We’re excited to announce the release of our new FlexRay Serial Decoding Guided Test, now available in PicoScope 7 Automotive software! This new guided test is designed to simplify the process of diagnosing FlexRay network issues for automotive technicians.
FlexRay is a high-speed vehicle network protocol commonly used in modern vehicles for critical applications. It is particularly found within systems requiring high data rates and fault tolerance, including applications like adaptive cruise control systems, brake-by-wire systems, steer-by-wire systems, and other advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS).
While robust, problems within the FlexRay network can lead to frustrating symptoms for vehicle owners, such as intermittent operation of vehicle features, warning lights on the dashboard, or even a complete loss of functionality. For technicians, these problems can appear as Diagnostic Trouble Codes (DTCs) related to communication errors or observed lack of response from certain ECUs.
Diagnosing these issues can be especially complex when issues are caused by the serial communication messages themselves, rather than the physical network. Our new FlexRay Serial Decoding Guided Test aims to make life easier for technicians: It provides clear, step-by-step instructions for connecting your PicoScope to the differential FlexRay network, specifically to the FlexRay bus high and FlexRay bus low lines. The test automatically configures the necessary decoding settings within PicoScope 7 Automotive, so you can immediately see the serial decoded data.
The test walks you through the connection process and helps you interpret the waveforms you’ll see. You’ll learn that the bus’s high and low waveforms mirror each other around a bus idle voltage of 2.5 V, with a 2 V peak-to-peak amplitude when active. The test demonstrates how a third Math Channel can show the voltage difference between high and low lines and can represent the bus’s logical state.
Once connected, the Guided Test enables PicoScope’s serial decoding feature, presenting the complex FlexRay messages in an easily readable table format. Each row in the table represents a captured message (packet), displaying critical information such as the Frame ID, payload data, and other properties. This allows you to quickly identify specific messages and examine their content. Invalid or error message data will be highlighted in red, making it easier to spot potential faults.
By providing automated setup and clear, decoded data, this new guided test helps technicians efficiently pinpoint communication errors, corrupted messages, or unexpected network behavior, ultimately simplifying the diagnostic process and saving valuable time.
The new test is already available within the PicoScope 7 Automotive Guided Tests. Download the software now from https://www.picoauto.com/downloads