JP2002187506A - On-vehicle electronic equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide on-vehicle electronic equipment capable of making an on-vehicle computer control the equipment by connecting a number of the equipment to the on-vehicle computer even if the memory capacity of the on-vehicle computer is not so largely increased. SOLUTION: The on-vehicle electronic equipment on which each of the electronic equipment 2, 3 having different functions is controlled by the on-vehicle computer 1 connected to the equipment is constituted only to register the equipment connected to the on-vehicle computer 1 immediately after one of the electronic equipment 2, 3 is connected to the on-vehicle computer 1, to down-load a control application possessed by the equipment to the on-vehicle computer is the case of using the connected equipment and to eliminate the application when it becomes unrequired.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an in-vehicle electronic device, and more particularly to an in-vehicle electronic device in which a plurality of in-vehicle electronic devices having respective functions are controlled by one in-vehicle computer.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a vehicle-mounted electronic device, for example, a vehicle-mounted navigation device and a vehicle-mounted acoustic device are known. The in-vehicle navigation device displays the map data read from a CD ROM or the like and the position of the vehicle obtained from the GPS on a display device, and further calculates a recommended route from the current position to the destination by inputting the destination. To display a map screen displayed on a display device to guide a route to a destination.

[0003] On-vehicle audio equipment has a reproduction function for reproducing recording media such as compact cassette tapes, CDs and MDs, and A
It has a broadcast receiving function of receiving radio broadcasts such as M and FM and converting them into audio signals.

[0004] These on-vehicle electronic devices have been separately mounted on vehicles. When the in-vehicle electronic devices are independently mounted as described above, each of the operation panels must be operated when operating each device, and the operability may deteriorate depending on the arrangement. In addition, there is a disadvantage that a large space is required for disposing the operation panel, and further, since the operation program of each device is independent, software and a memory for storing the software are large.

In order to improve such disadvantages, Japanese Patent Application No. 20-210
For example, as shown in FIG. 15, an in-vehicle electronic device proposed in JP-A No. 00-15113
The in-vehicle audio device 22 is connected to the in-vehicle computer 20 via the bus line 23, and an application for controlling the in-vehicle navigation device 21 and the in-vehicle audio device 22 is transmitted to the in-vehicle computer 20 via the bus line 23. The data is transferred, and the vehicle-mounted navigation device 21 and the vehicle-mounted acoustic device 22 are controlled by the vehicle-mounted computer 20.

[0006]

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The above-mentioned Japanese Patent Application No. 2000
According to the in-vehicle electronic device proposed in -15113,
The number of devices that can be connected to an in-vehicle computer is limited by the memory capacity of the in-vehicle computer, and the memory capacity of the in-vehicle computer must be increased in order to connect many devices. There is a problem that the manufacturing cost increases.

[0007] The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and an object of the present invention is to connect many devices to a vehicle-mounted computer without increasing the memory capacity of the vehicle-mounted computer. An object of the present invention is to provide a vehicle-mounted electronic device that can be controlled by a vehicle-mounted computer.

[0008]

According to the present invention, there is provided an on-vehicle electronic device in which each of the electronic devices having different functions is controlled by a on-vehicle computer connected thereto. Immediately after being connected to the in-vehicle computer, only registration of the device connected to the in-vehicle computer is performed, and when using the connected device, the control application held by the device is downloaded to the in-vehicle computer. , The application is deleted when it is no longer needed.

Further, in the vehicle-mounted electronic device, when the vehicle-mounted computer detects that one of the electronic devices is disconnected from the vehicle-mounted computer, the vehicle-mounted computer erases an application for controlling the device. It is configured so that

[0010]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS A vehicle-mounted electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a vehicle-mounted computer used in the vehicle-mounted electronic device of the embodiment. In FIG. 4, reference numeral 10 denotes a main controller including a CPU and the like.
Control itself.

A main storage memory 11 is connected to the main controller 10. The main storage memory 11 is an area for storing a control application for controlling the on-vehicle navigation device 2 and the on-vehicle acoustic device 3 shown in FIG. 1 and arithmetic operations temporarily required for controlling the entire on-vehicle electronic device. It has an area for storing results.

The main controller 10 further includes an I /
O controller 12, input device 13, audio output device 14
And the video device 15 are connected. The I / O controller 12 is an interface for communicating with the in-vehicle navigation device 2 and the in-vehicle audio device 3 shown in FIG.

The video processing device 15 comprises a graphic controller 17, a video RAM 18, and a display device 16. The graphics controller 17 converts the screen data output from the main controller 10 into a video R
The data is expanded and stored in the AM 17 and the video RAM 17
Is displayed on the display device 16. The voice output device 14 outputs a voice guide message as appropriate according to a command from the main controller 10.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing the overall configuration of a vehicle-mounted electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 1 shows a state in which the vehicle-mounted navigation device 2 is connected to the vehicle-mounted computer 1 via the bus line 4 and the vehicle-mounted audio device 3 is not yet connected to the vehicle-mounted computer 1. At this time, the ID of the in-vehicle computer (ID ₀ ) and the ID of the in-vehicle navigation device 2 (ID ₁ ) are registered in the memory of the in-vehicle computer ₁ .

FIG. 2 shows a state in which a vehicle-mounted acoustic device 3 is further connected to the vehicle-mounted computer 1. When the in-vehicle audio device 3 is newly connected to the in-vehicle computer 1 via the bus line 4 as described above, first, the in-vehicle audio device 3 transmits a connection request signal to the in-vehicle computer 1 and receives the connection request signal. The in-vehicle computer 1 creates the ID ₂ of the in-vehicle audio device 3, registers the ID ₂ in the in-vehicle computer 1, and transmits it to the in-vehicle audio device 3. The on-vehicle acoustic device 3 registers the ID ₂ .

FIG. 3 shows a state in which the in-vehicle navigation device 2 is operated by the in-vehicle computer 1 when the in-vehicle navigation device 2 and the in-vehicle acoustic device 3 are connected to the in-vehicle computer 1 as described above.

In this case, when the in-vehicle navigation device 2 is activated by the input device of the in-vehicle computer 1, the in-vehicle computer 1 transfers the ID ₁ of the in-vehicle navigation 2 and the request for downloading the control program application. In response to this, the in-vehicle navigation device 2 transfers the application of the control program owned by the in-vehicle navigation device 2 to the in-vehicle computer 1, and the in-vehicle navigation device 2
Can be operated.

Next, the operations of the vehicle-mounted computer 1 and the connected devices (the vehicle-mounted navigation device 2 and the vehicle-mounted sound device 3) will be described in detail with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 5 shows a series of messages exchanged when the connected device is connected to the vehicle-mounted computer via the bus line. FIG. 9 shows the operation of the vehicle-mounted computer at this time. As shown in FIG.

As shown in FIGS. 9 and 10, in step S1, the on-board computer is in a state of waiting for a connection request from a connected device, and when the connected device is connected to the bus line, the connection is confirmed by hardware. In step S8, the connected device that has detected the connection request sends a connection request message including information unique to the connected device and information on the service of the connected device to all connected devices.

Even if a connected device other than the in-vehicle computer receives this message, it has no meaning and is ignored. When the in-vehicle computer receives this message, in step S2, it writes necessary information into a management table prepared in the in-vehicle computer, further issues an ID number in step S3, and then in step S4, An ID information message including the ID number given to the connected device and the ID number of the in-vehicle computer is sent to the destination with the number unique to the connected device.

Upon receiving the ID information message in step S9, the connected device waiting for ID transfer registers both received ID numbers in step S10.
Next, in step S11, an ID acquisition confirmation message for confirming that the ID number has been acquired is transmitted. This message contains the ID number given to this device.

When the in-vehicle computer waiting for the ID acquisition confirmation message in step S5 receives the ID acquisition confirmation message, it checks in step S6 whether the ID number included in the message and the ID number managed by itself are correct. If it is correct, a connection end message is transmitted in step S7, and the process waits for a connection request message in step S1. If the IDs are different, the in-vehicle computer transmits an ID transfer message again in step S4, and repeats this process until the ID is correctly transmitted.

Upon receiving the connection end message in step S12, the connected device waiting for reception determines in step S13 whether or not the message is a connection end message.
Step S14: Start the download management application and end the process. If it is not a connection end message, in step S10, the connected device saves both ID numbers received again, and repeats step S11 and subsequent steps.

The application is downloaded as needed. When control of a certain connected device becomes necessary on the in-vehicle computer, messages are exchanged as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 between the in-vehicle computer and the connected device. (Depending on the case, there may be a plurality of applications for controlling the connected device on the in-vehicle computer. Therefore, the download may not be possible. Therefore, the message flow as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7 may occur. However, it is possible to design so that the processing shown in Fig. 7 is not performed as much as possible.) Messages are exchanged using an ID. FIG. 11 shows the operation of the vehicle-mounted computer at this time, and FIG. 12 shows the operation of the connected device. First, a case where an application can be downloaded will be described. As shown in FIG. 11 and FIG.
In step S15, the ID of the connection device to be operated is checked from the management table.
And send a download request message to the destination. For example, when the user wants to use the navigation device 2 shown in FIG. 3, a download request is issued to the connected device having ID ₁ .

In step S27, upon receiving the download request, the connected device waiting for the download request sends a transfer size message to the in-vehicle computer in step S28 to notify the capacity of the application to be sent.

In step S17, the vehicle-mounted computer waiting for the transfer size message receives the transfer size message. In step S18, the in-vehicle computer determines whether there is a capacity for holding the application. A possible message is transmitted, and the process waits until the application is transmitted in step S20 and receives it.

When the connected device waiting for the message at step S29 receives the transferable message, the connected device waits for the message at step S29.
At 30, it is determined what the message is, and if it is determined that the message is transferable, the application is transferred at step S33, and then an end request message is transmitted at step S34.

The in-vehicle computer that has received the application in step S20 waits for an end request message from the connected device in step S21, and upon receiving the end request message, registers the application in the management table in step S22, and registers the application in step S23. Is started, and an end confirmation message is transferred in step S26 to end the operation.

When the connected device waiting for the end confirmation message in step S35 receives the end confirmation message,
The communication with the downloaded application is performed in step S36, and the application that monitors deletion of the downloaded application in step S37 is started and terminated.

Next, the case where the application cannot be downloaded will be described. As shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, the in-vehicle computer checks the ID of the connected device to be operated from the management table in step S15, and then sends a download request message with this ID as the destination in step S16.

Upon receiving the download request in step S27, the connected device waiting for the download request sends a transfer size message to the in-vehicle computer in step S28 to notify the capacity of the application to be transmitted.

When the in-vehicle computer waiting for the transfer size message receives the transfer size message in step S17, it determines in step S18 whether or not there is a capacity to hold the application. Sends an impossible message and waits for an end request message in step S25;
Upon receiving the end request message, an end confirmation message is transmitted in step S26, and the process ends. If necessary, notify that the application cannot be downloaded.

When the connected device waiting for the message receives the message in step S29, it determines what message it is in step S30. If it determines that the message is a transfer impossible message, it transfers the end request message in step S31. Waiting for completion confirmation in S32,
When the end confirmation message is received, the process waits for a download request again in step S27.

The application of the connected device that is no longer required due to the operation is deleted. At the time of deletion, a message as shown in FIG. 8 is exchanged between the vehicle-mounted computer and the connected device. FIG. 13 shows the operation of the vehicle-mounted computer at this time, and FIG. 14 shows the operation of the connected device.

First, the in-vehicle computer executes step S4.
0 sends a delete message to the connected device controlled by the application to be deleted. Next, in step S41, the application is deleted.
In 2, the registration in the management table is completed, and the process ends.

In step S45, when the connected device waiting for the deletion message receives the deletion message,
In step S46, the control application that communicates with the application transferred to the in-vehicle computer is terminated, and in step S47, the download management application is activated and terminated.

When the connected device is disconnected from the bus line, the in-vehicle computer detects that the device has been disconnected because there is no response to the connection confirmation signal a predetermined number of times, and deletes the application of the connected device.

[0039]

According to the in-vehicle electronic device of the present invention, a plurality of in-vehicle electronic devices having respective functions are controlled by one in-vehicle computer, so that the operability is good and the memory is not increased. The number of connectable devices can be dynamically increased.

Further, by using the ID as shown in the embodiment, the size of each message can be reduced, and the load on the network can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a vehicle-mounted electronic device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing another embodiment of the configuration of the vehicle-mounted electronic device.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing still another embodiment of the configuration of the in-vehicle electronic device.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a vehicle-mounted computer used in the vehicle-mounted electronic device.

FIG. 5 is a diagram for explaining a signal transmission state between the devices of the vehicle-mounted electronic device.

FIG. 6 is a diagram for explaining another transmission state of a signal between the devices of the vehicle-mounted electronic device.

FIG. 7 is a diagram for explaining still another transmission state of a signal between devices of the on-vehicle electronic device.

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining still another transmission state of a signal between devices of the on-vehicle electronic device.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating an operation of a vehicle-mounted computer of the vehicle-mounted electronic device.

FIG. 10 is a flowchart showing an operation of each device of the on-vehicle electronic device.

FIG. 11 is a flowchart showing an operation of a vehicle-mounted computer of the vehicle-mounted electronic device.

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing an operation of each device of the vehicle-mounted electronic device.

FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing an operation of a vehicle-mounted computer of the vehicle-mounted electronic device.

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing an operation of each device of the on-vehicle electronic device.

FIG. 15 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a conventional in-vehicle electronic device.

[Explanation of symbols]

 REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 vehicle-mounted computer 2 vehicle-mounted navigation device 3 vehicle-mounted acoustic device 4 bus line 10 main controller 11 main storage memory 12 I / O controller 13 input device 14 audio output device 15 video processing device 16 display device 17 graphic controller 18 video RAM 20 In-vehicle computer 21 In-vehicle navigation device 22 In-vehicle acoustic device 23 Bus line

──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continued on the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁷ Identification symbol FI Theme coat ゛ (Reference) G06F 13/10 320 G06F 9/06 640H

Claims (2)

[Claims] 1. An in-vehicle electronic device in which electronic devices having different functions are controlled by an in-vehicle computer connected thereto, wherein the in-vehicle computer is connected immediately after one of the electronic devices is connected to the in-vehicle computer. The configuration is such that only the connected device is registered, and when the connected device is used, the control application held by the device is downloaded to the in-vehicle computer, and the application is deleted when it becomes unnecessary. In-vehicle electronic equipment. 2. The in-vehicle computer according to claim 2, wherein when the in-vehicle computer detects that one of the electronic devices is disconnected from the in-vehicle computer, the in-vehicle computer deletes an application for controlling the device. 1. Electronic equipment for vehicles.