INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

The disclosure of Japanese Patent Application No. 2019-157919 filed on Aug. 30, 2019 including the specification, drawings and abstract is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

The disclosure relates to an in-vehicle control device.

2. Description of Related Art

A vehicle is equipped with a plurality of devices such as in-vehicle devices referred to as electronic control units (ECUs) and electronic components. Since these devices are installed in large numbers, the devices are classified into several groups, and power supply therefor is controlled on a group basis using relays or the like.

In recent years, in order to improve services used in a vehicle, it is required to provide advanced functions, even in a parked vehicle, for example, such that many devices cooperate while performing wireless communication with a server outside the vehicle. Accordingly, power consumption of each device tends to increase. Thus, it is preferable to restrict operation of unnecessary functions as much as possible to restrict power consumption. However, there is a limit for restriction of the operation of unnecessary functions as long as power supply is controlled on a group basis.

Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2019-106724 (JP 2019-106724 A) describes a device that, when receiving a signal instructing switching of its operation mode, switches the operation mode in accordance with the signal independently of operation modes of the other devices connected to a bus to which that device is connected. The operation mode is switched between a normal mode (wake-up state) in which functions can be exhibited without any particular limitation and a power-saving mode (sleep state) in which the functions are restricted compared to the normal mode to limit power consumption. By employing such devices, even when the number of the devices is large, the functions of the devices can be restricted device-by-device, rather than on a group basis.

SUMMARY

A device having a function of switching an operation mode via communication has higher cost of parts etc., compared to a device having no such function, for supporting communication standards and operation mode switching control. In addition, since the device having the function consumes a certain amount of standby power even in a power-saving mode, an effect of limiting power consumption is limited when viewed over a relatively long time. Thus, even if all devices installed in the vehicle are replaced with devices having the function of switching the operation mode via communication, it is not necessarily optimal in terms of cost and limitation of power consumption.

The disclosure provides a control device that allows optimization of balance between cost and effects of limiting power consumption.

An aspect of the disclosure relates to an in-vehicle control device. The in-vehicle control device includes a processor. The processor is configured to control a device of a first type, which has a function of switching an operation mode between a normal mode and a mode in which power consumption is limited compared to the normal mode in accordance with an instruction via communication and a device of a second type, which does not have the function. The processor is configured to specify a limited device that is a device of which power consumption is to be limited, based on information acquired from outside. The processor is configured to transmit to the limited device via a communication line an instruction to shift the operation mode to the mode in which power consumption is limited compared to a normal mode when the limited device is the device of the first type. The processor is configured to stop power supply to the limited device when the limited device is the device of the second type.

In the in-vehicle control device of the above aspect, the information may be configured to be generated based on information including usage of a service while a vehicle is parked.

In the in-vehicle control device of the above aspect, the processor may be configured to specify, when there is a device of which power consumption is being limited, a non-limited device that is a device of which limitation of power consumption is to be removed based on the information. The processor may be configured to transmit to the non-limited device via the communication line an instruction to shift the operation mode to the normal mode when the non-limited device is the device of the first type. The processor may be configured to supply power to the non-limited device when the non-limited device is the device of the second type.

According to the above aspect, the control device can realize limitation of power consumption corresponding to each of the two types of the devices. Accordingly, it is possible to combine the devices of the two types to achieve a design that optimizes a balance between cost and effects of limiting power consumption.

