CANdesc Diagnostic Embedded Software Components

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CANdesc (diagnostic embedded software component) allows vehicle and electronic control unit (ECU) manufacturers to implement the diagnostic protocol uniformly across different products. Diagnostic requirements are acquired in a systematic and unique way using the CANdelaStudio engineering tool (i.e. the CANdela database is filled out). The CANdesc ECU software component can then be automatically generated with the help of this CANdela database.

Features/Advantages

Vehicle Manufacturers

CANdesc (CAN diagnostic embedded software component) offers assurance to the vehicle manufacturer that the diagnostic specification will be implemented uniformly in all ECUs of a vehicle model.

CANdesc is the ECU diagnostic software component of the comprehensive CANdela approach to diagnostics (see also product description for CANdela - CANdelaStudio).

• It assures that time requirements and content requirements of the diagnostic protocol are implemented correctly.
• The application software is connected via a standardized interface. Function declarations needed for the application software are generated automatically.
• CANdesc is compatible with Vector's other embedded software components (CANbedded) and can be integrated into this environment seamlessly.
• The user may choose to poll a data packet by signal accesses thereby preserving the application´s independence of the composition of data packets.
• Tedious checks of whether the formal communication between the ECU software and the diagnostic test system is functioning properly can be reduced significantly.
• Work is performed with only one XML file per ECU thereby avoiding problems associated with the existence of multiple parallel versions of a diagnostic implementation.
• The same XML file used to generate the ECU code can also be used to parameterize test systems at the vehicle manufacturer and ECU manufacturer.

ECU Manufacturers

The ECU manufacturer no longer needs to be concerned with the details of the specific diagnostic protocol used by the vehicle manufacturer. CANdesc covers the diagnostic protocol and transported data completely.

The size of automatically generated code is naturally greater than manually optimized modules with regard to RAM and ROM. If one considers the "dead paths" (approx. 10%-20%) and the often suboptimal expansions in manually written code over the life of a project, the size of the automatically generated code is as a rule not greater than that of manually coded modules.

Functions

All vehicle manufacturer specific diagnostic features are implemented and encapsulated in CANdesc. This gives the ECU application a clear signal interface. Reutilization of the ECU application is thereby supported. CANdesc includes:

• Support of the total manufacturer-specific diagnostic protocol with all functional and time constraints,
• Generation of a diagnostic data buffer and preservation of data consistency between application and diagnostic request (functional, physical, and multiple simultaneous),
• Error handling,
• Filtering of diagnostic requests,
• State management,
• Correct responses to diagnostic requests.

Application Areas:

• ECU for passenger cars and commercial vehicles
• In principle CANdesc may also be used as a standalone module. It can be adapted to proprietary CAN drivers and transport protocols in project work.
• Embedding in the total CANbedded environment of Vector's Software Components can be achieved seamlessly.

Product Components:

• Executable Windows program (generator tool) with the CANdesc Option
• Documentation / User Manual
• Sample programs

The interface to the application is declared in C header files which must be linked to the application to permit use of the functions. The CANdesc source code created by the generator only needs to be compiled and "linked" to the application.

Supplemental Services

Vector offers the following types of project services:

• Adaptation of the application to CANdesc
• Implementation of error memory concepts
• Process consultation services in the diagnostic area