Virtual Verification of Cause-Effect Chains in Automotive Cyber-Physical Systems

in 21. Internationales Stuttgarter Symposium (2021, January 25)

The technical complexity of automotive Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) traditionally demands high development and validation efforts. Due to the new technologies entering the automotive market, such as ... [more ▼]

The technical complexity of automotive Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) traditionally demands high development and validation efforts. Due to the new technologies entering the automotive market, such as Highly Automated Driving (HAD) (>= SAE L3) and connected infotainment, the overall system complexity is currently increasing significantly, challenging traditional system development methods and requiring new approaches for validation and verification (V&V). In parallel, new Electric/Electronic (E/E) architecture patterns are emerging in the automotive industry, distributing the functionalities across several multi-core Electrical Control Units (ECU) connected via Ethernet-based in-vehicle networks. This distributed approach leads to complex inter- and intra-ECU timing relations challenging the concept of freedom from interference according to the ISO 26262, and adding another dimension of effects analysis during V&V. This work enhances a cyber-physical functional simulation tool to include timing effects in distributed cause-effect chains and multi-technology-communication networks (incl. Ethernet and CAN). The resulting simulation allows the system designer to evaluate the impact of timing properties on a given distributed vehicle function, enabling an early validation of the system, avoiding rework during later stages of the development process resulting from wrong design choices. [less ▲]