New patent application published for: IN-VEHICLE DEVICE AND IN-VEHICLE SYSTEM

IN-VEHICLE DEVICE AND IN-VEHICLE SYSTEM

Claims

1. An in-vehicle device used in an in-vehicle system in which a plurality of communication devices are installed, wherein each of the plurality of communication devices is configured to receive power supply via each power supply path, and each of the power supply paths is provided with a power supply switching unit configured to switch between an ON state in which the respective power supply path is conducted and an OFF state in which the respective power supply path is interrupted, the in-vehicle device comprising at least one of (i) a circuit and (ii) a processor with a memory storing computer program code executable by the processor, the at least one of the circuit and the processor configured to cause the in-vehicle device to execute switching control to switch the power supply switching unit to either the ON state or the OFF state; and communicate with the plurality of communication devices, wherein the at least one of the circuit and the processor outputs control information indicating whether the switching control executed is a switching to the ON state or a switching to the OFF state, when the switching control is executed; and each of the plurality of communication devices is configured to, when the control information output corresponding to a respective communication device is acquired, stop transmission process for transmitting a communication frame when the control information indicates a switch to the OFF state for the respective communication device.
2. The in-vehicle device according to claim 1, wherein the at least one of the circuit and the processor is further configured to manage, according to a running state of a vehicle, whether the power supply switching unit should transition to the ON state or the OFF state, and to notify management information indicating whether the power supply switching unit should transition to the ON state or the OFF state, and the at least one of the circuit and the processor executes the switching control in accordance with the management information.
3. The in-vehicle device according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of communication devices include an anomaly detection unit configured to execute communication anomaly detection to detect whether there is an abnormality in a communication state of the in-vehicle system, and when the control information is acquired, if the control information for a device indicates switching to the OFF state, the communication device stops the transmission process and also causes the anomaly detection unit to stop communication anomaly detection.
4. The in-vehicle device according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of communication devices include an anomaly detection unit configured to execute communication anomaly detection to detect whether there is an abnormality in a communication state of the in-vehicle system, and when the control information is acquired, if the control information for that device indicates switching to the ON state, the plurality of communication devices start the transmission process and also cause the anomaly detection unit to start communication anomaly detection.
5. The in-vehicle device according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of communication devices and the in-vehicle device have a wake-up state as a normal operating state, and a sleep state as a low power consumption operating state in which at least part of functions is restricted, and the plurality of communication devices and the in-vehicle device are configured to transition to the sleep state when no communication request is received from any of the plurality of communication devices or the in-vehicle device.
6. An in-vehicle system comprising: a plurality of communication devices; and an in-vehicle device, wherein the plurality of communication devices and the in-vehicle device are installed in the in-vehicle system, each of the plurality of communication devices is configured to receive power supply via a each power supply path, each of the power supply paths is provided with a power supply switching unit configured to switch between an ON state in which the respective power supply path is conducted and an OFF state in which the respective power supply path is interrupted, the in-vehicle device includes: a control unit configured to execute switching control to switch the power supply switching unit to either the ON state or the OFF state; and a communication unit configured to communicate with the plurality of communication devices, the communication unit outputs control information indicating whether the switching control executed by the control unit is a switching to the ON state or a switching to the OFF state, when the control unit executes the switching control, and each of the plurality of communication devices is configured to, when the control information output by the communication unit corresponding to a respective communication device is acquired, stop transmission processing for transmitting a communication frame when the control information for the respective communication device indicates switching to the OFF state.