Method for providing a generic interface and microcontroller having a generic interface

A microcontroller for a control unit, comprising:

• a microcontroller arrangement, including:
• a central processing unit (CPU);
• at least one interface-unspecific input module;
• at least one interface-unspecific output module;
• at least one routing unit;
• and
• at least one arithmetic unit for processing interface-specific information;
• wherein the microcontroller arrangement is configured for providing at least one generic interface in a control unit, by performing the following:
• receiving input data according to a protocol of one of multiple serial interfaces via at least one interface-unspecific input module;
• transmitting the input data via a routing unit to at least one arithmetic unit;
• extracting, by the at least one arithmetic unit, first payload data from the input data, in particular by removing specifics of the protocol from the input data;
• making the first payload data available to a central processing unit (CPU);
• receiving, by at least one arithmetic unit, second payload data of the central processing unit (CPU);
• generating, by the at least one arithmetic unit, output data from the second payload data, in particular by adding specifics of the protocol to the second payload data;
• transmitting the output data to the at least one interface-unspecific output module, the arithmetic unit generating an entire output message frame from the second payload data as output data, assigning a time stamp or an angle stamp to the output message frame, and transmitting the same to the at least one interface-unspecific output module;
• and
• sending the output data corresponding to the protocol of the one of the multiple serial interfaces via the at least one interface-unspecific output module, wherein the at least one interface-unspecific output module transmits the output message frame when the time stamp assigned to the output message frame by the arithmetic unit corresponds to time information of the interface-unspecific output module, or when the angle stamp assigned to the output message frame by the arithmetic unit corresponds to angle information of the interface-unspecific output module;
• wherein the at least one generic interface is configurable to provide functions corresponding to one of multiple serial interfaces depending on a configuration.

A microcontroller for a vehicle control unit, comprising:

• a microcontroller arrangement, including:
• a central processing unit (CPU);
• at least one interface-unspecific input module;
• at least one interface-unspecific output module;
• at least one routing unit;
• and
• at least one arithmetic unit for processing interface-specific information;
• wherein the microcontroller arrangement is configurable so that the at least one interface-unspecific input module, the at least one interface-unspecific output module, the at least one routing unit, and the at least one arithmetic unit for processing interface-specific information fulfill one or more functions corresponding to one of multiple serial interfaces, and
• wherein the at least one arithmetic unit is configured to:
• receive input data as an entire input message frame, wherein the input message frame is analyzed by the at least one interface-unspecific input module with the aid of oversampling, and a level of one or more bits of the input message frame is determined with the aid of voting of bit levels based on level values of sampling points of the oversampling,
• distinguish the one or more bits of the input message frame based the level of the one or more bits,
• extract payload data from the input data by removing specifics of a protocol of the input message frame from the input data,
• generate an entire output message frame from the payload data as output data by adding specifics of a protocol of the output message frame to the payload data,
• and
• transmit the entire output message frame to the at least one interface-unspecific output module.

A vehicle control unit, comprising:

• a microcontroller, including:
• a central processing unit (CPU);
• at least one interface-unspecific input module;
• at least one interface-unspecific output module;
• at least one routing unit;
• and
• at least one arithmetic unit for processing interface-specific information;
• wherein the microcontroller is configurable so that the at least one interface-unspecific input module, the at least one interface-unspecific output module, the at least one routing unit, and the at least one arithmetic unit for processing interface-specific information fulfill one or more functions corresponding to one of multiple serial interfaces, and
• wherein the at least one arithmetic unit is configured to:
• receive input data as an entire input message frame, wherein the input message frame is analyzed by the at least one interface-unspecific input module with the aid of oversampling, and a level of one or more bits of the input message frame is determined with the aid of voting of bit levels based on level values of sampling points of the oversampling,
• distinguish the one or more bits of the input message frame based the level of the one or more bits,
• extract payload data from the input data by removing specifics of a protocol of the input message frame from the input data,
• generate an entire output message frame from the payload data as output data by adding specifics of a protocol of the output message frame to the payload data, and
• transmit the entire output message frame to the at least one interface-unspecific output module.