Method and device for synthesising an electrical architecture

• US 20060229742A1
• Filed: 10/21/2003
• Published: 10/12/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 10/21/2002
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Renault Sas (Renault)
• Original Assignee: Renault Sas (Renault)
• Inventors: Dang Van Nhan, Christophe, Boutin, Samuel
• Application Number:
  US10/532,089
• Publication Number:
  US 20060229742A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 700/32
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/18 Network design, e.g. design based on topological or interconnect aspects of utility systems, piping, heating ventilation air conditioning [HVAC] or cabling circuit design at the physical level G06F30/39; network planning tools for wireless communication networks H04W16/18
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0283 Price estimation or determination

Abstract

A method of designing a hardware and software system specification. In the method services are defined and a use case is defined for each service; each use case is associated with at least one system start state, a user request and, for each start state, a system end state; operations are defined and, at the same time, a set of elementary operations is defined for each state, the set corresponding to the response from the system at the time of entry into the state; the architecture of the system is specified, defining electronic control units and networks; and elementary operations are placed on computers. Further, the method executes at least one of (1) identifying data flows circulating over the networks according to the placement or (2) identifying specification interfaces of the computers according to the placement.

Claims

1-37. -37. (canceled)

38. A method for designing a specification of a hardware and software system, comprising:

defining services and, for each service, use cases;

associating each use case with at least one departure state of the system, a user request, and, for each departure state, an arrival state of the system;

defining operations, in the course of which, for each state, a set of elementary operations corresponding to the system response during arrival in the state is defined;

specifying system architecture defining electronic control units and networks;

mapping elementary operations onto calculators;

and executing at least one of;

identifying data flows circulating on the networks as a function of the mapping; and

identifying a specification of the calculator interfaces as a function of the mapping.

39. A method according to claim 38, wherein the mapping comprises, for each service, a choice among a plurality of mapping modes comprising:

mapping the service onto a single calculator,

master-slave mapping, in which a supplementary elementary operation of control of the single service activates, depending on a state of the service in which the system finds itself, elementary operations of the service, the supplementary elementary operation being mapped onto one of the calculators,

distributed mapping, in which the elementary operations are distributed over at least two calculators and, onto each of the calculators, a supplementary elementary operation of control of the service is mapped and activates, depending on the state of the service in which the system finds itself, the elementary operations of the service mapped onto the calculators.

40. A method according to claim 39, wherein the supplementary elementary operations are generated automatically with:

as inputs, all data necessary for calculation of transitions of a control automaton of the service whose states are the states of the service and the transitions are transformations, via an elementary operation, of the user'"'"'s requests, and

as an output, a datum representing the state in which the service finds itself.

41. A method according to claim 38, wherein, in the identifying data flows, a state of each data flow is determined relative to a given electronic messaging system:

free data, to be mapped into frames,

data already mapped into frames and circulating on the network, and such that the data are produced in the calculators in which the frame is produced and consumed in the calculators in which the frame is consumed, and

unused frame sites.

42. A method according to claim 38, wherein, given a use case,

a performance constraint is imposed on the use case and on certain of the elementary operations executed in the arrival state of the use case,

a list of those executions of elementary operations, executions of drivers, writes and reads in the frames, taking into account of information by sensors and actuators, and frame transfer to a network that are implemented following mapping of the elementary operations is then automatically synthesized,

requirements of delay of execution and/or of response time of transmission, reading and writing frames, and execution of drivers and of elementary operations are then specified,

response times of sensors and actuators are indicated,

a fact that a performance constraint is satisfied for a mapping of the elementary operations is validated or requirements of delay of execution and/or of response time to satisfy the performance constraint are specified.

43. A method according to claim 38, wherein if, for a service having at least two variants, the variants have shared elementary operations, then the elementary operations are automatically mapped onto the same calculators or calculator variants during mapping of one of the variants.

74. A manufactured article comprising:

a computer storage means having a computer program for designing a specification of a hardware and software system, wherein the program comprises a code for execution of the method defined in claim 38.

44. A device for design of a specification of a hardware and software system, comprising:

means for defining services and, for each service, use cases;

means for associating each use case with at least one departure state of the system, a user request, and, for each departure state, an arrival state of the system;

means for defining operations, in the course of which, for each state, a set of elementary operations corresponding to the system response during arrival in the state is defined;

means for specifying system architecture defining electronic control units and networks;

means for mapping elementary operations onto calculators;

and at least one of;

means for identifying data flows circulating on the networks as a function of the mapping; and

means for identifying a specification of the calculator interfaces as a function of the mapping.

45. A device according to claim 44, further comprising means for selecting a hierarchical description, selection of each selection means causing a different screen of the device to appear.

46. A device according to claim 45, wherein, for at least one screen, the hierarchical description represents, at a first level of hierarchy, a plurality of services and, at a second level of hierarchy, a plurality of use cases for each service.

47. A device according to claim 46, wherein, for at least one screen, each use case comprises an initial context or situation of the system, a user'"'"'s request to the system, and a response of the system corresponding to a change of its state.

48. A device according to claim 46, wherein, in at least one screen, states and associated state transitions are defined for each use case of a service.

49. A device according to claim 44, wherein the states that function in modes transverse to common services are grouped in phases, each state is associated with one phase of the system, the set of formalized use cases represent all responses or absences of response of the system in all phases, these in total representing all combinations of modes of operation of a vehicle.

50. A device according to claim 49, wherein each phase is composed of a set of combinations of modes of operation of the vehicle, the modes being transverse to the services and outside the direct control of the services.

51. A device according to claim 45, wherein, for at least one screen, the hierarchical description represents a plurality of services at a first level of hierarchy and of phases of the service at a second level of hierarchy.

52. A device according to claim 47, wherein, for at least one screen, the hierarchical description represents a plurality of services at a first level of hierarchy and of states of the service at a second level of hierarchy.

53. A device according to claim 51, wherein, within the hierarchical description, a hierarchical level in a given state describes the elementary operations.

54. A device according to claim 45, wherein, for at least one screen, mapping of elementary operations onto components represented in a synthetic view is effected.

55. A device according to claim 54, containing, for at least one screen, a synthetic view representing an envelope of a component and each elementary operation that the component controls or instructs.

56. A device according to claim 45, containing, for at least one screen, a synthetic view representing an envelope of a service and each elementary operation that the service comprises.

57. A device according to claim 45, wherein, for at least one screen, at a first level of hierarchy, the hierarchical description represents the calculators of the system and, at a second level of hierarchy, elementary operations electronically monitored or controlled by each calculator.

58. A device according to claim 57, wherein, for each screen, a hierarchical level represents, for each calculator, the services that are mapped at least partly onto the calculator.

59. A device according to claim 57, wherein, for each screen, a synthetic view represents, for each calculator, the modes in which the calculator must function.

60. A device according to claim 45, wherein, for at least one screen, a synthetic view represents at least one network and the components connected to it.

61. A device according to claim 45, wherein, for at least one screen, at a first level of hierarchy, the hierarchical description represents the calculators of the system and, at a second level of hierarchy, for each calculator, the data frames are transported on buses to which the calculator and/or the electronic components directly connected to the calculator are connected.

62. A device according to claim 45, wherein, for at least one screen, the hierarchical description represents the frames at a first level of hierarchy and, at a second level of hierarchy, for each frame, the data contained in the frames.

63. A device according to claim 45, wherein, for at least one screen, a synthetic view represents components and/or networks and a projection of a service onto the components and/or networks.

64. A device according to claim 45, wherein, for at least one screen, a hierarchical level describes, for each elementary operation, input and output interface data flows, and, for each data flow, a driver and the component and/or the elementary operation with which the data flow is exchanged.

65. A device according to claim 45, wherein, for at least one screen, the hierarchical description represents, at a first level of hierarchy, a plurality of services and, at a second level of hierarchy, a plurality of service variants, for each service.

66. A device according to claim 45, wherein, for at least one screen, the hierarchical description represents, at a first level of hierarchy, a plurality of electronic components and, at a second level of hierarchy, a plurality of variants of electronic components, for each electronic component.

67. A device according to claim 45, wherein, for at least one synthetic view, a selection of an element of the synthetic view by a pointing device gives access to a representation of the functioning of the element.

68. A device according to claim 44, wherein, for a use case, given partial or complete mapping of the services, the set of elementary operations in the architecture and the set of data exchanged corresponding to execution of the use case are automatically identified.

69. A device according to claim 44, wherein, for a use case, if a performance constraint is imposed on the use case, the set of elementary operations in the architecture, a set of frames exchanged, and a set of sensors necessary and/or a set of actuators activated are automatically identified, in such a manner as to assign respectively thereto specific constraints of delay of execution, of delay of transmission, of delay of activation, and/or to validate the constraints already imposed.

70. A device according to claim 44, further comprising, for objects, hardware components and/or services offered to the client, a graphic representation comprising:

a contour representing the object,

representations of other objects with which the object communicates, and

representations of data exchanged with the other objects.

71. A device according to claim 70, wherein, when the envelope represents a hardware component, data representations are effected for a service.

72. A device according to claim 44, further comprising, for each bus, a representation of components that are connected directly thereto and, for components directly connected to at least two buses, for each of these at least two buses, associated with the component, an identifier of each other bus to which the component is directly connected.

73. A device according to claim 72, wherein the identifier is a graphical element.