Controller for network having substantially fixed topology

Abstract

Automotive area networks (AAN) have a substantially fixed network topology, meaning that the physical media used for communications between devices included in the AAN is known. For example, the physical connections within an AAN, sometimes provided by wiring harnesses, can include fixed lengths of twisted pairs of wire (“twisted pairs”). Pre-compensation parameters related to characteristics of the twisted pairs can be determined at the factory, and loaded into the memory of devices connected to the AAN. These pre-compensation parameters are used to improve the fast wake up and link acquisition times of connected devices. Various characteristics of the physical communication channel are measured or estimated as a function of mechanical, ingress, climactic, and environmental variations (MICE), and used to update the pre-compensation parameters.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A PHY comprising:
 in ingress path and an egress path configured to be coupled to a network including one or more substantially fixed communication pathways;   a configuration module including a memory storing:
 precoder coefficients associated with particular substantially fixed communication pathways included in the network; 
 pre-compensation parameters used to adjust the precoder coefficients under particular operating conditions; 
   a control test module coupled to the ingress path, the egress path, and the configuration module, the control test module configured to determine current link performance metrics, current pre-compensation parameters, and current operating conditions;   the configuration module configured to:
 generate a history by associating and storing, in the memory, the link performance metrics, the current pre-compensation parameters, and the operating conditions; and 
 modifying the pre-compensation parameters to be used under the particular operating conditions based, at least in part, on the history. 
   
     
     
         2 . The PHY of  claim 1 , wherein the configuration module is further configured to:
 determine if the current link performance metrics satisfy link performance thresholds; and   modify the pre-compensation parameters in response to a determination that the current link performance metrics fail to satisfy the link performance thresholds.   
     
     
         3 . The PHY of  claim 1 , wherein the control test module is further configured to continually monitor for changes in link-performance parameters of particular substantially fixed communication pathways. 
     
     
         4 . The PHY of  claim 3 , wherein the changes in link performance include frequency drift. 
     
     
         5 . The PHY of  claim 3 , wherein the changes in link performance include return loss variation as a function of temperature. 
     
     
         6 . The PHY of  claim 1 , wherein the configuration module is further configured to:
 transmit one or more of the pre-compensation parameters to one or more devices connected to the one or more substantially fixed communication pathways.   
     
     
         7 . The PHY of  claim 1 , wherein the memory is further configured to store control profiles specifying particular pre-compensation parameters to use for particular communication paths under given mechanical, ingress, climactic, and environmental (MICE) conditions. 
     
     
         8 . A method comprising:
 storing, in a memory associated with a PHY module coupled to a network including at least one substantially fixed communication pathway:
 precoder coefficients associated with the at least one substantially fixed communication pathway; 
 pre-compensation parameters used to adjust the precoder coefficients under particular operating conditions; 
   determining, over time, values of then-current link performance metrics, then-current pre-compensation parameters, and then-current operating conditions associated with the at least one substantially fixed communication pathway;   generating a history by associating the then-current link performance metrics, the then-current pre-compensation parameters, and the then-current operating conditions; and   modifying the pre-compensation parameters to be used under the particular operating conditions based on the history.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising:
 determining if current link performance metrics satisfy link performance thresholds; and   modifying the pre-compensation parameters to be used under current operating conditions in response to determining that current link performance metrics fail to satisfy the link performance thresholds.   
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising:
 continually monitor for changes in link-performance parameters during communications over the at least one substantially fixed communication pathway.   
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the changes in link performance include frequency drift. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 10 , wherein the changes in link performance include return loss variation as a function of temperature. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising:
 transmitting one or more of the pre-compensation parameters to a device connected to the at least one substantially fixed communication pathway.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 8 , further comprising:
 storing control profiles specifying particular pre-compensation parameters to use for the at least one substantially fixed communication pathway under given mechanical, ingress, climactic, and environmental (MICE) conditions.   
     
     
         15 . A PHY comprising:
 in ingress path and an egress path configured to be coupled to a network including one or more substantially fixed communication pathways;   a configuration module including a memory storing link parameters including:
 precoder coefficients associated with particular substantially fixed communication pathways included in the network; 
 pre-compensation parameters used to adjust the precoder coefficients under particular operating conditions; 
   the memory further configured to store control profiles used to determine which of a plurality of control policies to be implemented, wherein the control policies specify performance metric thresholds;   a control test module coupled to the ingress path, the egress path, and the configuration module, the control test module configured to determine current link performance metrics, current pre-compensation parameters, and current operating conditions;   the configuration module configured to:
 generate a history by associating and storing, in the memory, the link performance metrics, the current pre-compensation parameters, and the operating conditions; and 
 store modified pre-compensation parameters to be used under the particular operating conditions based, at least in part, on the history and the performance metric thresholds. 
   
     
     
         16 . The PHY of  claim 15 , wherein the configuration module is further configured to:
 determine if the current link performance metrics satisfy link performance thresholds; and   modify the pre-compensation parameters in response to a determination that the current link performance metrics fail to satisfy the link performance thresholds.   
     
     
         17 . The PHY of  claim 15 , wherein the control test module is further configured to:
 obtain at least one new precoder coefficient during link acquisition; and   apply a pre-compensation parameter to the new precoder coefficient.   
     
     
         18 . The PHY of  claim 15 , wherein the control test module is further configured to monitor for at least one of frequency drift and return loss variation as a function of temperature. 
     
     
         19 . The PHY of  claim 15 , wherein the configuration module is further configured to:
 transmit one or more of the pre-compensation parameters to one or more devices connected to the one or more substantially fixed communication pathways.   
     
     
         20 . The PHY of  claim 15 , wherein the memory is further configured to store control profiles specifying particular pre-compensation parameters to use for particular communication paths under given mechanical, ingress, climactic, and environmental (MICE) conditions, wherein the control profile is selected, based at least in part, on the history.