Vehicle OTA Update Simulation with Mocked Service Testing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for testing over-the-air (OTA) software updates for vehicles are inefficient and disruptive, often requiring full environments for integration and testing, which can overwhelm external dependencies and lead to data consistency issues and long development cycles.
Innovation Solution
A computing system simulates OTA software updates within isolated virtual environments, using vehicle simulators and mocked behaviors of external services to test the update controller, allowing for concurrent provisioning and operation without affecting actual systems, and integrating with Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) pipelines for efficient testing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If full environments are used for integration and testing of OTA software updates, then comprehensive testing coverage is achieved, but system disruptions increase and development cycles lengthen
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates virtual copies of the target vehicle environment, external software services, and hardware components. These virtual environments replicate production conditions without requiring actual vehicles or external systems, enabling comprehensive OTA update testing while avoiding system disruptions and reducing development cycle time.
Solution Approach 2:
The testing system is divided into independent virtualized components including virtual vehicle environments, mocked external services, and isolated test containers. This segmentation allows parallel testing of multiple OTA update scenarios simultaneously, improving testing coverage while reducing overall development time through concurrent execution.
2Reliability
If full environments are used for integration and testing, then testing completeness is improved, but external dependencies are overwhelmed and data consistency issues arise
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces virtual environments as intermediary layers between the test controller and actual external dependencies. These virtual environments include mocked services that simulate external software behavior, allowing complete testing of OTA update flows without directly impacting real external systems, thereby preventing data consistency issues while maintaining testing completeness.
3Productivity
If isolated virtual environments are used for testing, then system disruptions are reduced, but testing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a universal virtual environment framework that can test multiple OTA update scenarios, vehicle types, and external service configurations within a single standardized platform. This multi-functional approach reduces the need for separate testing infrastructures for different scenarios, thereby reducing overall complexity while maintaining high testing efficiency.
4Reliability
If virtual environments are provisioned for testing, then testing stability is improved, but resource consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses virtualization to create lightweight copies of vehicle environments and external services that consume minimal computing resources compared to physical systems. These virtual copies provide stable, consistent testing conditions while using significantly fewer hardware resources, achieving high testing stability with efficient resource utilization.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods, computing systems, and technology for testing an update controller within a virtual environment are presented. An example computing system accesses data indicative of a rule for distributing the over-the-air (OTA) software update. The computing system determines an action to be taken for implementing the OTA software update. The action is based on the rule for distributing the OTA software update and a mocked behavior of an external software service available to the update controller. The mocked behavior simulates a response of the external software service to a request from the update controller within the isolated virtual environment.The computing system accesses data indicating that a vehicle simulator is available for the OTA software update. The computing system generates a task package including the OTA software update and indicating the action to be taken for implementing the OTA software update. The computing system outputs the task package to the vehicle simulator.