Granted Patent B2

US 12,277,413 · App. 17/572,798 · Granted Apr 15, 2025

Inventor: Shoichi Nagamitsu (Toyota, JP)

Assignee: TOYOTA JIDOSHA KABUSHIKI KAISHA

G06F8/65G07C5/008G07C5/0808G07C5/0816B60Q11/00B60R16/0231B60W50/029H04L41/069

Abstract

Claims (50)

1. A center configured to communicate with an Over-The-Air (OTA) master and a malfunction management server via a network, the OTA master being mounted on a vehicle, the malfunction management server being configured to store malfunction occurrence information and malfunction resolution information based on information transmitted from the vehicle, the malfunction occurrence information including a malfunction information of the vehicle with a malfunction and identification information for identifying the vehicle with the malfunction, the malfunction resolution information indicating the malfunction occurring in the vehicle has been resolved, the center comprising a processor configured to:

receive the malfunction occurrence information and the malfunction resolution information that are transmitted by the malfunction management server;

in response to receiving the malfunction occurrence information from the malfunction management server, set a vehicle status record to a first status indicating that the vehicle with the identification information included in the received malfunction occurrence information is in a malfunctioning state;

in a case where the vehicle status record is the first status, in response to receiving the malfunction resolution information, change the vehicle status record to a second status indicating that the vehicle is in a normal state;

receive, from the OTA master, an inquiry about presence or absence of an update of software of an electronic control device;

determine, in response to receiving the inquiry, whether the vehicle status record corresponding to the vehicle that has transmitted the inquiry is the first status; and

in response to determining that the vehicle status record corresponding to the vehicle that has transmitted the inquiry is the first status,

determine whether execution of an update process for the software on the vehicle that has transmitted the inquiry is restricted, and

in response to determining that the execution is restricted, transmit a malfunction notification corresponding to the malfunction occurrence information, the malfunction notification notifying a user of predetermined first information related to the malfunction and predetermined second information to resolve the malfunction.

2. The center according to claim 1 , wherein the malfunction management server is configured to transmit the malfunction occurrence information to the center when the malfunction occurrence information is newly registered in the malfunction management server.

3. The center according to claim 1 , wherein the predetermined second information is contact information of a vehicle sales/maintenance company or navigation information to a shop of the company.

4. An update control method to be executed by a computer of a center including a processor, a memory, and a communication device that is configured to communicate with an Over-The-Air (OTA) master and a malfunction management server via a network, the OTA master being mounted on a vehicle, the malfunction management server being configured to store malfunction occurrence information and malfunction resolution information based on information transmitted from the vehicle, the malfunction occurrence information including a malfunction information of the vehicle with a malfunction and identification information for identifying the vehicle with the malfunction, the malfunction resolution information indicating the malfunction occurring in the vehicle has been resolved, the update control method comprising:

receiving the malfunction occurrence information and the malfunction resolution information that are transmitted by the malfunction management server;

in response to receiving the malfunction occurrence information from the malfunction management server, setting a vehicle status record to a first status indicating that the vehicle with the identification information included in the received malfunction occurrence information is in a malfunctioning state;

in a case where the vehicle status record is the first status, in response to receiving the malfunction resolution information, changing the vehicle status record to a second status indicating that the vehicle is in a normal state;

receiving, from the OTA master, an inquiry about presence or absence of an update of software of an electronic control device;

determining, in response to receiving the inquiry, whether the vehicle status record corresponding to the vehicle that has transmitted the inquiry is the first status; and

in response to determining that the vehicle status record corresponding to the vehicle that has transmitted the inquiry is the first status,

determine whether execution of an update process for the software on the vehicle that has transmitted the inquiry is restricted, and

in response to determining that the execution is restricted, transmitting a malfunction notification corresponding to the malfunction occurrence information, the malfunction notification being used to notify a user of predetermined first information related to the malfunction and predetermined second information to resolve the malfunction.

5. A non-transitory storage medium storing instructions that are executable by a computer of a center including a processor, a memory, and a communication device and that cause the computer to perform functions, the communication device being configured to communicate with an Over-The-Air (OTA) master and a malfunction management server via a network, the OTA master being mounted on a vehicle, the malfunction management server being configured to store malfunction occurrence information and malfunction resolution information based on information transmitted from the vehicle, the malfunction occurrence information including a malfunction information of the vehicle with a malfunction and identification information for identifying the vehicle with the malfunction, the malfunction resolution information indicating the malfunction occurring in the vehicle has been resolved, the functions comprising:

receiving the malfunction occurrence information and the malfunction resolution information that are transmitted by the malfunction management server;

in response to receiving the malfunction occurrence information from the malfunction management server, setting a vehicle status record to a first status indicating that the vehicle with the identification information included in the received malfunction occurrence information is in a malfunctioning state;

in a case where the vehicle status record is the first status, in response to receiving the malfunction resolution information, changing the vehicle status record to a second status indicating that the vehicle is in a normal state;

receiving, from the OTA master, an inquiry about presence or absence of an update of software of an electronic control device;

determining, in response to receiving the inquiry, whether the vehicle status record corresponding to the vehicle that has transmitted the inquiry is the first status; and

in response to determining that the vehicle status record corresponding to the vehicle that has transmitted the inquiry is the first status,

determining whether execution of an update process for the software on the vehicle that has transmitted the inquiry is restricted, and

in response to determining that the execution is restricted, transmitting a malfunction notification corresponding to the malfunction occurrence information, the malfunction notification being used to notify a user of predetermined first information related to the malfunction and predetermined second information to resolve the malfunction.

6. A software update system comprising:

a vehicle including an Over-The-Air (OTA) master;

a malfunction management server; and

a center, wherein:

the vehicle is configured to

detect malfunction occurring in the vehicle, and

transmit malfunction occurrence information to the malfunction management server, the malfunction occurrence information including information for identifying the vehicle and a malfunction information code related to the malfunction;

the malfunction management server being configured to store malfunction occurrence information and malfunction resolution information based on information transmitted from the vehicle, the malfunction occurrence information including a malfunction information of the vehicle with a malfunction and identification information for identifying the vehicle with the malfunction, the malfunction resolution information indicating the malfunction occurring in the vehicle has been resolved, is the malfunction management server being further configured to

communicate with the OTA master and the center via a network,

receive the malfunction occurrence information transmitted from the vehicle, and

transmit the malfunction occurrence information to the center;

the center is configured to

communicate with the OTA master and the malfunction management server via the network,

in response to receiving the malfunction occurrence information from the malfunction management server, set a vehicle status record to a first status indicating that the vehicle with the identification information included in the received malfunction occurrence information is in a malfunctioning state;

in a case where the vehicle status record is the first status, in response to receiving the malfunction resolution information, change the vehicle status record to a second status indicating that the vehicle is in a normal state;

receive, from the OTA master, an inquiry about presence or absence of an update of software,

determine, in response to receiving the inquiry, whether the vehicle status record corresponding to the vehicle that has transmitted the inquiry is the first status, and

in response to determination that the vehicle status record corresponding to the vehicle that has transmitted the inquiry is the first status,

determine whether execution of an update process for the software on the vehicle that has transmitted the inquiry is restricted, and

in response to determining that the execution is restricted, transmit a malfunction notification corresponding to the malfunction occurrence information, the malfunction notification being used to notify a user of predetermined information related to the malfunction; and

the vehicle is configured to notify, in response to receiving the malfunction notification transmitted from the center, a user of predetermined first information related to the malfunction and predetermined second information to resolve the malfunction.

Assignments (1)

Priority Claims (1)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (17)