Norbert Englisch

Efficient course creation with templates in the OPAL Learning Management System

For the wide spread integration of web-based teaching and learning scenarios, a simple handling of the e-Learning applications is a key issue. For the Learning Management System (LMS) OPAL the problem was analyzed regarding the user-friendliness. To enable the author to work productively and efficiently, course preparation and course update templates with dynamic content are introduced. Afterwards the general benefit of the use of templates is presented.

Application-Driven Evaluation of AUTOSAR Basic Software on Modern ECUs

When integrating AUTOSAR software on an automotive ECU, errors may occur due to the large number of modules involved and/or improper timing. These errors manifest at the application level complicating the test and verification process. Since AUTOSAR has a layered architecture, it is often cumbersome to identify sources of errors. In this paper, to help integrating software on an ECU, we propose a technique to verify functionality and timing of generated AUTOSAR modules in a semi-automated manner. Our technique consists in defining test cases based on the interface descriptions of AUTOSAR modules and application software. This allows reliably identifying AUTOSAR modules affected by functional and/or timing errors and simplifies the test and verification process. We illustrate the benefits by our technique by means of a case study performed on the real hardware.

Entwicklungsunterstützende Analysen und Tests für AUTOSAR Systeme

Durch die Einführung des AUTOSAR Standards in der Automobilindustrie ist es möglich funktionsorientiert und hardwareunabhängig Software zu entwickeln und wieder zu verwenden. Realisiert wird das in AUTOSAR durch ein horizontales Schichtenmodell, welches die Bereiche Basissoftware, Runtime Environment und Applikation definiert. Durch diese klare Trennung hat sich eine Vielzahl von heterogenen Werkzeugketten mit unterschiedlich spezialisierten Produkten etabliert. Das führt zu neuen Herausforderungen in der Automobilindustrie, da die Softwarequalität und die Suche nach einer optimalen Konfiguration für ein Steuergerät nun immer wichtiger werden. Unser Ansatz bietet während der Entwicklung eines AUTOSAR Steuergerätes Unterstützung zur Sicherung der Softwarequalität und der Konformität zum Standard durch statische Analysen. Des Weiteren können semi-automatisch dynamische Tests generiert und auf der Zielplattform ausgeführt werden, um die Basissoftware und die Runtime Environment auf ihre Funktionstüchtigkeit zu überprüfen. Unser Ansatz greift auf AUTOSAR konforme Mechanismen zurück und ist versionsund herstellerunabhängig.

Rapid Prototyping in AUTOSAR Based Systems

Application prototypes involving complex algorithms for purposes like ADAS are often developed on PC based systems. For validation, these prototypes must be executed on automotive embedded systems. Furthermore, with increasing industry demand of AUTOSAR based ECUs, integration with AUTOSAR environment also becomes a necessity. The process in itself is time consuming due to the fulfilment of various steps involved in the AUTOSAR methodology. On the contrary, for rapid prototyping, time and effort for non-functional requirements should be minimal. A concept for automated integration of non-AUTOSAR compliant prototype codes within an AUTOSAR system, along with application specific configuration and generation of the complete system is proposed by this paper. The main aim is focused on memory usage reduction of AUTOSAR BSW along with the integration of prototype codes to facilitate an AUTOSAR Processor-in-Loop test environment for the application.

Efficiently Testing AUTOSAR Software Based on an Automatically Generated Knowledge Base

The system architecture AUTOSAR divides an automotive ECU into three main layers—application layer, RTE and basic software layer. Due to clearly specified interfaces, each of these layers and its software modules can be developed partly or completely by different companies with different tool chains. This promotes competition between companies and enables the hardware independence of applications, but it also leads to challenges during the integration phase of an ECU, the mapping towards different ECUs, and the reuse of functions. To ensure a high quality of AUTOSAR developments, we provide an approach that checks automatically the source code and configuration files of a project before compilation, i.e., performing static tests. Our approach is independent of the tool chain used and of the AUTOSAR version. The consistency and AUTOSAR compliance tests are based on a knowledge base which is filled semi-automatically by our parsers. The knowledge base contains information about the structure of an AUTOSAR ECU, i.e., basic software modules, layers, function names and parameters, hardware information, etc. We create the information by parsing once AUTOSAR meta-models, base projects and configuration files of the tools automatically. These inputs provide most of the information, necessary for our tests. Our static tests check the consistency between configuration files and source files, validate the configuration, and parse source files for non-compliant code within the given AUTOSAR project. Besides a test report, we visualize test results in a graphical user interface (GUI) which shows the layers and modules of the AUTOSAR project. Data for visualization is further provided by our knowledge base. All problems like inconsistencies or missing modules are visualized by flags on the corresponding elements to support testers and developers finding solutions. Our approach increases the quality of AUTOSAR projects by detecting inconsistencies, errors, and non-compliant code with AUTOSAR. In addition, by finding inconsistencies/errors in an early phase, our semi-automated test approach provides an optimal basis for the dynamic test of an AUTOSAR ECU supporting and complementing acceptance tests. Finally, all known AUTOSAR tool chains with readable configuration files and source files can be integrated with our approach.