Zonal control architecture for software-defined vehicle
AssigneeMagna International Inc.
InventorsGert Edzko SMID, Gerd SCHLAGER, Bruno CARRARO
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An electrical control system for a vehicle includes: a plurality of zone controllers each associated with a corresponding physical region of the vehicle, and each having an identical hardware configuration: a high-speed digital communications network interconnecting the plurality of zone controllers; and a plurality of I/O controllers each including at least one of: an input circuit configured to receive a digital or analog signal from a sensor device, or an output circuit configured to produce and transmit a digital or analog signal to an output device.
Claims20
An electrical control system for a vehicle, comprising:
- a plurality of zone controllers each associated with a corresponding physical region of the vehicle, and each having an identical hardware configuration;
- a high-speed digital communications network interconnecting the plurality of zone controllers;
- and
- a plurality of I/O controllers each including at least one of:
- an input circuit configured to receive a digital or analog signal from a sensor device, or an output circuit configured to produce and transmit a digital or analog signal to an output device,
- wherein each zone controller of the plurality of zone controllers interfaces with one or more I/O controllers of the plurality of I/O controllers via a communications bus independent of the high-speed digital communications network.
A method of operating an electrical control system for a vehicle, comprising:
- receiving, by an input circuit of an I/O controller of a plurality of I/O controllers, a digital or analog input signal from a sensor device;
- producing, by an output circuit of the I/O controller, a digital or analog output signal to an output device;
- sending, by each of the plurality of I/O controllers and via a communication bus, data regarding the digital or analog signal from the sensor device, to a corresponding one of a plurality of zone controllers each associated with a corresponding physical region of the vehicle;
- and
- sending, by the corresponding one of a plurality of zone controllers via the communications bus, a command to the I/O controller to cause I/O controller to produce the digital or analog output signal,
- wherein each zone controller of the plurality of zone controllers have an identical hardware configuration, and
- wherein each zone controller of the plurality of zone controllers interfaces with one or more I/O controllers of the plurality of I/O controllers.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.