Adaptive thermal cooling mechanism apparatus, system and method for vehicle processor

1 . A cooling mechanism apparatus for a vehicle, the cooling mechanism apparatus comprising:

a processor configured to control deactivation or activation of an application driving an in-vehicle controller depending on grades of a predetermined functional safety level of the application and to determine an order of the deactivation or the activation of the application when heat is generated in the in-vehicle controller, and when multiple applications with a same functional safety level are existed, determine an order of the multiple applications based on priority received in advance from a driver,

wherein the processor is configured to monitor a temperature of the in-vehicle controller for a predetermined time period after deactivating a service provided by the application having a lowest grade of the predetermined functional safety level, and to activate the deactivated application when the temperature of the in-vehicle controller is equal to or smaller than a first reference value, which is a reference for deactivating the application; and

a storage electrically connected to the processor and configured to store information for each of the grades of the predetermined functional safety level,

wherein the in-vehicle controller is related to the multiple applications for autonomous driving and each of the multiple applications has own grade of the predetermined functional safety level,

wherein the grades of the predetermined functional safety level include at least a first grade indicating quality management and a second grade indicating collision avoidance assist, and

wherein, when the temperature of the in-vehicle controller exceeds a predetermined reference value for a predetermined time period, the processor is further configured to:

determine whether an application of the first grade exists in the multiple applications, and

responding to determination that the application of the first grade exists, deactivate the application of the first grade, or

responding to determination that the application of the first grade does not exist, deactivate the application of the second grade.

2 . The cooling mechanism apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to determine that the heat is generated when the temperature of the in-vehicle controller exceeds the predetermined reference value for the predetermined time period.

3 . The cooling mechanism apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to determine whether to perform deactivation of an application having the lowest grade of the predetermined functional safety level among one or more applications driving the in-vehicle controller in which the heat is generated.

4 . The cooling mechanism apparatus of claim 3 , wherein when the deactivation of the application having the lowest grade of the predetermined functional safety level is enabled to be performed, the processor is configured to enter the application having the lowest grade of the predetermined functional safety level into an idle mode.

5 . The cooling mechanism apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the processor is configured to transition a state of the application from the idle mode to a thermal fail-safe mode, and to deactivate the application having the lowest grade of the predetermined functional safety level.

6 . The cooling mechanism apparatus of claim 3 , wherein when the deactivation of the application having the lowest grade of the predetermined functional safety level is unable to be performed, the processor is configured to determine whether deactivation of an application having a next highest grade of the predetermined functional safety level is enabled to be performed.

7 . The cooling mechanism apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the processor is configured to enter a state of the application having the next highest grade of the predetermined functional safety level to an idle mode, and to transition the state of the application from the idle mode to a thermal fail-safe mode when the deactivation of the application having the next highest grade of the predetermined functional safety level is enabled to be performed.

8 . The cooling mechanism apparatus of claim 7 , wherein the processor is configured to shut down the in-vehicle controller when it is impossible to deactivate the application depending on the grades of the predetermined functional safety level.

9 . The cooling mechanism apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured to provide a user with a notification of deactivation or activation of a service provided by the application when the deactivation or the activation of the application is performed.

10 . The cooling mechanism apparatus of claim 9 , further including:

an interface device configured to output the notification,

wherein the processor is configured to control the interface device to output a pop-up to the user at all times or the notification when a driver manipulates the interface device.

11 . The cooling mechanism apparatus of claim 1 , wherein when a plurality of applications has been deactivated, the processor is configured to sequentially activate the applications depending on the grades of the predetermined functional safety level.

12 . The cooling mechanism apparatus of claim 1 , wherein when the temperature of the in-vehicle controller is lowered to between the first reference value and a second reference value which is greater than the first reference value, the processor is configured to sequentially activate deactivated applications depending on the grades of the predetermined functional safety level, or to activate a predetermined number of the deactivated applications.

13 . The cooling mechanism apparatus of claim 1 , wherein when a plurality of applications is deactivated, the processor is configured to deactivate the applications in an order of increasing the grade of the predetermined functional safety level from an application having a lower grade thereof.

14 . The cooling mechanism apparatus of claim 1 , wherein when a plurality of applications is deactivated, the processor is configured to determine temperature monitoring times of the deactivated applications depending on the grades of the predetermined functional safety level.

15 . The cooling mechanism apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the processor is configured not to perform the deactivation of the application having a highest grade of the predetermined functional safety level.

16 . A cooling system for a vehicle, the cooling system comprising:

a temperature sensor configured to detect heat generated by an in-vehicle controller; and

a vehicle cooling mechanism apparatus configured to control deactivation or activation of an application driving the in-vehicle controller depending on grades of a predetermined functional safety level of the application when the generated heat is detected by the temperature sensor, and when multiple applications with a same functional safety level are existed, determine an order of the multiple applications based on priority received in advance from a driver,

wherein the vehicle cooling mechanism apparatus is configured to monitor a temperature of the in-vehicle controller for a predetermined time period after deactivating a service provided by the application having a lowest grade of the predetermined functional safety level, and to activate the deactivated application when the temperature of the in-vehicle controller is equal to or smaller than a first reference value, which is a reference for deactivating the application,

wherein the in-vehicle controller is related to multiple applications for autonomous driving and each of the multiple applications has its own grade of the predetermined functional safety level,

wherein the grades of the predetermined functional safety level include at least a first grade indicating quality management and a second grade indicating collision avoidance assist, and

wherein, when the temperature of the in-vehicle controller exceeds a predetermined reference value for a predetermined time period, the vehicle cooling mechanism apparatus is further configured to:

determine whether an application of the first grade exists in the multiple applications, and

responding to determination that the application of the first grade exists, deactivate the application of the first grade, or

responding to determination that the application of the first grade does not exist, deactivate the application of the second grade.

17 . A cooling method for a vehicle, the cooling method comprising:

determining whether heat is generated in an in-vehicle controller; and

controlling deactivation or activation of an application driving the in-vehicle controller depending on grades of a predetermined functional safety level of the application when the heat is generated;

when multiple applications with a same functional safety level are existed, determining an order of the multiple applications based on priority received in advance from a driver; and

monitoring a temperature of the in-vehicle controller for a predetermined time period after deactivating a service provided by the application having a lowest grade of the predetermined functional safety level, and activating the deactivated application when the temperature of the in-vehicle controller is equal to or smaller than a first reference value, which is a reference for deactivating the application,

wherein the in-vehicle controller is related to multiple applications for autonomous driving and each of the multiple applications has its own grade of the predetermined functional safety level,

wherein the grades of the predetermined functional safety level include at least a first grade indicating quality management and a second grade indicating collision avoidance assist, and

wherein the cooling method further comprises:

when the temperature of the in-vehicle controller exceeds a predetermined reference value for a predetermined time period,

determining whether an application of the first grade exists in the multiple applications, and

responding to determination that the application of the first grade exists, deactivating the application of the first grade, or

responding to determination that the application of the first grade does not exist, deactivating the application of the second grade.

18 . The cooling method of claim 17 , wherein the controlling of the deactivation or the activation of the application includes:

determining whether to perform deactivation of an application having the lowest grade of the predetermined functional safety level among one or more applications driving the in-vehicle controller in which the heat is generated;

performing the deactivation of the application having the lowest grade of the predetermined functional safety level when the deactivation of the application having the lowest grade of the predetermined functional safety level is enabled to be performed;

determining whether deactivation of an application having a next highest grade of the predetermined functional safety level is enabled to be performed when the deactivation of the application having the lowest grade of the predetermined functional safety level is unable to be performed; and

performing the deactivation of the application having the next highest grade of the predetermined functional safety level when the deactivation of the application having the next highest grade of the predetermined functional safety level is enabled to be performed.