Granted Patent B2

US 12,741,602 · App. 18/899,364 · Granted Sep 22, 2026

Inventors: Donald Raymond Gignac (Lake Oswego, OR); Maria Soledad Elli (Seattle, WA); Rebeca Maria Delgado Gomez (Novi, MI); Ruchika Singh (Chandler, AZ); John Charles Weast (Phoenix, AZ)

Assignee: Intel Corporation

B60R16/03B60R16/0231G07C5/008

Abstract

Claims (59)

1 . A non-transitory machine-readable medium configured to store instructions that, when executed by processor circuitry of a vehicle, cause the processor circuitry to perform operations to:

evaluate data that enumerates characteristics of multiple components of the vehicle;

determine power usage characteristics of respective components of the vehicle from the data, the power usage characteristics including power requirements and available power states;

determine a power usage policy to apply in the vehicle based on the power usage characteristics of the respective components and operational conditions of the vehicle,

wherein the power usage policy includes restrictions for the vehicle and the respective components; and

generate, based on the power usage policy of the vehicle, control signals to change power states used by the respective components,

wherein the control signals are generated via a central compute node of the vehicle comprising a power management control subsystem and a vehicle platform power management subsystem instantiated in the central compote node, and

wherein the vehicle platform power management subsystem receives data from the respective components of the vehicle and provides, based on the received data, data structures to the power management control subsystem that enumerate power management capabilities of the respective components.

2 . The at least one-non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the respective components comprise respective electronic control units (ECUs), and wherein

the central compute node is connected to the respective ECUs via a vehicle platform communication interface.

3 . The at least one-non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 2 ,

wherein the control signals are provided to a vehicle platform power management agent executing in the respective ECUS.

4 . The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 3 , wherein the operations to determine the power usage policy to apply in the vehicle are performed in the central compute node of the vehicle.

5 . The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the operational conditions of the vehicle are based on energy consumption and demand of the vehicle, and are provided in data maintained in the vehicle.

6 . The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the operational conditions of the vehicle are based on energy consumption and demand applicable to the vehicle, and are provided in external data from a service remote to the vehicle.

7 . The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 6 , wherein the data from the service relates to weather conditions, external conditions, fleet conditions, or vehicle operational features.

8 . The at least one-non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the instructions further cause the processor circuitry to perform the operations to:

generate control signals to change power states of an actuator or a sensor system based on the power usage policy of the vehicle.

9 . The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the operational conditions of the vehicle and the respective components are associated with workload instances, and

wherein the workload instances are managed by a vehicle system level manager executing in a central compute node of the vehicle.

10 . The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the characteristics of the multiple components of the vehicle are defined with element descriptors, and

wherein the element descriptors associate multiple power usage policies of the vehicle to individual power states of the respective components.

11 . The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the data is received from the respective components as part of a discovery process.

12 . The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the power management capabilities include workload dependencies for the respective components.

13 . A vehicle power management system, comprising:

a central compute node comprising a power management control subsystem and a vehicle platform power management subsystem instantiated in the central compute node;

a memory device configured to store data; and

processing circuitry associated with the central compute node, the processing circuitry configured to:

evaluate data that enumerates characteristics of multiple electronic control units (ECUs) of a vehicle;

determine power usage characteristics of respective ECUs of the multiple ECUs of the vehicle from the data, the power usage characteristics including power requirements and available power states;

determine a power usage policy to apply in the vehicle based on the power usage characteristics of respective ECUs and operational conditions of the vehicle,

wherein the power usage policy includes restrictions for the vehicle and the respective ECUs; and

generate, based on the power usage policy of the vehicle, control signals to change power states used by the respective ECUs,

wherein the vehicle platform power management subsystem receives data from the respective ECUs of the vehicle and provides, based on the received data, data structures to the power management control subsystem that enumerate power management capabilities of the respective ECUs.

14 . The vehicle power management system of claim 13 , wherein:

the processing circuitry is further configured to generate the control signals in the vehicle platform power management subsystem executing in the central compute node of the vehicle,

the central compute node is connected to the respective ECUs via a vehicle platform communication interface, and

the control signals are provided to a vehicle platform power management agent executing in the respective ECUs.

15 . The vehicle power management system of claim 13 , wherein the operational conditions of the vehicle are based on:

energy consumption and demand of the vehicle, which are provided in data maintained in the vehicle; or

energy consumption and demand applicable to the vehicle, which are provided in external data from a service remote to the vehicle,

wherein the external data relates to weather conditions, external conditions, fleet conditions, or vehicle operational features.

16 . The vehicle power management system of claim 13 , wherein the processing circuitry is further configured to generate the control signals to change power states of an actuator or a sensor system based on the power usage policy of the vehicle.

17 . The vehicle power management system of claim 13 , wherein the operational conditions of the vehicle and the respective ECUs are associated with workload instances, and

wherein the workload instances are managed by a vehicle system level manager executing in a central compute node of the vehicle.

18 . The vehicle power management system of claim 13 , wherein the characteristics of the multiple ECUs of the vehicle are defined with element descriptors, and

wherein the element descriptors associate multiple power usage policies of the vehicle to individual power states of the respective ECUs.

19 . A process of making a central compute node for a vehicle, comprising:

assembling circuitry and a storage device of the central compute node, the central compute node to be installed in the vehicle; and

loading instructions in the storage device, wherein the instructions, when executed by the circuitry, cause the central compute node to:

instantiate a power management control subsystem to control power usage of multiple electronic control units (ECUs) of the vehicle,

wherein the control of the power usage is based on:

power usage characteristics of respective ECUs of the vehicle, the power usage characteristics including power requirements and available power states; and

a power usage policy applied in the vehicle based on the power usage characteristics of the respective ECUs, power usage characteristics of the vehicle, and operating conditions of the vehicle and the respective ECUs; and

providing, based on the power usage policy of the vehicle, control signals to change power states of the respective ECUs,

wherein the control signals are generated via a central compute node of the vehicle comprising a power management control subsystem and a vehicle platform power management subsystem, and

wherein the vehicle platform power management subsystem receives data from the respective ECUs of the vehicle and provides, based on the received data, data structures to the power management control subsystem that enumerate power management capabilities of the respective ECUs.

20 . The process of claim 19 , wherein the multiple ECUs of the vehicle are defined in element descriptors of at least one data structure used by the power management control subsystem, and

wherein the element descriptors associate multiple power usage policies of the vehicle to respective power states of the respective ECUs.

Assignments (2)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (15)