Oscilloscope-based technology provides physical-layer waveform observation and protocol analysis for in-vehicle local area network (Lan)
The new Yokogawa FlexRay signal analyser is the world's first self-contained tool for providing physical-layer waveform observation and protocol analysis for the fast, highly reliable FlexRay in-vehicle local area network.
Based on the company's high-performance DL7400 series of digital oscilloscopes, the new analyser allows the user to capture FlexRay Bus signals with a wide variety of dedicated triggers and carry out analysis and troubleshooting on parameters such as surge voltage, noise, level fluctuations and other sources of error.
Once the signals are captured, the waveforms are displayed along with a frame containing a list of analysis results, and the user can also zoom in on any of the frame waveforms.
The instrument's 8Mword of internal memory allows continuous bus waveforms of up to 80ms to be captured at a 100MS/s sampling rate prior to analysis.
Since the frame waveform at the cursor in the list is automatically displayed, the user can observe the bus signals simultaneously with the analysis results.
As a result, it is easy to determine what effects noise and level fluctuations have on communications data.
A number of powerful auxiliary functions are available to support analysis, and the analysis results can be saved to a file in text format.
The appropriate FlexRay bus signal can be captured by specifying the trigger bit conditions, including frame start, payload preamble, null frame, sync frame, startup frame indicators, frame ID, cycle count, payload data frame or combinations of these.
Triggers can also be activated on combinations of the FlexRay bus signal bit conditions and other analogue signals, or CRC error on the FlexRay bus.
This combination of features means that the FlexRay signal analyser can meet virtually all the measurement and analysis requirements encountered in FlexRay systems.
It can observe long durations of bus data and confirm changes in timing and period; confirm whether the FlexRay chip is working properly; check whether specific frames are being sent; and look for glitches and other phenomena in the bus signal.
FlexRay is an in-vehicle local area network that has been developed to meet the specific requirements of the automotive industry.
The introduction of advanced control systems in automobiles containing multiple sensors, actuators and electronic control units is placing new demands on in-vehicle communication technology that are not addressed by existing networking protocols.
Additional requirements for future in-car control applications include the combination of higher data rates, deterministic behaviour and the support of fault tolerance.
Flexibility in both bandwidth and system extension will also be key attributes with the need for increased functionality and on-board diagnostics.
Availability, reliability and data bandwidth are the key for targeted applications in power-train, chassis and body control, and these must also be supported within the automotive environment, which presents some unique challenges.
FlexRay is targeted to support data rates of up to 10Mbit/s, with increased flexibility for easy system extension and the dynamic use of bandwidth.
The 10Mbit/s data rate is available on two channels, giving a gross data rate of up to 20Mbit/s.
The core member companies of the FlexRay Consortium (BMW, Bosch, DaimlerChrysler, Freescale, GM, Philips and Volkswagen) have been working together in developing the requirements for an advanced communication system for future automotive applications.
Most other automotive companies are now members.
BMW and DaimlerChrysler, the first car companies to kick off the initiative, intend to use FlexRay in advanced applications in series production vehicles within the next few years.
FlexRay is targeted at meeting the needs of present and future in-car control applications, and the aim is to establish FlexRay as the de facto standard in the automotive industry.
