RTOS highlights importance of automotive fail-safe software

What’s more, its speed and efficient use of resources has made it into one of the leading systems, capable of implementing AUTOSAR 4.x safety concepts at the operating system and basic software level. Clear and easy to use, ASCET model-based software development offers the possibility of early validation so that errors can be flagged very early on in development. The integrated code generator is also certified by TÜV in accordance with the ISO 26262 and IEC 61508 standard.

Not only should tests and validations be conducted at the earliest possible opportunity, it is also important that they reflect real-life conditions–an area in which the ETAS INTECRIO integration platform and the virtual ECU ETAS EVE excel. When testing is limited only to functionality, there is the danger of overlooking a vital aspect: how the system behaves when things go wrong. For instance, what happens if the start-up process is disrupted? What if there is a loose contact during braking?

Here, too, faults must be rooted out at the earliest opportunity. This is where ETAS EHOOKS comes in, an extremely helpful tool that lets you insert bypass hooks into software that has already been compiled. With EHOOKS you can run white-box tests in which you introduce specific errors to see how the system reacts, or you can look deep into the functioning of the software. This gives testing an enormous breadth of scope, which ultimately translates into more safety.