ISO 22900-1:2008

Road vehicles — Modular vehicle communication interface (MVCI) — Part 1: Hardware design requirements

ISO 22900-1:2008 provides the framework to allow diagnostic and reprogramming software applications from all vehicle manufacturers the flexibility to work with multiple vehicle communication interfaces (VCI) from multiple tool suppliers. This system enables each vehicle manufacturer to support all vehicle communication interfaces to perform diagnostics and to control the programming sequence for electronic control units (ECUs) in their vehicles. ISO 22900-1:2008 describes the applicable use cases to justify the benefits of ISO 22900. It also specifies the design requirements to be followed by diagnostic and programming vehicle communication interface designers. The design requirements are categorized into different levels of conformance classes to provide: “software compliance”, a set of requirements for existing VCIs, which are software but not hardware compliant; “electrical compliance”, defining all signals and electrical interfaces that allow a system integrator to connect more than one VCI Protocol Module to the vehicle diagnostic connector and the host system; “mechanical compliance”, defining standard connectors on the VCI Protocol Module to interface to the vehicle Data Link Connector (DLC) and the host system, as well as defining a cabling concept to support interfacing more than one VCI Protocol Module. The technical requirements specified in ISO 22900-1:2008 have been influenced by the requirements of legal authority with regard to “vehicle OBD and programming”. The Modular Vehicle Communication Interface hardware design requirements will provide appropriate development guidance for vehicle communication interface manufacturers to meet legal authority and automotive manufacturer demands with regard to inter-vendor operability.

Véhicules routiers — Interface de communication modulaire du véhicule (MVCI) — Partie 1: Exigences de conception du matériel

General Information

• Status: Published
• Publication Date: 03-Mar-2008
• ICS: 43.040.15 - Car informatics. On board computer systems
• Technical Committee: ISO/TC 22/SC 31 - Data communication
• Drafting Committee: ISO/TC 22/SC 31/WG 5 - Test equipment/Data eXchange Formats
• Current Stage: 9093 - International Standard confirmed
• Start Date: 02-Jul-2025
• Completion Date: 05-Jul-2025

Relations

• Consolidated By: ISO 4869-1:2018 - Acoustics — Hearing protectors — Part 1: Subjective method for the measurement of sound attenuation
• Effective Date: 06-Jun-2022

Standards Content (Sample)

INTERNATIONAL ISO
STANDARD 22900-1
First edition
2008-03-15
Road vehicles — Modular vehicle
communication interface (MVCI) —
Part 1:
Hardware design requirements
Véhicules routiers — Interface de communication modulaire du véhicule
(MVCI) —
Partie 1: Exigences de conception du matériel

Reference number
©
ISO 2008
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©  ISO 2008
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ii © ISO 2008 – All rights reserved

Contents Page
Foreword. iv
Introduction . v
1 Scope . 1
2 Normative references . 1
3 Terms and definitions. 2
4 Abbreviated terms . 2
5 Specification release version information . 3
5.1 Specification release version location . 3
5.2 Specification release version . 3
6 Use cases . 3
6.1 OEM merger. 3
6.2 Compatibility between VCIs from after-market tool suppliers. 3
6.3 Future vehicle technology and data link(s). 4
7 Modular VCI concept . 4
7.1 Compliance levels. 4
7.2 Tier 1 Modular VCI software compliance (SC) . 4
7.3 Tier 2 Modular VCI electrical compliance (EC) . 5
7.4 Tier 3 Modular VCI mechanical compliance (MC). 6
7.5 Difference between software (SC) and electrical compliant (EC) MVCI Protocol Modules . 7
8 Modular VCI compliance levels, hardware configurations and design requirements. 8
8.1 General. 8
8.2 Modular VCI “minimum compatibility” requirement matrix . 8
8.3 Software compliance (SC) level design requirements. 9
8.4 Electrical compliance (EC) level design requirements. 12
8.5 Mechanical compliance (MC) level design requirements. 16
8.6 Data Link Connector (DLC) cable and connector. 21
9 Programmable power supply . 26
10 General electrical requirements. 27
11 General environmental durability requirements. 27
Bibliography . 28

Foreword
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards bodies
(ISO member bodies). The work of preparing International Standards is normally carried out through ISO
technical committees. Each member body interested in a subject for which a technical committee has been
established has the right to be represented on that committee. International organizations, governmental and
non-governmental, in liaison with ISO, also take part in the work. ISO collaborates closely with the
International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) on all matters of electrotechnical standardization.
International Standards are drafted in accordance with the rules given in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2.
The main task of technical committees is to prepare International Standards. Draft International Standards
adopted by the technical committees are circulated to the member bodies for voting. Publication as an
International Standard requires approval by at least 75 % of the member bodies casting a vote.
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of patent
rights. ISO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
ISO 22900-1 was prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 22, Road vehicles, Subcommittee SC 3,
Electrical and electronic equipment.
ISO 22900 consists of the following parts, under the general title Road vehicles — Modular vehicle
communication interface (MVCI):
⎯ Part 1: Hardware design requirements
⎯ Part 2: Diagnostic protocol data unit application programming interface (D-PDU API)
⎯ Part 3: Diagnostic server application programming interface (D-Server API)
iv © ISO 2008 – All rights reserved

Introduction
The ISO 22900 series of standards is applicable to diagnose and program vehicle electronic control modules
with off-board applications through the vehicle's communication interface.
This part of ISO 22900 has been established in order to define the requirements of cascading multiple
communication interfaces supporting current, future, and legacy standardized and original equipment
manufacturer (OEM) proprietary protocols implemented by different tool manufacturers. Today's situation in
the automotive after-market requires different vehicle communication interfaces for different vehicle OEMs.
Many vehicle communication interfaces are incompatible with regard to their interconnect ability because this
was not a requirement when designed.
The objective of this part of ISO 22900 is to specify the hardware design requirements to support a “plug and
play” type concept of different vehicle communication interfaces from different tool manufacturers. The
hardware design requirements are applicable to different levels of compliance, and they will address the
inter-vendor operability at the vehicle diagnostic connector end as well as the test equipment end, which
executes the applications (Electronic Control Unit diagnostics, programming, etc.).
Implementation of the Modular Vehicle Communication Interface (MVCI) server concept supports overall cost
reduction to the end user because a single diagnostic or programming application will support many vehicle
communication interfaces supporting different protocols.

INTERNATIONAL STANDARD ISO 22900-1:2008(E)

Road vehicles — Modular vehicle communication interface
(MVCI) —
Part 1:
Hardware design requirements
1 Scope
This part of ISO 22900 provides the framework to allow diagnostic and reprogramming software applications
from all vehicle manufacturers the flexibility to work with multiple vehicle communication interfaces (VCI) from
multiple tool suppliers. This system enables each vehicle manufacturer to support all vehicle communication
interfaces to perform diagnostics and to control the programming sequence for electronic control units (ECUs)
in their vehicles.
This part of ISO 22900 describes the applicable use cases to justify the benefits of ISO 22900. It also
specifies the design requirements to be followed by diagnostic and programming vehicle communication
interface designers. The design requirements are categorized into different levels of conformance classes to
provide:
⎯ “software compliance”, a set of requirements for existing VCIs, which are software but not hardware
compliant;
⎯ “electrical compliance”, defining all signals and electrical interfaces that allow a system integrator to
connect more than one VCI Protocol Module to the vehicle diagnostic connector and the host system;
⎯ “mechanical compliance”, defining standard connectors on the VCI Protocol Module to interface to the
vehicle Data Link Connector (DLC) and the host system, as well as defining a cabling concept to support
interfacing more than one VCI Protocol Module.
The technical requirements specified in this part of ISO 22900 have been influenced by the requirements of
legal authority with regard to “vehicle OBD and programming”.
The Modular Vehicle Communication Interface hardware design requirements will provide appropriate
development guidance for vehicle communication interface manufacturers to meet legal authority and
automotive manufacturer demands with regard to inter-vendor operability.
2 Normative references
The following referenced documents are indispensable for the application of this document. For dated
references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, the latest edition of the referenced
document (including any amendments) applies.
ISO 15031-3, Road vehicles — Communication between vehicle and external equipment for emissions-related
diagnostics — Part 3: Diagnostic connector and related electrical circuits, specification and use
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.
3.1
Universal Serial Bus On-The-Go
USB OTG
supplement to the USB 2.0 specification that augments the capability of mobile devices and USB peripherals
by adding host function for connection to USB peripherals
3.2
Ethernet
physical network media type
4 Abbreviated terms
API Application Programming Interface
ASCII American Standard for Character Information Interchange
DLC Data Link Connector
DLL Dynamic Link Library
D-PDU API Diagnostic Protocol Data Unit Application Programming Interface
D-Server API Diagnostic Server Application Programming Interface
EC Electrical Compliance
ECU Electronic Control Unit
MC Mechanical Compliance
MVCI Modular Vehicle Communication Interface
ODX Open Diagnostic data eXchange
OEM Original Equipment Manufacturer
PC Personal Computer
PDA Personal Digital Assistant
PDU Protocol Data Unit
PEC Protocol Expansion Connector
PEM Protocol Expansion Module
PES Protocol Expansion Slot
SC Software Compliance
USB Universal Serial Bus
USB OTG Universal Serial Bus On-The-Go
2 © ISO 2008 – All rights reserved

5 Specification release version information
5.1 Specification release version location
Specification release version information is contained in each Modular VCI release document specification
under the same title “Specification release version information”. It is important to check for feature support
between Modular VCI release specifications if the hardware and most recent API features shall be
implemented. The D-PDU-API supports the reading of version information by the API function call
PDUGetVersion.
Release version information is also contained in the following files:
⎯ Root Description File (RDF);
⎯ Module Description File (MDF);
⎯ Cable Description File (CDF);
⎯ D-PDU API Library File.
5.2 Specification release version
The specification release version of this part of ISO 22900 is: V2.2.0.
6 Use cases
6.1 OEM merger
In the past, several OEMs in the automotive industry have merged into one company.
All companies leverage existing (legacy) components and jointly develop new products, which are common
across different vehicle types and badges. OEMs specify requirements and design electronic systems to be
implemented in multiple vehicle platforms in order to avoid re-inventing a system for different vehicles. The
majority of design, normal operation,
...