Automotive Software Research Articles

Engineering Automotive Software

The amount of software in cars grows exponentially. Driving forces of this development are the availability of cheaper and more powerful hardware, as well as the demand for innovation through new functionality. The rapidly growing significance of software and software-based functionality is at the root of various challenges in the automotive industries. These concern their organization, definition of key competencies, processes, methods, tools, models, product structures, division of labor, logistics, maintenance, and long-term strategies. This paper pinpoints the idiosyncrasies of the domain, characterizes the essentials of automotive software, and discusses the challenges of automotive software engineering

Who is talking to whom? Linguistic cues for engaging with the audience

In this paper we explore the options writers can use for establishing and maintaining the relationship with their audience, including the options concerning the choice of terminology, appraisal, subjectivity, rhetorical moves. We illustrate the study with examples used in several domains and designed for different audiences, such as general-purpose and specialised automotive articles, software documentation and labels for museum artefacts in several styles.

From function design to system design in model-based software development

The amount of software in modern electronic control units (ECUs), and the degree of networking between them, has reached such proportions that they increasingly cause software development and maintenance problems for vehicle manufacturers and suppliers. To meet this challenge head on, dSpace, the leading supplier of tools for developing automotive software, has added System Desk to its tool chain. System Desk introduces a model-based development process at system level, allowing users to extend existing development processes

4.4.1 Fine‐grained Method and Tool Integration for better Automotive Software

ABSTRACTIn the automotive field, software development methods and tools are used to cope with the high complexity of automotive software development. However, problems occur with the tracing of information, the assessment and monitoring of the development status, late and thus expensive changes, etc, which lead to increasing development costs and time as well as quality deficits. Our experience with recent projects have shown that the key to solving these problems lies in providing proper answers to the following questions: (1) How can development methods be assembled? (2) How can the use of a variety of development methods be supported by an appropriate tool?To answer these questions, we introduce a tool integration approach that is strongly based on the integration of development methods.The contribution of this paper is (a) a method integration approach that considers finegrained method objects and their specific structure in addition to the usually considered artifacts, (b) an approach to tool integration that overcomes the deficits of heterogeneous tool environments and utilizes the results of the methodical understanding.

Towards verified automotive software

Automotive software is one of the most challenging fields of software engineering: it must meet real time requirements, is safety critical and distributed over multiple processors. With the increasing complexity of automotive software, as for example in the case of drive-by-wire, automated driving and driver assitents, software correctness becomes more and more a crucial issue. In order that these innovations can become reality, it is necessary to be able to guarantee software correctness.The presented work aims at verification of automotive software. For this purpose it introduces a verification approach, including a framework of verified modules which assists the verification of the actual application. Feasibility of this approach was validated on a case study that also showed how verification can be integrated into the development process.

Present limitations in the assessment of components under multiaxial service loading

Abstract This paper is focused on a research project supported by the German automotive industry and international software producers. Six multiaxially loaded components were tested under random multiaxial service loading conditions and evaluated by different algorithms. The results reveal a large scatter of calculated fatigue lives which are, in most cases, on the unsafe side. The contradictory unsatisfactory results are determined by the complex interaction of the multiaxial stress state with cumulative damage. Therefore, in the case of safety critical components, experimental structural durability tests must be carried out.

Driving up quality street [automotive software

If there is one market where software really has to work, it is in automotive systems. Designing vehicles that include a fast-growing body of code, the manufacturers are pushing their subsystem designers to ensure they write quality code that will not break. That pressure is changing the way that automotive software specialists approach the job of writing code. Carmakers want better software, so software houses are embracing a new standard.

Systematic Model-Based Testing of Embedded Automotive Software

The software embedded in automotive control systems increasingly determines the functionality and properties of present-day motor vehicles. The development and test process of the systems and the embedded software becomes the limiting factor. While these challenges, on the development side, are met by employing model-based specification, design, and implementation techniques, satisfactory solutions on the testing side are slow in arriving. With regard to the systematic test design and the description of test scenarios especially, there is a lot of room for improvement. This paper introduces the model-based black-box testing (MB3T) approach in order to effectively minimize these de cits by creating a systematic procedure for the design of test scenarios for embedded automotive software and its integration in the model-based development process. According to the MB3T approach, logical test scenarios are rst de ned based on the textual requirements specification of the embedded software. These test scenarios are specified at a high level of abstraction and do not contain any implementation details of the test object. Due to their close link to the requirements it is easy to check which requirements are covered by which test scenario. Subsequently, the requirement-based logical tests are re ned to executable model-based test scenarios. Finally, the approach helps to check, whether or not the logical test scenarios are fully covered by the executable test scenarios. The MB3T approach has recently been successfully employed in a number of automotive embedded software development projects at DaimlerChrysler.

Software engineering for automotive systems at ICSE 2004 workshop summary

This paper provides a summary of the ICSE 2004 workshop on software engineering for automotive systems. We outline the main characteristics of automotive software engineering and indicate how the workshop papers relate to these characteristics. Furthermore, we summarize the discussion at the workshop.

Training fuzzy logic controller software components by combining adaptation algorithms

An approach for an effective and efficient off-line training of particular classes of reusable controller software components is presented. To build a necessary relationship between a component's abstract and concrete levels, each control software component is represented at the abstract level by means of a set of adaptive fuzzy logic rules and at the concrete level by means of adaptive fuzzy membership functions. Training includes two phases: testing and adapting. The testing phase is for identifying faulty fuzzy elements of a component, while the adapting phase is for modifying membership functions. We employ genetic algorithms, neural network algorithms, Monte Carlo algorithms, and their combinations in each phase. This approach is illustrated by training automotive controller software components (simulation). Experimental simulation results show that our off-line training approach supports controller software component adaptation effectively and efficiently in terms of controlled process operation accuracy and effort spent.

NEWS AND COMMENT ON RECENT DEVELOPMENTS FROM AROUND THE WORLD : Software patents under scrutiny

Formal verification and testing are complementary approaches which are used in the development process to verify the functional correctness of software. However, the correctness of software cannot ensure the safe operation of safety-critical software systems. The software must be verified against its safety requirements which are identified by safety analysis, to ensure that potential hazardous causes cannot occur. The complexity of software makes defining appropriate software safety requirements with traditional safety analysis techniques difficult. STPA (Systems-Theoretic Processes Analysis) is a unique safety analysis approach that has been developed to identify system hazards, including the software-related hazards. This paper presents a comprehensive safety engineering approach based on STPA, including software testing and model checking approaches for the purpose of developing safe software. The proposed approach can be embedded within a defined software engineering process or applied to existing software systems, allow software and safety engineers integrate the analysis of software risks with their verification. The application of the proposed approach is illustrated with an automotive software controller.

Guidelines for the development of automotive software

The Development Guidelines for Vehicle Based Software were launched in November 1994. These Guidelines represent the culmination of a three-year automotive industry research project carried out by the Motor Industry Software Reliability Association Consortium with support from the UK government. The intention of the Guidelines is to provide assistance to the automotive industry in the creation and application within vehicle systems of safe and reliable software. The paper examines some of the issues in automotive software that led to the Guidelines being produced. Two of the key topics covered by the Guidelines are also reported.