Data logging for FlexRay, MOST, CAN

Automotive Industries, Fall, 2008 by Lenny Case

Another important FlexRay milestone has been passed with the introduction of a FlexRay-enabled data logger developed specially for the automotive industry.

The Telemotive blue PiraT (which stands for processing information, recording and analyzing tool) is a device to monitor communication of the bus systems in vehicles. The recorded data can be downloaded via Ethernet to be analyzed on a laptop or PC.

The eight year old Telemotive's motto its "we drive your ideas". The company says its' goal is to actively speed up developments and be customer-oriented in its approach. Founded in 2000, the German company specializes in engineering consulting and system integration of complex, interlaced systems--as well as the development and the production of control electronics in the automobile industry. The company has more than 200 employees with experience in hardware and software and overall OEM system experience. "We provide services in this area based on more than 10 years of successful project processing in the OEM / embedded system development," says the company.

The Telemotive blue PiraT 2C2FR is a scalable, high-speed communication system for MOST, CAN, RS232/RS422 serial interfaces and two FlexRay channels, with the information stored on a 40GB hard drive. The data logger records synchronous time stamps between MOST, CAN and FlexRay. The earlier blue PiraT 2c did not cater for FlexRay.

Synchronous time stamps are required as certain vehicle functions use several bus systems together for their implementation. To verify that the data has been sent among these bus systems with the correct order and timing, it must be possible to compare different data sources at the same moment in time. Telemotive has also introduced the 6C2L2FR, which has six CAN and two LIN connectors.

The blue PiraT systems can be fine-tuned for specific applications. "Our specialists are happy to adjust blue PiraT to individual bus system worlds. The power management, which includes a low-power standby mode, fast wakeup and low power consumption mean the blue PiraT can be directly built into the vehicle without problems," says Telemotive.