A vehicular communication device and method for communicating with a remote server. In various embodiments, the vehicular communication device receives a plurality of device packets from a vehicle device(s) via a vehicular communication network, including device packets having a first priority and device packets having a second priority. Processing circuitry of the vehicular communication device determines the respective priorities of the received device packets based upon the contents of the packets, and queues at least some of the received device packets (and/or informational packets derived therefrom) in accordance with the respective priorities. The queued packets are output to a remote server for processing. The vehicular communication device receives responsive content from the remote server, which may include safety content, a servicing notice and/or targeted commercial content.

A system for controlling power distribution within a vehicular communication network, including a power source equipment comprising a first port in communication with a network node module of a device, and a Power over Ethernet (POE) management module. The POE management module is configured to enable POE to the device via the first port, monitor a current draw of the device, determine whether the current draw of the device exceeds a threshold, and disable POE to the device, responsive to determining that the current draw exceeds the threshold.

A vehicular circuit body includes a trunk line that includes a power source line and a communication line and is routed in a vehicle body, and a plurality of control boxes that are disposed in a distribution manner along the trunk line. In a vehicle, a first power source supplies power to an accessory mounted on the vehicle and a second power source supplies power which is higher in voltage than the power of the first power source to a drive source of the vehicle. The vehicular circuit body further includes a voltage drop unit that reduces the voltage of the power supplied from the second power source, to the voltage of the power of the first power source. To the power source line of the trunk line, the power from the first power source is supplied, and the power from the second power source is supplied through the voltage drop unit.

An in-vehicle network system includes a control unit, a plurality of gateway devices, and a plurality of sensors that collect ambient vehicle information. Each sensor communicates with the control unit via at least one gateway device. The control unit includes a mode management unit that determines an operation mode in a plurality of operation modes associated with the sensor, and a sleep instruction control unit that specifies a gateway device, which is the gateway device in which the connected sensor does not operate, and does not need to relay a sensor, based on the operation mode, and transitions the gateway device having no need to relay the sensor to a low power state in which a processing capacity is lowered. The gateway device is connected to the plurality of sensors which do not operate in any one of the same operation modes without passing through the other gateway devices.

A vehicular circuit body provided in a vehicle, includes: a trunk line that extends in at least a front-and-rear direction of the vehicle; and a plurality of control boxes that are provided in the trunk line, in which the trunk line includes power source lines of two systems and a communication line.

The present disclosure relates generally to safety lighting devices for automotive vehicles. A safety lighting system coupled to an automotive vehicle includes a power source that is independent of an electrical system of the vehicle. The system also includes a lighting feature electrically coupled to the power source, wherein the lighting feature is configured to activate in response to an impact event.

The present disclosure generally relates to providing a centralized controller for actuators within electronic control systems of a vehicle. An electronic control system within a vehicle computer system, having a first actuator for performing a first vehicle function, a second actuator for a performing second vehicle function and a controller coupled to the first actuator and the second actuator for controlling the first and second actuators is provided such that the controller is not embedded in either the first or second actuator. Embodiments of a centralized controller and a non-transitory machine-readable medium on which a program is stored for providing instructions to a controller that may utilize the 1-Wire and/or PoE protocols are also provided. Advantages include, but are not limited to centralized manufacturing, simplified diagnostics, and streamlined software upgrades, all of which result in reduce costs.

A wire harness includes some control boxes dispersedly arranged on the wire harness; a trunk harness connecting one of the control boxes to another of the control boxes; and a branch harness connecting the control boxes to the electric components. The control boxes are configured to be able to multiplex and demultiplex the communication signals. The trunk harness has a common internal wire structure separate from where the trunk harness is connected to the control box. At least one of the control boxes is integrated with a functional component to be a component module. The functional component is configured to be able to input and output information relating to at least one of the electric components.

A power supply trunk line routing structure for a vehicle includes a first power supply trunk line extending in a vehicle front and rear direction along a right-side part of the vehicle in a vehicle width direction, a second power supply trunk line extending in the vehicle front and rear direction at a left-side part of the vehicle in the vehicle width direction, and a third power supply trunk line connected to a predetermined power supply device and connecting the first power supply trunk line and the second power supply trunk line at a front part of the vehicle.

A method for controlling one or more vehicle lights of a vehicle during execution of a vehicle function based on image analysis is provided. The method includes receiving instructions to analyze one or more images captured by a camera supported by the vehicle. The method also includes transmitting instructions to a vehicle light system including the one or more lights positioned within a vicinity of the camera. The instructions causing a change in a current state of the one or more lights to a temporary state. During the temporary state, the method includes receiving one or more images from the camera, and identifying one or more reference points within the one or more images.