Embedded Control System Development Process: Model-Based Design and Architecture Basics

Abstract

Modern embedded control systems increasingly are employing the model-based design (MBD) techniques. Most of the electronic control units (ECU) and motor control units (MCU) in the automotive market use the MBD. MBD provides a mathematical and visual approach to develop complex control systems. During the development process, models of the systems can be used for design, analysis, simulation, verification, and automatic code generation for the embedded systems. The simulation and verification tools allow to test, to refine, and to retest the models without to build prototypes. The V-model and the different test stages as model-in-the-loop (MiL), software-in-the-loop (SiL), processor-in-the-loop (PiL), and hardware-in-the-loop (HiL) are introduced in this chapter. The software architecture patterns as AUTOMotive Open System ARchitecture (AUTOSAR) join its framework platform are also introduced. Lastly, in this chapter, the discrete-time machine control systems are introduced being the prelude for the next chapters.