Abstract:
A method of controlling access to devices in a vehicle communications network and regulating access of an application to devices required for the application. Priorities are issued for this access. A driver manager makes the required drivers for operating and controlling the individual devices available to the application. A resource manager allocates or assigns the devices to a requesting application in accordance with their priority and availability.

Description:
BACKGROUND INFORMATION  
         [0001]    The present invention is directed to a method of controlling access to devices in a vehicle communications network according to the preamble of the independent patent claim.  
           [0002]    It is known that vehicle communications networks are used in a vehicle to interlink various components from the multimedia area. A user starts an application on a device which requires additional devices for its execution. The devices connected to the vehicle communications network are placed at various locations in the motor vehicle.  
         ADVANTAGES OF THE INVENTION  
         [0003]    The method according to the present invention for controlling access to devices in a vehicle communications network having the features of the independent patent claim has the advantage over the related art that access to devices that are connected to the vehicle communications network is controlled according to priorities. Through the system of the method according to the present invention, the interaction of the driver manager, the resource manager, and the application is regulated. Issuing priorities makes it possible advantageously to rank applications according to their importance. It is therefore possible for some applications to gain a preference over other applications in allocation of the devices.  
           [0004]    Advantageous improvements on the method of controlling access to devices in a vehicle communications network as characterized in the independent patent claim are possible through the measures and refinements characterized in the dependent claims.  
           [0005]    It is particularly advantageous that the devices requested by the application are allocated to that application for only a certain period of time. This advantageously achieves the result that an application is not able to claim a resource, i.e., a device, for an excessively long period of time if other applications that operate with the same priority for devices also require access to these devices. This permits a higher degree of fairness for the various applications.  
           [0006]    In addition, it is advantageous that an application requesting devices having a higher priority than an application using these devices at the moment receives these devices allocated to it so that the higher priority prevails. This has a significant advantage in emergency situations in particular or when warnings are to be issued to the driver. For example, a traffic message is received by a radio receiver in the vehicle, the radio receiver being connected to the vehicle communications network, while the driver is listening to music from a compact disc on a CD player at the moment, so that the CD player is at the moment occupying the audio amplifier together with the loudspeaker as a device. However, the traffic message then requests the audio amplifier together with the loudspeaker with a higher priority than the CD player. Therefore, the application controlling the CD player is interrupted, so that the audio amplifier and the loudspeaker are available for the traffic message.  
           [0007]    In addition, it is advantageous that the application is assigned to an application layer, while the driver manager is assigned to the Common Interface for Automotive Networks (CIAN). This yields an advantageous allocation which permits a standardized interface definition between these layers. The various applications allocated to the application layer then access the driver manager in the same way.  
           [0008]    It is also advantageous that one application is able to call up another application which is also available on another device, if necessary. Drivers and resources are then allocated according to the two applications.  
           [0009]    It is also advantageous that the IEEE 1394 bus, also known as firewall, is used as the bus system. It is suitable in particular for connecting multimedia components.  
           [0010]    It is also advantageous that the drivers are either already stored on the devices together with the applications, or they are loaded from other devices such as a database, or they are generated as needed by appropriate software and data.  
           [0011]    Finally, it is also advantageous that a device has means for acting as a resource manager and/or as a driver manager. Devices from which applications are called up have means for implementing the method according to the present invention. 
       
    
    
     DRAWING  
       [0012]    Exemplary embodiments of the present invention are illustrated in the drawing and are explained in greater detail in the following description.  
         [0013]    [0013]FIG. 1 shows a configuration of a vehicle communications network;  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 2 shows a flow chart of the method according to the present invention;  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 3 shows the initialization of an application, and  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 4 shows the device access control. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION  
       [0017]    Vehicle communications networks are being used to an increasing extent in motor vehicles to interlink various components from the multimedia area. Such components include a radio receiver, a car PC, a navigation unit, a loudspeaker system, and a CD player. A user then starts an application on a device, but the application needs other devices connected to the vehicle communications network for execution.  
         [0018]    Therefore, a method of controlling access to devices in a vehicle communications network is used according to the present invention, with an application creating a list of the devices required by the application. The drivers needed for these devices are requested by a driver manager, which then requests the corresponding devices from a resource manager with a priority defined by the application.  
         [0019]    [0019]FIG. 1 shows a block diagram of a configuration of a vehicle communications network. A resource manager  2 , a driver manager  3 , a CD player  4 , and a loudspeaker having an audio amplifier  5  are connected to a bus  1  via data inputs/outputs. All the components connected to bus  1  have bus controllers to permit data transfer over bus  1 . More or fewer devices may be connected to bus  1  than illustrated here. Bus  1  here is a bus according to IEEE 1394, but it is also possible to use a MOST bus. Only the transfer of data over this bus  1  is important, and both electric lines and optical transmission means may be used.  
         [0020]    [0020]FIG. 2 shows a flow chart of the method according to the present invention for controlling access to devices in a vehicle communications network  1 . In method step  6 , an application is started on driver manager  3  by a driver in a vehicle in which the vehicle communications network, bus  1 , is located. As an alternative, it is possible for driver manager  3  to be on a different device from the application. It is also possible for each device which has an application to have a driver manager.  
         [0021]    In method step  7 , the application creates on driver manager  3  a list of the devices needed for the application. The application here is called up on driver manager  3 , for example, the device which has driver manager  3  and the application also supplying other applications.  
         [0022]    As an alternative, it is also possible for the application to be called up on a device other than on driver manager  3 . The device on which the application is called up has a connection to an input device, which is controlled either by voice or manually. The driver or a passenger then calls up the application via this input device.  
         [0023]    In method step  8 , the application assigns a priority to the devices which are included in the list and are necessary for execution of the application; these devices are requested with this priority. This priority depends on how important the application is. For example, if the application is a traffic message, which is started automatically, then this application and the request associated with it for the required devices receive a high priority. A telephone call (in which case a mobile telephone is connected to bus  1 ) would also be assigned a high priority so that it is at least announced to the driver. Playback of sound recording media, i.e., applications intended only for entertainment, would have a low priority.  
         [0024]    If a requested device is busy, then the priority decides whether or not the application requesting this busy device will gain access to it. If the priority of the requesting application is higher than that of the application already accessing the device, then this device is withdrawn from the application and assigned to the requesting application. If the priority is the same, then the application first receiving the devices assigned to it will continue to access the devices. After the application using the device releases it again, the waiting application will then take over the device. For this, resource manager  2  makes an entry to note the waiting application. In a refinement of the method according to the present invention, it is possible for an application to access a device for a certain period of time only after the device has been assigned to a waiting application, if any. If there is a waiting application, then the application from which the device has been withdrawn because the time has elapsed may request this device again.  
         [0025]    In method step  9 , driver manager  3  requests the devices in the list from resource manager  2  and reports the respective priority. In method step  10 , resource manager  2  checks on whether or not the devices are free. If the devices are free, then in method step  11 , the devices are assigned, and resource manager  2  makes corresponding entries in its memory for managing the resources. The user has started an application here, starting CD player  4 . To this end, the loudspeaker together with audio amplifier  5  is required as a device for acoustic playback. Therefore, in method step  11 , CD player  4  and the loudspeaker together with audio amplifier  5  are allocated to the application.  
         [0026]    Then in method step  12 , the device is accessed by driver manager  3 , which allocates the corresponding drivers for CD player  4  and the audio amplifier together with loudspeaker  5  to the application. Then the application is executed. In method step  13 , the application reports its end, so that then in method step  14 , driver manager  3  releases the devices that have been accessed, i.e., CD player  4  and the audio amplifier together with loudspeaker  5 . In method step  15 , the devices, CD player  4  and audio amplifier  5  together with the loudspeaker, are returned to the application if previously another application having a lower priority had occupied these devices, and then the devices were withdrawn from these applications.  
         [0027]    If it is found in method step  10  that the devices requested by the application are not free, then in method step  16  this is announced to the application so that then the application is not executed in method step  17 . In other words, the application is interrupted here, e.g., by putting it in a pause mode, so it may then be started when these devices are free. Therefore, resource manager  2  has an entry that the application started on driver manager  3  has requested these devices, i.e., a waiting list is corrected. As an alternative, it is possible here for a user to receive an acknowledgment that the application is not executable at the moment and for the user to terminate the application and then start it again later if desired.  
         [0028]    [0028]FIG. 3 shows the initialization of an application in a time chart. Application  18  sends a driver manager  19  an inquiry  20  as to which devices are available and which properties the corresponding drivers have. The application then recognizes whether it is executable at all, because with message  21 , application  18  receives this necessary information from the driver manager, so that only selective access to the corresponding devices is made possible with the device-specific drivers.  
         [0029]    [0029]FIG. 4 shows a flow chart of a successful device access control. The messages described here are transmitted over the vehicle communications network. Application  18  sends the device list it has generated, together with the device numbers and the corresponding devices, to driver manager  19 . This takes place with message  24 . Then driver manager  19  sends resource manager  23  message  25 , which inquires whether these devices are available on the basis of the device identification numbers and the corresponding priorities. With message  26 , resource manager  23  answers this inquiry in the affirmative to driver manager  19 . Then with message  27 , driver manager  19  sends to application  18  the message that the devices are available, with the corresponding identification numbers, and it sends the corresponding identification numbers of the drivers for these devices, so that the application may then start the access.  
         [0030]    Then application  18  accesses drivers  22  via message  28  to control the devices that have been allocated. After the application has ended, it sends message  29  to driver manager  19  to report this to the driver manager. Again, the corresponding device numbers are reported to the driver manager. Driver manager  19  then reports to the resource manager with message  30  that the devices having the corresponding identification numbers are released again.  
         [0031]    An application may also call up another application using the method according to the present invention, both applications then creating lists, if necessary, to request corresponding devices. An application will then naturally call up only an application which is not requesting the same devices, because otherwise there would be a conflict. Driver manager  19  allocates application identification numbers for drivers already stored on the device of the application, or driver manager  19  generates these drivers via corresponding software, if necessary, or driver manager  19  loads the drivers from a database which manages these drivers centrally.  
         [0032]    At least one device has means, processor and memory to execute the resource manager. Another device has means, processor and memory, to ensure the executability of the driver manager. Devices on which the applications are called up have means, so that priorities are assigned to the requests according to the application.  
         [0033]    The applications are assigned to an application layer, while the driver manager is assigned to the Common Interface Automotive Network layer (CIAN). The application layer is placed on the CIAN layer. This permits a standardization of interfaces. Applications access the driver manager via the same interface.