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This paper gives a detailed description of a development process for distributed embedded systems, which is capable of handling a collaborative development of an OEM and several suppliers. The process comprises a set of development models, operations, which are the transitions from one model to the other, and contracts. Contracts define the interface between the OEM and the supplier.

The newly developed communication system FlexRay® - The Communication System for Advanced Automotive Control Applications and the typical applications that it is designated for impose high demands on the system development process due to characteristics such as distribution and fault-tolerance and thus require a tool-supported development approach. This article gives an insight into a development process tailored to the particularities of FlexRay®-based real-time applications. The essential process steps are modeling and simulation on the one hand and scheduling and configuration on the other hand. Both steps are supported by software tools that substantially ease the process.

Embedded electronic systems play an increasingly important role in the automotive field. Since they are the key to innovations and are the basis of most new functions, this paper deals with how to develop them. The first part identifies the problems that to a large extent arise from the particular organizational structure of the automotive industry. The second part of the paper describes an approach to how to control the complexity of the process. Information domains are introduced for this purpose. Contracts in these information domains between the process participants define the actual system behavior.

In this paper we investigate the consequences of cross network data dependency in multi-cluster automotive networks and propose a concept for breaking the time coupling between networks in order to manage the complexity and facilitate a divide-and-conquer approach. We will show that by increasing the frequency of the data exchange the need for tight time coupling across network boundaries is removed and so-called phase insensitivity is achieved. If the interaction between any two functions is phase insensitive, then the functions can be scheduled in both ECUs without needing to take phase alignment of the schedule within each ECU into account, which reduces the complexity of managing cross-network data exchange.

The SAE has classified automotive electronics into two major categories, body electronics and system electronics. The latter (SAE class C) comprises safety critical functions that are of vital importance for the movement of the vehicle. This paper presents a prototype implementation of TTP, a time-triggered communication system developed for this type of applications. The main purpose of the prototype is to provide a means for verifying the concepts of TTP. The paper focuses on a description of the hardware developed for the communication system as well as the protocol software. The TTP controller hardware is a custom made industry pack module which allows the use of TTP in conjunction with a wide variety of existing motherboards and host environments. The protocol software consists of a TTP/C protocol state machine and auxiliary modules to access the various hardware units.

The key to the required level of quality and safety in future distributed systems is a comprehensive standardized ECU (Electronic Control Unit) software architecture and infrastructure.

Distributed systems in vehicles based for example on FlexRay require new approaches to testing. Testing solutions have to ensure the correct operation of the communication infrastructure as well as to assess the correct behavior of the application.

The new generation of drive-by-wire systems currently under development has demanding requirements on the electronic architecture. Functions such as brake-by-wire or steer-by-wire require continued operation even in the presence of component failures. The electronic architecture must therefore provide fault-tolerance and real-time response. This in turn requires the operating system and the communication layer to be predictable, dependable and composable. It is well known that this properties are best supported by a time-triggered approach. A consortium consisting of German and French car manufacturers and suppliers, which aims at becoming a working group within the OSEK/VDX initiative, the OSEKtime consortium, is currently defining a specification for a time-triggered operating system and a fault-tolerant communication layer.1 The operating system and the communication layer are based on applicable interfaces of the OSEK/VDX standard.