WO2019087591A1 - Communication system and gateway - Google Patents

Abstract

This communication system is configured by connecting, by means of a network and communication lines (14-16; 214; 515; 14a, 14b; 316a, 316b; 16a), one or a plurality of electronic control devices (hereinafter referred to as ECUs) (3-9; 103-105; 103a, 103b), one or a plurality of gateways (2; 202; 302; 602a, 602b), and sensor devices (10-13; 110-113; 210-213; 10a-12a, 10b-12b), which are respectively provided with sensors for sensing physical quantities, and which respectively transmit sensor signals to the gateways. Using a communication line capable of performing communication at a first speed, the gateways forward, to the ECUs by means of a transmission unit (35), the sensor signals transmitted from the sensor devices, and the ECUs transmit control signals for the sensor devices by means of network communication at a second speed using transmission/reception units (28, 29), said second speed being slower than the first speed.

Description

Communication system and gateway Cross-reference to related applications

This application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. 2017-210494 filed on October 31, 2017, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.

The present disclosure relates to communication systems and gateways.

Conventionally, in an in-vehicle system, many electronic control units (hereinafter referred to as ECUs) are connected through an in-vehicle network, and these ECUs perform various vehicle control by transmitting and receiving data through the network. It is configured. Conventionally, sensors are often connected to these ECUs in a one-to-one manner, and connecting the ECUs and the sensors with a wire harness (hereinafter referred to as a harness) increases the number of harnesses, which is not preferable.

For example, by introducing a network gateway as in the techniques described in Patent Documents 1 to 3, it is possible to bundle and input information from, for example, a large number of sensors and the like, and the number of harnesses can be reduced.

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2003-152762 JP, 2011-4276, A Unexamined-Japanese-Patent No. 2014-072673

On the other hand, in recent years, the signal request accuracy of various sensors used in vehicles, for example, for vehicle periphery monitoring, has been increased, and along with this, data flowing through the network may be, for example, high definition image information. The amount has increased dramatically. For this reason, there is concern that the communication band between the gateway and the ECU may be insufficient, and it is desired to speed up the transmission process from the gateway to the ECU. Although there is a concern about the increase in emission noise as the speed is increased, in recent years there has also been a demand to suppress emission noise, and it is also desired to suppress costs.

An object of the present disclosure is to provide a communication system in which emission noise and cost can be suppressed while speeding up transmission processing from a gateway to an ECU, and a gateway configuring the system.

One aspect of the present disclosure includes: one or more electronic control devices (hereinafter referred to as an ECU), one or more gateways, and a sensor device that includes a sensor that senses a physical quantity and transmits a sensor signal to the gateway The present invention is directed to a communication system configured to be connected by a network. At this time, the gateway includes a transmission unit that enables unidirectional transmission using a communication line that can communicate with at least one target ECU among the ECUs at the first speed. The ECU includes a transmitting / receiving unit that enables two-way communication with a gateway, a sensor device, or any of these gateways and the sensor device using a second speed network slower than the first speed. Then, the gateway transfers the sensor signal transmitted by the sensor device to the ECU through the communication line by the transmission unit, and the ECU transmits the control signal of the sensor device by the communication of the second speed network by the transmission / reception unit .
According to this aspect, since the gateway transfers the sensor signal transmitted by the sensor device to the ECU in a single direction through the communication line that can communicate at the first speed, for example, a pair of twisted pairs for two-way communication Transmission processing can be speeded up to an extent that can not be realized using a cable. In addition, the transmitting unit unilaterally transmits the sensor signal transmitted from the sensor device to the target ECU at the first speed, and the ECU can transmit the control signal of the sensor device using the network of the second speed. It can be configured without using a communication cable capable of bi-directional communication in a wide communication band where noise is large and expensive. Thus, the emission noise can be suppressed and the cost can also be suppressed.

The above object and other objects, features and advantages of the present disclosure will become more apparent from the following detailed description with reference to the attached drawings. The drawing is as follows.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a communication system in the first embodiment, FIG. 2 is an explanatory diagram of communication direction and communication speed, FIG. 3 is a block diagram of the gateway, FIG. 4 is an explanatory view schematically showing the contents of an Ethernet frame; FIG. 5 is an explanatory view schematically showing the contents of a CAN frame; FIG. 6 is a block diagram of the ECU, FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a network hierarchy of each communication node in a form adapted to the OSI reference model, FIG. 8 is a specific configuration diagram of the communication system, FIG. 9 is a flowchart for explaining the processing operation of the gateway; FIG. 10 is a block diagram of the communication system in the second embodiment, FIG. 11 is a block diagram of the gateway; FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing processing in the low power consumption mode, FIG. 13 is a flowchart showing processing when a signal is detected on the Ethernet port, FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing processing of the monitoring ECU in the third embodiment, FIG. 15 is a flowchart showing processing of the monitoring ECU in the fourth embodiment, FIG. 16 is a block diagram of a communication system in the fifth embodiment, FIG. 17 is a block diagram of a communication system when applied to a vehicle front portion, FIG. 18 is a block diagram of the communication system in the sixth embodiment, FIG. 19 is a block diagram of a communication system in the seventh embodiment, FIG. 20 is a block diagram of a gateway located downstream, FIG. 21 is a block diagram of a communication system in the eighth embodiment.

Hereinafter, several embodiments of the communication system and the gateway will be described with reference to the drawings. In each embodiment described below, the same or similar reference numerals are given to components performing the same or similar operations. In the second and subsequent embodiments, the description of the same or similar configuration and the same or similar operation as described in the first embodiment will be omitted as necessary.

First Embodiment
1 to 9 show an explanatory view of the first embodiment. A communication system 1 is mounted on a vehicle as shown in FIG. The communication system 1 includes a network gateway (hereinafter referred to as a gateway) 2, a plurality of electronic control units (hereinafter referred to as ECUs) 3 to 9, and one or a plurality of sensor units 10 to a plurality of networks 14 to It is a system connected by 16.

At this time, the sensor devices 10 to 13 are connected to the gateway 2 by, for example, Ethernet (registered trademark) via the network 14 capable of full duplex communication. The sensor devices 10 to 13 sense physical quantities to be sensed respectively, and transmit the sensed sensor signals to the gateway 2 through the network 14. The sensor devices 10 to 13 use LiDAR (Light Detention And Ranging) for performing distance measurement processing using, for example, camera devices 110 and 113 and a laser device, as shown in FIG. 8 and FIG. A vehicle periphery monitoring sensor device such as a distance measuring device 112, a pressure sensor device 111 such as a collision detection sensor, a side collision sensor device 211, a wireless sensor device 213a, and a distance measuring device using a millimeter wave radar.

In FIG. 1, the gateway 2 is connected to a plurality of ECUs 3 to 9 by a bus network 15 capable of communicating at a relatively low second speed such as CAN or LIN. As shown in FIG. 2, the ECUs 3 to 9 can transmit control signals to the sensor devices 10 to 13 through the bus network 15 and the gateway 2 by low speed communication. The control signal is a signal including various commands such as a sensor operation start / end command, and setting values for performing various settings, and can sufficiently control the sensor devices 10 to 13 even at a relatively low speed as compared with the image signal. Become. For this reason, in the communication system 1, signals can be bi-directionally communicated through the bus network 15.

The gateway 2 is configured by connecting a communication line 16 different from the networks 14 and 15 described above to at least one ECU (hereinafter referred to as target ECU) 3.

FIG. 2 schematically shows a comparison of communication direction and communication speed. In this communication system 1, the gateway 2 can transmit signals unidirectionally to the ECU 3 at a relatively high first speed (> second speed) through the communication line 16 using, for example, LVDS (Low Voltage Differential Signaling). There is. The signal unidirectionally transmitted by the communication line 16 is a signal whose delay is not permitted or whose delay time is limited. The ECU 3 does not allow the gateway 2 to perform transmission processing using the communication line 16.

Although not shown, the cable of the communication line 16 is configured by a harness with a pair of shield twist lines. The cable of the communication line 16 is a cable for transmitting a monitoring sensor signal such as an image signal of a camera transmitted to the gateway 2 by the sensor devices 10 to 13, a ranging signal of a millimeter wave radar, or a ranging signal by LiDAR. The communication band by this cable is set wider than the total band of the sensor signal bands transmitted by the sensor devices 10-13. Therefore, although it is necessary to consider the leakage of the electromagnetic noise due to the high speed communication, it is not necessary to provide many cables having a high speed communication band in both directions between the gateway 2 and the ECU 3 and emission noise can be suppressed.

Also, for example, even if the gateway 2 is installed near the windshield of the front of the vehicle, the ECU 3 is located in the trunk room at the rear of the vehicle, and the communication line connecting them extends several meters, Compared with a communication method (for example, Ethernet) using a pair of twisted wires, cable routing can be facilitated as much as possible.

FIG. 3 functionally shows the internal block configuration of the gateway 2. As shown in FIG. 3, a plurality of input / output ports 21 to 24 are provided, and an LVDS port 25 and a CAN port 26 are provided. The input / output ports 21-24 are ports connected to the sensor devices 10-13. The LVDS port 25 is a port connected from the gateway 2 to the ECU 3. Also, the CAN port 26 is a port connected to the low speed network 15.

FIG. 4 schematically shows the contents of a frame (hereinafter, Ethernet frame) F1 adapted to the Ethernet format that the sensor devices 10 to 13 transmit to the gateway 2. As shown in FIG. 4, the Ethernet frame F1 is configured to include the CAN frame F2 so as to be enclosed inside the Ethernet header and the footer. The CAN frame F2 consists of a CAN header, a payload and a CAN footer. FIG. 5 shows the configuration of a frame (hereinafter referred to as CAN frame) F3 which constitutes a control signal that the ECUs 3 to 9 transmit to the sensor devices 10 to 13 through the gateway. The CAN frame F3 is composed of a CAN header, a payload and a CAN footer. The CAN frames F2 and F3 shown in FIG. 4 and FIG. 5 are simplified and represented by CAN header, payload and CAN footer in the figure, but these CAN header, payload and CAN footer are SOF, CANID, RTR, It represents a predefined CAN frame, such as a control field, ... EOF.

Although not shown, the gateway 2 shown in FIG. 3 includes a microcomputer and a signal processing IC. The microcomputer is provided with a memory serving as a non-transitional tangible recording medium, and the microcomputer executes the program stored in the memory, and the signal processing IC executes the processing to realize each block shown in FIG. doing. Note that these blocks may be configured by hardware using, for example, an ASIC or the like.

A gateway setting unit 27 is provided inside the gateway 2. In addition, the gateway 2 includes a CAN receiving unit 28, a CAN transmitting unit 29, a CAN Ethernet converting unit 30, an Ethernet CAN converting unit 31, an Ethernet transmitting unit 32, an Ethernet receiving unit 33, an Ethernet switch unit 34, and an Ethernet LVDS converting unit 35. And. The CAN receiving unit 28 and the CAN transmitting unit 29 function as a transmitting and receiving unit.

The gateway setting unit 27 receives the Ethernet transmission unit 32, the Ethernet reception unit 33, the Ethernet switch unit 34, the Ethernet CAN conversion unit 31, and the CAN Ethernet conversion according to the control signal received through the CAN port 26 and the CAN reception unit 28. The processing content of the unit 30 is realized.

The Ethernet transmission unit 32 and the Ethernet reception unit 33 are connected to the input / output ports 21 to 24, respectively. The Ethernet receiving unit 33 receives sensor signals from the sensor devices 10 to 13 input from the input / output ports 21 to 24 as frames, and transmits the signals to the Ethernet switch unit 34. The Ethernet switch unit 34 determines whether to distribute to the LVDS port 25 or the Ethernet transmission unit 32 according to the destination allocated inside the transmitted frame, and distributes the signal. When a frame is distributed from the Ethernet switch unit 34, the Ethernet LVDS conversion unit 35 converts a frame of Ethernet format into a frame of format compatible with LVDS, and transmits the frame from the LVDS port 25 to the outside.

Further, when a frame is distributed from the Ethernet switch unit 34, the Ethernet transmission unit 32 transmits data from one input / output port (for example, 21) corresponding to the destination to the sensor device (for example, 10). Thereby, full duplex communication processing by Ethernet can be performed between the gateway 2 and the sensor devices 10 to 13.

Further, the Ethernet CAN conversion unit 31 is connected to the input / output ports 21 to 24. The Ethernet CAN conversion unit 31 has a frame conversion function of converting an Ethernet frame input to the input / output ports 21 to 24 into a format suitable for CAN communication. The CAN transmission unit 29 is connected to the Ethernet CAN conversion unit 31. The CAN transmission unit 29 is configured to transmit the frame converted by the Ethernet CAN conversion unit 31 from the CAN port 26 to the outside.

Further, a CAN receiving unit 28 is connected to the CAN port 26. When receiving the signal of the bus network 15 through the CAN port 26, the CAN reception unit 28 transmits the signal to the CAN Ethernet conversion unit 30 and the gateway setting unit 27. Instead of this, the CAN reception unit 28 may refer to the CAN ID and determine which one of the CAN Ethernet conversion unit 30 and the gateway setting unit 27 to transmit according to the CAN ID, and may transmit either.
The CAN Ethernet conversion unit 30 has a frame conversion function of converting a CAN format frame into a frame compatible with Ethernet. When the CAN Ethernet conversion unit 30 receives a CAN format frame from the CAN reception unit 28, the CAN Ethernet conversion unit 30 converts the frame into a frame compatible with Ethernet and outputs the frame to the Ethernet reception unit 33. The Ethernet receiving unit 33, the Ethernet switch unit 34, and the Ethernet transmitting unit 32 distribute the frames to the input / output ports 21 to 24 or the LVDS port 25 by performing the same process as described above. The gateway 2 is provided with such a gateway function.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the communication function of the ECU 3. As shown in FIG. 6, the ECU 3 includes one or more LVDS ports 41 and 42 and a CAN port 43. The LVDS ports 41 and 42 indicate ports for receiving a signal through the communication line 16. In addition, the ECU 3 includes a microcomputer 44 and a signal processing IC 45, and also includes an LVDS-MIPI (Mobile Industry Processor Interface) conversion unit 46, 47. The LVDS-to- MIPI conversion units 46 and 47 convert the LVDS format into the format of the MIPI serial data transmission standard, and output the converted signal to the signal processing IC 45. In the configuration of FIG. 6, two pairs of LVDS ports 41 and 42 and two LVDS- MIPI conversion units 46 and 47 are prepared, but one pair or three or more pairs may be prepared. By preparing only one pair, it is possible to reduce the number of receiving devices, thereby reducing cost and power consumption. When preparing three or more pairs, for example, 4 pairs to correspond to the four directions of the front, rear, left, and right of the vehicle, 8 to correspond to the eight directions where each direction of right front, right back, left front, left rear of the vehicle is added You may prepare a pair.

When an image signal is input from the LVDS port 41 or 42, the signal processing IC 45 processes the contents of the signal and outputs various information to the microcomputer 44. The microcomputer 44 and the signal processing IC 45 are configured to be able to communicate with each other, and the microcomputer 44 can output a control signal from the CAN port 43 according to the image processing result.

FIG. 7 shows a network hierarchy in each communication node, that is, the gateway 2, the ECU 3 and the sensor devices 10 to 13 in a form adapted to the OSI reference model. In FIG. 7, the physical layer L1, the data link layer L2, the intermediate layers L3 to L6, and the application layer L7 are shown separately from the bottom. A sensor application is mounted on the sensor devices 10 to 13 and the application layer L7 of the ECU 3, and TCP / IP or the like is mounted on a network layer or the like of the lower layers L3 to L6. In addition, an Ethernet MAC layer is implemented in the data link layer L2.

A network adapter compatible with Ethernet is mounted as the physical layer L1 of the sensor devices 10 to 13, and an LVDS adapter is mounted as the physical layer L1 of the ECU 3. For example, Ethernet communication based on 1000BASE-T1 standard of ~ 1 Gbps is performed through the network 14 between the sensor devices 10 to 13 and the gateway 2, and the gateway 2 and ECU 3 are based on ~ 4 Gbps FPD-Link (registered trademark) High speed communication at the second speed is performed through the communication line 16. In addition, Ethernet switch logic is implemented in the middle layers L3 to L6 of the gateway 2, and Ethernet MAC layer is implemented in the data link layer L2, and Ethernet adapter and LVDS adapter are implemented as the physical layer L1. . The gateway 2 is located in the middle between the sensor devices 10 to 13 and the ECU 3 to transfer a large amount of data such as an image signal.
The above is a conceptual description of the configuration, but in the following, a specific example applied to the actual configuration in the vehicle will be described.

<Example applied to the front of the vehicle>
Hereinafter, a specific example applied to the advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) 101 will be described with reference to FIG. The advanced driving support system (hereinafter referred to as "ADAS system") 101 is a system for detecting and avoiding the possibility of an accident etc. in advance, and installed in vehicles as a system for improving vehicle safety and convenience in recent years. Is increasing. In order to realize such an ADAS system 101, in the present embodiment, in particular, the sensor unit U1 is installed at the front of the vehicle.

Various sensor devices 110 to 113 and a gateway 2 are incorporated in the sensor unit U1. The various sensor devices 110 to 113 include, for example, a plurality of front camera devices 110 and 113 for mainly imaging right front and left front, pressure sensor devices 111 such as a collision detection sensor, and LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) Distance measuring device 112 by remote sensing technology. In particular, the front camera device 110, the distance measuring device 112, and the gateway 2 are integrated as a sensor unit U1 in the same housing, and are installed, for example, at the back of a rearview mirror installed in a vehicle interior. The pressure sensor device 111 is installed on a bumper or the like in the front of the vehicle and is configured of a pressure sensor for detecting a pedestrian collision.

On the other hand, in the vehicle, a network 15 by CAN or LIN is looped from the front to the rear, and in order to realize the ADAS system 101, the image processing ECU 103 and the ECUs 103 such as the collision safety ECU 104 etc. It is connected to the network 15.

The image processing ECU 103 receives a large amount of data such as image signals of the camera devices 110 and 113 and a real-time distance measuring signal by the distance measuring device 112 from the gateway 2, performs image processing based on the received data, and supports various safe driving Data required for control processing is generated and output to the collision safety ECU 104 via the bus network 15. The collision safety ECU 104 receives the safe driving support control data, detects, for example, a collision safety state, and instructs the engine control by outputting various commands to the engine ECU and the brake ECU (not shown) as necessary. And command the brake control.

In such a network configuration of the ADAS system 101, a 1 Gbps Ethernet cable is relatively short distance between the gateway 2 and each front camera device 110, 113, and between the gateway 2 and the distance measuring device 112. For example, an Ethernet cable of 10 Mbps is connected between the gateway 2 and the pressure sensor device 111 by a short distance (for example, 1 to 3 m). There is.

The communication line 16 between the gateway 2 and the image processing ECU 103 is configured by connecting a communication cable of a long distance (for example, 5 m to 10 m) that can communicate using the LVDS technology. That is, the cable of the network 14 connected between the sensor devices 110, 112, 113 and the gateway 2 is shorter than the cable between the gateway 2 and the image processing ECU 103.

If such a cable length is considered, the influence of the emission noise due to the cable between the short distance connected gateway 2 and the sensor devices 110 to 113 is reduced. Since only one communication cable for long distance is connected between the gateway 2 and the image processing ECU 103, the influence of the emission noise can be reduced. In particular, expensive cables may be required in places where the effects of emission noise increase, but the cost can also be reduced because the number of cables can be reduced.

<Description of Data Transfer Processing Operation by Gateway 2>
Hereinafter, the data transfer processing operation by the gateway 2 will be described. FIG. 9 is a flowchart for explaining the processing operation of the gateway 2. Each of the sensor devices 110 to 113 sends a data frame to the gateway 2 through the network 14, but at this time sends data by the Ethernet frame F1.

When the Ethernet frame received from the sensor devices 110 to 113 in S1 is received by the Ethernet receiving unit 33, the gateway 2 reads the destination MAC address set in the Ethernet frame in S2. When the gateway setting unit 27 determines that the destination MAC address matches the MAC address of the network adapter of the LVDS port 25, the gateway setting unit 27 sets the payload in the frame and the transmission source information, and the Ethernet switch unit 34 determines the transmission direction. It switches and sends to the side of the LVDS port 25.

At this time, the Ethernet LVDS conversion unit 35 detects a signal during transmission of the LVDS port 25 in S5, determines NO in S5 while the signal under transmission exists, stands by without converting data, and transmits If no signal is present, it is determined as YES in S5, the Ethernet frame is converted into a signal suitable for LVDS in S6, and the signal is sent out from the LVDS port 25 in S7.

For example, when the gateway 2 receives sensor signals from the plurality of camera devices 110 and 113 or the distance measuring device 112 simultaneously or within a predetermined time, the gateway 2 may perform LVDS in the order according to the priority predetermined in the memory. It is desirable that the signal be converted to a signal suitable for communication and sent out from the LVDS port 25.

When the gateway 2 receives the Ethernet frame transmitted from the sensor devices 110 to 113 in S1 by the Ethernet receiving unit 33 and reads the destination MAC address in S2, the network adapter of the CAN port 26 has the destination MAC address of S8. If it is determined that they match the MAC address, the Ethernet switch unit 34 is switched to send a frame to the CAN port 26 in S9.

At this time, the CAN transmission unit 29 detects a signal being transmitted from the CAN port 26 from the network 15, and while there is a signal being transmitted to the network 15 in S10, the determination is NO in S10 and waits without converting data. If there is no signal being transmitted, it is determined as YES in S10, the Ethernet frame is converted into a CAN frame suitable for CAN communication in S11, and transmitted from the CAN port 26 in S12.

When the gateway 2 receives the frame transmitted from the sensor device (for example, 110) in S1 and the destination MAC address is read by the Ethernet receiving unit 33 in S2, the destination MAC address is either LVDS port 25 or CAN port 26. However, if it is the MAC address of the network adapter for outputting to another sensor device (for example, 111), the Ethernet switch unit 34 is switched and sent to the Ethernet transmitting unit 32 side. The Ethernet transmission unit 32 performs transfer processing on the network adapter of the destination MAC address of the other sensor device (for example, 111) in S13. Thus, the gateway 2 can execute the transfer process.

On the other hand, the gateway 2 receives the control signal of the CAN frame F3 from the image processing ECU 103 and the collision safety ECU 104 by the CAN reception unit 28. Although CANID is generally allocated to CAN frame F3, if gateway 2 holds the correspondence between CANID and input / output ports 21 to 24 in the memory, input / output can be performed by referring to CANID in this frame. Any of the ports 21-24 can be derived. Then, the CAN Ethernet conversion unit 30 of the gateway 2 converts the received CAN frame into an Ethernet frame, and sends out the Ethernet frame from the input / output port (for example, 21) associated with the CAN ID.

For example, when the gateway 2 receives a control signal in the CAN frame from the image processing ECU 103 and the collision safety ECU 104, it may be broadcasted to all the sensor devices 110 to 113 as well as a specific sensor device (for example 111). good.

<Conceptual summary of this embodiment, effect>
According to the present embodiment, the ECU 3 transmits a control signal to the gateway 2 using the network 15 of the second speed, and the gateway 2 transmits a wide band frame such as an image signal to the ECU 3 through the communication line 16 of the first speed. It was made to transmit in one direction using.

For example, even if bi-directional on-vehicle communication by CAN or Ethernet is used instead of the communication line 16, the communication band will be insufficient when applied to image transmission requiring large capacity communication. In addition, it is difficult to perform data suppression and reduction processing such as compression processing in order to minimize the delay time of the high definition image signal of the camera 110 and the distance measurement signal by LiDAR. In this embodiment, a wide band signal including an image signal and a distance measurement signal is unidirectionally transmitted to the ECU 3 through the communication line 16 capable of communicating at a high speed first speed, so that the band shortage can be eliminated and the communication processing can be speeded up it can.

Moreover, using unidirectional communication makes it possible to eliminate the need for complicated negotiation, and to reduce the number of transmitting / receiving units by one as compared with bidirectional communication. As a result, in the communication system 1, it becomes sufficient to prepare only one pair of the Ethernet LVDS conversion unit 35 which is a simple transmission device and the LVDS-MIPI conversion unit 46 which is a reception device, thereby reducing cost and power consumption. it can.

The gateway 2 unilaterally transmits the sensor signals from the monitoring sensor devices 110 to 113 having monitoring sensors for monitoring the periphery of the vehicle to the ECU 3 through the communication line 16 which can communicate at a high speed first speed. Since the monitoring image signal can be transferred at high speed, the situation around the vehicle can be determined promptly, and the safety can be enhanced.

Further, in the present embodiment, for example, when applied to a vehicle front portion, the gable length of the communication line 16 is set to be longer than the cable length of the network 14. For example, since the cable of the communication line 16 is configured by a pair of shielded twist lines, it is not necessary to provide many communication cables having high-speed communication bands in the direction along the gateway 2 and the ECU 3 and emission noise can be suppressed. Cost can be reduced.

Since the target ECU 3 transmits the control signal through the gateway 2 using the CAN or LIN network 15 of the second speed, it can be connected to other ECUs 4 to 9 using the bus network 15 adapted in advance in the vehicle. As a result, there is no need to provide an extra communication cable again.

In particular, the communication information amount between the sensor devices 10 to 13 and 110 to 113 and the ECUs is large in the amount of so-called downward information communication from the sensor devices 10 to 13 and 110 to 113 to the ECU 3. , The so-called upward information communication amount to 110 to 113 is small. For this reason, even if a lower speed communication path is adopted as the communication path from the ECU 3 to the gateway 2, there is less possibility of problems such as frame loss and packet loss.

Second Embodiment
10 to 13 show additional explanatory views of the second embodiment. Although the form which paid its attention to the sensor apparatus 110-113 installed in the vehicle front part was shown as a specific example in 1st Embodiment, the 2nd embodiment pays attention to the sensor apparatus 210-213a installed in the vehicle side part. An explanation will be given of the form.

For example, a sensor for collision detection may be mounted on the side of the vehicle to enhance the safety performance due to the collision of the side of the vehicle, and the air bag system may be configured to operate according to the sensor information. Moreover, the keyless entry system for opening and closing the door installed in the vehicle side part by keyless may be mounted.

In such a case, as the sensor devices 210 to 213a installed on the side of the vehicle, together with the side camera device 210 for imaging the side of the vehicle, a side collision sensor device 211 for detecting a collision of the side of the vehicle A side-by-side LiDAR ranging device 212 and a wireless sensor device 213a may be applied, and these sensor devices 210 to 213a may all be connected to the same gateway 202 by a network 214. The distance measuring device 212 and the side camera device 210 have the same functions as the distance measuring device 112 and the front camera devices 110 and 113 described above.

The side collision sensor device 211 is connected to the gateway 2 by a power supply line 214a by a power superposition communication system (PLC) called DSI3 / PSI5. In this case, the side collision sensor device 211 is supplied with power from the power supply unit 53 (see FIG. 11 described later) of the gateway 2 through the power supply line 214a and can be communicably connected by PLC using the power supply line 214a.

In addition, the wireless sensor device 213a can receive, for example, an open / close instruction of a door lock by an external operation by constantly turning on a wireless communication function that can be externally operated for keyless entry or smart entry. The wireless sensor device 213a also has a wireless communication function by, for example, WiFi (registered trademark) or Bluetooth Low Energy (BLET (registered trademark)).

FIG. 11 shows an internal configuration block of the gateway 202. As shown in FIG. 11, the gateway 202 is provided with a DSI3 port 51, and a power supply unit 53 and a DSI3-Ethernet conversion unit 52 are connected to the DSI3 port 51. The power supply unit 53 generates a stabilized power supply based on a battery voltage (not shown), and can supply power to the outside through the units 21 to 35, 52 constituting the gateway 202 and the DSI 3 port 51.

The DSI3 to Ethernet conversion unit 52 is connected to the Ethernet transmission unit 32 and the Ethernet reception unit 33. Therefore, the gateway 202 can supply power to the DSI 3 port 51 by the power supply unit 53 and can perform communication processing by the power superposition communication method (PLC) using the DSI 3 port 51. The other configuration is the same as that of the first embodiment, and thus the description thereof is omitted.

As described above, when the air bag system operating only while the vehicle is traveling and the keyless entry system performing power saving operation by, for example, battery power are mixed, the gateway 202 is turned off while the vehicle is stopped. Also, the necessary minimum power is generated from the battery power supplied to operate in the low power consumption mode using this power, and when the ignition switch is turned on, the battery voltage is applied to each part 21 to 35, 52 and DSI3 port 51 The power is supplied to operate in the normal operation mode.

<Processing of low power consumption mode>
12 and 13 show the process in the low power consumption mode, FIG. 12 shows the process when the gateway 2 detects a frame in the CAN port 26, and FIG. 13 shows the frame in the Ethernet port 21-24. Shows the process in the case of detecting.

Even when the vehicle is stopped, that is, even when the ignition switch is off, the battery voltage is supplied to the gateway 2 and it operates according to the supplied power, but the gateway setting unit 27 has a predetermined Ethernet port 24. Here, only port 24 to which the wireless sensor device 213a for keyless entry is connected, and only the CAN port 26 are activated to accept the operation, and the reception by the other ports 21 to 23 and 25 is disabled. Operate in low power mode. In the low power consumption mode, the gateway setting unit 27 reduces the power consumption of the CAN reception unit 28, the CAN Ethernet conversion unit 30, the Ethernet CAN conversion unit 31, the Ethernet reception unit 33, and the Ethernet switch unit 34 to operate in the sleep state. ing.

Then, while the ignition switch is turned off, the gateway setting unit 27 intermittently activates the CAN reception unit 28 as a signal detection unit, and the CAN reception unit 28 intermittently transmits the frames of the bus network 15 from the CAN port 26. To detect. The gateway setting unit 27 intermittently activates the Ethernet receiving unit 33 as a signal detection unit, and the Ethernet receiving unit 33 intermittently detects the Ethernet frame of the network 14 from the Ethernet port 24. At this time, the gateway setting unit 27 functions as an intermittent activation unit.

At this time, when a signal is detected in the CAN port 26 or a signal is detected in the Ethernet port 24, the gateway setting unit 27 receives the CAN reception unit 28, the CAN Ethernet conversion unit 30, the Ethernet CAN conversion unit 31, the Ethernet reception It is preferable that the unit 33 and the Ethernet switch unit 34 be activated independently to be in the normal operation mode. At this time, the gateway setting unit 27 may activate the entire configuration of the internal block of the gateway 2, but the port (for example, the Ethernet port 24) that detected the signal and the port (for example, the LVDS port 25) that is the transfer destination from the port It is further desirable to activate the minimum required some communication blocks along the communication path of the frame to perform transfer processing. In such a case, the gateway setting unit 27 functions as a partial activation unit.

<When a CAN frame is detected>
For example, when the CAN port 26 detects a data frame of a control signal in S21 of FIG. 12, the gateway setting unit 27 activates the CAN reception unit 28 and the CAN Ethernet conversion unit 30 in S22. Then, the gateway setting unit 27 determines whether the CANID of the received frame is addressed to the gateway 202 in S23, and if not CANID addressed to the gateway 202, determines NO in S23 and sees it, but the gateway 202 is addressed If there is, the determination is YES in S23, and the Ethernet switch unit 34 is activated in S24.

Then, the gateway 202 activates the Ethernet port 24 corresponding to the CAN ID in S25, and replaces the header of the CAN frame received in S26 with the Ethernet frame. Then, the gateway 202 sends the frame from the Ethernet port by the Ethernet transmission unit 32 in S27. As a result, the gateway setting unit 27 of the gateway 202 can activate only the communication block (Ethernet switch unit 34) connected to the Ethernet port 24 corresponding to the CAN ID at the necessary timing, and communicate the signal detected by the CAN bus network 15 The data can be transferred to the Ethernet port 24 through the block (Ethernet switch unit 34). As a result, it is possible to activate the minimum necessary partial configuration and perform transfer processing.

<When a signal is detected from Ethernet port 24>
Conversely, for example, when a frame is detected in the Ethernet port 24 in S31 of FIG. 13, the gateway setting unit 27 activates the Ethernet receiving unit 33 and the Ethernet switch unit 34 in S32. Then, the Ethernet receiving unit 33 refers to the Ethernet frame, reads the assigned destination MAC address, determines whether this MAC address is addressed to the gateway 202, and if not addressed to the gateway 202, NO at S33. However, if it is addressed to the gateway 202, YES is determined in S33, and the Ethernet CAN conversion unit 31 is activated. Then, in S35, the Ethernet frame F1 is converted to the CAN frame F2 excluding the Ethernet header and footer. Then, the CAN transmitter 29 transmits the CAN frame F2 from the CAN port 26 in S36. As a result, the gateway setting unit 27 of the gateway 202 can start only the CAN port 26 and the communication block (Ethernet CAN conversion unit 31) along the communication path at the necessary timing, and the signal detected by the Ethernet port 24 is It can be transferred to the network 15. As a result, it is possible to activate the minimum necessary partial configuration and perform transfer processing.

<Conceptual summary of this embodiment, effect>
For example, while the ignition switch is turned off, the gateway setting unit 27 intermittently activates the CAN receiving unit 28, and the CAN receiving unit 28 detects a frame of the bus network 15 from the CAN port 26. Signal can be detected.

In addition, the gateway setting unit 27 intermittently activates the Ethernet receiving unit 33, and the Ethernet receiving unit 33 intermittently detects the Ethernet frame of the network 14 from the Ethernet port 24 so that the signal of the Ethernet port 24 can be detected. As a result, the keyless entry system can be stably operated while achieving low power consumption.

Third Embodiment
FIG. 14 shows an additional explanatory view of the third embodiment. The third embodiment shows a mode in which another ECU (for example, 4) intercepts and monitors a transmission signal (for example, control signal) that one ECU (for example, 3) transmits to the gateway 2. Below, ECU which transmits a signal is called "transmission ECU3", and ECU which monitors this signal is called "monitoring ECU4."

As described in the first embodiment, when a transmitting ECU 3 transmits a control signal to the gateway 2, the bus network 15 is used. At this time, since the other monitoring ECU 4 is also connected to the bus network 15, the signal transmitted to the gateway 2 can be intercepted. For this reason, the plurality of ECUs 3 and 4 to 9 can mutually monitor control signals addressed to the gateway 2. In the present embodiment, an embodiment will be described in which the monitoring ECU 4 monitors a signal of the bus network 15 and a frame.

FIG. 14 shows the processing of the monitoring ECU 4 in a flowchart. As shown in FIG. 14, when the monitoring ECU 4 detects a frame in the bus network 15 by the CAN receiving unit 28 in S41, the CANID is read in S42, and it is determined whether the CANID is addressed to the gateway 2 in S43. When it is addressed to the gateway 2, the determination is YES in S43, and the CAN frame is monitored, that is, monitored in S44. The monitoring ECU 4 monitors by the gateway setting unit 27 whether the transmission signal transmitted at this time is normal or erroneous in S45. The gateway setting unit 27 has a function as a monitoring unit. This determination method can be determined by confirming the content of the payload. For example, when the frame is a remote frame, it is normal or erroneous by performing determination processing using a CRC sequence included in this frame Determination processing can be performed. It is also possible to confirm the content of the data field and determine whether it is normal or erroneous.

If normal, the gateway setting unit 27 of the monitoring ECU 4 ends the monitoring processing, but if it is determined that there is an error and abnormality, the determination is NO in S45, and the transmission ECU 3 completes transmission of the frame in S46. Determine if there is. The monitoring ECU 4 can determine whether the transmission of the frame is completed by monitoring the frame transmitted by the transmission ECU 3 with the gateway setting unit 27 and the CAN receiving unit 28.

Then, if the transmission of the frame from the transmission ECU 3 is completed, the monitoring ECU 4 determines YES in S46 and corrects the control signal, and then transmits the corrected control signal to the gateway 2.

Conversely, if the frame has not been completely transmitted, the gateway setting unit 27 of the monitoring ECU 4 determines NO in S46, and causes the CAN transmission unit 29 to output a dominant "0" to the bus in S48. After destroying and correcting the control signal, the corrected control signal is sent to the gateway 2 in S49. At this time, the gateway setting unit 27 functions as a destruction unit.

As a result, the monitoring ECU 4 monitors the control signal transmitted by the transmission ECU 3 and corrects the control signal and sends it to the gateway 2 when the control signal is abnormal, even if the transmission ECU 3 transmits the control signal. Even if there is an abnormality, the monitoring ECU 4 can instead realize the control signal transmission function, and the reliability of the communication system can be enhanced.

<Conceptual summary of this embodiment, effect>
In short, when the transmitting ECU 3 transmits a frame to the gateway 2, the monitoring ECU 4 monitors the frame and causes the gateway setting unit 27 to monitor whether there is an error in the frame. Thereby, even if the control signal transmitted by the transmission ECU 3 is abnormal, the monitor ECU 4 can realize the signal transmission function instead, and the reliability of the communication system can be improved. In addition, when the gateway setting unit 27 determines that the frame has an error, the CAN transmission unit 29 outputs the dominant signal to destroy the frame, so that an erroneous signal is not transferred.

Fourth Embodiment
FIG. 15 shows an additional explanatory view of the third embodiment. Similarly, in the third embodiment, another ECU 4 intercepts and monitors a signal (for example, a control signal) transmitted by the ECU 3 to the gateway 2. Below, ECU which transmits a signal is called "transmission ECU3", and ECU which monitors this signal is called "monitoring ECU4."

FIG. 15 shows the processing of the monitoring ECU 4 in a flowchart. As shown in FIG. 15, when the monitoring ECU 4 detects a frame in the bus network 15 in S51, the CANID is read in S52, and it is determined in S53 whether or not it is a frame from the transmission ECU 3. The confirmation of this frame may generally be for a frame that the transmission ECU 3 periodically transmits, or may be for a frame including a specific signal (for example, a control signal).

If the monitor ECU 4 can confirm the frame from the transmission ECU 3, the monitor ECU 4 determines YES in S53, and monitors or monitors the CAN frame in S54. Then, the monitoring ECU 4 refers to the CAN frame at this time, and determines in S55 whether the transmitting ECU 3 transmits a normal CAN frame. If the monitoring ECU 4 determines that the transmission ECU 3 is transmitting a normal CAN frame, it determines YES in S55 and ends the monitoring process, but if it determines that it is abnormal, the process proceeds to S56 and the transmission ECU 3 receives A setting change command for transmitting a signal to the monitoring ECU 4 is transmitted to the gateway 2 as a CAN frame, and an alternative operation of the transmission ECU 3 is started in S57. At this time, the gateway 2 rewrites and records the internal memory so as to transmit a transmission signal to the transmission ECU 3 to the monitoring ECU 4.

If it is determined in S53 that the frame is not a frame from the transmission ECU 3, the monitoring ECU 4 determines whether the reception of the frame by the transmission ECU 3 is within a predetermined time (for example, 1 second) from the previous time. Although it ends, if it has deviated from fixed time, monitoring ECU4 will start substitution processing of transmitting ECU3 by performing processing of above-mentioned S56 and S57.

<Conceptual summary of this embodiment, effect>
In short, the monitoring ECU 4 monitors the presence or absence of an error in the frame transmitted to the gateway 2 by the transmitting ECU 3 using the network 15. When the frame is not received from the transmitting ECU within a predetermined time from the previous time, the monitoring ECU 4 transmits Instead of the ECU 3, a signal is transmitted. As a result, the monitoring ECU 4 can substitute for the transmission function of the control signal instead of the transmission ECU 3, and the reliability of the communication system can be improved.

Fifth Embodiment
FIG. 16 shows an additional explanatory view of the fifth embodiment. For example, in the first embodiment, the gateway 2 outputs an LVDS signal to one ECU (for example, the image processing ECU 103) from one LVDS port 25. However, as shown in FIG. It may be made to output to the image processing ECU 103 and the automatic operation ECU 105) from the LVDS port. The communication system 301 of FIG. 16 includes a gateway 302, and can transmit an LVDS signal to the image processing ECU 103 and the autonomous driving ECU 105 through communication lines 316a and 316b, respectively. The configurations of the other sensor devices 10 to 13 and the networks 14 and 15 are the same as those of the first embodiment, and thus the description thereof is omitted.

Here, the autonomous driving ECU 105 controls the engine, the brake, the steering, the indicator, etc. in the vehicle according to the image information etc. transmitted through the communication line 316b by the monitoring sensor device for monitoring the surroundings to command the autonomous driving control of the vehicle An engine ECU (not shown) connected to the network 15, a brake ECU, etc. are configured to control the respective actuators according to a command from the automatic driving ECU 105.

At this time, although it is desirable to provide a plurality of LVDS ports 25 shown in FIG. 3 in the gateway 302 shown in FIG. 16, the same data may be sent out to the plurality of LVDS ports 25. In addition, the gateway 302 stores a table in which the sensor devices 10 to 13 and the ECUs 103, 105, ... of the transmission destination are individually associated in the internal memory, and the gateway 302 transmits sensor signals from the sensor devices 10 to 13. When received, data may be sent to one or more ECUs 103 and 105 stored corresponding to the memory table.

When the ECUs 103 and 105 transmit control signals to the gateway 302 through the bus network 15, the plurality of ECUs 103 and 105 may transmit control signals having different set values. In such a case, a master-slave relationship is preset between the one ECU 103 and the other ECU 105 before shipment of the ECUs 103 and 105, and the gateway 302 and the ECUs 103 and 105 store the relationships in the memory, respectively. As shown in the second or third embodiment, even if the other ECU 105 monitors the transmission signal of one ECU 103 and there is an abnormality in the transmission signal of the transmission ECU 103, the ECU 105 may instead transmit the control signal. good.

In addition, the gateway 302 may be configured to rewrite the setting value only when the two coincide with each other by individually receiving the setting values by the control signal of one ECU 103 and another ECU 105 by the CAN receiving unit 28.

In addition, the gateway 302 and the ECUs 103 and 105 store in advance in the memory the priorities of the ECUs 103 and 105 connected to the bus network 15, and the gateway 302 performs control transmitted from an ECU (for example, 105) having a high priority. The set value by the signal may be effectively rewritten and transferred. Thus, even if a contradiction occurs in the setting value of the control signal, the gateway 302 can hold or rewrite the setting value according to the defined rule and transfer the control signal including the setting value.

<Example applied to the front of the vehicle>
FIG. 17 shows a specific example applied to the vehicle front portion. FIG. 17 shows a configuration of a communication system 401 which replaces FIG. A difference from the configuration of FIG. 8 is that the communication system 401 has two or more image processing ECUs 103a and 103b. The unit U 301 includes a gateway 302 and is configured by connecting the sensor devices 110 to 113 by the network 14.

The communication system 401 of the present embodiment is equipped with a plurality of image processing ECUs 103a and 103b. The image processing ECUs 103a and 103b are connected to the bus network 15, respectively, and the gateway 302 transmits a frame to the respective image processing ECUs 103a and 103b through the LVDS port and the communication lines 316a and 316b.

The image processing ECUs 103a and 103b have the same function, and even if one of the image processing ECUs 103a fails, the other image processing ECU 103b is provided so as to be operable instead. Can increase the reliability of

The gateway 302 is set in the memory and the gateway setting unit 27 so as to send data to one of the image processing ECUs 103 a when receiving sensor signals from the sensor devices 110 to 113.

Then, as described in the second or third embodiment, the other image processing ECU 103 b has a function of monitoring the transmission signal of one image processing ECU 103 a. In this case, when a problem occurs in one image processing ECU 103a and the normal operation of the image processing ECU 103a becomes difficult, the other image processing ECU 103b detects an abnormality in the signal sent from one image processing ECU 103a, and the other image processing ECU 103b The processing of one image processing ECU 103a is executed instead. This can improve the reliability of the communication system.

Further, one and the other image processing ECUs 103a and 103b may share one image processing operation. That is, since the processing load of image processing is relatively high compared to other processing, the temperature of hardware constituting the ECU is also high, and heat generation can be suppressed as much as possible by sharing the image processing operation.

Sixth Embodiment
FIG. 18 shows an additional explanatory view of the sixth embodiment. FIG. 18 shows an alternative configuration to FIG. Although FIG. 17 shows a mode in which the CAN or LIN bus network 15 is connected to the gateway 302, in the communication system 501 shown in FIG. 18 of this embodiment, the gateway 302 is connected to the bus network 15. In the first embodiment, the sensor devices 110 to 113 are connected to the bus network 515.

As shown in FIG. 18, the bus network 515 is directly connected from each of the ECUs 103a, 103b, and 104 to the sensor devices 110 to 113 without the gateway 302, and the ECUs 103a, 103b, and 104 and the sensor devices 110 to 113 Control signals may be transmitted and received through the bus network 515. That is, the ECUs 103a, 103b, and 104 may use the bus network 515 to transmit control signals to the sensor devices 110 to 113 at a speed lower than that of other Ethernet or LVDS frame signals, that is, at the second speed.

Seventh Embodiment
19 and 20 show an additional explanatory view of the seventh embodiment. The configuration of the communication system 601 is shown in FIG. When the communication system 601 includes a plurality of gateways 602a and 602b respectively connecting one or more sensor devices 10a to 12a and 10b to 12b, an LVDS is used to transmit sensor signals between the gateways 602a and 602b. A uni-directional transmission technique may be used.

In the configuration shown in FIG. 19, a plurality of sensor devices 10a to 12a are connected to the gateway 602a through the network 14a, and a plurality of sensor devices 10b to 12b are connected to the other gateway 602b through the network 14b. The ECU 3 and the gateways 602a and 602b are connected by a bus network 15. The upstream gateway 602b has, for example, the same configuration as that of the gateway 2 of FIG. 3 described in the first embodiment.

FIG. 20 shows a configuration example of the downstream gateway 602a. The gateway 602a includes an LVDS port 61 for inputting an LVDS frame from the upstream gateway 602b in addition to the configuration of the gateway 2 shown in FIG. 3. When a signal is inputted from the LVDS port 61, the LVDS Ethernet converter 62 Output to The LVDS Ethernet conversion unit 62 is configured to convert a signal from the upstream gateway 602 b input from the LVDS port 61 into an Ethernet frame and output the Ethernet frame to the Ethernet reception unit 33. The other configuration is the same as that of FIG.

Referring back to FIG. 19, a communication line 16a for transmitting a signal by LVDS is connected between the downstream gateway 602a and the ECU 3, and the upstream gateway 602b is connected to the downstream gateway 602a. Another communication line 16 b for transmitting an LVDS signal is connected. Thereby, the gateway 602b on the upstream side can transfer the sensor signal of each of the sensor devices 10b to 12b to the ECU 3 through the gateway 602a on the downstream side by LVDS. Further, the gateway 602a on the downstream side can also transmit sensor signals of the respective sensor devices 10a to 12a to the ECU 3 by LVDS.

Therefore, when the ECU 3 transmits the control signal to any one of the sensor devices 10a to 12a and 10b to 12b (for example, 10b) through the gateways 602a and 602b, the sensor device 10b transmits the sensor signal to the upstream gateway 602b. Send out. When the upstream gateway 602b receives a sensor signal from the connected target sensor device 10b, it can transfer it to the downstream gateway 602a, and the downstream gateway 602a can transfer it to the ECU 3 by LVDS. Thus, the sensor signal of the sensor device 10b can be transmitted to the ECU 3 at a high communication speed.

Eighth Embodiment
FIG. 21 shows an additional explanatory view of the eighth embodiment. As shown in the communication system 701 of FIG. 21 shown instead of the communication system 601 of FIG. 19, the gateway 602 a may connect the sensor devices 10 b to 12 b via the Ethernet switch 702. Since the sensor devices 10b to 12b can transmit an Ethernet frame to the gateway 602a through the Ethernet switch 702, the sensor device 10b to 12b exhibits the same effects as those of the above-described embodiment.

(Other embodiments)
The present invention is not limited to the above embodiment, and for example, the following modifications or expansions are possible.
The network 15 is connected between the ECUs 3 to 9 and the gateway 2, and the network 515 is connected to the image processing ECUs 103a and 103b and the collision safety ECU 104 and the sensor devices 110 to 113, respectively. , 103a, 103b, 104, the gateway 2 and the sensor devices 110 to 113 may be connected to each other.

In the drawing, 1, 101, 201, 301, 401, 501, 601, 701 are communication systems (101 is an ADAS system), 3 to 9, 103 to 105, 103a, 103b are ECUs (3, 103 are transmitting ECUs, 4 , 105 is a monitoring ECU), 10 to 13, 110 to 113, 210 to 213, 10a to 12a, 10b to 12b are sensor devices, 110 to 113, 210 to 213 are sensor devices (monitoring sensor devices), 14 to 16, 214, 515, 14a, 14b are networks, 15, 515 are bus networks (a network of two-speed communication of the second speed), 16, 316a, 316b, 16a are communication lines for transmitting signals by LVDS (single speed of the first Communication line for direction transmission, network), 28 is a CAN receiver (transmitter / receiver), 29 is a CAN transmitter (transmitter / receiver ), It shows the.

It is also possible to combine the configuration and processing contents of the above-described embodiment. The aspect which abbreviate | omitted a part of above-mentioned embodiment as long as a subject can be solved can also be considered as embodiment. In addition, any conceivable aspect can be considered as an embodiment without departing from the essence of the requirements specified by the words described in the claims.

Further, although the present disclosure has been described based on the above-described embodiments, it is understood that the present disclosure is not limited to the embodiments and structures. The present disclosure also includes various modifications and variations within the equivalent range. In addition, various combinations and forms as well as other combinations and forms including one element or more or less or less are also within the scope and the scope of the present disclosure.

Claims (11)

1. One or more electronic control units (hereinafter referred to as ECU) (3 to 9; 103 to 105; 103a, 103b);
   One or more gateways (2; 202; 302; 602a, 602b),
   A sensor device (10 to 13; 110 to 113; 210 to 213; 10a to 12a, 10b to 12b) including a sensor that senses a physical quantity and transmitting a sensor signal to the gateway;
   Communication system (1, 101, 201, 301, 401, 501, 601, 701) configured by connecting the network and communication lines (14 to 16; 214; 515; 14a, 14b; 316a, 316b; 16a) And
   The gateway includes a transmission unit (35) that enables unidirectional transmission using a communication line (16; 316a, 316b; 16a) that can communicate with at least one target ECU among the ECUs at a first speed,
   The ECU is connected to either the gateway, the sensor device, or both of the gateway device and the sensor device using a second speed network (15; 515) slower than the first speed. A transmitter / receiver unit (28, 29) that enables two-way communication;
   The gateway transfers the sensor signal transmitted by the sensor device to the ECU via a communication line that can be communicated at the first speed by the transmitter.
   A communication system in which the ECU transmits a control signal of the sensor device by communication of a second speed network by the transmitting and receiving unit.
2. The sensor device includes a monitoring sensor device (110 to 113; 210 to 213) including a monitoring sensor that monitors the periphery of the vehicle,
   The communication system according to claim 1, wherein the gateway unilaterally transmits the sensor signal monitored by the monitoring sensor device to the ECU through the communication line.
3. The cable length of the first network (16) between the gateway and the ECU is longer than the cable length of the second network (14) connected between the sensor device and the gateway The communication system according to or 2.
4. The power supply line (214a) is connected between the gateway (202) and the sensor device (211), and the communication connection is made by the power superposition communication using the power supply line. The communication system described in the section.
5. The target ECU (3) unidirectionally transmitted by the transmission unit of the gateway transmits the control signal through the gateway using the CAN or LIN as the second speed network by the transmission / reception unit The communication system according to any one of the above.
6. Among the ECUs, an ECU that transmits a frame to the gateway using the second speed network is a transmission ECU (3; 103), and the transmission signal of the transmission ECU is monitored by monitoring the second speed network. When the monitoring ECU is the monitoring ECU (4; 105),
   The monitoring ECU includes a monitoring unit (S44, S54) that monitors the frame when the transmission ECU transmits the frame to the gateway by the transmitting and receiving unit, and monitors the presence or absence of an error in the frame. The communication system according to any one of 5.
7. The communication system according to claim 6, further comprising: a destruction unit (S48) that destroys the frame when it is determined by the monitoring unit that the frame has an error.
8. The monitoring unit monitors the frame transmitted by the transmission ECU to the gateway using the network at the second speed, and when the frame is not received from the transmission ECU within a predetermined time from the previous time, the monitoring is performed. 8. The communication system according to claim 6, wherein an ECU transmits a signal instead of the transmission ECU.
9. The gateway is a part or all of an internal block for detecting a signal of the communication line that can communicate at the first speed or a network that can communicate at the second speed while the ignition switch is off in the vehicle. The communication system according to any one of claims 1 to 8, further comprising an intermittent activation unit (27) for intermittently activating the signal detection unit (28, 33) of (1).
10. When a signal is detected in the network by the signal detection unit activated by the intermittent activation unit, the destination attached to the signal is read, and another communication line as a transfer destination or a part along the communication path to the network A partial activation unit (27) for activating the communication block (34, 31) of
    The communication system according to claim 9, wherein the gateway transfers the data to the other communication line or the network through the communication block activated by the partial activation unit.
11. The gateway which comprises the communication system as described in any one of Claims 1-10.

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