Patent ID: 7912597
Filing Date: 2011-03-22
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. An on-vehicle control apparatus that communicates with a remote control center and is connected to an on-vehicle network, to which a plurality of electronic control apparatuses are connected and which performs distributed control of a plurality of on-vehicle devices, the on-vehicle control apparatus comprising: a communicating means for communicating information with the control center through radio communication; a connection information obtaining means for obtaining current connection information of the plurality of electronic control apparatuses with respect to the on-vehicle network based on a response, which is transmitted from the plurality of electronic control apparatuses in reply to a response request outputted from the connection information obtaining means to the plurality of electronic control apparatuses; and a vehicle-side diagnosing means for diagnosing the plurality of electronic control apparatuses in view of the obtained current connection information of each replying one of the plurality of electronic control apparatuses, wherein: at least one of the on-vehicle control apparatus and the control center includes a master data storage means for storing master data, which includes reference connection information of the plurality of electronic control apparatuses with respect to the on-vehicle network; the reference connection information of the plurality of electronic control apparatuses includes connection position information and identification information of each of the plurality of electronic control apparatuses in the on-vehicle network; the current connection information of each replying one of the plurality of electronic control apparatuses includes connection position information and identification information of the electronic control apparatus; the control center includes a control center-side diagnosing means for diagnosing the plurality of electronic control apparatuses in view of the current connection information of each replying one of the plurality of electronic control apparatuses; and the vehicle-side diagnosing means and the control center-side diagnosing means diagnose validity of a connecting state of the plurality of electronic control apparatuses relative to the on-vehicle network by comparing the current connection information of each replying one of the plurality of electronic control apparatuses with the master data and thereby determining whether the current connection information of each replying one of the plurality of electronic control apparatuses matches with the master data in such a manner that the vehicle-side diagnosing means and the control center-side diagnosing means communicate information required in diagnosing the validity of the connecting state of the plurality of electronic control apparatuses through radio communication therebetween and share a work load of the diagnosing of the validity of the connecting state of the plurality of electronic control apparatuses therebetween, a work load share of the vehicle-side diagnosing means and a work load share of the control center-side diagnosing means in the diagnosing of the validity of the connecting state of the plurality of electronic control apparatuses being determined based on a current processing load of at least one of the on-vehicle control apparatus and the control center.