Method of checking the operating characteristics of an electronic unit designed for a wheel of a vehicle

Abstract

The invention relates to a method of checking the operating characteristics of an electronic unit (1) fitted on a wheel (2) of a vehicle (3) and adapted to transmit, to a central processing unit (7), data frames representative of operating parameters of said wheel according to a procedure for transmitting streams (A) of frames (a) consisting in ordering n successive transmissions of each data frame. According to the invention, this checking method consists in analyzing, on the transmission of each stream of data frames, the number m of data frames actually acquired by the central processing unit (7), so as to deduce from the successive analyses a reception ratio Tr representative of the ratios Σm/Σn, and in ordering the transmission, by the central processing unit (7), of a preventive indication when the reception ratio Tr becomes less than a predetermined reception threshold.

Description

Other characteristics, aims and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the detailed description that follows with reference to the appended drawings which, in a nonlimiting exemplary manner, represent a preferred embodiment thereof. In these drawings:

FIG. 1 is a partial and diagrammatic perspective view of a vehicle fitted with a monitoring system according to the invention,

FIG. 2 is a curve representative of the trend of the error ratio Te as defined according to the invention, as a function of the physical state of a measurement sensor incorporated in an electronic unit,

FIGS. 3 a and 3b are two graphs representing examples of transmission of successive data frames, respectively for a satisfactory charge state (FIG. 3a) and a degraded charge state (FIG. 3b) of a battery incorporated in an electronic unit,

and FIG. 3c is a curve representative of the trend of the reception ratio Tr as defined according to the invention, as a function of the charge state of a battery incorporated in an electronic unit.

Claims

1. A method of checking the operating characteristics of an electronic unit (1) designed for a wheel (2) of a vehicle (3) and adapted to transmit, to a central processing unit (7) fitted on said vehicle, data frames (a) representative of operating parameters of said wheel according to a procedure for transmitting streams (A) of frames (a), consisting in ordering n successive transmissions of each data frame (a), said checking method being characterized in that it consists: in analyzing, on the transmission of each stream (A) of frames, the number m of data frames (a) actually acquired by the central processing unit (7) so as to deduce from the successive analyses a reception ratio Tr representative of the ratio Σm/Σn: sum of frames acquired/sum of frames for which transmission has been ordered,and in ordering the transmission, by the central processing unit (7), of a preventive indication when the reception ratio Tr becomes less than a predetermined reception threshold.

2. The checking method as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that there are determined analysis time windows of a predetermined duration, at the end of each of which a reception ratio Tr is calculated, corresponding to the frames (a) transmitted during said analysis window.

3. The checking method as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that the opening of an analysis window is triggered on each transmission of a stream (A) of data frames (a), each open analysis window covering a predetermined time period preceding said triggering.

4. The method of checking the operating characteristics of an electronic unit (1) as claimed in claim 1, said unit incorporating at least one measurement sensor, and being adapted to detect any physical faults on each measurement sensor and to transmit data frames (a) comprising, for each sensor, a data item representative of the physical state of said sensor, said checking method being characterized in that it consists, for each measurement sensor: for each data frame (a) transmitted, in analyzing the data item representative of the physical state of said measurement sensor, so as to deduce from the successive analyses an error ratio Te representative of the percentage of data frames (a) incorporating a physical state data item representative of a physical fault,and in ordering the transmission, by the central processing unit (7), of a preventive indication when the error ratio (Te) becomes greater than a predetermined error threshold.

5. The method of checking the operating characteristics of an electronic unit (1) as claimed in claim 2, said unit incorporating at least one measurement sensor, and being adapted to detect any physical faults on each measurement sensor and to transmit data frames (a) comprising, for each sensor, a data item representative of the physical state of said sensor, said checking method being characterized in that it consists, for each measurement sensor: for each data frame (a) transmitted, in analyzing the data item representative of the physical state of said measurement sensor, so as to deduce from the successive analyses an error ratio Te representative of the percentage of data frames (a) incorporating a physical state data item representative of a physical fault,and in ordering the transmission, by the central processing unit (7), of a preventive indication when the error ratio (Te) becomes greater than a predetermined error threshold.

6. The method of checking the operating characteristics of an electronic unit (1) as claimed in claim 3, said unit incorporating at least one measurement sensor, and being adapted to detect any physical faults on each measurement sensor and to transmit data frames (a) comprising, for each sensor, a data item representative of the physical state of said sensor, said checking method being characterized in that it consists, for each measurement sensor: for each data frame (a) transmitted, in analyzing the data item representative of the physical state of said measurement sensor, so as to deduce from the successive analyses an error ratio Te representative of the percentage of data frames (a) incorporating a physical state data item representative of a physical fault,and in ordering the transmission, by the central processing unit (7), of a preventive indication when the error ratio (Te) becomes greater than a predetermined error threshold.