JP-2026076102-A - Application-selective API access restriction based on battery state

Abstract

[Problem] Application-selective API access restriction based on battery state. [Solution] Application-selective battery state-based API access prohibition is implemented by receiving a command to execute an application, determining whether the application is in the first group of applications, detecting whether the remaining battery capacity of the vehicle is below a threshold if the application is not in the first group, and prohibiting the application from accessing one or more application programming interfaces (APIs) of the vehicle if the remaining battery capacity is below a threshold. [Selection Diagram] Figure 2

Inventors

• 吉村 優一
• 伊達 三雄
• 樽岡 豊

Assignees

• トヨタ自動車株式会社

Dates

Publication Date

20260511

Application Date

20250620

Priority Date

20241023

Claims (20)

1. A computer program that causes one or more processors to perform an operation, wherein the operation is: Receiving commands to run the application, Determining whether the aforementioned application is in the first group of applications, In response to the determination that the application is not in the first group, the remaining capacity of the vehicle's battery is detected to be below a threshold, In response to detecting that the remaining capacity of the battery is below the threshold, the application is prohibited from accessing one or more application programming interfaces (APIs) of the vehicle. A computer program that includes [this].
2. A computer program according to claim 1, wherein the first group of applications includes a plurality of applications that perform vehicle operations.
3. A computer program according to claim 2, wherein the operation further includes determining whether the application is performing a vehicle operation based on at least one of the following: the call history of the vehicle API, the results of authentication or classification in the application store, or the binary of the application.
4. A computer program according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first group of applications includes a plurality of applications whose power consumption is less than or equal to a predetermined value.
5. A computer program according to claim 4, wherein the operation further includes determining whether the power consumption of the application is less than the predetermined value.
6. A computer program according to claim 5, wherein the operation further includes determining the power consumption of the application based on the execution history of the application.
7. A computer program according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first group of applications includes a plurality of applications that do not access at least one API related to increasing power consumption.
8. A computer program according to claim 7, wherein at least one API is among a plurality of APIs related to increasing power consumption.
9. A computer program according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the first group of applications comprises a plurality of applications that perform emergency responses.
10. A computer program according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the operation is: To determine whether the aforementioned application belongs to the second group, In response to determining that the application is in the second group, the remaining battery capacity of the vehicle is detected to be below the second threshold, A computer program that further includes this.
11. A computer program according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the operation further includes determining the threshold based on the distance of the vehicle to its destination.
12. A computer program according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the operation further includes determining a threshold based on the average power consumption of a first group of applications of the application.
13. A computer program according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the operation further includes determining the threshold based on the priority level of the first group of applications.
14. A method performed by one or more processors, Receiving commands to run the application, Determining whether the aforementioned application is in the first group of applications, In response to the determination that the application is not in the first group, the remaining capacity of the vehicle's battery is detected to be below a threshold, In response to detecting that the remaining capacity of the battery is below the threshold, the application is prohibited from accessing one or more application programming interfaces (APIs) of the vehicle. Methods that include...
15. A method according to claim 14, wherein the first group of applications comprises a plurality of applications that perform vehicle operations.
16. The method according to claim 14 or 15, To determine whether the aforementioned application belongs to the second group, In response to the application being determined to be in the second group, the remaining capacity of the vehicle's battery is detected to be below a second threshold, Methods that further include this.
17. A method according to claim 14 or 15, further comprising determining the threshold based on the distance of the vehicle to its destination.
18. It is a device, Receives a command to run the application, Determine whether the aforementioned application belongs to the first group of applications, In response to the determination that the application is not in the first group, the system detects whether the remaining battery capacity of the vehicle is below a threshold. A device configured to prevent the application from accessing one or more application programming interfaces (APIs) of the vehicle in response to detection that the remaining capacity of the battery is below a threshold.
19. The device according to claim 18, wherein the first group of applications includes a plurality of applications that perform vehicle operations.
20. A device according to claim 18 or 19, Determine whether the aforementioned application belongs to the second group, A device further configured to detect whether the remaining capacity of the vehicle's battery is below a second threshold, in response to the application determining that it is in the second group.

Description

A vehicle's system consists of numerous electronic control units (ECUs). Many ECUs can function as computers, possessing the ability to access externally stored data and communicate via packet-based networks. Software applications are executed by ECUs to provide various services to the vehicle or its user. These software applications request vehicle information via application programming interfaces (APIs). The nature of this disclosure will be best understood from the following detailed description when read in conjunction with the attached figures. Note that, in accordance with standard industry practice, the various features are not depicted to exact scale. In fact, the dimensions of the various features may be arbitrarily increased or decreased for the sake of clarity in the discussion. Figure 1 is a schematic diagram of a system for application-selective battery state-based API access prohibition, according to at least some embodiments of the disclosure in question. Figure 2 shows an operational flow for providing application-selective API access according to at least some embodiments of the disclosure in question. Figure 3 shows an operational flow for prohibiting battery state-based API access, according to at least some embodiments of the disclosure. Figure 4 is a block diagram of a hardware configuration for application-selective battery state-based API access prohibition, according to at least some embodiments of the disclosure. The following disclosure provides numerous different embodiments or examples for carrying out different features of the subject matter provided. Specific examples of components, values, operations, materials, arrangements, etc., are described below for the sake of brevity of this disclosure. Naturally, these are merely examples and are not intended to be limiting. Other components, values, operations, materials, arrangements, etc., may be considered. In addition, this disclosure may repeat reference numbers and/or letters in various examples. This repetition is for simplification and clarity and does not in itself indicate relationships between the various embodiments and/or configurations described. Exposing APIs for accessing vehicle data and control systems to different applications, such as original equipment manufacturer (OEM) applications or third-party applications, increases various risks. Managing such access to APIs allows for the reduction, mitigation, or avoidance of these risks. While various types of applications are designed for running in vehicles, some applications are not suitable for running when battery capacity is limited. In at least some embodiments described herein, access to the vehicle API from a first group of applications is prohibited based on whether the vehicle's battery capacity is below a threshold. In at least some embodiments, the vehicle's battery capacity is detected based on the battery's state of charge (SoC). In at least some embodiments, the first group of applications includes low-priority applications. In at least some embodiments, appropriately managing access to the vehicle API from low-priority applications based on the remaining battery capacity of the vehicle helps to mitigate battery depletion. In at least some embodiments, the group of applications eligible for battery state-based API access includes applications that do not perform vehicle operations, such as music playback applications, but applications that do perform vehicle operations, such as automated valet parking or vehicle platooning assistance, are provided with API access. In at least some embodiments, whether an application is involved in vehicle operations and therefore included in the group is determined based on the vehicle API call history, authentication or classification results in the application store, or analysis of the application's binary. In at least some embodiments, the group of applications eligible for battery state-based API access includes applications whose power consumption is above a predetermined value, such as the power consumption per unit time or the average total power consumption during application execution, but applications whose power consumption is below the predetermined value are provided with API access. In at least some embodiments, power consumption is calculated based on the application's execution history. In at least some embodiments, the group of applications eligible for battery state-based API access includes applications that call any predetermined API, but applications that do not call any predetermined APIs related to high battery consumption, such as APIs that perform vehicle operations, air conditioning activation, or external communication, are provided with API access. In at least some embodiments, applications performing emergency responses such as car theft prevention, driver abnormality notification, and child abandonment prevention are provided with API access; however, the group of applications subject to ba