Timing analysis of communication cycle on vehicular FlexRay network

In this paper, the systematic timing analysis of communication cycle is studied and verified for the vehicular FlexRay network. The executing timing sequences of static and dynamic segments are discussed and analyzed by performing the specific experiments for synchronous and asynchronous FlexRay system. It is found that the working time of application task should be advanced for certain time interval to guarantee the task might be successfully executed in the scheduled time slot for synchronous system. The advanced time interval depending on the design architecture of Communication Controller in FlexRay chip is to be derived from some available experiments and estimated at about one slot time for both static and dynamic segments. Furthermore, the testing platform is proposed and implemented to construct a Drive-by-Wire system which is integrated with the steer-by-wire and throttle-by-wire functions, based on FlexRay Protocol. This networking system consists of four ECU nodes to achieve the steer-by-wire, and throttle-by wire control. In conclusion, the practical timing configuration of communication cycle is implemented and analyzed to verify and evaluate the system performance and reliability of proposed Drive-by-Wire architecture on vehicular FlexRay network.