JP2013106205A - Communication control device - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To improve versatility of software including application software and communication control software by requiring insignificant change in the software even when the software is applied to different networks.SOLUTION: A network unique ID is converted to a common ID in network layers 3A and 3B. Thereby, reception signals that are received by data link layers 2A and 2B and have given network unique IDs and a transmission signal that is generated in an application layer 5 and has a given common ID are transmitted as signals recognized by common IDs among the network layers 3A and 3B, a router layer 4, and the application layer 5. The common ID is defined so as to be capable of being used in common without requiring change in a communication control device even when being applied to different kinds or configurations of networks. Thereby, specifications of application software and communication control software can be in common generally.

Description

  The present invention relates to a communication control apparatus in which communication functions of signals to a network are hierarchized.

  For example, Patent Document 1 discloses a communication method for dynamically selecting a communication path according to an actual data transfer situation in a multi-home connection environment having a plurality of external connections to the Internet or the like.

  Patent Document 2 describes that a module software gateway that routes a message between two sub-networks is provided as a gateway unit that connects the sub-networks in the vehicle.

JP 2001-60956 A JP 2006-506862 A

  For example, in a network environment such as an in-vehicle LAN in which various control ECUs in a vehicle are network-connected, the type of control ECU and the type of signal to be communicated are often different depending on the type of vehicle. For this reason, when an ID corresponding to the type is assigned to a signal to be communicated to identify the signal, the signal ID is likely to be different for each network.

  Therefore, the application software that actually uses the signal and the communication control software for transmitting and receiving the signal via the network have many parts that depend on the applied network, which reduces the versatility. is there.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above points, and even if the applied network is different, only a small change is required in application software, communication control software, etc., and the versatility of the software is improved. It is an object of the present invention to provide a communication control device that can do this.

In order to achieve the above object, a communication control device according to claim 1, wherein a communication function of a signal to a network is hierarchized, and the hierarchical communication function includes at least a data link that receives a signal from the network. Layer, a plurality of application layers that perform signal reception management depending on each application, and a network layer that transmits signals between the data link layer and the application layer,
The signal received by the data link layer is given a network unique ID determined for the network according to the type of the signal,
The network layer has a reception ID conversion table for converting the network unique ID of the signal received by the data link layer into a common common ID as a communication control device, and the network unique ID is determined according to the reception ID conversion table. To convert to a common ID,
Furthermore, a router layer is provided between the network layer and the application layer to route the signal to the application layer that should receive the signal based on the common ID converted by the network layer.

  Thus, in the communication control apparatus according to the first aspect, the network unique ID is converted into the common ID in the network layer. For this reason, the signal with the network unique ID received at the data link layer is transmitted as a signal identified by the common ID between the network layer, the router layer, and the application layer. This common ID is determined so that it can be used in common in the communication control device without being changed even when the type and configuration of the applied network are different. Therefore, the application software that makes up the application layer and the router layer that is realized by the communication control software only handle the signals identified by the common ID. It can be generally shared. As a result, the versatility of the software can be improved.

  As described in claim 2, the reception ID conversion table in the network layer may include a correspondence defined so that a plurality of common IDs correspond to one network unique ID. . By defining the correspondence as described above in the reception ID conversion table, a signal given a certain network unique ID is received by a plurality of application layers according to a plurality of common IDs corresponding to the network unique ID. It becomes like this. This is because some signals may be required for a plurality of applications.

  As described in claim 3, the network layer and the application layer each have a common layer ID as a communication control device, and the common ID of the signal includes the layer ID of the network layer that has received the signal. The ID conversion table is defined so that the layer ID of the application layer in which the signal is to be received is incorporated, and an index part for making the common ID of each signal unique is included according to the type of each signal. It is preferable that In this way, it is possible to easily set the common ID even when the number of network layers or the number of application layers changes, for example.

  The network layer includes a first network layer and a second network layer connected to different networks, and the reception ID conversion table for at least one of the first network layer and the second network layer. For a predetermined network unique ID, a common ID that designates one network layer as a reception source and the other network layer as a reception destination may be defined. By setting such a common ID, a signal assigned with a predetermined network unique ID can be gatewayed between different networks via the first and second network layers and the router layer.

  As described in claim 5, when at least one of the application layers needs to send a signal to the network, a common ID corresponding to the type of the signal is given to the signal, and the router layer Based on the common ID given to the signal, the signal is routed to the corresponding network layer, and the network layer has a transmission ID conversion table for converting the common ID given to the signal into a network unique ID, According to the transmission ID conversion table, the common ID is converted into a network unique ID and given to the data link layer, and the data link layer preferably sends a signal to which the network unique ID is given to the network. By adopting such a configuration, a signal with a network unique ID is sent to the network while using a common ID to identify the signal between the application layer, the router layer, and the network layer. It becomes possible.

It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the communication control apparatus by embodiment. It is a figure which shows layer ID for specifying each network layer 3A, 3B and the application layer 5. FIG. (A) is a figure which shows the structure of common ID of a received signal, (b) is a figure which shows the structure of common ID of a transmission signal. It is a figure which shows an example of ID conversion table for received signals which the network layer 3A corresponding to the network A hold | maintains. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a received signal ID conversion table held by a network layer 3B corresponding to a network B. FIG. It is a flowchart which shows the process in the network layers 3A and 3B at the time of receiving a signal from the networks A and B. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the routing process in the router layer 4 with respect to a received signal. A reception notification destination layer ID table showing a correspondence relationship between the layer ID of each application layer 5 and the network layers 3A and 3B and a function for delivering a reception signal from the router layer 4 to each application layer 5 and the network layers 3A and 3B. It is a figure which shows an example. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the routing process in the router layer 4 with respect to a transmission signal. It is a figure which shows an example of the transmission request destination layer ID table which shows the correspondence of layer ID of network layer 3A, 3B, and the function for delivering a transmission signal from the router layer 4 to each network layer 3A, 3B. 6 is a diagram illustrating an example of a transmission signal ID conversion table held by a network layer 3A corresponding to a network A. FIG. It is a figure which shows an example of the ID conversion table for transmission signals which the network layer 3B corresponding to the network B hold | maintains. It is a flowchart which shows an example of the ID conversion process with respect to a transmission signal.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings. Note that the communication control device according to the present embodiment is applied in a closed network environment such as an in-vehicle LAN in which various control ECUs and the like in a vehicle are network-connected.

  In FIG. 1, the physical layers 1A and 1B correspond to media that actually electrically transmit signals, such as network cables. The physical layer 1A and the physical layer 1B constitute a network A and a network B, which are separate sub-networks, respectively. In the networks A and B, which are sub-networks, signal communication is performed according to a communication protocol such as CAN or LIN.

  The data link layers 2A and 2B are connected to the physical layers 1A and 1B, that is, the networks A and B, respectively, and receive signals transmitted through the networks A and B and send signals to the networks A and B. It is for doing. The data link layers 2A and 2B are realized by software (data link layer software module) as shown in FIG.

  A plurality of communication control devices as shown in FIG. 1 are connected to the networks A and B. Between the communication control devices, various signals such as a sensor detection signal, a signal indicating a predetermined calculation result, a signal indicating a control state, etc. Signals are sent and received. At the stage where these various signals are transmitted through the networks A and B, a network unique ID, which is an ID corresponding to the type of each signal, is given to each signal. This network unique ID is uniquely determined in each network depending on the type and configuration of the network. The data link layers 2A and 2B perform reception processing for selecting and receiving necessary signals from signals transmitted in the networks A and B using the network unique ID signal as a clue. Further, the data link layers 2A and 2B perform transmission processing for transmitting signals generated in the application layer 5 described later and assigned with a network unique ID in the network layers 3A and 3B to the networks A and B.

  The physical layers 1A and 1B and the data link layers 2A and 2B are connected via two channels CH1 and CH2, respectively. In the data link layers 2A and 2B, it is determined in advance in which channel CH1 and CH2 the corresponding signal is received or transmitted according to the network unique ID of the signal to be received or transmitted. It has been.

  The network layers 3A and 3B are connected to the data link layers 2A and 2B, respectively. The network layers 3A and 3B are also realized by software (network layer software module) in the same manner as the data link layers 2A and 2B.

  The network layers 3A and 3B receive the received signals when the signals are received at the data link layers 2A and 2B, and the network unique IDs attached to the received signals are determined to be common to the communication control devices. Received signal ID conversion processing for converting the received ID into a common ID is performed. This common ID is used not only in communication control apparatuses provided in the same network but also in communication control apparatuses with different applied networks. The received signal subjected to this ID conversion processing is given to the router layer 4 described later.

  Further, when the network layers 3A and 3B receive the signal to be transmitted generated in the application layer 5, the network layers 3A and 3B perform transmission signal ID conversion processing for converting the common ID given to the signal into the network unique ID. . The transmission signal that has been subjected to the ID conversion process and given the network unique ID is given to the data link layers 2A and 2B, and is sent to the networks A and B by the data link layers 2A and 2B.

  The network layers 3A and 3B perform the reception signal ID conversion process and the transmission signal ID conversion process described above, and the reception signal ID conversion table and the transmission signal indicating the correspondence between the network unique ID and the common ID for each signal. ID conversion table for use. The common ID, received signal ID conversion table, and transmitted signal ID conversion table will be described in detail later.

  The router layer 4 is located between the network layers 3A and 3B and the application layer 5, and controls transmission of signals between the network layers 3A and 3B and the application layer 5. The router layer 4 is also realized by software (router layer software module) in the same manner as the data link layers 2A and 2B and the network layers 3A and 3B. The software that forms the data link layers 2A and 2B, the network layers 3A and 3B, and the router layer 4 is communication control software.

  Specifically, when the received signal ID conversion processing is executed in the network layers 3A and 3B for the received signal, the router layer 4 goes to the application layer 5 where the signal is to be received based on the converted common ID. It has a router function to route the signal. As will be described in detail later, the common ID includes a layer ID indicating the application layer 5 from which the signal is to be received. The router layer 4 identifies the routing destination application layer 5 by referring to the layer ID.

Further, when the transmission signal is generated in the application layer 5, the router layer 4 performs processing for transmission such as ID conversion on the transmission signal based on the common ID given to the transmission signal. It also has a function of routing transmission signals toward the power network layers 3A and 3B and the data link layers 2A and 2B. Also in the routing of the transmission signal, the router layer 4 refers to the layer ID indicating the network layers 3A and 3B to be processed for transmission included in the common ID, and the network layer 3A of the routing destination , 3B
A plurality of application layers 5 are provided to perform signal transmission / reception management depending on each application. That is, in each application, the received signals necessary for executing each application are different as a whole, and the types of transmission signals to be generated are also different, so that the application layer 5 is set for each application. The application layer 5 is also realized by software (application layer software module) in the same manner as the other layers.

  Next, the common ID will be described. First, as shown in FIG. 2, layer IDs for specifying each of the network layers 3A and 3B and the application layers 5 are defined. In FIG. 2, each layer ID is shown in hexadecimal. 2 shows an example in which layer IDs are determined for two network layers 3A and 3B and three application layers 5, but the number of network layers 3A and 3B and application layers 5 is shown. Is not limited to this example. In particular, when the applied networks are different, the numbers of the network layers 3A and 3B and the application layers 5 can naturally be different.

  In the present embodiment, the common ID is determined using the layer IDs of the network layers 3A and 3B and the layer ID of the application layer 5 described above. Hereinafter, specific examples will be described.

  First, FIG. 3A is a diagram showing a structure of a common ID of received signals. The common ID of the received signal is the layer ID of the network layer that performed the ID conversion processing of the received signal, the layer ID of the application layer 5 that should receive the received signal, and the received signal is distinguished from other types of received signals It is composed of a combination of indexes.

  FIG. 3B shows the structure of the common ID of the transmission signal. The common ID of the transmission signal includes the layer ID of the application layer 5 that generated the transmission signal, the layer IDs of the network layers 3A and 3B that should execute ID conversion processing on the transmission signal, and other types of transmission signals. The transmission signal is combined with an index for identification.

  As an example, the layer IDs of the network layers 3A and 3B and the layer ID of the application layer 5 described above each have a data length of 1 byte, and the index has a data length of 2 bytes. Therefore, the data length of the common ID is 4 bytes. As shown in FIG. 3A, for example, the first ID of the common ID of the received signal is the network layer ID, the second is the application layer 5 layer ID, and the third to fourth bytes are indexed. Also, as shown in FIG. 3B, for example, the first ID of the transmission signal common ID is the layer ID of the application layer 5, the second byte is the layer ID of the network layer, and the index is arranged at the third to fourth bytes.

  As described above, by incorporating the layer ID of the application layer 5 where the received signal is to be received or the layer ID of the network layers 3A and 3B where the ID conversion processing is to be performed on the transmission signal into the common ID, the router The layer 4 can specify the routing destination with reference to these layer IDs. Further, the common ID is determined by using the layer IDs of the network layers 3A and 3B and the layer ID of the application layer 5, and the applied network differs. For example, the number of the network layers 3A and 3B and the number of the application layers 5 The common ID can be easily set even when the value changes.

  Next, the received signal ID conversion table will be described. 4 shows an example of the received signal ID conversion table held by the network layer 3A corresponding to the network A, and FIG. 5 shows the received signal ID conversion table held by the network layer 3B corresponding to the network B. An example is shown.

  As shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, in the received signal ID conversion table, a common ID corresponding to the network unique ID assigned to each signal in the transmission stage of the networks A and B is defined. Each network layer 3A, 3B converts the network unique ID into a common ID in accordance with the correspondence defined in the received signal ID conversion table. In addition, as described above, in the data link layers 2A and 2B, it is determined in advance in which channel CH1 and CH2 the corresponding signal is received or transmitted according to the network unique ID. . For this reason, in the received signal ID conversion table, it is determined in which channel the signal having the network unique ID is received together with the network unique ID.

  Here, there are two points to be noted regarding the received signal ID conversion table. The first point is that the received signal ID conversion table can include a correspondence defined such that a plurality of common IDs correspond to one network unique ID. . For example, in the example shown in FIG. 4, it is determined that two common IDs (0x1303, 0x1401) correspond to one network unique ID (7E5).

  By defining the correspondence as described above in the received signal ID conversion table, a signal to which a predetermined network unique ID (7E5) is assigned is a plurality of common IDs (0x1303, 0x1401) corresponding to the network unique ID. Accordingly, it is received by each of the plurality of application layers 5. Depending on the type of signal, it may be required for a plurality of applications. However, according to the above method, a necessary signal can be easily given to a plurality of applications.

  Next, the second point is that the received signal ID conversion table is not a layer ID of the application layer 5 but a layer ID of the network layers 3A and 3B as a layer ID in which the received signal is to be received. May be included. In the example shown in FIG. 4, the common ID (0x1202) corresponding to the network unique ID (80F) is applicable. That is, this common ID is transmitted from the network layer 3A having the layer ID of 0x1 according to the configuration rule of the common ID of the received signal, and the signal is received by the network layer 3B having the layer ID of 0x2. Means that.

  Therefore, by setting such a common ID, a signal received in the network A reaches the network layer 3B from the network layer 3A via the router layer 4, and is sent to the network B by the data link layer 2B. become. Therefore, a desired signal can be gatewayed between different networks. The network layers 3A and 3B also perform protocol conversion when the communication protocols of the networks A and B are different when the signals are gatewayed.

  Next, processing in the network layers 3A and 3B when receiving signals from the networks A and B will be described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. The process shown in the flowchart of FIG. 6 is executed when a signal is received in the data link layers 2A and 2B and the received signal is given to the network layers 3A and 3B.

  First, in step S100, the network unique ID assigned to the signals given from the data link layers 2A and 2B to the network layers 3A and 3B and the network unique ID included in the received signal ID conversion table are sequentially set to 1. By comparing them one by one, a matching network unique ID is searched in the received signal ID conversion table. This search process is continued until a matching network unique ID is found by the loop process in step S120.

  In step S110, it is determined whether or not a network unique ID that matches the network unique ID assigned to the signal received by the network layers 3A and 3B has been found in the received signal ID conversion table. If a matching network unique ID is found, the process proceeds to step S130, where the corresponding network unique ID is converted into a common ID according to the received signal ID conversion table, and a reception notification is sent to the router layer 4. send. For example, the network layers 3A and 3B issue a reception notification to the router layer 4 by calling a function for delivering a received signal from the network layers 3A and 3B to the router layer 4. Then, the received signal is delivered to the router layer 4 by inputting the common ID, data body, data length, etc. of the received signal to the called function.

  The router layer 4 specifies the application layer 5 or the network layers 3A and 3B that should receive the received signal with reference to the layer ID of the second byte of the common ID in the received received signal. Then, the received signal is routed toward the specified application layer 5 or the network layers 3A and 3B.

  A specific example of the routing process in the router layer 4 is shown in the flowchart of FIG. First, in step S200, the reception notification destination layer ID table is searched for a layer ID that matches the layer ID indicating the reception destination application layer 5 or the network layers 3A and 3B in the common ID of the reception signal.

  Here, the reception notification destination layer ID table is held by the router layer 4. For example, as shown in FIG. 8, the layer IDs of the application layers 5 and the network layers 3A and 3B and the router layer 4 It shows the correspondence with functions for delivering received signals to the application layer 5 and the network layers 3A and 3B.

  In step S210, it is determined whether or not a matching layer ID is found in the reception notification destination layer ID table. This determination process is repeated until a matching layer ID is found by the loop process in step S220. If it is determined in step S210 that a matching layer ID has been found, the process proceeds to step S230.

  In step S230, according to the reception notification destination layer ID table, reception notification is performed by calling a function for delivering a reception signal from the application layer 5 or the network layers 3A and 3B corresponding to the corresponding layer ID. Then, the received signal is delivered by inputting the common ID, data body, data length, etc. of the received signal to the called function.

  Next, the transmission signal ID conversion table will be described. However, the transmission signal is generated in each application layer 5, and a common ID corresponding to the type of signal is given by the application layer 5. When this transmission signal is delivered to the network layers 3A and 3B, the common ID of the transmission signal is converted into a network unique ID using the transmission signal ID conversion table. Therefore, first, a description will be given of how the transmission signal generated in the application layer 5 and given the common ID is delivered to the network layers 3A and 3B.

  First, the application layer 5 generates a transmission signal to be transmitted, and assigns a common ID corresponding to the signal type to the transmission signal, and then calls a function for passing the transmission signal to the router layer 4. Then, the application layer 5 delivers the transmission signal to the router layer 4 by inputting the common ID of the transmission signal, the data body, the data length, and the like into the called function.

  Then, the router layer 4 performs the routing of the transmission signal by executing the processing shown in the flowchart of FIG. Here, the router layer 4 holds a transmission request destination layer ID table as shown in FIG. 10, for example. This transmission request destination layer ID table shows the correspondence between the layer IDs of the network layers 3A and 3B and the function for delivering the transmission signal from the router layer 4 to each of the network layers 3A and 3B.

  In step S300 of the flowchart of FIG. 9, the transmission request destination layer ID table is searched for a layer ID that matches the layer ID indicating the network layers 3A and 3B of the transmission destination in the common ID given to the transmission signal. In step S310, it is determined whether a matching layer ID is found in the transmission request destination layer ID table. This determination process is repeated until a matching layer ID is found by the loop process in step S320. If it is determined in step S310 that a matching layer ID has been found, the process proceeds to step S330.

  In step S330, a transmission request is issued by calling a function for delivering a transmission signal from the network layers 3A and 3B corresponding to the corresponding layer ID according to the transmission request destination layer ID table. Then, by inputting the common ID, data body, data length, and the like of the transmission signal to the called function, the transmission signal is delivered to the network layers 3A and 3B.

  In this way, when the network layers 3A and 3B receive the transmission signal to which the common ID is assigned, the common ID is converted into the network unique ID by referring to the transmission signal ID conversion table held by each of the network layers 3A and 3B. . 11 shows an example of a transmission signal ID conversion table held by the network layer 3A corresponding to the network A. FIG. 12 shows a transmission signal ID conversion table held by the network layer 3B corresponding to the network B. An example is shown.

  As shown in FIGS. 11 and 12, in the transmission signal ID conversion table, a network unique ID corresponding to the common ID is defined. Further, the transmission signal ID conversion table also includes channel information indicating which channel each signal should be sent to the networks A and B.

  Each network layer 3A, 3B converts the common ID into a network unique ID according to the correspondence defined in the transmission signal ID conversion table and assigns it to the transmission signal as shown in step S400 of the flowchart of FIG. . Each of the network layers 3A and 3B transmits the transmission signal to which the network unique ID is assigned to the data link layers 2A and 2B through the channels CH1 and CH2 defined in the transmission signal ID table. Then, the data link layers 2A and 2B execute transmission processing for transmitting the transmission signals to the networks A and B.

  As described above, according to the communication control apparatus of the present embodiment, the network unique ID is converted into the common ID in the network layers 3A and 3B. For this reason, the received signal received with the network unique ID received at the data link layers 2A and 2B and the transmission signal generated at the application layer 5 and assigned with the common ID are transferred to the network layers 3A and 3B and the router layer. 4 and the application layer 5 are transmitted as signals identified by a common ID. This common ID is determined so that it can be used in common in the communication control device without being changed even when the type and configuration of the applied network are different. Accordingly, the application software for realizing each application that constitutes the application layer 5 and the router layer 4 realized by the communication control software only handle the signal identified by the common ID. The specifications can be generally shared. That is, for example, even when the network unique ID is different or the number of network layers 3A, 3B and application layers in the communication control device is different, what is necessary is the correspondence between the network unique ID and the common ID, The definition of the correspondence relationship between the layer ID and the data delivery function is only changed. Therefore, the versatility of the above-described application software and communication control software can be improved.

  In addition, although embodiment mentioned above is preferable when implementing this invention, this invention is not restrict | limited to embodiment mentioned above, In the range which does not deviate from the main point of this invention, it changes variously. It is possible.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, layer IDs are defined for each of the network layers 3A and 3B and the application layer 5, and the common ID is set by incorporating these layer IDs. However, the common ID may be determined without using the layer ID as long as it is common to the communication control devices.

1A, 1B ... Physical layer 2A. 2B ... Data link layer 3A, 3B ... Network layer 4 ... Router layer 5 ... Application layer

Claims (5)

The signal communication function for the network is hierarchized, and the hierarchized communication function includes at least a data link layer that receives a signal from the network and a plurality of application layers that perform signal reception management depending on each application. And a communication control device including a network layer for transmitting a signal between the data link layer and the application layer,
The signal received by the data link layer is given a network unique ID determined for the network according to the type of the signal,
The network layer has a reception ID conversion table for converting a network unique ID of a signal received by the data link layer into a common ID common to the communication control device, and according to the reception ID conversion table, A network unique ID is converted to a common ID,
Furthermore, a router layer is provided between the network layer and the application layer to route the signal to the application layer that should receive the signal based on the common ID converted by the network layer. Communication control device.   The reception ID conversion table for the network layer includes a correspondence relationship that is defined so that a plurality of common IDs correspond to one network unique ID, whereby a signal to which the network unique ID is given is The communication control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the communication control apparatus is received by a plurality of application layers according to the plurality of common IDs. The network layer and the application layer each have a common layer ID as the communication control device,
The common ID of the signal includes the layer ID of the network layer that received the signal and the layer ID of the application layer that should receive the signal, and the common ID of each signal is set according to the type of each signal. The communication control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the ID conversion table is defined so as to include an index part for uniqueness. The network layer includes a first network layer and a second network layer connected to different networks,
The reception ID conversion table for at least one of the first network layer and the second network layer instructs one network layer as a reception source and the other network layer as a reception destination for a predetermined network unique ID. A common ID is defined, whereby the signal assigned the predetermined network unique ID is gatewayed between different networks via the first and second network layers and the router layer. The communication control device according to claim 3. When at least one of the application layers needs to send a signal to the network, a common ID corresponding to the type of the signal is given to the signal,
The router layer routes the signal to the corresponding network layer based on the common ID assigned to the signal,
The network layer has a transmission ID conversion table for converting a common ID given to the signal into the network unique ID, and converts the common ID into the network unique ID according to the transmission ID conversion table. To the data link layer,
The communication control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the data link layer sends a signal to which the network unique ID is assigned to the network.

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