Hardware-in-the-Loop Test Process for Modern E/E Systems

Automobiles are highly interconnected mechatronic systems. Over the last years, the software of these systems has played an increasingly important role in the value chain. Current production vehicles contain more than 80 electronic control units (ECUs) with over one hundred million lines of software code. Advanced driver assistance systems and functions for autonomous driving will further increase the requirements for the E/E systems. Furthermore, these systems will become even more complex due to the use of sensors to capture the vehicle environment, the interconnection of the ECU functions, and the influence of external communication. This paper outlines an ECU test process example in which an advanced driver assistance function is tested on a hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) test system. The necessary process steps and interdependencies to ISO 26262 are identified. The paper also explains how to simulate an ideal test process under consideration of the version and variant flows, and how to use different validation systems to perform different validation steps throughout the development process. The paper aims to analyze the various questions arising in the E/E validation process to identify the advantages the users have throughout the entire development cycle.