Model-based guidelines for automotive electronic systems software development

Abstract

The automobile innovation transformed the human life style ever since its introduction to the public, and for over the last one hundred years incumbent technologies have been adopted to improve its performance characteristics. Yet, we need a holistic approach to understand that automobiles shifted from being a mere assembly of mechanical parts to a multidisciplinary system that form the modern automobile. Thanks to the increased use of electronics and software in automobiles, consumers benefit from better gas mileage, more amenities and features, such as comfort, driving assistance, and entertainment. At the same time, stability and performance of automobiles as systems have been facing deterioration, and eventually vehicle owners are finding that features and functions become inoperative over time, causing frustration, loss of time and money. Reports of problems experienced by vehicle owners have stem from casual factors of system defects that model-based systems engineering can reduce or eliminate. This research presents a model-based systems engineering approach to an automobile electronic system design. The work is founded on a comprehensive OPM model and engineering guidelines for electronic control module software design. The purpose of the framework developed in this study is to support development of complex vehicle software that allows flexibility for changing features and creating new ones, and enables software developers to pinpoint systemic faults quicker and at earlier lifecycle phases, reducing rework, increasing safety, and providing for more effective resolution of such problems.