ACP Ford's Audio Control Protocol

A new network solution has been developed and implemented by Ford Audio engineering to support several upcoming distributed audio product programs.

Organized around the seven layers of the OSI model and implemented primarily in software, ACP is based on the physical layer of SAE J1708 (same as Ford's DCL) and a portion of the SAE J2178 message structure.

ACP's UART-based protocol depends heavily on a conversation structure that utilizes message coupling to provide reliable distributed control functionality.

The use of controlled network traffic, a collision avoidance technique, and a structured message language enhance the efficiency of this new network realization.