JP5267390B2 - Software update device - Google Patents

Description

  The present invention relates to a software update device.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, as a device that updates software, a device that updates software when a target device that is a software update target is not used is known (for example, see Patent Document 1). The device described in Patent Document 1 determines a free time zone of the target device based on the operating status of the target device, and updates the software during the free time zone.

JP 2004-38616 A

  By the way, in the software update device described in Patent Document 1, since the idle time of the receiving device is determined based on the operation status, the free time zone determined on the software update device side and the actual free time zone are identical. There is no guarantee that you are doing it. For this reason, the receiving device may be used in the free time zone determined on the software updating device side.

  In order to solve such a problem, it is conceivable to present some candidate free time zones to the user of the receiving apparatus and update the software during the free time zone selected by the user. However, it is difficult for the user to determine whether or not the free time zone is actually a free time zone simply by presenting a candidate free time zone.

  Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve such a technical problem, and an object of the present invention is to provide a software update device that can allow a user to determine the validity of a time zone for performing software update processing. And

  That is, the software update device according to the present invention is configured to be communicable with a mobile unit, and is a software update unit that updates software of the mobile unit in a free time zone during which a user does not use the mobile unit. Prediction means for predicting the free time zone that can be updated, informing means for informing the user of the free time zone predicted by the prediction means, and in the free time zone informed by the notification means Input means for inputting the user's operation for designating a predetermined vacant time zone from, and update means for updating the software in the vacant time zone designated by the user, wherein the notification means When notifying the user of the free time zone, the mobile device is also notified of the predicted position information of the mobile object in the free time. It is made.

  In the software updating apparatus according to the present invention, the notifying means notifies the user of the predicted vacant time zone and the predicted position information in the predicted vacant time zone. For this reason, the user can verify the validity of the notified free time zone based on the notified location information. Therefore, it is possible to allow the user to determine the validity of the time zone for performing the software update process.

  Here, the prediction means may predict the free time zone in which the software can be updated based on operation information of the mobile object. By configuring in this way, it is possible to predict a free time zone in which there is a high possibility of not using the moving object based on the operation information.

  Moreover, it is preferable that the said prediction means predicts the said free time zone which can update the said software based on the time which the said software needs to update. With this configuration, it is possible to determine whether or not the software update is possible in the free time zone in consideration of the time required for the software update. Can be predicted.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to allow a user to determine the validity of a time zone for performing software update processing.

1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of a software update system including a software update device according to an embodiment. It is a block diagram which shows the structure of the software update system of FIG. It is a flowchart which shows operation | movement of the software update apparatus shown in FIG. It is a table | surface which shows the information regarding the update of the program of the vehicle shown in FIG. It is a table | surface which shows the use condition of the vehicle shown in FIG.

  Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In addition, in each figure, the same code | symbol is attached | subjected to the same or an equivalent part, and the overlapping description is abbreviate | omitted.

  The software update device according to the present embodiment is suitably employed for remote update (reprogramming) of a vehicle program, for example.

  First, a software update system including a software update device according to the present embodiment will be described. FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a configuration of a software update system including a software update device 1 according to the embodiment. The software update system shown in FIG. 1 includes a vehicle (mobile body) 3 and a server 2 that can communicate with each other. The vehicle 3 has an updatable program (software), and the program of the vehicle 3 is configured to be updatable via communication based on the reprogramming data 12 included in the server 2.

  The configuration of the software update system will be described in detail with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the software update system of FIG. As shown in FIG. 2, the server 2 includes a software update device 1 that updates the program of the vehicle 3. The software updating apparatus 1 includes a usage status learning DB 10, program update information 11, reprogramming data 12, a schedule candidate determination unit (prediction unit) 13, a schedule candidate presentation unit (notification unit) 14, and a reprogram processing unit (update unit). 15 is provided.

  The usage status learning DB 10 is a database in which usage status of the vehicle 3 is stored and accumulated. The usage status learning DB 10 has a function of storing the usage status transmitted from the vehicle 3, for example. As the usage status, for example, vehicle position, travel route, number of uses, usage time, and the like are used. As a method for grasping the use situation, for example, a table in which the number of uses and the vehicle position corresponding to the time zone are stored for each day of the week is used. As the vehicle position, for example, a vehicle garage, a work parking lot, another parking lot, or the like that is classified so that the user can easily determine the purpose of stoppage may be used. In this table, for example, performance data for the past several weeks is accumulated. Moreover, as a method of grasping the usage status, for example, a table in which the number of uses corresponding to the day is stored for each day of the week and week may be used. In this table, for example, performance data for several months is accumulated.

  The program update information 11 is information related to program updates. As the program update information 11, for example, a table storing an identifier for identifying a program, a time required for updating the program (update time), and a schedule candidate for starting the update is used. This table may be set in advance based on program attributes, capacity, and the like.

  The schedule candidate determination unit 13 is configured to be able to refer to the usage status learning DB 10 and the program update information 11, and selects a schedule candidate for updating the program of the vehicle 3 based on the usage status of the vehicle 3 and the update time of the program. It has a function to decide. The schedule candidate determination unit 13 determines, for example, the free time when the vehicle 3 is not used by the user (user) based on the usage status of the vehicle 3, and secures the time more than the program update time in the free time. It has a function of predicting the free time that can be used as the free time that can be updated. The schedule candidate determination unit 13 has a function of determining a reprogram schedule candidate based on the predicted free time. The schedule candidate determination unit 13 has a function of determining a plurality of reprogram schedule candidates or narrowing down to a predetermined number when there are a plurality of idle times that satisfy the conditions. Furthermore, the schedule candidate determination unit 13 has a function of outputting information on schedule candidates to the schedule candidate presentation unit 14 and the reprogram processing unit 15.

  The schedule candidate presentation unit 14 has a function of referring to the past vehicle situation in the schedule candidate time zone output by the schedule candidate determination unit 13 and predicting the vehicle situation in the schedule candidate time zone. . The schedule candidate presenting unit 14 has a function of transmitting information related to the schedule candidate output by the schedule candidate determining unit 13 and the predicted vehicle status in the time zone of the schedule candidate to the vehicle 3. .

  The reprogramming data 12 is data used for updating the program of the vehicle 3. The reprogram processing unit 15 has a function of updating the program of the vehicle 3 based on the schedule selected by the user among the schedule candidates output by the schedule candidate determination unit 13. For example, the reprogram processing unit 15 has a function of updating the program of the vehicle 3 with reference to the reprogramming data 12 at the time specified by the schedule selected by the user. The selection operation by the user is input from the vehicle 3 side by a communication device (not shown) functioning as an input unit.

  The vehicle 3 configured to be able to communicate with the server 2 includes a use state detection unit 30, a display 31, a user selection operation unit 32, and a program 33.

  The usage status detection unit 30 has a function of detecting the usage status of the vehicle 3. The usage status detection unit 30 obtains time information such as date, day of the week, and time by referring to a calendar or a clock, and from a GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver (not shown) provided in the vehicle 3, for example. It has a function to acquire position information. In addition, the usage status detection unit 30 determines whether or not the vehicle 3 is present in the registered position information based on the position information of the stop location registered in advance, and if so, which of the registered locations is It has a function to detect whether it exists. As the registered stop location, for example, a home garage, a work place parking lot, another parking lot, or the like is used. Moreover, the use condition detection part 30 has a function which acquires the use frequency of the vehicle 3, for example based on the frequency | count of ignition ON, position information, etc. The usage status detection unit 30 has a function of associating the number of times of use and the stop location with the time information and transmitting it to the server 2. The transmitted information is stored and accumulated in the usage status learning DB 10 of the server 2.

  The display 31 has a function of displaying reprogramming schedule candidates and predicted position information transmitted from the server 2. Further, the user selection operation unit 32 is configured to be able to input a user operation for selecting and determining a schedule candidate displayed on the display 31. As the user selection operation unit 32, for example, a touch panel or operation buttons are used. The program 33 is, for example, a program related to vehicle control, traveling control, and other control of the vehicle 3 and is configured to be updatable by the reprogram processing unit 15 of the server 2.

  The program 33 of the vehicle 3 is updated when the server 2 and the vehicle 3 configured as described above communicate with each other.

  Next, the operation of the software update device 1 according to this embodiment will be described. FIG. 3 is a flowchart showing the operation of the software updating apparatus 1 according to this embodiment. The control process shown in FIG. 3 is repeatedly executed at a predetermined timing from the timing at which the program update request for the vehicle 3 is obtained, for example.

  As shown in FIG. 3, the software update device 1 starts from a usage status input process (S10). The process of S10 is a process which the schedule candidate determination part 13 performs, and inputs the use condition of the vehicle 3 with reference to use condition learning DB10. For example, as shown in FIG. 5A, the usage status learning DB 10 stores a table expressing the number of times of use in a calendar format with the week numbers counted from the beginning of the month as rows and the days of the week as columns. Further, for example, as shown in FIG. 5B, the usage status learning DB 10 stores a table that expresses the number of times of use and stop locations in a time-scheduled format with time zones as rows and days of the week as columns. Stop locations are divided into home garages, workplace parking lots, and other parking lots. The schedule candidate determination unit 13 inputs the tables shown in FIGS. 5A and 5B with reference to the usage situation learning DB 10. When the process of S10 ends, the process proceeds to a program update information input process (S12).

  The process of S12 is a process that is executed by the schedule candidate determination unit 13 and inputs information related to reprogramming of a program to be updated with reference to the program update information 11. For example, as shown in FIG. 4, the program update information 11 stores a table indicating a program identifier, a time required for reprogramming, and a reference start schedule. The schedule candidate determination unit 13 refers to the program update information 11 and inputs the table shown in FIG. When the process of S12 ends, the process proceeds to a schedule candidate determination process (S14).

  The process of S14 is a process of determining schedule candidates for updating the program of the vehicle 3 based on the information executed by the schedule candidate determination unit 13 and input in the processes of S10 and S12. First, the schedule candidate determination unit 13 refers to the table shown in FIG. 5A, and selects a day on which the number of times of use is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold from the table. If the threshold is 0, for example, Sunday (second, fourth, fifth week), Friday (first, third, fifth week), and Saturday (fourth week) indicated by a thick frame are selected as candidate days. Next, the schedule candidate determination unit 13 refers to the time required for updating the update target program from the table using the table shown in FIG. Here, assuming that the program to be updated is the program with identifier C, the time required for the update is 60 minutes based on the table shown in FIG. And the schedule candidate determination part 13 refers to the table | surface shown in FIG.5 (b), and the time when the vehicle 3 is not used continues on Sunday, Friday, and Saturday determined using Fig.5 (a). Select a time zone that is expected to be secured for 60 minutes or more. For example, the time zone from 0 o'clock to 1 o'clock on Sunday, Friday, and Saturday is selected as a schedule candidate. When there are many schedule candidates, a predetermined number of schedule candidates are selected in the near future. When the process of S14 ends, the process proceeds to a schedule presentation process (S16).

  The process of S16 is a process that is executed by the schedule candidate presenting unit 14 and presents the schedule candidate determined in the process of S14 and the predicted stop location of the vehicle in the time zone indicated by the schedule to the user. The schedule candidate presenting unit 14 refers to the table shown in FIG. 5B and predicts the stop location of the vehicle in the time zone indicated by the schedule. And the schedule candidate presentation part 14 displays a schedule candidate and a prediction stop place on the display 31 of the vehicle 3. When the process of S16 ends, the process proceeds to a user selection acceptance process (S18).

  The process of S18 is a process executed by the reprogram processing unit 15 and accepting a user operation. The reprogram processing unit 15 receives a user operation selected by the user selection operation unit 32 of the vehicle 3 from the vehicle 3 via communication. When the process of S18 is completed, the process proceeds to a reprogram execution process (S20).

  The process of S20 is a process executed by the reprogram processing unit 15 to update the program 33 of the vehicle 3. The reprogram processing unit 15 updates the program 33 using the reprogramming data 12 in the time zone indicated by the schedule selected by the user in the process of S18. When the process of S20 ends, the control process shown in FIG. 3 ends.

  Thus, the control process shown in FIG. 3 is finished. By executing the control process shown in FIG. 3, when the candidate for reprogramming schedule is presented to the user, it is possible to present the predicted position information of the vehicle together. It is possible for the user to easily determine whether or not it is the stop time zone 3.

  As described above, according to the software update device 1 according to the present embodiment, the schedule candidate presentation unit 14 notifies the user of the predicted vacant time zone and the predicted position information in the predicted vacant time zone. . For this reason, the validity of the notified free time zone can be verified based on the notified position information. Therefore, it is possible to make the user determine the validity of the time zone for performing the software update process. In addition, since the user can verify the usage status of the vehicle in the scheduled reprogramming time zone, the reprogramming can be reliably performed in the time zone when the vehicle is not being used. Therefore, reprogramming can be performed efficiently.

  In addition, according to the software update device 1 according to the present embodiment, the schedule candidate determination unit 13 can predict an available free time zone of the program 33 based on the usage status stored in the usage status learning DB 10. it can. Therefore, it is possible to predict a free time zone in which there is a high possibility that the vehicle 3 will not be used based on the usage situation.

  Further, the schedule candidate determination unit 13 can predict an available free time zone of the program 33 based on the time required for updating the program 33. Therefore, it is possible to determine whether or not the program 33 can be updated in the vacant time zone in consideration of the time required to update the program 33. Therefore, the vacant time zone in which the software can be updated is predicted. Is possible.

  The above-described embodiment shows an example of the software updating apparatus according to the present invention. The software update device according to the present invention is not limited to the software update device according to the embodiment, and the software update device according to the embodiment may be modified or otherwise changed without changing the gist described in each claim. It may be applied to a thing.

  For example, in the above-described embodiment, the example in which the vehicle 3 includes the display 31 so that the schedule candidate can be notified to the user has been described. However, in the case where the schedule candidate is notified to the user using a speaker or the like. There may be.

  In the above-described embodiment, the example in which the update time zone of the program 33 is determined using the table shown in FIG. 5B has been described. For example, the reference set in advance for each program shown in FIG. You may determine the update time zone of the program 33 using a start schedule.

  In the above-described embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 2, the example in which the usage status learning DB 10, the schedule candidate determination unit 13, and the schedule candidate presentation unit 14 are provided on the server 2 side has been described. The vehicle 3 may be provided.

  In the above-described embodiment, the vehicle is used as the moving body. However, the moving body is not limited to the vehicle, and may be a moving body that is parked, and may be a motorcycle, a bicycle, a train, or the like.

  Furthermore, in the above-described embodiment, the storage information of the usage status learning DB 10 has been described using the table shown in FIG. 5, but is not limited to the table shown in FIG. 5. For example, the time zone can be defined flexibly. A holiday may be arbitrarily set, a holiday may be considered, or a parking position may be defined flexibly.

  DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Software update apparatus, 2 ... Server, 3 ... Vehicle, 10 ... Usage condition learning DB, 11 ... Program update information, 12 ... Reprogramming data, 13 ... Schedule candidate determination part (prediction means), 14 ... Schedule candidate presentation part (Notification means), 15 ... reprogram processing section (update means), 30 ... usage status detection section, 31 ... display, 32 ... user selection operation section, 33 ... program.

Claims (3)

A software update device configured to be communicable with a mobile body and updating software of the mobile body in a free time zone during which a user does not use the mobile body,
Predicting means for predicting the available free time zone of the software;
Informing means for informing the user of the free time zone predicted by the predicting means;
An input means for inputting an operation of the user for designating a predetermined free time period from the free time periods notified by the notification means;
Updating means for updating the software in the free time zone designated by the user;
With
The notifying means, when notifying the user of the empty time zone, informing the predicted position information of the mobile body in the empty time together;
A software update device characterized by the above.   The software updating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the predicting unit predicts the free time zone in which the software can be updated based on operation information of the mobile object.   The software updating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the predicting unit predicts the free time zone in which the software can be updated based on a time required for updating the software.

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