ISO/FDIS 17978-1

ISO/TC 22/SC 31
Secretariat: DIN
Date: 2026-02-04
Road vehicles — Service-oriented vehicle diagnostics (SOVD) —
Part 1:
General information, definitions, rules and basic principles
Véhicules routiers — Diagnostic Véhicule Orienté Services (SOVD) —
Partie 1: Informations générales, définitions, règles et principes de base
FDIS stage
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ii
Contents
Foreword . iv
Introduction . v
1 Scope . 1
2 Normative references . 1
3 Terms and definitions . 1
4 Abbreviated terms . 4
5 Overview of the ISO 17978 series . 5
6 Conventions for identifying rules and basic principles and for specifying their content . 6
7 Rules and basic principles . 7
7.1 General . 7
7.2 Rules . 7
7.3 Basic principles . 8
Bibliography . 15

iii
Foreword
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This document was prepared by ISO/TC 22 Road vehicles, Subcommittee SC 31, Data communication.
A list of all parts in the ISO 17978 series can be found on the ISO website.
Any feedback or questions on this document should be directed to the user’s national standards body. A
complete listing of these bodies can be found at www.iso.org/members.html.
iv
Introduction
The introduction of high performance computers (HPCs) in vehicles is associated with changes in the classical
electronic and electrical vehicle architectures. Besides classical distributed embedded ECUelectronic control
unit (ECU) architectures, domain- or zone-based architectures are also available. These architectures also
extend beyond the physical vehicle.
This extends the focus from checking hardware to also checking the functionality of applications. It requires
the recording of data such as memory usage, processor load, and the number of active services, as well as the
collection of log and trace files.
These topics result in challenges regarding the management of the vehicle life cycle. Some aspects to be
considered are:
— faster release and update cycles;
— increased requirements such as data protection and cybersecurity;
— state-of-the-art diagnostic API using current information technologies.
The ISO 17978 series define an API which standardizes the methods for:
— discovering the SOVD capabilities;
— performing diagnostics;
— (re-)configuring and re-programming;
— allowing the introduction of new functionalities.
Figure 1 shows the OSI layers of the ISO17978 series.

Key
v
a
communicationCommunication protocol.
b
networkNetwork technology depending on E/E vehicle network architecture.
Figure 1 — OSI layers of SOVD
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DRAFT International Standard ISO/FDIS 17978-1:2025(en)

Road vehicles — Service-oriented vehicle diagnostics (SOVD) — —
Part 1:
General information, definitions, rules and basic principles
1 Scope
This document
— — gives an overview of the ISO 17978 series;
— — specifies rules and basic principles for the service-oriented vehicle diagnostics (SOVD), conforming to
the extended vehicle (ExVe) methodology, as specified in the ISO 20077 series;
— — defines general terms.
2 Normative references
The following documents are referred to in the text in such a way that some or all of their content constitutes
requirements 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 20077-2:2018, Road vehicles –Vehicles — Extended vehicle (ExVe) methodology –— Part 2: Methodology for
designing the extended vehicle
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.
ISO and IEC maintain terminology databases for use in standardization at the following addresses:
— ISO Online browsing platform: available at https://www.iso.org/obp
— IEC Electropedia: available at https://www.electropedia.org/
3.1
basic principle
design principle that is considered when designing an extended vehicle (3.8)
[SOURCE: ISO 20077-2:2018, 3.1]
3.2
capability
capacityability of a system, component or function to execute a defined task or provide a specific service
Note 1 to entry: Capabilities refer to concrete actions or functions that can be performed, such as executing a diagnostic
routine, retrieving sensor data, modifying configuration parameters or accessing logs.
3.3 3.3
classic diagnostic adapter
software that translates between the service-oriented vehicle diagnostics (SOVD) and another diagnostic
protocol
Note 1 to entry: The other diagnostic protocol may be a protocol that is not intended for diagnostic, Figure 2 CDA-
enabling communication between SOVD and 2two other diagnostic protocols.

Figure 2 — OSI layers of the SOVD
3.4
co-located
located in the same place as the vehicle
EXAMPLE Co-located diagnostics (3.6), co-located access.
Note 1 to entry: Figure 3 illustrates a co-located diagnostics operator (3.5) in relation to an extended vehicle (3.8).

Key:
responsible operator
Figure 3 — Co-located diagnostics operator using different network technologies &and ExVe
interfaces
Note: 2 to entry: The colours used in this figure refer to the ones in ISO 20077-1.
3.5
diagnostics operator
natural person that performs a diagnostic procedure
Note 1 to entry: A diagnostics operator can work at any service provider.
Note 2 to entry: In the ISO 17978 series, a co-located (3.4) diagnostics operator (3.4) is responsible for the diagnostic
process.
3.6
diagnostics
diagnostic process
process including the detection process of possible vehicle malfunctions, the identification of the likely root
cause of these malfunctions and the appraisal of its relevance for the operation of the vehicle
[SOURCE: ISO 20077-1:2017, 3.2]
3.7
electronic control unit
embedded computing device used for vehicle control functions
3.8
extended vehicle
entity, still in accordance with the specifications of the vehicle manufacturer, that extends beyond the physical
boundaries of the road vehicle and consists of the road vehicle, off-board systems, external interfaces, and the
data communication between the road-vehicle and the off-board systems
Note 1 to entry: Road vehicles without off-board systems and road vehicles equipped with telematics units are extended
vehicles.
[SOURCE: ISO 20077-1:2017, 3.5]
3.9
ExVe manufacturer
vehicle manufacturer responsible for the extended vehicle 8)(3.8)
3.10
High performance computer
device owning high capacity of computing within the vehicle
Note 1 to entry: A high performance computer used in the ISO 17978 series, typically hosts multiple virtualized guest
systems.
3.103.11
remote, adj
performed on a vehicle from a distance where the operator responsible for the concerned operation is not co-
located (3.4)(3.4) to the vehicle and where the vehicle is connected via an external network
EXAMPLE Remote diagnostics (3.6), remote access.
Note 1 to entry: The “operator responsible for the concerned operation” is a specific actor in terms of use case (3.14).
[SOURCE: ISO 20077--1:2017, 3.14]
3.113.12
resource
data or functionality of the vehicle
3.123.13
rule
fundamental design requirement that is complied with when designing an extended vehicle (3.8)
[SOURCE: ISO 20077-2:2018, 3.6]
3.133.14
use case
sequence of interactions between one or several actors and the concerned system, which has a defined goal
and provides a measurable result
EXAMPLE Read all active DTCs.
Note 1 to entry: “Read all active DTCs” may be comprisedcomposed of the following interactions: initialization of the
communication, identification of the vehicle, sending the request to get DTC information (“read DTC”), receiving DTC
information, terminating of the communication.
Note 2 to entry: Actors may be both human and machines.
Note 3 to entry: In the case of an extended vehicle (3.8), the concerned system is the extended vehicle itself.
Note 4 to entry: In order to be able to perform the design of an extended vehicle, it is necessary that the use cases are
completed by the appropriate use case scenarios
...