Information Systems ] (]]]]) ]]]–]]]

1 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

3
Information Systems
5

7 journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/infosys

11
Implementation of integrated OBD-II connector
13 with external network
15 Q1 Sung-hyun Baek, Jong-Wook Jang
17 Q3 Department of Computer Engineering, Dong-Eui University, Republic of Korea

19
a r t i c l e i n f o
Abstract: Ordinarily, a driver knows the current driving state of a vehicle through the On
21
Article history: Board Diagnosis-II (OBD-II) data. Lately convenience devices related to real-time vehicle
Received 9 January 2014 control and driving information data have been using OBD-II from the vehicle network.
23
Accepted 3 June 2014 However, when these devices receive vehicle data rom the OBD-II network, each
device receives its own information separately using its own vehicle network. If the driver
25 changes the product and OBD-II connector to use OBD-II, the driver also changes the
Keywords:
OBD-II OBD-II connector. As a result, the driver spends useless money for the product and vehicle
27 Bluetooth to use OBD-II.
Wi-Fi In this paper, we implemented integrating an OBD-II connector that uses Bluetooth,
29 WCDMA Wi-Fi, and WCDMA modules to overcome the above disadvantage.
j1962 & 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
OBD
31

33 63

35
1. Introduction
37
Recently, On Board Diagnosis-II (OBD-II) connectors have
39 been introduced to use a vehicle network (OBD-II) for the
diagnosis and checking of a vehicle, which has previously
41 used many devices such as black boxes, vehicle diagnostic
equipment and vehicle supply management. OBD-II is a
43 term used in the vehicle industry. Recently produced cars
are equipped with sensors for measurement and control.
45 These devices are controlled by the Electronic Control Unit
(ECU). However, the original purpose of developing the ECU
47 is precise control of the main features of the engine, such as
ignition timing, fuel injection, variable valve timing and idle
49 threshold setting. As a result of advances in vehicle and
computer performance, the ECU controls all parts of the
51 vehicle, such as the automatic transmission, drive system,
braking system and steering system. These electronic diag-
53 nostic systems have evolved and recently become estab-
lished as a standardized diagnostic system called OBD-II.
55
57 E-mail addresses: smartsma@naver.com (S.-h. Baek),
jwjang@deu.ac.kr (J.-W. Jang).
59
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.is.2014.06.011
0306-4379/& 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
61
65
Communication of the devices used in OBD-II can be wired Q4
or wireless with an external device (smartphone, EDR). 67
The OBD-II connectors released to date have been used
to connect only one device (OBD-II connector and iPhone 69
device, OBD-II connector and android device, OBD-II con-
nector and external device). 71
Depending on which communication method between
the hardware and software is supported, the devices des- 73
cribed above may have lower economy and convenience.
For example, because smartphones and tablet PCs that use 75
Android do not support direct Wi-Fi, they use only Blue-
tooth for communication. In other cases, if the iPhone uses 77
Bluetooth because it is certified by the Apple company, the
use of iPhones can present many inconveniences. 79
Because of the difference that supports the communication
system method, devices to send and receive OBD-II informa- 81
tion will be made separately from Bluetooth and Wi-Fi types.
To overcome these disadvantages, in this paper, the user 83
does not use a separate OBD-II connector for each device but
an integrated OBD-II, Bluetooth and Wi-Fi module for easy 85
use with any device. In addition, a WCDMA module (3G
module) is integrated for long distance use. Thus, we devel- Q5 87
oped the OBD-II connector to check the vehicle’s driving
89
91

Please cite this article as: S.-h. Baek, J.-W. Jang, Implementation of integrated OBD-II connector with external network,
Information Systems (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.is.2014.06.011i
 2 S. Baek, J.-W. Jang / Information Systems ] (]]]]) ]]]–]]]

1 information from long and short distances by any device using the installed scan software and OBD-II standard, and 63
at the same time. the PC and PDA.
3 To use the five electrical signals of OBD-II, the signals 65
2. Related research are processed using the ELM327 and Micro OBD chip. In
5 this paper, vehicle driving data are transmitted and rece- 67
2.1. OBD-II ived using the Micro OBD chip. The user transmits one
7 signal to the PC, and the Micro OBD chip searches for the 69
Vehicles are equipped with various measurement and communication signal in the vehicle and automatically
9 control sensors, which are controlled by the Electronic- converts to the signal of the vehicle to send a signal to the 71
Control Unit (ECU). The original purpose of the ECU was to PC and transmit data to the OBD-II network of the vehicle.
11 provide accurate control of the engine's key functions, such Fig. 2 shows Micro OBD size and PinOut. 73
as ignition timing, fuel injection, variable valve timing, The Micro OBD consists of 24 pins in total. The pin
13 idling, and boundary condition setup, but with the devel- numbers (5, 6, 11, 12, 24, 23) are used for the communica- 75
opment of vehicles and computers, ECU now controls almost tional OBD-II network of the vehicle; the pin numbers (1, 2
15 all the systems of the vehicle, including the automatic and 4) are used for the power supply; and pin numbers 77
transmitter and the driving, braking, and steering systems. (9 and 10) are used for communicational with the external
17 These electronic diagnosis systems underwent repeated device, as shown in Fig. 3. 79
development, and a standardized diagnosis system called
19 “OBD-II” was established for the diagnosis of the ECU. The 81
2.2. Wi-Fi
Q6 OBD-II network has the function of relaying information on
21 the vehicle's major systems or the trouble information 83
In this paper, the Wi-Fi module used is HLK-Wi-Fi-M03.
gathered by the ECU from the in-vehicle sensors to the
This module connects easily to a Wi-Fi network with
23 vehicle's display console or external devices, via the serial 85
peripherals and supports AP, the ADHOC mode and the
communication function.
802.11 B/G mode. It communicates by the ADHOC mode in
25 All vehicles using the OBD-II network adopt the stan- 87
this paper. However, a Wi-Fi module consists of 8 pins, and
dardized diagnostic trouble code and connection interface
it communicates the client-server approach using 4 (5, 6, 7
27 (ISO J1962), but there exist five different electronic signals: 89
and 8) of 8 pins for transmitting and receiving data. Table 1
VPW-PWM (SAE-J1850), CAN communication (ISO 15765,
shows the Wi-Fi module pin structure.
29 SAE-J2234), and ISO type (ISO 1941-2, ISO 14230-4). It was 91
stipulated, however, that all vehicles to be sold in the U.S.,
31 the world's biggest vehicle market, should use Control Area 2.3. Bluetooth 93
Network (CAN), beginning in 2008. This development will
33 certainly unify the future EU and Asian markets with CAN. The Bluetooth module in this paper uses FC155BC of 95
Fig. 1 shows a block diagram of the in-vehicle devices FIRMTECH (corporation). FC155BC is applied to Bluetooth
35 connected to the OBD-II connector. Various in-vehicle specification 2.1 and controls this module for supported AT 97
electronic-control devices receive the vehicle's status data commands.
37 from the sensors located in each part of the vehicle, and The Bluetooth module consists of 8 pins in total and 99
these data can be collected externally through the ODB-II communicates the Bluetooth fairing approach using 4 (1, 2,
39 connector (J1962). 7, 8) of 8 pins for transmitting and receiving data. Fig. 4 101
If you connect the currently used J1962 connector with and Table 2 show the Bluetooth module and its pin
41 an external scanner, it communicates between the ECU, structure, respectively. 103

43 105

45 107

47 109

49 111

51 113

53 115

55 117

57 119

59 121

61 Fig. 1. OBD-II system diagram. 123

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Information Systems (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.is.2014.06.011i
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1 63

3 65

5 67

7 69

9 71

11 73

13 75

15 77

17 79

19 81

21 83

23 85

25 87

27 Fig. 2. Micro OBD size and PinOut.

89

29 91

31 93

33 95

35 97
Fig. 3. Communication method using Micro OBD.
37 99
Table 1
39 Wi-Fi module pin structure. 101
No. Function Direction Description
41 103
1 nRTS/nREADY O Optional features pin, connected
43 to LED1 105
2 nCTS/MODE/ I/O Optional features pin, connected
GPIO to LED1 Fig. 4. FC155BC module.
45 3 Link O Optional features pin, the
107
designation of wireless
Table 2
47 transmission, is connected to 109
Bluetooth module pin structure.
LED3
4 nRESET I Optional features pin, a reset
49 No. Pin name Function In/Out 111
signal and effective when it is
low
51 1 GND Ground 113
5 VDD I The pin for 3.3 V input
2 VCC 3.3 V DC Input
6 RXD I The pin that receives data from
3 STATUS STATUS LED Output
53 the serial 115
4 FA SET Factory Reset Input
7 TXD O The pin that sends data to the
5 UART_CTS UART Clear To Send Input
serial
55 6 UART_RTS UART Ready To Send Output 117
8 GND I Ground
7 TXD Transfer Data Output
8 RXD Received Data Input
57 119
2.4. WCDMA
59 are part of the third-generation mobile communications 121
Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (W-CDMA), technology standard, used in the mobile phone and the
61 UMTS-FDD, UTRA-FDD, or IMT-2000 CDMA Direct Spread digital car using spread spectrum technology. 123

Please cite this article as: S.-h. Baek, J.-W. Jang, Implementation of integrated OBD-II connector with external network,
Information Systems (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.is.2014.06.011i
 4 S. Baek, J.-W. Jang / Information Systems ] (]]]]) ]]]–]]]

1 W-CDMA was standardized in the 3GPP as UMTS. There by the UART method using the module in this paper, the 63
are two modes of FDD and TDD. However, only the FDD development board processes multiple UARTs and support
3 mode is commercially available. It has a faster transfer MCUs of the vehicle. 65
Q10
speed than 2.5 generation systems such as GPRS, EDGE Table 3 and Fig. 6 show the STM32F103ZET6 specifica-
5 and GSM, following Japan's FOMA and the worldwide- tion and module, respectively. 67
used 2G GSM.
7 Technically, W-CDMA is a wideband spread-spectrum 69
mobile wireless interface with faster speed that uses the 3. Integrated OBD-II connector
9 direct sequence code division multiple access (CDMA) 71
signal processing method to support larger numbers of 3.1. Hardware design
11 users than the time-division multiple access (TDMA) used 73
in 2G GSM networks. Because it is a 3G communication This system consists of OBD-II chip devices that are
13 protocol based on GSM, there are other components (e.g., compatible with the existing device to use the system on 75
Core Network) with similar roles or parts (such as the the existing OBD-II connector and Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and
15 relationship between Node B–RNC and BTS–BSC) that WCDMA modules to communicate with an external device. 77
differ only by name but have similar internal structures. Fig. 7 shows the integrated OBD-II connector diagram.
17 Distinguished by the technical differences from CDMA To produce integrated hardware for the existing systems, 79
2000 1X, a synchronous third-generation mobile commu- the mount default J1962 connector is used. In addition, the
19 Q7 nication, it is called the asynchronous third-generation
mount OBD-II interpreter IC (Micro OBD2), Wi-Fi module, 81
mobile communication. Its typical services are video call- WCDMA module, and Bluetooth module are used for wire-
21 ing, High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), and less communication between external devices and the 83
High Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA). OBD-II Network. Finally, mount MCU (Coretex-m3) is used
23 Q8 WCDMA provides high-speed data processing and is a to control all the modules. 85
flexible available data service based on multimedia com- If there are to insert hardware circuit in this paper,
25 munication and information access in private networks. hardware circuit figure is difficult to identify too small as Q11
87Q12
The WCDMA module used is the S210 of G-Mode, and it shown in Fig. 8.
27 transmits data by KT network. The S210 module control All modules are controlled and managed by the Main MCU 89
uses AT commands between Data Terminal Equipment of the integrated system. Integrated hardware provides three
29 (DTE) and Data Circuit terminating Equipment (DCE). types of protocols and power of 12–14 V. The received power 91
Fig. 5 shows the G-mode S210 module. converts 5 V and 3.3 V through the power conversion circuit
31 to the internal module and MCU, respectively. The 5 V power 93
is provided to the OBD interpreter, Wi-Fi, 3G and Bluetooth
2.5. STM32 developer board
33 module, and 3.3 V power is provided to operate the MCU. If 95
the MCU is supplied power, it searches one of the three types
Q9 This board is a 32 bit ARM development board to
35 apply STM32 Cortex-M3, working up to 72 MHz, to use 97
STM32F103ZET6 MCU. Because this board communicates
37 99

39 101

41 103

43 105

45 107

47 109

49 Fig. 5. G-mode S210 module. Fig. 6. STM32F103ZET6 Rabbit core module. 111

51 113
Table 3
STM32F103ZET6 Rabbit specification.
53 115
CPU STM32F103ZE Cortex-M3 Core
55 SRAM 64 KB Internal SRAM 117
Flash 512 KB Internal Flash memory
NOR 2 MB NOR Flash
57 NAND 128 MB NAND Flash 119
External Memory 1 Mbyte of external static RAM and 8 Mbytes of external SPI Flash memory
59 UART 5 UART support 121
JTAG 20 Pin JTAG interface
Board Size 110 mm  140 mm (4.33″  5.5″)
61 123

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Information Systems (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.is.2014.06.011i
 S. Baek, J.-W. Jang / Information Systems ] (]]]]) ]]]–]]] 5

1 of protocols (CAN, ISO9141-2, KWP2000) in the OBD-II net- First, the integrated OBD-II connector (J1962) is installed 63
work and receives the vehicle driving data. The saved vehicle in the vehicle, and a correctly integrated OBD-II connector
3 driving data on the main MCU transmits immediately and will operate using the vehicle battery power. Then, when Q13 65
simultaneously through three modules (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, 3G). the integrated OBD-II connector checks the external com-
5 If the integrated hardware is connected to any device, that munication with any device, it will the connecting mode in 67
device receives real-time vehicle driving data. the Wi-Fi module, the fairing of SCP in the Bluetooth
7 module and the connection of TCP in the WCDMA module. 69
It selects the communication protocol (KWP2000, CAN, SAE
9 3.2. Hardware operation J1850) of the vehicle. If the integrated OBD-II connector 71
correctly sets the communication protocol (KWP2000, CAN,
11 Fig. 9 shows the integrated OBD-II connector operation SAE J1850) of the vehicle, it will wait for the vehicle driving 73
flowchart. data from the OBD-II for any device (smartphone, EDR,
13 navigation, Black box). When the integrated OBD-II con- 75
nector connects to any device, the data must be encoded in
15 ELM327 to transmit the required message for the OBD-II 77
network in the vehicle. Q14
17 The OBD-II network processes and receives the encoded 79
message and transmits it to the integrated OBD-II connector,
19 which then processes the message received by the OBD-II 81
network. When there is Wi-Fi communication, the inte-
21 grated OBD-II connector transmits to any device through the 83
Wi-Fi module. When Bluetooth communication is available,
23 the integrated OBD-II connector transmits to any device 85
through the Bluetooth module. When WCDMA communica-
25 tion is available, likewise, the integrated OBD-II connector 87
Fig. 7. Integrated OBD-II connector diagram. transmits to any device using TCP/IP socket communication
27 through the WCDMA module. 89

29 3.3. Initialization operation 91

31 This connector process uses a special protocol between 93

the integrated OBD-II connector and the OBD-II of the
33 vehicle. Fig. 10 shows a flowchart of the initialization 95
method and data processing method and their division
35 between the integrated OBD-II connector and the OBD-II of 97
a vehicle. Q15
37 First, the initialization method begins between the Micro 99
OBD chip and vehicle OBD-II network. It transmits 01 00
39 (initialization command) from the main MCU (Coretex-M3) 101
to the Micro OBD chip. The Micro OBD chip re-interprets the
41 Fig. 8. Integrated OBD-II connector hardware blueprint. five protocols at initialization PID (01 00) and transmits to 103

43 105

45 107

47 109

49 111

51 113

53 115

55 117

57 119

59 121

61 Fig. 9. Hardware operation flowchart. 123

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Information Systems (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.is.2014.06.011i
 6 S. Baek, J.-W. Jang / Information Systems ] (]]]]) ]]]–]]]

1 63

3 65

5 67

7 69

9 71

11 73

13 75

15 77

17 79

19 81

21 83

23 85
Fig. 10. Initialization operation flowchart.
25 87
Table 4
OBD PID.
27 89
Mode PID Data bytes Description
29 91
01 00 4 PID support
31 01 4 DTC clear 93
03 2 Fuel system status
05 1 Engine coolant temperature
33 0C 2 Engine RPM 95
0D 1 Vehicle speed
35 0F 1 Intake air temperature 97
51 1 Fuel type

37 99

39 the vehicle OBD-II network. Thus, the Micro OBD chip
responds to one of the five signals and always transmits as
41 the interpreted response protocol for the response signal
(Micro OBD chip has memory that can serve as storage
43 memory once the vehicle does not require the initialization
process). Thus, the initialization process is completed.
45 Second, the data processing of vehicle driving informa-
tion uses the PID table for vehicle driving.
47 This connector transmits periodically to the OBD-II
network using the OBD-II PID table, as shown in Table 4.
49 However, because not all vehicles support all PIDs, this
connector automatically deletes the unsupported PIDs.
51 Thus, the OBD-II network transmits vehicle driving infor-
mation PID data according to the received PID to the Micro
53 OBD chip, which must then re-interpret the received data
from the OBD-II network.
55 Thus, in this paper, the connector employs two reinter-
Q16 pretation methods for the user’s convenience.
57 The first re-interpretation method is more user-friendly.
However, the received data are HEX type to allow users to
59 view them easily. They are converted to 10-digit numbers
and transmitted periodically. This first method is not com-
61 patible with any device.
101
Fig. 11. Front of integrated OBD-II connector. 103
The second method transmits intact response PID data 105
by 3 external communication methods. The second method
is potentially compatible with any device. Because this 107
method has advantages and disadvantages, this connector
can use both the selected methods. 109
4. Integrated OBD-II connector implementation 111
This implementation is the same as the system develop- 113
ment environment used in this paper. MCU uses Cortex-M3.
The Bluetooth module is the FB155BC of Wiznet Corp.; the 115
Wi-Fi module is HLK-M03; and the WCDMA module is
the USIM chip from the KT telecommunications company. 117
The main MCU and the Bluetooth module and power change
119
module complete a circuit in the substrate front, and the Q17
Wi-Fi module and WCDMA module are arranged in the
substrate back, as shown in Figs. 11 and 12. 121
Fig. 13 uses Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and 3G to integrate the
OBD-II connector with the transmitted screen, which can 123

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Information Systems (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.is.2014.06.011i
 S. Baek, J.-W. Jang / Information Systems ] (]]]]) ]]]–]]] 7

1 Next, we collected and processed all driving data of the 53

vehicle, including video information, and implemented
3 transmission of data representing all the information. In 55
addition, we will implement a better optimized integrated
5 OBD-II connector for vehicle mounting. 57

7 Uncited references Q2 59

9 [1–10]. 61
63
11
Acknowledgments 65
13
67
This article is a revised and expanded version of a paper
15
entitled “Integrated vehicle OBD-II connector for reading
Fig. 12. Back of integrated OBD-II connector. 69
vehicle information” presented at the International Sympo-
17
sium on Advanced and Applied Convergence, held November
71
14–16, 2013 at Seoul, Korea.
19
This research was supported by the Ministry of Science, ICT Q19
73
and Future Planning (MSIP), Korea, under the IT/SW Creative
21
research program, supervised by the National IT Industry
75
Promotion Agency (NIPA) (NIPA-2013-(H0502-13-1011)).
23
77
25 Appendix A. Supplementary information
79
27 Supplementary data associated with this article can be
found in the online version at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.is. 81
29 2014.06.011.
83
31
References 85
33
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Soon-Heum Lee, Sang-Min Han, kwan-Soon Choi, Implementation
determine whether and to what degree data were well management system using OBD-II and CDMA module, in: Korea 89
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[3] Dong-Ho Choi, Du-Won Hong, Sung-Su Hong, Embedded real-time
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[4] OBD-II Bong-su Lee, exhaust gas), kung yung sa (2005) 5–22.
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95
43 tion of a vehicle using a Coretex-m3, Wi-Fi module, Blue- [6] hlktech (serial Wi-Fi(HLK-WI-FI-M03)) 〈http://hlktech.com/en/pro
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[7] firmtech (UART Bluetooth(FB155BC)) 〈http://firmtech.co.kr/01pro/
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51

Please cite this article as: S.-h. Baek, J.-W. Jang, Implementation of integrated OBD-II connector with external network,
Information Systems (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.is.2014.06.011i