In this article an architecture is proposed, for Electronic Control Units (ECUs) (re)programming that can be used in development, end-of-line production, and after sales. ECUs are typically programmed using external programming devices frequently called Diagnostic Testers. Here, a system and software architecture is proposed that requires no Diagnostic Tester for ECU (re)programming. ECU (re)programming is instead managed by an on-board software component, the Flashware-Reprogramming-Controller (FRC). lt can reside in any ECU that has sufficient memory and processing power as well as good connectivity to internal networks and external sources from which to receive the software to be installed. Appropriate choices could be modern telematic devices. A second co-located on-board software component, the Installation-Configuration-Controller, is used to supervise the installation of new software releases and to validate their integrity after installation. The proposed architecture is based on three basic concepts: First, encapsulate the (re)programming functionality in its own software component, the FRC. This makes ECU (re)programming independent from the Diagnostic Tester. Secondly, encapsulate the supervision of the installation procedure and the validation of the integrity of a software release in a second software component, the Installation-Configuration-Controller. Thirdly, encapsulate a flashware module in a container construct, which is used to transport a flashware module from the infrastructure to the vehicle. After installation, the emptied container serves as a proxy for the installed flashware module and is used for configuration control. The structural elements and the characteristic features of the architecture were discussed. A prototype is presented, which uses an OSG Service Gateway as a platform. It has been shown that the suggested platform-independent architecture can easily be mapped to the OSGi Service Gateway technology used in the prototype. Each component has been implemented easily in a single bundle. A bundle also serves as a container to encapsulate a flashware module. To accommodate these diverse use cases, flashable software, or flashware, may be loaded from any choice of transmission medium, e.g., a CD or a USB memory stick, or via any choice of transmission network, such as WLAN, GSM or GPRS. We illustrate the advantages of the new architecture using an OSGibased prototype
Loading flashware from external interfaces such as CD-ROM or W-LAN and programming ECUs by an on-board SW-component
Das Laden von Flashware über externe Schnittstellen wie CD-ROM oder W-LAN und die Programmierung von ECUs durch On-Board SW-Komponenten
2004
11 Seiten, 7 Bilder, 18 Quellen
Aufsatz (Konferenz)
Englisch
SAE Technical Papers | 2004
|British Library Conference Proceedings | 2004
|British Library Conference Proceedings | 2004
|A flexible approach to programming ECUs
Kraftfahrwesen | 1993
|