JPH11296364A - Method for updating data in storage device of on-vehicle electronic equipment - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To update the data in a storage device on an on-vehicle electronic equipment in a state being mounted on a vehicle. SOLUTION: In this data updating method, a CD(compact disk) changer unit 3, a radio unit 4, a navigation unit 6, and a TV(television) unit 7 or the like are mutually connected through a common signal line (bus line) 10 in this system, and a data write device 20 is connected with the common signal line 10. Then, data to be updated are transferred from the data write device 20 through the common signal line 10 to the desired unit, and the data in a storage device in the desired unit are updated.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a system in which on-vehicle electronic devices such as radios and TVs (televisions) are connected by a common signal line, and a storage device such as a flash ROM built in the on-vehicle electronic devices. The present invention relates to a method for updating data in a storage device of an in-vehicle electronic device for updating data (including a program: the same applies hereinafter) stored in a storage device.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art As a typical example of electronic equipment mounted on a vehicle,
There are audio-visual devices and navigation devices such as radios, TVs and CD (Compact Disk) players.
In recent years, the functionalization of these in-vehicle electronic devices has been promoted, and microcomputers have been mounted on each in-vehicle electronic device. Further, there is also a device in which each vehicle-mounted electronic device is unitized and connected to each other by a common signal line, and a signal is transferred between the vehicle-mounted electronic devices via the common signal line.

For example, in a system in which a navigation unit, a CD unit, a radio unit, a TV unit, a sound processor unit, a control unit, a display unit, and the like are interconnected by a common signal line, a single control unit connects a plurality of electronic devices. It can be operated and the operation status of each electronic device can be displayed on the display unit.

By the way, in a vehicle-mounted electronic device, a program for operating a microcomputer is often stored in a rewritable storage device such as a flash ROM. In this case, there is an advantage that a defect can be corrected or a new function can be added only by rewriting the data in the flash ROM. In a conventional in-vehicle electronic device, when updating data in a flash ROM, usually,
Data is written directly to the flash ROM by a data writing device such as a gang writer. Also, a dedicated terminal for connecting to the data writer is provided on the board of the in-vehicle electronic device, and the data is transferred to the flash ROM by connecting the dedicated terminal and the data writer with a cable. Some are.

[0005]

However, when updating the data in the flash ROM, it is conventionally necessary to remove the electronic device from the vehicle or to remove the case of the electronic device, which is extremely complicated. It takes a long time. Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide a data updating method for a storage device of an in-vehicle electronic device that can update data of a storage device in the in-vehicle electronic device while being attached to a vehicle.

[0006]

An object of the present invention is to update data in a storage device of an electronic device in a system in which a plurality of in-vehicle electronic devices each having a microcomputer and a storage device are connected by a common signal line. Connecting a data writing device to the common signal line and transferring update data from the data writing device to a specific electronic device of the plurality of vehicle-mounted electronic devices via the common signal line. According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of updating data in a storage device of an in-vehicle electronic device, which comprises updating data in a storage device of the electronic device.

[0007] The above-described problem is caused by a first vehicle-mounted electronic device having a microcomputer and a first storage device, and a second vehicle-mounted electronic device having a second storage device having a replaceable storage medium. And updating the data in the first storage device in a system configured by connecting the storage devices with a common signal line, comprising: loading a storage medium storing update data in the second storage device; Reading the update data, transferring the update data to the first in-vehicle electronic device via the common signal line, and updating data in the first storage device. The problem is solved by a data updating method of a storage device of an in-vehicle electronic device.

Hereinafter, the operation of the present invention will be described. According to the first invention of the present application, in a system in which a plurality of in-vehicle electronic devices mounted on a vehicle are interconnected via a common signal line, a data writing device is connected to the common signal line.
Then, the data is transferred from the data writing device to a specific electronic device via the common signal line, and the data in the storage device of the electronic device is updated. Therefore, there is no need to remove the electronic device from the vehicle or remove the case of the electronic device, and the operation becomes extremely easy.

In a system for connecting a plurality of on-vehicle electronic devices with a common signal line, each electronic device is provided with a plurality of connectors for connecting a common signal line, and some electronic devices are connected by a so-called daisy chain. . In this case, if the connector of any one of the plurality of electronic devices and the data writing device are connected by a cable, data can be transferred from the data writing device to a desired electronic device.

[0010] Some storage devices can rewrite data only in sector units.
In this case, it is preferable that the electronic device for updating the data be provided with a temporary storage device for temporarily storing the data sent from the data writing device. Thereby, the update data sent from the data writing device is stored in the temporary storage device, and when the data for one sector is stored in the temporary storage device, the data in the temporary storage device is written into the storage device. The data in the storage device can be updated.

Further, in the second invention of the present application, the first on-vehicle electronic device having the first storage device to be updated and the second on-vehicle device having the second storage device having a replaceable storage medium are provided.
In a system in which the vehicle-mounted electronic device is connected by a common signal line, a storage medium storing update data is loaded in the second storage device. For example, as the second in-vehicle electronic device, a CD player (however, a CD player that can also be used as a CD-ROM drive), a DVD (Digital Versat
(MD) players and MD (Mini Disk) players. Then, the update data is read from the storage medium, the update data is transferred to the first vehicle-mounted electronic device via the common signal line, and the data in the first storage device is updated. Thus, it is not necessary to newly connect a special device such as a data writing device to the common signal line, and the data can be updated only by the electronic device mounted on the vehicle.

[0012]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawings. (First Embodiment) FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a system constituted by a plurality of electronic devices (units) mounted on a vehicle. This system comprises a display / control unit 1, a sound processor unit 2, a CD changer unit 3, a radio unit 4, a vehicle information detection unit 5, a navigation unit 6, and a TV unit 7.
And a common signal line (bus line) 10 for interconnecting these units 1 to 7. The data writing device 20 connects to the common signal line 10 only when updating the data of the units 1 to 7.

The display / control unit 1 has various operation buttons and a liquid crystal display. The user
Each of the units 1 to 7 can be controlled by operating buttons of the display / control unit 1. On the liquid crystal display of the display / control unit 1, a map image sent from the navigation unit 6, a TV image sent from the TV unit 7, and the like are displayed. Also,
The liquid crystal display of the display / control unit 1 receives an operation state of the other units 2 to 7 based on a signal sent from the other units 2 to 7 via the common signal line 10, for example, a radio unit 4. The name of the broadcasting station, the title of the CD being played back by the CD changer unit 3, the music to be played, the playing time, and the like can also be displayed.

The sound processor unit 2 is a DSP
(Digital signal processor) for inputting audio signals and performing signal processing such as equalizing and time delay. An audio signal output from the sound processor unit 2 is a power amplifier (not shown)
And drives the speaker 9. The CD changer unit 3 can store a plurality of CDs and reproduces a predetermined CD according to a signal sent from the display / control unit 1 via the common signal line 10. C
The digital audio signal output from the D changer unit 3 is directly input to the sound processor unit 2.

The radio unit 4 receives a radio broadcast transmitted from a broadcast station and outputs an analog audio signal. The reception frequency of the radio unit 4 is determined according to a signal transmitted from the display / control unit 1 via the common signal line 10. The analog audio signal output from the radio unit 4 is input to the sound processor 2.

The vehicle information detecting unit 5 detects the outside air temperature, the engine speed, and other information about the vehicle, and outputs the information on the common signal line 10. The navigation unit 6 is G
It receives GPS signals sent from PS (Global Positioning System) satellites and detects the current position of the vehicle. The navigation unit 6 is provided with a map data storage device (such as a CD-ROM). The map data storage device is used to output a map image (video signal) around the vehicle, The navigation route is searched for, and various guidance information (video signal or audio signal) is output as the vehicle moves. The video signal output from the navigation unit 6 is a TV unit 7
The audio signal is input to the sound processor unit 2 via the TV unit 7 and the radio unit 4.

The TV unit 7 receives a TV signal and displays a video signal (video signal).
Output to The receiving channel of this TV unit 7 is
Display / control unit 1 via common signal line 10
Is determined according to the signal sent from the. In addition, TV
The audio signal output from the unit 7 is input to the sound processor unit 2 via the radio unit 4.

In this embodiment, the common signal line 10 is a single line, and signals are serially transferred on the common signal line 10. Further, a unique address is set for each of the units 1 to 7. In the present embodiment, the address of the display / control unit 1 is 01h (h indicates a hexadecimal number; the same applies hereinafter), the address of the sound processor unit 2 is 02h, and the address of the CD changer unit 3 is 0.
3h, the address of the radio unit 4 is 04h, the address of the vehicle information detection unit 5 is 05h, the address of the navigation unit 6 is 06h, the address of the TV unit 7 is 07h, and the address of the data writing device 20 described later is 0Fh. .

FIG. 2 shows each unit UNT (units 1 to 7).
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a common signal line connection part. As shown in FIG. 2, each unit UNT includes a control unit 11 composed of a microcomputer, a flash ROM 12 for storing a program describing an operation procedure of the microcomputer, a dynamic RAM 13 and a connector for connecting a common signal line. C1 are provided. The control unit 11 controls the common signal line 10 via the internal wiring 14 and the connector C1.
Connected to. As shown in FIG. 2, each unit UNT
Are connected by the common signal line 10 so that each unit
Signals can be transmitted between UNTs via the common signal line 10.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of the radio unit 4. The radio unit 4 is provided with an audio input connector C2 and an audio output connector C3 in addition to the common signal line connection connector C1. The radio unit 4 includes a control unit 21 and a flash R
A tuning circuit 24, an intermediate frequency amplification / detection circuit 25, a stereo demodulation circuit (MPX) 26, and a selector 27 are provided in addition to the OM 22 and the dynamic RAM 23 (corresponding to the control unit 11, the ROM 12, and the RAM 13 in FIG. 2, respectively). I have.

The tuning frequency of the tuning circuit 24 is determined by a signal from the control unit 21. The radio broadcast signal received by the tuning circuit 24 is sent to the intermediate frequency amplification / detection circuit 25. The intermediate frequency amplification / detection circuit 25 subjects the radio broadcast signal input from the tuning circuit 24 to intermediate frequency amplification and detection, and outputs the result. The stereo demodulation circuit 26 demodulates the signal output from the intermediate frequency amplification / detection circuit 25 into a stereo audio signal. The selector 27 operates based on a signal from the control unit 21 and outputs one of an audio signal input from the input connector C2 and an audio signal output from the stereo demodulation circuit 16 from the output connector C3.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing the data structure of the flash ROM 22. As shown in FIG. 4, the flash ROM 22 has a plurality of sectors (SA0 in this embodiment).
To SA8), and a flash ROM rewriting program is stored in the sector SA6. The flash ROM 22 rewrites data in sector units.

Hereinafter, the flash RO of the radio unit 4 will be described.
The case of updating the program stored in M22 will be described with reference to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. In the present embodiment, each signal is transmitted for each frame in units of a fixed number of bytes. Also, a data transmission source address, a data transmission destination address, and a checksum for one frame are added to each frame.

First, the data writing device 20 is connected to the common signal line 10. The data writing device 20 includes, for example, a general-purpose computer, a dedicated interface, and predetermined programs and update data. When the general-purpose computer reads the predetermined program, it functions as the data writing device 20. The dedicated interface is configured by hardware for connecting to the common signal line 10.

When the data writing device 20 is connected to the common signal line 10, the common signal line 10 connected to any one of the units 1 to 7 connected to the common signal line 10 is connected to the data writing device. 20 may be connected by a cable. For example, CD changer unit 3
Is often installed in the trunk room of a vehicle. In this case, one end of the cable is connected to the common signal line 10 connected to the CD changer unit 3 in the tran cream, and the other end of the cable is connected to the data writer 20, so that the data writer 20 is shared. Communication Line 1
0 can be easily connected. Then, the radio unit 4 and the data writing device 20 are connected via the common signal line 10, and signals can be transmitted and received between the data writing device 20 and the radio unit 4.

After the data writer 20 is connected to the common signal line 10 as described above, a flash ROM write mode transition command is output from the data writer 20 to the common signal line 10 in step S11. As described above, the source and destination addresses are added to the signal passing through the bus line 10, and the control unit 21 of the radio unit 4 selectively receives only the signal with the destination address of 04h.

When the control unit 22 of the radio unit 4 receives the flash ROM write mode transition command via the common signal line 10 in step S31, the control unit 22 proceeds to step S31.
Proceeding to 32, the mode is shifted to the flash ROM writing mode. That is, the control unit 21 of the radio unit 4 copies the flash ROM rewriting program in the flash ROM 22 to the RAM 23. Thereafter, the flash ROM rewriting program copied to the RAM 23 is executed,
A temporary storage area is secured in the RAM 23. Further, the control unit 21 of the radio unit 4 does not accept any command other than the signal and the reset signal transmitted from the data writing device 20. Then, the process proceeds to step S33,
The acknowledgment (Ack) is transmitted to the data writer 20 via the common signal line 10.

In the data writing device 20, step S1
In step 2, when an arc notification (Ack) is received from the radio unit 4, the process proceeds to step S13.
A sector designation command for designating a sector number of the flash ROM 22 is transmitted to the radio unit 4. When receiving the sector designation command in step S34, the control unit 21 of the radio unit 4 proceeds to step S35,
It is checked whether or not the specified sector number exists in the flash ROM 22, and if it is within the range, step S3 is executed.
Then, the process proceeds to step S 6, where an arc notification (Ack) is transmitted to the data writing device 20. If the specified sector number does not exist in the flash ROM 22, the control unit 21 of the radio unit 4 transmits a signal indicating an error to the data writing device 20, and stops the processing.

The data writing device 20 executes step S14.
Arknorridge (Ack)
), The process proceeds to step S15, where the update data of the designated sector is transmitted. In this case, since the number of bytes of data that can be sent in one frame is small, the transfer of the signal with the radio unit 4 is repeated a plurality of times to transfer the update data for one sector. In step S37, the control unit 21 of the radio unit 4 checks the checksum every time one frame of data is received. If there is no error, the control unit 21 transmits an arc acknowledge (Ack) to the data writing device 20 and sends it to the RAM 23. The received data is stored in the secured temporary storage area. When the checksum of the data sent from the data writing device 20 is abnormal, the control unit 21 of the radio unit 4 transmits a signal indicating an error to the data writing device 20 and stops the process.

When the transmission of data for one sector is completed, the data writer 20 proceeds to step S16 and transmits a flash ROM write command to the radio unit 4.
This flash ROM write command includes the sector number of the flash ROM 22 to be written. When the control unit 21 of the radio unit 4 receives the flash ROM write command in step S38, the process proceeds to step S39. In step S39, it is confirmed that the sector number included in the flash ROM write command is the same as the sector number specified in step S34. If the two sector numbers are the same, the data of the specified sector is cleared. Then, the process proceeds to step S40,
After writing one sector of data stored in the RAM 23 to the designated sector, the checksum of the sector is calculated. Thereafter, the process proceeds to step S41, where the control unit 21 of the radio unit 4 transmits a checksum and an arc acknowledge (Ack) to the data writing device 20. If the two sector numbers are different in step S39, the process is stopped.

The data writing device 20 proceeds to step S17
When receiving the checksum and the Ack No Ridge (Ack) from the radio unit 4, the process proceeds to step S18 to check the checksum. If the checksum is normal, the process proceeds to step S19 to check whether the data update of all the sectors has been completed. If the data update has not been completed for all sectors, step S1
3 and update the data of the next sector. in this case,
The control unit 21 of the radio unit 4 also repeats the processing from step S34 to step S41. Step S
In step 18, if the checksum is abnormal, the data of the same sector is transferred again.

When the data of all the sectors of the flash ROM 22 of the radio unit 4 are updated in this way, the data writing device 20 proceeds to step S20,
A reset command is transmitted to the radio unit 4. When receiving the reset command from the data writing device 20 in step S42, the control unit 21 of the radio unit 4 proceeds to step S43, resets the internal circuit of the radio unit 4, and operates according to the program written in the flash ROM 22. To start. Thus, the update of the data in the flash ROM 22 is completed. After the data update is completed in this way, the cable connecting the data writer 20 and the common signal line 10 is removed.

In this embodiment, the data writing device 20 is connected to the common signal line 10 connecting the units 1 to 7 mounted on the vehicle, and the data writing device 20 stores the flash ROM 22 in the radio unit 4. Since the program is written, it is not necessary to remove the radio unit 4 from the vehicle when updating the program in the flash ROM 22. Therefore, the time required for updating the data in the flash ROM 22 can be significantly reduced.

In the above-described embodiment, the case where the common signal line 10 connected to the CD changer unit 3 and the data writing device 20 are connected by a cable has been described. In the case of a system having a data connector, a cable connected to a data writer may be connected to the other connector while one connector is connected to the common signal line.

(Second Embodiment) FIG. 7 shows a second embodiment of the present invention.
FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a data update method of a storage device of the in-vehicle electronic device according to the embodiment. In the present embodiment,
Since the system constituted by the in-vehicle electronic device is basically the same as that of the first embodiment, a description will be given also with reference to FIGS.

In the present embodiment, the CD changer unit 3 corresponds to a CD-ROM, and a CD-ROM storing update data of the flash ROM 22 of the radio unit 4 is loaded into the CD changer unit 3 to store data. Update. That is, in step S51, when the CD-ROM storing the updated data is loaded into the CD changer unit 3, the process proceeds to step S52, and the common signal line 10 is transferred from the CD changer unit 3.
A command to shift to the flash ROM writing mode is transmitted to the radio unit 4 via the.

When the control unit 21 of the radio unit 4 receives the flash ROM write mode shift command in step S61, the control unit 21 proceeds to step S62 and executes the flash ROM writing mode.
Shift to the OM write mode. That is, flash R
The rewriting program stored in the OM 22 is stored in the RAM 2
3 and the execution of the rewriting program copied to the RAM 23 is started. Then, the process shifts to step S63 to transmit a data request signal to the CD changer unit 3 via the common signal line 20.

When the CD changer unit 3 receives the data request signal at step S53, it proceeds to step S5.
4, the update data for one sector is read from the CD-ROM, and the radio unit 4 is read out via the common signal line 20.
Sequentially. The control unit 21 of the radio unit 4
Update data sent from the D changer unit 3 is sequentially stored in the RAM 23. When the data for one sector is stored in the RAM 23, the process proceeds to step S65, where the update data stored in the RAM 23 is transferred to the flash ROM 22, and the data in the flash ROM 22 is updated.

Thereafter, in step S66, the control unit 21 of the radio unit 4 checks whether or not the data update of all the sectors of the flash ROM 22 has been completed. If the data update has not been completed for all the sectors, the process returns to step S63 to request update data for the next sector, and data transfer with the CD changer 3 is performed. When the data update of all the sectors of the flash ROM 23 is completed in this way, the process moves from step S66 to step S67. Then, the control unit 21 of the radio unit 4 resets the internal circuit and starts operation according to the program newly written in the flash ROM 22. This allows
Updating of the data in the flash ROM 22 is completed.

In the present embodiment, the common signal line 10
Using the CD changer unit 3 connected to the
Since the update data is transferred via the common signal line 10 and the data in the flash ROM 22 of the radio unit 4 is updated, a dedicated data writing device is not required, and the data can be more easily compared with the first embodiment. It is possible to update the data.

In the first and second embodiments, the flash ROM of the radio unit is used.
Updating the data stored in the storage unit has been described, but the present invention can of course be applied to updating the data in the storage device of another unit. In the first and second embodiments, the rewriting of the program executed by the microcomputer of the radio unit 4 has been described. However, for example, the rewriting of the program executed by the microcomputer of the radio unit 4 is optimized for the type of vehicle such as a sedan vehicle or a wagon vehicle. The present invention can also be applied when changing the sound parameters of the DSP stored in the flash ROM of the sound processor unit 2 so as to obtain the above sound effect.

Further, in both the first and second embodiments, the updating of data in the flash ROM of the vehicle-mounted electronic device has been described, but the present invention is not limited to the updating of data in the flash ROM. Of course, the present invention can also be applied to data update of a rewritable storage device (including a hard disk) other than a flash ROM.

[0043]

As described above, according to the first aspect of the present invention, in a system in which a plurality of vehicle-mounted electronic devices mounted on a vehicle are interconnected via a common signal line,
The data writer is connected to the common signal line, the data is transferred from the data writer to a specific electronic device via the common signal line, and the data in the storage device of the electronic device is updated. It is not necessary to remove the case of electronic equipment. Therefore, the data update operation is extremely easy, and the operation is completed in a short time.

According to the second aspect of the present invention, the first on-vehicle electronic device having the first storage device to be updated and the second on-vehicle device having the second storage device having a replaceable storage medium are provided.
In a system in which the in-vehicle electronic device is connected by a common signal line, a storage medium storing the update data is loaded in the second storage device, the update data is read from the storage medium, and the update data is stored in the first storage device. The data is transferred to the in-vehicle electronic device via the common signal line to update the data in the first storage device. Therefore, a dedicated data writing device is not required, and the data can be updated more easily.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 shows a plurality of electronic devices (units) mounted on a vehicle.
FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a system configured by.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a common signal line connection portion of each unit.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of a radio unit.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a data structure of a flash ROM.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart (part 1) illustrating a data updating method of the storage device of the in-vehicle electronic device according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart (part 2) illustrating a data updating method of the storage device of the in-vehicle electronic device according to the first embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a method of updating data in a storage device of a vehicle-mounted electronic device according to a second embodiment.

[Explanation of symbols]

 1 display / control unit, 2 sound processor unit, 3 CD changer unit, 4 radio unit, 5 vehicle information detection unit, 6 navigation unit, 7 TV unit, 10 common signal line, 11, 21 control unit, 12, 22 flash ROM , 13,23 dynamic RAM, 14 internal wiring, 20 data writing device, 24 tuning circuit, 25 intermediate frequency amplification / detection circuit, 26 stereo demodulation circuit, 27 selector.

Continuation of the front page (51) Int.Cl. ⁶ Identification symbol FI // H04N 5/44 H04N 5/44 Z (72) Inventor Takeyuki Kasahara 1-8-1, Nishigotanda, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo Alpine Electronics, Inc. Inside

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A method for updating data in a storage device of an electronic device in a system in which a plurality of in-vehicle electronic devices including a microcomputer and a storage device are connected by a common signal line, comprising: Is connected to the common signal line, the update data is transferred from the data writing device to a specific electronic device among the plurality of vehicle-mounted electronic devices via the common signal line, and the data in the storage device of the electronic device is transferred. And updating the data in the storage device of the in-vehicle electronic device. 2. The plurality of vehicle-mounted electronic devices each include a plurality of connectors for connecting the common signal line, and the data writing device includes any one of the plurality of vehicle-mounted electronic devices. 2. The data updating method for a storage device of an in-vehicle electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the data signal is connected to the common signal line via the connector of two electronic devices. 3. The specific on-vehicle electronic device has a temporary storage device for temporarily storing update data sent from the data writing device, and a certain amount of update data is stored in the temporary storage device. 2. The data updating method for a storage device of an in-vehicle electronic device according to claim 1, wherein the update data stored in the temporary storage device is written to the storage device of the in-vehicle electronic device. 4. A first vehicle-mounted electronic device including a microcomputer and a first storage device, and a second vehicle-mounted electronic device including a second storage device having a replaceable storage medium. A method for updating data in the first storage device in a system configured by connecting with a line, comprising: loading a storage medium storing update data in the second storage device; And transferring the updated data to the first on-vehicle electronic device via the common signal line to update the data on the first storage device. Data update method.