Many vehicles use a standardized communication protocol, called
SAE J1850, to enable all of the different electronics modules to
communicate with each other.
The engine control unit counts all of the pulses and keeps track of the
overall distance traveled by the car. This means that if someone tries
to "roll back" the odometer, the value stored in the ECU will disagree.
This value can be read using a diagnostic computer, which all car-
dealership service departments have.
Several times per second, the ECU sends out a packet of information
consisting of a header and the data. The header is just a number that
identifies the packet as a distance reading, and the data is a number
corresponding to the distance traveled. The instrument panel contains
another computer that knows to look for this particular packet, and
whenever it sees one it updates the odometer with the new value. In
cars with digital odometers, the dashboard simply displays the new
value. Cars with analog odometers have a small stepper motor that
turns the dials on the odometer.
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