Research on anti-change mechanism of over-the-air firmware upgrade (OTA) for vehicular ECU
车载ECU固件空中升级（OTA）的防变砖机制研究

摘要

车载ECU固件空中升级（OTA）是现代汽车电子系统中重要的技术之一，能够提升车辆的功能性与安全性。在OTA升级过程中，固件更新失败或不当可能导致ECU“变砖”现象，严重影响车辆正常运行。为了确保OTA升级的可靠性，防变砖机制的研究尤为关键。本文从安全性、完整性、回滚机制等方面探讨了防变砖技术的实现策略，提出了一种基于多重校验、冗余备份和动态恢复的防变砖方案，以提高车载系统在OTA过程中的可靠性与稳定性。实验结果表明，所提出的防变砖机制有效避免了系统升级中的异常情况，保障了车载ECU的正常运行。

Abstract

Over-the-air firmware updates (OTA) for automotive Electronic Control Units (ECUs) represent a critical technology in modern vehicle electronics, significantly enhancing both functionality and safety. During OTA processes, firmware update failures or improper implementations may trigger ECU "brick" phenomena, severely disrupting vehicle operations. To ensure OTA reliability, developing robust anti-brick mechanisms proves essential. This paper explores implementation strategies for anti-brick technology through three dimensions: security, integrity, and rollback mechanisms. A comprehensive anti-brick solution featuring multi-level verification, redundant backups, and dynamic recovery is proposed to improve system reliability during OTA processes. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed anti-brick mechanism effectively prevents abnormal upgrade scenarios while ensuring stable operation of automotive ECUs.