JP2007326425A - Communication controlling unit, trouble analyzing center, and trouble analyzing method - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To reduce a processing burden for a trouble analyzing center by acquiring trouble causes using a required minimum data processing amount for each vehicle model. <P>SOLUTION: This communication controlling unit is loaded on a vehicle, and transmits vehicle state data indicating the vehicle state of the vehicle to the trouble analyzing center where the trouble causes of the vehicle are analyzed. When the classification of the vehicle state data corresponding to the vehicle model of the vehicle is received from the trouble analyzing center 200, and an abnormality of the vehicle state data is sensed, or an indication input of the trouble cause analysis is received, the vehicle state data for the received classification is transmitted to the trouble analyzing center 200, and the trouble causes are analyzed from the vehicle state data which has been transmitted to the trouble analyzing center (S23). <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2008,JPO&INPIT

Description

  The present invention relates to a communication control unit that transmits vehicle state data to a failure analysis center, a failure analysis center, and a failure analysis method, and in particular, determines a type of vehicle state data necessary for failure cause analysis at the failure analysis center. The present invention relates to a communication control unit, a failure analysis center, and a failure analysis method that transmit vehicle status data of the type instructed to the failure analysis center.

There has been proposed a vehicle failure analysis method in which data relating to a vehicle state is transmitted to a failure analysis center, the cause of the failure is analyzed at the failure analysis center, and a countermeasure is notified to the vehicle. For example, Patent Document 1 describes a failure analysis system in which a failure cause is analyzed based on vehicle state data transmitted from a vehicle at a failure analysis center, and a vehicle occupant can access diagnosis results at any time using a mobile phone or the like. .
JP 2002-168734 A

  In these failure analysis methods, vehicle state data from a plurality of vehicles is usually transmitted to one failure analysis center. Therefore, if the amount of data communicated from the vehicle increases, the processing time at the failure analysis center takes longer. In addition, if unnecessary data is included in the analysis of the cause of the failure actually generated in the vehicle state data transmitted from the vehicle, the processing load of the failure analysis center increases due to the analysis of the unnecessary data. . As a result, the failure analysis center cannot analyze the cause of the failure and respond to the vehicle in real time.

  Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a communication control unit, a failure analysis center, and a failure analysis method that reduce the processing load of the failure analysis center.

  In order to achieve the above object, according to the first aspect of the present invention, communication is carried on a vehicle and transmits vehicle state data indicating the vehicle state of the vehicle to a failure analysis center for analyzing the cause of the vehicle failure. When the control unit receives a vehicle state data type corresponding to the vehicle type of the vehicle from the failure analysis center and detects an abnormality in the vehicle state data or receives an instruction input for failure cause analysis Transmits the received vehicle state data of the received type to the failure analysis center, and causes the failure analysis center to analyze the cause of the failure based on the transmitted vehicle state data.

  According to the first aspect, the failure analysis center only needs to process the vehicle state data of a type necessary to obtain a frequent cause of failure for each vehicle type, and does not process other types of vehicle state data. Therefore, the processing efficiency of failure cause analysis at the failure analysis center is improved.

  According to a preferred embodiment of the first aspect, the communication control unit further transmits usage status data indicating the usage status of the vehicle when the vehicle status data is acquired to the failure analysis center, and When the analysis center requests to stop the transmission of the vehicle state data based on the usage status data, the transmission is stopped. Therefore, when the reliability of the vehicle status data is low due to the usage status of the vehicle such as the environmental temperature and CPU usage rate when the vehicle status data is acquired, the failure analysis center receives the vehicle status data and analyzes it. Can be stopped. Therefore, the processing load on the failure analysis center can be reduced and communication traffic can be reduced.

  According to the communication control unit, the failure analysis center, and the failure analysis method of the present invention, the failure analysis center can determine the cause of the failure with the minimum data processing amount for each vehicle type. Therefore, the processing time at the failure analysis center can be minimized, and the cause of failure and the response to the vehicle can be performed in real time.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. However, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to these embodiments, but extends to the matters described in the claims and equivalents thereof.

  FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining the configuration of a system mounted on a vehicle and the configuration of a failure center in the present embodiment. The communication control unit 114 mounted on the vehicle 100 transmits vehicle state data indicating the state of each part of the host vehicle to the failure analysis center 200. The failure analysis center 200 analyzes the cause of the failure based on the vehicle state data and analyzes the analyzed cause of failure. And the coping method are transmitted to the vehicle 100.

  The vehicle 100 is equipped with an ECU (Electronic Control Unit) such as an engine ECU 122, an ABS (anti-lock brake system) -ECU 124, a transmission ECU 126,... That controls the operation of each part of the vehicle, and each ECU is connected by an in-vehicle network NW. Is done. Engine ECU 122, ABS-ECU 124, and transmission ECU 126 (hereinafter referred to as each ECU) are configured by a microcomputer including a CPU and a storage device such as a ROM, an EPROM, and a RAM.

  Each ECU acquires vehicle state data indicating the state of the vehicle from various sensors (not shown), and controls the operation of each part of the vehicle according to a control program stored in a built-in storage device based on the vehicle state data. For example, the engine ECU 122 controls the operation of the engine based on data and signals detected by an engine speed sensor, a battery voltage sensor, a cooling water temperature sensor, and the like. The ABS-ECU 124 performs control so that the braking force of the brake is optimized based on data from the wheel rotation number sensor and the vehicle speed sensor. Further, the transmission ECU 126 detects the engine speed and the accelerator opening, and controls the operation of the transmission of the vehicle.

  Each ECU sends the vehicle state data acquired from each part of the vehicle to the communication control unit 114 connected via the in-vehicle network NW and writes it to the storage unit 116. The vehicle state data written in the storage unit 116 is accumulated as a log and stored as a vehicle state record 119.

  The communication control unit 114 that controls transmission / reception of data to / from the failure analysis center 200 is configured by a microcomputer including a CPU and a storage device such as a ROM, EPROM, and RAM. The communication control unit 114 acquires vehicle state data from each ECU and the storage unit 116 via the in-vehicle network NW, and transmits the vehicle state data to the failure analysis center 200 through the communication unit 112. The in-vehicle network NW is connected to a display unit 118 that displays various notifications to the passengers of the vehicle 100 and an operation input unit 120 that receives operation inputs from the passengers.

  The communication control unit 114 analyzes the cause of the failure from the occupant when each ECU detects a local abnormality, when an abnormality in the relationship between vehicle state data input from each ECU is detected, and via the operation input unit 120. When the instruction input is received, data corresponding to each case is transmitted to the failure analysis center 200.

  First, each ECU detects a diagnosis code (hereinafter simply referred to as a diagnosis code) held in a built-in ROM when various sensors detect abnormal values or when a signal to be input is interrupted. The data is sent to the communication control unit 114. For example, when the coolant temperature sensor detects a coolant temperature of −50 ° C., which cannot be in a normal situation, and is input to the engine ECU 122, the engine ECU 122 displays a diagnosis code corresponding to the failure of the coolant temperature sensor in the communication control unit 114. Send to. When the communication control unit 114 receives an input of the diagnosis code from each ECU, the communication control unit 114 transmits the diagnosis code to the failure analysis center 200. In this case, since the cause of the failure has already been specified, the failure analysis center 200 does not analyze the cause of the failure.

  Further, the communication control unit 114 monitors the relationship between the vehicle state data input from each ECU, and even if no abnormality is detected by each ECU, the vehicle state is regarded as a system abnormality if the relationship between the data is abnormal. Detect data anomalies. For example, if the accelerator opening is increasing but the vehicle speed is not increasing, or if the engine coolant temperature is low and the cooling water temperature is high, this is a system error. . When the system abnormality is detected, the communication control unit 114 instructs each ECU to temporarily save the vehicle state data at the time when the system abnormality is detected in the built-in RAM. Then, the communication control unit 114 acquires the vehicle state data 128 temporarily saved from each ECU and transmits it to the failure analysis center 200.

  In the case of system anomalies, the cause of the failure is complex, so a wide variety of vehicle status data is required to analyze the cause of the failure. Therefore, the temporarily retracted vehicle state data 128 includes suspension control acquired by an ECU (not shown), steering control, indoor environment and body parts in addition to vehicle state data related to engine control, ABS control, and transmission control. Extensive vehicle status data related to control etc. is included. However, such vehicle state data has a large amount of data, and the processing load of the failure analysis center 200 increases, resulting in a problem of processing delay. Therefore, the communication control unit 114 according to the present embodiment acquires the vehicle state data 128 temporarily saved from each ECU and transmits the vehicle state data 128 to the failure analysis center 200 by the communication unit 112. It is characterized in that only vehicle state data is transmitted.

  Further, the communication control unit 114 transmits the vehicle state record 117 stored in the storage unit 116 to the failure analysis center 200 in response to an instruction input from the operation input unit 120. For example, when an occupant of the vehicle 100 senses vibration or abnormal noise and inputs an instruction to analyze the cause of failure by operating a button of the operation input unit 120, the communication control unit 114 transmits a vehicle state record to analyze the failure. The cause of failure is analyzed at the center 200.

  In this case, since the time when the abnormality has occurred is not specified as in the case where a system abnormality is detected, the vehicle state record 117 that is a log of vehicle state data is required for failure cause analysis. However, since the vehicle state record 117 is a log of a wide variety of vehicle state data, the vehicle state record 117 becomes a large amount of data, and the load of the failure analysis center 200 increases. Therefore, the communication control unit 114 according to the present embodiment transmits only the vehicle state data of the type specified by the failure analysis center 200 when transmitting the vehicle state record read from the storage unit 116 to the failure analysis center 200. Characterized by points.

  Then, the communication control unit 114 transmits the vehicle type data 115 stored in the built-in ROM to the failure analysis center 200. Here, the vehicle type data refers to data such as the manufacturer, model, and year of the vehicle 100. Although details will be described later, the failure analysis center 200 designates the type of vehicle data necessary for failure cause analysis of the vehicle 100 based on the vehicle type data 115.

  Next, the failure analysis center 200 comprehensively controls the communication unit 212 that transmits and receives data to and from the vehicle 100, a storage unit 218 that stores data used for failure cause analysis, and the failure analysis center 200, and the vehicle. And a control unit 216 that analyzes the cause of the failure based on the vehicle state data transmitted from 100.

  The storage unit 218 includes a storage device that can update data as needed, such as a hard disk or a rewritable nonvolatile storage device. The storage unit 218 stores a database 220 in which correspondence relations between vehicle state data and failure causes, and methods for dealing with failures are stored, and failure history data 219 which is failure cause history information analyzed in the past. The

  The control unit 216 includes a CPU, a ROM, a RAM, and the like (not shown), and the CPU processes various data using the RAM as a work area according to a failure analysis program stored in the ROM. First, when a diagnosis code is received from the vehicle 100, the failure part and the cause have already been specified locally, so the control unit 216 does not analyze the cause of the failure, and the diagnosis is performed from the database 220 stored in the storage unit 218. A coping method corresponding to the code is extracted and transmitted to the vehicle 100. For example, a service station that can replace a faulty part is searched from a list stored in advance, and an instruction is sent to the vehicle 100 to receive goods and receive maintenance such as part replacement.

  When the temporarily retracted vehicle state data 128 or the vehicle state record 119 is received, the control unit 216 refers to the database 220 stored in the storage unit 218 and analyzes the cause of the failure corresponding to the received vehicle state. . Here, since the data received from the vehicle 100 is large as described above, the load for analyzing the cause of the failure increases. Further, when vehicle state data is transmitted from a plurality of vehicles other than the vehicle 100 to the failure analysis center 200, the processing load of the failure analysis center 200 further increases, and the cause of failure analysis and response to the vehicle are delayed. cause. Therefore, the failure analysis center 200 of this embodiment specifies the type of vehicle state data necessary for failure cause analysis for each vehicle, and receives and processes the specified type of vehicle state data from the vehicle. , It is characterized in that the processing load is reduced.

  For that purpose, the control unit 216 refers to the failure history data 219 on the basis of the vehicle type data 115 of the vehicle 100, and determines the type of vehicle state data necessary for analyzing the cause of failure that is frequently found in the vehicle type of the vehicle 100. Extract.

  FIG. 2 is a diagram for explaining an example of the failure history data 219 stored in the storage unit 218. The failure history data 219 includes a failure history table 219a storing a history of failure causes analyzed in the past, and a vehicle state data type table 219b storing types of vehicle state data necessary for failure cause analysis for each failure cause. It consists of. As shown in the figure, the failure history table 219a stores “failure cause” and “frequency” for each “manufacturer”, “model”, and “year”. As described above, the vehicle type is a type specified by the manufacturer, model, and year, and the frequency is a numerical value indicating the number of times that the cause of the failure has occurred in a certain period.

  For example, according to the failure history table 219a, in the “2004” type of the model “X” of the manufacturer “A”, the cause of the failure in which the fuel injection timing of the injector and the ignition timing of the igniter are shifted occurs at a frequency of 80. A defective water temperature sensor occurs at frequency 10. Further, in the “2005” type of the model “Y” of the manufacturer “B”, the oil leakage of the transmission occurs at a frequency of 70. In addition, in the “2006” type of the model “Z” of the manufacturer “C”, a defect in the intake pressure sensor occurs at a frequency of 65.

  Here, in the case of a system abnormality in which the vehicle speed does not increase even if the accelerator opening increases, various causes are assumed, such as deviations in fuel ignition / injection timing, clutch slipping due to low transmission hydraulic pressure, and so on. The In order to identify the cause of the failure, it is necessary to analyze various vehicle state data such as engine speed, engine torque, intake pressure, ignition timing, injection timing, transmission hydraulic pressure, accelerator opening, vehicle speed, and the like. However, if all these types of data are analyzed, the processing load on the failure analysis center 200 increases.

  Therefore, as shown in FIG. 2, for example, if the vehicle type of the vehicle 100 is the “2004” type of the model “X” of the manufacturer “A”, the fuel injection timing of the injector and the ignition timing of the igniter are shifted. The cause occurs at a high frequency 80. In this case, the occurrence frequency is higher than a reference value (for example, 50). Therefore, the type of vehicle state data necessary for analyzing the cause of the failure, that is, the fuel injection timing and the ignition timing of the engine are extracted from the vehicle state data type table 219b. Then, failure analysis center 200 requests vehicle 100 to transmit vehicle state data indicating the fuel injection timing and ignition timing of the engine.

  Similarly, in the analysis of the cause of the failure of transmission oil leakage occurring at a frequency of 70 in the “2005” type “Y” type vehicle of manufacturer “B”, the vehicle status data type of transmission oil pressure is set to the manufacturer. In the analysis of the cause of the failure of the intake pressure sensor failure occurring at the frequency 65 in the “2006” type “C” type “Z” vehicle, the failure analysis center 200 sets the vehicle state data type indicating the intake pressure to Ask the vehicle. As described above, the control unit 216 requests the transmission of the vehicle state data of the type corresponding to the vehicle type for each vehicle.

  Then, in response to this request, the communication control unit 114 of the vehicle 100 transmits the specified type of vehicle state data. Therefore, by analyzing the cause of the failure based on the transmitted vehicle state data, the failure analysis center 200 can minimize the amount of vehicle state data to be processed and reduce the processing load.

  In this way, the control unit 216 receives the minimum necessary vehicle state data from the vehicle 100 and analyzes the cause of the failure. Then, the coping method retrieved from the database 220 is transmitted to the vehicle 100 together with the failure cause notification. Then, in the vehicle 100, the communication control unit 114 receives an instruction from the failure analysis center 200, displays the content on the display unit 118, and notifies the passenger. Thereby, the occupant can know the cause of failure of the vehicle 100 and the coping method in real time.

  In addition, the control unit 216 accumulates the failure cause analysis results in the failure history table 219a, statistically processes the failure cause frequency for each vehicle type, and sequentially updates the failure cause frequency. By doing so, in the subsequent failure cause analysis, it is possible to accurately identify the cause of the failure that occurs frequently for each vehicle type.

  FIG. 3 is a chart diagram showing operation procedures of the communication control unit 114 and the like and the failure analysis center 200 in the present embodiment. In this figure, the operation procedure of the communication control unit 114 and each ECU of the vehicle 100 and the failure analysis center 200 is shown. First, the communication control unit 114 receives vehicle state data from each ECU such as the engine ECU 122 (S11). For example, when detecting a system abnormality in which the vehicle speed does not increase even when the accelerator opening increases (S101), the communication control unit 114 An instruction to save the vehicle state data is given (S102). Then, the vehicle type data 115 of the vehicle 100 is transmitted to the failure analysis center 200 (S103).

  Based on the vehicle type data 115, the failure analysis center 200 extracts from the failure history data 219 the type of vehicle state data that needs to be analyzed in order to identify the cause of the failure that occurs frequently in the vehicle type (S21). The communication control unit 114 is requested to transmit the vehicle type data of the extracted type (S22). The communication control unit 114 of the vehicle 100 requests the failure analysis center 200 to send the requested type of vehicle state data from the vehicle state data 128 temporarily saved in each ECU (S104), and receives these vehicle state data. (S12), and transmitted to the failure analysis center 200 (S105). Then, the failure analysis center 200 analyzes the cause of the failure (S23), and transmits it to the communication control unit 114 together with a countermeasure (S24). Then, the failure analysis center 200 stores the analyzed cause of failure in the storage unit 218, and updates the failure history data 219 for each vehicle type (S25).

  As described above, the failure analysis center 200 preferentially analyzes failure causes having a high occurrence frequency in the vehicle type of the vehicle 100 based on the failure history data 219 for each vehicle type. Only the vehicle state data necessary for this is transmitted to the communication control unit 114. Therefore, the processing load of the failure cause analysis in the failure analysis center 200 can be minimized by reducing the processing of the vehicle data that is less necessary for analysis.

  FIG. 4 is a diagram for explaining an operation procedure of the communication control unit 114 and the like when the vehicle state record 117 is transmitted to the failure analysis center 200 in response to an instruction input from the occupant in the present embodiment. In this figure, operation procedures of the communication control unit 114, each ECU, the storage unit 116, and the failure analysis center 200 of the vehicle 100 are shown. When the communication control unit 114 receives an instruction input for failure cause analysis from the operation input unit 120 (S106), the vehicle type data 115 is transmitted to the failure analysis center 200 (S107). In the same manner as the procedure described with reference to FIG. 3, the failure analysis center 200 stores the vehicle state data that needs to be analyzed in order to identify the cause of failure with a high occurrence frequency in the vehicle type of the vehicle 100 based on the vehicle type data 115. The type is extracted (S26), and the communication control unit 114 is requested to transmit the vehicle state data of that type (S27).

  In response to this request, the communication control unit 114 reads the requested vehicle state data of the requested type from the vehicle state record 117 that each ECU has written in the storage unit 116 (S14) (S108, S61), and analyzes the failure. The data is transmitted to the center 200 (S109). Then, the failure analysis center 200 analyzes the cause of the failure (S28), and transmits the cause of the failure and a countermeasure to the communication control unit 114 (S29). Then, the failure analysis center 200 stores the analyzed cause of failure in the storage unit 218, and updates the failure history data 219 for each vehicle type (S30).

  Also in this case, the failure analysis center 200 causes the communication control unit 114 to transmit only the vehicle state data necessary for analyzing the cause of the failure having a high occurrence frequency in the vehicle type of the vehicle 100, and processes the vehicle data having a low necessity for analysis. By reducing it, the load of failure cause analysis in the failure analysis center 200 can be minimized.

  As a modification of the operation procedure shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, as will be described below, the failure analysis center 200 transmits the type of vehicle state data that needs to be transmitted for each vehicle type in advance. And the type of vehicle state data to be transmitted to the RAM or the like of the communication control unit 114 may be stored.

  FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining a modification of the operation procedure shown in FIG. The same steps as those in FIG. 3 are denoted by the same reference numerals as those in FIG. First, the failure analysis center 200 holds the vehicle state data type 219c that needs to be transmitted for each vehicle type as shown in FIG. 6 in the storage unit 218, and periodically transmits the vehicle state data type 219c (S31). ). Then, the vehicle 100 receives this and stores the type of vehicle state data to be transmitted by the vehicle in the RAM of the communication control unit 114 (S120).

  As shown in FIG. 6, the vehicle status data type 219c that needs to be transmitted for each vehicle type includes the “manufacturer” and “model” of the vehicle from the failure history table 219a and the vehicle status data type table 219b described in FIG. ”And“ Year ”include data obtained by extracting vehicle state data types that require analysis. For example, the vehicle status data indicating the fuel injection timing and the ignition timing of the engine is required from the “2004” type vehicle of the model “X” of the manufacturer “A”. Similarly, the vehicle state data indicating the hydraulic pressure of the transmission oil is obtained from the “2005” type vehicle of the model “Y” of the manufacturer “B”, and the “2006” type vehicle of the model “Z” of the manufacturer “C”. From the vehicle state data indicating the intake pressure is required.

  When the communication control unit 114 detects a system abnormality based on the vehicle state data (S11) sent from each ECU such as the engine ECU 122 (S101), the communication control unit 114 instructs each ECU to save the vehicle state data (S102). At the same time, the type of the vehicle state data is read from the built-in RAM or the like (S110), the type of vehicle state data is acquired from the engine ECU 122 or the like (S104, S12), and transmitted to the failure analysis center 200 (S105). Since step S105 and subsequent steps are the same as those in FIG.

  In this way, the procedure (S103, S22 in FIG. 3) of transmitting the vehicle type data to the failure analysis center 200 and receiving the type of the vehicle state data corresponding to the vehicle type is omitted, and communication traffic can be reduced. it can. The failure analysis center 200 may transmit the vehicle state data type 219c in a lump, or may divide the vehicle state data type 219c and transmit it at regular intervals.

  FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining a modification of the operation procedure shown in FIG. The same steps as those in FIG. 4 are denoted by the same reference numerals as those in FIG. The failure analysis center 200 periodically transmits a vehicle state data type 219c (FIG. 6) that needs to be transmitted for each vehicle type in advance (S33), and the vehicle 100 receives this and automatically stores it in the RAM of the communication control unit 114. The type of vehicle state data to be transmitted by the car is stored (S122). When the communication control unit 114 receives an instruction input for failure cause analysis (S106), the communication control unit 114 reads the vehicle state data type from the built-in RAM or the like (S111), and stores the vehicle state data of that type from the storage device 118. The data is read (S108, S61) and transmitted to the failure analysis center 200 (S109). Step S109 and subsequent steps are the same as those in FIG.

  In this way, the procedure (S107, S27 in FIG. 4) of transmitting the vehicle type data to the failure analysis center 200 and receiving the type of the vehicle state data corresponding to the vehicle type is omitted, and communication traffic can be reduced. it can.

  As described above, in this embodiment, the failure analysis center 200 designates the type of vehicle state data necessary for analyzing a failure having a high occurrence frequency for each vehicle type based on the failure history data 219, and the communication control unit 114. Transmits the vehicle status data of that type. However, on the contrary, the failure analysis center 200 designates the type of the vehicle state data related to the part whose defect is known based on the recall information for each vehicle type provided by the vehicle manufacturer, and the communication control unit 114 It is good also as a procedure which does not transmit vehicle state data of the specified classification.

  That is, the failure analysis center 200 transmits an unnecessary vehicle state data type to the vehicle 100 according to the vehicle type in step S22 of FIG. 3 or step S27 of FIG. Alternatively, the failure analysis center 200 periodically transmits a vehicle state data type that need not be transmitted for each vehicle type, instead of the vehicle state data type 219c that is transmitted in step S31 of FIG. 5 or step S33 of FIG. The vehicle 100 receives these pieces of information, determines the type of vehicle state data that the vehicle does not need to transmit, and does not transmit the vehicle state data. By doing so, the failure analysis center 200 can reduce the processing load for analyzing the state of a component that has failed with extremely high probability, and the communication traffic associated with data transmission therefor.

  In the present embodiment, the failure analysis center 200 further determines whether or not to analyze the vehicle state data based on the vehicle usage status such as the environmental temperature, the processing load of each ECU, and the control program information of each ECU. Reduce the processing load. The procedure will be described below.

  FIG. 8 is a chart for explaining an operation procedure in which the failure analysis center 200 determines whether to analyze or stop the vehicle state data based on the use state of the vehicle in the procedure described in FIG. The procedure shown in FIG. 8 is a modification of steps S101, S105, and S23 of FIG.

  When a system abnormality is detected (S101), the communication control unit 114 acquires the environmental temperature detected by the engine ECU 122 or the like using the temperature sensor, and stores the environmental temperature data in the built-in RAM as vehicle usage condition data ( S114). When the vehicle state data is transmitted from the communication control unit 114 to the failure analysis center 200, environmental temperature data is added as the header H of the vehicle state data to the failure analysis center 200 as shown in FIG. Transmit (S112).

  Then, the failure analysis center 200 extracts and analyzes the environmental temperature data included in the header H. Here, the failure analysis center 200 holds a determination table as shown in FIG. 9B in the storage unit 218, and if the environmental temperature is within an appropriate range of −20 ° C. to 60 ° C., the vehicle state Data analysis is performed, and if the ambient temperature is outside this range, the analysis is stopped. That is, when the environmental temperature exceeds the temperature at which the operation of the CPU of each ECU is guaranteed, for example, in the range of −20 ° C. to 60 ° C., the CPU such as the engine ECU 122 may malfunction. In such a case, the vehicle state data 128 saved in the built-in RAM may be destroyed due to inappropriate memory access by the CPU, so the reliability of the vehicle state data is low.

  Therefore, when the environmental temperature data included in the header H indicates an environmental temperature that is out of the appropriate range, the failure analysis center 200 requests to stop transmission of the vehicle state data acquired at the environmental temperature (S35). ), The communication control unit 114 stops transmission in response to this (S36). By doing so, the failure analysis center 200 can reduce the communication traffic and reduce the processing load for analyzing the vehicle state data with low reliability.

  The procedure shown in FIG. 8 can also be applied as a modified example of procedures S106, S109, and S28 in FIG. That is, in the above description, instead of the procedure S101 for detecting the system abnormality, the procedure S106 (FIG. 4) for receiving the instruction for failure cause analysis is received, and the communication control unit 114 stores the environmental temperature in the RAM in response to the instruction input. (S114 in FIG. 8). The procedure after step S112 is the same as described above. By doing so, even in the procedure shown in FIG. 4, the failure analysis center 200 can reduce the processing load required for analyzing the vehicle state data with low reliability.

  In the procedure shown in FIG. 8, the communication control unit 114 acquires CPU usage rate data from each ECU in step S114 as vehicle usage status data, and temporarily stores it in the built-in RAM. Can be included in the header H. The CPU such as the engine ECU 122 may malfunction (runaway) due to electrical noise or a change in environmental temperature, and may destroy vehicle state data due to inappropriate memory access. Therefore, the failure analysis center 200 stores a threshold value for the CPU usage rate of each ECU in the storage unit 218, and when the usage rate exceeds the threshold value and indicates a state of runaway, Judge that the reliability of the state data is low. Therefore, in such a case, the failure analysis center 200 can reduce the communication traffic and the processing load by stopping the analysis of the low-reliability vehicle state data or the transmission / reception thereof.

  Further, in the procedure shown in FIG. 8, the communication control unit 114 can use information of a control program such as the engine ECU 122 as vehicle usage status data. Each ECU such as the engine ECU 122 is manufactured with specifications common to a plurality of vehicle types for production efficiency, and a control program is written in a built-in EPROM for each mounted vehicle type. For this reason, it is possible to rewrite the control program even after shipment, and some users may rewrite the control program according to their preference. As a result, the engine or the like is not properly controlled, and a failure may occur.

  Therefore, in step S114, the communication control unit 114 acquires the cumulative value of the control program code of each ECU from each ECU and includes it in the header H (FIG. 9A). The failure analysis center 200 analyzes this, When the accumulated value is different from the accumulated value of the genuine control program code stored in the storage unit 218, that is, when the control program is rewritten, the analysis or transmission / reception of the vehicle state data from the vehicle is stopped. can do. By doing so, communication traffic can be reduced, and the burden on processing of vehicle state data transmitted from a vehicle that has been used illegally can be reduced.

  When the vehicle 100 is received at a service station or the like for inspection, an inspection device is connected to the in-vehicle network NW from the outside, and various drive commands are input to each ECU. For example, an engine drive command is externally input to the engine ECU, and vehicle state data detected from an engine that operates in response to the command is analyzed by an inspection device. In such a case, the communication control unit 114 receives the vehicle state data for inspection from the engine ECU 122, detects a system abnormality based on the inspection data, and transmits the vehicle state data to the failure analysis center 200. End up.

  Therefore, in the procedure shown in FIG. 8, the communication control unit 114 recognizes that the drive command sent from the inspector to the in-vehicle network NW is being tested, and is the test data in step S114. Is temporarily stored in the built-in RAM. And it is included in the header H added to vehicle state data. By doing so, the failure analysis center 200 can determine that the vehicle state data is test data, and the processing load can be reduced without processing the vehicle state data.

  In the procedure shown in FIG. 8, the communication control unit 114 first transmits only the usage status data to the failure analysis center instead of adding the usage status data to the vehicle status data as a header in step S112 as described above. The failure analysis center 200 may determine whether to execute or cancel the transmission of the vehicle state data.

  3 and 4, even after the failure analysis center 200 starts to analyze the vehicle state data received (S23 in FIG. 3 and S28 in FIG. 4), the abnormal value of the data is displayed. If detected, the analysis can be stopped, or the vehicle 100 can be requested to stop transmission of the remaining vehicle state data. By doing so, it is possible to reduce the load for processing data with low reliability.

  Furthermore, as another embodiment, instead of transmitting the usage status data to the failure analysis center 200 in step S112 of FIG. 8, the communication control unit 114 makes a determination regarding the usage status, and the usage status is predetermined as described above. If the condition is not satisfied, the transmission of the vehicle state data may be stopped without transmitting the usage status data to the failure analysis center 200. In that case, the communication control unit 114 stores the respective reference values such as the environmental temperature, the CPU usage rate, the cumulative value of the ECU control program code in the built-in ROM, and compares each usage status data with the reference value. , It is determined whether to transmit or cancel the transmission of the vehicle state data. By doing so, communication traffic can be further reduced.

  As described above, according to the procedure of the present embodiment, the processing load on the failure analysis center 200 can be reduced, and the failure analysis center 200 can perform failure cause analysis and countermeasure response in real time. .

It is a figure explaining the structure of the system mounted in the vehicle in this Embodiment, and the structure of a failure center. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of failure history data 219 stored in a storage unit 218. FIG. It is a chart figure which shows the operation | movement procedure of the communication control unit 114 grade | etc., And the failure analysis center 200 in this Embodiment. In this Embodiment, it is a figure explaining the operation | movement procedure of the communication control unit 114 grade | etc., When transmitting the vehicle state record 117 to the failure analysis center 200 in response to a passenger | crew's instruction | indication input. It is a figure explaining the modification of the operation | movement procedure shown in FIG. It is a figure explaining the vehicle state data classification which needs transmission for every vehicle classification. It is a figure explaining the modification of the operation | movement procedure shown in FIG. FIG. 4 is a chart for explaining an operation procedure in which the failure analysis center 200 determines whether to analyze or stop the vehicle state data based on the use state of the vehicle in the procedure described in FIG. 3. It is a figure explaining the use condition data transmitted from the vehicle.

Explanation of symbols

100: Vehicle 200: Failure analysis center 114: Communication control unit 115: Vehicle type data 119: Vehicle state record 219: Failure history data

Claims (6)

A communication control unit that is mounted on a vehicle and transmits vehicle state data indicating a vehicle state of the vehicle to a failure analysis center that analyzes a cause of failure of the vehicle;
Receiving from the failure analysis center a vehicle status data type corresponding to the vehicle type of the vehicle;
When an abnormality of the vehicle state data is detected or when an instruction input for failure cause analysis is received, the received vehicle state data of the type is transmitted to the failure analysis center, and the vehicle state transmitted to the failure analysis center is transmitted. A communication control unit characterized in that a cause of failure is analyzed based on data. In claim 1,
Further transmitting vehicle type data indicating the vehicle type of the vehicle to the failure analysis center;
The type of the vehicle state data is obtained based on the vehicle type data at the failure analysis center. In claim 1,
Further transmitting usage status data indicating the usage status of the vehicle when the vehicle status data to be transmitted is acquired to the failure analysis center;
The communication control unit, wherein when the failure analysis center requests to stop the transmission of the vehicle state data based on the usage status data, the communication control unit stops the transmission. A communication control unit that is mounted on a vehicle and transmits vehicle state data indicating a vehicle state of the vehicle to a failure analysis center that analyzes a cause of failure of the vehicle;
Communication control characterized by receiving from the failure analysis center a type of vehicle state data that does not need to be transmitted corresponding to the vehicle type of the vehicle, and not transmitting the received type of vehicle state data to the failure analysis center. unit. A failure analysis center that receives transmission of vehicle state data indicating a vehicle state,
Stores the history of the cause of failure for each vehicle type,
From the history, a cause of failure that occurs at a certain frequency or more in the vehicle type of the vehicle is extracted, a type of vehicle state data for analyzing the cause of failure is transmitted to the vehicle, and the vehicle of the type is transmitted to the vehicle. Send status data,
A failure analysis center that analyzes a cause of a failure of the vehicle based on the transmitted vehicle state data. A vehicle failure analysis method capable of communicating with a failure analysis center,
Transmitting at the failure analysis center a vehicle state data type indicating a vehicle state corresponding to the vehicle type of the vehicle to the vehicle;
A step of transmitting the received type of vehicle state data to the failure analysis center when an abnormality of the vehicle state data is detected in the vehicle, or when an analysis of failure cause is input;
And a step of analyzing the cause of the failure of the vehicle based on the transmitted vehicle state data at the failure analysis center.

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