GUI-FACILITATED SIMULATION AND VERIFICATION FOR VEHICLE ELECTRICAL/ELECTRONIC ARCHITECTURE DESIGN

• US 20100030546A1
• Filed: 07/29/2008
• Published: 02/04/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 07/29/2008
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Mentor Graphics Corporation (Siemens AG)
• Original Assignee: Freescale Semiconductor, Inc. (NXP Semiconductors NV)
• Inventors: Dong, Yibing, Momin, Salim
• Application Number:
  US12/181,828
• Publication Number:
  US 20100030546A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 703/14
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 16/0207 Wire harnesses
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2111/02 CAD in a network environment, e.g. collaborative CAD or distributed simulation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2111/20 Configuration CAD, e.g. designing by assembling or positioning modules selected from libraries of predesigned modules
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2113/16 Cables, cable trees or wire harnesses
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2119/06 Power analysis or power optimisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2119/12 Timing analysis or timing optimisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/15 Vehicle, aircraft or watercraft design
• 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: G06F 30/20 Design optimisation, verification or simulation optimisation, verification or simulation of circuit designs G06F30/30
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/367 Design verification, e.g. using simulation, simulation program with integrated circuit emphasis [SPICE], direct methods or relaxation methods
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/394 Routing G06F30/396 takes precedence

Abstract

Disclosed herein are computer aided design (CAD) techniques to implement a unified data schema and graphical user interface (GUI) to link ECU/devices, in-vehicle communications, and vehicle harness information together with respect to architectural relation, performance relation, and cost relation, and to facilitate a designer'"'"'s understanding and manipulation of this information. The domain-specific information from each domain is converted to objects in this unified data schema and stored in a unified database that is accessible to every domain, so that the impact of the current state in the device domain can be accessed and analyzed by a designer from any domain. This approach enables design data sharing and real-time collaboration between different electrical/electronic (E/E) design domains, thereby facilitating the realization of design data collaboration, design change management, and product lifetime management (PLM) and product data management (PDM) implementation.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

providing a database comprising information representative of an electrical/electronic (E/E) architecture of a vehicle, the information including information regarding relationships and connections between components of the E/E architecture of the vehicle and including performance parameters for aspects of the E/E architecture;

receiving, via a graphical user interface (GUI), user input indicating simulation parameters for at least a portion of the E/E architecture of the vehicle;

simulating an operation of the portion of the E/E architecture based on the simulation parameters, the relationships and connections between components of the E/E architecture, and the performance parameters for aspects of the E/E architecture; and

displaying, via the GUI, simulation results generated from simulating the operation of the portion of the E/E architecture.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein displaying simulation results comprises displaying a graphical representation of the simulation results over a simulation duration identified by the simulation parameters.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein:

simulating the operation of the portion of the E/E architecture comprises simulating an operation of an electronic control unit (ECU) of the E/E architecture, the ECU being associated with one or more functions of the architecture;

the performance parameters comprise a processing requirement for each of the one or more functions and a periodicity of each of the one or more requirements; and

the simulation results comprise a graphical representation of a loading of the ECU over a duration represented by the simulation parameters.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein:

simulating the operation of the portion of the E/E architecture comprises simulating an operation of a network bus of the E/E architecture, the network bus being designated for the transmission of one or more signals via one or more frames;

the performance parameters comprise a signal delay for each of the one or more frames and a periodicity of each of the one or more frames; and

the simulation results comprise a graphical representation of a loading of the network bus over a duration represented by the simulation parameters.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein:

simulating the operation of the portion of the E/E architecture comprises a simulating a propagation of a signal via a signal routing path of the E/E architecture;

the performance parameters comprise a signal delay for each component the signal routing path; and

the simulation results comprise a display of a calculated propagation delay of the signal from a sending component of the signal routing path to a destination component of the signal routing path.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

displaying, via the GUI, an expected propagation delay of the signal via the signal routing path.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

comparing the simulation results with expected results for the operation of the portion of the E/E architecture.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

modifying, via the GUI, one or more aspects of the E/E architecture to generate a modified E/E architecture in response to determining that the simulation results are inconsistent with the expected results;

simulating an operation of a portion of the modified E/E architecture based on the simulation parameters, relationships and connections between components of the modified E/E architecture, and performance parameters for aspects of the modified E/E architecture; and

displaying, via the GUI, simulation results generated from simulating the operation of the portion of the modified E/E architecture.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, via the GUI, user input indicating selection of a signal of the E/E architecture of the vehicle; and

displaying, via the GUI, a topology schematic of a signal routing path of the signal via components of the E/E architecture in response to the user input, the topology schematic comprising a sending component of the signal and at least one or more destination components of the signal.

10. A method comprising:

providing a database comprising information representative of an electrical/electronic (E/E) architecture of a vehicle, the information including information regarding relationships and connections between components of the E/E architecture of the vehicle;

receiving, via a graphical user interface (GUI), first user input indicating selection of a signal of the E/E architecture of the vehicle; and

displaying, via the GUI, a topology schematic of a signal routing path of the signal via components of the E/E architecture in response to the first user input, the topology schematic comprising a sending component of the signal and at least one or more destination components of the signal.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

receiving, via the GUI, second user input indicating selection of a component of the E/E architecture represented in the topology schematic;

displaying, via the GUI, an expected signal propagation delay of the signal to the component via the signal routing path in response to the second user input.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising:

simulating an operation of the E/E architecture to determine an actual signal propagation delay of the signal to the component via the signal routing path in response to the second user input; and

displaying, via the GUI, the actual signal propagation delay of the signal in response to the second user input.

13. A system comprising:

one or more processors;

a storage device configured to store a database comprising information representative of an electrical/electronic (E/E) architecture of a vehicle, the information including information regarding relationships and connections between components of the E/E architecture of the vehicle and including performance parameters for aspects of the E/E architecture; and

a computer readable memory configured to store executable instructions, the executable instructions comprising;

instructions to manipulate the one or more processors to provide a graphical user interface (GUI);

instructions to manipulate the one or more processors to receive, via the GUI, user input indicating simulation parameters for at least a portion of the E/E architecture of the vehicle;

instructions to manipulate the one or more processor to simulate an operation of the portion of the E/E architecture based on the simulation parameters, the relationships and connections between components of the E/E architecture, and the performance parameters for aspects of the E/E architecture; and

instructions to manipulate the one or more processor to display, via the GUI, simulation results generated from simulating the operation of the portion of the E/E architecture.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the instructions to manipulate the one or more processors to display the simulation results comprises instructions to manipulate the one or more processors to display a graphical representation of the simulation results over a simulation duration identified by the simulation parameters.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein:

the instructions to manipulate the one or more processors to simulate the operation of the portion of the E/E architecture comprise instructions to manipulate the one or more processors to simulate an operation of an electronic control unit (ECU) of the E/E architecture, the ECU being associated with one or more functions of the architecture;

the performance parameters comprise a processing requirement for each of the one or more functions and a periodicity of each of the one or more requirements; and

the simulation results comprise a graphical representation of a loading of the ECU over a duration represented by the simulation parameters.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein:

the instructions to manipulate the one or more processors to simulate the operation of the portion of the E/E architecture comprise instructions to manipulate the one or more processors to simulate an operation of a network bus of the E/E architecture, the network bus being designated for the transmission of one or more signals via one or more frames;

the performance parameters comprise a signal delay for each of the one or more frames and a periodicity of each of the one or more frames; and

the simulation results comprise a graphical representation of a loading of the network bus over a duration represented by the simulation parameters.

17. The system of claim 13, wherein:

the instructions to manipulate the one or more processors to simulate the operation of the portion of the E/E architecture comprise instructions to manipulate the one or more processors to simulate a propagation of a signal via a signal routing path of the E/E architecture;

the performance parameters comprise a signal delay for each component the signal routing path; and

the simulation results comprise a display of a calculated propagation delay of the signal from a sending component of the signal routing path to a destination component of the signal routing path.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the executable instructions further comprise:

instructions to manipulate the one or more processors to display, via the GUI, an expected propagation delay of the signal via the signal routing path.

19. The system of claim 13, the executable instructions further comprising:

instructions to manipulate the one or more processors to receive, via the GUI, user input representing a modification to one or more aspects of the E/E architecture to generate a modified E/E architecture in response to the simulation results being inconsistent with the expected results;

instructions to manipulate the one or more processors to simulate an operation of the modified E/E architecture based on the simulation parameters, relationships and connections between components of the modified E/E architecture, and performance parameters for aspects of the modified E/E architecture; and

instructions to manipulate the one or more processors to display, via the GUI, simulation results generated from simulating the operation of the portion of the modified E/E architecture.

20. The system of claim 13, wherein the executable instructions further comprise:

instructions to manipulate the one or more processors to receive, via the GUI, user input indicating selection of a signal of the E/E architecture of the vehicle; and

instructions to manipulate the one or more processors to display, via the GUI, a topology schematic of a signal routing path of the signal via components of the E/E architecture in response to the user input, the topology schematic comprising a sending component of the signal and at least one or more destination components of the signal.