Enables carmakers to minimize service costs, airtime costs and vehicle downtime, while boosting customer satisfaction.
Fremont, Calif., September 13, 2017 –Excelfore, an enabler of smart mobility networks, announces the eSync Adaptive Delta Compression Engine, which is used by the Excelfore eSync OTA Server to optimize over-the-air (OTA) software updates for vehicles.
The engine optimizes compression of software updates for OTA delivery within the particular environment of the automotive industry. It enables carmakers to minimize service costs, airtime costs and vehicle downtime, while increasing customer satisfaction.
A software delta update downloads only the differences between a new version of software and the prior version, reducing the amount of data that must be transmitted. The full new version of the software is then reconstructed locally. When there are millions of vehicles, delivering delta updates is an effective mechanism to reduce airtime requirements and transmission costs.
The Adaptive Delta Compression Engine uses binary differencing algorithms that have been enhanced with Excelfore’s patented dynamic compression technology (US Patent 8,949,466), enabling it to dynamically adjust compression techniques to the unique requirements of delta updates in the automotive industry.
Today, carmakers who provide OTA updates often use delta compression schemes developed for the smartphone market. These do not consider the substantial vehicle downtime while new software is decompressed, reconstructed, and installed in many electronics devices in today’s connected car. Excelfore has improved on existing OTA techniques by using an adaptive approach. The Adaptive Delta Compression Engine selects an update and compression strategy to match the specific computational resources of each end device in the vehicle, within the context of policies set by the car maker. This allows car makers to optimize not only for file size and airtime savings, but also to minimize vehicle downtime, enhancing customer satisfaction.
The eSync System is a cloud platform for secure transactions with the vehicle, and with the various electronic end devices within the vehicle. It can be used to deliver and update software and firmware over the air, as well as for pulling diagnostics and telematics data from the devices in the vehicle.
Automotive-Specific Challenges in OTA Updates
Modern vehicles increasingly depend on embedded software systems, which range from driver preferences such as digital audio players and mood lighting customization to automotive functions such as engine control and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS).
Delivering software updates over-the-air (OTA) presents unique challenges, especially in automotive environments:
- Inconsistent Connectivity: Vehicles frequently operate in cities where buildings can interfere with connections, or remote areas with low bandwidth, making large update files difficult to deliver.
- Hardware Variability: Different vehicle models may have different electronic control units (ECUs), requiring a flexible and adaptive update strategy.
- User Convenience: Software updates must not interfere with vehicle availability or performance. Customers expect minimal disruption.
- Data Size: Full firmware updates are often very large and can lead to high monthly data costs over standard mobile networks.
How Adaptive Delta Compression Helps
Excelfore's adaptive delta compression technique only transmits the differences (deltas) between software versions. This reduces the update size dramatically and ensures faster, more efficient deployment. Adaptive delta methods dynamically choose the best compression approach based on the file type and system capabilities, making them ideal for the automotive sector's diverse hardware landscape.
Visualizing the Power of Delta Compression
Here's a comparison of full updates versus delta updates in terms of size and efficiency:
- Full Update: Sends a 120MB complete firmware image.
- Delta Update: Sends only an 8MB change from the previous version.
Flowchart Breakdown:
- Identify current and target software versions.
- Generate an optimized delta patch.
- Transmit compressed delta data.
- Install the update safely into the vehicle's ECU.
By visualizing this process, stakeholders can better understand the significant efficiency gains that delta compression provides compared to traditional full-image updates.
Real-World Use Cases: Excelfore in Action
Case Study: EV Manufacturer Deployment
A leading European vehicle manufacturer uses Excelfore eSync to streamline OTA updates across a global fleet. Before implementing adaptive delta compression, updates required roughly 64MB of bandwidth and took over 15 minutes to install – even longer in regions with poor connectivity.
Results after integration:
- 93% reduction in update size
- Average update time reduced to under 4 minutes
- 86% savings on mobile bandwidth consumption
This optimization allowed the manufacturer to rapidly push software updates, improving driver satisfaction without straining network resources.
(INFO: We have attached a PPT file with the name - Excelfore Delta Table for the above results)
Addressing Limitations & Future Outlook
Adaptive delta compression from Excelfore also provides significant improvements compared to the limitations of the other delta update technologies:
- Base Version Mismatch: In most delta compression approaches, if the current firmware version on the vehicle doesn't match the expected baseline, delta updates might fail, and a full update will be required. With adaptive delta compression from Excelfore the compression in the cloud will be matched to the base version in each vehicle in the fleet. There will be no mismatches.
- Processing Overhead: Both the server and the vehicle need to perform additional calculations during delta generation and application. With adaptive delta compression from Excelfore the compression algorithm is selected based on the processing resource available in the vehicle, minimizing vehicle downtime and inconvenience to the consumer.
Customizing capabilities
Excelfore can also provide predictive scheduling of updates, based on OEM-specific wireless network tariff schedules and vehicle location, to ensure updates occur at optimal times.
Summary
Excelfore adaptive delta compression technology represents a significant advancement in OTA updates for the automotive industry. Minimizing data transfer, reducing downtime, and ensuring compatibility across diverse vehicle systems empowers OEMs to deliver faster, more efficient updates that meet both technical demands and customer expectations.
Want to learn how eSync OTA from Excelfore can optimize your automotive software delivery?
Explore the full suite of connected vehicle solutions from Excelfore. For a demo or consultation, contact us here.
About Excelfore
Excelfore, located in Silicon Valley, is an innovative provider of cloud platform and connectivity applications for intelligent transportation. It provides middleware solutions for smart mobility networks that enable OEMs and suppliers to build the next generation of smart, autonomous and learning vehicles, fleets and associated infrastructure. Excelfore products include protocol stacks for in-vehicle Ethernet audio-video bridging (AVB) and time-sensitive networking (TSN), the cloud-to-vehicle eSync™ System for OTA updates, diagnostics and telematics, as well as eLearn™ machine learning platform. www.excelfore.com
Press Contact:
Mark Singer, Excelfore Corp.
Phone: +1 510 868.2500 x410 / E-mail: pr@excelfore.com
Reader Contact:
smartmobility@excelfore.com
eSync and eLearn are trademarks, and Excelfore is a registered trademark, of Excelfore Corporation.
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