Testing FlexRay ECUs

Application Area

With a dSPACE hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) simulator, you can test either one single ECU or several ECUs networked together. To simulate the ECU's environment, realistic standard I/O signals have to be provided, and the bus communication also needs to be simulated. In typical test scenarios, not all the communicating ECUs are available, so the dSPACE Simulator is used to emulate the bus communication of any ECUs that are not physically present in the network (restbus simulation).

Important Aspects of FlexRay Restbus Simulation

The FlexRay communication system is a time-driven, deterministic bus system with a high bandwidth that is just right for demanding applications such as chassis or powertrain control. To fully utilize these features, users need to execute the computation functions in accordance with the bus schedule. Functions can be performed under time control on the dSPACE system, which can be configured as a simulation node or as a monitoring node.
For optimum support, the dSPACE FlexRay Configuration Tool enables the generation of several types of time-controlled tasks, which the FlexRay bus uses to read or send signals in the real-time context. In the FlexRay Configuration Tool, users can also select from the contents of a communication description file (e.g. FIBEX or AUTOSAR System Template) the communication parts and the scheduling information which they want to make available on the simulator.

In this example, a SCALEXIO HIL Simulator is used to simulate the missing FlexRay nodes and to calculate the real-time model for the vehicle simulation.

Possible ECU Testing Tasks

• Communication tests and tests on distributed functions (testing ECUs in the network)
• Software integration tests (testing the overall functionality of the ECU)
• Acceptance and release tests

Possible Test Areas

• Simulation of FlexRay networks
• Restbus simulation for FlexRay applications
• Failure simulation