Automotive Virtual Prototyping Day 2023

There is no single solution, Interoperability is key.

The integration into fewer but significantly more powerful ECUs is a trend we see across the automotive industry since a while. The advantages that come with this integration are manifold. However, this change also affects 'how' as well as 'when' we develop, integrate and test. We discuss the challenges that come with the higher integration during development, integration, and test especially with respect to Virtual Prototyping and its deployment throughout the development process. An outlook is given on required advances in methodology, tools, and their supply chain.

In the development of Embedded Systems, Virtual prototyping is overcoming the limitations of the standard approach where HW and SW development are typically serialized or only partially overlapped, because of the unavailability of engineering samples of a new microcontroller. Unfortunately, to maximize the benefits of a Virtual Prototype, working with a standalone microcontroller model is not sufficient.

For this reason, in PUNCH Softronix we develop Virtual Prototypes of the complete embedded system, modeling in SystemC all ASICs and the logic surrounding the main microcontroller. In addition, we also develop an integrated Virtual Testbench to provide an easy-to-use and self-consistent development/debug/validation environment. Virtual Prototypes and Virtual Testbench are combined in a complete Virtual Platform, that has been widely used during the development of our PUNCH Electronic Platform, providing several benefits in early SW development, verification tests, stress tests, finally accelerating the adoption a new microcontroller family.

This presentation introduces the way to verify SW and automatically create test case in reasonable way regarding legacy SW restructuring work. In many case of complex legacy SW, it requires restructuring for mass production (e.g. ASPICE) with insufficient (or missing) requirement to verify restructuring.

In this session we will share our experiences using Synopsys Silver & TestWeaver Explorative to develop restructured SW with integration/debugging function in Silver and verify it (back to back test) with verification related function. In addition, creation of non-requirement based test case (experience based, coverage driven test) to ensure restructured SW’s quality will be also introduced.

Domain controller centralized architecture with ethernet as the backbone is more prevalent in automotive electronics these days demanding multicore microcontrollers with advanced peripherals, and silicon companies are coming up with advanced microcontrollers to meet these demands.

Automotive Tier1's/OEMs are interested in proof of concept with these advanced controllers in the early stages of the development cycle to avoid any risks in meeting product launch timelines and ECU performance objectives. Inadequate sample microcontrollers and hardware availability in conjunction with silicon-level bugs pose a big challenge for software and new features evaluation at this stage. This may sometimes lead to the decision of continuing with legacy-proven electronics and reduced functionality. 

Microfuzzy will share our experience on how we overcame these problems and developed confidence using Synopsys Virtualizer VDK for early evaluation and multicore software bring up on the TC4xx microcontroller. We will also share experimental insights into the lite ethernet, data routing engine, and gigabit ethernet communication use cases.

Vitesco Technologies has developed a Virtual Target Environment of level 4 vECU (replacement for actual target) and uses virtual prototyping to test the target binary. The ASICs are modeled using Synopsys Virtualizer and the microcontroller models are acquired from the vendor. The ATIC models are integrated with an extensible microcontroller model using Virtualizer. The integrated vECU VDK is initially validated using the built-in model unit test framework of Virtualizer.

To further enhance the validation of ECU software, Vitesco has developed the Virtual Test Automation Framework (ViTAF), an automation framework which offers simple API calls to automate complex test scenarios which allows validation of the target binary on the vECU platform. The framework generates easy-to-read test reports within a Continuous Integration and Continuous Testing (CI/CT) environment.

Audi has a proven track record of virtual ECU simulation with varying degrees of abstraction levels - from fast level 1 component simulations to level 3 vECUs arising from collaboration with respective Tier1s. Due to increasing complexity of software architectures and resulting modelling effort of remaining bus simulations, the demand for reuse of existing vECUs in real-time systems grows rapidly.

AUDI and Synopsys have developed a new approach of linking the Hardware-in-the-Loop with the Software-in-the-Loop domain using Silver as part of the research project METAVI by the Bavarian state government.

Continental is working on different automotive use cases for Level 3 simulations with Synopsys Silver.

Continental is addressing the needs of the latest centralized car infrastructure with High Performance Computers hosting multiple operating Systems on one device. We are integrating single virtual ECUs in local environments for integrators with restbus simulations, up to the complete virtual HPC running in the cloud accessible by multiple developers at the same time.

Daimler Truck has created a modular platform for virtual vehicle and powertrain function development. This digital platform includes a global collaboration framework where modules of different vehicle subsystems are combined into a model that represents the physical behavior and controls of a real truck.

Depending on the actual task, different levels of model accuracy and runtime requirements can be selected, starting from simple 0-dimensional up to complex 3-dimensional FE simulations. Various applications of the platform are already an integral part of the development process and save time and costs as well as provide options that cannot be covered by testing. The co-simulation of a multi-body vehicle model with multiple control modules for powertrain development and the extension of the platform to applications for handling and active safety system simulations are examples for the use of the platform.