DE102021127285A1 - NETWORK - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a network which has at least two hardware devices (2) which are communicatively connected to one another, the network (10) further having at least one annotation unit (11) which is designed to communicate between the at least two hardware devices (2). to annotate data.

Description

The present invention relates to a network, in particular a vehicle network, which is designed in such a way that it can be flexibly expanded or configured without great effort.

A network is generally understood to be a connection between at least two hardware devices, with the two hardware devices being connected to one another in such a way that they can communicate via the network and, for example, exchange data. The hardware devices are thus communicatively connected to one another. Physical components or electronic devices within the network are also referred to as hardware devices, i.e. devices within the network which could theoretically be grasped or touched.

An example of such a network is a vehicle network via which a number of electronic devices in a motor vehicle are communicatively connected to one another, with the vehicle network being able to further support functions of the individual electronic devices. Such electronic devices or control devices can be used in the entire vehicle, for example in a drive train control system, a body control system, a chassis control system or a multimedia system.

Networks of this type, for example vehicle networks, usually also have a hardware abstraction layer which enables individual software components or applications or functions to call up information about available hardware devices within the network. The hardware abstraction layer acts as an intermediary and separates hardware and software from each other. The main job of the hardware abstraction layer is to mask most of the network and make a kernel think it's running on a different set of hardware or a specific hardware device. When the hardware and the kernel communicate, the hardware abstraction layer translates the information back and forth.

However, it has proven to be disadvantageous that the number of electronic devices that are installed in motor vehicles, for example, is increasing more and more, in particular due to increasing digitization. At the same time, hardware abstraction layers used are often static, which makes it difficult to connect new electronic devices or new hardware devices within a network and results in the need to make complex adjustments or changes to at least part of the hardware abstraction layer. This also complicates the maintenance and updating of hardware devices within the network, especially the adjustment of the corresponding configurations.

From the pamphlet U.S. 8,254,285 B2 a method for providing switching and routing functions in a data plane of a network switch is known, wherein a request for a link between a virtual interface and one or more logical interfaces of the network switch is received, a definition for the link is received, and the binding as well the definition is maintained in a single database at the data plane of the network switch.

The object of embodiments of the invention is to specify a network with which the connection of new hardware devices is simplified.

This problem is solved by the network with the features of patent claim 1. Further advantageous developments are the subject matter of the dependent claims.

According to one embodiment of the invention, this object is achieved by a network which has at least two hardware devices which are communicatively connected to one another, the network also having at least one annotation unit which is designed to annotate data communicated between the at least two hardware devices.

The fact that the data is annotated means that the data is supplemented by secondary data, with the additional secondary data being in particular information, for example metadata, which indicates the origin or provenance of the data and in particular the type of hardware device from which the data originates , describe, acts. Based on the secondary data, all other hardware devices can then record what kind of data it is or what type of hardware device the data originates from.

The fact that data is annotated and not the hardware devices has the advantage that it is no longer necessary to mediate between individual software components or functions and hardware devices that supply the data to be processed by the functions, but rather the Corresponding data itself can be expanded to include corresponding origin information or information about the type of hardware device from which the data originates. This has the advantage that if further hardware devices are to be integrated into the network, in particular hardware devices from different data providers, at least part of the hardware abstraction layer no longer has to be changed in a costly manner to integrate the additional hardware devices. Rather, instead of the hardware abstraction layer, improved middleware or improved services are provided and used to integrate different components of the network.

Overall, a network is thus specified with which the connection of new hardware devices is simplified.

The at least two hardware devices can be communicatively connected to one another via a bus system, for example. A bus system is understood to mean a system for transmitting information between a number of participants or hardware devices via a common connection, with the information being transmitted being data, for example.

In one embodiment, at least one function is also implemented in the network, with the at least one annotation unit being further designed to also annotate data originating from the at least one function.

The fact that at least one function is implemented in the network means that the at least one function is integrated into the network or can be implemented by it.

The data originating from these functions can thus also be expanded in such a way that other network components, for example the at least two hardware devices, know from which functions, in particular which type of functions, the data were generated without complex changes being necessary for this in turn.

The at least one annotation unit can have a translation unit, the translation unit being designed to translate data from at least one data provider into a shared form. In particular, logic can be implemented on the at least one translation unit, which logic specifies how the data of at least one data provider is to be understood.

A data provider is understood to be a provider or a unit that makes data, in particular data, available for further processing, with the data originating from a data provider each having a uniform format or uniform forms.

A shared form is also understood to mean a form of the data which can be used and further processed accordingly by all components of the network, for example the at least two hardware devices and software components within the network.

Such a translation unit can thus ensure that data from a hardware device or data originating from a function is transferred or translated into a form that is also understood by other components within the network, without the need for complex changes and in particular a hardware abstraction layer which can only be changed with a certain effort would be necessary.

In particular, a library containing translations of data forms used by the at least one data provider into the shared form can be stored on the translation unit.

A library or program library is generally understood to be a collection of subprograms/routines that offer solutions for thematically related problems. In particular, the library can be a corresponding data directory which has assignments between the data forms used by the at least one data provider and the shared form.

It can thus be ensured in a simple manner that further components of the network can easily understand where individual data originates from, even if the data originates from a data provider which uses a different form of data than the corresponding component itself.

The at least one translation unit can also be a plug-in module.

A component that expands existing software is referred to as a plug-in or plug-in module.

The middleware of the network can thus be expanded in a simple manner if new hardware devices or new data providers are added, without the need for complex changes and in particular a hardware abstraction layer, which can only be changed with a certain amount of effort.

In addition, the translation unit can also be designed in such a way that it can be written to from the outside.

The fact that the translation unit can be described from outside means that the translation unit can be described from outside, for example by an operator of the network or a manufacturer of software and/or hardware components of the network, in particular configurations of the translation unit can be updated and/or expanded .

This means that updates or additions, in particular updates or additions to the configuration of the translation unit, can be made in a simple manner, for example when the at least one data provider is updated or supplemented, without the need for complex changes and in particular a hardware abstraction layer, which only requires a certain Effort to change would be necessary.

In one embodiment, the network also has at least one marking unit, which is designed to mark data that cannot be annotated as such. It can thus be ensured that data that is not annotated is directly marked as such and then in particular not used, which saves high capacities and computer resources that would be required to annotate the data and thus on the circumstances of the corresponding data processing system which the annotation of data is carried out, itself can be taken into account.

A further embodiment of the invention also specifies a motor vehicle which has a network as described above.

Such a motor vehicle has the advantage that it has a network or vehicle network, with which the connection of new hardware devices is simplified. The fact that data is annotated and not the hardware devices has the advantage that it is no longer necessary to mediate between individual software components or functions and hardware devices that deliver data to be processed by the functions, but rather the corresponding data itself with corresponding information of origin or information from which Type of hardware device the data originates from. This has the advantage that if further hardware devices are to be integrated into the network, in particular hardware devices from different data providers, at least part of the hardware abstraction layer no longer has to be changed in a costly manner in order to integrate the additional hardware devices. Rather, instead of the hardware abstraction layer, improved middleware or improved services are provided and used to integrate different components of the network.

In summary, it can be stated that the present invention specifies a network, in particular a vehicle network, which is designed in such a way that it can be flexibly expanded or configured without great effort.

• 1 zeigt ein Beispiel eines Netzwerks;
• 2 zeigt ein Blockschaltbild eines Netzwerks gemäß Ausführungsformen der Erfindung.

The invention will now be explained in more detail with reference to the accompanying figures.

• 1 shows an example of a network;
• 2 Figure 12 shows a block diagram of a network according to embodiments of the invention.

1 shows an example of a network 1.

In particular shows 1 a vehicle network integrated into a motor vehicle.

How 1 shows, the network 1 shown has a plurality of hardware devices 2 which are communicatively connected to one another via a bus system 3 .

The hardware devices are in particular control units of the motor vehicle. The bus system can also be a CAN bus system or a FlexRay, for example.

In addition, shows 1 a software component integrated into the network 1 or a function 4 implemented in the network.

In general, a network 1 is understood to be a connection between at least two hardware devices, the two hardware devices 2 being connected to one another in such a way that they can communicate via the network 1 and, for example, exchange data. The hardware devices 2 are thus communicatively connected to each other. Physical components or electronic devices within the network are also referred to as hardware devices 2, ie devices within the network 1 which could theoretically be grasped or touched.

An example of such a network 1 is a vehicle network via which a number of electronic devices in a motor vehicle are communicatively connected to one another, with the vehicle network being able to further support functions of the individual electronic devices. Such electronic devices or control devices can be used in the entire vehicle, for example in a drive train control system, a body control system, a chassis control system or a multimedia system.

Networks of this type, for example vehicle networks, usually also have a hardware abstraction layer which enables individual software components or applications or functions to call up information about available hardware devices within the network.

The hardware abstraction layer acts as an intermediary and separates hardware and software from each other. The main job of the hardware abstraction layer is to mask most of the network and make a kernel think it's running on a different set of hardware or a specific hardware device. When the hardware and the kernel communicate, the hardware abstraction layer translates the information back and forth. The hardware abstraction layer is 1 symbolized by the block provided with reference number 5 .

However, it has proven to be disadvantageous that the number of electronic devices that are installed in motor vehicles, for example, is increasing more and more, in particular due to increasing digitization. At the same time, hardware abstraction layers used are often static, which makes it difficult to connect new electronic devices or new hardware devices within a network and results in the need to make complex adjustments or changes to at least part of the hardware abstraction layer. This also complicates the maintenance and updating of hardware devices within the network, especially the adjustment of the corresponding configurations.

2 10 shows a block diagram of a network 10 according to embodiments of the invention.

The network 10 is based on the in 1 shown network, where components or parts with the same function or construction as in 1 carry the same reference numbers and will not be discussed separately.

How 2 shows, the network also has annotation units 11 which are each designed to annotate data communicated between the at least two hardware devices 2 .

The fact that data is annotated and not the hardware devices 2 has the advantage that it is no longer necessary to switch between individual software components or functions and hardware devices that deliver data to be processed by the functions, but rather the corresponding data itself with corresponding information of origin or information from what kind of hardware device the data comes from. This has the advantage that if further hardware devices are to be integrated into the network 10, in particular hardware devices from different data providers, at least part of the hardware abstraction layer for integrating the additional hardware devices no longer has to be changed in a costly manner. Rather, instead of the hardware abstraction layer, improved middleware or improved services are provided and used for integrating different components of the network 10 .

Overall, a network 10 is thus specified, with which the connection of new hardware devices is simplified.

According to the embodiments of 2 an annotation unit 11 is provided for each hardware device 2 . Furthermore, however, a common annotation unit can also be provided for a number of hardware devices, for example.

According to the embodiments of 2 the annotation units 11 are also each designed to identify or store information about a current version of the data or the corresponding hardware device 2 in addition to the details of origin.

The data communicated between the hardware devices can also be sensor data, for example from the individual hardware devices Sensors assigned to sensors or control units collect data.

The individual annotation units 11 are also designed in particular to provide the individual data with a segmentation that contains information about the type of data in question, i.e. what kind of data it is, for example a currently recorded vehicle speed, information about how that data was obtained and information about what type of hardware device that data came from.

How 2 further shows that the network 10 also has an annotation unit 11 which is designed to annotate the data originating from a function 3 implemented in the network.

In addition, each of the annotation units 11 shown has a translation unit 12, the translation unit 12 being designed to translate data from at least one data provider into a shared form.

A shared form is in turn understood to mean a form of the data which can be appropriately used and further processed by all components of the network, for example the at least two hardware devices and software components within the network.

The shared form is in accordance with the embodiments of 2 specified by a head of the network or head and corresponds in particular to the form used by the head of the network.

In this case, the individual translation units 12 are each designed in particular to convert the data payload into the shared form and also to add corresponding information of origin in the form of metadata.

According to the embodiments of 2 policy settings and/or security standards of the head are also adopted. Furthermore, however, a further common component can also be provided, which makes common security and/or privacy settings for all hardware devices or annotation units.

However, data that is not safety-related can be uploaded and/or updated directly while the motor vehicle is in operation.

According to the embodiments of 2 a library containing translations of data forms used by the at least one data provider into the shared form is stored on each translation unit 12 .

In addition, the translation units 12 are each a plug-in module.

According to the embodiments of 2 a plug-in module in each case ensures that the data from a data provider can be integrated into the network 10 . Furthermore, a plug-in module can also be designed to integrate the data from a number of data providers, in particular data providers which use the same communication protocol, into the network.

Furthermore, the individual translation units 12 are designed in such a way that they can each be written to from the outside. In particular, each of the plug-in modules has a programming interface via which the configuration of the corresponding plug-in module is updated from outside the network 10, for example by an operator of the network or a manufacturer of software and/or hardware components of the network and/or can be expanded. This means that both the individual plug-ins or plug-in modules and configurations can be updated externally.

How 2 further shows that each annotation unit 11 also has an identification unit 13 which is designed to identify data which cannot be annotated as such.

According to the embodiments of 2 the individual identification units 13 are each also designed to annotate the reason why the corresponding data cannot be annotated, for example to add a corresponding error indication to the data. Furthermore, the data that cannot be annotated can also be added to the time at which this data occurred within a data flow. The correspondingly annotated data can then be transmitted, for example, to a backend on which an image or shadow of the corresponding motor vehicle is stored for further or more precise error analysis.

Reference List

1

network

2

hardware device

3

bus system

4

function

5

hardware abstraction layer

10

network

11

annotation unit

12

translation unit

13

labeling unit

QUOTES INCLUDED IN DESCRIPTION

This list of documents cited by the applicant was generated automatically and is included solely for the better information of the reader. The list is not part of the German patent or utility model application. The DPMA assumes no liability for any errors or omissions.

Patent Literature Cited

• US8254285B2 [0006]

Claims (8)

Network which has at least two hardware devices (2) which are communicatively connected to one another, the network (10) further having at least one annotation unit (11) which is designed to annotate data communicated between the at least two hardware devices (2). network after claim 1 , wherein in the network (10) further at least one function (4) is implemented, and wherein the at least one annotation unit (11) is further designed to also annotate data originating from the at least one function. network after claim 1 or 2 , wherein the at least one annotation unit (11) further comprises a translation unit (12), and wherein the translation unit (12) is configured to translate data from at least one data provider into a shared form. network after claim 3 , wherein a library containing translations of data forms used by the at least one data provider into the shared form is stored on the translation unit (12). network after claim 3 or 4 , wherein the translation unit (12) is a plug-in module. network after one of claims 3 until 5 , wherein the translation unit (12) is designed such that it can be written from the outside. network after one of Claims 1 until 6 , wherein the network (10) further comprises at least one marking unit (13) which is designed to mark data which cannot be annotated as such. Motor vehicle, which has a network (10) according to one of Claims 1 until 7 having.

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