JPH02121494A - On-vehicle multiplex transmitter - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To surely discriminate the operation state of a sender side by a receiver side node by avoiding a time width of a signal signifying the operation of an electric equipment at the sender side form being decreased more than a threshold level of a discrimination time required to recognize and decide a signal by other communication node. CONSTITUTION:In an on-vehicle multiplex transmitter in which plural electric equipments are interconnected via multiplex communication nodes connected decentralizingly by common multiplex communication transmission lines, the time width of a signal representing the operation of a sender side electric equipment is selected so that it is not shorter than the threshold level of the discrimination time set required to recognize and decide the significance of the signal by other communication node receiving the signal in the case of sending the said signal to other communication node from a communication node relating to the electric equipment required for the operation of the operator. Thus, nodes at the receiver side can identify the operating state of the electric equipments in the sender side surely and sure information transmission from the sender side node to the receiver side node is attained.

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention (Field of Industrial Application) The present invention relates to a multiplex transmission device for a vehicle that transmits and receives signals between electrical components in a vehicle using a distributed multiplexing method. When there are two or more actuators that operate, the distributed multiplex node for the two or more actuators that receives the transmitted signal from the distributed multiplexed node for the switch can reliably determine the switch operation information in the transmitted signal. This invention relates to improving the width of the transmitted signal.

(Prior Art) With the increasing use of electronics in automobiles, the enlargement and complexity of wiring (wire harnesses) connecting electronic components has become a serious problem. In order to solve this problem, especially in the field of automobiles, multiplex communication is attracting attention. Multiplex communication transmits multiple pieces of data on one wire by time division multiplexing, and is basically based on serial transmission (
For example, JP-A-62-4658).

In the second case, one node to multiple nodes, such as broadcasting the same information from one node to multiple nodes, such as locking four side doors with one switch. Distributed multiplexing systems are attracting attention because of the characteristics of multiplex communication in automobiles, which involve many communications between nodes.

In a distributed multiplex communication system, each node has a unique communication L
It has an SI or a microcomputer, etc., and these devices determine the operation or status of electrical equipment related to the destination node from information in the transmitted signal according to a predetermined algorithm.

(Problem to be Solved by the Invention) By the way, this is especially true for switches operated by the driver, but the operation time of these switches (for example, the time the switch is pressed) is determined by the operator.
Or you could say that it varies completely depending on the conditions. Generally, a notebook related to an electrical component such as a switch is configured to transmit a switch-on signal having a time width corresponding to the time when the switch is turned on to other nodes.

Now, here, this switch is the switch that turns on the air conditioner, and the node related to the switch sends this switch-on transmission signal to two nodes, for example, a node for the confirmation buzzer for switch-on operation and a node for the air conditioner controller. Assuming the case of sending. The communication LSIs or microcomputers of these two receiving nodes are
It is assumed that whether or not the air conditioner switch has been turned on is determined using determination times of 100 ms and 150 ms, respectively.

If the operator turns on the air conditioner switch for 150 m5 or more, both the father node and the air conditioner controller node can recognize and determine the switch-on operation. However, if the switch is turned on with a length of about 120m5, for example, the air conditioner controller node does not have enough recognition time, so a problem occurs in which the air conditioner does not operate even though the confirmation buzzer sounds. do.

The above problem was explained in terms of the relationship between the air conditioner switch and the buzzer air conditioner unit, but in general, one signal is sent to multiple nodes, and the receiving side's note is based on the width of the received signal. This is the same thing when judging information. Furthermore, since the arbitrariness of the width of the transmitted signal is caused by the transmitting side, it cannot be dealt with by the receiving side node.

Therefore, the present invention was proposed in order to eliminate such conventional problems, and its purpose is to transmit signals related to the operation of a certain electrical component to multiple electrical components in a distributed multiplex system vehicle multiplex communication device. An object of the present invention is to propose a multiplex transmission device for a vehicle that allows these receiving nodes to reliably identify the operating status of electrical components on the transmitting side when transmitting to a receiving node of an electrical component.

(Means and operations for achieving the object) As shown in FIG. 1, the configuration of the present invention for achieving the above object is based on a multiplex communication system in which a plurality of electrical components are connected in a distributed manner through a common multiplex communication transmission path. In the vehicle multiplex transmission equipment interconnected to this multiplex communication transmission line through communication nodes, among these multiplex communication nodes, communication notes related to electrical components that require operator operation are connected to the transmitting electrical components. When sending a signal meaning an operation to other communication nodes, the time width of this signal is set in these receiving nodes in order for the other communication nodes receiving this signal to recognize and judge the meaning of the signal. The present invention is characterized by comprising means for setting the determination time so that the determination time is at least not shorter than the determined determination time threshold.

That is, it means an operation on an electrical component, and the time width of a signal related to this operation is set to be long enough for other communication nodes to recognize and determine the meaning of the signal.

(Example) The present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings according to an example in which the present invention is applied to a distributed multiplex communication device for an automobile.

As described later, in this embodiment, at the sending node,
When a switch operation by an operator is detected, the width of the transmitted signal is optimally controlled on the transmitting side so that the communication node on the receiving side can reliably receive the signal indicating this switch operation. "Transmission signal width optimization control".

<Overall Configuration> FIG. 2 is an overall diagram showing the connections between the multiplex communication system electrical equipment and the non-multiplex system electrical equipment used in this embodiment. For the sake of simplicity, seven electrical components of the multiplex communication system are used in this embodiment. Each multiplex communication system electrical component has a built-in LSI for communication control, as will be described later, and forms a node in terms of a network. These multiple communication system nodes are connected via a multiple transmission path bus MB made of twisted pair wires or the like. The seven multiplex communication nodes are a multiplex communication node CC5I8 for electrical equipment that controls displays such as navigation devices and audio equipment, a multiplex communication node MT21 for electrical equipment that controls meters, and a multiplex communication node for car phone adapters. Node location l 7, multiplex communication node ACU for air conditioner control unit 16, multiplex communication node ACS for electrical components such as air conditioner switches
W20, a multiplex communication node 5TSW15 for electrical equipment such as switches around the steering wheel, and a multiplex communication node JB14 for a connection box for supplying power to each node and connecting a device with a test function for self-diagnosis. It is. A buzzer attached to the JB node 14 emits a warning sound to indicate the start of failure diagnosis, etc.

In addition, the switches around the steering wheel that are connected to the electrical components of the above 5TSW15 include a turn light switch,
It includes a turn left switch, small lamp switch, horn switch, and headlamp high beam switch, and meters include a turn light indicator, turn light indicator, and head live high beam indicator.

As described above, the CCS node 18 is provided with a navigation unit (not shown). In the failure diagnosis of this embodiment, the CRT for displaying this navigation information is also used as a display for diagnosis results. Furthermore, three-digit LED displays among various meters connected to the MT node 21 are also used to display failure diagnosis results.

The power supplied to each multi-system electrical component will be explained. In this embodiment, the power supplies are +B and A, as in a normal car.
Three power sources, CC and IG (12 cm each), are prepared depending on the position of the engine key. The power supplied to multiple electrical components is the load to which the node is connected: the role of the switch.

It is supplied in different ways depending on the purpose. That is, the JB node 14
．． Since the MT node 21 must always be supplied with power except when the engine key is removed, the child B
is supplied. The nodes to which ACC power is supplied are the storage node 17, CCS node 18, 5TSW node 15, etc., and the nodes to which IG is supplied are the ACS
WCS top 20. This is the ACU node 16.

Note that only seven nodes are shown in FIG. 2 for the purpose of simplifying the explanation, and in reality, more switches and loads may be connected. For example, a front multiplex communication node and a rear multiplex communication node are further provided, and the rear front multiplex communication node includes a front turn line signal lamp, a front turn left signal lamp, a front small lamp,
The rear multiplex communication node may also include a rear turn light signal lamp, a rear turn left signal lamp, a tail lamp, etc. Furthermore, the connections between the nodes and each power source are not limited to the connection relationships shown in FIG. 2, and other connection relationships may be considered in consideration of operability, ease of use, and the like.

The non-multiplexed electrical components of the embodiment shown in FIG. 2 include the above-mentioned EGII
In addition to O, there are a transmission controller 11 (ATC), an anti-lock brake controller 12 (ALBC), an automatic cruise controller 13 (ASC), etc. and,
Between the TWS unit and each of the above non-multiplexed electrical components,
They are connected by a TEST signal line for sending a TEST flaw signal for starting self-diagnosis to these non-multiplexed electrical components, and a FAIL signal line for receiving the test results. This TEST signal line and FAIL signal line,
Furthermore, the transmission line MBI is concentrated at the terminal of the connector 24 provided inside the vehicle.

In the automobile multiplex transmission system of this embodiment, automobile driving information is transmitted between multiple electrical components for each frame F having a configuration as shown in FIG. This frame F is S D
(5tart7 DeLimiter) code, priority code, frame ID code, data length,
The frame has a data 1 to data N1 check code.

First, the "rSD code" is a specific code representing the start of frame F, and the receiving multiplex communication notebook recognizes the start of frame F when it receives this SD code symbol. A "priority code" is a code indicating a priority order which indicates which signal should be processed with priority when a plurality of multiplex communication nodes transmit data at the same time and the signals collide. When a conflict occurs between multiple pieces of data, the data with higher priority is processed first. "Code from frame" is a code that identifies what kind of data is allocated to each bit of the data area. In other words, it is a code indicating the combination of data in the data area of frame F.

The receiving multiplex communication node can know the content of the data in the data area of the frame F by this frame ID code. The number of data that follows is written in "data length", and if there are N pieces of data, N is sent as the data length. The multiplex communication node that receives this frame reads only the contents of the data length. The field following the data is a CRC check code (error detection code), and by checking this, it is possible to know that the frame is at its end.

<Transmission Signal Width Optimization Control> An outline of the transmission signal width optimization control in this embodiment will be explained using the case of operating an air conditioner as an example.

In FIG. 2, 31 to 33 are FAN switches for instructing to operate the air conditioner, and each FAN switch instructs the intensity of air blowing. Each of these switches also serves as a switch for turning on the air conditioner. For example, when the switch 31 is pressed, the blower motor 30 of the air conditioner rotates due to strong wind. and,
When any of the switches 31 to 33 mentioned above is pressed, the confirmation that the switch has been pressed is confirmed by the JB node 14 (TWS unit).
This is done by sounding the buzzer 25.

When the air conditioner's FAN switch is pressed, a frame with a data field as shown in Figure 4A is displayed in Figure 4B.
As shown in the figure, it is sent from node ACSW to node JB and node ACU.

Here, the press time width that is the threshold for recognizing the press of the FAN switch on the JB node is set as Looms, and the press time width that is the threshold for recognizing the press of the FAN switch on the ACSWCS is set as 150m5. shall be. Then, in the AC8W node, when preparing a transmission frame as shown in FIG. 4A, the following switch-on time (counted by the timer TM) is controlled. Let the time width T, ~T, be T1<T2<T3<T4<T
Let s be T, time: Noisy time T2 time equal to “0”:
Among the threshold times for determining switch press in each node, the shortest time (in this example, JB
(equal to approximately 100 m5 of the notebook) 13 hours: The longest time among the threshold times for determining switch presses at each node (in this example, equal to approximately 150 m5 of the ACU node) T4 time: Unnaturally Long on time: 15 hours, which is an abnormally long on time. As shown in FIG. 5, TM is TM≦T.

If so, TM=O and no frame is sent to the JB node or the like. This is because it was recognized as switch noise. Furthermore, when the switch-on time TM is T+<TM≦T2, the receiving node has the switch-on time T
Send M as is. Next, 'I', <TM≦T, or T, <TM≦T4 or T4<TM≦T.

In this case, set T M = 73, that is, forcefully set the longest time T among the threshold times for each node to judge a switch press as the switch-on time, and set the switch-on time to the receiving node. send. If TM>Ts, a frame indicating an abnormal condition is sent to the JB node.

FIG. 6 shows a schematic configuration of a multiplex communication controller 100 commonly used in each node in FIG. 2. In FIG.

In FIG. 6, 1 is MB1 which is the transmission line in FIG. 2, and 2 is a connector for connecting the multiplex communication controller 100 and MBI. 3 is a multiple interface module, and 8 is a host CPU. Multiple I/
The F module 3 performs carrier detection/collision detection on MBl, further performs serial data reading from MBl, conversion to parallel data (D7 to Do), and the like. Also, between the host CPU 8 and the CPU 8, the read 8-bit parallel data (D7 to Do) is sent to the host CPU 8, and the
Controls the conversion of parallel data from 8 to serial data, etc. In addition, vertical parity checks and error detection code calculations are also performed. That is, it controls the physical layer level in the network. The host CPU 8, actual switches, loads (not shown), etc. are connected to the wire 6.7 and input.

It is connected via an output interface circuit 4.5.

The electrical components are connected to the multiple interface module 3 via the CPU, and further connected to the transmission path MBI.

The operation of electrical components is analyzed by CPtJ8, converted into the format shown in Figure 3, sent to module 3, and transmitted to MB.
Sent to I. Conversely, the signal from the MBI is received by the module 3 and its data portion is sent to the CPU, where it is analyzed and processed accordingly.

(Details of Control) FIG. 7 shows a control program for the CPU on the ACSWCS, and this program is started periodically at regular intervals.

First, in step S2, it is determined whether or not the FAN switch has been pressed. If the FAN switch is not pressed, the process advances to step S4, and the set state of a predetermined flag is checked. When this flag is set, it indicates that pressing of the FAN switch was detected in the previous cycle. Therefore, when the flag is "O", the process proceeds to step S26, and if it is determined that another switch (for example, an air conditioner temperature setting switch, not shown) is turned on, the process is performed in step S28. If it is determined in step S26 that no other switch is turned on, the process directly returns to the main routine.

When it is detected in step S2 that the FAN switch is turned on, the process proceeds to step S22, where the timer TM is counted up, and a flag is set in step S24. Further, in step S25, the number of the FAN switch is taken in. Then, return to the main routine. Therefore,
As long as the FAN switch is pressed, step S22
Then, the on time is counted by the timer TM.

When the FAN switch is turned off, the process proceeds from step S4 to step S6, where the flag is reset. In step S8, the magnitude of the timer TM and the noise determination time T+ is checked. If TM is less than or equal to T, that is, if it is a noisy switch operation, the process advances to step S20, the timer is cleared, and the process returns to the main routine. If the count value of the timer TM is greater than or equal to the noise time (TM>T,), the process advances to step S10 and the magnitudes of TM and T2 are compared. If T M < T z, step 31
At step 8, the time held in the timer TM is converted into the format shown in FIG. 4 and sent to the module 3 (FIG. 6) in order to be sent to the JB node and the ACU node.

Next, in step S12, if T 2 < TM < T s , in step S14; TM '' T 3 is set. That is, as described above, the switch-on time is
This is set to the longest judgment time among the judgment times of each node. Then, in step 818, the data is formatted as shown in FIG. 4 and sent to the multiple interface module 3. Module 3 that received this is C
Frames are processed according to the 3MA/CD algorithm.
It is sent to the B section node ACU node.

FIG. 8A is a program flowchart related to control of the JB section node cpus, and FIG. 8B is a program flowchart related to control of the ACU node cpus.
3 is a program flowchart related to control of CPU of a node. For example, in the JB section node flowchart,
If the data field in the received frame contains data indicating the FAN switch number, steps S42 and subsequent steps are executed. In step S42, it is determined whether the switch-on time is 100 m5 or more. In the case of this embodiment, the on time is forcibly set to a time (T,) exceeding 150 m5 as described above, so in step S4
You can now proceed to step 4, where you can sound the buzzer 25.

Also in the control of the ACU node, since the switch-on time is set to exceed 150 m5 in step S52, a current corresponding to the FAN switch number is caused to flow through the blower motor 30 in step S54.

<Effects of the Embodiment> According to the embodiment described above, ■; When transmitting a signal from an electrical component such as a switch that is operated by a human to another notebook, the switch-on time is The determination time set for the node is forcibly set to a time greater than or equal to the determination time. Therefore, even if the decision times at the receiving nodes vary, and even if the operator turns on the switch for an arbitrarily short period of time, the receiving node will turn on the switch in enough time for all receiving nodes to make a decision. Since the time is received, there is no longer a malfunction that occurs in the past, where some nodes recognize that they are on and some other nodes are recognized as off.

In this case, it may be possible to set the determination time to the shortest time on the receiving side, but doing so is not preferable because it becomes susceptible to noise. Additionally, system changes can be dealt with flexibly by handling them all at once at the sending node.

(2): The buzzer 25 in the above embodiment was used to generate a sound to confirm that the switch of the ACSW node was pressed. By the way, the switches are not limited to AC3W nodes even in this embodiment. For example, various switches of STSW nodes are also used. Generally, the press of a switch is determined by the node where the switch is installed, and a buzzer provided at each node generates a confirmation sound. However, when a buzzer is provided in one node and the buzzer is shared between nodes as in the above embodiment, many frames are sent to the node where the buzzer is installed. In that case, the switch-on times in the frame may vary between notes, but if the sending node uniformly sets the switch-on time as in the above example, the buzzer can be easily shared.

■: The transmitting node detects an abnormally long switch-on signal and notifies the JB node accordingly.

Further, an unnaturally long switch-on time, such as when the switch is turned on for about 10 seconds, is clipped to T3, so there is no problem. This is effective in the following cases: In FIG. 4, the switch-on time is represented by a binary value with a fixed number of bits. On the other hand, among other multiplex communication systems, there is a system in which the on-time is expressed as unit bit time x number of on-bits. In such a case, if the FAN is switched on for a long time, it takes time to send out the frame, and other nodes often lose the opportunity to send out their own frames (collisions).

However, if clipping is performed at a fixed time as in this embodiment, this problem will disappear.

<Modification>■; In the above embodiment, when sending information about the operation performed on the operation switch of the air conditioner to the controller node of the air conditioner, the node equipped with the switch confirmation buzzer, etc., the above operation information is sent. The idea was to set the signal width to a value greater than or equal to the maximum determination time of the receiving node. However, the electrical components according to the present invention are these air conditioner switches.

It is not limited to buzzers, air conditioner controllers, etc. Essentially, the signal width of the information sent from the transmitter is not constant, this information is sent to multiple receivers, and the signal width that is used as the basis for information judgment by the receiver differs depending on the receiver. If these conditions are met, the present invention can be applied.

■: In the above embodiment, the CSMA/CD method was applied, but if distributed multiplex communication is performed,
The present invention can be applied to any communication method, for example, a token method.

(2) In the control shown in FIG. 8, noise is detected when the switch is on, but it may also be detected when the switch is off.

Also, in Figure 5, T+<ON time T.

If so, the on-time T3 may be set.

(Effects of the Invention) As explained above, in the vehicle multiplex transmission device of the present invention, a plurality of electrical components are connected to a common multiplex communication transmission path via multiplex communication nodes that are distributed and connected. In interconnected vehicle multiplex transmission devices, among these multiplex communication nodes, a communication node related to an electrical component that requires operation by an operator transmits a signal indicating the operation of the transmitting electrical component to other communication nodes. When sending this signal, the time width of this signal is at least not shorter than the determination time threshold set for other communication nodes that receive this signal to recognize and determine the meaning of the signal. The present invention is characterized in that it includes means for setting.

Therefore, since the time width of the signal indicating an operation is set to be long enough for other communication nodes to recognize and determine the meaning of the signal, these receiving nodes can reliably transmit the signal. Since the operating state of the electrical equipment on the side can be identified, reliable information transmission from the sending node to the receiving node(s) can be performed.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

1 is a diagram showing the configuration of the present invention; FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a network of multiplex transmission equipment according to an embodiment of the present invention; FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a frame format used in the embodiment; Figure 4A is a diagram explaining the format of the transmission frame when operating an air conditioner switch as an example, Figure 4B is a diagram showing the destination of the transmission frame when operating an air conditioner switch as an example, and Figure 5 is the switch operation time. Figure 6 is a diagram showing the hardware configuration of the node used in the embodiment. Figure 7 is a flowchart of the control program in the AC3W node. , FIG. 8A and FIG. 8B are flowcharts of the control program in the JB node and ACU node, respectively. In the figure, 1...Multiple transmission line MB, 2...Connector, 3...
Multiple interface module (LSI), 4...
Input interface circuit, 5... Output interface circuit, 6... Input signal line, 7... Output signal line,
8...Host CPU, 15...Buzzer 30...
Blower motor, 31-33...Air conditioner FAN switch, 100...Multiple communication controller.

Claims (1)

[Claims] (1) In a vehicle multiplex transmission device in which a plurality of electrical components are mutually connected to a multiplex communication transmission path through multiplex communication nodes that are distributed and connected by a common multiplex communication transmission path, among the multiplex communication nodes mentioned above, When a communication node related to an electrical component that requires an operator's operation sends a signal indicating the operation to another communication node, the time width of this signal is set so that the other communication node receiving the signal 1. A multiplex transmission device for a vehicle, comprising means for setting a determination time so that the determination time is at least not shorter than a threshold value of a determination time set for these receiving nodes in order to recognize and determine the meaning of a message.