Data communication authentication system for vehicle gateway apparatus for vehicle data communication system for vehicle and data communication apparatus for vehicle

Abstract

A vehicular data communication system is disclosed. The vehicular data communication system includes an authentication device for authenticating an external tool connected to a bus, an authentication control device for determining whether an external tool is authenticated by the authentication device and for setting an authenticated state to permit a data communication between the external tool and an access target ECU on the bus upon determining that the external tool is authenticated by the authentication device, and an authentication maintain device for maintaining the authenticated state within a predetermined period after the authenticated state is set by the authentication control device.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A vehicular data communication authentication system in which an external tool is connectable to a bus connected with electronic control units (ECUs) including an access target ECU, the vehicular data communication authentication system comprising:
 an authentication device that performs authentication of the external tool connected to the bus;   an authentication control device that:
 determines whether or not a result of the authentication of the external tool preformed by the authentication device is affirmative; 
 when determining that the result of the authentication of the external tool is affirmative, sets an authenticated state and permits a data communication between the external tool and the access target ECU; and 
 when determining that the result of the authentication of the external tool is not affirmative, does not set the authenticated state and prohibits the data communication between the external tool and the access target ECU; and 
   an authentication maintain device that, after the authenticated state is set by the authentication control device, maintains the authenticated state within one of:
 a first period, which is a predetermined period of time elapsed since the authenticated state was set; 
 a second period, which is a period during which an authenticated state maintain request is inputted to the authentication control device; 
 a third period, which is a period during which a vehicle state satisfies a predetermined condition; and 
 a fourth period, which is a period during which the bus is in a communicating state. 
   
     
     
         2 . The vehicular data communication authentication system according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a vehicular gateway apparatus that partitions the external tool from the ECUs,   wherein:   the authentication device, the authentication control device and the authentication maintain device are provided in the vehicular gateway apparatus.   
     
     
         3 . The vehicular data communication authentication system according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a vehicular gateway apparatus that partitions the external tool from the ECUs,   wherein:   the ECUs include an authentication ECU, which is provided separately from the access target ECU;   the authentication device is provided in the vehicular gateway apparatus; and   the authentication control device and the authentication maintain device are provided in the authentication ECU.   
     
     
         4 . The vehicular data communication authentication system according to  claim 1 , wherein:
 the ECUs include an authentication ECU, which is provided separately from the access target ECU;   the authentication device is provided in the authentication ECU; and   the authentication control device and the authentication maintain device are provided in each of the ECUs including the authentication ECU and the access target ECU.   
     
     
         5 . The vehicular data communication authentication system according to  claim 1 , wherein:
 the ECUs include an authentication ECU, which is provided separately from the access target ECU; and   the authentication device, the authentication control device and the authentication maintain device are provided in each of the ECUs including the authentication ECU and the access target ECU.   
     
     
         6 . The vehicular data communication authentication system according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a center that is communicable with the external tool; and   a vehicular gateway apparatus that partitions the external tool from the ECUs,   wherein:   the authentication device is provided in the center; and   the authentication control device and the authentication maintain device are provided in the vehicular gateway apparatus.   
     
     
         7 . The vehicular data communication authentication system according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a center that is communicable with the external tool,   wherein:   the ECUs include an authentication ECU, which is provided separately from the access target ECU;   the authentication device is provided in the center; and   the authentication control device and the authentication maintain device are provided in the authentication ECU.   
     
     
         8 . The vehicular data communication authentication system according to  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a communication control device that, in a situation where the authenticated state is not set by the authentication device, permits the data communication between the external tool and the access target ECU only for a specified data.   
     
     
         9 . A vehicular data communication authentication system in which an external tool is connectable to a bus connected with electronic control units (ECUs) including an access target ECU, the vehicular data communication authentication system comprising:
 an authentication device that performs authentication of a vehicle state;   an authentication control device that:
 determines whether or not a result of the authentication of the vehicle state preformed by the authentication device is affirmative; 
 when determining that the result of the authentication of the vehicle state is affirmative, sets an authenticated state and permits a data communication between the external tool and the access target ECU; and 
 when determining that the result of the authentication of the vehicle state is not affirmative, does not set the authenticated state and prohibits the data communication between the external tool and the access target ECU; and 
   an authentication maintain device that, after the authenticated state is set by the authentication control device, maintains the authenticated state within one of:
 a first period, which is a predetermined period of time elapsed since the authenticated state was set; 
 a second period, which is a period during which an authenticated state maintain request is inputted to the authentication control device; 
 a third period, which is a period during which a vehicle state satisfies a predetermined condition; and 
 a fourth period, which is a period during which the bus is in a communicating state. 
   
     
     
         10 . The vehicular data communication authentication system according to  claim 9 , further comprising
 a vehicular gateway apparatus that partitions the external tool from the ECUs,   wherein:   the authentication device, the authentication control device and the authentication maintain device are provided in the vehicular gateway apparatus.   
     
     
         11 . The vehicular data communication authentication system according to  claim 9 , further comprising
 a vehicular gateway apparatus that partitions the external tool from the ECUs,   wherein:   the ECUs include an authentication ECU, which is provided separately from the access target ECU;   the authentication device is provided in the vehicular gateway apparatus; and   the authentication control device and the authentication maintain device are provided in the authentication ECU.   
     
     
         12 . The vehicular data communication authentication system according to  claim 9 , wherein:
 the ECUs include an authentication ECU, which is provided separately from the access target ECU;   the authentication device is provided in the authentication ECU; and   the authentication control device and the authentication maintain device are provided in each of the ECUs including the authentication ECU and the access target ECU.   
     
     
         13 . The vehicular data communication authentication system according to  claim 9 , wherein:
 the ECUs include an authentication ECU, which is provided separately from the access target ECU; and   the authentication device, the authentication control device and the authentication maintain device are provided in each of the ECUs including the authentication ECU and the access target ECU.   
     
     
         14 . The vehicular data communication authentication system according to  claim 9 , further comprising:
 a communication control device that, in a situation where the authenticated state is not set by the authentication device, permits the data communication between the external tool and the access target ECU only for a specified data.   
     
     
         15 . A vehicular gateway apparatus in a vehicular data authentication system, in which an external tool is connectable to a bus connected with electronic control units (ECUs) including an access target ECU and in which the vehicular gateway apparatus partitions the external tool from the ECUs, the vehicular gateway apparatus comprising:
 an authentication device that performs authentication of the external tool connected to the bus;   an authentication control device that:
 determines whether or not a result of the authentication of the external tool preformed by the authentication device is affirmative; 
 when determining that the result of the authentication of the external tool is affirmative, sets an authenticated state and permits a data communication between the external tool and the access target ECU, and 
 when determining that the result of the authentication of the external tool is not affirmative, does not set the authenticated state and prohibits the data communication between the external tool and the access target ECU; and 
   an authentication maintain device that, after the authenticated state is set by the authentication control device, maintains the authenticated state within one of:
 a first period, which is a predetermined period of time elapsed since the authenticated state was set; 
 a second period, which is a period during which an authenticated state maintain request is inputted to the authentication control device; 
 a third period, which is a period during which a vehicle state satisfies a predetermined condition; and 
 a fourth period, which is a period during which the bus is in a communicating state. 
   
     
     
         16 . The vehicular gateway apparatus according to  claim 15 , further comprising:
 a communication control device that, in a situation where the authenticated state is not set by the authentication device, permits the data communication between the external tool and the access target ECU only for a specified data.   
     
     
         17 . A vehicular gateway apparatus in a vehicular data authentication system, in which an external tool is connectable to a bus connected with electronic control units including an access target ECU and in which the vehicular gateway apparatus partitions the external tool from the ECUs, the vehicular gateway apparatus comprising:
 an authentication device that performs authentication of a vehicle state;   an authentication control device that:
 determines whether or not a result of authentication of the vehicle state preformed by the authentication device is affirmative; 
 when determining that the result of authentication of the vehicle state is affirmative, sets an authenticated state and permits a data communication between the external tool and the access target ECU; and 
 when determining that the result of authentication of the vehicle state is not affirmative, does not set the authenticated state and prohibits the data communication between the external tool and the access target ECU; and 
   an authentication maintain device that, after the authenticated state is set by the authentication control device, maintains the authenticated state within one of:
 a first period, which is a predetermined period of time elapsed since the authenticated state was set; 
 a second period, which is a period during which an authenticated state maintain request is inputted to the authentication control device; 
 a third period, which is a period during which a vehicle state satisfies a predetermined condition; and 
 a fourth period, which is a period during which the bus is in a communicating state. 
   
     
     
         18 . The vehicular gateway apparatus according to  claim 17 , further comprising:
 a communication control device that, in a situation where the authenticated state is not set by the authentication device, permits the data communication between the external tool and the access target ECU for only a specified data.   
     
     
         19 . A vehicular data communication system comprising:
 a vehicular data communication apparatus connected with a plurality of nodes through buses;   wherein the vehicular data communication apparatus includes:   an encryption information storage device that, for each combination of one bus connected with a data source node and another bus connected with a data destination node, stores an encryption information indicating whether or not a data is to be encrypted, wherein the data source node is one node being a source of the data and the data destination node is another node being a destination of the data; and   an encryption control device that, in cases where the vehicular data communication apparatus receives the data from a first node through a first bus and transmits the received data to a second node through a second bus, determines whether to (i) encrypt the received data and transmit the encrypted data to the second node through the second bus or (ii) transmit the received data to the second node through the second bus without encrypting the received data, based on the encryption information stored in the encryption information storage device,   wherein each node includes:   an decryption information storage device that, for each bus connected with the data source node, stores a decryption information indicating whether or not the data is to be decrypted; and   a decryption control device that, in cases where the node receives the data from the vehicular data communication apparatus, determines whether to (i) decrypt and process the received data or (ii) process the received data without decrypting the received data, based on the decryption information stored in the decryption information storage device.   
     
     
         20 . A vehicular data communication system comprising:
 a vehicular data communication apparatus connected with a plurality of nodes through buses,   wherein the vehicular data communication apparatus includes   an encryption information storage device that, for each combination of a data source node and a data destination node, stores an encryption information indicating whether or not a data is to be encrypted, wherein the data source node is one node being a source of the data and the data destination node is another node being a destination of the data; and   an encryption control device that, in cases where the vehicular data communication apparatus receives the data from a first node through a first bus and transmits the received data to a second node through a second bus, determines whether to (i) encrypt the received data and transmit the encrypted data to the second node through the second bus or (ii) transmit the received data to the second node through the second bus without encrypting the received data, based on the encryption information stored in the encryption information storage device,   wherein each node includes:   an decryption information storage device that, for each data source node, stores a decryption information indicating whether or not the data is to be decrypted; and   a decryption control device that, in cases where the node receives the data from the vehicular data communication apparatus, determines whether to (i) decrypt and process the received data or (ii) process the received data without decrypting the received data, based on the decryption information stored in the decryption information storage device.   
     
     
         21 . A vehicular data communication system comprising:
 a vehicular data communication apparatus connected with a plurality of nodes through buses,   wherein the vehicular data communication apparatus includes:   an encryption information storage device that, for each identifier indicative of class a data frame storing a data, stores an encryption information indicating whether or not the data is to be encrypted; and   an encryption control device that, in cases where the vehicular data communication apparatus receives the data from a first node through a first bus and transmits the received data to a second node through a second bus, determines whether to (i) encrypt the received data and transmit the encrypted data to the second node through the second bus or (ii) transmit the received data to the second node through the second bus without encrypting the received data, based on the encryption information stored in the encryption information storage device,   wherein each node includes:   an decryption information storage device that, for each identifier indicative of the type of the data frame storing the data, stores a decryption information indicating whether or not the data is to be decrypted; and   a decryption control device that, in cases where the node receives the data from the vehicular data communication apparatus, determines whether to (i) decrypt and process the received data or (ii) process the received data without decrypting the received data, based on the decryption information stored in the decryption information storage device.   
     
     
         22 . A vehicular data communication system comprising:
 a vehicular data communication apparatus connected with a plurality of nodes through buses,   wherein the vehicular data communication apparatus includes:   an encryption information storage device that, for each data storage area of a data frame storing a data, stores an encryption information indicating whether or not the data is to be encrypted; and   an encryption control device that, in cases where the vehicular data communication apparatus receives a data from a first node through a first bus and transmits the received data to a second node through a second bus, determines whether to (i) encrypt the received data and transmit the encrypted data to the second node through the second bus or (ii) transmit the received data to the second node through the second bus without encrypting the received data, based on the encryption information stored in the encryption information storage device,   wherein each node includes:   an decryption information storage device that, for each data storage area of the data frame storing the data, stores a decryption information indicating whether or not the data is to be decrypted; and   a decryption control device that, in cases where the node receives the data from the vehicular data communication apparatus, determines whether to (i) decrypt and process the received data or (ii) process the received data without decrypting the received data, based on the decryption information stored in the decryption information storage device.   
     
     
         23 . The vehicular data communication system according to  claim 19 , wherein:
 in cases where the vehicular data communication apparatus receives the data from the first node through the first bus and transmits the received data to the second node through the first bus, the encryption control device transmits the received data, which is the data received from the first node through the first bus, to the second node through the first bus without encrypting the received data.   
     
     
         24 . The vehicular data communication system according to  claim 19 , wherein:
 the plurality of nodes includes an external tool and at least one electronic control unit mounted in a vehicle.   
     
     
         25 . The vehicular data communication system according to  claim 19 , wherein:
 the plurality of nodes includes a plurality of electronic control units mounted in a vehicle.   
     
     
         26 . The vehicular data communication in the vehicular data communication system recited in  claim 19 .