eSync Alliance drives secure automotive OTA and diagnostics

Designed to support full vehicle OTA solutions as well as vehicle diagnostics and telematics data-management with end-to-end security, the eSync Alliance will reduce the time and risks of developing and deploying fully connected cars.

“The automotive industry has a history of multi-vendor initiatives which often drive the emergence of de facto standards,” said Greg Basich, Associate Director, Automotive Service at market research firm Strategy Analytics.

“OEMs are actively looking for ways to facilitate the integration of devices from multiple vendors for their connected car solutions. The eSync Alliance is the first such initiative in the automotive OTA and diagnostics space,” he added.

Modern cars now incorporate dozens if not hundreds of software-driven sensors and controllers. The ever-increasing need for automakers to be able to update software over-the-air for feature improvements, recall avoidance, and security patches is well established.

However, to date, only a small number of proprietary solutions serve the automotive market. The eSync Alliance specifically addresses this by creating a community of companies that cooperate to provide standardised and interoperable OTA and diagnostic-data solutions.

“The eSync Alliance allows companies across the automotive value chain to offer OTA-capable products. A common mechanism for cloud connectivity among many innovative companies means OEMs are no longer limited to proprietary single-vendor solutions.” Shrinath Acharya, Excelfore CEO explains.

“That’s crucial because OTA support has increasingly become mandatory for automakers, driven primarily by the explosion of infotainment, automated driver assistance and autonomous driving technologies.”

eSync Alliance members will be able to brand their solutions as eSync Compliant if they meet the program requirements, which include criteria for conformance to APIs and specific features.

The eSync Compliant mark will ensure a common OTA data path reaching all the different electronic devices in the car, streamlining integration and testing efforts. The eSync Compliance program provides not only the path to push software updates to the devices in the car, but also to pull diagnostic data from those devices in the car.

Several automotive suppliers have already joined the eSync Alliance, with more expressing interest in becoming members. Yasuhiro Ikeunchi, Director of Product Design at Alpine, said, “This is an opportunity to drive innovation in connected car platforms. Participating in the eSync Alliance gives us a structure for OTA and diagnostics compatibility with ECU and sensor vendors across the automotive electronics ecosystem.”

“The members of the eSync Alliance bring common solutions for connected vehicle technology to automotive OEMs,” said Bill Fitzer, Vice President and General Manager, Connected Mobility Solutions at Molex. “Working together, this multi-company initiative expands connected car functionality while reducing development time and risk.”