Mark your calendars: FOTA webinar this week

Paul Leroux

A heads-up that, in two days, QNX Software Systems and Red Bend will deliver a webinar on keeping connected cars up to date with Firmware Over-the-Air (FOTA) technology.

Here's a summary of the webinar:

The connected car is revolutionizing the automotive industry. It brings together wireless connectivity, IP communications infrastructure, middleware and applications to transform the driving experience. Yet as the amount and the complexity of software inside cars increases, so too does the need to update the software in order to provide new functionality and perform software maintenance. To help streamline these activities, OEMs can use proven firmware over-the-air (FOTA) updating technology to deliver software improvements efficiently and reliably.

Please join QNX Software Systems and Red Bend Software as they present how QNX CAR 2 application platform supports the latest advancements in performing over-the-air software management and application updates in connected cars.

And here are the coordinates:

Wednesday, February 8, 2012 2:00 p.m. EST Details and registration

The folks delivering the webinar are Yoram Berholtz from Red Bend Software, an industry leader in FOTA, and my inimitable colleague Andy Gryc. If you can't catch the webinar — or even if you can catch the webinar — I invite you to check out Andy's article on the Red Bend website, Fill the Tank, Check the Oil, and Update the Software.
 

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THE CONVENTIONAL SYSTEM OF ELECTRICAL DISTRIBUTION IN AUTOMOBILES

An electrical distribution system groups electric generators, electrical  loads, their interconnection elements, and the management and protection systems of this interconnection.

This system has the primary responsibility to generate electrical energy from the mechanical energy coming from the rotational shaft of the explosion motor. Second, it has the responsibility to distribute this energy to those loads that demand it and to store the rest. As Figure 1.1 shows, three main subsystems can be identified in a conventional distribution system of any car.

1.3.1 BATTERY AND ITS CHARGING SYSTEM

The battery is an electrical storage device whose function is to store the energy, usually thanks to an  electrochemical process, that is generated by the generator device and is not consumed by the loads. Moreover, it allows the supply of the loads even when the motor is stopped and provides the peak of energy demanded when the motor starts. The charging system, usually composed by an alternator, a rectifier, and a voltage regulator, keeps the optimal level of charge of the battery to supply the loads.

1.3.2 MOTOR STARTER SYSTEM

Nowadays a small DC motor, with less than 3 kW of power, forces the crank of the explosion motor until the appearance of ignition of the air-fuel mixture in the cylinders. The ignition usually appears after a few seconds, and during the first hundreds of milliseconds the consumed current can exceed 500 A.

1.3.3 MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

Today automobiles have a very complex management system. One part has the responsibility of the interconnection and the protection of the loads: body electrical systems, lighting systems, in-car entertainment, and so on. Another part controls and defines the optimal parameters for a correct behavior of the motor. Finally, the chassis control system looks after the brake management, the suspension, and, in general, the active security systems of the automobile.

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Handbook of Automotive Power Electronics and Motor Drives

Edited by

Ali Emadi

Illinois Institute of Technology

Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A.

Boca Raton

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www.automotive-technology-guide.com

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