FOTA Automotive: With Firmware Over-The-Air (FOTA) Upgrade module in place, a vehicle recall to replace a faulty software can be avoided. We discuss other benefits of FOTA update & also show its criticality with the help of some car recall instances.

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Why Ignoring Firmware Over-The-Air (FOTA) Updates in
Automotive ECU can be a Costly Mistake

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Your smartphone has the capability to download the latest OS version over the air (using wireless
connectivity without being physically plugged).
A similar remote device management model is also very popularly deployed for automotive and
other IoT based automation systems.
This is necessary to effectively manage and update the latest software packages in all the
electronic components.This remote software management feature is called a Firmware Over-The-
Air (FOTA) or Over-The-Air (OTA) updates.
While we considered the example of smartphone with respect to over the air upgrade, the
criticality of these updates is much higher in automotive.
Let’s have a look at some car recall instances that highlight the need for FOTA and also doing it
right.

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Perils of Not making OTA/FOTA Part of your Product Development Process at
the Design Phase
Till now, we have only talked about the details of FOTA update process but to
understand its impact, we need to understand the perils of its absence.
Let’s start with a few examples:
In 2015, Fiat Chrysler had to recall 1.4 million cars after its electronic system was
hacked. The hackers were able to almost paralyze the vehicle by disabling the
brakes. It caused major embarrassment to the OEM.

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Tesla also faced the heat when its vehicles’ electronic system was hacked by security
hackers in September 2016.

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In yet another incident, Fiat Chrysler released an over-the-air (OTA) update that made
the infotainment system reboot every 30-40 seconds. To make the matters worse,
customers were not even given the option to decline the update or roll back to an
earlier version.

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From cost overheads because of recalls to damage in reputation, absence of FOTA is
undoubtedly quite detrimental to any automotive OEM.Now that we know how
important Firmware Over-The-Air Upgrade is to the automotive OEMs; Let’s have a
look at how the manual software update process looked like and why the need was
felt for FOTA.
How Manual Automotive ECU Firmware Update Works?
The electronic control units are interconnected using a specific type of a network
interface/Bus (CAN, LIN, MOST, FlexRay etc.). The manual firmware update is
performed with the help of a module that is connected to the automotive ECU
externally.Such a module will act as gateway for software updates. The firmware
updates for the control units will be received by this gateway module over the in-
vehicle network.

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The customers will now have to visit the dealer and get the control unit updated. At
the service center, the mechanic will connect the automotive ECU reprogramming
tool to the vehicle’s network bus and access the control unit to be updated.For this
entire process, the dealer will charge the OEM for recall labor.
Sound Too complicated, slow and costly, right!
And this is where Firmware Over-The-Air (FOTA) update has an edge and is a value-
add process.

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How Firmware Over-The-Air Update Works
In the times of Connected Cars, ADAS and Electric Vehicles, automotive ECU software
influence a lot of critical features of the vehicle.All this have made the software updates
of automotive control unit more critical and more frequent.Thus we got in touch with
our IoT consultants to understand more in-depth the application of Firmware over the
Air (FOTA) updates for automotive applications.Essentially, FOTA update is a 3 step
process. It starts with designing the update package, update delivery management and
ends with automotive ECU re-flashing.
Update Package Generation: This is the 1st stage of FOTA update. The software update
package is generated that contains the code to fix the identified control unit issue or to
integrate the new feature.The update can be aimed at a specific firmware component in
the device or to update the entire device itself.The different components of the FOTA
update package can be Bootloader software, Firmware configuration and application
firmware.

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How Firmware Over-The-Air Update Works
Update Package Delivery Management: After the update package, containing the bug
fixes or new feature, is generated; it is pushed to a distribution platform. This platform
may be controlled by the automotive OEMs or the vendor.The versioning of the
software is handled by this platform along with the delivery of the software package to
the intended car model and control unit.The dealers can easily get the update package
from the centralized platform. Such an arrangement ensures that the software package
does not need to be distributed to the dealers separately. Hence, the time-to-market is
reduced significantly.

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How Firmware Over-The-Air Update Works
Performing the FOTA Update: The above two steps did not involve the vehicle as the
process was being carried out by OEMs and vendors. However, the last step of FOTA
update requires the vehicle to be able to accept the update and execute it. And for this,
a component (Telematics Control Unit to be precise) is required that can establish a
connection with the update server.At the device side, FOTA can be triggered in two
ways. First, via the Delivery Management system or the device can itself choose to
check if an update firmware is available in the server. A time interval can be defined for
this.
Once the firmware update image is available, the device initiates a download from the
server via secure channel. The device then checks for the integrity of the downloaded
image by calculating and verify the checksum of the package.

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Future of FOTA in Automotive
Future of FOTA in Automotive
The automotive industry has evolved along the lines of the mobile phone industry in
terms of software. Updating the automotive ECUs is no longer optional; for certain
scenarios, it is indispensable.
And as the updates are getting more frequent, the OEMs cannot expect customers to
visit the dealer for every update.
FOTA has to be made a regular feature in a vehicle as it will not only help the customers
but also help save the OEMs on manpower and other costs. Customer delight due to
reduction in time required for vehicles to be in a garage or service station for software
updates will be a bonus.

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Read the complete blog post here: Why Ignoring Firmware Over-The-Air (FOTA) Updates in
Automotive ECU can be a Costly Mistake
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