8061 / 8063 op-codes

[Chris Cleeland]

>>>>> "Tom" == Tom Cloud <cloud at peaches.ph.utexas.edu> writes:

    Tom> [I understand why Ford hides its code, but I don't understand
    Tom> why they keep the data about the hardware secret.  [...]
    Tom> I'll bet the competition already has their code, and
    Tom> vice-versa.  I can get schematics for the radio and I can get
    Tom> data on virtually everything else on the car, so why not the
    Tom> ecu?  How is revealing ALL the details of the eec going to
    Tom> impact Ford at all?

I suspect that, from the perspective you place, revealing these
details would likely not impact Ford negatively, especially since this
is a dead product now (no new ones being produced, right)?

    Tom> I guarantee you GM and the other competitors already have all
    Tom> the data about it they want -- this is not a new product
    Tom> we're trying to figure out.  If we're successful, I think
    Tom> it'd actually make Ford some money (though an insignificant
    Tom> amount in comparison to their other sales).]

I would bet there are two issues that prevent them from doing what you
want:
* Cost of support: it costs money to create documentation, proof it,
  keep it correct, etc.  You (probably correctly) state that Ford
  won't make much money off this deal, so where's the benefit to Ford
  of doing this?
* Fear of liability:  there are many EEC-IV cars trekkin' in the US
  and abroad.  What if somebody looked at all the info and said "hey,
  there's this giant bug in here that Ford is ignoring!"  You and I
  both know the ambulance-chasing lawyers would have a hayday with
  that, bring a class-action suit, which Ford would have to defend,
  etc.

Plus, I sincerely doubt that all the information you want is
documented anywhere except in some engineer's notes or, worse, some
engineer's head.  Working in the software industry has shown me that
unless regulations exist REQUIRING this level of documentation,
eventually corners WILL be cut and code is blown whose only docs are
in the brain of the author.

If the two issues above are the only things holding the company back
from releasing the information, it is often possible to obtain the
information on a case-by-case basis simply by signing some
non-disclosure legal forms.  I don't know how one would go about doing
that within the colossus of Ford Corporate, but maybe some Ford people
could tell you.

Just my perspective,
-cj

--
Chris Cleeland, cleeland at cs.wustl.edu, http://www.cs.wustl.edu/~cleeland/
Associate Researcher, Washington University Dept. of Computer Science
"Everybody wants prosthetic foreheads on their real heads."