Definition of language for automotive embedded electronic architecture

This document defines the EAST Architecture Description Language, EAST ADL. EAST ADL provides a means to describe the embedded electronic functionality of a vehicle in order to make the development of automotive systems more effective. The language describes electronic functionality on several abstraction levels, from high level requirements and user-visible electronic features down to implementation details such as tasks and communication frames as well as electronic hardware. This layering of models provides separation of concerns and a differentiation between application and infrastructure. Focus is on the structural aspects i.e the hierarchical decomposition of systems. Behavioral descriptions can be made in existing tools such as Simulink and Ascet-SD or plain C-code. Another important aspect of the ADL is the provision of mechanisms to support variant handling. The EAST ADL does not prescribe a process or methodology. Instead, the defined set of design artifacts may be developed using company specific processes. The EAST ADL is based on UML2, but provides automotive-specific constructs and semantics in order to make system models unambiguous, consistent and exchangeable.