Search Results (4)

The increasing complexity of automotive software driven by ADAS and autonomous driving has intensified the need for time-deterministic network validation beyond CAN/LIN, while HIL integration remains constrained by limited ECU prototypes and labor-intensive manual configuration. This paper presents a network-oriented virtual verification environment that couples Renode-based virtual ECUs (vECUs) with FMU-based Interaction Layer (FIL) Nodes automatically generated from DBC specifications. The vECUs provide instruction-accurate execution of unmodified target binaries without physical hardware, while the generated FIL Nodes encapsulate communication behavior as model-based FMUs to maintain continuity from MIL to SIL without manual signal mapping. The proposed framework constructs virtual CAN networks from communication-definition files, reproduces periodic and event-triggered traffic patterns, and supports synchronized multi-ECU co-simulation under master-controlled time stepping. Experimental results show that the vHIL environment reproduces physical ECU timing behavior with a maximum relative error of 0.086–0.171% across all evaluated step sizes (10 μs to 1000 μs), confirming binary-level timing fidelity. Replacing vECUs with FIL Nodes for network communication processing significantly reduces wall-clock execution time in multi-node configurations, demonstrating improved scalability without sacrificing determinism. These results demonstrate that the proposed methodology effectively reduces early-stage integration bottlenecks while preserving timing fidelity for automotive networked ECU validation. Full article

In automotive software development, testing and validation workloads are often concentrated at the end of the development cycle, leading to delays and late-stage issue discovery. To address this, virtual Electronic Control Units (vECUs) have gained attention for enabling earlier-stage verification. In our previous work, we developed a Level-4 vECU using a hardware-level emulator. However, when simulating multiple vECUs with independent clocks across distributed emulators, we observed poor timing reproducibility due to the lack of explicit synchronization. To solve this, we implemented an integration layer compliant with the functional mock-up interface (FMI), a widely used standard for simulation tool interoperability. The layer enables synchronized simulation between a centralized simulation master and independently running vECUs. We also developed a virtual CAN bus model to simulate message arbitration and validate inter-vECU communication behavior. Simulation results show that our framework correctly reproduces CAN arbitration logic and significantly improves timing reproducibility compared to conventional Linux-based interfaces. To improve simulation performance, the FMI master algorithm was parallelized, resulting in up to 85.2% reduction in simulation time with eight vECUs. These contributions offer a practical solution for synchronizing distributed Level-4 vECUs and lay the groundwork for future cloud-native simulation of automotive systems. Full article

In the automotive industry, the reduction of development costs is of key importance. The development of electrical hardware is an expensive, time-consuming process with a lot of development stages (e.g., prototyping, electrical testing, mechanical testing, lifecycle testing). There is a growing need to increase the cost-effectiveness of the development and testing phases of embedded software using virtualization. Using this method, less prototype manufacturing is necessary since the simulations allow for faster and more effective discovery of a large portion of possible faults without building a hardware prototype. Renode is an open source embedded system simulation framework that facilitates software-based testing. The main goal of this paper is to explore the usability of the framework for automotive applications. Full article

The rapid evolution of automotive software necessitates efficient and accurate development and verification processes. This study proposes a virtual electronic control unit (vECU) that allows for precise software testing without the need for hardware, thereby reducing developmental costs and enabling cloud-native development. The software was configured and built on a Hyundai Autoever AUTomotive Open System Architecture (AUTOSAR) classic platform, Mobilgene, and Renode was used for high-fidelity emulations. Custom peripherals in C# were implemented for the FlexTimer, system clock generator, and analog-to-digital converter to ensure the proper functionality of the vECU. Renode’s GNU debugger server function facilitates detailed software debugging in a cloud environment, further accelerating the developmental cycle. Additionally, automated testing was implemented using a vECU tester to enable the verification of the vECU. Performance evaluations demonstrated that the vECU’s execution order and timing of tasks and runnable entities closely matched those of the actual ECU. The vECU tester also enabled fast and accurate verification. These findings confirm the potential of the AUTOSAR-compatible Level-4 vECU to replace hardware in development processes. Future efforts will focus on extending capabilities to emulate a broader range of hardware components and complex system integration scenarios, supporting more diverse research and development efforts. Full article