FlexRay Communications

As more features and functionalities are added to automobiles, the need for an improved communication bus becomes more apparent. The FlexRay protocol, currently under development by the FlexRay Consortium, is expected to be a comprehensive communication system for future automobiles, replacing the low-speed Control Area Networks (CAN) and providing speed, flexibility and scalability for complex networks of sensors and Electric Control Units (ECU) within a vehicle. In this work, an interface capable of broadcasting the FlexRay protocol between two PCs is constructed. The features of FlexRay protocol are analyzed, including time and event triggered communication schemes, effects of Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) on fault-tolerant mechanism, error detection and error diagnosis capability, and powerdown and wake up mechanisms