FlexRay

FlexRay is an automotive network communications protocol developed by the FlexRay Consortium to govern on-board automotive computing. It is designed to be faster and more reliable than CAN and , but it is also more expensive. The FlexRay consortium disbanded in 2009, but the FlexRay standard is now a set of ISO standards, ISO 17458-1 to 17458-5.

FlexRay supports high data rates, up to 10 Mbit/s, explicitly supports both star and "party line" bus topologies, and can have two independent data channels for fault-tolerance (communication can continue with reduced bandwidth if one channel is inoperative). The bus operates on a time cycle, divided into two parts: the static segment and the dynamic segment. The static segment is preallocated into slices for individual communication types, providing a stronger real-time guarantee than its predecessor CAN. The dynamic segment operates more like CAN, with nodes taking control of the bus as available, allowing event-triggered behavior.

The FlexRay Consortium was made up of the following core members:

There were also Premium Associate and Associate members of FlexRay consortium. By September 2009, there were 28 premium associate members and more than 60 associate members. At the end of 2009, the consortium disbanded.

The first series production vehicle with FlexRay was at the end of 2006 in the BMW X5, enabling a new and fast adaptive damping system. Full use of FlexRay was introduced in 2008 in the new BMW 7 Series (F01).

FlexRay system consists of a bus and processors (Electronic control unit, or ECUs). Each ECU has an independent clock. The clock drift must be not more than 0.15% from the reference clock, so the difference between the slowest and the fastest clock in the system is no greater than 0.3%.

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