AUTOSAR
Currently all functional implementations for automotive electrical and electronic (E/E) systems and software are proprietary making it difficult to exchange functions and applications between automotive OEMs and suppliers. The expected growth in functional complexity for E/E systems and software requires a new way of designing systems and defining E/E architectures. To achieve this common goal for OEM’s and Tier One Suppliers, the AUTOSAR (AUTomotive Open System ARrchitecture) partnership was launched in 2003. Since its formation, the mostly European initiative has attracted other OEMs, automotive suppliers and tool vendors to form a global partnership, which “cooperates on standards and competes in implementation”.
The AUTOSAR initiative will define standards, on which the implementation of automotive applications will be based. The benefits of following these standards will make it possible to manage the growing E/E complexity of automotive functionalityand result in far greater flexibility for product maintenance, enhancements and updates thanhas been historically possible. Products & solutions based on the AUTOSAR will be scalable in and across product lines allowing for the exchange of functions between OEMs and suppliers. All domain areas in automotive will be addressed: Powertrain, Chassis, Safety, Multimedia/Telematics, Body/Comfort and Human Machine Interface.
AUTOSAR has defined three primary topics:- A basic software core
- Standardized functional interfaces
- Methods for software integration
These topics include the standardization of basic systems functions in the Basic Software layer, scalability to different vehicles, platforms or variants using common interfaces, transferability of functions throughout the vehicle network and the integration of software and hardware from different suppliers.
When cross-referencing the ideas of UML-based modeling and AUTOSAR, it becomes obvious that UML and AUTOSAR use similar concepts, such as components, ports and interfaces, which are defined in the UML class meta-model - for example the composite structure diagrams. UML syntax can be used directly for the system description within AUTOSAR. However, some concepts in AUTOSAR require the adaptation of UML to fit to the AUTOSAR syntax. A UML Profile for AUTOSAR is necessary, which adds all AUTOSAR specific information and their containers into UML. Since the meta-model of AUTOSAR is defined in UML, a mapping exists between AUTOSAR elements and UML, which is the UML Profile for AUTOSAR. Graphical stereotyping can be used to comply with the graphical notation defined for AUTOSAR elements.
Using AUTOSAR in combination with other modeling standards like UML and SysML offers the ability to obtain a complete picture of an automotive system including AUTOSAR domain-specific perspectives like AUTOSAR Composition Diagrams, well-known interaction views like UML Use Case or Sequence Diagrams, structural system decompositions like SysML Internal Block Diagrams and views like the SysML Requirements Diagrams - all of which are necessary to comply with Process Standards like the pending ISO 26262. All of these perspectives can be used in one Artisan Studio model due to the underlying UML meta-model and the ability to offer multi-user access and meta-model-extensions using DSM profiling.
Artisan Software Tools is an AUTOSAR Associate Member since 2004 and constantly working on model-based development processes and tools for Automotive E/E Systems.
For more details on AUTOSAR please visit:AUTOSAR Website
