at a vehicle factory is provided with an object library that stores a plurality of objects for configuring a control program that can be adapted to each type of vehicle. . Then, the program writing device identifies the type of vehicle to which the ECU is assembled, selects an object for constructing a control program suitable for the identified vehicle type from the object library, and links the selected object. The created control program is configured to be written in the ECU.

JP 2003-131895 A

In the prior art, the ECU at the time of delivery from the parts manufacturer consists only of hardware to which no control program is written. Therefore, the warranty of the ECU in the parts manufacturer is limited only to the hardware, and the software There was no guarantee of the ECU in the completed state including.
Therefore, if a malfunction occurs in the ECU after the software has been written after being installed in the vehicle, there is a cause for the malfunction on the hardware side of the ECU or the cause on the software side written at the vehicle factory. It becomes difficult to specify whether there is.

In addition to ECUs for engines, there are many types of ECUs incorporated in vehicles, such as for drive trains, chassis, bodies, multimedia, etc. In order to write all the control programs necessary for the ECU within the limited line tact in the factory, the communication speed between the program writing device and the ECU, and the writing speed of the control program to the program writing device It is necessary to increase the speed.
Such an increase in communication speed and writing speed leads to an increase in vehicle production costs, and it becomes difficult to cope with the expected increase in the number of ECUs and the capacity of the control program in the future.

The program writing system and method for solving the above problems have the following features.
That is, a program writing system for writing a program composed of a basic program common to all specifications and an individual program different for each specification to the on-vehicle electronic control device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the basic program and each specification Program writing means for writing multiple types of individual programs corresponding to the above in the process before the vehicle factory where the in-vehicle electronic control device is incorporated in the vehicle, and any of the multiple types of individual programs already written Selection information writing means for writing selection information for determining whether to use an individual program to be used in a process at a vehicle factory.
This allows the parts factory to verify whether the written program is normal for all control programs, and the parts factory guarantees the ECU hardware and the written control program as a whole. It becomes possible to do. Therefore, the fault responsibility that has occurred in the ECU can be separated and clarified between the parts factory side and the vehicle factory side.
Further, the capacity of the software to be written on the vehicle factory side is small, and even within the limited line tact range in the vehicle factory, it is possible to write with a sufficient margin.

In the program writing system, the basic program and the individual program are written in a non-rewritable ROM, and selection information is written in the rewritable ROM.
As a result, even when the capacities of the basic program and the plurality of individual programs are increased, these programs are written in a non-rewritable ROM, which is cheaper than a rewritable ROM, so that the ECU is configured at a low cost. be able to.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a program writing system for writing a program composed of a basic program common to all specifications and an individual program different for each specification to the on-vehicle electronic control device, wherein the basic program is The in-vehicle electronic control device is mounted from the basic program writing means that is written in advance in the process prior to the process at the vehicle factory where the electronic control device is incorporated in the vehicle, and from a plurality of types of individual programs corresponding to each specification. And an individual program writing means for selecting an individual program suitable for the vehicle specification and writing it in a process at the vehicle factory.
As a result, the parts factory can verify whether the written basic program is normal, and the parts factory can guarantee the ECU hardware and the written basic program. Therefore, the fault responsibility that has occurred in the ECU can be separated and clarified between the parts factory side and the vehicle factory side.
In addition, since only one type of individual program is written by the individual program writing means on the vehicle factory side, the amount of software to be written is smaller than when writing all control programs. Even within the limited line tact range, it is possible to write with a sufficient margin.

In the program writing system, the basic program is written in a non-rewritable ROM, and the individual program is written in a rewritable ROM.
As a result, even when the capacity of the basic program is increased, the basic program is written in a non-rewritable ROM that is cheaper than a rewritable ROM, so that the ECU can be configured at a low cost.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a program writing method for writing a program composed of a basic program common to all specifications and an individual program different for each specification into the in-vehicle electronic control device, the basic program and each specification. Multiple types of individual programs corresponding to the above are written in the process before the process at the vehicle factory where the in-vehicle electronic control device is incorporated in the vehicle, and then, among the already written multiple types of individual programs, Selection information for determining whether to execute an individual program can be written in the process at the vehicle factory.
This allows the parts factory to verify whether the written program is normal for all control programs, and the parts factory guarantees the ECU hardware and the written control program as a whole. It becomes possible to do. Therefore, the fault responsibility that has occurred in the ECU can be separated and clarified between the parts factory side and the vehicle factory side.
Further, the capacity of the software to be written on the vehicle factory side is small, and even within the limited line tact range in the vehicle factory, it is possible to write with a sufficient margin.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a program writing method for writing a program composed of a basic program common to all specifications and an individual program different for each specification to an on-vehicle electronic control device, wherein the basic program is Write in the process before the process at the vehicle factory where the electronic control unit is incorporated in the vehicle, and then select the specification of the vehicle to which the on-vehicle electronic control unit is installed from among multiple types of individual programs corresponding to each specification. Select a suitable individual program and write it in the vehicle factory process.
As a result, the parts factory can verify whether the written basic program is normal, and the parts factory can guarantee the ECU hardware and the written basic program. Therefore, the fault responsibility that has occurred in the ECU can be separated and clarified between the parts factory side and the vehicle factory side.
In addition, since only one type of individual program is written by the individual program writing means on the vehicle factory side, the amount of software to be written is smaller than when writing all control programs. Even within the limited line tact range, it is possible to write with a sufficient margin.

According to the present invention, it is possible to clarify the responsibility for defects occurring in the ECU between the parts factory side and the vehicle factory side.
Also, the ECU control program can be written with a sufficient margin even within a limited line tact range in the vehicle factory.

Next, modes for carrying out the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
As shown in FIG. 1, this program writing system includes a program writing device 15 installed in a parts factory that manufactures an on-vehicle electronic control unit (ECU) 1, and selection information writing installed in a vehicle factory that incorporates the ECU 1 in the vehicle. Device 16.

The ECU 1 includes a memory 11 for storing the control program. The control program of the ECU 1 is composed of a basic program common to all specification vehicles regardless of vehicle specifications such as engine type and displacement, and individual programs having different contents depending on the vehicle specifications.
The memory 11 includes a basic unit 11a that is a part that stores a basic program, and an individual unit 11b that is a part that stores an individual program.
In this example, the memory 11 uses a ROM that can rewrite written information, such as a flash memory, EEPROM, or EPROM.

The program writing device 15 is a device for writing the basic program and a plurality of types of individual programs prepared in accordance with vehicle specifications into the memory 11 of the ECU 1 at the parts factory.
The selection information writing device 16 selects an individual program according to the specification of the vehicle in which the ECU 1 is installed among a plurality of types of individual programs written in the memory 11 at the vehicle factory, and executes only the selected individual program. It is a device for writing selection information that can be made.

  Such a system including the program writing device 15 for writing the control program and the selection information writing device 16 for writing the selection information writes the control program to the ECU 1 in the following flow.

As shown in FIG. 2, first, the hardware part of the ECU 1 is manufactured at a parts factory (S01). In the parts factory, the hardware part writes a control program to the ECU 1 (S02). The control program is written by the program writing device 15, and the basic program is written in the basic part 11a of the memory 11 and the individual program is written in the individual part 11b.
Since the basic program is a program common to all specification vehicles, only one type of program (only the basic program A in the case of FIG. 1) is written.
Individual programs that differ depending on the vehicle specifications can be applied to vehicles of all specifications, so that all types of prepared individual programs (individual programs a, b, c, and d in FIG. 1) are written.

When the writing of the basic program and the individual program is completed, the inspection device checks whether the written program is normally written (S03).
The ECU 1 that has finished the inspection is shipped from the parts factory (S04).

The ECU 1 shipped from the parts factory is received at the vehicle factory (S05), and the received ECU 1 is incorporated into the vehicle (S06).
Next, selection information is written into the memory 11 of the ECU 1 incorporated in the vehicle by the selection information writing device 16.
As the selection information, one of the plurality of individual programs written in the individual unit 11b of the memory 1 is selected, and only the selected program can be executed (in FIG. 1, the individual program a is selected by the selection information). Only the individual program a is executable).
Note that the selection information only needs to have information for selecting any of the plurality of individual programs so that they can be executed, so that the selection information has a small capacity compared to the capacity of each individual program or basic program. Yes.

When the selection information writing device 16 writes the selection information, what kind of selection information should be written to the selection information writing device 16 by the production instruction terminal 17 such as an ALC (Assembly Line Control) in the vehicle factory. Give instructions. That is, the production instruction terminal 17 identifies the specification of the vehicle in which the selection information is written, and instructs the selection information writing device 16 to write the selection information according to the specification of the vehicle.
In the ECU 1 in which the selection information is written, one control program is constituted by the basic program and the individual program selected by the selection information.

Thus, by writing both the basic program and the individual program at the parts factory by the program writing means (program writing device 15) provided in the program writing system, the written program is normal at the parts factory. It is possible to verify whether there is any control program, and the parts factory can assure the hardware of the ECU 1 and the written control program as a whole. Thereby, the fault responsibility which generate | occur | produced about ECU1 can be separated and clarified between the parts factory side and the vehicle factory side.
Further, since only the selection information is written by the selection information writing means (selection information writing device 16) on the vehicle factory side, the capacity of the software to be written is small, and the limited line tact in the vehicle factory is required. Even within the range, writing can be performed with sufficient margin.

In this example, the memory 11 is composed of a basic part 11a, an individual part 11b, and a ROM that can rewrite selection information, but the basic part 11a and the individual part 11b cannot be rewritten such as a mask ROM. It is also possible to use a ROM that is rewritable and that can be rewritten only in the portion where selection information is written.
In this way, by configuring the basic unit 11a and the individual unit 11b, in which the basic program and the plurality of individual programs are written, with a non-rewritable ROM, the capacities of the basic program and the plurality of individual programs are increased, resulting in a large capacity. Even when the basic unit 11a and the individual unit 11b are required, a non-rewritable ROM such as a mask ROM is less expensive than a rewritable ROM, and thus the ECU 1 can be configured at a low cost.

Next, a second embodiment of the program writing system will be described.
A basic program writing device 35 installed in a parts factory that manufactures an on-vehicle electronic control unit (ECU) 3 and an individual program writing device 36 installed in a vehicle factory that incorporates the ECU 3 in a vehicle are provided.

The ECU 3 includes a memory 31 for storing the control program. The control program of the ECU 3 is composed of a basic program common to vehicles of all specifications regardless of vehicle specifications such as engine type and displacement, and individual programs having different contents depending on the vehicle specifications.
The memory 31 includes a basic part 31a that is a part that stores a basic program, and an individual part 31b that is a part that stores an individual program.
In this example, the memory 31 uses a ROM that can rewrite written information, such as a flash memory, EEPROM, or EPROM.

The basic program writing device 35 is a device that writes the basic program into the memory 31 of the ECU 3 at a parts factory.
The individual program writing device 36 is a device that selects an individual program according to the specification of the vehicle in which the ECU 3 is installed among a plurality of types of individual programs prepared according to the specification of the vehicle, and writes only the selected individual program. .

  Such a system including the basic program writing device 35 and the individual program writing device 36 for writing the control program writes the control program to the ECU 3 in the following flow.

As shown in FIG. 4, first, the hardware part of the ECU 3 is manufactured at a parts factory (S11). In the parts factory, the hardware part writes a control program to the ECU 3 (S12). The control program is written by the program writing device 35, and only the basic program of the basic program and the individual program is written in the basic part 31a of the memory 31 in the parts factory.
Since the basic program is a common program for all specification vehicles, only one type of program is written (basic program A in the case of FIG. 3).

When the writing of the basic program is completed, the inspection device checks whether the written program is normally written (S13).
The ECU 3 that has finished the inspection is shipped from the parts factory (S14).

The ECU 3 shipped from the parts factory is received at the vehicle factory (S15), and the received ECU 3 is incorporated into the vehicle (S16).
Next, the individual program is written into the memory 31 of the ECU 3 incorporated in the vehicle by the individual program writing device 36.
In the individual program writing device 36, a plurality of individual programs are stored so as to be compatible with vehicles of all specifications (in the case of FIG. 3, individual programs a, b, c, and d are stored). The individual program writing device 36 selects and writes an individual program suitable for the ECU 1 that performs writing from among a plurality of stored individual programs.

When an individual program is written by the individual program writing device 36, a production instruction terminal 37 such as an ALC (Assembly Line Control) in the vehicle factory instructs the individual program writing device 36 which individual program should be written. give. That is, the production instruction terminal 37 identifies the specification of the vehicle in which the selection information is written, and instructs the individual program writing device 36 to write the individual program according to the specification of the vehicle.
In the ECU 3 in which the individual program is written in the vehicle factory, one control program is configured together with the basic program written in the parts factory.

In this way, the basic program written by the component factory is written by the component factory by the basic program writing means (basic program writing device 35) provided in the program writing system. It is possible to verify whether or not the part that does not include the individual program is normal, and the parts factory side can guarantee the hardware of the ECU 3 and the written basic program. Thereby, the fault responsibility which generate | occur | produced about ECU3 can be separated and clarified between the parts factory side and the vehicle factory side.
Further, since only one type of individual program is written by the individual program writing means (individual program writing device 36) on the vehicle factory side, the capacity of software to be written is smaller than when all control programs are written. Less writing is possible, and even within the limited line tact range in the vehicle factory, writing can be performed with sufficient margin.

In this example, the memory 31 is configured by a rewritable ROM in which the basic unit 31a and the individual unit 31b are configured. However, the basic unit 31a is configured by a non-rewritable ROM such as a mask ROM, and individual programs are stored. Only the individual unit 31b to be written can be constituted by a rewritable ROM.
As described above, the basic unit 31a in which the basic program is written is configured by a non-rewritable ROM, so that even if the basic program 31 has a large capacity and a large-capacity basic unit 31a is required, the mask ROM Since a non-rewritable ROM such as is less expensive than a rewritable ROM, the ECU 3 can be configured at a low cost.

It is a block diagram which shows the program writing system of this invention. It is a figure which shows the flow of the program writing method performed by the program writing system. It is a block diagram which shows 2nd embodiment of a program writing system. It is a figure which shows the flow of the program writing method performed by the program writing system shown in 2nd embodiment.

Explanation of symbols

1 In-vehicle electronic control unit (ECU)
11 Memory 11a Basic Unit 11b Individual Unit 15 Program Writing Device 16 Selection Information Writing Device

Claims (6)

A program writing system that writes a program composed of a basic program common to all specifications and a different individual program for each specification to an in-vehicle electronic control device,
Program writing means for writing a plurality of types of individual programs corresponding to the basic program and each specification in a process prior to a process in a vehicle factory in which the in-vehicle electronic control device is incorporated in the vehicle,
Program writing comprising: selection information writing means for writing selection information for determining which individual program to select and use from among a plurality of types of individual programs already written in a process at a vehicle factory system.   2. The program writing system according to claim 1, wherein in the program writing system, the basic program and the individual program are written in a non-rewritable ROM, and selection information is written in the rewritable ROM. A program writing system that writes a program composed of a basic program common to all specifications and a different individual program for each specification to an in-vehicle electronic control device,
Basic program writing means for writing the basic program in advance in a process prior to a process in a vehicle factory where the in-vehicle electronic control device is incorporated in the vehicle,
Provided with individual program writing means for selecting an individual program suitable for the specification of the vehicle to which the on-vehicle electronic control device is mounted from among a plurality of types of individual programs corresponding to each specification, and writing in a process at the vehicle factory A program writing system characterized by the above.   4. The program writing system according to claim 3, wherein in the program writing system, a basic program is written in a non-rewritable ROM, and an individual program is written in a rewritable ROM. A program writing method for writing a program composed of a basic program common to all specifications and a different individual program for each specification to an in-vehicle electronic control device,
Write the basic program and multiple types of individual programs corresponding to each specification in the process before the process at the vehicle factory where the in-vehicle electronic control device is incorporated in the vehicle,
Thereafter, selection information for determining which individual program among a plurality of types of already written individual programs is selected and executed is written in a process at the vehicle factory. A program writing method for writing a program composed of a basic program common to all specifications and a different individual program for each specification to an in-vehicle electronic control device,
Write the basic program in the process before the process at the vehicle factory where the in-vehicle electronic control unit is built into the vehicle.
After that, a program that selects an individual program that conforms to the specification of the vehicle on which the in-vehicle electronic control device is mounted from among a plurality of types of individual programs that correspond to each specification, and that is written in the process at the vehicle factory Writing method.