EB and SIMTOOLS facilitate testing of networked control units in automotive electronics

The development and validation of functions in automobiles is becoming an increasingly complex issue with correspondingly high levels of effort required, not least because of AUTOSAR. In this regard, EB and SIMTOOLS offer an intelligent solution for customers that use a model-based development approach. Using SIMBUS and the EB tresos Busmirror, software functions from MATLAB/Simulink can be implemented very easily on real-time hardware using code generation. The execution of these functions and the sequence control can then be conveniently carried out from the MATLAB/Simulink environment, with the option of using the measurement and analysis functions of the EB tresos Inspector in parallel. This solution is particularly useful for engineers developing, for example, functions for signal modification, alive counter, CRCs, gateways, or general OEM-specific functions in MATLAB/Simulink, which are then run in real-time conditions in conjunction with other control units.

The joint solution from EB and SIMTOOLS is a cost-efficient alternative to other options on the market, comments Dr. Emmerich Fuchs, Managing Director of SIMTOOLS. The economic benefits are achieved by using attractively priced FlexRay and CAN hardware interfaces such as EB 2100, EB 5100 and EB 6100, which are connected to MATLAB/Simulink via SIMTOOLS.

Many users at OEMs/Tier1 manufacturers use MATLAB/Simulink actively or have already worked with it in the past. Usually though, they don't have the time to write and validate complex C code, comments Dr. Jochen Schoof, Vice President ECU Software and Tools at EB. The new solution developed by EB and SIMTOOLS enables the simple connection of application models to the cluster emulation. In practice, this means that the required program code can be automatically generated from a MATLAB/Simulink model without the need to write, interpret, or test any C code. This therefore allows straightforward migration of real-time critical application models to real-time hardware and the associated synchronized processing with FlexRay. As Schoof summarizes, This approach allows program code to be generated from the MATLAB/Simulink models for various types of hardware. And users do not need any hardware knowledge.

Universal FlexRay cluster emulation with EB tresos Busmirror
EB tresos Busmirror provides support to developers of control units during the launch phase of the developer's own unit if the other bus participants are not yet available. The cluster emulation allows the developer's own control unit to be tested together with the other emulated control units. As well as testing the functionality, EB tresos Busmirror can also be used to test the response to possible error cases, such as sporadic errors in individual frames or the incorrect calculation of check sums. EB tresos Busmirror enables developers to start up a FlexRay network and configure the nodes to be emulated in just a few minutes.

Interface for cluster emulation
SIMBUS from SIMTOOLS GmbH is a toolbox for the configuration and running of CAN/Flexray-restbus systems in a MATLAB/Simulink environment. The toolbox helps with the development of application functionality in Simulink. While the cluster emulation system is running, SIMBUS ensures live access to CAN and FlexRay directly from the MATLAB/Simulink environment. The modelling and code generation of Target User Modules (TUMs) is supported for EB hardware platforms. The TUMs generated are seamlessly integrated into the busmirror-make-process. In this context, it is possible to call the make-process and to load and run a busmirror cluster emulation application.