IP Library › Granted Patent US 12,693,964
Granted Patent B2
US 12,693,964 · App. 18/685,832 · Granted Jul 28, 2026

Method for operating a vehicle controller

Inventors: Jan Pepke (Remseck A.N., DE); Dimitrios Stavrianos (Stuttgart, DE); Sebastian Kirsch (Renningen, DE)
Assignee: ROBERT BOSCH GMBH
G06F11/3698G06F21/53
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 12,693,964
App. No.
18/685,832
Granted
Jul 28, 2026
Kind
B2
Abstract

A method for operating a vehicle controller. A regular application for normal operation of the vehicle controller is executed on a first partition. A sandbox is provided on a second partition. In the sandbox, an application to be tested is executed. The sandbox is provided such that read access to the regular application is possible therefrom. Signals and/data used in the regular application during normal operation are obtained and processed by the application to be tested. A corresponding vehicle controller is also provided.

Claims (26)

1 . A method for operating a vehicle controller, the method comprising:

executing, on a first partition, a regular application for normal operation of the vehicle controller;

providing a sandbox on a second partition, and executing, in the sandbox an application to be tested;

wherein the sandbox is provided such that read access to the regular application is possible from the sandbox, wherein signals and/or data used by the regular application in the normal operation are obtained and processed by the application to be tested;

wherein data and/or signals and/or parameters produced within a scope of the execution of the application to be tested are transferred into a further sandbox, from which write access to the regular application is possible; and

wherein the data and/or signals and/or parameters are transferred from the further sandbox to the regular application.

2 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the sandbox is operated such that no write access to the regular application is possible from the sandbox.

3 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the data and/or signals and/or parameters produced within the scope of the execution of the application to be tested are transferred to a further computing unit.

4 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the data and/or signals and/or parameters are transferred from the further sandbox to a further computing unit.

5 . The method according to claim 4 , wherein the data and/or signals and/or parameters are transferred from the regular application to the further computing unit for analysis.

6 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the application to be tested obtains updated or optimized data for further tests from a computing unit, and/or wherein an updated or optimized application to be tested is obtained from the computing unit.

7 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the regular application is configured for providing data to the sandbox before a start of the test of the application to be tested.

8 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein, in the event of an error in the application to be tested, the sandbox is deactivated and the regular application continues to be operated.

9 . The method according to claim 1 , wherein the first partition is provided at a higher safety level than the second partition.

10 . A vehicle controller configured to operate a vehicle controller, the vehicle controller configured to:

execute, on a first partition, a regular application for normal operation of the vehicle controller;

provide a sandbox on a second partition, and executing, in the sandbox an application to be tested;

wherein the sandbox is provided such that read access to the regular application is possible from the sandbox, wherein signals and/or data used by the regular application in the normal operation are obtained and processed by the application to be tested;

wherein data and/or signals and/or parameters produced within a scope of the execution of the application to be tested are transferred into a further sandbox, from which write access to the regular application is possible; and

wherein the data and/or signals and/or parameters are transferred from the further sandbox to the regular application.

11 . A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium on which is stored a computer program for operating a vehicle controller, the computer program, when executed on a vehicle controller, causing the vehicle controller to perform the following steps:

executing, on a first partition, a regular application for normal operation of the vehicle controller;

providing a sandbox on a second partition, and executing, in the sandbox an application to be tested;

wherein the sandbox is provided such that read access to the regular application is possible from the sandbox, wherein signals and/or data used by the regular application in the normal operation are obtained and processed by the application to be tested;

wherein data and/or signals and/or parameters produced within a scope of the execution of the application to be tested are transferred into a further sandbox, from which write access to the regular application is possible; and

wherein the data and/or signals and/or parameters are transferred from the further sandbox to the regular application.