FR3056347A1 - ELECTRONIC CONTROL UNIT, ELECTRONIC DEVICE AND SYSTEM THEREOF - Google Patents

Abstract

An electronic control unit (1) comprises: - a connector comprising at least one contact (19); - a voltage booster circuit (12) powered by an input voltage (Vbatt) and adapted to deliver at said contact (19) an output voltage (Vh) greater than said input voltage (Vbatt); and - a conversion circuit (16) connected to said contact (19) for processing electrical signals (S) present on said contact (19) and representing data processed by the electronic control unit (1). An electronic device and an associated system are also described.

Description

Holder (s): VALEO COMFORT AND DRIVING ASSISTANCE Simplified joint-stock company.

Extension request (s)

Agent (s): VALEO COMFORT AND DRIVING ASSISTANCE.

FR 3 056 347 - A1 (04) ELECTRONIC CONTROL UNIT, ELECTRONIC DEVICE AND ASSOCIATED SYSTEM.

©) An electronic control unit (1) includes:

- a connector comprising at least one contact (19);

- a voltage booster circuit (12) supplied by an input voltage (Vbatt) and designed to deliver at said contact (19) an output voltage (Vh) greater than said input voltage (Vbatt); and

- a conversion circuit (16) connected to said contact (19) for processing electrical signals (S) present on said contact (19) and representative of data processed by the electronic control unit (1).

An associated electronic device and system are also described.

Electronic control unit, associated electronic device and system

Technical field to which the invention relates

The present invention relates to the supply of remote electronic devices, for example within a vehicle.

It relates more particularly to an electronic control unit, as well as an associated electronic device and system.

The invention is particularly advantageously applied in the case where the electronic device consumes a relatively high electrical power, for example when this electronic device comprises an illumination means.

Technological background

In systems using a remote electronic device (for example a camera) with respect to control equipment of this device, a data transmission cable is used to exchange data between the remote electronic device and the control equipment.

When the remote electronic device requires a power supply for its operation (as is the case for example cameras based on time of flight, in English Time-Of-Flight Cameras, which integrate a means of illumination of the scene observed), a power cable is also used to transmit a high intensity current from the control equipment (or another source of electrical power) to the remote electronic device, the data transmission cable n 'being generally not suitable for the transmission of such a current.

The use of two cables is however not desirable since it multiplies the number of connectors required and the number of cables in the environment concerned.

Object of the invention

In this context, the present invention provides an electronic control unit comprising a connector comprising at least one contact, a voltage booster circuit supplied by an input voltage and designed to deliver an output voltage greater than said voltage at said contact. input, and a conversion circuit connected to said contact for processing electrical signals present on said contact and representative of data processed by the electronic control unit.

Such an electronic control unit thus delivers a high voltage at the contact of the connector, which makes it possible to transmit a large electrical power in a cable connected to this connector, even with a limited current in this cable.

According to other optional features (and therefore non-limiting):

- the voltage raising circuit and the conversion circuit are each connected to said contact by means of a filter;

- a power supply terminal for connection to a battery carries said input voltage;

- the output voltage is greater than 20 V;

- the electronic control unit includes a processing unit designed to process said data;

- the conversion circuit is a series-parallel converter connected to the processing unit;

- the electronic control unit comprises a supply circuit supplied by said input voltage and producing a supply voltage of the processing unit.

The invention also provides an electronic device comprising a connector comprising at least one contact, a step-down circuit arranged to receive as input a voltage present at said contact and designed to produce at least one voltage lower than the voltage present at said level. contact, and a conversion circuit connected to said contact for processing electrical signals present on said contact and representative of data processed by the electronic device.

The step-down circuit and the conversion circuit can each be connected to said contact by means of a filter.

The voltage present at said contact is for example greater than 20 V.

The electronic device comprises an illumination means supplied by the step-down circuit, as is the case for example when the electronic device is a time-of-flight camera or a screen.

The invention also provides a system comprising such an electronic control unit, such an electronic device and a cable connecting the connector of the electronic control unit and the connector of the electronic device.

In other words, the invention provides a system comprising an electronic control unit with a first connector comprising at least a first contact, an electronic device with a second connector comprising at least a second contact, and a cable connecting the first connector and the second connector, in which the electronic control unit comprises a voltage booster circuit supplied by an input voltage and designed to deliver at said first contact an output voltage greater than said input voltage, and a first conversion circuit connected to said first contact for processing electrical signals present on said first contact and representative of data processed by the electronic control unit, and in which the electronic device comprises a voltage step-down circuit arranged to receive as input a voltage present at said level second contact and designed to produce at least s a voltage lower than the voltage present at said second contact, and a second conversion circuit connected to said second contact for processing electrical signals present on said second contact and representative of data processed by the electronic device.

In such a system, the cable allows on the one hand the exchange of data between the electronic control unit and the electronic device, and on the other hand the electrical supply of the electronic device by the electronic control unit, this with a high power without requiring a high current thanks to the use of a high voltage by the voltage step-up circuit.

Detailed description of an exemplary embodiment

The description which follows with reference to the appended drawing, given by way of nonlimiting example, will make it clear what the invention consists of and how it can be carried out.

In the accompanying drawing, FIG. 1 schematically represents certain elements of an electronic system on board a vehicle according to the invention.

Such a system comprises an electronic control unit 1 and an electronic device (here a camera 2) connected by a cable 3 (here a coaxial cable). These elements are powered by the vehicle battery 4 (here a motor vehicle), as explained below.

For simplification, the connection of the various circuits to ground potential has not been shown in Figure 1 (except for battery 4). It is understood that in view of their electrical supply, the various circuits are in practice connected to a supply wire, as shown in FIG. 1, and to a ground wire (not shown).

Similarly, the cable 3 comprises, in addition to the wire shown in FIG. 1 (which corresponds to the core of the coaxial cable), a ground wire (not shown, corresponding to the braid of the coaxial cable) to establish a mass common to the electronic control unit 1 and to the electronic device 2.

The electronic control unit 1 comprises a supply terminal 11, a voltage raising circuit 12, a supply circuit 14, a processing unit 15, a conversion circuit 16, a filter 18 and a connector having a contact 19 for connection to cable 3.

The power supply terminal 11 is connected to the battery 4 and is therefore brought to a potential equal to the nominal voltage Vbatt of the battery 4 (the ground potential or reference potential being 0 V). The nominal voltage Vbatt is typically between 10 V and 15 V, and is for example 13 V.

The voltage booster circuit 12 is designed to generate at its output O a voltage greater than the voltage received on its input I (typically greater than twice the voltage received on its input I). The voltage booster circuit 12 is here a DC-DC converter, for example of the Boost converter type.

The voltage Vh on the output O of the voltage booster circuit 12 is therefore greater than the nominal voltage Vbatt of the battery 4 (typically greater than twice the nominal voltage Vbatt of the battery 4). In the example described here, the voltage Vh is (approximately) 39 V, or three times the nominal voltage Vbatt of the battery 4. In general, the voltage Vh produced by the voltage booster circuit 12 is for example at least 20 V.

The supply circuit 14 is in turn designed to generate, from the nominal voltage Vbatt of the battery 4, a supply voltage Vcc of certain electronic circuits of the electronic control unit 1 (in particular for supplying the 'processing unit 15 and possibly also of the conversion circuit 16). The supply circuit 14 is here a step-down circuit (the supply voltage Vcc typically being between 1 V and 5 V).

The processing unit 15 is here a microcontroller comprising a processor (for example a video processor) and at least one memory for processing the data manipulated by the electronic control unit 1, in particular the data (here representing images or image sequences) received from the electronic device 2 as described below.

As a variant, the processing unit 15 could be produced in the form of an application-specific integrated circuit (or ASIC for Application Specific Integrated Circuit ').

The conversion circuit 16 is here a serial-parallel converter (or deserializet ¹ ′ according to the Anglo-Saxon name) designed to convert the received serial signals into parallel signals (delivered on a bus B connected to the processing unit 15) coming from contact 19 of the connector (here via filter 18).

Note that these serial signals are those present on a serial link S established (via cable 3) between the conversion circuit 16 of the electronic control unit 1 and a conversion circuit 26 of the electronic device 2 described below.

Such serial signals are formed by a bit stream, generally with a high bit rate (typically greater than 100 Mbps).

As a variant, the conversion circuit 16 could be a demodulator designed to convert a signal modulated at a high frequency, present on the contact 19 of the connector, into a data stream intended for the processing unit

15.

Furthermore, as also mentioned below, the serial link S can in practice be bidirectional; the conversion circuit 16 is in this case also designed to transmit, at the level of the contact 19 of the connector, a bit stream representing data (or commands) received from the processing unit 15 via the bus B.

The filter 18 comprises a low-frequency terminal L, a high-frequency terminal H and a common terminal C. The filter 18 (typically an analog filter) is designed so that the low-frequency terminal L carries a low-frequency component of the signal present on the common terminal C and so that the high-frequency terminal H carries a high-frequency component of the signal present on the common terminal C.

As shown in Figure 1, the low-frequency terminal L is connected to the output O of the voltage booster circuit 12, the high-frequency terminal H is connected to the conversion circuit 16 (precisely here at the serial input of the conversion circuit 16) and the common terminal C is connected to the contact 19 of the connector.

Thus, the voltage at the contact 19 (and therefore that present in the cable 3) is composed of the voltage Vh generated by the voltage booster circuit 12 (voltage Vh which here is 39 V) and serial signals S representing the data exchanged between the electronic control unit 1 and the electronic device 2.

Thanks to the use of a high voltage Vh (typically greater than 20 V), it is possible to transfer via the cable 3 a large electrical power (greater than 20 W in the aforementioned case) with a limited current (1 A maximum in the above case). In the example described here, with a voltage Vh equal to 39 V, it is possible to transmit an electric power of up to 39 W without exceeding the maximum current of 1 A in cable 3.

The electronic device 2 (as already indicated here, a camera) comprises a connector having a contact 21, a filter 28, a step-down circuit 22, an illumination means 23, an image sensor 24, a unit of control 25 and a conversion circuit 26.

In the example described here, the electronic device 2 is a three-dimensional camera operating on the time of flight principle (or TOF camera for Time Of Flight '): the illumination means 23 (for example light emitting diodes) emits radiation (for example infrared) towards the scene observed at a predefined instant (or according to a predefined modulation) and it is thus possible to determine, by measurement at the level of the image sensor 24, the journey time (or flight time) of the radiation from camera 2 to the first object encountered and, after reflection on this object, from the object to the camera, this time being representative of the distance separating the object from the camera 2. It is understood that such a means of illumination 23 consumes a large current, typically a current of intensity greater than 2 A.

The image sensor 24 comprises a matrix of pixels and is generally associated with an optic (not shown) so that each pixel of the matrix corresponds to a direction of observation of the environment situated in front of the camera 2.

The illumination means 23 and the image sensor 24 are controlled (synchronously) by the control unit 25, so as to be able to estimate, for each pixel, the flight time associated with the pixel concerned (and deduce the distance of the first object encountered in the direction of observation associated with this pixel).

The conversion circuit 26 is connected by a bus B ′ to the image sensor 24. The conversion circuit 26 is here a parallel-series converter designed to convert into a bit train (serial signal S), generally of high frequency ( for example greater than 100 Mbps), the parallel signals received as input, here the signals representative of the images (or sequences of images) acquired produced by the image sensor 24.

As already indicated, the serial link S can be bidirectional and the conversion circuit 26 can also receive (from the contact 21 of the connector, here via the filter 28) data or commands intended for the image sensor 24 (or possibly to the control circuit 25).

Furthermore, according to the variant already mentioned, the conversion circuit 26 could be a modulator designed to convert into a signal modulated at a high frequency, delivered on the contact 21 of the connector, data received from the image sensor 24.

The filter 28 comprises a low-frequency terminal L ’, a high-frequency terminal H’ and a common terminal C ’. The filter 28 (typically an analog filter) is designed so that the low-frequency terminal L 'carries a low-frequency component of the signal present on the common terminal C' and so that the high-frequency terminal H 'carries a high-frequency component frequency of the signal present on the common terminal C '.

As visible in FIG. 1, the common terminal C 'is connected to the contact 21 of the connector, the low-frequency terminal L' is connected to the step-down circuit 22 and the high-frequency terminal H 'is connected to the conversion circuit 26 ( precisely here at the serial output of the conversion circuit 26).

Thus, the voltage at the level of the contact 21 (that is to say that present in the cable 3) being composed as already indicated of the voltage Vh and the series signals S, the filter 28 makes it possible to deliver the voltage Vh (which is a DC voltage) to the step-down circuit 22 while allowing the passage of the serial signals S from the conversion circuit 26 to the contact 21.

The step-down circuit 22 is designed to convert the DC voltage Vh received at the input (here from contact 21 via the filter 28) into at least one DC voltage V1, V2, V3 with a value less than this input voltage Vh. As already indicated, the voltage received at the input (or input voltage) Vh is preferably at least 20 V in order to allow the transport in the cable 3 of a high electrical power with a limited current.

The step-down circuit 22 is for example in practice a DC-DC converter, here of the Buck converter type.

As visible in FIG. 1, the step-down circuit 22 produces three direct voltages V1, V2, V3 in the example described:

a first direct voltage V1 allowing the electrical supply 10 of the illumination means 23 (the illumination means 23 consuming here more than

80% of the electrical power transmitted in the cable 3);

- a second direct voltage V2 allowing the electrical supply of the image sensor 24;

- a third DC voltage V3 allowing the electrical supply 15 of the control unit 25.

In practice, each direct voltage V1, V2, V3 produced by the step-down circuit 22 has a value less than 12 V.

Claims (12)

1. Electronic control unit (1) comprising: - a connector comprising at least one contact (19); - a voltage booster circuit (12) supplied by an input voltage (Vbatt) and designed to deliver at said contact (19) an output voltage (Vh) greater than said input voltage (Vbatt); and - a conversion circuit (16) connected to said contact (19) for processing electrical signals (S) present on said contact (19) and representative of data processed by the electronic control unit (1). 2. Electronic control unit according to claim 1, in which the voltage raising circuit (12) and the conversion circuit (16) are each connected to said contact (19) by means of a filter (18). 3. Electronic control unit according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a power supply terminal (11) for connection to a battery (4) carries said input voltage (Vbatt). 4. Electronic control unit according to one of claims 1 to 3, in which the output voltage (Vh) is greater than 20 V. 5. Electronic control unit according to one of claims 1 to 4, comprising a processing unit (15) designed to process said data. 6. Electronic control unit according to claim 5, in which the conversion circuit (16) is a series-parallel converter connected to the processing unit (15). 7. Electronic control unit according to claim 5 or 6, comprising a supply circuit (14) supplied by said input voltage (Vbatt) and producing a supply voltage (Vcc) of the processing unit (15 ). 8. Electronic device (2) comprising: - a connector comprising at least one contact (21); - a voltage step-down circuit (22) arranged to receive as input a voltage (Vh) present at said contact (21) and designed to produce at least one voltage (V1; V2; V3) lower than the voltage (Vh) present at said contact (21); and - a conversion circuit (26) connected to said contact (21) for processing electrical signals (S) present on said contact (21) and representative of data processed by the electronic device (2). 9. An electronic device according to claim 8, in which the step-down circuit (22) and the conversion circuit (26) are each connected to said contact by means of a filter (28). 10. Electronic device according to claims 8 or 9, wherein the voltage (Vh) present at said contact (21) is greater than 20 V. 11. Electronic device according to one of claims 8 to 10, comprising an illumination means (23) supplied by the step-down circuit (22). 12. System comprising an electronic control unit (1) according to one of claims 1 to 7, an electronic device (2) according to one of claims 8 to 11, and a cable (3) connecting the connector of the electronic control unit (1) and the connector of the electronic device (2). 1/1