Exclusive Origin, a Kvaser technical associate based in Florida, U.S, has just launched a software suite for reflashing and testing automotive ECUs. Stratos is a cross-functional platform that connects engineers, technicians and managers to create synergies during the reflashing and testing process of ECUs.

With Stratos, customers can define the test or reflash process using a graphical programming environment, execute the process to up to ten ECUs concurrently, and monitor the data gathered from each ECU. Billing is per execution of Stratos, avoiding the upfront capital expenditures that are often necessary when buying ECU test software. Maintenance is also charged on a monthly basis, rather than annually, allowing customers to only pay for what they use.

According to Judson Brundage, Exclusive Origin’s CEO: “Stratos, together with two Kvaser USBcanPro 5xHS interfaces, can install new software on up to 10 ECUs over CAN at a time. In one instance, a customer using competitor software and hardware took 95 seconds to reflash just one ECU. Our solution reflashed 10 of their ECUs in 75 seconds!”

Stratos responds to an ever-increasing demand for automotive OEMs to speed products to market. With product development time continuously being shortened, and software validation resources truncated to mere weeks; software bugs can and do reach vehicles. Batch ECU reflashing comes into play when a software bug needs fixing, for example, or when car manufacturers need to change the calibration of a function on a particular ECU. Whilst the software fix on new ECUs is easily managed, ECUs in the field or already delivered to the car manufacturer are a different case. It is then that simultaneous ECU reflashing becomes a necessity, because this might involve multiple thousand ECUs.