Abstract: A vehicle control system which can ensure high reliability, real-time processing, and expandability with a simplified ECU configuration and a low cost by backing up an error through coordination in the entire system without increasing a degree of redundancy of individual controllers beyond the least necessary level. The vehicle control system comprises a sensor controller for taking in sensor signals indicating a status variable of a vehicle and an operation amount applied from a driver, a command controller for generating a control target value based on the sensor signals taken in by the sensor controller, and an actuator controller for receiving the control target value from the command controller and operating an actuator to control the vehicle, those three controller being interconnected via a network.

Abstract: To provide a system for controlling a construction machine, which can be implemented inexpensively, can detect a failure in any of pressure sensors, controllers, an inverter device, and an electric motor for swing, and can secure safety and required workability for an operator. Redundant hydraulic pressure sensors 20, 21 provide input to a first controller 11 for calculating a swing command, and a second controller 22 provided in an inverter device 13 for controlling an electric motor 16 for swing. The second controller 2 detects an abnormality in any of the hydraulic pressure sensors 20, 21 and the first controller 11 by a process for determining the validity of a swing command signal, and allows the swing operation to continue by using a signal from the second hydraulic pressure sensor 21 when determination is made based on the contents of the abnormality that the electric motor 16 for swing can operate normally.

Abstract: A regulator includes a transistor connected between an input and an output. A feedback voltage controls the transistor to keep the output voltage constant. A first circuit functions as a comparator to compare a detection voltage from the output of the transistor and the feedback voltage when the output current is higher than a predetermined value, and functions as a buffer when the output current is lower than the predetermined value. A second circuit receives a reference voltage, the feedback voltage, and an output from the first circuit, and generates (i) a difference between the feedback voltage and the first circuit output when the reference voltage is lower than the first circuit output, and (ii) a difference voltage between the feedback voltage and the reference voltage when the reference voltage is higher than the first circuit output, and supplies a control voltage to control the output of the transistor.

Abstract: An electronic control apparatus having a highly reliable memory capable of holding down the memory use quantity is provided. In the electronic control apparatus according to the present invention, data after error correction is retained in a second storage area different from a first storage area where a data error is detected, data on the second storage area is used for control processing and data on the first storage area is also used for control processing continuously.

Abstract: A vehicle control system which can ensure high reliability, real-time processing, and expandability with a simplified ECU configuration and a low cost by backing up an error through coordination in the entire system without increasing a degree of redundancy of individual controllers beyond the least necessary level. The vehicle control system comprises a sensor controller for taking in sensor signals indicating a status variable of a vehicle and an operation amount applied from a driver, a command controller for generating a control target value based on the sensor signals taken in by the sensor controller, and an actuator controller for receiving the control target value from the command controller and operating an actuator to control the vehicle, those three controller being interconnected via a network.

Abstract: A construction machine includes: a swing structure (1d); an electric motor (16) that drives the swing structure; an operating device (4b) that outputs an operating signal according to an operating amount and an operating direction; an inverter device (13) that controls the electric motor based on a control signal generated based on the operating signal; a position sensor (24) that detects an actual speed of the electric motor; and a second controller (22) that determines whether at least one of a first condition and a second condition is satisfied. The first condition is satisfied when a sign of a value computed by subtracting the actual speed V from a target speed V* of the electric motor that defined by the control signal; and the second condition is satisfied when a difference between the target speed and the actual speed is greater than a reference value Vth, and when the acceleration is greater than a reference value ?th.

Abstract: A differential amplifier circuit including: a differential input stage including a pair of differential MOS transistors, a pair of load elements, and a first constant-current source; an output stage including an output MOS transistor and a second constant-current source; a constant-current MOS transistor provided in parallel to one of the first and second constant-current sources; and a boost current controlling MOS transistor in which a potential of a connection node of the output MOS transistor and the second constant-current source is applied to a gate terminal thereof; wherein the boost current controlling MOS transistor is turned on when a voltage inputted to a gate terminal of one of the pair of differential MOS transistors changes, and a current of the constant-current MOS transistor is added to one of the first and second constant-current sources and is allowed to flow.

Abstract: A vehicle control system which can ensure high reliability, real-time processing, and expandability with a simplified ECU configuration and a low cost by backing up an error through coordination in the entire system without increasing a degree of redundancy of individual controllers beyond the least necessary level. The vehicle control system comprises a sensor controller for taking in sensor signals indicating a status variable of a vehicle and an operation amount applied from a driver, a command controller for generating a control target value based on the sensor signals taken in by the sensor controller, and an actuator controller for receiving the control target value from the command controller and operating an actuator to control the vehicle, those three controller being interconnected via a network.

Abstract: To provide a system for controlling a construction machine, which can be implemented inexpensively, can detect a failure in any of pressure sensors, controllers, an inverter device, and an electric motor for swing, and can secure safety and required workability for an operator. Redundant hydraulic pressure sensors 20, 21 provide input to a first controller 11 for calculating a swing command, and a second controller 22 provided in an inverter device 13 for controlling an electric motor 16 for swing. The second controller 2 detects an abnormality in any of the hydraulic pressure sensors 20, 21 and the first controller 11 by a process for determining the validity of a swing command signal, and allows the swing operation to continue by using a signal from the second hydraulic pressure sensor 21 when determination is made based on the contents of the abnormality that the electric motor 16 for swing can operate normally.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for monitoring the operability status of nodes of a communication network determines first node status data at a first node by causing it to diagnose its own status and the status of at least one second node, and to send the first node status data to at least one second node. The first node receives second node status data from at least one second node, and determines node status evaluation data at the first node based on the determined first node status data and the received second node status data.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for monitoring a status of nodes of a communication network. The method determines first node status data at a first node by diagnosing the own status of the first node and the status of at least one second node, sends the first node status data to at least one second node, receives second node status data from at least one second node, and determines node status evaluation data at the first node based on the determined first node status data and the received second node status data. Furthermore, improvements are proposed for the sake of efficiency and/or robustness of the method.

Abstract: A regulator includes a transistor connected between an input and an output. A feedback voltage controls the transistor to keep the output voltage constant. A first circuit functions as a comparator to compare a detection voltage from the output of the transistor and the feedback voltage when the output current is higher than a predetermined value, and functions as a buffer when the output current is lower than the predetermined value. A second circuit receives a reference voltage, the feedback voltage, and an output from the first circuit, and generates (i) a difference between the feedback voltage and the first circuit output when the reference voltage is lower than the first circuit output, and (ii) a difference voltage between the feedback voltage and the reference voltage when the reference voltage is higher than the first circuit output, and supplies a control voltage to control the output of the transistor.

Abstract: In a vehicle control system in which a large number of ECUs operate in coordination via a network, each node has an intra-network node status determination section, other node's status decision transmitting/other nodes' status decision receiving section, and failed-node identification section. The nodes exchange decisions made by the intra-network node status evaluation section with other nodes and thereby identify failed node.

Abstract: A vehicular control system which includes a user parameter input module, an external parameter input module, a plurality of objective functions, a policy setting module, and a policy node. The user parameter input module Inputs a user parameter. The external parameter input module inputs an external parameter resulting from an outside environment. The objective functions are set for each control characteristic, respectively, so as to calculate an internal parameter of each control target from the user parameter and the external parameter. The policy setting module sets policies indicating a control index of the user for the objective functions respectively. The policy node weights the objective functions on the basis of the policies, adjusts the internal parameter in accordance with the policy so that the internal parameter is optimized among the objective functions, and issues a command to a control node corresponding to the internal parameter.

Abstract: A differential amplifier circuit including: a differential input stage including a pair of differential MOS transistors, a pair of load elements, and a first constant-current source; an output stage including an output MOS transistor and a second constant-current source; a constant-current MOS transistor provided in parallel to one of the first and second constant-current sources; and a boost current controlling MOS transistor in which a potential of a connection node of the output MOS transistor and the second constant-current source is applied to a gate terminal thereof; wherein the boost current controlling MOS transistor is turned on when a voltage inputted to a gate terminal of one of the pair of differential MOS transistors changes, and a current of the constant-current MOS transistor is added to one of the first and second constant-current sources and is allowed to flow.

Abstract: There is provided a distributed system having a plurality of nodes connected by a network. Each of the nodes includes: a common-parameter-value determining unit for determining a common-parameter-value from values of a parameter (each value being possessed by a corresponding one of the nodes); a common-operation execution unit for executing a common-operation using, as its input, a value of the parameter or the common-parameter-value; a send/receive unit for exchanging, via the network, the parameter values used for the determination of the common-parameter-value and the results of the common-operation execution with the other nodes; and a fault identification unit that compares the common-operation execution results collected from all the nodes and determines that an error occurs if not all the results are the same.

Abstract: In a vehicle control system in which a large number of ECUs operate in coordination via a network, each node has an intra-network node status determination section, other node's status decision transmitting/other nodes' status decision receiving section, and failed-node identification section. The nodes exchange decisions made by the intra-network node status evaluation section with other nodes and thereby identify failed node.

Abstract: This invention provides communications systems that enable broadcasting while making use of the simplicity of the prior art and also provides control devices and information processing systems incorporating the communications system. In this invention, chip-select signals are provided for transmitting (TXCSi) and receiving (RXCSi) independently as well as for individual chips as in the prior art. That is, a group of signals indicating whether or not a slave node is selected as the node to transmit signals to a master node and the direction of communications are output from the master node to the slave node.

Abstract: In a vehicle control system in which a large number of ECUs operate in coordination via a network, each node has an intra-network node status determination section, other node's status decision transmitting/other nodes' status decision receiving section, and failed-node identification section. The nodes exchange decisions made by the intra-network node status evaluation section with other nodes and thereby identify failed node.

Abstract: A distributed system performs fault identification using inter-node monitoring so as to locate a fault with high reliability and ensure consistent recognition about the situation of the fault occurrence among nodes. The process is synchronized with a communication cycle. If a system does not need to perform the fault identification as often as every communication cycle, the frequency of the fault identification should be decreased so as to reduce a load for CPU processing and a consumption of a communication band per unit time. A distributed system of the present invention includes plural nodes that are connected to each other via a network. Each of the nodes includes a fault-monitoring section, a transmission and reception section, and a fault-identification section. The fault-monitoring section monitors a fault in other nodes. The transmission and reception section transmits and receives data to detect the fault in other nodes via the network.