WALTHAM, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Red Bend Software, the market leader in Mobile Software Management (MSM) with more than 1.75 billion Red Bend-Enabled™ devices, today announced that Red Bend’s Firmware Over-the-Air (FOTA) Update Installer will be integrated with Vector’s Flash Bootloader (FBL) and the two companies will work together to co-market the solution. Red Bend enables an innovative and optimized way to perform firmware updates by downloading just the differential of the current and next software version. This can be done either through the vehicle communication bus or over-the-air (OTA) to automotive electronic control units (ECUs) on the production line and after a vehicle has been sold to the consumer.
Red Bend will demonstrate the integration of its FOTA installer with Vector’s FBL June 5-6 in Booth 30 and 31 during Telematics Detroit at The Suburban Collection Showplace in Novi, Mich.
Vector’s FBL uses several components to reprogram ECUs, including a bootloader, flash driver and flash scripts resulting in a compact solution for reprogramming ECUs efficiently and according to the process requirements of the OEM. Red Bend’s FOTA quickly and securely updates only the changes (the delta) between firmware versions deployed on the ECU without having to send the entire new firmware. Together, the joint solution will reduce warranty costs and OPEX by:
Car manufacturer–Time and money savings through the fast programming and updating of the ECU on the production line, as well as in-field updates
Consumer–Assurance that their car is being maintained efficiently throughout the lifetime of the vehicle and less time is spent on maintenance
Tier one supplier–Ability to introduce innovative and differentiated solutions together with reducing the risk of software updates in production
According to Strategy Analytics, the number of lines of code in a car has grown from 1,000 in 1990 to 100 million in 2012, and this number continues to grow as automotive software becomes more complex. The number of ECUs in vehicles is also growing. In high-end vehicles, there can be as many as 100 ECUs.
“The automotive industry is quickly learning to take advantage of the technologies already proven in the mobile industry. Vector is a strategic partner for Red Bend. This tight integration of our two products is the next step to ensure the growing amount of software on ECUs is always updated quickly and securely,” said Lori Sylvia, EVP of Marketing, Red Bend.
According to Armin Happel, product manager responsible for the Flash Bootloader at Vector, “Red Bend is a trusted partner and we are excited to work together to bring our joint solution to the growing world of telematics. Together, we will offer a unique, holistic solution to securely, safely and efficiently update the entire ECU lineup. This solution will have significant cost- and time-saving benefits for tier one automotive suppliers, car manufacturers and consumers.”
About Red Bend Software
Red Bend® Software, the leader in Mobile Software Management (MSM) with more than 1.6 billion Red Bend-Enabled™ devices, makes mobile devices and services continuously better in a rapidly changing world. Red Bend is the only company that provides standards-based products and solutions for software management, device management and mobile virtualization that work on any mobile phone and connected device uniformly, efficiently and securely over the air. Red Bend enables its customers to stay competitive in a fast-moving market by helping them deliver high-value services on an increasing number of connected devices with growing software complexity. More than 80 leading device manufacturers, mobile operators, semiconductor vendors and automotive companies worldwide trust Red Bend with their most important assets—the mobile and connected devices their consumers depend on.
About Vector
Vector is the leading manufacturer of software tools and software components for the development of electronic systems and their networking based on CAN, LIN, FlexRay, IP/Ethernet and MOST as well as multiple CAN based protocols. The Vector know-how is reflected in a wide range of tools as well as in integrated consulting services with software and systems engineering. Workshops and seminars complete the manifold training program. Customers from the automotive engineering, the commercial vehicle, aerospace, transportation and control technologies around the world trust in the solutions and products from the independently-owned Vector Group. Vector Informatik GmbH was founded in 1988. About 1,100 employees work for Vector Informatik and Vector Consulting Services in Stuttgart or in one of the subsidiaries in USA, Japan, France, Great Britain, Sweden, the Republic of Korea, India and China. The group’s revenue in 2012 was 224 million Euros.