Patent ID: 9494999
Filing Date: 2016-11-15
CPC Classification: G06F,H04L,Y02D

Claim Text:
1. A method for operating a first controller which is connected to a vehicle bus, comprising: emitting, by a keep-active device, a keep-active message from the first controller to maintain communication with at least a second controller connected to the vehicle bus, by a method comprising: using at least a first bit in the keep-active message to keep the second controller active; and using at least a second bit in the keep-active message to communicate a reason for keeping the second controller active, the second bit being included in the keep-active message during proper operation of the first controller; reading at the first controller, all keep-active messages emitted on the vehicle bus by the keep-active device and checking at the first controller, by a check device, whether the second bit is included in the keep-active message to determine whether the reason for keeping the second controller active has been communicated; and if the second bit is not included in the keep-active message, resetting, by the check device, at least one of a software function and a component function of the first controller, wherein the keep-active device includes a processor and an emitting unit that is operated by the processor to emit the keep-active messages to the second controller, the check device includes a software unit which is independent from the emitting unit which checks whether the second bit is included in the keep-active message to determine whether the reason for keeping the second controller active has been communicated in the keep-active messages emitted by the emitting unit, and the check device is inactive when no keep-active message has been emitted.