The present disclosure relates to a communication electronic control unit (ECU) provided in a vehicle to be used for exchange of a signal with an external device, the communication ECU including a bus interface configured to exchange signals with a plurality of slave ECUs in the vehicle, a primary processor configured to perform software cloning for at least one of the plurality of slave ECUs, and a secondary processor configured to determine whether to operate, based on whether overload is applied to the primary processor.

A transistor diagnostic circuit includes a protection transistor output terminal, a fault terminal, and circuitry coupled to the protection transistor output terminal and the fault terminal. The protection transistor output terminal is adapted to be coupled to a current terminal of a protection transistor. The transistor diagnostic circuit is configured to, at start-up, load the protection transistor output terminal to test the protection transistor, and to generate a fault signal at the fault terminal responsive to a voltage on the protection transistor output terminal exceeding a threshold.

Provided are a wire harness, a connector and a communication relay method with which effects such as reduction in the relay processing load of an in-vehicle device or improvement in the scalability of an in-vehicle device can be expected. A wire harness according to an embodiment includes a connector to be detachably connected to an in-vehicle device, a plurality of communication lines connected to the connector, and a relay unit provided in the connector and configured to relay communication between the plurality of communication lines and to relay communication between the communication lines and the in-vehicle device.

A vehicular circuit body includes a trunk line that includes a power source line and a communication line, and that is routed in a vehicle body; and a plurality of control boxes that are disposed in a distribution manner along the trunk line. The trunk line includes a first trunk line portion extending in a front-and-rear direction of the vehicle body and a second trunk line portion extending in a leftward-and-rightward direction of the vehicle body. The plurality of control boxes include a branch control box that connects the first trunk line portion and the second trunk line portion, and distributes power from one of the first trunk line portion and the second trunk line portion to the other one.

A power and data center (PDC) can serve as a combined data concentrator and power distributor that delivers scalable and affordable network/power redundancy into an automotive electrical/electronic architecture (E/EA) that supports partially or fully autonomous vehicles. In some embodiments, a vehicle that includes the smart E/EA is divided into zones, where each zone includes one or more PDCs and one or more sensors, actuators, controllers, loudspeakers or other devices that are coupled to and powered by their zone PDC(s). Each PDC collects and processes (or passes through) raw or pre-processed sensor data from the one or more sensors in its zone. The sensors provide their data to the PDC by way of cost efficient, short-range data links. In some embodiments, one or more actuators in each zone are coupled to their respective zone PDC, and receive their control data from the PDC over a high-speed data bus or data link.

Reliability and responsiveness in vehicles are becoming more important as semi-automation and automation are becoming more prevalent. A redundant data network system is provided within a vehicle and includes a first node connected to a first sensor and a second node connected to a second sensor. A first data cable is connected between the first node and the second node, a second data cable is connected between the first node and an electronic control unit (ECU), and a third data cable connected between the second node and the ECU. Data from the first sensor and the second sensor is transmitted across the Ethernet network to reach the ECU. Data from these sensors is also compared and processed locally to improve reliability and to reduce processing load on the ECU.

A vehicular circuit body includes a trunk line that includes a power source line and a communication line, and that is routed in a vehicle body; and a plurality of control boxes that are disposed in a distribution manner along the trunk line. The trunk line includes a first trunk line portion extending in a front-and-rear direction of the vehicle body and a second trunk line portion extending in a leftward-and-rightward direction of the vehicle body. The plurality of control boxes include a branch control box that connects the first trunk line portion and the second trunk line portion, and distributes power from one of the first trunk line portion and the second trunk line portion to the other one.

The present disclosure relates to a vehicle having a communication device configured to communicate with an external server through a plurality of channels, and a vehicle control device configured to control the communication device to receive a safety-related message from the external server. The plurality of channels includes a first channel that is allocated to transmit and receive the safety-related message, and the vehicle control device is configured to control the communication device to receive the safety-related message from the external server through a second channel that is different from the first channel.

A method for producing a control system, in particular a driver assistance system, of a motor vehicle. The method includes the following steps: providing a first control unit, setting vehicle-specific operating parameters for the motor vehicle in the first control unit for its encoding, providing a second control unit and connecting in terms of signaling the second control unit to the first control unit, transmitting the encoding of the first control unit to the second control unit.

A power and data center (PDC) can serve as a combined data concentrator and power distributor that delivers scalable and affordable network/power redundancy into an automotive electrical/electronic architecture (E/EA) that supports partially or fully autonomous vehicles. In some embodiments, a vehicle that includes the smart E/EA is divided into zones, where each zone includes one or more PDCs and one or more sensors, actuators, controllers, loudspeakers or other devices that are coupled to and powered by their zone PDC(s). Each PDC collects and processes (or passes through) raw or pre-processed sensor data from the one or more sensors in its zone. The sensors provide their data to the PDC by way of cost efficient, short-range data links. In some embodiments, one or more actuators in each zone are coupled to their respective zone PDC, and receive their control data from the PDC over a high-speed data bus or data link.