Flashing

Reliable reprogramming of ECUs

The goal of flashing is to update an application in the ECU’s flash memory. This especially makes sense and is necessary during the development phase, but also on ECUs already installed in the vehicle. You will need the following components to flash ECUs:

• Flash file: data to be copied to the ECU’s flash memory.
• Flash tool: transfers the contents of the flash file to the ECU.
• Flash job (flash sequence): sequence of diagnostic functions for reprogramming the flash memory in the ECU.
• Flash bootloader: the flash process is generally executed using a diagnostic protocol such as KWP2000. On the ECU side, a driver is necessary for this, the so-called flash bootloader. The flash bootloader is generally stored in a protected area of the flash memory that cannot be erased or overwritten. The flash bootloader consists of a CAN driver, a transport protocol implementation and a diagnostic layer.
• Flash programming is also possible with CCP/XCP. In this case, the relevant CCP/XCP contents must be implemented in the ECU instead of a flash bootloader.
• Meta information: in end-of-line flashing, additional information is needed to parameterize the PC flash tool, e.g. segmenting of the flash memory, serial numbers and similar.

Supporting you in flashing

The following tools make it easier to reprogram your ECU reliably and quickly:

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