Electrical equipment control system for a vehicle utilizing one central processing unit
AssigneeHonda Giken Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha
InventorMorio Sato
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A centralized electrical equipment control system controls the electrical equipment of a vehicle and provides the capability of reducing the manufacturing cost while facilitating the modification and development of the electrical system of the vehicle. The electrical equipment control system has a central control unit including a microcomputer and a communication circuit. The microcomputer exchanges data through the communication circuit via a communication network with respective communication circuits of an ignition I/O unit, a meter I/O unit and a flasher I/O unit to control the I/O units. The electrical equipment control system utilizes only a single microcomputer and a simple I/O port and is thus capable of reducing the manufacturing costs of the electrical equipment.
Claims19
An electrical equipment control system for controlling electrical equipment of a vehicle comprising:
- a plurality of input/output means, wherein each of said input/output means includes
- sensor output read means for reading outputs of sensors of the electrical equipment,
- input data producing means for producing input data on the basis of outputs of said sensor output read means,
- first communication means for transforming outputs of said input data producing means into signals of a predetermined transmission format, for delivering the transformed signals of the predetermined transmission format to a data communication network and for extracting electrical equipment driving signals from input signals delivered thereto via the data communication network, and
- driving means for driving the electrical equipment on the basis of the electrical equipment driving signals extracted by said first communication means;
- and
- central control means having
- second communication means respectively connected through the data communication network to said first communication means for mutual data communication with said first communication means, and
- control means for controlling respective electrical equipment by sending electrical equipment driving signals through said second communication means to respective, first communication means, said control means initially processing ignition control of an engine in the vehicle.
A vehicle control system comprising:
- a control unit for controlling a plurality of electrical equipment through a system data network, said control unit including
- control means for generating command signals for controlling the plurality of electrical equipment in accordance with sensor data, and
- first communication means, coupled to said control means, for transmitting the command signals along the system data network and for receiving the sensor data from the system data network;
- and
- a plurality of I/O units, each coupled to a respective one of the plurality of electrical equipment, each of said plurality of I/O units including
- sensor data generating means, coupling to a respective sensor, for generating sensor data of the respective electrical equipment in accordance with a sensor input signal from the respective sensor,
- driving means, coupled to the respective electrical equipment, for generating a respective driving signal for driving the respective electrical equipment in accordance with the command and signals, and
- second communication means, coupled to a respective sensor data generating means and a respective driving means, for transmitting the sensor data along the system data network and for receiving the command signals from the system data network.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.