Patent ID: 8190321
Filing Date: 2012-05-29
Classification: B60W,F02D,G07C

Abstract:
1. An electronic control unit installed in a vehicle, the electronic control unit comprising: a non-volatile memory capable of re-writing data; a standby RAM to which electric power is continuously supplied for storing data; a diagnosis unit capable of checking if a failure has occurred in a device installed in the vehicle based on information from the device and storing abnormality data in the non-volatile memory after determining that an abnormality has occurred in the device installed in the vehicle; a permission information storage capable of storing permission information indicating whether or not storage of the abnormality data in the non-volatile memory is permitted; a permission switching unit capable of switching the permission information from non-permission of the storage of the abnormality data to permission of the storage of the abnormality data after the diagnosis unit has determined that the device installed in the vehicle is in a normal condition with no indication of abnormality; and a storage permission unit capable of permitting the diagnosis unit to store the abnormality data in at least one of the non-volatile memory and the standby RAM, wherein when the diagnosis unit detects an abnormality in the device and the permission information storage permits the storage of the abnormality data in the non-volatile memory, the storage permission unit stores the abnormality data in the non-volatile memory and the standby RAM, and wherein when the diagnosis unit detects an abnormality in the device and the permission information storage does not permit the storage of the abnormality data in the non-volatile memory, the storage permission unit stores the abnormality data in the standby RAM.