Applicability of IEEE 802.11s for automotive wireless software updates

Due to the rising number of electronic control units (ECU) in a vehicle and the growing complexity of the related software installed, a fast and efficient system for updating software is needed. Wireless software updates similar to firmware over the air updates for smartphones can be a suitable solution to solve this issue. In this paper we propose a wireless update system based on an IEEE 802.11s mesh network and describe related high-level requirements for such a system. Additionally the prototype of a wireless vehicle interface (WVI) is described. This interface is needed to maintain the wireless link as well as to forward the received data to the in-vehicle communication system and finally to the ECU. Existing diagnostic standards are applied to transfer and install the new software on the ECU. Furthermore, IEEE 802.11s-based network nodes and the WVI prototype are used to evaluate the applicability of IEEE 802.11s for a wireless update system used in the vehicle development phase. We performed indoor measurements as well as measurements inside two different vehicles to evaluate the influence of the shielding properties of a vehicle. The results of these measurements show that the used setup consisting of the WVI prototype and other IEEE 802.11s based nodes can be used to realize a wireless update system and is able to fulfil the defined system requirements.