In-vehicle display system, control apparatus, and display apparatus

An in-vehicle display system includes: display apparatuses that are mounted in a vehicle; and a single control apparatus that is configured to generate image information, output the image information to assigned one of the display apparatuses, and cause a display apparatus assigned to display the image information. A certain display apparatus that is at least one of the display apparatuses includes a first detection portion configured to detect malfunction, a second detection portion configured to detect malfunction of the control apparatus, a transmission portion configured to transmit detection information indicating the malfunction of the certain display apparatus, and a substitute control portion configured to acquire a vehicle signal, generate image information, and display the image information. The control apparatus includes an output control portion configured to output the image information assigned to the certain display apparatus, and cause the different display apparatus to display the image information.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a U.S. National Phase Application under 35 U.S.C. 371 of International Application No. PCT/JP2016/073330 filed on Aug. 8, 2016 and published in Japanese as WO 2017/026454 A1 on Feb. 16, 2017. This application is based on and claims the benefit of priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 2015-158148 filed on Aug. 10, 2015. The entire disclosures of all of the above applications are incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to an in-vehicle display system mounted in a vehicle.

BACKGROUND ART

A conventionally known in-vehicle display system mounted in a vehicle includes multiple display apparatuses disposed at multiple places in the vehicle, and a single or multiple control apparatus configured to output image information to the display apparatuses and cause the display apparatuses to display the image information. Such an in-vehicle display system has difficulty in operation of the vehicle in a case where any of the display apparatuses or the control apparatus malfunctions and fails to display information essentially required for operation, such as indication of a vehicle speed meter.

Patent Literature 1 discloses a technique applicable to an in-vehicle system including multiple display apparatuses and multiple detection devices corresponding to the control apparatus. This technique enables substitute display, when one of the display apparatuses or one of the detection devices malfunctions, by a different one of the normally operating display apparatuses or a different one of the normally operating detection devices.

PRIOR ART LITERATURE

Patent Literature

Patent Literature 1: JP 2013-216182 A

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

The technique according to Patent Literature 1 assumes that there are provided multiple display apparatuses and multiple control apparatus. The inventor thoroughly investigated to find that the technique disclosed in Patent Literature 1 is not applicable to an in-vehicle display system including multiple display apparatuses and a single control apparatus configured to output image information to the display apparatuses. Specifically, such a system including only one integrated control apparatus for multiple display apparatuses does not include a different substitute control apparatus when the single control apparatus malfunctions. The system thus needs to have a different measure.

It is an object of the present disclosure to provide a technique for substitute display of information necessary for operation in an in-vehicle display system including multiple display apparatuses and a single control apparatus, when any of the display apparatuses or the control apparatus malfunctions.

An in-vehicle display system according to an aspect of the present disclosure includes multiple display apparatuses, and a single control apparatus configured to output image information to one of the display apparatuses assigned as a display destination of the image information and cause the display apparatus to display the image information. Reference signs indicate correspondence to specific means disclosed in an embodiment to be described later as an aspect, and do not intend to limit the technical scope of the present disclosure.

At least certain one of the display apparatuses includes a first detection portion, a second detection portion, a transmission portion, and a substitute control portion. The first detection portion is configured to detect its own malfunction. The second detection portion is configured to detect malfunction of the control apparatus. The transmission portion transmits detection information indicating malfunction to the control apparatus when the first detection portion detects its own malfunction. The substitute control portion acquires a vehicle signal relevant to image information to be displayed by the substitute control portion when the second detection portion detects malfunction of the control apparatus, generates image information in accordance with the acquired vehicle signal, and displays the image information. The control portion includes an output control portion. Upon receipt of the detection information indicating malfunction from the certain display apparatus, the output control portion outputs the image information assigned to the certain display apparatus as a display destination to a different one of the display apparatuses, and causes the different display apparatus to display the image information.

According to the in-vehicle display system, the display apparatus can self-acquire a vehicle signal and display image information in accordance with the acquired vehicle signal in an exemplary case where malfunction is detected in the single control apparatus. Furthermore, when malfunction is detected in a certain one of the display apparatuses, a different one of the display apparatuses can execute substitute display of image information to be displayed by the malfunctioning display apparatus. In the present configuration, information necessary for operation can be kept displayed even when any of the display apparatuses or the control apparatus malfunctions in the in-vehicle display system including the multiple display apparatuses and the single control apparatus.

EMBODIMENT FOR CARRYING OUT INVENTION

An embodiment of the present disclosure will be described below with reference to the drawings. The present disclosure is not limited to the following embodiment but can be embodied in various modes.

(Description of Configuration of In-Vehicle Display System)

A configuration of an in-vehicle display system according to the embodiment will now be described with reference toFIG. 1. As exemplarily depicted inFIG. 1, the in-vehicle display system includes a single output control apparatus20, and multiple display apparatuses30a,30b, and30c. The in-vehicle display system functions to generate image information in accordance with a vehicle signal outputted from a vehicle signal generation portion10and display the generated image information.FIG. 1depicts the display apparatuses30having reference signs followed by “a”, “b”, and “c”. The following description may not refer to “a”, “b”, and “c” following the reference sign. In this case, assume that the display apparatuses30include all the display apparatuses30a,30b, and30c.

The vehicle signal generation portion10includes an instrument group configured to generate and output a vehicle signal that is subject to be displayed by the in-vehicle display system. The vehicle signal generation portion10includes a sensor configured to detect any of various states of the vehicle and output a vehicle signal indicating the detected state, an in-vehicle instrument configured to output a video content as a vehicle signal, or the like.

Examples of the sensor configured to output the vehicle state include a vehicle speed sensor configured to output vehicle speed, a rotational speed sensor configured to output engine rotational speed, and a range meter configured to output travel distance. The examples of the sensor further include a charge sensor configured to output a state of charge of a storage cell, a brake sensor configured to output a state of a brake device, a hydraulic sensor configured to output a pressure state of engine oil, and a water temperature sensor configured to output temperature of engine cooling water. The examples of the sensor also include a shift position sensor configured to output a shift position, a direction indicator sensor configured to output an operating state of a direction indicator lamp, an open/close sensor configured to output an open/closed state of a door, and a head lamp sensor configured to output an operating state of a head lamp. Examples of the in-vehicle instrument configured to output a video content include a navigation system, a video sound instrument, and an integrated system configured to integrally operate various in-vehicle instruments with menu display.

The output control apparatus20is an electronic control apparatus functioning to generate an image information piece in accordance with a vehicle signal outputted from the vehicle signal generation portion10and output to an assigned one of the display apparatuses30relevant to the image information piece. The output control apparatus20includes functional configurations of a vehicle signal input portion21, an image information generation portion22, an output destination determination portion23, and an image output portion24.

The vehicle signal input portion21is an input interface configured to receive a vehicle signal outputted from each of the sensors and the instruments configuring the vehicle signal generation portion10. The image information generation portion22images information indicated by the vehicle signal received via the vehicle signal input portion21and generates image information.

The output destination determination portion23functions to output the image information generated by the image information generation portion22to one of the display apparatuses30as an output destination. The output destination determination portion23determines the display apparatus30as the output destination for the image information generated by the image information generation portion22, and outputs the image information to the image output portion24corresponding to the determined display apparatus30.

Specifically, during normal operation with the display apparatuses30having no abnormality (hereinafter, also referred to as a normal operation mode), the output destination determination portion23determines one of the display apparatuses30as an output destination of each image information piece in accordance with output destination setting corresponding to types of image information pieces. Assume that the output control apparatus20pre-stores correspondence between image information and one of the display apparatuses30as an output destination configured to display the image information. In a case where abnormality is detected in one of the display apparatuses30, the output destination determination portion23outputs, to a different substitute one of the display apparatuses30, only certain image information necessary for operation, out of image information assigned to the abnormal display apparatus30as an output destination.

The present configuration allows, when part of the display apparatuses30malfunctions, a different normal one of the display apparatuses30to execute substitute display of image information necessary for operation, out of image information to be displayed by the malfunctioning display apparatus30. The output destination determination portion23further functions to output, to each of the display apparatuses30, pre-stored image information for malfunction diagnosis of the output control apparatus20(hereinafter, referred to as a test image). The display apparatuses30are each assumed to store image information similar to the test image.

Each of the image output portions24is an output interface for a corresponding one of the display apparatuses30a,30b, and30c. The image output portion24transmits image information outputted from the output destination determination portion23to the corresponding display apparatus30.

The display apparatuses30are in-vehicle instruments configured to display image information for a driver. The display apparatuses are embodied by a meter panel disposed ahead of a driver's seat, a center display disposed in a center part of an instrument panel, a head up display configured to project video in forward driving visibility of the driver, or the like.

The display apparatuses30each include functional configurations of an image input portion31, an image diagnosis portion32, a self-diagnosis portion33, a vehicle signal input portion34, an image information generation portion35, a display control portion36, a diagnostic result output portion37, and a display portion38.FIG. 1depicts the functional configurations only for the display apparatus30a. The display apparatuses30band30care each assumed to have similar functional configurations.

The image input portion31is an input interface configured to receive image information outputted from the output control apparatus20. The image diagnosis portion32inspects the test image received from the output control apparatus20via the image input portion31to determine whether or not the output control apparatus20malfunctions. Specifically, the image diagnosis portion32compares the test image received from the output control apparatus20and the test image pre-stored in the corresponding display apparatus30. When there is found any difference between the test images through the comparison, the image diagnosis portion32determines that the output control apparatus20malfunctions.

The self-diagnosis portion33inspects an internal circuit of the corresponding display apparatus30and determines whether or not there is malfunction relevant to display of image information. The vehicle signal input portion34is an input interface configured to receive a vehicle signal outputted from each of the sensors and the instruments configuring the vehicle signal generation portion10. The image information generation portion35images information indicated by the vehicle signal received via the vehicle signal input portion34and generates image information.

The display control portion36functions to integrally control operation of the display apparatus30. During normal operation with neither the corresponding display apparatus30nor the output control apparatus20having abnormality, the display control portion36causes the display portion38to display the image information received from the output control apparatus20via the image input portion31. Under a contrast condition where the output control apparatus20is determined as malfunctioning, the display control portion36acquires, via the vehicle signal input portion34, a vehicle signal relevant to image information to be displayed by the display control portion36, and causes the display portion38to display the image information imaged by the image information generation portion35in accordance with the acquired vehicle signal.

The diagnostic result output portion37is an output interface configured to transmit, to the output control apparatus20, diagnostic result information indicating a result of diagnosis by the self-diagnosis portion33. The display portion38is embodied by a display apparatus such as a liquid crystal panel. The display portion38displays an image in accordance with image information outputted from the display control portion36.

(Description of Processing Executed by Output Control Apparatus)

A procedure of processing executed by the respective portions of the output control apparatus20will be described with reference to a flowchart inFIG. 2.

In S100, the in-vehicle display system is powered on and the output control apparatus20is activated to start processing. In S102, the output destination determination portion23receives a diagnostic result outputted from each of the display apparatuses30. The diagnostic result is information indicating a result of own malfunction diagnosis by each of the display apparatuses30. In S104, the output destination determination portion23determines whether or not any of the display apparatuses30has abnormality in accordance with the diagnostic results received in S102. The process flow of the output destination determination portion23proceeds to S106when any of the display apparatuses30has abnormality (YES in S104).

In S106, the output destination determination portion23determines that the display apparatus30determined as having abnormality in S104malfunctions. In S108, the output destination determination portion23acquires, from the image information generation portion22, image information to be displayed by the display apparatus30determined as malfunctioning in S106.

In S110, the output destination determination portion23determines whether or not the image information acquired in S108includes certain information necessary for operation. Such information necessary for operation corresponds to, out of image information to be displayed by the display apparatus30determined as malfunctioning, part of information predetermined as being minimum required for operation of the vehicle, such as information legally required to be displayed or information significant for continuous travel of the vehicle. Specifically, examples of such information include vehicle speed, engine rotational speed, and total travel distance. Assume that the output control apparatus20pre-stores a necessary condition of information minimum required for vehicle operation.

When there is no information necessary for operation (NO in S110), the process flow of the output destination determination portion23proceeds to S114. When there is certain information necessary for operation (YES in S110), the process flow of the output destination determination portion23proceeds to S112. In S112, the output destination determination portion23outputs the image information necessary for operation as determined in S110to a substitute one of the display apparatuses30having no abnormality detected. In S114, the output destination determination portion23outputs, to the substitute display apparatus30, malfunction information on the display apparatus30determined as malfunctioning.

When all the display apparatuses30are determined as having no abnormality in S104(NO in S104), the process flow of the output destination determination portion23proceeds to S116. In S116, the output destination determination portion23outputs the test image stored in the output control apparatus20to each of the display apparatuses30. In S118, the output destination determination portion23executes operation in the normal operation mode. In the normal operation mode, the output destination determination portion23determines an output destination relevant to each image information piece outputted from the image information generation portion22in accordance with output destination setting pre-stored in the output control apparatus20, and outputs the image information to the display apparatus30determined as the output destination.

(Description of Processing Executed by Display Apparatus)

A procedure of processing executed by the respective portions of the display apparatus30will be described with reference to a flowchart inFIG. 3.

In S200, the in-vehicle display system is powered on and the display apparatus30is activated to start processing. In S202, the self-diagnosis portion33executes malfunction diagnosis. In S204, the self-diagnosis portion33determines whether or not circuit abnormality is detected through malfunction diagnosis in S202. When circuit abnormality is detected (YES in S204), the process flow of the display control portion36proceeds to S206. In S206, the display control portion36determines that the corresponding display apparatus30malfunctions. In S208, the display control portion36transmits a diagnostic result indicating abnormality of the corresponding display apparatus30to the output control apparatus20via the diagnostic result output portion37. In S210, the display control portion36powers off the corresponding display apparatus30.

When determined that there is no circuit abnormality in S204(NO in S204), the process flow of the display control portion36proceeds to S212. In S212, the display control portion36transmits a diagnostic result indicating normality of the corresponding display apparatus30to the output control apparatus20via the diagnostic result output portion37. In S214, the image input portion31receives the test image transmitted from the output control apparatus20. The test image is image information transmitted in S116in the processing executed by the output control apparatus20(seeFIG. 2).

In S216, the image diagnosis portion32compares the test image received in S214and the internal test image stored in the corresponding display apparatus30. In S218, the image diagnosis portion32determines whether or not there is any difference in data between these two test images in accordance with a result of the comparison in S216. When there is no difference in data between the two test images (NO in S218), the process flow of the display control portion36proceeds to S220. In S220, the display control portion36causes the display portion38to successively display image information received from the output control apparatus20via the image input portion31. The display control portion36then continues the processing in S220.

The image information received from the output control apparatus20includes the image information outputted from the output control apparatus20as information relevant to the corresponding display apparatus30in the normal operation mode. The image information can occasionally further include image information outputted from the output control apparatus20for substitute display in place of a different malfunctioning one of the display apparatuses30, or image information indicating malfunction of the different display apparatus30.

When the two test images are determined as being different in data in S218(YES in S204), the process flow of the display control portion36proceeds to S222. In S222, the display control portion36determines that the output control apparatus20malfunctions. In S224, the display control portion36acquires, from the vehicle signal generation portion10via the vehicle signal input portion34, a vehicle signal relevant to image information to be displayed by the display apparatus30.

In S226, the display control portion36causes the display portion38to display malfunction information indicating that the output control apparatus20malfunctions. In S228, the display control portion36causes the display portion38to display certain information necessary for operation, out of image information generated by the image information generation portion35in accordance with the vehicle signal acquired in S224. Such information necessary for operation corresponds to, out of image information to be displayed by each of the display apparatuses30, part of information preliminarily determined as being minimum required for operation of the vehicle, such as information legally required to be displayed or information significant for continuous travel of the vehicle. Assume that each of the display apparatuses30preliminarily stores a necessary condition of information minimum required for vehicle operation. The display control portion36then continues the processing in S228and S230.

Specific exemplary control in the in-vehicle display system according to the embodiment will now be described with reference toFIGS. 4 to 6.

FIG. 4assumes an exemplary case where the output control apparatus20and the display apparatuses30all operate normally. This example assumes that the display apparatuses30a,30b, and30care configured by a meter panel, a center display, and a head up display, respectively. The same applies toFIGS. 5 and 6.

As exemplarily depicted inFIG. 4, during normal operation, image information is generated in accordance with a vehicle signal acquired by the output control apparatus20from the vehicle signal generation portion10. The output control apparatus20outputs each image information piece to a corresponding one of the display apparatuses30as an output destination of the image information piece. The display apparatuses30each display information in accordance with the image information outputted from the output control apparatus20.

FIG. 5assumes an exemplary case where the display apparatus30a(i.e. the meter panel) malfunctions. In the example, the output control apparatus20outputs, to the substitute display apparatus30b(i.e. the center display), minimum required image information out of image information to be displayed by the malfunctioning display apparatus30a, and malfunction information indicating that the meter panel malfunctions. The display apparatus30bexecutes malfunction notification and substitute display in accordance with the image information and the malfunction information received from the output control apparatus20.

As exemplarily depicted inFIG. 5, the center display executes substitute display of vehicle speed, engine rotational speed, and total travel distance, as minimum required information out of information to be displayed by the meter panel. The center display also displays malfunction notification recommending repair of the malfunctioning meter panel. The display apparatus30c, which is not assigned as a substitute of the display apparatus30adetermined as malfunctioning, is assumed to normally receive image information relevant to the display apparatus30cfrom the output control apparatus20and display the image information.

FIG. 6assumes an exemplary case where the output control apparatus20malfunctions. In the example, the display apparatus30adisplays minimum required image information out of image information to be displayed by the display apparatus30ain accordance with a vehicle signal acquired from the vehicle signal generation portion10, and malfunction information indicating that the output control apparatus20malfunctions.

As exemplarily depicted inFIG. 6, the meter panel displays vehicle speed, engine rotational speed, and total travel distance, as minimum required information. The meter panel also displays malfunction notification recommending repair of the malfunctioning output control apparatus. Each of the remaining display apparatuses30band30cdisplays minimum required image information out of image information to be displayed by the display apparatus in accordance with a vehicle signal self-acquired by the display apparatus from the vehicle signal generation portion10.

The in-vehicle display system according to the embodiment exerts the following effects.

Even when the output control apparatus20malfunctions, which is exclusively configured to integrally control the multiple display apparatuses30, each of the display apparatuses30can self-acquire a vehicle signal and display minimum required image information in accordance with the acquired vehicle signal, as well as malfunction notification.

When malfunction is detected in any of the display apparatuses30, a different one of the display apparatuses30can execute substitute display of minimum required image information out of image information to be displayed by the malfunctioning display apparatus30, and display malfunction notification. As described above, information necessary for operation can be kept displayed even when the output control apparatus20or any of the display apparatuses30malfunctions in the in-vehicle display system including the single output control apparatus20and the multiple display apparatuses30.

Modified Examples

The embodiment described above exemplifies the case where each of the display apparatuses30has the function of diagnosing malfunction of the output control apparatus20(the image diagnosis portion32) and the function of self-acquiring a vehicle signal and generating image information (the vehicle signal input portion34and the image information generation portion35).

The present disclosure is also applicable to a different case where only a certain part of the display apparatuses30configured to display more important information on operation includes the functions of the image diagnosis portion32, the vehicle signal input portion34, and the image information generation portion35. Similarly, only certain part of the display apparatuses30configured to display more important information on operation can have the functions of diagnosing malfunction of the corresponding display apparatus30and notifying the output control apparatus20of a diagnostic result (the self-diagnosis portion33and the diagnostic result output portion37).

The present disclosure has been described with reference to the application examples, but should not be regarded as being limited to the application examples and structures thereof. The present disclosure includes various modification examples as well as modifications within an equivalent scope. Furthermore, various combinations and modes, as well as other combinations and modes further including only one, more than one, or less than one element, should be included in the scope and the spirit of the present disclosure.