The INTEGRITY real-time operating system from Green Hills Software safely and securely runs and protects the eSync OTA software client platform from Excelfore, an innovator in connected car technologies.
This combined software platform, which runs on the latest automotive processors, will enable OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers to reduce the time, cost, and complexity of developing and deploying secure and flexible vehicle-to-cloud strategies for the next-generation of connected vehicles.
As vehicles become more connected and as their software grows in complexity and responsibility, OEMs are looking to OTA cloud connectivity to update software services and firmware, access vehicle diagnostics, and monetize data services.
While OTA software update technology may appear sufficient for today’s connected vehicles, the safety and security ramifications for vehicle software poses a unique and crucial challenge for OEMs. Another challenge is that vehicle ECUs are embedded in complex vehicle architectures of heterogenous ECUs on multiple networks from diverse suppliers.
eSync is a multi-company standardized specification from the eSync Alliance that defines a software platform and secure bi-directional data pipeline between the cloud and vehicle ECUs. eSync can deliver and update software and firmware while collecting real-time operational data used in various ECUs, sensors and actuators for IVIs, domain and zonal controllers, vehicle gateways, and telematics.
The INTEGRITY real-time operating system (RTOS) runs and protects the Excelfore eSync OTA software, enabling eSync functions connected to the OEM’s preferred cloud platform. The INTEGRITY microkernel is pre-certified to ISO 26262 ASIL D and has adopted the ISO 21434 automotive cybersecurity standard, and securely separates critical software components, such as the eSync OTA functions, while guaranteeing the processor resources needed for timely and correct execution.
Shrikant Acharya, CTO at Excelfore, said: “By combining the INTEGRITY RTOS with the Excelfore eSync OTA platform, we have taken another important step towards making secure OTA updates ubiquitous in today’s vehicles.”
The Green Hills INTEGRITY platform with eSync includes several advanced and optimised capabilities:
- Feature-rich OTA capabilities include custom policies, delta compression, and end-to-end security for software delivery and updates.
- The eSync Server is available on Amazon AWS, Baidu, Microsoft Azure, and Google GCP, and is portable to private clouds.
- The eSync Client, protected by INTEGRITY, securely communicates with the eSync Server, and establishes secure communications with eSync Agents. It receives updates from the Server, verifies them, and transfers them over Ethernet, CAN, and other in-vehicle networks and busses, to the Agents within the vehicle. The eSync Client also orchestrates a variety of services to ensure compliance with OTA policies.
- eSync Agents, the primary endpoints for OTA updates, perform the installation of software, firmware, and configuration files to their edge devices. eSync Agents can also gather diagnostic data from edge devices.
- Advanced C and C++ development tools from the MULTI IDE, qualified for the development of ASIL D applications, bring advanced features and deep visibility into software to help find and fix bugs faster than ever before.