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Modern automotive embedded systems are characterized by timing constraints at different levels in the design hierarchy and flow. System-level functions like modern active-safety functions are characterized by end-to-end constraints that span several ECUs and buses. ECU-level functions, like fuel injection controls need to cope with stringent resource requirements, tight time constraints and event-driven computations with different execution modes. This paper introduces some of the models, the techniques and the tool integration methods developed in the context of the INTERESTED project to guarantee timing correctness at all levels in the flow. In addition, we outline the issues arising from the application of these techniques to a fuel injection case study.

The design of a complex real-time embedded system requires the specification of its functionality, the design of the hardware and software architectures, the implementation of hardware and software components and finally the system validation. The designer, starting from the specification, refines the solution trying to minimize the system cost while satisfying functional and non functional requirements. The automatic code generation from models and the introduction of the platform-based design methodology can drastically improve the design efficiency of the software partition, while maintaining acceptable the cost overhead of the final system. In this approach, both top-down and bottom-up aspects are considered and solutions are found by a meet-in-the-middle approach that couples model refinement and platform modeling.