Patent ID: 8607215
Filing Date: 2013-12-10
Classification: G06F,Y02D

Abstract:
1. An electronic control system for an automobile, comprising: a nonvolatile memory for storing function controlling software for handling control processing of electronic apparatuses mounted on an automobile whose memory content is electrically rewritable and that retains the memory content even when receiving an outside reset signal, the nonvolatile memory including rewriting firmware storage part that stores a rewriting firmware for rewriting the content of the function controlling software, and the nonvolatile memory further including rewriting-state identifying information storage part for storing rewriting-state identifying information with which it is identified whether rewrite processing of the function controlling software has normally completed in a rewritable manner; a RAM for serving as an execution memory of the function controlling software based on which the control processing of the electronic apparatuses are performed; identifying information rewriting means that controls a progress state of the rewrite processing by the rewriting firmware and, depending on the progress state, rewrites a memory content of rewriting-state identifying information in the rewriting-state identifying information storage part to enable to grasp whether the rewrite processing has normally completed; and start controlling means that refers to the memory content of the rewriting-state identifying information storage part in starting the function controlling software and that, when the memory content is a content indicating normal completion of the rewrite processing, starts the function controlling software, and, when the memory content indicates incomplete completion of the rewrite processing, executes processing of restarting the rewriting firmware instead of the function controlling software independently from the function controlling software; wherein the identifying information rewriting means sets the memory content of the rewriting-state identifying information storage part to a predetermined under-rewriting state indicating under-rewriting in response to the start of the rewrite processing of the function controlling software by the rewriting firmware, and maintains the under-rewriting state until the rewrite processing of the function controlling software is normally completed; the rewriting control means starts the rewriting firmware when the memory content of the rewriting-state identifying information storage part is under-rewriting state; the rewriting firmware is configured to acquire by communication an update version program of the function controlling software to be used for the rewriting from a data sender apparatus network-connected to the control system; the identifying information rewriting means is configured to maintain the memory content of the rewriting-state identifying information storage part at the under-rewriting state by receiving an instruction of maintaining a state of rewriting received from the data sender apparatus; and the identifying information rewriting means invalidates the storage state of the rewriting-state identifying information storage part as of before starting the rewriting firmware at the time of starting the firmware, and subsequently sets the storage state of the rewriting-state identifying information storage part to a predetermined rewriting-normally-completed state indicating the rewriting normal completion after the rewriting firmware normally completed the rewrite processing of the function controlling software in the nonvolatile memory; the start controlling means starts the function controlling software only when the memory content of the rewriting-state identifying information storage part is the rewriting-normally-completed state; and the identifying information rewriting means sets the storage state of the rewriting-state identifying information storage part to a rewriting-normally-completed state, when the rewriting firmware completes writing of a whole of the update version program received from the data sender apparatus in the nonvolatile memory and completes a verification of the update version program based on a comparison of the rewritten updated version program with a verifying data received from the data sender apparatus.