“Shift-Left” Software Defined Vehicle Development Through Embedded Validation With Virtual ECUs

The increasing complexity of software in automotive software-defined vehicle (SDV) architectures encompassing electronic control units (ECUs), zonal control units (ZCUs), and central compute units (CCUs) is delaying deployment of embedded devices due to longer and more time-consuming development cycles. To address these challenges, it is crucial for automotive manufacturers and suppliers to test their ECUs, ZCUs, and CCUs individually and in conjunction with each other as early as possible. With virtual prototyping, simulation tools enable integration and test in virtual environments, allowing problems to be detected early and reducing the need for physical prototypes. This leads to improved software quality and early feedback.

Synopsys Silver™ is a virtual prototyping environment that enables early software development and testing using virtual ECUs (vECUs) for all types of ECUs – ECUs, ZCUs, CCUs, etc.  It accelerates software development, enabling suppliers and manufacturers to integrate, test, and debug software independently of hardware devices and prototypes. By moving embedded stacks on top of virtual hardware Silver supports application integration, middleware integration, and operating system integration (Level 1 - Level 3 virtual ECUs). This allows Silver to isolate software modules, layers, and any combination of software modules in ECU software of any complexity, enabling vertical and horizontal integration as well as ECU compound validation in the early stages of development.

The successful integration of Vector's MICROSAR Classic embedded software with Silver allows vECUs to be integrated and tested at system level. In this use case, the operating system and drivers are replaced with Silver simulation equivalents, thus deploying the embedded stack on top of simulated hardware. The application software is typically developed by the OEM, while the middleware - basic software (BSW) and runtime environment (RTE) - is available as MICROSAR Classic production software.

The application workflow, as shown in Figure 1, follows the typical process in DaVinci Configurator Classic, used to configure MICROSAR Classic basic software and drivers for the ECUs target hardware. During virtual integration, Synopsys simulation modules replace the target drivers in DaVinci Configurator. External generators then generate the necessary source code for the simulation modules in the same way as during target ECU integration. With Silver, the vECU can then be created and simulated in Software-in-the-Loop (SIL) testing. Customers can also connect their vECU to tools like Vector's CANoe through the SIL Kit.