Control information rewriting system

A control center for communication with a control information rewriting device which rewrites control information stored in an electronic control unit, the control center comprising:

• storing means storing an association relationship between identification information of the rewriting device and associated information related to the identification information;
• a processing unit programmed to receive information from the rewriting device that is specific to a vehicle having the electronic control unit as well as an association relationship between identification information of the rewriting device and associated information related to the identification information to determine modification data to be used to rewrite the control information, and to transmit the determined modification data to the rewriting device,
• wherein the processing unit is further programmed to determine whether the rewriting device is legitimate, and to permit the rewriting device to rewrite the modification data only upon determining that the rewriting device is legitimate, and
• wherein the processing unit is further programmed to compare the stored association relationship stored in the storing means with the association relationship received from the rewriting device, and to determine that the rewriting device is legitimate when the compared association relationships match.

A rewriting device for rewriting control information stored in an electronic control unit while communicating with an external device, the rewriting device comprising:

• receiving means for receiving a rewriting permission from the external device;
• processing execution means for executing predetermined processing with the electronic control unit in response to the receiving means receiving the rewriting permission from the external device;
• control information transmitting means for acquiring the control information from the external device after the processing execution means executes the predetermined processing with the electronic control unit, and for transmitting the control information to the electronic control unit, wherein
• the predetermined processing includes checking a match between the electronic control unit and the rewriting device by using access information received from the external device.

A control information rewriting system for a vehicle comprising:

• an electronic control unit mounted in the vehicle for vehicle control and having control information stored in an electrically rewritable nonvolatile memory for vehicle control;
• a rewriting device connectable to the electronic control unit for rewriting the control information stored in the electrically rewritable nonvolatile memory;
• and
• a control center for performing data communication with the rewriting device and for storing access information required by the rewriting device to rewrite the control information in the electronic control unit,
• wherein the rewriting device converts data received from the electronic control unit based on the access information received from the control center and transmits the converted data to the electronic control unit to enable the electronic control unit to determine whether the rewriting device is legitimate.

A control information rewriting system for a vehicle comprising:

• an electronic control unit mounted in the vehicle for a vehicle control and having control information stored in electrically rewritable nonvolatile memory for vehicle control;
• a rewriting device connectable to the electronic control unit for rewriting the control information;
• and
• a control center for performing data communication with the rewriting device and for storing predetermined access information necessary for the rewriting device to rewrite the control information,
• wherein the electronic control unit determines whether the rewriting device is legitimate by receiving information which is formed by the rewriting device based on the predetermined access information received from the control center.

A control information rewriting system for a vehicle comprising:

• an electronic control unit mounted in the vehicle for vehicle control and having a control program stored in an electrically rewritable nonvolatile memory for the vehicle control;
• a rewriting device connectable to the electronic control unit for rewriting the control program;
• and
• a control center for performing data communication with the rewriting device,
• wherein the control center is programmed to determine whether the control program has already been rewritten or is not broken by checking a check sum of the control program transmitted from the electronic control unit through the rewriting device along with vehicle specific information, and to transmit a new control program to the rewriting device so that the new control program is rewritten in the nonvolatile memory when determining that the control program has not been rewritten or is broken.