Virtual ECU Test Environment for Faster Vehicle Software Certification
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Solution Overview
Problem
The testing and certification of vehicle software applications on real-world vehicles are slow and resource-intensive, requiring individual testing on multiple vehicle combinations, which increases costs and slows down the implementation of new software.
Innovation Solution
A vehicle software test environment management system that orchestrates the implementation of virtual electronic control units (vECUs) with a virtual bus connectivity configuration, simulating real-world vehicle environments to perform software certification, using virtual compute instances and machine images that emulate the software environments of real-world ECUs.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If vehicle software applications are tested on real-world vehicles, then certification reliability is improved, but testing time and costs increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates virtual copies of vehicle ECUs (electronic control units) that replicate the functionality and behavior of real vehicle components. These virtual ECUs are instantiated in a cloud-based testing environment, allowing software to be tested in a realistic vehicle-like environment without using physical vehicles. The virtual instances mimic the software environment, communication protocols, and operational characteristics of actual vehicle ECUs, providing reliable certification while eliminating the time constraints of physical testing.
2Measurement precision
If vehicle software applications are tested on real-world vehicles, then testing accuracy is improved, but resource consumption and costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a universal virtual testing platform that can simulate multiple different vehicle types, ECU configurations, and software environments using the same infrastructure. A single cloud-based system can instantiate virtual ECUs representing different vehicle models, manufacturers, and configurations, eliminating the need to procure and maintain multiple physical vehicles for testing various software applications. This multi-functional approach maintains testing accuracy across different scenarios while dramatically reducing resource consumption.
3Adaptability or versatility
If multiple vehicle combinations are used for testing, then software compatibility across different configurations is improved, but testing complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent employs dynamic virtual instance creation where the testing environment adapts to the specific software being tested. Rather than using fixed, pre-configured test setups, the system dynamically provisions virtual ECUs with configurations that match the target vehicle platform. This allows the same testing infrastructure to handle diverse vehicle combinations by adjusting the virtual environment parameters, maintaining software compatibility across configurations while reducing the complexity of managing multiple static test setups.
Data Source
AI summary
A vehicle software test environment management system provides a virtual vehicle environment that includes virtual electronic control units (vECUs) having a virtual bus connectivity configuration used to simulate respective ones of electronic control units (ECUs) of a real-world vehicle. The vehicle software test environment management system determines respective instance types of one or more virtual compute instances to be used to implement the vECUs based on respective configuration of respective ones of the ECUs and further determines respective machine images to emulate respective software environments of the respective ones of the ECUs. The vehicle software test environment management system may also deploy a vehicle software application to be certified on one or more of the vECUs and test the deployed vehicle software application using recorded signals of one or more ECUs of the real-world vehicle.