SoC-FPGA Card for In-Vehicle Software Testing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current software testing methods for in-vehicle computers, such as Resimulation (ReSim), face challenges in accuracy, flexibility, and cost due to the need for specific and complex hardware environments, leading to inefficiencies in testing and high resource consumption, particularly with Software in the Loop (SiL) and Hardware in the Loop (HiL) approaches.
Innovation Solution
A computer card equipped with a System on a Chip (SoC) and a Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) for off-board testing, connected to a server, which allows for native software execution and efficient data processing, enabling flexible and accurate testing of in-vehicle software with reduced resource requirements.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If Software in the Loop (SiL) testing is used, then testing speed and scalability are improved, but testing accuracy and hardware fidelity deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The testing system is segmented into a testing platform (with SoC and FPGA) and a simulation platform (with high-performance computing cluster). The SoC in the testing platform executes the software under test with accurate hardware fidelity, while the simulation platform handles parallel scenario testing. This segmentation allows the testing platform to maintain accuracy while the simulation platform provides scalability.
Solution Approach 2:
The FPGA acts as an intermediary between the SoC and the simulation platform. It receives environment and driving data from the simulation platform, processes it for the SoC, and recovers detection and behavior data from the SoC. This intermediary enables the testing platform to access high-performance computing resources while maintaining hardware fidelity for accurate software testing.
2Measurement precision
If Hardware in the Loop (HiL) testing is used, then testing accuracy is improved, but device complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of using actual vehicle hardware for HiL testing, the patent creates a simplified copy of the essential hardware components (SoC and FPGA) in a dedicated testing platform. This copy maintains the necessary hardware fidelity for accurate software testing while eliminating the complexity of full vehicle systems. The testing platform can be replicated and deployed without requiring actual vehicles.
3Productivity
If SiL testing with high-performance computing clusters is used, then testing scalability is improved, but energy consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments computational tasks between the testing platform (SoC executing software with hardware fidelity) and the simulation platform (high-performance computing cluster handling parallel scenarios). This segmentation allows the energy-intensive parallel processing to be performed only when needed, while the testing platform maintains lower power consumption during actual software execution with accurate hardware modeling.
Data Source
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AI summary
A computer card (100) for testing a software of an in-vehicle computer, the computer card (100) comprising: • A computing unit (110) comprising at least a system on a chip 'SoC' for the in-vehicle computer, the computing unit (110) being adapted to run the software to be tested, • A field-programmable gate array 'FPGA' (120) connected to the computing unit for feeding the software to be tested with environment and/or driving data (EDD) and for recovering detection and/or behavior data (DBD) from the software to be tested.