Model-Based Design Tools

Chair Pieter J. Mosterman
Real-time and Simulation Technologies
The MathWorks, Inc.
USA

Model-Based Design involves engineers from many different disciplines applying models for purposes ranging from documentation, numerical simulation, code generation to hardware programming. Separate tools are typically employed for these respective purposes because dedicated to solving the task at hand. Furthermore, different tools may have different analysis facilities and support modeling formalisms with widely different semantics. To minimize the cost because of model exchange and integration, automated model exchange and execution of models designed with different tools is desired.

Paper 1 [Klaus Mueller-Glaser] Up to 70 electronic control units (ECUs) serve for safety and comfort functions in a car. Communicating over different bus systems most ECUs perform close loop control functions and reactive functions fulfilling hard real time constraints. Some ECUs controlling on board entertainment/ office systems are software intensive, incorporating millions of lines of code. The design of these distributed and networked control units is very complex, the development process is a concurrent engineering process and is distributed between the automotive manufacturer and several suppliers, this requires a strictly controlled design methodology and the intensive use of computer aided engineering tools. The CASE-tool integration platform ``GeneralStore'' and the ``E/E-Concept Tool'' for design space exploration supports the design of automotive ECUs, however, GeneralStore is also used for the design of industrial automation systems and biomedical systems.

Paper 2 [Jan Broenink] The work presented here is on setting up methodological support, including (prototype) tools, for the design of distributed hard real-time embedded control software for mechatronic products. The use of parallel hardware(CPUs,FPGAs) and parallel software is investigated, to exploit the inherent parallel nature of embedded systems and their control. Two core models of computation are used to describe the behavior of the total mechatronic system (plant, control, software and I/O): discrete event system (DES) and continuous time system (CTS). These models of computation are coupled via co-simulation, to be able to do consistency checking at the boundaries. This allows for integration of discipline-specific parts on the model level (during design phases) instead of on the code level (during realization and test phases). Crossview design-change influences get specific attention, to allow for relaxation of the tension between several dependability issues (like reliability and robustness), while keeping design time (and thus design costs) under control. Furthermore, the design work can be done as a stepwise refinement process. This yields a shorter design time, and a better quality product. The method is illustrated with a case using the tools being prototyped.

Paper 3 [Horst Salzwedel] Transition to model based design of systems at electronic system level (ESL) has greatly reduced the complexity by raising the level of abstraction. It resulted in improvements in quality of design, reduction of development time, and reduction of number of iterations in design. A new emerging problem is the widening of the gap between design at ESL and implementation. In this paper a method is presented to overcome this gap. For the design of an inexpensive high precision positioning system based on GPS, additional sensors, and differential signals, functional requirements are mapped into a MLDesigner model containing functional model, environmental model, and use cases. Annotations on the model are automatically translated in an architectural model with channels, resources, events, and memory from a developed standardized library. After design iterations on architecture from a selected sub-model, an implementation framework for hardware and software code is generated and I/O specific parameters are added. The code can be used on FPGAs and embedded processors.

Paper 4 [Gabriela Nicolescu] Continuous and discrete components may be integrated in diverse embedded systems ranging across defense, medical, communication, and automotive applications. The global validation of these systems requires new validation techniques, the main challenge being the definition of global simulation models able to accommodate the different concepts specific to continuous and discrete models. This paper presents a generic methodology for the efficient design of continuous/discrete-events co-simulation tools. Before the implementation stage, the methodology proposes several steps enabling the gradual formal definition of the simulation interfaces functionality and their internal architecture.
 

"Supporting system level design of distributed electronic control units for automotive applications", slides
Klaus D. Müller-Glaser
Institut für Technik der Informationsverarbeitung, University of Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe, Germany
Clemens Reichmann, and Markus Kuehl
Aquintos GmbH, Karlsruhe, Germany


"A Model-Driven Approach to Embedded Control System Implementation", slides
Jan F. Broenink, Marcel A. Groothuis, Peter M. Visser, and Bojan Orlic
Control Engineering, University of Twente, Enschede, the Netherlands


"Overcoming the Gap between Design at Electronic System Level (ESL) and Implementation for Networked Electronics", slides
Tommy Baumann, Maik Hauguth, and Horst Salzwedel
Department of Computer Science and Automation, Technical University of Ilmenau, Ilmenau, Germany


"Methodology for Efficient Design of Continuous/Discrete-Events Co-Simulation Tools", slides
Gabriela Nicolescu, Hanifa Boucheneb, Luiza Gheorghe, and Faouzi Bouchhima
Computer Science Department, Ecole Polytechnique Montréal, Montréal, Canada


Home Special Issues Workshops Invited Sessions References
 
IEEE TCST
The Inaugural Bellairs workshop
Heterogeneous Modeling
 
 
ACM TOMACS
The 2nd Bellairs workshop
Behavior Generation
 
 
SIMULATION
The 3rd Bellairs workshop
Domain Specific Modeling
 
   
1st Multi-Paradigm Modeling: Concepts and Tools
Applications
 
   
The 4th Bellairs workshop
CAMPaM Tools
 
   
2nd Multi-Paradigm Modeling: Concepts and Tools
Model-Based Design Tools
 
   
The 5th Bellairs workshop
   
   
The 6th Bellairs workshop
   
   
33d Multi-Paradigm Modeling: Concepts and Tools