The main purpose of this SAE Recommended Practice is to verify that vehicles are capable of communicating a minimum subset of information in accordance with the diagnostic test services specified in SAE J1979, or the equivalent document ISO 15031-5. Any software meeting these specifications will utilize the vehicle interface that is defined in SAE J2534. SAE J1699-3 tests shall be run using an SAE J2534-1 (API Version 04.04) Interface. However, the use of an SAE J2534-2 (API Version 04.04) Interface shall be permitted if the following conditions are met:

• The number of 29-bit ISO 15765 OBD ECUs exceeds the capability of the SAE J2534-1 Interface.
• The SAE J2534-2 Interface meets or exceeds all of the SAE J2534-1 requirements and also supports the SAE J2534-2 feature “Mixed Format Frames on a CAN Network.”