Technology
Alliance
eSync is an over-the-air technology for software updating and data gathering from a connected vehicle. Any number of electronic devices, from multiple vendors, over multiple networks and busses, running a variety of operating systems, can be accessed by the secure eSync data pipeline.
eSync technology uses a structured approach of distributed software agents with defined and published APIs (programming interfaces). The architecture encourages multi-company participation in constructing a standardized bidirectional OTA data pipeline. The eSync Alliance provides extensive specifications for any member company to implement their own eSync compliant portion of the data pipeline.
eSync technology uses a Server-Client-Agent architecture to reach from the cloud, through a vehicle gateway, to any number of individual ECUs or smart sensors. The Server software resides in a public or private cloud. There is typically one software Client per vehicle, located in a telematics unit, infotainment head unit, or vehicle gateway. Agents are distributed throughout the vehicle for the various devices (ECUs, smart sensors, etc.), and may be resident in the devices or at nearby network nodes where processing and memory is available for the Agent software.
No. eSync technology is an all-software specification. Hardware requirements are general – microprocessor or microcontroller processing resources and memory.
No. eSync technology specifications define the architecture, functional behavior and interfaces of the Server, Client and Agents. These can be implemented in any operating system. To date eSync software components have been implemented for Android, Linux, QNX, AUTOSAR, Integrity and a variety of small real time operating systems including Erika, FreeRTOS and others.
The eSync specifications do not bind the eSync Server to any particular cloud infrastructure. Implementations can be cloud-specific or cloud-agnostic. To date eSync Servers have been deployed on 4 public clouds worldwide, as well as OEM private clouds.
The eSync architecture uses Agents distributed throughout the in-vehicle network, to do the majority of update tasks. These Agents can reside in the edge devices (domain master ECUs, ECUs, smart sensors), or can be placed on network nodes near to the edge devices that they update. Updates to many devices are processed in parallel by these numerous Agents, so that vehicle downtimes are effectively minimized. Agents are customized to the devices they serve, allowing integration of diverse devices with differing resources, operating systems, flash mechanisms and data generation capabilities into a common data pipeline.
eSync data gathering is covered in section 8 of the eSync Specifications v2.0. Automakers can extract data from an ECU in the form of short message data, bulk diagnostic data or streaming data (from cameras and/or LiDARs, for example). eSync can also deploy diagnostic scripts from the eSync Server to the edge device, allowing use of a command interface to initiate and terminate the gathering of ECU-specific data useful for remote debugging.
The eSync data pipeline makes use of the construct of “policy” in the processes of updating devices. Policy can differ for devices and domains throughout the vehicle. Agents for safety-critical devices can implement more stringent policies regarding what state the vehicle must be in before updates begin, how rollback occurs in event of failure, and can even implement more stringent security. Also software updates can make use of policies defining dependent relationships, so that full software integrity can be assured when updating safety systems comprised of multiple devices.
Within the eSync platform software for different devices can be bundled into “packages”, with dependencies and sequences-of-installation defined as a policy of the package. If any software component in the package is not successfully installed, then the entire package is identified as a failed update, and all devices are rolled back to their last valid software.
eSync specifications support, but do not require, the use of delta compression. Most commercial deployments of eSync to date have used delta compression to reduce wireless bandwidth consumption.
Yes. The first vehicles deployed with eSync OTA began shipping in the spring of 2019. In these luxury SUVs eSync is used to update 33 separate electronic devices. By the beginning of 2021, five automakers from Europe, China and Japan had adopted eSync OTA for production vehicles, forecasting that 13 million vehicles with eSync OTA will be on the roads in the near future.
The eSync Alliance was formed to develop, publish, promote and expand a multi-vendor standard for secure OTA updating and diagnostic data gathering that spans all popular operating systems, semiconductor platforms, networks and busses found in connected vehicles. The eSync Alliance is a global network of cooperating OEMs, Tier 1s, software and hardware vendors, and cloud service providers.
The eSync Alliance is made up of three key components. Alliance membership, Compliance Program, and Certification. There is an active Board of Directors directing the work groups currently composed of a Marketing Work Group (MWG) that is focused on industry awareness and a Technical Work Group (TWG) focused on advancing the standards and compliance work. All participants in the automotive ecosystem are invited to join and contribute. There are three levels of membership with associated rights within the activities of the Alliance.
eSync Alliance membership is open to all participants in the automotive ecosystem who wish to participate in the advancement of the eSync Platform. Membership in the eSync Alliance gives you the opportunity to collaborate with other members. The process begins with the simple first step of reviewing our levels of membership.
Whether you seek visibility in a leadership position in the industry, or you wish to offer your contribution towards making the technology stronger and more broadly applicable, or you simply seek access to the specifications to explore the potential of adopting eSync for your next program, there is a membership level that is likely to align to your needs. For more information please visit: link
No. eSync technology is an all-software specification. Hardware requirements are general – microprocessor or microcontroller processing resources and memory.
You are invited to email inquiries to: info@esyncalliance.org
Member companies can often be good points of contact. The eSync Alliance currently has members in the following geographies : North America (US East, Central and West) and Western Europe. We can connect you with a local contact should you be interested
The major releases of the eSync Specifications are available to all members in good standing. The eSync Alliance does not publish the full specifications outside of the membership.
A synopsis of the Specifications is available for non-members to review: link
The current release of the eSync Alliance specification is v2.0.
Version 1.0 focused on the standardization of architecture, behavior and APIs for multi-vendor interoperability of the OTA data pipeline.
Version 2.0 adds incremental details, including substantially expanded information on security and data gathering over the OTA data pipeline.
It should be noted that although v2.0 has only recently been released, there are already multiple deployments taking place across the industry, demonstrating that the eSync Specifications are practical, proven and ready for deployment.
OTA software updating is critical to the Automotive industry due to the very high content of software in modern vehicles.
The Automotive industry has been built around standards. Standards not only provide a solid framework for suppliers to build solutions that can be scaled, but they also protect the automakers by allowing suppliers to build to common interfaces, encouraging competition and protecting engineering investments.
When Automakers, component vendors and technology providers work together, the specifications for the complete system consider a broader scope of requirements and are more comprehensive than what can be created by any single solution provider. Critical concerns can be identified and resolved only once, not many times. Standardization also creates a common foundation for chosen cybersecurity practices to reach across domains to the most remote and diverse electronics devices in the connected vehicle.
For these reasons the eSync Alliance not only promotes the concept of standardization, but also invites all participants in the Automotive Ecosystem to contribute to the standard.
Copyright © 2024 eSync Alliance. All Rights Reserved.