CN217787647U - Domain controller suite for autopilot development - Google Patents

Abstract

The utility model provides a domain controller external member for autopilot development, including MCU and with MCU signal connection's SOC, MCU CAN receive outside CAN signal. The kit further comprises: and the CAN transmitting and receiving circuit CAN directly transmit at least part of the external CAN signal to the SOC. And one end of the TSN switch is connected to the MCU through a signal, and the other end of the TSN switch is connected to the SOC through a signal. According to the utility model discloses a long time that is used for domain controller external member of autopilot development, CAN reduce CAN signal transmission to SOC satisfies car autopilot to the requirement of time certainty.

Description

Domain controller suite for autopilot development

Technical Field

The utility model relates to an automotive electronics technical field, concretely relates to domain controller external member for autopilot development.

Background

With the higher degree of automobile electronization, the number of the ECUs on the automobile is increased, and even the number of the ECUs on some automobiles exceeds one hundred. So many ECUs still need the intercommunication between them, make so many ECUs in order to coordinate the work on the whole car, have very big challenge. Conventionally, when a new function needs to be added to a vehicle, an ECU needs to be added, for example, a driving assistance system includes a forward collision warning ECU, a traffic recognition ECU, a parking assistance ECU, and the like. The addition of a new ECU will break the original network topology structure of the whole vehicle and bring new challenges to the wiring harness arrangement of the whole vehicle.

After the domain controller is introduced, the number of ECUs can be greatly reduced. The domain controller, which is simply a plurality of conventional ECUs with similar functions, is concentrated into a controller with powerful computing power and resources, and the controller is called a domain controller, so the domain is referred to as a functional domain. The controller needs to include the functions of a plurality of conventional ECUs, each of which corresponds to one or more applications in the domain controller, and the underlying drivers that control the actuators are collectively managed by the domain controller. The domain controllers communicate with each other through high-speed buses such as CAN FD, flexray or vehicle-mounted Ethernet, so that the complexity of the network topology of the whole vehicle CAN be reduced, and the number of wire harnesses of the whole vehicle CAN be reduced. And the domain controller has good expansibility, and only needs to be developed on the existing domain controller when a new function needs to be introduced, so that the OTA over-the-air downloading function can ensure that the vehicle-mounted software is updated more conveniently.

In the process of implementing the invention, the inventor finds that at least the following problems exist in the prior art:

in the initial stage of development of some auto-driving projects, because there is no complete domain controller, a large number of wire harnesses are needed to connect and respectively supply power to a related MCU (micro controller Unit) development board and an SOC (System on Chip). Meanwhile, the operation of the domain controller requires the input of multiple paths of environment data information. Wherein, traditional automotive electronics CAN signal transceiver function all realizes at MCU, and in the domain controller development process, some CAN signals (for example time sensitive CAN signal) need to transmit SOC. The existing market scheme generally transmits a CAN signal to an MCU (microprogrammed control unit) and then transmits the CAN signal to an SOC (system on chip) through the MCU, and the signal delay is long. Meanwhile, the conventional ethernet cannot meet the requirement of automatic driving of the automobile on time certainty. The above problems all add to the workload and difficulty of the domain controller development phase.

There is therefore a need for a domain controller kit for autonomous driving development that at least partially addresses the above technical problems.

SUMMERY OF THE UTILITY MODEL

To address at least one of the problems in the prior art, the present application proposes a domain controller kit for autonomous driving development.

In a particular embodiment of a domain controller kit for autopilot development in accordance with the invention, it comprises: the system comprises an MCU and an SOC (system on chip) in signal connection with the MCU, wherein the MCU CAN receive an external CAN signal; the kit further comprises: a CAN transceiver circuit that CAN directly transmit at least part of an external CAN signal to the SOC; and one end of the TSN switch is connected to the MCU through a signal, and the other end of the TSN switch is connected to the SOC through a signal.

According to the utility model discloses a domain controller external member for autopilot development, under the normal condition, outside CAN signal CAN all transmit to MCU. Some of the CAN signals (such as time-sensitive CAN signals) CAN be directly transmitted to the SOC through the CAN transceiver circuit, and compared with the existing mode of transmitting the CAN signals to the SOC through the MCU, the transmission time is reduced. The TSN switch, i.e., a switch supporting a real-Time TSN (Time-Sensitive Network) ethernet, is used to implement real-Time data transmission between the MCU and the SOC, and meet the requirement of automatic driving of the vehicle on Time certainty.

Optionally, the CAN transceiver circuit includes:

the filter circuit is used for filtering the CAN signal;

and the CAN transceiver is used for converting the filtered CAN signals into TTL level signals and transmitting the TTL level signals to the SOC.

Optionally, the kit further comprises a power management circuit for supplying power to the MCU, the SOC, and the TSN switch.

Optionally, the kit further includes at least one deserializing chip, and the deserializing chip is configured to deserialize the 4-channel camera data signal directly and transmit the deserialized data signal to the SOC.

Optionally, the kit further comprises:

and the printed circuit board is used for fixedly arranging the MCU, the SOC, the CAN transceiving circuit, the power management circuit and the deserializing chip. Or a plurality of detachably connected printed circuit boards for respectively and fixedly arranging the MCU, the SOC, the CAN transceiver circuit, the power management circuit and the deserializing chip.

Optionally, the kit further includes a housing, and the housing is configured to accommodate and fix the MCU, the SOC, the CAN transceiver circuit, the power management circuit, the deserializing chip, and the printed circuit board.

Optionally, the surface of the housing is further provided with an opening for dissipating heat of the SOC. And/or ase:Sub>A Type-C/USB-A/video output port is reserved on the shell. And/or the shell is reserved with a switch Ethernet interface.

Optionally, the CAN transceiver employs a TJA1462ATK transceiver.

Optionally, the deserialized signal of the deserializing chip is transmitted to the SOC through a FAKRA connector. And/or the deserializing chip adopts a MAX96712 chip.

Optionally, the MCU employs TC397. And/or the SOC adopts an Xavier chip.

Through utilizing according to the utility model discloses technical scheme, the beneficial effect that can obtain lies in at least:

1. the CAN receiving and transmitting circuit enables the SOC to also directly receive the CAN signal, and the time for transmitting the CAN signal to the SOC CAN be reduced;

2. the TSN switch supporting the real-time TSN Ethernet is integrated, the real-time communication between the MCU and the SOC is realized, and the requirement of automatic driving of an automobile on time certainty can be met;

3. a deserializing chip capable of deserializing 4 paths of camera data signals directly is used, so that the deserializing and environment data information input capabilities are improved;

4. the shell has the function of enhancing heat dissipation, and meanwhile, sufficient expansion interfaces are reserved, so that the expansion of subsequent development functions is facilitated.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the invention as claimed.

Drawings

Further objects, functions and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of embodiments of the present invention, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a domain controller suite for autopilot development in accordance with a preferred embodiment of the present invention;

fig. 2 is a schematic circuit diagram of a CAN transceiver circuit in a domain controller kit for autopilot development according to a preferred embodiment of the invention; and

fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of a housing in a domain controller kit for autopilot development according to a preferred embodiment of the invention.

Description of the reference numerals:

100: a kit;

10：MCU；

20：SOC；

30: a CAN transceiver circuit;

31: a filter circuit;

32: a CAN transceiver;

40: a TSN switch;

50: a power management circuit;

60: deserializing the chip;

70: a housing;

71: an opening;

72: ase:Sub>A Type-C/USB-A/video output port;

73: a switch ethernet interface.

Detailed Description

The objects and functions of the present invention and methods for accomplishing the same will be apparent by reference to the exemplary embodiments. However, the present invention is not limited to the exemplary embodiments disclosed below; it can be implemented in various forms. The nature of the description is merely to assist those skilled in the relevant art in a comprehensive understanding of the specific details of the invention.

It should be noted that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of exemplary embodiments according to the invention. As used herein, the singular is intended to include the plural unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms "comprises" and/or "comprising," when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

Ordinal words such as "first" and "second" are referred to in this application as labels only, and do not have any other meanings, such as a particular order, etc. Also, for example, the term "first component" does not itself imply the presence of "second component", and the term "second component" does not itself imply the presence of "first component".

It is to be understood that the terms "upper", "lower", "front", "rear", "left", "right", "inner", "outer", and the like are used herein for purposes of illustration only and are not limiting.

The utility model provides a domain controller external member 100 for autopilot development. The utility model provides a kit 100 CAN use for example in the automobile development field, for example be used for the domain controller of autopilot development, CAN reduce the length of time that CAN signal transmission to SOC, satisfy the requirement of automobile autopilot to time certainty.

In a preferred embodiment, as shown in fig. 1, the kit 100 includes an MCU10, an SOC20, a CAN transceiver circuit 30, and a TSN switch 40. The MCU10 and the SOC20 serve as a computing unit in the kit 100 for processing the received signals (including the CAN signal), for example, the MCU may adopt a TC397 chip, and the SOC may adopt a Xavier chip. The CAN transceiver circuit 30 is configured to transmit at least a portion of the CAN signal directly to the SOC20.TSN switch 40 is used to enable real-time data transfer between MCU10 and SOC20.

Specifically, as shown in fig. 1, the kit 100 includes an MCU10 and an SOC20 in signal connection with the MCU10. The MCU10 may receive an external CAN signal. The kit 100 further comprises a CAN transceiver circuit 30.CAN transceiver circuitry 30 may transmit at least a portion of an external CAN signal (e.g., a time-sensitive CAN signal) directly to SOC20. The kit 100 also includes a TSN switch 40. One end of the TSN switch 40 is connected to the MCU10, and the other end of the TSN switch 40 is connected to the SOC20.

In order to allow for a uniform management of the power domains within the entire package 100, the package 100 may include a power management circuit 50. The power management circuit 50 is used to supply power to the MCU10, SOC20, and TSN switch 40. The power management circuit 50 is not limited thereto, and an existing circuit may be used.

According to the utility model discloses a domain controller external member 100 for autopilot development, at first outside CAN signal CAN all be transmitted to MCU10. Some of the CAN signals (e.g., time-sensitive CAN signals) may be transmitted directly to SOC20 via CAN transceiver circuitry 30, which reduces transmission time compared to the conventional manner of transmitting to SOC20 via MCU10. The TSN switch 40, i.e., a switch supporting a real-Time TSN (Time-Sensitive Network) ethernet, is used to implement real-Time data transmission between the MCU10 and the SOC20, and meet the requirement of automatic driving of the vehicle on Time certainty.

Referring to fig. 2, in order to provide an implementable CAN transceiver circuit 30 in the illustrated embodiment, the CAN transceiver circuit 30 may include: the filter circuit 31, the filter circuit 31 is used for filtering the CAN signal. CAN transceiver 32, CAN transceiver 32 is used to convert the filtered CAN signal into TTL level signal and transmit to SOC20.

The CAN transceiver circuit 30 of the present embodiment has a simple overall circuit and is easy to manufacture. The filter circuit 31 and the CAN transceiver 32 may be existing circuits or components. When the SOC20 receives CAN signals of other nodes, the differential signals on the CAN bus are received by the CAN transceiver 32 after passing through the filter circuit 31, the high-speed comparator inside the CAN transceiver 32 converts the filtered signals into TTL level signals, and finally the CAN controller inside the SOC20 reads the TTL level signals and analyzes message information.

It is understood that the embodiment only illustrates that the CAN transceiver circuit 30 CAN be used to transmit the CAN signal to the SOC20, and in the electronic circuit field, the circuit often has a bidirectional signal transmission characteristic. The CAN transceiver circuit 30 in this embodiment CAN also be used for the SOC20 to transmit CAN signals to other nodes, and the procedure is reverse to the above-described procedure. When the SOC20 sends the CAN signal to other nodes, the CAN controller in the SOC20 sends a TTL level signal, which is converted into a differential signal through a time-out timer, signal slope control and driving in the CAN transceiver 32, and finally sent to the CAN bus through the filter circuit 31. The function of the CAN transceiver 32 is to enable interconversion between TTL level signals and differential signals.

Further, in some embodiments of the present invention, referring to fig. 2, the specific content of the can transceiver circuit 30 may be: CAN _ TXD and CAN _ RXD on the left side of the figure are CAN controller pins on the SOC, carrying TTL level signals. CAN _ H and CAN _ L on the right are two differential signal lines of the CAN bus. The GND pin of the CAN transceiver (for example, TJA1462ATK transceiver CAN be adopted) is grounded, the VCC pin is connected with 5V level to supply power for the transceiver, and the VIO pin is connected with 3.3V level. The STB pin is connected to the IO pin of the SOC and a pull down circuit is added for controlling the CAN transceiver state. One end of each of two inductors L1 and L2 forming the common mode filter is correspondingly and respectively connected with the CAN _ H and the CAN _ L, and the other end of each of the two inductors is correspondingly and respectively connected with a CANH pin and a CANL pin of the CAN transceiver, so that the common mode filter is used for filtering common mode interference of the CAN twisted pair. The resistor R2 and the capacitor C3 are connected in series to form an RC filter circuit for filtering the interference of the CAN _ L line. The resistor R1 and the capacitor C3 are connected in series to form an RC filter circuit for filtering the interference of the CAN _ H line. The grounding capacitor C2 is connected in parallel with the CAN _ L line, and the grounding capacitor C1 is connected in parallel with the CAN _ H line. One of the two D1 (electrostatic protection diodes) is connected to CAN _ H at one end, CAN _ L at the other end and the remaining ends are connected to common ground for guiding the high-energy pulses that may occur to ground.

Since the development of the domain controller requires many arithmetic operations, particularly for the domain controller for the development of the autonomous driving, a large amount of environmental data information, such as road condition information, pedestrian information, weather information, etc., is required. The current environmental data information is generally obtained by various sensors, such as a camera. The existing camera deserializing adapter plate uses MAX9296 chips, a single chip can deserialize 2 paths of camera data only, the deserializing data capability is weak, and obviously the requirement of automatic driving cannot be met. At present, a plurality of camera deserializing adapter boards need to be arranged to acquire environment data as much as possible, so that the circuit board is very complicated in layout and wiring.

Referring to fig. 1, in the illustrated embodiment, to solve the above problem, the kit 100 further includes at least one deserializer chip 60, and the deserializer chip 60 is configured to deserialize the 4-channel camera data signal directly and transmit the deserialized data signal to the SOC20. Preferably, the deserializing chip 60 may employ MAX96712. In addition, the deserialized signal of the deserializing chip 60 may be transmitted to the SOC20 through a FAKRA connector (not shown), which is an existing device. In this embodiment, the number of deserializing chips 60 is not limited. The deserializer chip 60 may be one, two, or more, as desired.

In the field of electronic circuits, various circuits and components are typically cured in printed wiring boards. The kit 100 may therefore further comprise a plurality of detachably connected printed wiring boards (not shown) for respectively mounting the MCU10, the SOC20, the CAN transceiver circuit 30, the power management circuit 50 and the deserializing chip 60. Thus, the manufacture, the disassembly and the assembly, the maintenance and the replacement are convenient. Wherein the specific arrangement of the MCU10, the SOC20, the CAN transceiver circuit 30, the power management circuit 50, and the deserializing chip 60 may not be limited. The MCU10, the SOC20, the CAN transceiver circuit 30, the power management circuit 50, and the deserializing chip 60 may be separately provided on a printed circuit board, or may be separately combined at random and then separately provided on a printed circuit board. For example, the MCU10 is separately provided on a printed circuit board, the SOC20 is separately provided on a printed circuit board, the deserializing chip 60 is also separately provided on a printed circuit board, and the CAN transceiver circuit 30 and the power management circuit 50 are provided on a printed circuit board.

It will be appreciated that logically, the kit may also be provided with only one printed wiring board. The MCU10, the SOC20, the CAN transceiver circuit 30, the power management circuit 50 and the deserializing chip 60 are all fixedly arranged on the printed circuit board.

Referring to fig. 3, the kit 100 of the present invention may further include a housing 70. The case 70 is used to house and fix the MCU10, the SOC20, the CAN transceiver circuit 30, the power management circuit 50, the deserializer chip 60, and the printed wiring board. The shape of the housing 70 is not limited and may be a cube, a cylinder, or other shapes. The material of the housing 70 is not limited, but metal, plastic or other materials may be used.

It is known that since the SOC20 is a high-computing-power chip, the amount of data calculated is fast, and the amount of heat generated is often large, the surface of the housing 70 may be further provided with an opening 71 for dissipating heat from the SOC20. The opening 71 is preferably located directly above the SOC20, and the shape thereof is not limited, and may be circular, square, or other shapes.

With continued reference to fig. 3, the housing 70 may also reserve ase:Sub>A Type-C/USB-ase:Sub>A/video output port 72 and ase:Sub>A switch ethernet interface 73 in accordance with the domain controller kit 100 for autopilot development of the present invention. Sufficient communication interfaces are reserved so as to facilitate communication with devices with different communication interfaces, and meanwhile, the shell 70 is also provided with an opening at the Ethernet interface of the switch so as to facilitate expansion of Ethernet devices for joint debugging. Although the shell 70 is shown as reserving both the Type-C/USB-ase:Sub>A/video output port 72 and the switch ethernet interface 73, in an embodiment not shown in the figure, the shell 70 may reserve only the Type-C/USB-ase:Sub>A/video output port 72 or only the switch ethernet interface 73.

According to the utility model discloses a domain controller external member 100 for autopilot development, some CAN signals (for example time sensitive CAN signal) CAN directly transmit SOC20 through CAN transceiver circuitry 30, compare in the current mode of transmitting SOC20 through MCU10, have reduced transmission time. The TSN switch 40 is used to implement real-time data transmission between the MCU10 and the SOC20, and meet the requirement of automatic driving of the vehicle for time certainty. Therefore, the system can help developers to quickly enter the real vehicle verification stage, accelerate the automatic driving research and development process and reduce the capital investment and technical threshold of the automatic driving research and development. Meanwhile, by using the novel deserializing chip 60, 4-path camera data can be deserialized directly by a single chip at the same time, so that the capability of acquiring environmental data information is improved. Moreover, the designed shell 70 has a good heat dissipation effect, and sufficient expansion interfaces are reserved, so that the expansion of subsequent development functions is facilitated.

As shown in fig. 2, the present invention CAN also provide a CAN transceiver circuit for a domain controller for automatic driving development, which CAN directly transmit at least part of the CAN signal to the SOC. The CAN transceiver circuit may reduce the time for a CAN signal (e.g., a time-sensitive CAN signal) to be transmitted to the SOC.

Referring to fig. 2, the can transceiver circuit may include: and the filter circuit is used for filtering the CAN signal. And the CAN transceiver is used for converting the filtered CAN signal into a TTL level signal and transmitting the TTL level signal to the SOC.

Other embodiments of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the invention disclosed herein. It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with a true scope and spirit of the invention being indicated by the following claims.

Claims (10)

1. A domain controller external member for autopilot development, includes little the control unit MCU and with system level chip SOC of MCU signal connection, MCU CAN receive outside CAN signal, its characterized in that, the external member still includes:

a CAN transceiver circuit that CAN directly transmit at least part of an external CAN signal to the SOC; and

and one end of the TSN switch is connected to the MCU through a signal, and the other end of the TSN switch is connected to the SOC through a signal.

2. The domain controller kit for autonomous drive development of claim 1, wherein the CAN transceiver circuit comprises:

the filter circuit is used for filtering the CAN signal;

and the CAN transceiver is used for converting the filtered CAN signals into TTL level signals and transmitting the TTL level signals to the SOC.

3. A domain controller kit for autopilot development according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the kit further comprises a power management circuit for supplying power to the MCU, the SOC and the TSN switch.

4. The domain controller kit for autopilot development of claim 3 wherein the kit further comprises at least one deserializing chip for deserializing 4-way camera data signals directly and transmitting to the SOC.

5. The domain controller kit for autonomous drive development of claim 4, wherein the kit further comprises:

the printed circuit board is used for fixedly arranging the MCU, the SOC, the CAN transceiving circuit, the power management circuit and the deserializing chip; or

And the plurality of detachably connected printed circuit boards are used for fixedly arranging the MCU, the SOC, the CAN transceiver circuit, the power management circuit and the deserializing chip respectively.

6. The domain controller kit for autopilot development of claim 5 wherein the kit further includes a housing for receiving and securing the MCU, the SOC, the CAN transceiver circuit, the power management circuit, the deserializing chip and the printed wiring board.

7. The domain controller kit for autopilot development according to claim 6 wherein a surface of the housing is further provided with an opening for heat dissipation from the SOC; and/or

ase:Sub>A Type-C/USB-A/video output port is reserved on the shell; and/or

And the shell is also reserved with a switch Ethernet interface.

8. The domain controller kit for autonomous drive development of claim 2, wherein the CAN transceiver employs a TJA1462ATK transceiver.

9. The domain controller kit for autopilot development of claim 4 wherein the signal deserialized by the deserializing chip is transmitted to the SOC via a FAKRA connector; and/or

The deserializing chip adopts MAX96712 chips.

10. The domain controller kit for autopilot development according to claim 1 wherein the MCU employs TC397; and/or

And the SOC adopts an Xavier chip.

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