The classic decentralized-ECU E/E architectures are transforming to include high-performance domain and zonal controllers supported by high-speed Ethernet backbone, to enable more complex cross-domain functions, facilitate seamless software updates, reduce wiring harness complexity, and increase silicon consolidation.

This comprehensive transformation process brings to car makers challenges of increased development, integration and validation costs as well as risks of longer time to market.

Well-established peripheral ECUs, sensors, and actuators connected via CAN/CAN-FD, LIN, FlexRay, MOST, as well as other legacy & OEM-specific communication buses are still relevant to these modern architectures. Cetitec Universal Gateway UGW routes information between devices connected to different field buses in real-time, converts & merges different signals and units, and handles buses with different speeds.

Adaptable zonal controllers with common HW/SW design are highly desirable. It facilitates the re-use of the same component for different zones within the same platform, and across platforms. UGW enables such optimal design thanks to its easily-configurable routing table without the need of source code recompilation, including late changes at the production line.

UGW offers smart message-handling features including user-configurable arithmetical operations such as conversion of physical units (KPH to MPH, Celsius to Fahrenheit) as well as other customized functions. In addition, it provides time-based transmission handling capabilities including time-out, cyclic-broadcast, and prohibit-broadcast timer features. Such capabilities are vital to avoid redundant HW/SW components & development costs especially in a globally-spread car-production environment that deals with complex supply chains, distributed assembly lines, multiple platforms, ever-increasing model variants and diverse feature lists.

The Cetitec Composer is a friendly gateway configuration tool. It provides a user-interface to configure input and output messages with its signals and combine them with the powerful conversion rules provided by the UGW. Composer can import ARXML, CAN as well as OEM specific catalogues and can be integrated into existing toolchains.

Product: Universal Gatway