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What is AUTOSAR ComStack? Understanding Communication Within Layers of AUTOSAR Architecture

What is AUTOSAR ComStack? Understanding Communication Within Layers

of AUTOSAR Architecture

This blog is part of a series of articles that will attempt to introduce you to the various aspects
of the world of AUTOSAR!

AUTOSAR Architecture was introduced to promote standardization in the software

development process of Automotive Electronic Control Units (ECU).

Prior to the introduction of AUTOSAR standard, ECU software functions had to be rewritten
completely at the time of migration to a new hardware platform.

AUTOSAR Architecture introduced the concept of AUTOSAR MCAL (Microcontroller

Abstraction Layer) to ensure that application software was completely independent of the
hardware platform. This, in turn, made the software reusable and modular.

Another core aspect of the AUTOSAR architecture is ECU Communication . We will discuss this
aspect in detail with the help of AUTOSAR Communication Stack.

 Overview of the Software Layers based on AUTOSAR Architecture

As per the Layered AUTOSAR Architecture, the software development is implemented as per
the following modules (layers)  (bottom-to-top):

Basic Software (BSW) Layer – This consists of the following:

Microcontroller Abstraction Layer (MCAL)

Electronic Control Unit (ECU) Abstraction Layer

Services Layer

Complex Device Drivers

Run-Time Environment (RTE)

Application Layer
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9/23/22, 3:49 AM What is AUTOSAR Communication Stack (ComStack) | AUTOSAR Development

Understanding a Generic AUTOSAR Communication Stack (ComStack)

In the AUTOSAR layered architecture, Communication Stack or ComStack facilitates vehicle

network communication.

Hence, ComStack can be defined as a software stack that provides communication services to
the Basic Software Modules and Application Layer/Application Software.As shown in the
AUTOSAR Architecture diagram below, AUTOSAR Communication Stack is part of the BSW
(Basic Software) Module:

 A typical AUTOSAR Communication Stack has its modules in three sub layers of the Basic
Software Layer:


 Services Layer

ECU Abstraction Layer

MCAL

Some of the important software modules in this stack are as follows:

AUTOSAR COM – part of the Services Layer

Bus Specific Interface Modules – part of the ECU Abstraction Layer (For example -CANIF,
LINIF)

External Bus Drivers – part of the ECU Abstraction Layer (For example – External drivers like
CANDrv, LINDrv, FlexrayDrv)

Bus Transceiver Driver – part of the ECU Abstraction Layer

Internal Bus Drivers – part of the AUTOSAR MCAL (For example – CANDrv, LINDrv, FRDrv)

Sub modules such as Bus Network Management, Bus State Manager, Bus Transport Protocol,
Bus Interface and Bus Driver facilitate the communication. Each of these modules has specific
roles to play.

What is CAN Communication Stack in AUTOSAR Architecture?

When the target Bus type for an AUTOSAR compliant software is CAN, the ComStack
implementation is executed with respect to CAN Bus. Right from the Interface (IF) and State
Manager to low-level drivers, each of these modules need to be configured for CAN Bus.

The following diagram depicts the CAN based Communication Stack (ComStack):

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9/23/22, 3:49 AM What is AUTOSAR Communication Stack (ComStack) | AUTOSAR Development

List of different modules of the CAN Communication Stack:

AUTOSAR COM (Services Layer)

PDU Router (Services layer)

CAN State Manager (Services Layer)

CAN Network Manager (Services Layer)

CAN Transport Protocol (Services Layer)

CAN Interface (ECU Abstraction Layer)

CAN Transceiver Driver (ECU Abstraction Layer)

 CAN Driver (MCAL Layer)

 Learn More about the CAN ComStack Software Modules:

1. AUTOSAR COM: AUTOSAR COM is a module between the RTE and the PDU Router. It is
based on OSEK COM specification and provides a uniform interface to the CAN Network. It

is responsible for providing Signal level access to the application layer and PDU level
access to the lower layers, independent of the protocol.It packs the signals to a PDU at the
transmitter and unpacks the received PDU to provide signal level access to the application
at the receiver. At the PDU level, COM is responsible for grouping of the PDUs, and
starting/stopping of the PDU groups.

2. PDU Router: PDU Router is a module responsible for routing the PDU to the respective Bus
Specific Interface modules.Above the PDU Router module, all the PDUs are protocol
independent. Below the PDUR, all the PDUs are routed to the protocol specific modules.

PDUR is also the PDU level gateway for transmitting the received PDU from one Bus
Specific Interface module to another Bus Specific Interface module.

The PDU Router also accomplishes the gateway functionality when the PDU is routed
from one controller to another over the same protocol.

3. CAN TP: The basic services offered by the CAN TP module are segmentation of messages
which have a payload of more than 8 bytes, transmission of the messages with flow control
and reassembling the segmented messages at the receiver.

4. CAN Interface: CAN Interface (CANIF) is a module in the ECU Abstraction Layer, which is
responsible for services like Transmit Request, Transmit Confirmation, Reception Indication,
Controller mode control and PDU mode control.

5. CAN State Manager (CANSM): This module implements the control flow for the respective
Bus. The CAN State Manager is a member of the Communication Services group of
modules.CAN State Manager handles the start-up and shutdown features that depend on
the communication system. It also regulates the various options of COM for sending PDUs
and monitoring signal timeouts.

6. CAN NM: The AUTOSAR CAN Network Management is a hardware independent protocol
tool that can only be used on CAN network.It coordinates the transition between normal Happy
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9/23/22, 3:49 AM What is AUTOSAR Communication Stack (ComStack) | AUTOSAR Development

function provides an adaptation between Network Management Interface (NMIF) and CAN
Interface (CANIF) modules.

7. CAN Transceiver Driver – The primary functionality of the CAN Transceiver Driver includes
controlling the external CAN transceiver hardware. The wake-up and sleep processes of the
CAN Bus are regulated by the CAN Transceiver Driver. This driver also observes the BUS
line and transmits physical network layer diagnostic information to the upper layers.

8. CAN Driver (CANDrv): This module is a part of the MCAL layer and provides hardware
access to the upper layer services and a hardware-independent interface to the upper
layers. CANIF is the only module that can access the CAN Driver.

Conclusion

AUTOSAR software components are designed as plug and play components and standardized
communication is the key here. In the future automotive architecture, we can witness a
reduced number of control units, thanks to advancements in communication within AUTOSAR
architecture (Virtual Function Bus and RTE).

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