Project Background

As a leading domestic automotive basic software provider, ZC Technology successfully undertook and completed the development of the MCU-side FOTA (Firmware Over-the-Air) functionality for United Automotive Electronic Systems (UAES) in a body domain controller project for a major automaker. Throughout the project, ZC leveraged its expertise in automotive embedded software to deliver comprehensive solution design and engineering implementation services.

Technical Details

• Zero-Interruption Real-Time Service Upgrade
  Adopted a Dual-Bank storage architecture, enabling background firmware updates to run in parallel with foreground business logic, ensuring uninterrupted operation of critical body functions (e.g., door control, lighting control) during the upgrade process.

• Functional Safety and Information Security
  The FOTA solution strictly complies with ISO 26262 ASIL-B functional safety requirements. Integrated national cryptographic algorithms (SM2/3/4) and Hardware Security Module (HSM) ensure end-to-end signature verification and secure transmission of upgrade packages.

• Complex Supply Chain Collaboration
  To address the involvement of multiple suppliers in the body domain controller, Zhichong established unified standard flashing protocols (UDS/DoIP) and an integrated testing platform, significantly improving joint debugging efficiency.

• Bricking Prevention During Upgrade
  Designed dual-backup and rollback mechanisms. In case of upgrade failure or power loss, the system automatically reverts to the previous version, ensuring continuous device operation with an upgrade success rate exceeding 99%.

• Optimization for Resource-Constrained MCUs
  For body domain MCUs with limited memory and computational resources, ZC developed differential upgrade technology, reducing upgrade package size by over 70% and optimizing memory management to ensure stable and reliable upgrade processes.

Project Highlights

1. Efficient Development and Rapid Deployment
   Leveraging its self-developed ZC Qinglong FOTA product, ZCg provided a complete FOTA solution for UAES's body domain controller MCU side, helping the customer reduce the FOTA development cycle by approximately 30%–40%. Through mature standardized modules (e.g., secure boot, differential upgrade, rollback mechanisms) and highly adaptable configuration tools, ZC minimized the customer's resource investment in ground-up development, accelerating project implementation.

2. Dual Assurance of Functional Safety and Information Security

   Functional Safety: The FOTA solution strictly adheres to ISO 26262 functional safety standards, supporting ASIL-B level requirements to ensure reliable upgrade processes.

   Information Security: Integrated with ZC's independently developed CryptoLibrary, supporting national cryptographic algorithms (SM2/3/4) and international encryption standards (e.g., AES, RSA) to ensure transmission and storage security.

3. High Upgrade Success Rate
   Through multiple verification mechanisms (e.g., end-to-end signature, power-loss resume), an upgrade success rate exceeding 99% was achieved, effectively mitigating risks of upgrade interruptions or corrupted packages.

4. Deep Customization and End-to-End Service Support
   ZC deeply adapted the hardware characteristics of UAES's body domain controller (e.g., matching the MMU management unit), optimizing memory partition layouts to ensure FOTA processes do not interfere with real-time tasks. Comprehensive technical support was provided throughout demand analysis, integration testing, and in-vehicle validation phases, with key issue response times under 4 hours, helping the customer pass the automaker's acceptance in one go.