Virtual Verification of Cause-Effect Chains in Automotive Cyber-Physical Systems

The technical complexity of automotive Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) traditionally demands high development and validation efforts. Due to the new technologies entering the automotive market, such as Highly Automated Driving (HAD) (\(\ge \) SAE L3) and connected infotainment, the overall system complexity is currently increasing significantly, challenging traditional system development methods and requiring new approaches for validation and verification (V&V). In parallel, new Electric/Electronic (E/E) architecture patterns are emerging in the automotive industry, distributing the functionalities across several multi-core Electrical Control Units (ECU) connected via Ethernet-based in-vehicle networks. This distributed approach leads to complex inter- and intra-ECU timing relations challenging the concept of freedom from interference according to the ISO 26262, and adding another dimension of effects analysis during V&V in the context of ISO PAS 21448 and the upcoming ISO TR 4804. This work enhances a cyber-physical functional simulation tool to include timing effects in distributed cause-effect chains and multi-technology-communication networks (incl. Ethernet and CAN). The resulting simulation allows the system designer to evaluate the impact of timing properties on a given distributed vehicle function, enabling an early validation of the system, avoiding rework during later stages of the development process resulting from wrong design choices.