[Editor's Note] Recently, technology for wirelessly updating vehicle software is being applied to electric vehicles. This technology is called OTA (over the air) and is expected to be applied to all vehicle types in the future, not just electric vehicles. Updating vehicle software via wireless communication has the advantage of always keeping the vehicle's software up to date, overcoming the inconvenience of having to visit a repair shop. Accordingly, we arranged an opportunity to learn more about OTA technology through an interview with Hyungjun Kim, Manager of Infineon's Automotive Business Unit, which has leading technology in this field.




■ Please introduce Infineon’s automotive products.

Infineon offers an industry-leading portfolio of products for automotive applications, including sensors, human machine interface (HMI) devices, network ICs, microcontrollers, differentiated high-performance memories, and silicon and silicon carbide-based power semiconductors.

■ They say that OTA (over the air) is the most essential function in the era of autonomous driving, but I wonder what OTA is and why it is needed.

OTA stands for Over the air, and it is a method of updating the ECU in a vehicle using a wireless network without visiting a designated repair shop. The main reasons why the OTA function is required are that it can save time, money, and effort for vehicle maintenance for both automobile manufacturers and buyers, and it can maintain the value of the vehicle for a longer period of time. It can also be seen as a technology essential for autonomous driving, as it allows for important vehicle updates to be made in real time.

■ I want to know what equipment and technology is needed to implement OTA.

To fully implement OTA, update firmware must be downloaded and stored without the customer's knowledge, and operating services must not be stopped during the update.

To this end, the microcontroller must support a dual-bank structure Flash function, and must support functions such as RWW (Read while Write) that can perform writing and reading at the same time, and Virtual Address Remap that provides convenience in managing firmware images for updates. Since the update is done wirelessly, no separate equipment is required, and a system capable of downloading in real time must be configured.

■ What are the methods and technologies for preventing security and confusion when implementing OTA?

Since OTA updates are made wirelessly through a public network, the security of the content is of the utmost importance. For complete security, a more powerful security technology that is impossible to hack between the microcontroller, OTA server, and end-to-end is required. The integrity of the content for updates can be guaranteed using more complex hash values and asymmetric keys.

■ Please introduce Infineon's TRAVEO™ T2G product for implementing OTA and Secure Boot.

Infineon TRAVEO™ T2G products are the latest products developed for future trends. First, it includes the Flash dual bank structure for OTA, RWW function, and Address Remap function that I mentioned earlier, and has various security hardware engines for update contents. These functions are provided to all products regardless of the memory capacity and package, so that the functions of OTA and Secure Boot can be provided at the same level on all products.

■ Lastly, please say a word to the readers.

We believe that developing with Infineon's TRAVEO™ T2G product will be of great help in responding to recently demanded OTA and Secure Boot functions. We ask for your interest in T2G products.