阅读说明：本技术 控制系统、时钟同步方法、控制器、节点设备及车辆 (Control system, clock synchronization method, controller, node device, and vehicle ) 是由 陈学锋 覃涛 李�杰 于 2020-10-29 设计创作，主要内容包括：本申请提供了一种控制系统、时钟同步方法、控制器、节点设备及车辆,涉及汽车领域的电子技术领域。本申请提供的控制系统中,主控制器通过环形网络直接向至少一个节点设备发送参考时钟信号,使得该至少一个节点设备可以基于该参考时钟信号的频率进行计时,由此可以使得主控制器与节点设备的时钟同步精度提升至与参考时钟信号的脉冲宽度相等的精度。并且,由于该控制系统包括环形网络,从而可以确保主控制器与节点设备之间交互信号时具有冗余的路径,确保了信号传输的可靠性。(The application provides a control system, a clock synchronization method, a controller, node equipment and a vehicle, and relates to the technical field of electronics in the field of automobiles. In the control system provided by the application, the master controller directly sends the reference clock signal to the at least one node device through the ring network, so that the at least one node device can time based on the frequency of the reference clock signal, and thus the clock synchronization precision of the master controller and the node device can be improved to the precision equal to the pulse width of the reference clock signal. And because the control system comprises the ring network, redundant paths can be ensured when signals are exchanged between the main controller and the node equipment, and the reliability of signal transmission is ensured.)

1. A control system, characterized in that the control system comprises a ring network comprising a master controller and at least one node device;

the master controller is configured to time and execute a task according to a frequency of a local clock signal of the master controller, and send a reference clock signal to the at least one node device through the ring network, where the reference clock signal is obtained based on the local clock signal of the master controller;

and the at least one node device is used for timing and executing tasks according to the frequency of the reference clock signal.

2. The control system of claim 1, wherein the reference clock signal is a local clock signal of the master controller.

3. The control system of claim 1, wherein the reference clock signal is a clock signal obtained by dividing a local clock signal of the master controller.

4. The control system of any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the at least one node device comprises a phase locked loop, the at least one node device being configured to:

correcting, by the phase-locked loop, a frequency of a local clock signal of the node device based on a frequency of the reference clock signal to maintain a target ratio of the frequency of the local clock signal of the node device to the frequency of the reference clock signal;

clocking according to the frequency of the local clock signal of the node device.

5. A control system according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the at least one node device is arranged to be clocked at the frequency of the reference clock signal.

6. The control system of any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the master controller is further configured to adjust the frequency of the local clock signal of the master controller within a target frequency range.

7. The control system of any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the master controller is further configured to send a synchronization signal to the at least one node device via the ring network;

the at least one node device is further configured to correct a time of a local clock of the node device according to the received synchronization signal.

8. The control system of claim 7, wherein the master controller is connected to the at least one node device via a clock signal line;

the master controller is configured to send the synchronization signal and the reference clock signal to the at least one node device through the clock signal line;

the at least one node device is configured to obtain the synchronization signal and the reference clock signal from the received signal according to an amplitude and/or a pulse width of the received signal.

9. The control system of claim 7, wherein the master controller is connected to the at least one node device via a clock signal line and a synchronization signal line;

the master controller is configured to send the reference clock signal to the at least one node device through the clock signal line, and to send the synchronization signal to the at least one node device through the synchronization signal line.

10. The control system of any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the at least one node device is at least one slave controller; the control system further comprises: at least one sensor and at least one actuator; the at least one sensor is connected with the master controller or the at least one slave controller, and the at least one actuator is connected with the master controller or the at least one slave controller;

the tasks required to be executed by the master controller and the tasks required to be executed by the at least one slave controller respectively comprise one or more of the following tasks: a data transmission task, a data processing task, an instruction sending task and a driving signal output task;

wherein the instructions are for instructing the at least one sensor to collect data or for instructing output of a drive signal to the at least one actuator.

11. The control system of claim 10, wherein the master controller is further configured to:

determining tasks required to be executed by the master controller and the execution time of the tasks, determining tasks required to be executed by the at least one slave controller and the execution time of the tasks, executing the tasks at the execution time of the tasks required to be executed by the master controller, and sending a task schedule to the at least one slave controller; wherein the at least one task schedule received from the controller comprises: the task required to be executed by the at least one slave controller and the execution time of the task;

and the at least one slave controller is used for executing the tasks at the execution time of the tasks required to be executed according to the task scheduling table.

12. The control system of claim 10 or 11, wherein the master controller is further configured to:

dividing a total data processing task into a plurality of data processing tasks, and determining the data processing tasks required to be executed by the master controller and the data processing tasks required to be executed by the at least one slave controller according to the load of the master controller and the load of the at least one slave controller.

13. The control system according to any one of claims 10 to 12, wherein the at least one slave controller further stores therein a priority list including a priority of the at least one slave controller; the at least one slave controller is further configured to:

and if the master controller is determined to be failed or any signal line connected with the master controller is determined to be failed, determining a new master controller from the at least one slave controller based on the priority list.

14. The control system of any of claims 10 to 13, wherein the master controller and the at least one slave controller are further configured to:

transmitting target data to other controllers in the control system through the ring network;

and if the target data transmitted by the ring network is not received or the received target data transmitted by the ring network is inconsistent with the transmitted target data, carrying out fault detection on the ring network and/or retransmitting the target data.

15. The control system according to any one of claims 10 to 14, characterized in that the control system further comprises: at least one first router;

a first port of the at least one first router is connected to the master controller or the at least one slave controller, and a second port of the at least one first router is connected to the at least one sensor and/or the at least one actuator; wherein the data transmission rate of the first port is lower than that of the ring network, and the data transmission rate of the second port is lower than that of the first port;

the controller is connected with the at least one first router and is further used for dividing the frequency of the reference clock signal and sending the divided reference clock signal to the at least one first router;

the at least one first router is used for timing and executing tasks according to the frequency of the received reference clock signal;

wherein the tasks executed by the first router at least include: data is exchanged via the second port with a controller connected thereto and via the first port with the at least one sensor and/or the at least one actuator connected thereto.

16. The control system of claim 15, further comprising: at least one second router, the third port of the at least one second router being connected to the second port of the at least one first router, the fourth port of the at least one second router being connected to the at least one sensor and/or the at least one actuator; wherein the data transmission rate of the third port is equal to the data transmission rate of the second port, and the data transmission rate of the fourth port is lower than the data transmission rate of the third port;

the at least one first router is further configured to frequency-divide the frequency of the received reference clock signal and send the frequency-divided reference clock signal to the at least one second router;

the at least one second router is used for timing and executing tasks according to the frequency of the received reference clock signal;

wherein the tasks executed by the at least one second router at least include: data is exchanged with the at least one first router via the third port and with the at least one sensor and/or the at least one actuator connected thereto via the fourth port.

17. The control system according to any one of claims 1 to 9, wherein the at least one node device is at least one first router; the control system further comprises: at least one sensor and at least one actuator; the at least one sensor is connected with the master controller or the at least one first router, and the at least one actuator is connected with the master controller or the at least one first router;

the tasks required to be executed by the main controller comprise one or more of the following tasks: a data transmission task, a data processing task, an instruction sending task and a driving signal output task;

the tasks required to be executed by the at least one first router include one or more of the following tasks: a data transmission task, a command sending task and a driving signal output task;

wherein the instructions are for instructing the at least one sensor to collect data or for instructing output of a drive signal to the at least one actuator.

18. The control system of claim 17, wherein a first port of the at least one first router is connected to the main controller; the control system further comprises: at least one second router, the third port of the at least one second router being connected to the second port of the at least one first router, the fourth port of the at least one second router being connected to the at least one sensor and/or the at least one actuator; wherein the data transmission rate of the first port is equal to the data transmission rate of the ring network, the data transmission rate of the second port is lower than the data transmission rate of the first port, the data transmission rate of the third port is equal to the data transmission rate of the second port, and the data transmission rate of the fourth port is lower than the data transmission rate of the third port;

the at least one first router is further configured to frequency-divide the frequency of the received reference clock signal and send the frequency-divided reference clock signal to the at least one second router;

the at least one second router is used for timing and executing tasks according to the frequency of the received reference clock signal;

wherein the tasks executed by the at least one second router at least include: data is exchanged with the at least one first router via the third port and with the at least one sensor and/or the at least one actuator connected thereto via the fourth port.

19. The control system of any one of claims 1 to 18, wherein the master controller comprises: the system comprises a main control module and a secondary control module connected with the main control module; the at least one node device comprises a main node module and a secondary node module connected with the main node module;

the ring network comprises a first ring sub-network comprising the primary control module and a primary node module of the at least one node device, and a second ring sub-network comprising the secondary control module and a secondary node module of the at least one node device; the reference clock signal is obtained based on a local clock signal of the master control module;

the master control module is configured to send the reference clock signal to the slave control module and a master node module in the at least one node device, respectively;

the secondary control module is configured to send the reference clock signal to a secondary node module in the at least one node device; or, the primary node module in the at least one node device is configured to send the reference clock signal to the secondary node module connected thereto.

20. The control system of claim 19, wherein the at least one sensor in the control system comprises: the sensor system comprises a first type of sensor and a second type of sensor, wherein the functional safety integrity level of the first type of sensor is higher than that of the second type of sensor; at least one actuator in the control system comprises: the system comprises a first type of actuator and a second type of actuator, wherein the functional safety integrity level of the first type of actuator is higher than that of the second type of actuator;

the first type of sensor is respectively connected with the main control module and the auxiliary control module, or respectively connected with the main node module and the auxiliary node module;

the second type sensor is connected with one of the main control module, the auxiliary control module, the main node module and the auxiliary node module;

the first type of actuator is respectively connected with the main control module and the auxiliary control module, or respectively connected with the main node module and the auxiliary node module;

the second type actuator is connected with one of the main control module, the auxiliary control module, the main node module and the auxiliary node module.

21. The control system of claim 19 or 20, further comprising: a first power supply and a second power supply;

the first power supply is respectively connected with the main control module and a main node module in the at least one node device, and the first power supply is used for supplying power to the main control module and the main node module in the at least one node device;

the second power supply is respectively connected with the auxiliary control module and the auxiliary node module in the at least one node device, and the second power supply is used for supplying power to the auxiliary control module and the auxiliary node module in the at least one node device.

22. The control system of any one of claims 1 to 21, wherein the master controller is further configured to:

if any task is detected not to be executed according to the execution time of any task, executing fault response operation, wherein the fault response operation comprises one or more of the following operations:

restarting a device for performing any of the tasks, the device being either the master controller or the at least one node apparatus;

restarting a sensor and/or actuator to which a device for performing the any task is connected;

and executing the safety task configured in the main controller.

23. The control system of any one of claims 1 to 22, further comprising: a gateway connected with the master controller or the at least one node device; the gateway is configured to:

transmitting data from the device to which the gateway is connected to an external apparatus and transmitting data from the external apparatus to the device to which the gateway is connected;

wherein the external device is a device independent of the control system.

24. The control system of claim 23, wherein the gateway comprises: the communication device comprises a main communication module and an auxiliary communication module connected with the main communication module.

25. The control system of any one of claims 1 to 24, wherein the control system is a vehicle control system.

26. A clock synchronization method is applied to a master controller in a control system, wherein the control system comprises a ring network, and the ring network comprises the master controller and at least one node device; the method comprises the following steps:

timing according to the frequency of the local clock signal of the main controller and executing tasks;

transmitting a reference clock signal to the at least one node device over the ring network;

the reference clock signal is obtained based on a local clock signal of the master controller, and the reference clock signal is used for the at least one node device to time and execute tasks according to the frequency of the reference clock signal.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the reference clock signal is a local clock signal of the master controller.

28. The method of claim 26, wherein the reference clock signal is a clock signal obtained by dividing a local clock signal of the host controller.

29. The method of any one of claims 26 to 28, further comprising:

adjusting a frequency of a local clock signal of the master controller within a target frequency range.

30. The method of any one of claims 26 to 29, further comprising:

transmitting a synchronization signal to the at least one node device over the ring network, the synchronization signal for the at least one node device to correct a time of a local clock of the at least one node device.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein the master controller is connected to the at least one node device via a clock signal line;

transmitting a reference clock signal and a synchronization signal to the at least one node device through the ring network, comprising:

transmitting a reference clock signal and a synchronization signal to the at least one node device through the clock signal line.

32. The method of claim 30, wherein the master controller is connected to the at least one node device via a clock signal line and a synchronization signal line;

the transmitting a reference clock signal to the at least one node device over the ring network includes:

transmitting a reference clock signal to the at least one node device through the clock signal line;

the transmitting a synchronization signal to the at least one node device through the ring network includes:

transmitting a synchronization signal to the at least one node device through the synchronization signal line.

33. The method of any of claims 26 to 32, wherein the at least one node device is at least one slave controller; the control system further comprises: at least one sensor and at least one actuator; the at least one sensor is connected with the master controller or the at least one slave controller, and the at least one actuator is connected with the master controller or the at least one slave controller;

the tasks required to be executed by the master controller and the tasks required to be executed by the at least one slave controller respectively comprise one or more of the following tasks: a data transmission task, a data processing task, an instruction sending task and a driving signal output task;

wherein the instructions are for instructing the at least one sensor to collect data or for instructing output of a drive signal to the at least one actuator.

34. The method of claim 33, further comprising:

determining tasks required to be executed by the main controller and the execution time of the tasks;

determining tasks required to be executed by the at least one slave controller and the execution time of the tasks;

transmitting a task schedule to the at least one slave controller, the task schedule comprising: the task required to be executed by the at least one slave controller and the execution time of the task;

the timing and executing tasks according to the frequency of the local clock signal of the main controller comprises:

and timing according to the frequency of the local clock signal of the main controller, and executing the task at the execution time of the task required to be executed by the main controller.

35. The method of claim 33 or 34, further comprising:

dividing a data processing total task into a plurality of data processing tasks;

and determining the data processing tasks required to be executed by the master controller and the data processing tasks required to be executed by the at least one slave controller according to the load of the master controller and the load of the at least one slave controller.

36. The method of any one of claims 33 to 35, further comprising:

transmitting target data to the at least one slave controller over the ring network;

and if the target data transmitted by the ring network is not received or the received target data transmitted by the ring network is inconsistent with the transmitted target data, carrying out fault detection on the ring network and/or retransmitting the target data.

37. The method of any one of claims 33 to 36, wherein the control system further comprises: at least one first router; a first port of the at least one first router is connected with the main controller, and a second port of the at least one first router is connected with the at least one sensor and/or the at least one actuator; wherein the data transmission rate of the first port is lower than that of the ring network, and the data transmission rate of the second port is lower than that of the first port; the method further comprises the following steps:

dividing the frequency of the reference clock signal;

sending the divided reference clock signal to the at least one first router.

38. The method of any one of claims 26 to 37, wherein the master controller comprises: the system comprises a main control module and a secondary control module connected with the main control module; the at least one node device comprises a main node module and a secondary node module connected with the main node module; the ring network comprises a first ring sub-network comprising the primary control module and a primary node module of the at least one node device, and a second ring sub-network comprising the secondary control module and a secondary node module of the at least one node device; the reference clock signal is obtained based on a local clock signal of the master control module;

the transmitting a reference clock signal to the at least one node device over the ring network includes:

the master control module sends the reference clock signal to the auxiliary control module and a master node module in the at least one node device respectively;

the reference clock signal is used for the main node module to send to the secondary node module; or, the sending a reference clock signal to the at least one node device through the ring network further includes: the secondary control module sends the reference clock signal to a secondary node module of the at least one node device.

39. The method of any one of claims 26 to 38, further comprising:

if any task is detected not to be executed according to the execution time of any task, executing fault response operation, wherein the fault response operation comprises one or more of the following operations:

restarting a device for performing any of the tasks, the device being either the master controller or the at least one node apparatus;

restarting a sensor and/or actuator to which a device for performing the any task is connected;

and executing the safety task configured in the main controller.

40. A clock synchronization method is applied to node equipment in a control system, wherein the control system comprises a ring network, and the ring network comprises a main controller and at least one node equipment; the method comprises the following steps:

receiving a reference clock signal sent by the master controller through the ring network, wherein the reference clock signal is obtained based on a local clock signal of the master controller;

and timing and executing tasks according to the frequency of the reference clock signal.

41. The method of claim 40, wherein said node device comprises a phase locked loop; the clocking according to the frequency of the reference clock signal includes:

correcting, by the phase-locked loop, a frequency of a local clock signal of the node device based on a frequency of the reference clock signal to maintain a target ratio of the frequency of the local clock signal of the node device to the frequency of the reference clock signal;

clocking according to the frequency of the local clock signal of the node device.

42. The method of claim 40, wherein said clocking according to the frequency of the reference clock signal comprises: clocking according to the frequency of the reference clock signal.

43. The method of any one of claims 40 to 42, further comprising:

receiving a synchronization signal sent by the master controller through the ring network;

and correcting the time of the local clock of the node equipment according to the synchronous signal.

44. The method of claim 43, wherein the node device is connected to the master controller via a clock signal line;

receiving a reference clock signal and a synchronization signal sent by the master controller through the ring network, including:

receiving a signal sent by the main controller through the clock signal line;

according to the amplitude and/or pulse width of the received signal, a synchronization signal and a reference clock signal are respectively obtained from the received signal.

45. The method of claim 43, wherein the node devices are connected to the master controller via clock signal lines and synchronization signal lines;

the receiving, by the ring network, the reference clock signal sent by the master controller includes:

receiving a reference clock signal sent by the master controller through the clock signal line;

the receiving, by the ring network, the synchronization signal sent by the master controller includes:

and receiving the synchronous signal sent by the main controller through the synchronous signal line.

46. The method of any one of claims 40 to 45, wherein the node device is a slave controller; the control system further comprises: at least one sensor and at least one actuator; the at least one sensor is connected with the master controller or the slave controller, and the at least one actuator is connected with the master controller or the slave controller;

the tasks required to be executed by the master controller and the tasks required to be executed by the slave controller comprise one or more of the following tasks: a data transmission task, a data processing task, an instruction sending task and a driving signal output task;

wherein the instructions are for instructing the at least one sensor to collect data or for instructing output of a drive signal to the at least one actuator.

47. The method of claim 46, further comprising:

receiving a task scheduling table sent by the master controller through the ring network, wherein the task scheduling table comprises tasks required to be executed by the slave controller and the execution time of the tasks;

the timing and executing tasks according to the frequency of the reference clock signal includes:

and timing according to the frequency of the reference clock signal, and executing the task at the execution time of the task required to be executed by the slave controller.

48. The method of claim 46 or 47 wherein the slave controller further stores a priority list comprising: a priority of at least one of the slave controllers included in the control system; the method further comprises the following steps:

and if the master controller is determined to be failed or any signal line connected with the master controller is determined to be failed, determining a new master controller from at least one slave controller based on the priority list.

49. The method of any one of claims 46 to 48, further comprising:

transmitting target data to other controllers in the control system through the ring network;

and if the target data transmitted by the ring network is not received or the received target data transmitted by the ring network is inconsistent with the transmitted target data, carrying out fault detection on the ring network and/or retransmitting the target data.

50. The method of any one of claims 46 to 49, wherein the control system further comprises: at least one first router; a first port of the at least one first router is connected with the slave controller, and a second port of the at least one first router is connected with the at least one sensor and/or the at least one actuator; wherein the data transmission rate of the first port is lower than that of the ring network, and the data transmission rate of the second port is lower than that of the first port; the method further comprises the following steps:

dividing the frequency of the reference clock signal;

sending the divided reference clock signal to the at least one first router.

51. The method according to any one of claims 40 to 45, wherein the node device is a first router; the control system further comprises: at least one sensor and at least one actuator; the at least one sensor is connected with the main controller or the first router, and the at least one actuator is connected with the main controller or the first router;

the tasks required to be executed by the main controller comprise one or more of the following tasks: a data transmission task, a data processing task, an instruction sending task and a driving signal output task;

the tasks required to be executed by the first router include one or more of the following tasks: a data transmission task, a command sending task and a driving signal output task;

wherein the instructions are for instructing the at least one sensor to collect data or for instructing output of a drive signal to the at least one actuator.

52. The method of claim 51, wherein a first port of the first router is connected to the host controller; the control system further comprises: at least one second router, a third port of the at least one second router being connected to a second port of the first router, a fourth port of the at least one second router being connected to the at least one sensor and/or the at least one actuator; wherein the data transmission rate of the first port is equal to the data transmission rate of the ring network, the data transmission rate of the second port is lower than the data transmission rate of the first port, the data transmission rate of the third port is equal to the data transmission rate of the second port, and the data transmission rate of the fourth port is lower than the data transmission rate of the third port; the method further comprises the following steps:

dividing the frequency of the received reference clock signal;

sending the divided reference clock signal to the at least one second router.

53. A master controller is applied to a control system, wherein the control system comprises a ring network, and the ring network comprises the master controller and at least one node device;

wherein the master controller comprises programmable logic circuitry and/or program instructions, the master controller being configured to implement the method of any of claims 26 to 39.

54. The node equipment is applied to a control system, wherein the control system comprises a ring network, and the ring network comprises a main controller and at least one node equipment;

wherein the node apparatus comprises programmable logic circuitry and/or program instructions, the node apparatus being arranged to implement a method as claimed in any one of claims 40 to 52.

55. A vehicle, characterized in that the vehicle comprises: a control system as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 25.

Technical Field

The present application relates to the field of electronic technologies in the automotive field, and in particular, to a control system, a clock synchronization method, a controller, a node device, and a vehicle.

Background

With the development of vehicle intelligence, the number of Electronic Control Units (ECUs) included in a vehicle control system is increasing. The ECU can be connected with the sensor and the actuator, and can process the data collected by the sensor and control the actuator to execute corresponding operation.

In order to achieve precise control of the vehicle, it is necessary to ensure clock synchronization between a plurality of ECUs. In the related art, a Precision Time Protocol (PTP) or an Ethernet control automation technology (EtherCAT) is generally used to implement clock synchronization between a plurality of ECUs.

However, when PTP or EtherCAT is used for clock synchronization, the master ECU among the plurality of ECUs may transmit data frames to other ECUs and receive data frames transmitted back from other ECUs. The main ECU can determine clock errors among the local clocks of the plurality of ECUs according to data frames returned by other ECUs, and further clock synchronization is carried out on the local clocks of the ECUs, and the synchronization precision of the synchronization mode is low.

Disclosure of Invention

The application provides a control system, a clock synchronization method, a controller, node equipment and a vehicle, which can solve the problem of low synchronization precision in clock synchronization among a plurality of control devices for controlling a sensor and an actuator in the control system.

In one aspect, the present application provides a control system comprising a ring network comprising a master controller and at least one node device; the master controller is used for timing and executing tasks according to the frequency of a local clock signal of the master controller, and sending a reference clock signal to at least one node device through the ring network, wherein the reference clock signal is obtained based on the local clock signal of the master controller; the at least one node device is used for timing and executing tasks according to the frequency of the reference clock signal.

According to the scheme, the master controller directly sends the reference clock signal to perform time synchronization, so that the clock synchronization precision between the master controller and the node equipment is improved to the precision equal to the pulse width of the reference clock signal, and the clock synchronization precision is effectively improved. In addition, the main controller and at least one node device in the control system can be sequentially connected to form a ring network, so that redundant signal interaction paths can be ensured when signals are interacted between the main controller and the at least one node device, and the reliability of signal transmission is ensured.

Alternatively, the reference clock signal may be a local clock signal of the master controller, i.e. the master controller may directly send its local clock signal to the at least one node device.

Alternatively, the reference clock signal may be a clock signal obtained by dividing a local clock signal of the host controller. Since the frequency of the local clock signal of the master controller is generally high, the master controller may divide the frequency of its local clock signal to obtain a reference clock signal, so as to ensure that the node device can support the frequency of the reference clock signal.

Optionally, the at least one node device may comprise a phase locked loop, the at least one node device may be configured to: correcting, by the phase-locked loop, a frequency of a local clock signal of the node device based on a frequency of the reference clock signal to maintain a target ratio of the frequency of the local clock signal of the node device to the frequency of the reference clock signal; clocked at the frequency of the local clock signal of the node device.

The target proportion may be a fixed value pre-configured in the node device, and the target proportion is a ratio of two positive integers. The node device corrects the frequency of the local clock signal thereof through the phase-locked loop, so that the frequency of the local clock signal thereof and the frequency of the reference clock signal can reach the synchronization of a pulse level.

Optionally, the at least one node device may be configured to clock according to a frequency of the reference clock signal. That is, the node device can directly perform tasks according to the beat of the reference clock signal without correcting the frequency of its local clock signal.

Optionally, the master controller may be further configured to adjust the frequency of the local clock signal of the master controller within a target frequency range, that is, the master controller may perform frequency modulation on the local clock signal thereof, thereby implementing frequency modulation on the reference clock signal.

By modulating the frequency of the reference clock signal, the electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) performance of a frequency sensitive circuit in the control system during task execution can be effectively improved.

Optionally, the master controller may be further configured to send a synchronization signal to the at least one node device through the ring network; the at least one node device is further configured to correct a time of a local clock of the node device according to the received synchronization signal. Therefore, the main controller and the at least one node device can realize frequency synchronization of the clock and time synchronization.

Optionally, the master controller may be connected to the at least one node device through a clock signal line; the master controller is configured to send the synchronization signal and the reference clock signal to the at least one node device through the clock signal line; the at least one node device is configured to obtain the synchronization signal and the reference clock signal from the received signal according to an amplitude and/or a pulse width of the received signal.

The main controller transmits the synchronous signal and the reference clock signal through one clock signal line, so that the number of signal lines between the main controller and the node equipment in the control system can be prevented from being increased, and the structure of the control system is simplified.

Optionally, the master controller may be connected to the at least one node device through a clock signal line and a synchronization signal line; the master controller is configured to send the reference clock signal to the at least one node device via the clock signal line, and to send the synchronization signal to the at least one node device via the synchronization signal line.

The master controller respectively transmits the synchronous signal and the reference clock signal through different signal lines, so that the node equipment does not need to analyze the synchronous signal and the reference clock signal from the composite signal, and the complexity of the node equipment receiving the synchronous signal and the reference clock signal is reduced.

Optionally, the at least one node device may be at least one slave controller; the control system may further include: at least one sensor and at least one actuator; the at least one sensor is connected with the master controller or the at least one slave controller, and the at least one actuator is connected with the master controller or the at least one slave controller; the tasks required to be executed by the master controller and the tasks required to be executed by the at least one slave controller comprise one or more of the following tasks: a data transmission task, a data processing task, an instruction sending task and a driving signal output task; wherein the instructions are for instructing the at least one sensor to collect data or for instructing output of a drive signal to the at least one actuator.

In the scheme provided by the application, the master controller can work together with at least one slave controller to realize the control of at least one sensor and at least one actuator in the control system.

Optionally, the master controller may be further configured to determine a task that the master controller needs to execute and an execution time of the task, determine a task that the at least one slave controller needs to execute and an execution time of the task, execute the task at the execution time of the task that the master controller needs to execute, and send a task schedule to the at least one slave controller; wherein the at least one task schedule received from the controller comprises: the task required to be executed by the at least one slave controller and the execution time of the task; accordingly, the at least one slave controller may be configured to execute tasks at the time of their required execution according to the task schedule.

Because the main controller can uniformly schedule the tasks, the main controller and at least one slave controller can orderly and efficiently execute each task, and the problems of resource preemption or competition and the like when a plurality of tasks are executed simultaneously are avoided.

Optionally, the main controller may be further configured to: dividing the total data processing task into a plurality of data processing tasks, and determining the data processing tasks required to be executed by the master controller and the data processing tasks required to be executed by the at least one slave controller according to the load of the master controller and the load of the at least one slave controller. Therefore, the plurality of controllers included in the ring network can realize distributed execution of data processing tasks, and further the utilization rate of computing resources of the controllers can be improved on the basis of improving the task execution efficiency.

Optionally, a priority list may be further stored in the at least one slave controller, where the priority list includes the priority of the at least one slave controller; the at least one slave controller may be further operable to: and if the master controller is determined to be failed or any signal line connected with the master controller is determined to be failed, determining a new master controller from the at least one slave controller based on the priority list. Then, the new master controller can perform unified scheduling management on the plurality of controllers in the control system, that is, the master control right of the control system can be handed over to the new master controller, so as to ensure that the control system can still operate normally.

Optionally, the master controller and the at least one slave controller may be further configured to: transmitting target data to other controllers in the control system through the ring network; and if the target data transmitted by the ring network is not received or the received target data transmitted by the ring network is inconsistent with the transmitted target data, carrying out fault detection on the ring network and/or retransmitting the target data.

The target data may be data which is required to be shared by a plurality of controllers in the ring network, and has high security requirements. By the method, the target data can be reliably transmitted to the receiving party.

Optionally, the control system may further include: at least one first router; the first port of the at least one first router is connected with the master controller or the at least one slave controller, and the second port of the at least one first router is connected with the at least one sensor and/or the at least one actuator; wherein, the data transmission rate of the first port is lower than that of the ring network, and the data transmission rate of the second port is lower than that of the first port; the controller connected to the at least one first router may be further configured to divide the frequency of the reference clock signal and send the divided reference clock signal to the at least one first router; the at least one first router may be configured to clock and perform tasks according to a frequency of the received reference clock signal; wherein, the tasks executed by the first router at least comprise: data is exchanged via the second port with a controller connected thereto and via the first port with the at least one sensor and/or the at least one actuator connected thereto.

In the scheme provided by the application, the sensor and/or the actuator with higher requirements on the data transmission rate can be directly connected with a controller (which can be a master controller or a slave controller) in the control system, and the controller sends an instruction according to the frequency of a higher reference clock signal and transmits data according to the higher data transmission rate. The sensors and/or actuators, which require a high data transmission rate, can be connected to the first router and can be commanded by the first router at the frequency of the intermediate reference clock signal and can transmit data at the intermediate data transmission rate. Therefore, the control system can be compatible with different types of sensors and actuators, and the application flexibility of the control system is effectively improved.

Optionally, the control system may further include: at least one second router, the third port of the at least one second router being connected to the second port of the at least one first router, the fourth port of the at least one second router being connected to the at least one sensor and/or the at least one actuator; wherein the data transmission rate of the third port is equal to the data transmission rate of the second port, and the data transmission rate of the fourth port is lower than the data transmission rate of the third port; the at least one first router may be further configured to divide a frequency of the received reference clock signal and send the divided reference clock signal to the at least one second router; the at least one second router is used for timing and executing tasks according to the frequency of the received reference clock signal; wherein the tasks performed by the at least one second router at least include: data is exchanged with the at least one first router via the third port and with the at least one sensor and/or at least one actuator connected thereto via the fourth port.

The control system provided by the application can reduce the data transmission rate and the frequency of the reference clock signal step by step through the first router and the second router, so that the controller, the first router and the second router can execute instructions according to different frequencies of the reference clock signal. Therefore, the application flexibility and compatibility of the control system are effectively improved. And, through setting up the router of a plurality of different grades, can guarantee the smooth transition of data transmission rate and frequency of the reference clock signal, and then guarantee the stability of data transmission.

Optionally, the at least one node device may be at least one first router; the control system may further include: at least one sensor and at least one actuator; the at least one sensor is connected with the master controller or the at least one first router, and the at least one actuator is connected with the master controller or the at least one first router; the tasks required to be performed by the main controller include one or more of the following tasks: a data transmission task, a data processing task, an instruction sending task and a driving signal output task; the tasks required to be performed by the at least one first router include one or more of the following tasks: a data transmission task, a command sending task and a driving signal output task; wherein the instructions are for instructing the at least one sensor to collect data or for instructing output of a drive signal to the at least one actuator.

In the solution provided by the present application, the ring network may include only one master controller, and the master controller may implement centralized control of at least one first router, at least one sensor, and at least one actuator in the control system.

Optionally, a first port of the at least one first router is connected to the main controller, that is, the at least one first router accesses the ring network through the first port; the control system may further include: at least one second router, the third port of the at least one second router being connected to the second port of the at least one first router, the fourth port of the at least one second router being connected to the at least one sensor and/or the at least one actuator; wherein, the data transmission rate of the first port is equal to that of the ring network, the data transmission rate of the second port is lower than that of the first port, the data transmission rate of the third port is equal to that of the second port, and the data transmission rate of the fourth port is lower than that of the third port; the at least one first router is further configured to frequency-divide the frequency of the received reference clock signal and send the frequency-divided reference clock signal to the at least one second router; the at least one second router is used for timing and executing tasks according to the frequency of the received reference clock signal; wherein the tasks performed by the at least one second router at least include: data is exchanged with the at least one first router via the third port and with the at least one sensor and/or the at least one actuator connected thereto via the fourth port.

For a scenario in which the node device is the first router, the data transmission rate and the frequency of the reference clock signal may be reduced by the second router, so that the devices (including the master controller and the at least one first router) in the ring network and the second router may execute instructions at different frequencies of the reference clock signal. Therefore, the application flexibility and compatibility of the control system are effectively improved.

Optionally, the master controller may include: the system comprises a main control module and a secondary control module connected with the main control module; the at least one node device may include a primary node module, and a secondary node module connected to the primary node module; the ring network comprises a first ring sub-network comprising the primary control module and a primary node module of the at least one node device, and a second ring sub-network comprising the secondary control module and a secondary node module of the at least one node device; the reference clock signal is obtained based on a local clock signal of the master control module; the master control module is used for respectively sending the reference clock signal to the auxiliary control module and the master node module in the at least one node device; the secondary control module is configured to send the reference clock signal to a secondary node module in the at least one node device; or, the primary node module in the at least one node device is configured to send the reference clock signal to the secondary node module connected thereto.

In the present application, the function of the sub control module included in the main controller may be the same as that of the main control module, and therefore, the sub control module may also be referred to as a redundant control module. The node device may also have the same functionality as the primary node module and the secondary node module, and the secondary node module may therefore also be referred to as a redundant node module. By arranging the redundant control module and the redundant node module, the reliability of the main controller and the node equipment during working can be ensured, and the reliability of the whole control system is further improved.

Optionally, the at least one sensor in the control system may comprise: a first type of sensor and a second type of sensor, the first type of sensor having a functional integrity level (SIL) that is higher than a functional safety integrity level of the second type of sensor; the at least one actuator in the control system may comprise: the system comprises a first type of actuator and a second type of actuator, wherein the functional safety integrity level of the first type of actuator is higher than that of the second type of actuator; the first type of sensor is respectively connected with the main control module and the auxiliary control module, or respectively connected with the main node module and the auxiliary node module; the second type sensor is connected with one of the main control module, the auxiliary control module, the main node module and the auxiliary node module; the first type of actuator is respectively connected with the main control module and the auxiliary control module, or respectively connected with the main node module and the auxiliary node module; the second type actuator is connected with one of the main control module, the auxiliary control module, the main node module and the auxiliary node module.

According to the scheme, the device with the higher function safety integrity level is connected with the two control modules of the main controller, or connected with the two node modules of the node equipment, so that the reliability of data acquisition and instruction execution can be ensured, and the safety of the control system is improved. For the device with lower functional safety integrity level, the device is only connected with one control module in the main controller or the node equipment, so that the structure of the control system can be simplified, and the complexity of the system can be reduced.

Optionally, the control system may further include: a first power supply and a second power supply; the first power supply is respectively connected with the main control module and a main node module in the at least one node device, and the first power supply is used for supplying power to the main control module and the main node module in the at least one node device; the second power supply is respectively connected with the secondary control module and the secondary node module in the at least one node device, and the second power supply is used for supplying power to the secondary control module and the secondary node module in the at least one node device.

By arranging the redundant second power supply to supply power to the auxiliary control module and the auxiliary node module, two ring-shaped subnets in the control system can be ensured to work independently, and the functional safety and reliability of the control system are further ensured.

Optionally, the main controller may be further configured to: if any task is detected not to be executed according to the execution time of any task, executing fault response operation, wherein the fault response operation can comprise one or more of the following operations: restarting a device for performing the any task, the device being the master controller or the at least one node apparatus; restarting the sensor and/or actuator to which the device for performing the any task is connected; the security tasks configured in the master controller are executed.

The main controller can timely execute the fault response operation when detecting the real-time error in the task execution, thereby effectively ensuring the safety and the reliability of the control system.

Optionally, the control system may further include: a gateway connected to the host controller or the at least one node device; the gateway is used for: transmitting data from the device to which the gateway is connected to an external apparatus and transmitting data from the external apparatus to the device to which the gateway is connected; wherein the external device is a device independent of the control system.

In the control system provided by the application, the main controller or at least one node device can also communicate with the external device through the gateway, so that the functions of the control system are enriched, and the flexibility of the control system during working is improved.

Optionally, the gateway may include: the communication device comprises a main communication module and an auxiliary communication module connected with the main communication module. By designing two redundant communication modules, the functional safety and reliability of the main controller or at least one node device can be ensured when the main controller or at least one node device and external devices carry out data interaction.

Alternatively, the control system may be a vehicle control system.

In another aspect, a clock synchronization method is provided, which may be applied to a master controller in a control system including a ring network including the master controller and at least one node device; the method comprises the following steps: timing and executing tasks according to the frequency of the local clock signal of the main controller; transmitting a reference clock signal to the at least one node device through the ring network; the reference clock signal is obtained based on a local clock signal of the master controller, and the reference clock signal is used for the at least one node device to time and execute tasks according to the frequency of the reference clock signal.

Optionally, the reference clock signal is a local clock signal of the master controller. Alternatively, the reference clock signal is a clock signal obtained by dividing a local clock signal of the host controller.

Optionally, the method further comprises: the frequency of the local clock signal of the master controller is adjusted within a target frequency range.

Optionally, the method further comprises: transmitting a synchronization signal to the at least one node device over the ring network, the synchronization signal for use by the at least one node device in correcting a time of a local clock of the at least one node device.

Optionally, the master controller is connected to the at least one node device through a clock signal line; the process of transmitting the reference clock signal and the synchronization signal to the at least one node device through the ring network may include: a reference clock signal and a synchronization signal are transmitted to the at least one node device through the clock signal line.

Optionally, the master controller is connected to the at least one node device through a clock signal line and a synchronization signal line; the process of transmitting the reference clock signal to the at least one node device through the ring network may include: transmitting a reference clock signal to the at least one node device through the clock signal line; the process of transmitting the synchronization signal to the at least one node apparatus through the ring network may include: a synchronization signal is transmitted to the at least one node device through the synchronization signal line.

Optionally, the at least one node device is at least one slave controller; the control system further comprises: at least one sensor and at least one actuator; the at least one sensor is connected with the master controller or the at least one slave controller, and the at least one actuator is connected with the master controller or the at least one slave controller; the tasks required to be executed by the master controller and the tasks required to be executed by the at least one slave controller comprise one or more of the following tasks: a data transmission task, a data processing task, an instruction sending task and a driving signal output task; wherein the instructions are for instructing the at least one sensor to collect data or for instructing output of a drive signal to the at least one actuator.

Optionally, the method may further include: determining tasks required to be executed by the main controller and the execution time of the tasks; determining tasks required to be executed by the at least one slave controller and the execution time of the tasks; transmitting a task schedule to the at least one slave controller, the task schedule comprising: the task required to be executed by the at least one slave controller and the execution time of the task; accordingly, the process of clocking and performing tasks at the frequency of the local clock signal of the host controller may include: and timing according to the frequency of the local clock signal of the main controller, and executing the task at the execution time of the task required to be executed by the main controller.

Optionally, the method may further include: dividing the total data processing task into a plurality of data processing tasks; and determining the data processing tasks required to be executed by the master controller and the data processing tasks required to be executed by the at least one slave controller according to the load of the master controller and the load of the at least one slave controller.

Optionally, the method may further include: transmitting target data to the at least one slave controller over the ring network; and if the target data transmitted by the ring network is not received or the received target data transmitted by the ring network is inconsistent with the transmitted target data, carrying out fault detection on the ring network and/or retransmitting the target data.

Optionally, the control system may further include: at least one first router; the first port of the at least one first router is connected with the main controller, and the second port of the at least one first router is connected with the at least one sensor and/or the at least one actuator; wherein, the data transmission rate of the first port is lower than that of the ring network, and the data transmission rate of the second port is lower than that of the first port; the method may further comprise: dividing the frequency of the reference clock signal; the divided reference clock signal is sent to the at least one first router.

Optionally, the master controller comprises: the system comprises a main control module and a secondary control module connected with the main control module; the at least one node device comprises a main node module and a secondary node module connected with the main node module; the ring network comprises a first ring sub-network comprising the primary control module and a primary node module of the at least one node device, and a second ring sub-network comprising the secondary control module and a secondary node module of the at least one node device; the reference clock signal is obtained based on a local clock signal of the master control module; the process of transmitting the reference clock signal to the at least one node device through the ring network may include: the master control module sends the reference clock signal to the slave control module and a master node module in the at least one node device respectively; the reference clock signal is used for the main node module to send to the auxiliary node module; or, the transmitting the reference clock signal to the at least one node device through the ring network further includes: the secondary control module sends the reference clock signal to a secondary node module in the at least one node device.

Optionally, the method may further include: if any task is detected not to be executed according to the execution time of any task, executing fault response operation, wherein the fault response operation comprises one or more of the following operations: restarting a device for performing the any task, the device being the master controller or the at least one node apparatus; restarting the sensor and/or actuator to which the device for performing the any task is connected; the security tasks configured in the master controller are executed.

In yet another aspect, a clock synchronization method is provided, which may be applied to a node device in a control system including a ring network including a master controller and at least one of the node devices; the method can comprise the following steps: receiving a reference clock signal sent by the master controller through the ring network, wherein the reference clock signal is obtained based on a local clock signal of the master controller; and timing and executing tasks according to the frequency of the reference clock signal.

Optionally, the node device comprises a phase locked loop; the process of the node device clocking according to the frequency of the reference clock signal may include: correcting, by the phase-locked loop, a frequency of a local clock signal of the node device based on a frequency of the reference clock signal to maintain a target ratio of the frequency of the local clock signal of the node device to the frequency of the reference clock signal; clocked at the frequency of the local clock signal of the node device.

Optionally, the process of the node device clocking according to the frequency of the reference clock signal may include: clocked at the frequency of the reference clock signal.

Optionally, the method may further include: receiving a synchronization signal sent by the master controller through the ring network; and correcting the time of the local clock of the node device according to the synchronization signal.

Optionally, the node device is connected to the main controller through a clock signal line; the process of receiving the reference clock signal and the synchronization signal transmitted by the master controller through the ring network may include: receiving a signal sent by the main controller through the clock signal line; the synchronization signal and the reference clock signal are respectively obtained from the received signal according to the amplitude and/or pulse width of the received signal.

Optionally, the node device is connected to the main controller through a clock signal line and a synchronization signal line; the process of receiving the reference clock signal transmitted by the master controller through the ring network may include: receiving a reference clock signal sent by the main controller through the clock signal line; the process of receiving the synchronization signal transmitted by the master controller through the ring network may include: and receiving the synchronous signal sent by the main controller through the synchronous signal line.

Optionally, the node device is a slave controller; the control system further comprises: at least one sensor and at least one actuator; the at least one sensor is connected with the master controller or the slave controller, and the at least one actuator is connected with the master controller or the slave controller; the tasks required to be executed by the master controller and the tasks required to be executed by the slave controller comprise one or more of the following tasks: a data transmission task, a data processing task, an instruction sending task and a driving signal output task; wherein the instructions are for instructing the at least one sensor to collect data or for instructing output of a drive signal to the at least one actuator.

Optionally, the method may further include: receiving a task scheduling table sent by the master controller through the ring network, wherein the task scheduling table comprises tasks required to be executed by the slave controller and the execution time of the tasks; the process of clocking and performing tasks according to the frequency of the reference clock signal may include: and timing according to the frequency of the reference clock signal, and executing the task at the execution time of the task required to be executed by the slave controller.

Optionally, the slave controller further stores a priority list, wherein the priority list includes: the priority of at least one of the slave controllers included in the control system; the method may further comprise: and if the master controller is determined to be failed or any signal line connected with the master controller is determined to be failed, determining a new master controller from at least one slave controller based on the priority list.

Optionally, the method may further include: transmitting target data to other controllers in the control system through the ring network; and if the target data transmitted by the ring network is not received or the received target data transmitted by the ring network is inconsistent with the transmitted target data, carrying out fault detection on the ring network and/or retransmitting the target data.

Optionally, the control system may further include: at least one first router; the first port of the at least one first router is connected with the slave controller, and the second port of the at least one first router is connected with the at least one sensor and/or the at least one actuator; wherein, the data transmission rate of the first port is lower than that of the ring network, and the data transmission rate of the second port is lower than that of the first port; the method may further comprise: dividing the frequency of the reference clock signal; the divided reference clock signal is sent to the at least one first router.

Optionally, the node device is a first router; the control system further comprises: at least one sensor and at least one actuator; the at least one sensor is connected with the main controller or the first router, and the at least one actuator is connected with the main controller or the first router; the tasks required to be performed by the main controller include one or more of the following tasks: a data transmission task, a data processing task, an instruction sending task and a driving signal output task; the tasks required to be performed by the first router include one or more of the following tasks: a data transmission task, a command sending task and a driving signal output task; wherein the instructions are for instructing the at least one sensor to collect data or for instructing output of a drive signal to the at least one actuator.

Optionally, a first port of the first router is connected to the main controller; the control system further comprises: at least one second router, a third port of the at least one second router being connected to a second port of the first router, a fourth port of the at least one second router being connected to the at least one sensor and/or the at least one actuator; wherein, the data transmission rate of the first port is equal to that of the ring network, the data transmission rate of the second port is lower than that of the first port, the data transmission rate of the third port is equal to that of the second port, and the data transmission rate of the fourth port is lower than that of the third port; the method may further comprise: dividing the frequency of the received reference clock signal; the divided reference clock signal is sent to the at least one second router.

The beneficial effects of the clock synchronization method provided in the above aspect may refer to effect description of corresponding features in the control system, which is not described in detail herein.

In still another aspect, there is provided a main controller that is applicable to the control system provided in the above aspect; also, the master controller may comprise programmable logic circuits and/or program instructions for implementing the method provided in the above aspects as applied to the master controller.

In still another aspect, a node apparatus is provided, which may be applied to the control system provided in the above aspect; also, the node device may comprise programmable logic circuits and/or program instructions for implementing the method provided by the above aspects applied to the node device.

In yet another aspect, a vehicle is provided, including: a control system as provided in the above aspect. The vehicle may be an electric vehicle. Also, the vehicle may be an autonomous vehicle, a remotely piloted vehicle, or a flying vehicle, among others.

The technical scheme provided by the application at least comprises the following beneficial effects:

the application provides a control system, a clock synchronization method, a controller, node equipment and a vehicle, wherein a master controller in the control system can directly send a reference clock signal to at least one node equipment through a ring network, so that the at least one node equipment can carry out timing based on the frequency of the reference clock signal, and therefore clock synchronization of the master controller and the at least one node equipment is achieved. Compared with the method for sending the data frame, the method for sending the reference clock signal directly can improve the clock synchronization precision of the main controller and at least one node device to the precision equal to the pulse width of the reference clock signal, so that the clock synchronization precision is effectively improved. In addition, the main controller and at least one node device in the control system can be sequentially connected to form a ring network, so that a redundant signal interaction path can be ensured when signals are interacted between the main controller and the at least one node device, and the reliability of signal transmission is ensured.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a control system provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of a synchronization error between a master controller and a slave controller according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram of the amplitude of a conducted or radiated signal generated by a frequency sensitive circuit according to an embodiment of the present disclosure as a function of frequency;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram of a reference clock signal, a synchronization signal and a composite signal according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram of another reference clock signal, a synchronization signal and a composite signal provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram of a reference clock signal, a synchronization signal and a composite signal according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram of a reference clock signal and a synchronization signal according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 8 is a schematic structural diagram of another control system provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 9 is a schematic diagram of a configuration of yet another control system provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a frequency of a reference clock signal according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating a reference clock signal frequency and tasks at different rates according to an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 12 is a schematic structural diagram of another control system provided in the embodiments of the present application;

FIG. 13 is a schematic structural diagram of another control system provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 14 is a schematic structural diagram of another control system provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 15 is a schematic diagram of a clock synchronization path provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 16 is a schematic diagram of a partial structure of a control system according to an embodiment of the present disclosure;

FIG. 17 is a schematic diagram of another clock synchronization path provided by an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 18 is a schematic structural diagram of another control system provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 19 is a schematic structural diagram of another control system provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 20 is a schematic structural diagram of another control system provided in an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 21 is a flowchart of a clock synchronization method provided in an embodiment of the present application;

FIG. 22 is a flow chart of another clock synchronization method provided by embodiments of the present application;

FIG. 23 is a flow chart of yet another clock synchronization method provided by an embodiment of the present application;

fig. 24 is a schematic structural diagram of a main controller according to an embodiment of the present application.

Detailed Description

To make the objects, technical solutions and advantages of the present application more clear, embodiments of the present application will be described in further detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings.

The embodiment of the application provides a control system. As shown in fig. 1, the control system includes a ring network including a main controller 01 (which may also be referred to as a central controller), and at least one node apparatus 02. For example, 3 node devices 02 are schematically shown in fig. 1. The node device 02 may be a slave controller, or may be a first router. The master controller 01 and the slave controller may each be a control device including one or more processing chips, and the first router may be a forwarding device including one or more forwarding chips.

The master controller 01 is configured to clock and perform tasks according to a frequency of a local clock signal of the master controller 01, and is configured to send a reference clock signal to the at least one node apparatus 02 through the ring network, where the reference clock signal is obtained based on the local clock signal of the master controller 01.

The at least one node device 02 is configured to clock and perform tasks according to the frequency of the reference clock signal. For example, the node device 02 may correct the frequency of its local clock signal based on the frequency of the reference clock signal and clock at the corrected frequency of the local clock signal. Alternatively, the node device 02 may be clocked directly at the frequency of the reference clock signal. Thereby, clock synchronization of the master controller 01 with the at least one node apparatus 02 can be achieved.

Since the master controller 01 and the at least one node apparatus 02 may form a ring network, it is possible to ensure a redundant signal exchange path when exchanging signals between the master controller 01 and the at least one node apparatus 02. For example, it is assumed that a first interface of the main controller 01 is connected to one node apparatus 02 and a second interface of the main controller 01 is connected to another node apparatus 02. If the signal line connected to the first interface of the master controller 01 fails, the master controller 01 may also transmit data to the ring network through the second interface thereof, so that the data can be transmitted to the node device 02 connected to the first interface of the master controller 01 through the ring network.

It should be understood that master controller 01 and node device 02 clock synchronization may refer to: the ratio of the frequencies of the clock signals referred to when the main controller 01 and the node apparatus 02 perform tasks is a target ratio. That is, the master controller 01 and the node apparatus 02 can perform tasks in fixed-scale beats. For example, if the target ratio is 1, it indicates that the frequencies of the clock signals referred to when the master controller 01 and the node device 02 perform tasks are the same. If the target ratio is n, n is a ratio of two positive integers, and n is not 1, it indicates that the frequency of the clock signal referred to by the master controller 01 when performing a task is n times the frequency of the clock signal referred to by the node device 02 when performing a task.

It should also be understood that, as can be seen with reference to fig. 1, the master controller 01 may be connected with two node apparatuses 02, respectively. When the master controller 01 transmits the reference clock signal, the master controller 01 may transmit the reference clock signal to only one node device 02 connected thereto, and then the node device 02 sequentially transmits the reference clock signal to the other node devices 02. That is, the reference clock signal in the ring network may be transmitted in a single direction in a clockwise direction or a counterclockwise direction. Alternatively, the master controller 01 may also send reference clock signals to the two node devices 02 connected thereto, and the two node devices 02 forward the reference clock signals to the other node devices 02. That is, the reference clock signals in the ring network can be transmitted in parallel in both the clockwise direction and the counterclockwise direction.

In the embodiment of the present application, the master controller 01 and the node apparatuses 02 in the ring network, and the two adjacent node apparatuses 02 may be connected by a signal line (which may also be referred to as a signal link), so that the master controller 01 may transmit the reference clock signal to the at least one node apparatus 02 through the signal line. The way in which the master controller 01 transmits a reference clock signal to at least one node device 02 via a signal line to achieve clock synchronization may also be referred to as hard synchronization.

Fig. 2 is a schematic diagram of a synchronization error between a master controller and a node device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure. As shown in fig. 2, since the master controller 01 can directly send the reference clock signal to the node device 02, it is ensured that a synchronization period when clock synchronization is performed between the master controller 01 and the node device 02 is a period of the reference clock signal. Accordingly, it can be ensured that an error (i.e., synchronization error) between the time of the master controller 01 and the time of the node device 02 can be reduced to a level equal to the pulse width of the reference clock signal, that is, clock synchronization at the pulse level can be achieved. For example, assume that the frequency of the reference clock signal is 1 gigahertz (GHz), i.e., one clock cycle of the reference clock signal is 1 nanosecond (ns). The reference clock signal issued by master controller 01 every 1ns may direct the node device 02 to correct its local clock, thereby allowing synchronization errors of less than 1 ns. The synchronization error of ns level can basically meet the requirement of most real-time control scenes.

In summary, an embodiment of the present application provides a control system, in which a master controller may directly send a reference clock signal to at least one node device through a ring network, so that the at least one node device may perform timing based on a frequency of the reference clock signal, thereby implementing clock synchronization between the master controller and the at least one node device. Compared with the method for sending the data frame, the method for sending the reference clock signal directly can improve the clock synchronization precision of the main controller and at least one node device to the precision equal to the pulse width of the reference clock signal, so that the clock synchronization precision is effectively improved. In addition, the main controller and at least one node device in the control system can be sequentially connected to form a ring network, so that redundant signal interaction paths can be ensured when signals are interacted between the main controller and the at least one node device, and the reliability of signal transmission is ensured.

In the control system provided by the embodiment of the present application, since the time synchronization precision between the main controller and the at least one node device is high, it can be ensured that all time-sensitive tasks can be moved from the ECU to the main controller or the node device for execution, thereby effectively reducing the number of ECUs in the control system and simplifying the functions of the ECUs (for example, the ECUs can be simplified as routers). The control system is lower in complexity and higher in flexibility.

Alternatively, the reference clock signal may be a local clock signal of the master controller 01, i.e. the master controller 01 may directly send its local clock signal as the reference clock signal to the at least one node apparatus 02.

Alternatively, the reference clock signal may be a clock signal obtained by dividing the local clock signal of the main controller 01. That is, the master controller 01 may first divide its local clock signal to obtain a reference clock signal, and then transmit the reference clock signal to the at least one node device 02.

Since the frequency of the source clock signal generated by the crystal oscillator in the main controller 01 is generally in the intermediate frequency range, the local clock signal of the main controller 01 may be generated by a Phase Locked Loop (PLL) in the main controller 01 according to a preset frequency multiplication value to multiply the frequency of the source clock signal. Since the frequency of the local clock signal generated by the PLL of the master controller 01 is generally high, the master controller 01 may divide the frequency of the local clock signal to obtain a reference clock signal, so as to ensure that the node device 02 can support the frequency of the reference clock signal.

As an alternative implementation, the at least one node device 02 may include a PLL, and the at least one node device 02 may correct the frequency of the local clock signal of the node device 02 based on the frequency of the reference clock signal through the PLL to maintain the frequency of the local clock signal of the node device 02 and the frequency of the reference clock signal at a target ratio. The at least one node device 02 may then time at the frequency of its corrected local clock signal. The node device 02 can synchronize the frequency of its local clock signal with the frequency of the reference clock signal to the pulse level by correcting the frequency of its local clock signal by means of a phase-locked loop.

The target proportion may be a fixed value configured in advance in the node device 02, and the target proportion may be a ratio of two positive integers. For example, if the target ratio is 1, the node device 02 may track and lock the frequency of the reference clock signal through the PLL, so that the frequency of the local clock signal of the node device 02 is equal to the frequency of the reference clock signal.

As another alternative, the node device 02 may also directly clock at the frequency of the reference clock signal. That is, the node device 02 can perform tasks in accordance with the beat of the reference clock signal without correcting the frequency of its local clock signal.

In the embodiment of the present application, for a scenario in which the node device 02 is a slave controller, the slave controller may include a processor and at least one peripheral device connected to the processor. The at least one peripheral device may include an analog-to-digital converter (ADC), a timer, a Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) circuit, a communication interface, and the like. The processor can be connected with the at least one peripheral device through a peripheral bus and can control the at least one peripheral device to execute tasks. Accordingly, in this implementation, the processor in the slave controller may control the peripheral devices to perform tasks directly according to the frequency of the reference clock signal. Thus, peripheral bus task synchronization of the at least one slave controller may be achieved, which may also be referred to as Peripheral Hard Synchronization (PHS).

Optionally, the master controller 01 may be further configured to adjust the frequency of the local clock signal of the master controller 01 within a target frequency range. That is, the main controller 01 may perform Frequency Modulation (FM), which is referred to as frequency modulation, on its local clock signal. Correspondingly, the reference clock signal sent by the master controller 01 to the at least one node device 02 is also a frequency-modulated clock signal. The target frequency range may be a fixed frequency range pre-stored in the main controller 01.

By modulating the frequency of the local clock signal of the main controller 01, the EMC performance of a circuit (frequency sensitive circuit for short) which is sensitive to the frequency in the control system in the task execution process can be effectively improved. The frequency sensitive circuit may include a communication circuit, a driving circuit (also referred to as a power output circuit), and the like. For example, assuming that the driving circuit is a PWM circuit, since the PWM circuit outputs a PWM signal based on the frequency of the reference clock signal, the main controller 01 performs frequency modulation on the local clock signal, that is, performs frequency modulation on the PWM signal, thereby effectively improving the EMC performance of the PWM circuit.

Fig. 3 is a schematic diagram of the amplitude of a conducted or radiated signal generated by a frequency sensitive circuit according to an embodiment of the present application as a function of frequency f, wherein the amplitude is expressed in decibel-millivolts (dBmv). Referring to fig. 3, it can be seen that the amplitude of the conducted or radiated signal generated by the frequency sensitive circuit is high and the frequency spectrum is narrow before the master controller 01 performs frequency modulation on its local clock signal. And after the main controller 01 performs frequency modulation on the local clock signal, the amplitude of a conduction signal or a radiation signal generated by the frequency sensitive circuit can be reduced, and the frequency spectrum is widened, so that the EMC performance of the frequency sensitive circuit is effectively improved.

Optionally, the master controller 01 may be further configured to send a synchronization signal to the at least one node device 02 through the ring network; accordingly, the at least one node device 02 may be further configured to correct the time of the local clock of the node device 02 according to the received synchronization signal. That is, based on the scheme provided in the embodiment of the present application, not only the synchronization of the clock frequency but also the synchronization of the time may be implemented between the master controller 01 and the at least one node device 02. The frequency of the synchronization signal may be much lower than the frequency of the reference clock signal, and the frequency of the reference clock signal may be an integer multiple of the frequency of the synchronization signal. For example, the frequency of the reference clock signal may be 1GHz, and the frequency of the synchronization signal may be 1 kilohertz (KHz).

For example, assume that the frequency of the synchronization signal is 1KHz, i.e., the main controller 01 sends a pulse of the synchronization signal every 1 ms. Node device 02 may correct the time of its local clock to the value closest to the current time and an integer multiple of ms each time it receives a pulse of the synchronization signal. For example, assuming that when the node device 02 receives a pulse of the synchronization signal, the time of its local clock is 100.001ms, the node device 02 may correct the time of its local clock to 100 ms.

As an alternative implementation, the master controller 01 in the ring network may be connected to the at least one node device 02 via a clock signal line. That is, the master controller 01 and the node devices 02, and two adjacent node devices 02 are connected by a clock signal line. In this implementation, the master controller 01 may be configured to send the synchronization signal and the reference clock signal to at least one node device 02 via the clock signal line. That is, the master controller 01 may transmit a composite signal (may also be referred to as a superimposed signal) of the synchronization signal and the reference clock signal to at least one node device 02 through one clock signal line.

Accordingly, the at least one node device 02 may be configured to obtain the synchronization signal and the reference clock signal from the received signal according to the amplitude and/or pulse width of the received signal, respectively.

For example, referring to fig. 4, the pulse width of the synchronization signal may be the same as the pulse width of the reference clock signal, and the master controller 01 may add the amplitudes of the reference clock signal and the synchronization signal to generate a composite signal. Accordingly, during the process of receiving the composite signal by the at least one node device 02, if a pulse having a magnitude larger than that of the reference clock signal is detected, it may be determined that the pulse of the synchronization signal is received.

Alternatively, referring to fig. 5, the pulse width of the synchronization signal may be the same as the pulse width of the reference clock signal, and the master controller 01 may subtract the amplitudes of the reference clock signal and the synchronization signal to generate a composite signal. Accordingly, during the process of receiving the composite signal by the at least one node device 02, if a pulse with a smaller amplitude than that of the reference clock signal is detected, or a pulse is not detected within one clock cycle, it may be determined that the synchronization signal is received.

That is, for a scenario in which the master controller 01 adds or subtracts the amplitudes of the reference clock signal and the synchronization signal to generate a composite signal, the at least one node device 02 may separate the reference clock signal and the synchronization signal from the composite signal based on the amplitude of the composite signal.

Still alternatively, referring to fig. 6, the pulse width of the synchronization signal may be greater than the pulse width of the reference clock signal, for example, the pulse width of the synchronization signal may be an integer multiple of the pulse width of the reference clock signal. Master controller 01 may add the reference clock signal and the synchronization signal in the time domain to generate a composite signal. Accordingly, in the process of receiving the composite signal by the at least one node device 02, if it is detected that the pulse width in a certain pulse period is greater than the pulse width of the reference clock signal, it may be determined that the pulse of the synchronization signal is received. That is, the at least one node device 02 may separate the reference clock signal and the synchronization signal from the composite signal based on the pulse width of the composite signal.

In the above implementation manner, the main controller 01 transmits the composite signal of the synchronization signal and the reference clock signal through one clock signal line, so that the increase of the number of signal lines between adjacent devices in the ring network can be avoided, and the structure of the control system is simplified.

It will be appreciated that in the above implementation, the clock signal lines connected between two adjacent devices in the ring network may be signal lines capable of transmitting both data and clock signals. For example, the signal line may be an ethernet line. Alternatively, for a Time Sensitive Network (TSN), a data signal line for transmitting data and a clock signal line dedicated for transmitting a reference clock signal may be connected between two adjacent devices in the ring network.

As another alternative implementation, the master controller 01 in the ring network may be connected to the at least one node apparatus 02 through a clock signal line and a synchronization signal line. That is, a clock signal line and a synchronization signal line are connected between the main controller 01 and the node devices 02 and between two adjacent node devices 02. In this implementation, referring to fig. 7, the master controller 01 may be configured to send the reference clock signal to the at least one node device 02 through the clock signal line, and to send the synchronization signal to the at least one node device 02 through the synchronization signal line. The at least one node device 02 may receive the reference clock signal through the clock signal line and the synchronization signal through the synchronization signal line.

The master controller 01 transmits the synchronization signal and the reference clock signal through different signal lines, so that the at least one node device 02 does not need to analyze the synchronization signal and the reference clock signal from the received composite signal, thereby reducing the complexity of the node device 02 in receiving the synchronization signal and the reference clock signal.

Optionally, as shown in fig. 8, the control system may further include: at least one sensor 03 and at least one actuator 04. The at least one sensor 03 may be connected to the master controller 01 or a node device 02, and the at least one actuator 04 may be connected to the master controller 01 or a node device 02. The sensor 03 may be an image sensor, a speed sensor, a temperature sensor, a pressure sensor, a laser radar, an ultrasonic radar, or the like. The actuator 04 may be a motor, a valve, a switch or a relay, etc.

For a scenario in which the at least one node device 02 is at least one slave controller, the tasks required to be performed by the master controller 01 and the tasks required to be performed by the at least one slave controller 02 may each include one or more of the following tasks: the data transmission task, the data processing task, the sending task of the instruction and the output task of the driving signal. The instruction may be used to instruct the sensor 03 to collect data or to instruct the actuator 04 to output a driving signal. Accordingly, data transmission may refer to: transmitting data acquired by the sensor 03; the data processing may refer to: the data collected by the sensor 03 is processed.

In the embodiment of the present application, a controller (which may be the master controller 01 or the slave controller 02) in the control system may directly generate a driving signal and output the driving signal to the actuator 04 connected thereto, so as to drive the actuator 04 to operate. Alternatively, the controller may be connected to the actuator 04 through a driving circuit, and when the actuator 04 needs to be driven to operate, the controller may send a command instructing to output a driving signal to the driving circuit. The driving circuit may further output a driving signal to the actuator 04 based on the instruction to drive the actuator 04 to operate.

Optionally, the main controller 01 may further be configured to: the method includes the steps of determining tasks required to be executed by the master controller 01 and execution time of the tasks, determining tasks required to be executed by the at least one slave controller 02 and execution time of the tasks, executing the tasks at the execution time of the tasks required to be executed by the master controller 01, and sending a task schedule to the at least one slave controller 02 through the ring network. Wherein the at least one task schedule received from the controller 02 may include: the at least one task to be executed by the slave controller 02, and the execution time of the task.

Accordingly, the at least one slave controller 02 may execute the task at the execution time corresponding to the task that it needs to execute according to the task schedule.

In this embodiment, the master controller 01 may adopt a Time Division Task (TDT) technology to perform unified planning and scheduling on tasks that the master controller 01 and the at least one slave controller 02 need to execute, and allocate the tasks that different controllers need to execute to different time slots. Therefore, the master controller 01 and the at least one slave controller 02 can execute each task in order according to the preset task scheduling table, the problems of resource preemption or competition and the like during simultaneous execution of a plurality of tasks are avoided, and each task can be executed in order and efficiently.

For example, it is assumed that tasks to be performed by the certain controller (which may be the master controller 01 or the slave controller 02) include a sending task of an instruction and a data transmission task, and the instruction is used for instructing the sensor 03 to collect data. The execution time of the sending task of the instruction recorded in the task scheduling table is the acquisition time point, and the execution time of the data transmission task is the sending time point of the data. Accordingly, the controller may automatically send a command to the sensor 03 to which it is connected to instruct the sensor 03 to collect data when it is detected that the collection time point has arrived. And, after acquiring the data collected by the sensor 03, the controller may automatically transmit the data when detecting that the transmission time point arrives.

It should be understood that, if the control system includes a plurality of different types of sensors 03 that need to acquire data synchronously, the main controller 01 may set the execution time of the task of instructing the sensors 03 to acquire data to be the same. That is, the controller in the ring network can transmit an instruction for instructing to collect data to the above-mentioned sensor 03 at the same time.

For example, the sensors in the control system that need to synchronously acquire data may include: a sensor for acquiring a rotor position during Field Oriented Control (FOC) of a Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor (PMSM) and a sensor for acquiring a phase current physical dependency signal; alternatively, it may include: sensors for collecting fusion data, such as a laser radar, an ultrasonic radar, a visible light image sensor and the like; still alternatively, it may include: a plurality of sensors for redundancy checking.

Optionally, the main controller 01 may be further configured to generate a task scheduling summary table, where the task scheduling summary table may include: the master controller 01 needs to execute tasks and the execution time of the tasks, and the at least one slave controller 02 needs to execute tasks and the execution time of the tasks. Also, the task schedule table transmitted from the master controller 01 to each slave controller 02 may be a schedule table for the task. For a scenario that the master controller 01 directly sends the task scheduling summary table to each slave controller 02, it can be ensured that each slave controller 02 can acquire tasks to be executed by other slave controllers 02 and the execution time of the tasks, so that when the master controller 01 fails, any slave controller 02 can perform unified scheduling and management on the tasks to be executed by each controller in the control system based on the task scheduling summary table, that is, any slave controller 02 can quickly take over the work of the master controller 01 based on the task scheduling summary table.

Alternatively, the task schedule transmitted by the master controller 01 to each slave controller 02 may include only tasks that the slave controller 02 needs to execute and execution time of the tasks, and need not include tasks that the other slave controllers 02 need to execute and execution time of the tasks. This prevents the controller 02 from being interfered with tasks to be executed by other controllers when determining the execution time of a task to be executed from the task schedule table.

For example, it is assumed that as shown in fig. 9, the control system includes a master controller E5, and four slave controllers E1 to E4. The task schedule summary table generated by the master controller E5 may be as shown in table 1. Referring to table 1, it can be seen that the slave controller E1 needs to execute the task1 at time t1, the slave controller E3 needs to execute the task4 at time t4, and the task5 needs to be executed at time t 5. The master controller E5 may transmit the task schedule summary table shown in table 1 to the slave controllers E1 to E4, respectively, or the master controller E5 may transmit only part of the contents of table 1 to each slave controller in a targeted manner. For example, the task schedule transmitted by the master controller E5 to the slave controller E1 may include only the task1 and the execution time t1 of the task 1; the task schedule transmitted by the master controller E5 to the slave controller E4 may include only the task6 and the execution time t6 of the task 6.

TABLE 1

Alternatively, each of the master controller 01 and the at least one slave controller 02 in the control system may be connected to the sensor 03 and/or the actuator 04 which is physically close thereto. Different controllers may load different software modules and operating systems, but the communication interfaces of different controllers may be the same and the computing resources of the different controllers may be shared.

Accordingly, the master controller 01 may also be configured to: dividing the total data processing task into a plurality of data processing tasks, determining the data processing task required to be executed by the master controller 01 and determining the data processing task required to be executed by the at least one slave controller 02 according to the load of the master controller 01 and the load of the at least one slave controller 02.

That is, for a data processing overall task requiring more computing resources, the master controller 01 may schedule a plurality of controllers in the ring network to cooperatively execute the data processing overall task. Therefore, distributed execution of the data processing tasks can be achieved, and the utilization rate of computing resources of the controller can be improved on the basis of improving the task execution efficiency.

In addition, in the embodiment of the present application, the main controller 01 may also dynamically allocate the data processing tasks according to the importance degree, the functional requirement, the security requirement, and the performance influence degree of each data processing task, thereby effectively improving the flexibility of task scheduling and achieving the reasonable utilization of the computing resources of each controller.

Optionally, a priority list including the priority of the at least one slave controller 02 may also be stored in the slave controller 02 in the control system. The at least one slave controller 02 may also be used to: if it is determined that the master controller 01 fails or any one of the signal lines to which the master controller 01 is connected fails, a new master controller is determined from the at least one slave controller 02 based on the priority list. Then, the new master controller can perform unified scheduling management on the plurality of controllers in the control system, that is, the master control right of the control system can be handed over to the new master controller, so as to ensure that the control system can still operate normally.

For example, in connection with fig. 9, it is assumed that the priorities of the 4 slave controllers E1 to E4 in the priority list are: e4 > E3 > E2 > E1, the slave controller E4 can work in place of the master controller E5 when the master controller E5 fails.

It should be understood that the master controller 01 may also have the priority list stored therein. In addition, the priority list may record the priority of the master controller 01 in addition to the priority of the at least one slave controller 02, and the priority of the master controller 01 may be higher than the priority of the at least one slave controller 02. This ensures that the master controller 01 can acquire the master right of the control system again after recovering from the failure state.

Optionally, a failure detection algorithm is configured in each of the master controller 01 and the at least one slave controller 02, and the master controller 01 and the at least one slave controller 02 may detect whether a signal line connected to the master controller 01 or the master controller 01 fails based on the failure detection algorithm. For example, the master controller 01 may periodically transmit a heartbeat message to the at least one slave controller 02 at a preset period. If the heartbeat message is not received by any of the at least one slave controllers 02 within a certain period, the at least one slave controller 02 may determine that the master controller 01 has failed. If a part of the slave controllers 02 do not receive the heartbeat message and the rest of the slave controllers 02 receive the heartbeat message within a certain period, the at least one slave controller 02 may determine that the master controller 01 does not fail but the signal lines between the master controller 01 and the part of the slave controllers 02 fail.

In the embodiment of the present application, after a controller (which may be the master controller 01 or the slave controller 02) in the control system receives data sent by another controller, an Identification (ID) of the received data may be compared with its own ID. If the ID of the data is the same as the ID of the controller, the controller may perform reception processing on the received data; if the ID of the data is different from the ID of the controller, the controller may forward the received data. Also, to ensure that the data is efficiently transmitted to the receiving end, the controller may drive (e.g., shape and amplify) the data before forwarding the data.

Alternatively, the ring network may transmit data in the form of a shared bus. That is, only one of the master controller 01 and the at least one slave controller 02 can be used as a transmitting end to transmit data at each time, and the other controllers are used as receiving ends to receive only data. For example, only the slave controller E1 can send data at a time, and both the slave controller E2 to the slave controller E4 and the master controller E5 receive data. Alternatively, the ring network may be a packet network, that is, the control system may include a master controller 01 and at least one slave controller 02 divided into a plurality of groups, each group including at least two controllers. At each time, controllers in different groups may interact with data simultaneously. For example, assume a slave controller E1 and a slave controller E2 are grouped, and a slave controller E3 and a slave controller E4 are grouped. Then at some point the slave E1 may send data to the slave E2 while the slave E3 may send data to the slave E4.

Optionally, the controller (which may be the master controller 01 or the slave controller 02) in the control system may also be configured to: transmitting target data to other controllers through the ring network; and if the target data transmitted by the ring network is not received or the received target data transmitted by the ring network is inconsistent with the target data transmitted by the controller, carrying out fault detection on the ring network and/or retransmitting the target data.

The target data may be data that is highly required for safety and needs to be shared by a plurality of controllers included in the ring network, and may include, for example, a vehicle speed. That is, after the master controller 01 or the slave controller 02 sends the target data with higher security to the ring network, it can detect whether other controllers in the ring network correctly receive the target data. Thereby, it can be ensured that the target data can be reliably transmitted to the receiving party.

For example, assuming that the ring network includes a master controller 01 and m-1 slave controllers 01, that is, the ring network includes m controllers, all the target data sent by the controllers in the ring network need to be forwarded m times before being transmitted back to the controllers again. Wherein m is an integer greater than 1. If the time length required for transmitting the target data between two adjacent controllers is n clock cycles, the controller in the ring network can detect whether the data received after n × m clock cycles is consistent with the target data after sending the target data, so as to verify the integrity of the data. If the controller does not receive data after n × m clock cycles, or the received data is inconsistent with the target data, fault detection may be performed on the ring network, and/or the target data may be retransmitted.

The process of the controller performing fault detection on the ring network may include: the controller sends detection data to other controllers in the ring network, and the other controllers in the ring network feed back response data to a sender of the detection data after receiving the detection data. Finally, the sender of the detection data can determine the controller with the fault or the signal line with the fault according to the received response data.

For a scenario in which the at least one node device 02 is a slave controller, as shown in fig. 8, the control system may further include: at least one first router 05, a first port 051 of the first router 05 is connected with the master controller 01 or the slave controller 02, and a second port 052 of the first router 05 is connected with at least one sensor 03 and/or at least one actuator 04. The data transmission rate of the first port 051 is lower than that of the ring network, and the data transmission rate of the second port 052 is lower than that of the first port 051.

The controller connected to the at least one first router 05 is further configured to divide a frequency of a reference clock signal transmitted in the ring network, and send the divided reference clock signal to the at least one first router 05.

The at least one first router 05 may be configured to clock and perform tasks according to a frequency of the received divided reference clock signal. Wherein the tasks executed by the at least one first router 05 may include at least: data is exchanged with the controller to which it is connected through the second port 052 and with the at least one sensor 03 and/or the at least one actuator 04 to which it is connected through the first port 051.

As can be seen from the above description, the master controller 01 and the slave controller 02 can transmit data in the ring network at a higher data transmission rate and clock at a higher frequency. Also, the master controller 01 or the slave controller 02 connected to the first router 05 may reduce a data transmission rate, transmit data to the first router 05, and reduce a frequency of a reference clock signal, and transmit the reduced frequency to the first router 05. Similarly, the first router 05 may increase the data transmission rate and send the data to the controller connected thereto.

Therefore, in the embodiment of the present application, the sensor 03 (e.g., image sensor) and/or the actuator 04 having a higher requirement for the data transmission rate may be directly connected to the controller in the ring network, and the controller may send instructions at the frequency of the higher reference clock signal and transmit data at the higher data transmission rate. Sensors 03 (e.g., acoustic sensors) and/or actuators 04 that require a high data transmission rate may be connected to the first router 05 and instructed by the first router 05 at the frequency of the intermediate reference clock signal and transmit data at the intermediate data transmission rate. Therefore, the control system provided by the embodiment of the application can be compatible with different types of sensors and actuators, and the application flexibility of the control system is effectively improved.

With continued reference to fig. 8, the control system may further include: at least one second router 06, the third port 061 of the second router 06 being connected to the second port 052 of the first router 05, the fourth port 062 of the second router 06 being connected to at least one sensor 03 and/or at least one actuator 04. The data transmission rate of the third port 061 is equal to the data transmission rate of the second port 052, and the data transmission rate of the fourth port 062 may be lower than the data transmission rate of the third port 061.

The first router 05 connected to the second router 06 may further be configured to divide the frequency of the reference clock signal received through the first port 051, and send the divided reference clock signal to the second router 06 connected thereto through the second port 052.

The at least one second router 06 may be configured to clock and perform tasks according to the frequency of the reference clock signal transmitted by the first router 05. The tasks performed by the second router 06 may include at least: data is exchanged with the at least one first router 05 via the third port 061 and with the at least one sensor 03 and/or the at least one actuator 04 connected thereto via the fourth port 062.

As can be seen from the above description, the first router 05 may reduce the data transmission rate and transmit the data to the second router 06, and may reduce the frequency of the reference clock signal and transmit the reduced frequency data to the second router 06. Similarly, the second router 06 may increase the data transmission rate and send data to the first router 05. In the control system, therefore, sensors 03 (for example water temperature sensors) and/or actuators 04 which have a low data transmission rate requirement can be connected to the second router 06 and can be commanded by the second router 06 at the frequency of the lower reference clock signal and can transmit data at the lower data transmission rate.

Based on the above relationship between the data transmission rate and the frequency of the reference clock signal, the ring network may be referred to as a high-speed ring network, the first router 05 may be referred to as a medium-speed router, and the second router 06 may be referred to as a low-speed router. That is, the control system takes the master controller 01 and at least one slave controller 02 in the ring network as root nodes, and combines the root nodes into a tree structure through cascaded routers of different levels. It is understood that the control system may further include other routers of lower levels connected to the second router 06, which is not limited in the embodiment of the present application.

The control system provided in the embodiment of the present application can reduce the data transmission rate and the frequency of the reference clock signal step by step through the first router 05 and the second router 06, so that the controller (including the master controller 01 and the slave controller 02), the first router 05, and the second router 06 in the ring network can execute instructions according to different frequencies of the reference clock signal. Therefore, the application flexibility and compatibility of the control system are effectively improved. And, through setting up the router of a plurality of different grades, can guarantee the frequency smooth transition of data transmission rate and reference clock signal, and then guarantee the stability of data transmission.

It should be understood that, in the control system, the master controller 01, the slave controller 02 and the first router 05 can all divide the frequency of the reference clock signal according to a preset frequency division value. For example, referring to fig. 10, assuming that the frequency of the reference clock signal transmitted by the master controller 01 to at least one slave controller 02 in the ring network is F1, the frequency F2 of the reference clock signal transmitted by any one of the controllers in the ring network to the first router 05 connected thereto may satisfy: f2 — F1/N1, the frequency F3 of the reference clock signal sent by the first router 05 to the second router 06 may satisfy: f3 ═ F2/N2. Wherein, both N1 and N2 can be integers greater than 1, and N1 and N2 may be equal or different. For example, the frequency F1 may range from 1GHz to 10GHz, the frequency F2 may range from 100 megahertz (MHz) to 500MHz, and the frequency F3 may range from 10MHz to 20 MHz.

Accordingly, as shown in fig. 11, the master controller 01 and the at least one slave controller 02 in the ring network may perform a high-speed task based on the reference clock signal having the frequency F1, the at least one first router 05 may perform a medium-speed task based on the reference clock signal having the frequency F2, and the at least one second router 06 may perform a low-speed task based on the reference clock signal having the frequency F3.

It should also be understood that the frequency division value configured in the master controller 01, the frequency division value configured in the at least one slave controller 02, and the frequency division value configured in the first router 05 may all be dynamically configured by the master controller 01 according to the rate requirements of the task to be performed.

In this embodiment, the master controller 01 may allocate tasks with different rate requirements to different levels of devices (including the master controller, the slave controller, the first router, and the second router) to execute according to the rate requirements of the tasks to be executed. In addition, the execution time slot (i.e., the execution time) of the task can be dynamically allocated by the main controller 01, thereby effectively improving the flexibility of task execution. In addition, the slave controller 02, the first router 05 and the second router 06 can also monitor the running time of the task during the task execution process, and report the monitoring result to the master controller 01. When a new task needs to be allocated, the main controller 01 may determine the controller for executing the new task and the execution time of the new task according to the time sequence in the task scheduling summary table, the received monitoring result of the task, and the load of each controller in the ring network. Thus, dynamic allocation of computational resources and communication resources in the control system can be achieved.

It should also be understood that for any router of the at least one first router 05 and the at least one second router 06, if the instruction received by the router is an instruction for instructing to collect data, the router may directly forward the instruction to the sensor 03 connected thereto to instruct the sensor 03 to collect data. If the instruction received by the router is an instruction for instructing to output a driving signal and the router includes a driving circuit, the router may directly execute the instruction. I.e. the router may output a drive signal to the actuator 04 to which it is connected based on the frequency of the received reference clock signal. If the instruction received by the router is an instruction for instructing to output a driving signal and the router does not include a driving circuit, the router may directly forward the instruction to the driving circuit of the actuator 04. The drive circuit generates a drive signal upon receiving the command, and outputs the drive signal to the actuator 04.

It should be understood that, in the embodiment of the present application, the master controller 01 and the slave controller 02 may be connected to one or more first routers 05, and each first router 05 may also be connected to one or more second routers 06. For example, referring to fig. 12, two first routers are connected to each of the slave controllers E1 to E4. For example, two first routers M1 are connected to the slave controller E1, and two first routers M2 are connected to the slave controller E2. A first router M5 is connected to the main controller E5. Also, three second routers are connected to each of the first routers M1 through M4. For example, three second routers L1 are connected to the first router M1, and three second routers L4 are connected to the first router M4. The first router M5 is not connected to the second router.

For a scenario in which the at least one node device 02 is at least one first router 02, referring to fig. 13, at least one sensor 03 in the control system may be connected to the master controller 01 or the at least one first router 02, and at least one actuator 04 in the control system may be connected to the master controller 01 or the at least one first router 02.

The tasks that the main controller 01 needs to perform may include one or more of the following tasks: the data transmission task, the data processing task, the sending task of the instruction and the output task of the driving signal. The tasks that the at least one first router 02 needs to perform may include one or more of the following tasks: the method comprises a data transmission task, an instruction sending task and a driving signal output task. The instruction may be used to instruct the sensor 03 to collect data or to instruct the actuator 04 to output a driving signal.

For a scenario where the at least one node device 02 is at least one first router 02, the main controller 01 may implement centralized control of each device in the control system. Since most of the software functions can be moved up to the main controller 01, the conventional ECU can be changed to the first router 02. The first router 02 only needs to collect data and output driving signals according to a strict time sequence according to an instruction of the main controller 01, or forward the instruction. Therefore, compared with the conventional ECU, the hardware structure of the first router 02 can be effectively simplified, and the cost can be significantly reduced. For example, the first router 02 only needs to reserve circuits such as an analog amplification circuit, an ADC, a timer, a PWM circuit, and a communication interface, and does not need to reserve circuits for realizing data processing such as a processor.

Alternatively, as shown in fig. 13, the first router 02 may be connected to the main controller 01 through the first port 021 thereof, that is, the first router 02 may access the ring network through the first port 021 thereof. Also, the control system may further include: at least one second router 06. The third port 061 of the second router 06 is connected to the second port 022 of a first router 02, and the fourth port 062 of the second router is connected to at least one sensor 03 and/or at least one actuator 04. Wherein, the data transmission rate of the first port 021 is equal to the data transmission rate of the ring network, the data transmission rate of the second port 022 is lower than the data transmission rate of the first port 061, the data transmission rate of the third port 061 is equal to the data transmission rate of the second port 022, and the data transmission rate of the fourth port 062 is lower than the data transmission rate of the third port 061.

The first router 02 connected to the second router 06 may be further configured to: the frequency of the reference clock signal is divided and the divided reference clock signal is sent to the second router 06.

The at least one second router 06 may be configured to clock and perform tasks according to the frequency of the reference clock signal transmitted by the first router 02. The tasks performed by the at least one second router 06 may include at least: data is exchanged with the at least one first router 02 via the third port 061 and with the at least one sensor 03 and/or the at least one actuator 04 connected thereto via the fourth port 062.

For example, as shown in fig. 14, the control system may include a main controller E5, and 4 first routers H1 to H4. Wherein, each first router is also connected with two second routers. For example, two second routers M1 are connected to the first router H1, and two second routers M3 are connected to the first router H3.

It should be understood that for a scenario in which the at least one node apparatus 01 is a first router, the control system may further comprise at least one third router connected to the second router 06. Accordingly, the second router 06 may divide the frequency of the reference clock signal sent by the first router 02 and send the divided frequency to the third router. The third router, in turn, may clock and perform tasks based on the frequency of the reference clock signal sent by the second router 06.

Illustratively, referring to fig. 14, three third routers are connected to each of the second routers. For example, three third routers L2 are connected to the second router M2, and three third routers L4 are connected to the second router M4. It is understood that the control system may further include other routers of lower levels connected to the third router, which is not limited in this embodiment of the present application.

Based on the above relationship between the data transmission rate and the frequency of the reference clock signal, the first router 02, the second router 06, and the third router in the control system may be referred to as high-speed router, medium-speed router, and low-speed router. That is, the control system can combine the master controller 01 as a centralized controller, and the master controller 01 and at least one first router 02 as root nodes into a tree structure by using other low-level routers such as a second router and a third router.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present application, the master controller 01 may also monitor an execution time when the master controller 01 executes a task, and an execution time when the node device 02 executes a task. For example, the main controller 01 may monitor the execution timing of the task by a watchdog timer (watchdog timer). The master controller 01 may also be configured to: and if any task is detected not to be executed according to the execution time of the any task, executing fault response operation. The fault response operation may include one or more of the following operations:

restarting a device for performing the any task, which may be the master controller 01 or the at least one node apparatus 02;

restarting the sensor 03 and/or actuator 04 to which the device for performing either task is connected;

the security tasks configured in the main controller 01 are executed.

The safety task is a task which can enable the control system to enter a safety state. The type of security task varies from application scenario to application scenario. For example, for a vehicle control system, the safety task may be a redundant switching task, a deceleration task, or a parking-on-edge task. For other types of control systems, the safety tasks may be redundant switching tasks, system diagnostics and protection tasks, and the like.

The redundancy switching task may refer to: the tasks that the device for performing the any task needs to perform are distributed to other devices. For example, if the master controller 01 determines that the slave controller for executing any one of the tasks is a faulty slave controller, it may instruct the other slave controllers to share the task related to the faulty slave controller. Optionally, the master controller 01 may also determine whether to instruct the restarted device to execute any task again according to the state of the restarted device, or according to the state of the sensor 03 and/or the actuator 04 after being restarted.

For example, assuming that t6 > t5 in the task scheduling summary table shown in table 1, if the master controller 01 detects that the task6 is executed before the task5 due to an error in execution time, the slave controller E4 may be restarted, or the sensor 03 and the actuator 04 connected to the slave controller E4 may be restarted. In the control system provided by the embodiment of the application, the main controller 01 can execute the fault response operation in time when detecting that the execution of the task is wrong, so that the safety and the reliability of the control system can be effectively ensured.

Optionally, in the control system provided in the embodiment of the present application, the main controller 01 may include: the system comprises a main control module and a secondary control module connected with the main control module. The at least one node apparatus 02 may include: the system comprises a main node module and an auxiliary node module connected with the main node module. Also, the ring network may include a first ring subnet and a second ring subnet. The first ring sub-network comprises the primary control module and the primary node module of the at least one node device 02, and the second ring sub-network comprises the secondary control module and the secondary node module of the at least one node device 02. That is, the master control module and the master node module in the at least one node device 02 may be sequentially connected to form a first ring subnet in the ring network; the secondary control module and the secondary node module in the at least one node device 02 may in turn be connected to form a second ring sub-network in the ring network.

The functions of the main control module and the auxiliary control module can be the same, and the two control modules can work in parallel. Also, each of the main control module and the sub control module may be a processing chip. Similarly, the functions of the main node module and the auxiliary node module can be the same, and the two node modules can work in parallel. And, if the node device 02 is a slave controller, each of the primary node module and the secondary node module may be a processing chip. If the node device 02 is a first router, each of the primary node module and the secondary node module may be a forwarding chip.

Illustratively, with reference to FIGS. 9, 12 and 14, the master controller E5 includes a master control module E5(A) and a slave control module E5 (B). For the scenario in which the node device 02 is a slave controller, as shown in fig. 9 and 12, the slave controller Em includes a master node module Em (a) and a slave node module Em (b) from the slave controller E1 to the slave controller E4. For the scenario where the node device 02 is the first router, as shown in fig. 14, the first router H1 goes to the first router H4, and the first router Hm includes a primary node module Hm (a) and a secondary node module Hm (b). Where m is the number of the 4 node devices 02, that is, m is an integer greater than or equal to 1 and less than or equal to 4. For example, the slave controller E1 includes a master node module E1(A) and a slave node module E1 (B).

Referring to fig. 9, taking the node device 02 as a slave controller as an example, the master control module E5(a) and the master node modules of 4 slave controllers may be sequentially connected through signal lines X15(a), X12(a), X23(a), X34(a), and X45(a), thereby forming a first ring subnet in the ring network. The sub-control module E5(B) and the sub-node modules of the 4 slave controllers may be connected in sequence by signal lines X15(B), X12(B), X23(B), X34(B), and X45(B) to form a second ring subnet in the ring network.

In the control system provided in the embodiment of the present application, since the function of the secondary control module may be the same as that of the primary control module, and the function of the secondary node module may also be the same as that of the primary node module, the secondary control module may also be referred to as a redundant control module, and the secondary node module may also be referred to as a redundant node module. Accordingly, the signal line between the secondary control module and the primary control module, and the signal line between the primary node module and the secondary node module may also be referred to as redundant signal lines. By adopting the redundant control module and the redundant node module, the reliability of the main controller and the node equipment during working can be ensured, and the reliability of the whole control system is further improved.

It should be understood that the primary control module and the secondary control module in the primary controller 01 each have a respective local clock signal, and that the reference clock signal may be derived based on the local clock signal of the primary control module of the primary controller 01. That is, the local clock signal of the master control module in the master controller 01 can be used as the clock reference of the whole control system. For example, the reference clock signal may be a local clock signal of a main control module of the main controller 01, or the reference clock signal may be a clock signal obtained by dividing the local clock signal of the main control module of the main controller 01.

Accordingly, the master control module of the master controller 01 may be configured to transmit the reference clock signal to the master node module of the at least one node device 02 through the first ring subnet, and to transmit the reference clock signal to the slave control module of the master controller 01.

A secondary control module in the master controller 01 for sending the reference clock signal to a secondary node module of the at least one node device 02 over the second ring subnet. Alternatively, the primary node module in the at least one node device 02 may be configured to transmit the reference clock signal to the secondary node module to which it is connected. That is, the reference clock signal received by the secondary control module in the node device 02 may be transmitted by the primary node module connected thereto, or may be transmitted by the secondary control module in the primary controller 01 through the second ring-shaped subnet.

For example, fig. 15 shows a schematic diagram of a clock synchronization path, and referring to fig. 15, the master control module E5(a) of the master controller E5 may transmit reference clock signals to the slave control module E5(B), the master node module E1(a) of the slave controller E1, and the master node module E4(a) of the slave controller E4, respectively. Thereafter, the master node module E1(A) of the slave controller E1 may send the reference clock signal to the slave node module E1(B) and the master node module E2(A) of the slave controller E2, respectively. Similarly, the master node module E4(A) of the slave controller E4 may also send the reference clock signal to the slave node module E4(B) and the master node module E3(A) of the slave controller E3, respectively. Finally, the master node module E2(a) of the slave controller E2 may send the reference clock signal to the slave node module E2(B), and the master node module E3(a) of the slave controller E3 may send the reference clock signal to the slave node module E3 (B). Therefore, the clock synchronization of the whole control system can be realized.

It should be understood that the transmission directions of the signals (including the reference clock signal, data, instructions, etc.) transmitted in the first and second ring subnets may be the same or different. For example, the transmission direction of signals transmitted in the first ring subnet may be clockwise, and the transmission direction of signals transmitted in the second ring subnet may be counterclockwise.

As can be seen from fig. 15, in the control system, the transmission directions of the control modules (which may be the main control module or the sub control module) in the main controller 01 when transmitting signals may include three directions: clockwise transmission in the ring subnet, counterclockwise transmission in the ring subnet, and transmission to another control module. The transmission directions in the node module (which may be a master node module or a slave node module) in the node device 02 when transmitting signals also include three types: clockwise transmission in the ring sub-network, counterclockwise transmission in the ring sub-network and transmission to another node module. The transmission direction of the control module and the node module when actually transmitting the signal may be controlled by a main control module in the main controller 01. Alternatively, for a scenario in which the node device 02 is a slave controller, the transmission direction of the node module when transmitting the signal may be determined by the node module according to the fault condition detected by the node module. For example, when detecting a failure of an interface of a node module or a failure of a signal line connected to an interface, the node module may turn off the interface, for example, set the interface to an inactive (down) state, and transmit a signal through another interface.

In the embodiment of the present application, the at least one sensor 03 included in the control system may be classified into a first type sensor and a second type sensor, and the functional safety integrity level of the first type sensor may be higher than that of the second type sensor. The first type of sensor may be connected to the main control module and the secondary control module in the main controller 01, or may be connected to the main node module and the secondary node module in the node device 02. The second type sensor may be connected to one of the primary control module, the secondary control module, the primary node module, and the secondary node module.

That is, the first type of sensor with the higher level of functional safety integrity may be connected to both control modules in the master controller 01, or both node modules in the node device 02. Whereas a sensor of the second type with a lower functional safety integrity level may be connected to only one module of the master controller 01 or the node device 02.

Similarly, the at least one actuator 04 may include: the system comprises a first type of executor and a second type of executor, wherein the functional safety integrity level of the first type of executor is higher than that of the second type of executor. The first type of actuator may be connected to the main control module and the secondary control module, or connected to the main node module and the secondary node module, respectively. The second type of actuator may be connected to one of the primary control module, the secondary control module, the primary node module, and the secondary node module.

That is, the first type of actuator with the higher functional safety integrity level may be connected to both control modules in the master controller 01 or both node modules in the node device 02, while the second type of actuator with the lower functional safety integrity level may be connected to only one of the master controller 01 or the node device 02.

For example, for a vehicle control system, the first type of sensor may include a speed sensor, a brake sensor, a steering sensor, an image sensor, an airbag sensor, and the like, and the second type of sensor may include a temperature sensor, and the like. The first type of actuator can comprise a braking system motor, a steering system motor and the like, and the second type of actuator can comprise a window-swinging motor, a drive circuit of a sound box and the like.

According to the scheme provided by the embodiment of the application, the device with the higher functional safety integrity level is connected with the two control modules of the main controller 01, or connected with the two node modules of the node equipment 02, so that the reliability of data acquisition and instruction execution can be ensured, and the safety of the control system is improved. For the device with lower functional safety integrity level, the device is only connected with one control module in the main controller 01 or the node equipment 02, so that the architecture of the control system can be simplified, and the complexity of the system is reduced.

Alternatively, referring to fig. 9 and 15, the control system may further include: a first power supply a0(a) and a second power supply a0 (B). The first power supply a0(a) may be connected to a main control module in the main controller 01 and a master node module in the at least one node device 02, respectively, for supplying power to the main control module and the master node module in the at least one node device 02. The second power source a0(B) may be connected to the secondary control module in the master controller 01 and the secondary node module in the at least one node device 02, respectively, for supplying power to the secondary control module and the secondary node module in the at least one node device 02.

By arranging the redundant second power supply A0(B) to supply power to the secondary control module and the secondary node module, the two ring subnets in the control system can be ensured to work independently, and the functional safety and reliability of the control system are further ensured.

It should be understood that the first power source a0(a) may supply power to other devices connected to the master control module (e.g., sensors, actuators, etc.), as well as other devices connected to the master node module, in addition to the master control module and the master node module. Similarly, the second power source a0(B) may also provide power to other devices connected to the secondary control module, as well as to other devices connected to the secondary node module.

As shown in fig. 9, 12, 14, and 15, the control system provided in the embodiment of the present application may further include: a gateway W0, the gateway W0 being connected with the master controller 01 or the at least one node apparatus 02. For example, referring to fig. 9, 12, 14 and 15, the gateway W0 may be connected with the main controller E5.

The gateway W0 may be configured to: transmitting data from the master controller 01 or the at least one node apparatus 02 to which the gateway W0 is connected to an external apparatus, and transmitting data from the external apparatus to the master controller 01 or the at least one node apparatus 02 to which the gateway W0 is connected. That is, the gateway W0 may be used to exchange data between an external device and the main controller 01 or between an external device and at least one node device 02. Wherein the external device may refer to a device independent of the control system. For example, for a vehicle control system, the external device may include: mobile terminals such as mobile phones, communication base stations, roadside data base stations, and other vehicles.

In the control system provided by the embodiment of the application, the main controller 01 or at least one node device 02 can also communicate with an external device through a gateway, so that the functions of the control system are enriched, and the flexibility of the control system during working is improved.

Alternatively, as can be seen with reference to fig. 9, 12, 14 and 15, the gateway W0 may also include: a master communication module W0(a) and a slave communication module W0(B) connected to the master communication module W0 (B). The master communication module W0(a) may be connected to a master control module or a master node module, and may establish a communication connection with an external device through a master channel D0 (a). The sub communication module W0(B) may be connected to a sub control module or a sub node module, and may establish a communication connection with an external device through a sub channel D0 (B). Also, as shown in fig. 9, 12, 14 and 15, the main communication module W0(a) may be connected to a first power supply a0(a) and be powered by the first power supply a0 (a); the secondary communication module W0(B) may be connected to a second power supply a0(B) and powered by the second power supply a0 (B).

By designing two communication modules which are independently powered by different power supplies, the functional safety and reliability of the main controller 01 or the node device 02 during data interaction with external devices can be ensured.

In this embodiment, when data is exchanged between two devices in the ring network (for example, between a main controller and a node device, or between different node devices), and between a device in the ring network and an external device, a sender of the data may add a timestamp to the data according to coordinated Universal Time (UTC). Therefore, the data receiving party can be ensured to be capable of recombining the data timing according to the time stamp so as to check the data timing. And the time stamp is added, so that the receiving party can determine the transmission delay of the data to perform time delay correction, and the receiving party is ensured to have better automatic control performance on the received data.

Optionally, in this embodiment of the present application, each of the first router and the second router may include: a main routing module and a redundant auxiliary routing module connected with the main routing module. The functions of the primary routing module and the secondary routing module may be the same, and each of the primary routing module and the secondary routing module may be a chip with a forwarding function. The master routing module in the first router may be connected to the master routing module in the second router, and may be connected to the master control module in the master controller 01 or the master node module in the node device 02. The secondary routing module in the first router may be connected to the secondary routing module in the second router, and may be connected to a secondary control module in the main controller 01 or a secondary node module in the node device 02.

Illustratively, referring to fig. 16, the first router M1 in the control system includes a primary routing module M1(a) and a secondary routing module M1(B), and the second router L1 includes a primary routing module L1(a) and a secondary routing module L1 (B). The master routing module M1(a) is connected to the master node module E1(a) of the slave controller E1 and the master routing module L1(a) of the second router L1, respectively, and the slave routing module M1(B) is connected to the slave node module E1(B) of the slave controller E1 and the slave routing module L1(B) of the second router L1, respectively.

As can also be seen from fig. 16, the main routing module and the sub-routing module in the router may be powered by independent power supplies. For example, the main routing modules are all connected with a first power supply A0(A) and are powered by the first power supply A0 (A). The secondary routing modules are all connected with a second power supply A0(B) and are powered by the second power supply A0 (B).

For a scenario in which a router in the control system includes a main routing module and a sub-routing module, the main control module of the main controller 01 or the main node module of the node device 02 may send a reference clock signal to the main routing module. The primary routing module may then send the received reference clock signal to the secondary routing module. Alternatively, the reference clock signal may be sent to the secondary routing module by a secondary control module of the master controller 01 or a secondary node module of the node apparatus 02.

Fig. 17 is a schematic diagram of a clock synchronization path in another control system provided in an embodiment of the present application, and referring to fig. 17, it can be seen that the master control module E5(a) in the master controller E5 can send a reference clock signal to the master routing module E1(a) in the first router E1 to implement clock synchronization. The master routing module E1(a) of the first router E1 may further send a reference clock signal to the slave routing module E1(B) and the master routing module M1(a) of the second router M1, respectively, to achieve clock synchronization. Finally, the master routing module M1(a) of the second router 06 may send a reference clock signal to the slave routing module M1(B) to achieve clock synchronization.

In the embodiment of the present application, the first type of sensor with higher security level may be connected to both routing modules in the router, and the second type of sensor with lower security level may be connected to only one routing module in the router. Similarly, the first type of actuator with higher security level may be connected to both routing modules in the router, and the second type of actuator with lower security level may be connected to only one routing module in the router.

For example, referring to fig. 16, the first type sensor S1 may include a main sensing module S1(a) and a sub sensing module S1(B), the main sensing module S1(a) may be connected to the main routing module, the main control module, or the main node module, and the sub sensing module S1(B) may be connected to the sub routing module, the sub control module, or the sub node module. The first type of executor P1 may include a main execution module P1(a) and a sub-execution module P1(B), the main execution module P1(a) may be connected with the main routing module, the main control module, or the main node module, and the sub-execution module P1(B) may be connected with the sub-routing module, the sub-control module, or the sub-node module.

In the control system provided by the embodiment of the application, the controller and the router are provided with the redundant functional modules and the redundant signal links, and can be powered by the redundant power supply, so that the functional safety and reliability of the control system are effectively improved.

Optionally, the number of controllers included in the control system provided in the embodiment of the present application may be flexibly adjusted according to the requirements of an application scenario. For example, the number of controllers included in the control system may be determined based on the performance of the controllers, the communication rate requirements of the ring network, the number of sensors and actuators included in the control system, the complexity of the functions, and the cost. Taking the vehicle-mounted control system as an example, referring to fig. 9, 12 and 15, the vehicle-mounted control system may include 5 controllers E1 to E5, where E5 is the master controller and E1 to E4 are the slave controllers. Based on the installation orientation of the respective slave controllers, the slave controller E1 may be referred to as a left front controller, the slave controller E2 may be referred to as a left rear controller, the slave controller E3 may be referred to as a right rear controller, and the slave controller E4 may be referred to as a right front controller.

Alternatively, referring to fig. 18, the control system may include 4 controllers E1 through E4, one of the 4 controllers being a master controller and the other 3 being slave controllers. Still alternatively, referring to fig. 19, the control system may include 3 controllers E1-E3, where E1 is the front left controller, E2 is the rear controller, and E3 is the front right controller. One of the 3 controllers is a master controller, and the other 2 controllers are slave controllers. Still alternatively, referring to fig. 20, the control system may include 2 controllers E1 and E2, where E1 is the front controller and E2 is the rear controller. One of the 2 controllers is a master controller, and the other 1 is a slave controller.

It is understood that the control system provided in the embodiment of the present application may be a vehicle control system, and may also be other types of control systems, for example, a system with a high requirement on real-time control or a control system with a high requirement on functional safety. The system with higher requirement on real-time control may include: aircraft power systems, steering systems, telex systems, industrial control servo systems, cyclotrons, electromagnetic launch systems, electromagnetic gun systems, and the like. The system with high requirements on functional safety comprises: the surgical robot control system, the remote control system and the rail transit driving system in the medical field may further include: drive and control systems for autodrive vehicles, remotely driven vehicles, and flying vehicles, among others. In addition, the control system provided by the embodiment of the application can also be applied to the field of automation industry with higher requirements on safety, for example, the control system can be a remote or remote control operation system of chemical engineering, nuclear energy, coal mines, wharfs and the like, or can be a fault location and distance measurement system in the power industry and the like.

The control system provided by the embodiment of the application also has the following functions and beneficial effects:

1. the software functions are all moved to the controller in the ring network, software and hardware decoupling is achieved, flexibility of the control system is enhanced, test complexity of the sensor and the actuator is reduced, test quality can be better guaranteed, joint debugging time of the control system is shortened, and development difficulty is reduced.

2. The direction of transmission of the signal (i.e., the communication route) may be dynamically adjusted based on the fault condition. In addition, at the execution time of the task, the physical carrier (such as a master controller or a slave controller) for the software module to run and the functions of each software module can be dynamically scheduled by the master controller, so that the reliability and the application flexibility of the control system are improved.

3. For a vehicle control system, based on the clock synchronization and task scheduling functions of the main controller of the whole vehicle system level, the traditional ECU functions of sensor control, actuator control and the like can be converted into controllers for realization, the number of the whole vehicle ECUs is effectively reduced, and the cost of the whole vehicle ECU and a wire harness is reduced.

4. High-level functional safety algorithms (such as microsecond-level rapid functional safety protection overcurrent), latent fault detection and the like can be realized by the controller at the top layer, the safety of the whole control system can be effectively enhanced through top layer functional safety check and model check, and the hardware and software overhead cost brought by a bottom layer functional safety mechanism is reduced.

5. Each device in the control system adopts a redundant structure, and the functional safety integrity level of the system level can be degraded. For example, for a vehicle control system, an Automotive Safety Integrity Level (ASIL) may be downgraded from level D to level B or below.

6. The EMC performance of the whole control system is improved by frequency modulation of the reference clock signal.

7. The main controller uniformly schedules tasks, so that the problems of resource preemption and competition of the tasks in the control system are avoided, and the ordered execution of the tasks is ensured.

8. Based on the running state detection mechanism and the fault detection mechanism of a plurality of controllers in the ring network, the dynamic adjustment of the master controller and the slave controller is carried out, and the adjustment principle comprises the following steps: priority of controller and fault status.

9. The operations of the relevant registers in the control system are all performed synchronously according to the frequency of the reference clock signal. And the main controller is used for realizing the code partition storage of different tasks, and the code partition storage is mutually independent in time sequence and does not interfere with each other.

In summary, an embodiment of the present application provides a control system, in which a master controller may directly send a reference clock signal to at least one node device through a ring network, so that the at least one node device may perform timing based on a frequency of the reference clock signal, thereby implementing clock synchronization between the master controller and the at least one node device. Compared with the method for sending the data frame, the method for sending the reference clock signal directly can improve the clock synchronization precision of the main controller and at least one node device to the precision equal to the pulse width of the reference clock signal, so that the clock synchronization precision is effectively improved. In addition, the main controller and at least one node device in the control system can be sequentially connected to form a ring network, so that redundant signal interaction paths can be ensured when signals are interacted between the main controller and the at least one node device, and the reliability of signal transmission is ensured.

In the control system provided by the embodiment of the present application, since the time synchronization precision between the main controller and the at least one node device is high, it can be ensured that all time-sensitive tasks can be moved from the ECU to the main controller or the node device for execution, thereby effectively reducing the number of ECUs in the control system and simplifying the functions of the ECUs (for example, the ECUs can be simplified as routers). The control system is lower in complexity and higher in flexibility.

The embodiment of the application also provides a clock synchronization method, and the clock synchronization method can be applied to the control system provided by the embodiment. Referring to fig. 21, the method may include:

step 101, the main controller clocks and executes tasks according to the frequency of the local clock signal of the main controller.

The local clock signal of the main controller may be generated by a PLL in the main controller multiplying a source clock signal generated by a crystal oscillator in the main controller according to a preset frequency multiplication value.

The tasks performed by the master controller may include one or more of the following: the data transmission task, the data processing task, the sending task of the instruction and the output task of the driving signal. The instructions may be used to instruct a sensor to collect data or to instruct an actuator to output a drive signal, among other things.

Step 102, the master controller sends a reference clock signal to at least one node device through the ring network.

The reference clock signal is obtained based on a local clock signal of the master controller, and the reference clock signal is used for the at least one node device to time and execute tasks according to the frequency of the reference clock signal. Wherein the reference clock signal is a local clock signal of the host controller. Alternatively, the reference clock signal is a clock signal obtained by dividing a local clock signal of the host controller.

Optionally, the master controller may include: the system comprises a main control module and a secondary control module connected with the main control module. The at least one node device may include a primary node module, and a secondary node module coupled to the primary node module. The ring network comprises a first ring sub-network comprising the primary control module and the primary node module of the at least one node device, and a second ring sub-network comprising the secondary control module and the secondary node module of the at least one node device. For scenarios where the master controller includes two control modules, the reference clock signal may be derived based on a local clock signal of the master control module.

Accordingly, in step 102, the master control module may send the reference clock signal to the slave control module and the master node module in the at least one node device, respectively.

The primary node module in the node device may then send the received reference clock signal to the secondary node module to which it is connected. Alternatively, a secondary control module in the primary controller may send the reference clock signal to a secondary node module in the at least one node device over the second ring subnet.

Step 103, the master controller sends a synchronization signal to the at least one node device through the ring network.

The synchronization signal is used for the at least one node device to correct the time of the local clock of the node device.

As an alternative implementation, the master controller is connected to the at least one node device via a clock signal line. In this implementation, the master controller may send a composite signal of a reference clock signal and a synchronization signal to the at least one node device through the clock signal line.

As another alternative implementation, the master controller is connected to the at least one node device via a clock signal line and a synchronization signal line. In this implementation, the master controller may send a reference clock signal to the at least one node device through the clock signal line and may send a synchronization signal to the at least one node device through the synchronization signal line.

And step 104, the node equipment corrects the time of the local clock of the node equipment according to the synchronous signal.

After receiving the synchronization signal, the node device may correct the time of its local clock based on the synchronization signal to ensure time synchronization with the master controller.

For a composite signal scenario in which the master controller sends a reference clock signal and a synchronization signal through a clock signal line, the node device may obtain the synchronization signal and the reference clock signal from the received composite signal according to the amplitude and/or pulse width of the received composite signal.

For a scenario where the master controller sends a reference clock signal through a clock signal line and sends a synchronization signal through a synchronization signal line, the node device may receive the reference clock signal sent by the master controller through the clock signal line and may receive the synchronization signal sent by the master controller through the synchronization signal line. That is, the node device does not need to analyze the synchronization signal and the reference clock signal from the composite signal, thereby reducing the complexity of the node device in receiving the synchronization signal and the reference clock signal.

And step 105, the node equipment clocks and executes tasks according to the frequency of the reference clock signal.

As an alternative implementation, the node device may comprise a PLL. The node device may correct the frequency of the local clock signal of the node device based on the frequency of the reference clock signal via the PLL to maintain the frequency of the local clock signal of the node device at a target ratio to the frequency of the reference clock signal. Then, the node device may time and execute the task according to the frequency of the corrected local clock signal of the node device.

As another alternative implementation, the node device may clock and perform tasks directly according to the frequency of the reference clock signal. That is, the node device may not need to correct the frequency of its local clock signal.

And 106, adjusting the frequency of the local clock signal of the main controller in the target frequency range by the main controller.

In the embodiment of the application, the main controller can also perform frequency modulation on a local clock signal of the main controller, so that the EMC performance of a frequency sensitive circuit in the control system in the task execution process can be effectively improved.

And step 107, if the main controller detects that any task is not executed according to the execution time of any task, executing fault response operation.

The main controller can also monitor the execution condition of tasks in the control system, and if the main controller detects that any task is not executed according to the execution time of any task, the main controller can execute fault response operation. The fault response operation may include one or more of the following operations:

restarting a device for performing the any task, the device being the master controller or the at least one node apparatus;

restarting the sensor and/or actuator to which the device for performing the any task is connected;

the security tasks configured in the master controller are executed.

Optionally, the at least one node device in the control system may be at least one slave controller. The control system may further include: at least one sensor and at least one actuator; the at least one sensor is connected with the master controller or the at least one slave controller, and the at least one actuator is connected with the master controller or the at least one slave controller. The tasks required to be executed by the master controller and the tasks required to be executed by the at least one slave controller comprise one or more of the following tasks: a data transmission task, a data processing task, an instruction sending task and a driving signal output task; wherein the instructions are for instructing the at least one sensor to collect data or for instructing output of a drive signal to the at least one actuator.

For a scenario in which the at least one node device is at least one slave controller, referring to fig. 22, the method may further include:

and 108a, the master controller determines the task required to be executed by the master controller and the execution time of the task, and the task required to be executed by the at least one slave controller and the execution time of the task.

In the embodiment of the present application, tasks to be executed by a plurality of controllers (including a master controller and a slave controller) in the ring network, and the execution time of the tasks may be determined by the master controller. That is, the main controller can implement unified scheduling and management of tasks to ensure the orderly execution of the tasks.

If the task to be executed includes a data processing total task, and the data processing total task requires more computing resources, the main controller may divide the data processing total task into a plurality of data processing tasks. And the master controller determines the data processing tasks required to be executed by the master controller and the data processing tasks required to be executed by the at least one slave controller according to the load of the master controller and the load of the at least one slave controller. Therefore, distributed execution of the data processing tasks can be achieved, and the utilization rate of computing resources of the controller can be improved on the basis of improving the task execution efficiency.

Step 109a, the master controller sends a task schedule to the at least one slave controller.

The task schedule may include: the task required to be executed by the at least one slave controller and the execution time of the task. And after the slave controller receives the task scheduling table sent by the master controller through the ring network, the slave controller can execute the tasks according to the execution time of the tasks recorded in the task scheduling table. That is, in step 105, the slave controller may clock according to the frequency of the reference clock signal and execute the task at the execution time of the task that the slave controller needs to execute.

Similarly, in step 101, the master controller may clock based on the frequency of its local clock signal and execute the task at the time of execution of the task that the master controller needs to execute.

Step 110a, the master controller sends target data to the at least one slave controller over the ring network.

The target data may be data that is highly required for safety and needs to be shared by a plurality of controllers included in the ring network, and may include, for example, a vehicle speed.

And step 111a, if the target data transmitted by the ring network is not received or the received target data transmitted by the ring network is inconsistent with the transmitted target data, the main controller performs fault detection on the ring network and/or retransmits the target data.

In this embodiment of the present application, after the master controller sends the target data with higher security to the ring network, it may detect whether the slave controller in the ring network correctly receives the target data. Thereby, it can be ensured that the target data can be reliably transmitted to the slave controller.

It should be understood that the slave controllers in the control system may also execute the methods shown in steps 110a and 111 a. That is, the slave controller may also transmit the target data through the ring network, and may perform failure detection on the ring network and/or retransmit the target data when detecting that other controllers in the ring network do not correctly receive the target data.

And 112a, if the slave controllers determine that the master controller fails or any signal line connected with the master controller fails, determining a new master controller from at least one slave controller based on the priority list.

The slave controller may further store therein a priority list including: the control system includes a priority of at least one slave controller. If the slave controller determines that the master controller fails or any signal line connected to the master controller fails, a new master controller may be determined from at least one slave controller included in the control system based on the priority list. Then, the new master controller can perform unified scheduling management on the plurality of controllers in the control system, that is, the master control right of the control system can be handed over to the new master controller, so as to ensure that the control system can still operate normally.

Optionally, the control system may further include: at least one first router; the first port of the at least one first router is connected with the main controller, and the second port of the at least one first router is connected with the at least one sensor and/or the at least one actuator; the data transmission rate of the first port is lower than that of the ring network, and the data transmission rate of the second port is lower than that of the first port. With continued reference to fig. 22, the method may further include:

in step 113a, the master controller divides the frequency of the reference clock signal.

The master controller may divide the frequency of the reference clock signal by a pre-configured division value.

Step 114a, the master controller sends the divided reference clock signal to the at least one first router.

And step 115a, the first router clocks and executes tasks according to the frequency of the received reference clock signal.

And after receiving the frequency-divided reference clock signal sent by the main controller, the first router can time and execute tasks according to the frequency of the frequency-divided reference clock signal.

It should be understood that the slave controllers in the control system may also be connected to the first port of the first router. If the first router is also connected to the slave, the slave may execute the methods shown in step 113a and step 114 a. That is, the slave controller may divide the frequency of the reference clock signal transmitted by the master controller, and transmit the divided reference clock signal to the first router to which the slave controller is connected.

For a scenario in which the at least one node device is at least one first router, the at least one sensor in the control system may be connected to the master controller or the first router, and the at least one actuator in the control system may be connected to the master controller or the first router. The tasks required to be performed by the main controller include one or more of the following tasks: a data transmission task, a data processing task, an instruction sending task and a driving signal output task; the tasks required to be performed by the first router include one or more of the following tasks: the method comprises a data transmission task, an instruction sending task and a driving signal output task. Wherein the instructions are for instructing the at least one sensor to collect data or for instructing output of a drive signal to the at least one actuator.

The first port of the first router is connected with the main controller; the control system may further include: at least one second router, the third port of the at least one second router being connected to the second port of the first router, the fourth port of the at least one second router being connected to the at least one sensor and/or the at least one actuator. The data transmission rate of the first port is equal to that of the ring network, the data transmission rate of the second port is lower than that of the first port, the data transmission rate of the third port is equal to that of the second port, and the data transmission rate of the fourth port is lower than that of the third port.

For a scenario in which the at least one node device is at least one first router, as shown in fig. 23, the clock synchronization method may further include:

and 108b, the first router divides the frequency of the received reference clock signal.

After receiving the reference clock signal sent by the main controller, the first router may divide the frequency of the reference clock signal according to a pre-configured division value.

And step 109b, the first router sends the frequency-divided reference clock signal to the at least one second router.

And step 110b, the second router clocks and executes the task according to the frequency of the received reference clock signal.

And after receiving the frequency-divided reference clock signal sent by the first router, the second router can time and execute tasks according to the frequency of the frequency-divided reference clock signal.

It should be understood that the order of steps of the clock synchronization method provided in the embodiment of the present application may be appropriately adjusted, and the steps may also be increased or decreased according to the situation. For example, in the embodiment shown in fig. 21, step 103 may be performed before step 102, step 106 may be performed before step 103, and step 107 may be performed before step 106. Alternatively, step 103 and step 104 may be deleted as appropriate, and step 106 and step 107 may also be deleted as appropriate. In the embodiment shown in fig. 22, step 110a and step 111a may be deleted as appropriate, step 112a may be deleted as appropriate, and steps 113a to 115a may also be deleted as appropriate. Also, in the embodiment shown in fig. 22, the first router may also execute the method shown in step 108b and step 109b in the embodiment shown in fig. 23.

In summary, the embodiments of the present application provide a clock synchronization method, in which a master controller may directly send a reference clock signal to at least one node device through a ring network, so that the at least one node device may perform timing based on a frequency of the reference clock signal, thereby implementing clock synchronization between the master controller and the at least one node device. Compared with the method for sending the data frame, the method for sending the reference clock signal directly can improve the clock synchronization precision of the main controller and at least one node device to the precision equal to the pulse width of the reference clock signal, so that the clock synchronization precision is effectively improved.

It can be clearly understood by those skilled in the art that, for convenience and brevity of description, the specific working process of the clock synchronization method described above may refer to the related description in the foregoing system embodiment, and is not described herein again.

The embodiment of the application also provides a main controller, and the main controller can be applied to the control system provided by the embodiment. The main controller may comprise programmable logic circuits and/or program instructions for implementing the steps performed by the main controller in the above-described method embodiments.

Fig. 24 is a schematic structural diagram of a main controller provided in an embodiment of the present application, and referring to fig. 24, the main controller may include: a processor 2101, memory 2102, network interface 2103, and bus 2104. The bus 2104 connects the processor 2101, the memory 2102 and the network interface 2103, among other things. Communication connections with other devices may be made through network interface 2103, which may be wired or wireless. The memory 2102 stores therein a computer program 21021, and the computer program 21021 is used to implement various application functions.

It should be understood that in the embodiments of the present application, the processor 2101 may be a CPU, and the processor 2101 may also be other general-purpose processors, Digital Signal Processors (DSPs), Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), GPUs or other programmable logic devices, discrete gate or transistor logic devices, discrete hardware components, or the like. A general purpose processor may be a microprocessor or any conventional processor or the like.

The memory 2102 may be either volatile memory or nonvolatile memory, or may include both volatile and nonvolatile memory. The non-volatile memory may be a read-only memory (ROM), a Programmable ROM (PROM), an Erasable PROM (EPROM), an electrically Erasable EPROM (EEPROM), or a flash memory. Volatile memory can be Random Access Memory (RAM), which acts as external cache memory. By way of example, but not limitation, many forms of RAM are available, such as static random access memory (static RAM, SRAM), Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM), double data rate synchronous dynamic random access memory (DDR SDRAM), enhanced synchronous SDRAM (ESDRAM), Synchronous Link DRAM (SLDRAM), and direct bus RAM (DR RAM).

The bus 2104 may include a power bus, a control bus, a status signal bus, and the like, in addition to a data bus. For clarity of illustration, however, the various buses are labeled as bus 2104 in the figures.

The processor 2101 is configured to execute a computer program stored in the memory 2102, and the processor 2101 realizes the functions of the main controller described above by executing the computer program 21021.

The embodiment of the application also provides node equipment, and the node equipment can be applied to the control system provided by the embodiment. The node device may comprise programmable logic circuitry and/or program instructions that may be used to implement the steps performed by the node device in the above-described method embodiments.

It should be understood that the main controller and the node device in the control system provided in the embodiments of the present application may be implemented by an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC), or a Programmable Logic Device (PLD), which may be a Complex Programmable Logic Device (CPLD), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA), a General Array Logic (GAL), or any combination thereof. Of course, the functions of the master controller and the slave controller may be implemented by software, and when the functions of the master controller and the slave controller are implemented by software, each module in the master controller and the slave controller may be a software module.

The embodiment of the application also provides a vehicle which can comprise the control system provided by the embodiment. For example, a control system as shown in any of fig. 1, 8, 9, and 12-20 may be included.

Alternatively, the vehicle may be an electric vehicle. Also, the vehicle may be an autonomous vehicle, a remotely piloted vehicle, or a flying vehicle, among others.

The above embodiments may be implemented in whole or in part by software, hardware, firmware, or any combination thereof. When implemented in software, the above-described embodiments may be implemented in whole or in part in the form of a computer program product. The computer program product includes at least one computer instruction. When loaded or executed on a computer, cause the processes or functions described in accordance with the embodiments of the application to occur, in whole or in part. The computer may be a general purpose computer, a special purpose computer, a network of computers, or other programmable device. The computer instructions may be stored in a computer readable storage medium or transmitted from one computer readable storage medium to another, for example, from one website site, computer, server, or data center to another website site, computer, server, or data center via wired (e.g., coaxial cable, fiber optic, Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)) or wireless (e.g., infrared, wireless, microwave, etc.). The computer-readable storage medium can be any available medium that can be accessed by a computer or a data storage device such as a server, a data center, or the like that contains at least one collection of available media. The usable medium may be a magnetic medium (e.g., floppy disk, hard disk, magnetic tape), an optical medium (e.g., DVD), or a semiconductor medium. The semiconductor medium may be a Solid State Drive (SSD).

The terms "first," "second," and the like in this application are used for distinguishing between similar items and items that have substantially the same function or similar functionality, and it should be understood that "first," "second," and "nth" do not have any logical or temporal dependency or limitation on the number or order of execution. It will be further understood that, although the following description uses the terms first, second, etc. to describe various elements, these elements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only used to distinguish one element from another. For example, a first power source may be referred to as a second power source, and similarly, a second power source may be referred to as a first power source, without departing from the scope of the various described examples. Both the first power source and the second power source may be power sources, and in some cases, may be separate and distinct power sources.

The term "at least one" in this application means at least one, and the term "plurality" in this application means two or more. The terms "system" and "network" are often used interchangeably herein. It should be understood that reference herein to "and/or" means that there may be three relationships, for example, a and/or B, may mean: a exists alone, A and B exist simultaneously, and B exists alone. The character "/" generally indicates that the former and latter associated objects are in an "or" relationship.

The above description is only an alternative embodiment of the present application, but the scope of the present application is not limited thereto, and any person skilled in the art can easily conceive various equivalent modifications or substitutions within the technical scope of the present application, and these modifications or substitutions should be covered by the scope of the present application. Therefore, the protection scope of the present application shall be subject to the protection scope of the claims.