Electric/Electronic Architecture for a Motor Vehicle with an Electronic Computing Device and an Interface Controller, and Method

Abstract

An electric/electronic architecture for a motor vehicle includes an electronic computing device for communicating with at least one actuator of the motor vehicle. The electric/electronic architecture has an interface controller which is contacted by at least one sensor device of the motor vehicle and the electronic computing device, wherein the at least one actuator directly communicates with the electronic computing device, and the at least one sensor device directly communicates with the interface controller.

Claims

1-10. (canceled)

11. An electrical/electronic architecture for a motor vehicle, comprising: an electronic computing device configured to communicate with at least one actuator of the motor vehicle; and an interface control unit that is in contact with at least one sensor device of the motor vehicle and the electronic computing device, wherein the at least one actuator is configured to communicate directly with the electronic computing device, and the at least one sensor device is configured to communicate directly with the interface control unit.

12. The electrical/electronic architecture according to claim 11, wherein the at least one actuator communicates with the electronic computing device via a bidirectional bus.

13. The electrical/electronic architecture according to claim 11, wherein the interface control unit communicates with the electronic computing device via a unidirectional bus.

14. The electrical/electronic architecture according to claim 11, wherein the at least one actuator comprises an intelligent actuator.

15. The electrical/electronic architecture according to claim 11, wherein the electronic computing device comprises: only one power supply interface for the at least one actuator, for the at least one sensor device, and for the interface control unit, and only one bus interface configured to communicate with the at least one actuator and the interface control unit.

16. The electrical/electronic architecture according to claim 11, wherein the at least one actuator is configured to: control only one manipulated variable of the actuator; detect an actual variable of the actuator; and transmit the actual variable to the electronic computing device.

17. The electrical/electronic architecture according to claim 11, wherein the at least one actuator is configured to be programmed based on a master-slave method.

18. The electrical/electronic architecture according to claim 11, wherein the at least one actuator comprises a hardware acceleration device.

19. The electrical/electronic architecture according to claim 11, further comprising: at least one further electronic computing device; and at least one further interface control unit, wherein the further electronic computing device is configured to communicate with the electronic computing device and to communicate with the further interface control unit.

20. A method for operating an electrical/electronic architecture for a motor vehicle, the method comprising: communicating between an electronic computing device and at least one actuator of the motor vehicle; communicating, by the at least one actuator, directly with the electronic computing device; and wherein the electrical/electronic architecture comprises an interface control unit, communicating, by at least one sensor device, directly with an interface control unit of the electrical/electronic architecture.

21. The method according to claim 20, further comprising: communicating, by the at least one actuator, with the electronic computing device via a bidirectional bus.

22. The method according to claim 20, further comprising: communicating, by the interface control unit, with the electronic computing device via a unidirectional bus.

23. The method according to claim 20, wherein the at least one actuator comprises an intelligent actuator.

24. The method according to claim 20, further comprising: providing power for the at least one actuator, for the at least one sensor device, and for the interface control unit via only one power supply interface of the electronic computing device; and communicating, with the at least one actuator and the interface control unit via only one bus interface of the electronic computing device.

25. The method according to claim 20, further comprising: controlling, by the at least one actuator, only one manipulated variable of the actuator; detecting, by the at least one actuator, an actual variable of the actuator; and transmitting, by the at least one actuator, the actual variable to the electronic computing device.

26. The method according to claim 20, further comprising: programming the at least one actuator based on a master-slave method.

27. The method according to claim 20, wherein the at least one actuator comprises a hardware acceleration device.

28. The method according to claim 20, further comprising: communicating, by at least one further electronic computing device of the electrical/electronic architecture, with the electronic computing device; and communicating, by the at least one further electronic computing device, with at least one further interface control unit of the electrical/electronic architecture.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0025] FIG. 1 shows a schematic view of an embodiment of an electrical/electronic architecture; and

[0026] FIG. 2 shows another schematic view of an electrical/electronic architecture.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0027] In the figures, identical or functionally identical elements are provided with the same reference signs.

[0028] FIG. 1 shows a schematic view of an embodiment of an electrical/electronic architecture 10 for a motor vehicle 12 depicted in purely schematic form. The electrical/electronic architecture 10 comprises at least one electronic computing device 14 and at least one actuator 16 of the motor vehicle 12.

[0029] The electrical/electronic architecture 10 comprises an interface control unit 18, which is in contact with at least one sensor device 20 of the motor vehicle 12 and the electronic computing device 14, wherein the at least one actuator 16 communicates directly with the electronic computing device 14, and the at least one sensor device 20 communicates directly with the interface control unit 18.

[0030] In particular, FIG. 1 shows that for example a brake control unit for a brake caliper can be actuated as an actuator 16. In particular, the electronic computing device 14 is in contact with for example the brake caliper control unit at the front left and the brake caliper control unit at the rear right. A respective caliper control unit may comprise a respective microcontroller 22 and an actuator sensing device 24. Furthermore, in the present embodiment, a respective actuator 16 comprises in particular a final control element 26, wherein in particular the rear right brake caliper comprises a second final control element 26, which is provided for example for a parking brake.

[0031] In the present case, different sensors may for example be regarded as a sensor device 20, and switches or DC motors may also be arranged alternatively to or in addition to the sensor device 20. For example, a wheel speed sensor for the front left, a wheel speed sensor for the rear right, a brake pedal displacement sensor, a yaw rate sensor, a wheel steering angle sensor, and a switch for triggering a parking brake may be considered to be the sensor device 20. For example, the sensors can be used to implement functions such as ABS, a basic brake function, DSC, or a parking brake.

[0032] The electronic computing device 14 is coupled to the motor vehicle 12 via a communication interface 28. Furthermore, for this purpose, the electronic computing device 14 has a power supply device 30 so that it can be supplied with power, for example from the electrical system of the motor vehicle 12.

[0033] FIG. 1 further shows that the electrical/electronic architecture 10 may comprise a further electronic computing device 32, which is in particular configured as a redundancy. In particular, the second electronic computing device 32 can communicate for example with additional actuators 34. The further actuators 34 may be for example a brake caliper control unit for the front right and a brake caliper control unit for the rear right. Furthermore, the further electronic computing device 32 can communicate with a further interface control unit 36, wherein the further interface control unit 36 can communicate with a redundant sensor system, wherein the redundant sensor system may thus in particular comprise further sensor devices 38. For example, other sensor devices 38 may be considered to include a wheel speed sensor for the front right, a wheel speed sensor for the rear left, a brake pedal travel sensor, and a parking brake switch.

[0034] Overall, FIG. 1 thus shows the electrical/electronic architecture 10 for domain driving/driving dynamics. The electronic computing device 14 can thus be duplicated, in particular for the so-called fault-tolerant system, and its interfaces are provided exclusively for the power supply and the bus system.

[0035] Furthermore, FIG. 1 shows in particular that the at least one actuator 16 communicates with the electronic computing device 14 via a bidirectional bus 40. In particular, the at least one actuator 16 is configured to control only one manipulated variable of the actuator 16, to detect an actual variable of the actuator 16, and to transmit the actual variable to the electronic computing device 14. The at least one actuator 16 is thus configured as an intelligent actuator. In particular, it may be provided that the at least one actuator 16 is configured to be programmed based on a master-slave method. Furthermore, the at least one actuator 16 may comprise a hardware acceleration device. Overall, FIG. 1 thus shows that the actuator 16 may be configured as a smart actuator 16, wherein the actuator communicates with the electronic computing device 14 via the fast bidirectional bus 40 and exclusively controls its primary variables as a function, for example a force, a displacement, a rotational speed, or a torque. The respective actual quantities are recorded internally and reported back with the required integrity. No higher functions are implemented. No other external sensors are connected. If the smart actuator 16 is programmable, then only in the master-slave configuration via the electronic computing device 14. If security measures are necessary, they are implemented with the aid of the hardware acceleration device in order to minimize time delays.

[0036] The interface control unit 18 or the further interface control unit 36 communicates in particular unidirectionally with the electronic computing device 14 or the further electronic computing device 32. The interface control units 18, 36 supply power to the sensor systems and simple actuators, read out switches, read in and digitally process sensor values, and actuate display elements. These have fast communication with short cycle time with the electronic computing device 14. In other words, the interface control unit 18 is in contact with the electronic computing device 14 via a unidirectional bus 42. The assignment of the sensor devices 20 to the interface control unit 18 is function-dependent, in contrast to the bottom-up concepts according to the prior art, which imply among other things geometric proximity. The interface control unit 18 can thus be used to map the equipment and function variants, while the actuators 16 can form a true modular system across vehicle series. In particular, the electronic computing device 14 is scalable, also with respect to the technical advancements of microprocessors, since microprocessors exclusively provide the computing power and are connected via standardized buses. The structuring of the redundant active chains is shown in particular in FIG. 1. The redundant active chains are cut along the power supply.

[0037] A fundamental characteristic of these active chains is a clear degradation concept. Through self-diagnosis, each of the redundant active chains detects a malfunction. The sensor devices 20, actuators 16, and the electronic computing devices 14, 32 each perform this function independently. The components assume a safe state should faults be detected.

[0038] In particular, FIG. 1 further shows that the electrical/electronic architecture 10 comprises at least the further electronic computing device 32 and at least the further interface control unit 36, wherein the further electronic computing device 32 is configured to communicate with the further interface control unit 36.

[0039] FIG. 2 shows a schematic view of another embodiment of the electrical/electronic architecture 10. In particular, the electrical/electronic architecture 10 may include a power supply manager 46 and a communication manager 48. In particular, the further electronic computing device 32 is coupled to the motor vehicle 12 via a further communication interface 44. In particular, FIG. 2 shows that a first function 50 can be mapped onto the first electronic computing device 14. However, this function 50 may also be mapped as a mirror function 52 onto the second electronic computing device 32. If an error should now occur within the function execution, a fail-silent mode 54 can be set.

[0040] In other words, emergency operation can be provided so that the components enter a safe state, i.e. fail-silent mode 54, and the affected active chain shuts down completely. The system is then in emergency mode.

[0041] Overall, the present invention demonstrates an E/E architecture for fault-tolerant automotive systems.

[0042] The present invention also relates to a method for operating an electrical/electronic architecture 10 for a motor vehicle 12, in which communication is established between an electronic computing device 14 and at least one actuator 16 of the motor vehicle 12, wherein the electrical/electronic architecture 10 comprises an interface control unit 18, wherein the at least one actuator 16 communicates directly with the electronic computing device 14, and the at least one sensor device 20 communicates directly with the interface control unit 18.

LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS

[0043] 10 Electrical/electronic architecture [0044] 12 Motor vehicle [0045] 14 Electronic computing device [0046] 16 Actuator [0047] 18 Interface control unit [0048] 20 Sensor device [0049] 22 Microcontroller [0050] 24 Actuator sensing device [0051] 26 Final control element [0052] 28 Communication interface [0053] 30 Power supply device [0054] 32 Further electronic computing device [0055] 34 Further actuator [0056] 36 Further interface control unit [0057] 38 Further sensor device [0058] 40 Bidirectional bus [0059] 42 Unidirectional bus [0060] 44 Further communication interface [0061] 46 Power supply manager [0062] 48 Communication manager [0063] 50 Function [0064] 52 Mirror function [0065] 54 Fail-silent mode