Virtual Validation –
More than what meets the eye
Joe Fairchild
Project Manager – Software Development and Validation
dSPACE, Inc.
What is Virtual Validation?
Motivation for Virtual Validation
Business Trends and Challenges:
Impact on Engineering:
 More features
 Higher system complexity
 More customization
 More variants
 Faster time to market
 Shorter development cycles
 Higher quality
 More testing
 Higher safety
 More processes (and even more
testing)
Bottom line:
 Lower costs
 We need smarter solutions to the
challenges above
Motivation for Virtual Validation
 Discovering issues earlier in the product development cycle saves time and money
 How? - Simulation costs less per hour, tests can be repeated with higher frequency, and
the sooner we discover an issue, the quicker it can be addressed.
Cost Factor
$ x 100
$ x 10
$x5
$x1
SIL Test
HIL Test
Test Bench
Field Test
Point when issue is discovered
Production
Virtual Validation challenges
What is preventing us from testing earlier?
 How do we integrate multiple models or ECUs without hardware?
 How do we simulate the effects of our ECU operating systems?
 How do we get the most benefit out of our simulation and testing tool chain?
Pieces Required for Simulation and Testing
Device / System Under Test
Environment Models
.c
Execution Platform
Test Tools
6
Pieces Required for Simulation and Testing
Device / System Under Test
Environment Models
.c
dSPACE’s Philosophy: Utilize industry standards
Create scalable solutions
Enable smooth transitions between phases of development
Execution Platform
Test Tools
7
Pieces Required for Simulation and Testing
Device / System Under Test
Environment Models
.c
Execution Platform
Test Tools
8
AUTOSAR – The Key Enabler of Virtual ECUs
Evolution of AUTOSAR
 Trend: Use commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components to handle basic functionality
 Application becomes more focused and less hardware-dependent
 Promotes re-use of Application software components
 Benefit: Application code with standardized interfaces enables simulation without hardware
and without instrumenting code
Application
Application
Application
COTS
COTS
9
AUTOSAR Software Development Methodology
Application
RTE
BSW 1
BSW 2
BSW 3
BSW 4
OS
Library of
software components
(C code functions with
XML describing interfaces)
System (interconnection
of software components)
ECU
Configure OS, and basic
software; generate code for
RTE; compile and link
10
AUTOSAR Software Development Process
Design System Architecture
.xml
Configure and Build Basic SW
RTE
.xml
BSW 1
BSW 2
BSW 3
BSW 4
BSW
Config Tool
OS
Develop Control Functions
.c
ECU
Challenge: This step is very detailed
and time-consuming, and must be
repeated any time the architecture changes
Virtual ECU Generation Process
Design System Architecture
Standardized C Code and
AUTOSAR description files
.xml
Configure
Generate
and Build
V-ECU
Basic SW
RTE
.xml
BSW 1
BSW 2
BSW 3
BSW 4
BSW
Config Tool
OS
Develop Control Functions
.c
V-ECU
ECU
Virtual ECU:
Production-intent application code
with simulation-capable BSW stack
12
Non-AUTOSAR Virtual ECU Generation Process
Specify Configuration
(functions, inputs, outputs)
Non-AUTOSAR C code and
Configuration description
.csv
Develop Control Functions
.c
Generate V-ECU
V-ECU
Virtual ECU:
Production-intent application code
with simulation-capable BSW stack
13
Pieces Required for Simulation and Testing
Device / System Under Test
Environment Models
.c
Execution Platform
Test Tools
14
Re-use V-ECU across dSPACE Platforms
Virtual ECU
MicroAutoBox II
VEOS
SCALEXIO
Run production-intent code
on a rapid prototyping
platform
Simulate realistic ECU
on desktop environment
without hardware
Connect Virtual ECU to
physical signals for
Hardware-In-Loop testing
15
Pieces Required for Simulation and Testing
Device / System Under Test
Environment Models
.c
Execution Platform
Test Tools
16
FMI – Standardized Model Exchange
FMI = Functional Mock-up Interface
 Modelica Association Project
 23 members
 https://fmi-standard.org/
 Tool vendor independent simulation
of models
FMU = Functional Mock-up Unit
 Models based on FMI are
exchanged as zip file with suffix .fmu
 Compiled library and/or C source code
 Model description as XML file
 Additional resources / libraries
FMU
17
What is the Intention of FMI?
Exchanging Models
Reuse of models
Modeling tools
FMU
Export
Import
Tools with
specialized
libraries
Use model in
other modeling tools
Run on different
simulation platforms
Accessing Simulation
FMU
Test and
Experimentation Tool
Access
Using
ASAM XIL-MA V1.0.0
Simulation
Integrated Tool Chain – Model Exchange
Virtual ECUs
Simulink Models
FMUs
FMU
Re-use of models independent of
execution platform
19
Pieces Required for Simulation and Testing
Device / System Under Test
Environment Models
.c
Execution Platform
Test Tools
20
Integrated Tool Chain for Virtual ECU Development
Instruments and
Simulation Control
Visualization and
Animation
Early, PC-based validation of ECU
software and functions
Road and Maneuver
Definition
Test Automation
and Evaluation
Reuse of models, layouts, tests, data
during real ECU testing
21
Open Tool Chain for Virtual ECU Development
Third-Party
Modeling Tools
FMI
Third-Party
Test Tools
XCP
HIL-API
Utilize your current tool chain
across testing platforms
22
Use Cases for Virtual Validation
Offline (PC-based) Testing

Virtual test drives

Realistic test scenarios during software
unit/subsystem testing

Step-by-step debug during functional testing
Rapid Control Prototyping

Run AUTOSAR code on an RCP system

Bypass Virtual ECU for new feature
development
Hardware-in-the-Loop Testing

Test multi-ECU subsystems with mix of real and
virtual ECUs

Offline preparation of HIL simulations
23
What is Virtual Validation?
A Standards-Based,
Scalable,
Smooth solution for doing realistic simulation and testing across
the entire software development cycle
Thank you for listening!
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