ETAS Entwicklungs- und Applikationswerkzeuge für elektronische Systeme GmbH
Borsigstraße 14
70469 Stuttgart
Telefon+49 711 89661-240
Telefax+49 711 89661-108
Presse- und Öffentlichkeitsarbeit:
Anja Krahl
Press Release
80,000 ETKs Deployed for Development and Calibration
of Engine Management and Transmission ECUs
The high standards in terms of engine performance, torque, engine responsiveness, drivability, fuel savings, and emissions met by today's vehicles would not be attainable without the deployment of engine and transmission ECUs featuring a multitude of sophisticated functions. To develop these functions and adapt—or calibrate—the function parameters to meet the requirements of the respective vehicle model, the ECU is frequently equipped with an ETAS-made memory emulator (ETK).
The ETK provides development tools with a powerful interface to the ECU program, its parameters, and a large number of related measurement variables. Independently of the serial vehicle buses, access is accomplished with the aid of a high-bandwidth, real-time capable interface. The most recent generation of ETKs is capable of providing hundreds of time and angle-synchronous ECU measurement variables for measuring and bypass applications. ETKs are fully vehicle-compatible, and their rugged mechanical construction renders them impervious to the temperature extremes of winter testing and hot-weather trials.
In contrast to alternative methods, which task the ECU program with data access and data transfer, the ETK imposes a negligible burden on the ECU's microprocessor.The compact ETK size facilitates its physical insertion in or installation close to the ECU in the actual production layout. Being a functionally and physically separate addition to the ECU, the ETK facilitates a direct comparison between the behavior of the development ECU and its production counterpart. Accordingly, the series-production software can be calibrated while the ETK development ECUis still in use.
From the user's standpoint, the ETK offers a high degree of operating convenience. The ECU interface provides a uniform operating concept for function development, ECU testing, calibration, and road trials. Program versions and optimized calibrations held onboard the ETK are easily updated. The ETK's dedicated power supply enables the preparation and initiation of cold-start testing independently of the ECU.
ETAS offers ETKs in the form of memory or interface emulators (NEXUS, AUD, JTAG) for the commonly used microcontrollers for engine ECUs and transmission ECUs available from Freescale, Infineon, Renesas, NEC, STMicroelectronics, and Intel. ETKs can be easily adapted to a large number of ECUs and/or quickly developed for specific applications.At the time of this writing, ETAS has shipped more than 80,000 ETKs to the automobile industry.