Classifications

• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
  • G06F17/00—Digital computing or data processing equipment or methods, specially adapted for specific functions
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
  • G06F30/00—Computer-aided design [CAD]
  • G06F30/10—Geometric CAD
  • G06F30/18—Network design, e.g. design based on topological or interconnect aspects of utility systems, piping, heating ventilation air conditioning [HVAC] or cabling
• • G—PHYSICS
  • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
  • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • G06Q30/00—Commerce
  • G06Q30/02—Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
  • G06Q30/0283—Price estimation or determination

Definitions

• the present invention relates to a method and a device for synthesizing an electrical architecture and the applications of this method to a vehicle, and in particular for the synthesis of a routing such as for example a routing of wiring.
• Patent EP-0696775A1 describes a method for designing a 3-D wiring starting from a 2-D logic representation already containing a wiring topology, the cables going from one connector to another being already represented. This 2-D topology is a prerequisite.
• the object of the present invention is to provide an improved method and device for synthesizing an electrical architecture and the applications of this method to a vehicle, and in particular for synthesizing routing such as for example wiring routing.
• the objective of the present invention is in particular to allow the routing of all or part of the wires of an electrical-electronic architecture even when the geometry of the product is not yet known precisely, but when it is known how to cut it out. in zones which could, for example, be assembled at the time of the production of said product. No such effective methods are known.
• the present invention also aims to remedy these drawbacks to save time during the synthesis and during the evaluation of electrical and electronic architectures.
• the present invention relates to a tool for synthesizing an economically optimal routing, characterized in that: the different configurations of service variants and of computer variants being specified and the rate of occurrence of these configurations being known, the sum of the configuration rates being equal to one,
• an economically optimal routing is automatically synthesized such that, for each sensor and each actuator, we identify the valid routes, we evaluate the routing cost of said valid routes for each configuration, and we choose the valid routing which minimizes the average, weighted by the mounting rates of each configuration, routing for each configuration.
• the optimal routing in quality is synthesized, characterized in that the steps above are repeated, the criterion which is minimized being a measure of quality preferably expressed in breakdowns per million.
• the optimal routing by weight is synthesized, characterized in that the steps above are repeated, the criterion which is minimized being a quality measure preferably expressed in breakdowns per million.
• an installation cost of the electrical and electronic architecture is automatically calculated as a function of a cost of mounting a strand on a zone, of a cost of mounting a connector on a zone border or on a zone, a cost of mounting a computer on a zone, a cost of mounting a sensor or an actuator on a zone and a cost of connecting a connector between zones or in an area.
• the optimal routing for all the configurations is synthesized, repeating the above steps, the criterion which is minimized being a compound cost:
• the present invention relates to a system architecture design tool, characterized in that it comprises several screens which each include:
• the user of the design tool directly takes into account the services offered to customers by accessing them in said screens and by observing synthetic views related to these services.
• the services represent services for the benefit of a user of the system, for example the driver of a vehicle on board said system.
• Services are defined by what the user wants (for example the start of air conditioning, wipers) or by what is offered (for example passive safety, especially in the event of accidents) .
• They are also defined by sensors and / or actuators which they implement. They each correspond to a sensor / software / actuator hardware implementation, the sensor being able to be hardware (sensors in dashboard or pedals, for example). From the services, the design tool makes it possible to determine system specifications, interfaces and what the elements of the system must include and their communication with the other elements of the system.
• the tool comprises a selection means, called a "tab", of a hierarchical description, the selection of each tab showing a screen different from the tool. Thanks to these provisions, the transition from one screen to another is particularly easy.
• the hierarchical description represents, at a first level of hierarchy, a plurality of services, and at a second level of hierarchy, a plurality of use cases for each service.
• each service is defined by the cases of its use.
• the “wipers” service can be defined by use cases of alternating wiping, slow wiping and fast wiping.
• each use case comprises a context or initial situation of the system, a request from a user to the system and a response from the system corresponding to a change in its state.
• states and associated state transitions are defined. Thanks to each of these provisions, the use cases are formalized and in direct relation to the situations and states of the system and the requests of the user of the system which define the transitions between states.
• the states which operate in modes transverse to the common services are grouped together, in "phases", each state is associated with a phase of the system, all the formalized use cases representing all the responses or absence of response of the system in all the phases, these representing, together, all the combinations of the operating modes of the vehicle. Thanks to these provisions, the states are hierarchized which allows a better readability because we can consider each phase separately, then each phase transition.
• each phase consists of a set of combinations of vehicle operating modes, the modes being transversal to the services and outside direct control of the services, for example a mode representing a level of available energy and / or a type of system user and or an accident or not condition of a vehicle.
• the hierarchical description represents, at a first level of hierarchy, a plurality of services, and at a second level of hierarchy, phases of the service.
• the hierarchical description represents, at a first level of hierarchy, a plurality of services, and at a second level of hierarchy, states.
• a hierarchical level describes, in a given state, the elementary operations.
• a user can perform a placement of elementary operations on components represented on a synthetic view. Thanks to these provisions, the functional aspects of the system can be implemented on the hardware components of this system.
• the tool comprises, for at least one screen, a synthetic view representing an envelope of a component and each elementary operation that said component controls or commands.
• the user of the tool can study the operation of each component and the specifications resulting therefrom.
• the tool comprises, for at least one screen, a synthetic view representing an envelope of a service and each elementary operation that said service comprises.
• the user of the tool can study the operation of each service and the resulting specifications.
• the hierarchical description represents computers of the system, at a first level of hierarchy, and at a second level of hierarchy, elementary operations controlled or commanded electronically by each computer.
• the user of the tool can study the operation of each computer and the specifications resulting therefrom.
• a synthetic view represents, for each computer, the services which are, at least partially, placed on said computer.
• the user of the tool can study the relationships between the services and the computers.
• a synthetic view represents, for each computer, the modes in which said computer must operate.
• the user of the tool can study the relationships between the modes and the computers.
• a synthetic view represents at least one network and the components connected to it.
• the hierarchical description represents computers of the system, at a first level of hierarchy, and at a second level of hierarchy, for each computer, the data frames passing over the buses to which is connected the computer and / or electronic components (sensors, actuators) directly connected to the computer. Thanks to these provisions, the tool user can study each computer and the interactions it has with other elements of the system, in particular the buses to which it is connected.
• the hierarchical description represents frames, at a first level of hierarchy, and at a second level of hierarchy, for each frame, the data contained in the frames.
• the user of the tool can detail the messaging used and establish the relationships between the frames and the data they contain.
• a synthetic view represents components and / or networks and a projection of a service on said components and / or networks.
• a hierarchical level describes, for each elementary operation, the input and output data flows of the interface, for each data flow, the pilot and the component and / or the elementary operation, with which the data stream is exchanged.
• the user of the tool can study the detail of the implementation of an elementary operation, in terms of data flows, of pilots and / or of components.
• the hierarchical description represents, at a first level of hierarchy, a plurality of services, and at a second level of hierarchy, a plurality of service variants, for each service. Thanks to these provisions, the tool makes it possible to deal with different variants of a service in the design of the architecture of a system.
• the hierarchical description represents, at a first level of hierarchy, a plurality of electronic components, and at a second level of hierarchy, a plurality of variants of electronic components, for each electronic component.
• the tool makes it possible to deal with different variants of a component, for example different components from different equipment manufacturers, in the design of the architecture of a system.
• a selection, with a pointing device, of an element of the synthetic view gives access to an operating representation of said element. Thanks to these provisions, the user of the tool can study the operation of the various elements represented in the synthetic view.
• the present invention relates to a system architecture design tool, characterized in that it comprises, for objects, hardware components and / or services offered to the client, a so-called "envelope" graphic representation which comprises :
• the user of the tool has a synthetic view of the interaction of the object with other objects of the system.
• envelope represents a hardware component
• data representations are made for a service. Thanks to these provisions, each material component - service couple can be studied separately.
• the present invention relates to a system representation tool comprising electronic components each connected to at least one bus, characterized in that it comprises, for each bus, a representation of the components which are directly connected to it and, for components directly connected to at least two buses, for each of these buses, associated with said component, an identifier of each other bus to which said component is directly connected.
• the user of the tool has a three-dimensional view, without complexity of representation, each bus being represented in two dimensions and the links between the buses being represented, according to a third dimension, by means of the identifiers.
• said identifier is a graphic element, for example a patch of a color identical to that of the bus in said representation.
• the present invention relates to a method for designing a specification of a hardware and software system, characterized in that it comprises:
• this process makes it possible to start from the services offered to the user of the system, to determine the operation of the system then to implement the elementary operations implementing the services on computers and to identify the consequences of the implementation in terms of data flows and / or in terms of interface specification.
• the placement stage comprises, for each service, a choice from several placement methods comprising in particular: - the placement of the service on a single computer,
• each service can be carried out on one or more components, with corresponding elementary control operations.
• the additional elementary operations are generated automatically with:
• a state of each data stream is determined, with respect to a given messaging system:
• the data and the frames can be organized, and during the design of the system, it is possible to measure the work remaining to be done to cover all of the data exchanges by the different frames.
• a performance constraint is expressed on this use case as well as on some of the elementary operations carried out in the arrival state of said use case, the tool synthesizes then automatically the list of executions of elementary operations, executions of pilots, writes and readings in frames, taking into account of information by sensors and actuators, frame transfer on a network implemented following the placement of said elementary operations and the designer can validate that this performance constraint is satisfied for a placement of said elementary operations or specify execution time and / or response time requirements to satisfy this performance constraint.
• said variants have shared elementary operations
• said elementary operations are placed on the same computers or computer variants.
• vehicle access variants, one with key, the other without key will share the basic locking and unlocking operations.
• the present invention relates to a tool for designing a wiring plan, characterized in that it comprises several screens which each include:
• the two-dimensional representation of the zones on which the components are placed comprises an overall view of all the zones as well as a means of adding or removing zones.
• a local view of the zone when a zone is selected in the global view of all the zones, a local view of the zone, local view in which geometric characteristics of the zone can be specified, for example by clicking and dragging contour points of the area, appears.
• the designer can specify preferential crossing points for the routing of the wires which will make it possible to form strands, preferential crossing points from one zone to another and avoidance sub-zones in which no wire cannot pass for example for mechanical reasons or of obstruction, the places of the zone which can be used as mass.
• a routing point or a connection point between zones can be transformed into a connector by clicking on an attribute of said routing or connection point.
• the designer can specify the location where these components will be placed in the different areas of the product.
• the routing of the various sensors and actuators is automatically synthesized up to the various fuse boxes and relays and electronic control units.
• each sensor and each actuator data pins associated with pilots (hardware and software) themselves associated with data, power pins corresponding to the power supply and ground pins being specified, the routing of the wires corresponding to these wires is synthesized automatically to the electronic control units or to the fuse boxes and relays for the data, to the relay fuse boxes for the power wires and to the nearest earths respectively.
• the number of pins of the connectors, of the connectors of the electronic control units and of the fuse and relay boxes is evaluated, as well as the size of the different strands.
• a sensor or an actuator is connected to a computer in the system architecture design tool, then, during the routing synthesis, the data pins of said sensor or of said actuator are connected to said calculator.
• a connector cost function for example based on a chart which gives an estimate of the price of connectors as a function of the number of data, power and mass connections, or based for example on an average price assigned to each connection of a data wire, current or ground,
• an electrical and electronic architecture cost is automatically calculated, based on at least one of said functions and evaluations.
• the cost estimate is automatic from any placement made in the system architecture design tool of a plurality of services for which estimates have been made.
• a quality measurement of an electrical and electronic architecture is automatically estimated. Thanks to these provisions, the respective quality of two electrical architectures can be evaluated.
• the quality of an electrical and electronic architecture is automatically estimated. With these arrangements, the respective quality of two electrical architectures can be evaluated. and electronic According to particular characteristics,
• a quality measure is automatically calculated for the execution of an elementary operation, and for the execution of a set of elementary operations on a computer. Thanks to these provisions, the operating quality of the computers is taken into account precisely in the quality evaluation of an electronic electrical architecture.
• candidate routing points are automatically determined in each zone in order to group the power and mass wires in splices and one automatically chooses the one which minimizes the length of wire in said zone.
• the present invention relates, according to a seventh aspect, to a method for synthesizing an electrical and electronic architecture of at least part of a product comprising electrical wires and electrical and electronic components such as sensors, actuators and computers, characterized in that it comprises the following stages: - the geometry of the product cut into different zones is represented in two dimensions;
• connection points are placed between the different zones;
• electrical and electronic components are placed in the zones;
• connection point corresponds, in the product, to a connector and / or at least one routing point corresponds, in the product, to a connector.
• the representation is more faithful and takes into account the size of certain areas of the product. According to particular characteristics, before placing the electrical and electronic components, at least one of the following choices is made:
• the cabling consisting of the synthesized routing and connectors is displayed.
• the placement of the routing points can be perfected by simplifying the geometry of the strands.
• the method includes a step of validating a routing among those evaluated, and a technical specification of the wiring consisting of validated synthesized routing and of connectors is calculated, and the calculation is carried out following the technical specification, calculating the cost of wiring and / or calculating a quality measure, for example by estimating the number of breakdowns per million and per year of wiring.
• the product is a vehicle and the different areas of the vehicle include at least one of the following areas:
• the method can be applied to a motor vehicle.
• FIG. 1 schematically represents the different stages of the method according to the invention
• FIG. 2 is a top view, in plan of the different zones of a motor vehicle
• FIG. 3 is a schematic view of elements for describing zones
• FIG. 4 shows routings validated in a vehicle door area
• FIG. 5 shows an example of the wiring of a vehicle door
• FIGS. 6 to 16 represent screens used for the design of an electronic and computer system architecture
• vehicle and “product” are used interchangeably, the scope of the present invention not being limited to vehicles but the particular embodiments being detailed for a product consisting of a vehicle.
• FIG. 1 schematically represents the stages of the process followed to carry out the routing of the wires of the electrical and electronic architecture as well as its evaluation. Certain links between some of the stages are symbolized by arrows. For example, the arrow between steps 102 and 104 indicates that step 104 is performed after step 102. On the other hand, there is no link between step 104 and step 106, these two steps can be performed in any order without affecting the quality of the result.
• the method comprises:
• step 102 during which the geometry of the vehicle is specified, in the form of zones, for example by implementing a computer which displays the illustrated screen in Figure 13 and has software to perform the functions described with reference to Figure 13; At the same time as this step 102, at least one of the following choices is made:
• step 104 during which so-called "avoidance" sub-zones are placed in the zones defined during step 102, as explained with reference to FIGS. 13 and 14;
• step 106 during which routing points and connectors are placed, in particular between the zones defined during step 102;
• step 112 during which the software automatically synthesizes the routing of the power, an example of such routing being proposed in FIG. 5;
• step 114 during which the software automatically performs a synthesis of the mass links, an example of such routing being proposed in FIG. 5;
• a step 118 during which the software automatically performs an evaluation of the quality of the routing on the basis of functions for estimating the quality of the connectors and the wires as a function of their size and of functions for estimating the quality of the various electronic components;
• a step 120 during which the software automatically performs an evaluation of the weight of the routing, from functions for estimating the weight of the connectors and the wires as a function of their size and from functions for estimating the weight of the various components electronic.
• steps 106 and 108 for an improvement and the synthesis steps 110, 112, 114 are repeated to proceed. to a new evaluation and iteratively converge towards an optimized solution.
• an optimized solution we proceed to the calculation of a technical specification of the wiring consisting of validated synthesized routing and connectors
• FIG. 2 schematically represents the division into zones of a product, in this case a 5-door motor vehicle with a tailgate.
• the different areas of the vehicle are shown in a top view. These different zones include: a right front wing zone 202, a right front door zone 204, a right upright zone 206, a right rear door zone 208, a right rear wing zone 210, a right front upright zone 211, a rear upright zone right 212, a tailgate area 214, a roof area 216, a cockpit area 218, a hood area 220, a front left upright area 222, a right rear upright area 224, a front face area 226, a front left wing area 228, a front left door area 230, a left upright area 232, a right rear door area 234, a left rear wing area 236, and a floor area 240.
• Compass 238 indicates how the zones are located relative to each other, but does not apply to each zone in particular.
• the "right front wing" 202 and “right front door” areas 204 are placed so that it can be deduced that the "right front wing" area 202 is at the front of the "front door” area right "204.
• these two zones are vertical and, locally, will not be represented according to the directions indicated by the" compass "238.
• FIG. 3 schematically represents elements for describing zones and illustrates how are placed on a "horizontal floor zone" zone 318 corresponding in FIG. 2 to the floor zone 240, a connection point 302, a routing point 312, a connector placed in place of a routing point 304 or in place of a connection point 316, an avoidance zone 314, components 306 and 308, whether they are sensors, actuators, electronic control or fuse and relay boxes.
• Zone routing is carried out, the component 306 being routed to the connection point 302 via the connector 304 and the component 308 being routed to the connector 316 via the routing point 312.
• FIG. 3 schematically represents elements for describing zones and illustrates how are placed on a "horizontal floor zone" zone 318 corresponding in FIG. 2 to the floor zone 240, a connection point 302, a routing point 312, a connector placed in place of a routing point 304 or in place of a connection point 316, an avoidance zone 314, components 306 and 308, whether they are sensors, actuators, electronic control or
• FIG. 3 illustrates the connections between zones schematized by the broken line between, on the one hand, the connection point 302 of the horizontal floor area 318 and the connection point 320 of the connected vertical area 324 and, on the other hand, the connector 316 of the horizontal area floor 318 and the connector 322 of the connected vertical zone 324.
• the "compass" 326 indicates how to orient the horizontal zone floor 318 while the “compass” 328 indicates how to orient the connected vertical zone 324. It is noted that these two zones are perpendicular , the horizontal floor area 318 being written in a horizontal plane while the related vertical area 328 is written in a vertical plane.
• connection points 302 and 320 when associated, represent the same point in space, that is to say a point of physical contact between the horizontal floor areas 318 and related vertical 324.
• the connectors 312 and 316 are joined by a standard "male / female socket" type mechanism, for example the connector 312 is a male connector and the connector 316 is a female connector and these two connectors are physically linked at a point of physical contact between the zones horizontal floor 318 and related vertical 324.
• FIG. 4 diagrammatically represents valid routes in a left front door zone 414 corresponding to the left front door zone 230 illustrated in FIG. 2.
• the avoidance sub-zones 418, 420 and 422 are hatched, and components are shown, in particular a window regulator control button 402, a light for the window regulator control button 404, a locking motor 406, a window regulator motor 408, connectors 410 and 412. Reading of the zone 414 is simplified using the "compass" 416.
• routing points 451, 452, 457 and 458 have been placed. It is noted that certain vertices of the avoidance subzone 422 are specifically useful for routing, that is to say electrical wires or links, 454, 455 and 456.
• FIG. 5 schematically represents a routing of a set of wires over two zones, on the one hand, a left front door zone 414 and, on the other hand, a cockpit zone 510.
• FIGS. 4 and 5 Some components are common to FIGS. 4 and 5. Others, in particular in the cockpit area 510 are added: a ground point 504, an electronic control unit 506, a fuse and relay box 508 and the connectors 502 and 512, corresponding respectively to connectors 410 and 412 of the front left door zone 414. The link between the connectors of the two zones is symbolized by the dotted lines in FIG. 5.
• the connectors 502 and 410 are joined by a standard mechanism type male / female socket as shown opposite figure 3.
• a two-dimensional representation of the product is carried out as follows: the product is divided into zones whose dimensions must be specified in order to stick to the better to the geometry of the product considered.
• This representation is in particular satisfactory for a motor vehicle insofar as the wiring can be largely fixed directly to the sheets and therefore to a decomposition of the vehicle into flat zones, as detailed in FIG. 2.
• Each zone represented is preferably vertical or horizontal .
• one can indicate the left and the right, the front and the back, the top and the bottom of said zone.
• the aim of these guidelines is in particular that a person skilled in the art can easily find his way from one zone to another, or from a global view, in which all the zones are represented, to a local view, in which a only one area, for example, is shown.
• Figure 2 shows a top view of the different areas of the upper part of a five-door passenger compartment (including the tailgate).
• the division into logical zones is specified, but the respective dimensions and the shapes of the zones are not shown in FIG. 2.
• the zones are oriented in FIG. 2 since the front, rear, left and right of the top view are indicated. Some rooms are horizontal, like the pavilion, and others vertical, like the doors.
• Each zone can contain avoidance sub-zones, that is to say zones in which no wires can be passed.
• avoidance sub-zones that is to say zones in which no wires can be passed.
• the window will correspond to an avoidance sub-area.
• each zone has its frame of reference and the avoidance sub-zones of a zone A are forms inscribed in A, preferably in the form of a polygon or a quadrilateral.
• FIG. 3 represents a zoom in on an area of the type described in FIG. 2. It is an area inscribed in a horizontal plane as indicated by the compass 328. It is called “horizontal floor area”.
• a hatched shape indicates an avoidance sub-area 314.
• Each zone is, moreover, linked to the other zones by connection points which are used to specify the geometric links between the different zones and to specify locations where the wires can pass from one zone to another.
• a connection point between two zones is therefore represented on each of these zones.
• a connection point can be a connector. In this case, there is a connector on the two areas it links.
• the "horizontal floor area” area 318 is linked to the "connected vertical area” area 324 by two connectors 302/320 and 316/322. These two connectors are located at equal distance from each other on each of said zones.
• the routing points are wire grouping points proposed, in each zone, by the designer and which make it possible in particular to group the wires into strands.
• all the vertices of an avoidance sub-area are routing points so that there is always a solution to the problem of routing in an area.
• a routing point can be a connector.
• two routing points 304 and 312 are shown, one of which,
• Routing between two points consists of a sequence of routing or connection points.
• the wire synthesized according to a routing is assumed and represented rectilinear between two successive routing or connection points.
• a routing is said to be valid in an area if, on the one hand, it does not cross any avoidance sub-area and if, on the other hand, given two successive routing or connection points A and B of the routing, then there is no routing point C attainable without crossing an avoidance sub-area and such that the lengths of the segments AC and BC are less than the length of the segment AB.
• a route crossing several zones via connection points between zones is valid if it is valid in each zone.
• the length of the routing of a wire is the sum of the distances between the successive routing or connection points which form the routing. Routing is optimal if the routing length is minimum among all possible valid routes.
• points 451, 452, 453, 454, 455, 456, 457 and 458 are routing points.
• Points 410 and 412 represent connection points between areas containing connectors.
• 454, 455 and 456 are also vertices of an avoidance subzone.
• routing (406 - 451 - 452 - 458 - 412) cannot be appropriate because it crosses an avoidance sub-zone.
• the shortest route respecting all the clauses is (406 - 454 - 455 - 456 - 458 - 412). In practice the routing is calculated between two components rather than between a component and a connection point with or without a connector in an area.
• - electronic control units these are electronic components capable of controlling data signals, that is to say of low power, used in particular to transport software data or data that can be interpreted by software, in particular coming from a sensor or to an actuator; sensors and actuators; - fuse and relay boxes: these are electronic components capable of controlling both low-power signals and high-power signals, which are simply referred to as power signals; sources: are energy sources, typically a battery - a source can be compared to a particular fuse and relay box;
• the electronic control units preferentially ensure the logical control of the components while the boxes ensure the relay of their supply and the sources supply the supply of the assembly.
• the fuse and relay boxes contain for example the fuses protecting the different loads (components consuming energy) placed on the different wires linked to the said boxes and also preferentially contain relays allowing the activation of the loads requiring power.
• the various elements of the electrical and electronic architecture are represented by points, that is to say associated with two coordinates in the frame of reference of the area on which they are placed. Ground points are also placed. The ground points are such that a so-called ground wire, connected to a ground point, is at zero electrical potential. Ground points are specified by the designer.
• the electrical and electronic architecture is given by: the choice of electronic control units, the choice of communication networks, - the choice of sensors and actuators, the choice of fuse and relay boxes, the logical links of these different components to each other These links are, in particular, the connections of the electronic control units and of the fuse and relay boxes to the various communication networks. These links can also be explicit links between a sensor or actuator and an electronic control unit or a fuse and relay box.
• a sensor can have several electrical links with its environment, for example a ground link, a power link and a link for the transmission of information, said sensor can be simultaneously linked to a ground, a fuse and relay box and an electronic control unit.
• the routing of all the wires is carried out in stages for a given placement of the various elements of the architecture.
• the network topology characteristics must be known: such a network is preferably organized in a star, in line or in a loop depending on the case.
• star or online topologies are possible.
• the designer will indicate his recommendation.
• the reasons for choosing a topology are very varied.
• the star network may be preferred for reasons of operational safety because in the event of a bus interruption, only one computer is isolated while in the event of an online topology, the network is cut in half and the consequences are a a priori more serious.
• the electrical characteristics of the various components can be specified: number of interface pins, nature of pins (data, mass, power), attachment of data or power pins if they are specified, minimum operating voltage, average current, inrush current, power consumed, and this for each power wire leaving the component.
• the routing evolves consequently since it is necessary to route each wire separately and to specify a pin for each connector involved in the routing of a new wire.
• the motors 406 and 408 can each have three data wires, power and mass, respectively, and therefore comprise connectors with three pins. This time, the links to earth M 504 and to the BFR 508 fuse and relay box, which had not been expressed until now, appear in the form of new routes:
• each wire connects a pine of a connector of a component to a pine of another connector of another component and passes, moreover, by a certain number of routing and connection points as specified above. It is the data of the two connectors and the pins of each connector at the ends, i.e. at the level of the connected components, the sequence of points of routing, as well as the sequence of connector pins, in particular between zones, crossed, which logically defines the wire.
• the logical wiring plan is the data for all the logical definitions of the wires that constitute it.
• each connector it is the number of connections corresponding to data wires, the number of connections corresponding to power and the number of connections corresponding to ground wires which constitute the specification.
• connector 410 now provides five connections, three of which are data, one power, and one ground.
• the user may also wish to calculate or evaluate the cost of an electrical and electronic architecture, in particular in order to compare such architectures and choose the least costly with equal service and quality.
• a cost function of connectors for example based on a chart which gives an estimate of the price of connectors according to the number of data, power and mass connections, or based for example on an average price assigned to each connection of a data wire, current or ground.
• a cost function of connectors for example based on a chart which gives an estimate of the price of connectors according to the number of data, power and mass connections, or based for example on an average price assigned to each connection of a data wire, current or ground.
• wires Given a cost function of wires based for example on their length and on their type, taking for example an average linear weight for power and mass wires, an average linear weight for data wires, and a mass cost of the component in which said wires are produced.
• a cost evaluation is automatically deduced from the technical specification for the electronic and electronic architecture considered by summing the costs of all the electronic components, all the connectors and all the wires.
• the cost of an operation is: given a number N of assembly lines evaluated for each elementary operation placed on a computer, and an activation period P for each operation elementary in seconds, given an average cost Cl of the execution of an instruction per second on a processor, given the memory space MEMO necessary for the data that the elementary operation exchanges with the other elementary operations and the pilots; given an estimate of the CRAM cost of a bit in RAM memory and a CROM estimate of a bit in ROM memory or Cflash in flash memory. Given the number of bits in a word, i.e. the characteristic of being n-bit (eight, sixteen or thirty-two for example) of the microcontroller, the cost of an operation is:
• the cost C1 of the execution of an instruction per second on a processor can depend on the type of application which one processes, all the instructions not being carried out in as many cycles. For example on a processor of twenty MIPS (Million Instruction Per Second), one can carry out twenty million instruction of a cycle in one second, but only one million instructions of twenty cycles. So according to the average number of cycles per instruction required for each type of application, we specify this evaluation.
• the average cost of an instruction, a bit of RAM and a bit of flash on a microcontroller can, for example, be extrapolated from the observation of at least three microcontrollers (i ) of which the cost (C,) and the memory characteristics RAM (Ri), MIPS (M and Flash (F,), and (n,) the bit number of a word are known.
• the cost of the various hardware pilots can be assessed according to their type (all or nothing, analog-digital, etc.) and their electrical characteristics.
• the user may also wish to evaluate the quality of an electrical and electronic architecture, in particular in order to compare such architectures and choose the one which presents the best level of quality, with identical service and cost.
• the measurement of quality is preferably done by measuring the number of failures per million units and per year of the entire architecture, preferably using software. To calculate this number
• the software measures the quality of all connectors, whether they are connectors between zones or within zones or I / O connectors for electronic components (sensors, actuators, electronic control units, boxes fuses and relays) by assigning for example an average failure rate per connection, for example 10 ppm (failure per million units per year) and by multiplying this average rate by the total number of connections in the system.
• the software takes into account averages adjusted according to the type of connection: mass, power and data, the finest wires being the most fragile. For example, we take 4 ppm per connection of power or ground wires on a pin and 6 ppm per connection of data wires on a pin, and finally an estimate of 4 ppm per portion of data wire between two connectors.
• the ppm corresponding to the duplication of wires downstream of the splice, seen from the actuators 406 and 408, are to be deleted, ie 3 * 4 ppm.
• a power splice we find 88ppm as the quality of the optimized routing.
• a mass splice at the same routing point saves another 12 ppm to reach 76 ppm. Optimization on a cost estimate would similarly consist of eliminating the cost of the portions of wires and connector pins removed by means of the splice.
• the tool measures the quality of electronic components which is specified in a component database and can be described according to the type of component or specifically for each component, for example you can attach an evaluation at 100 ppm to all electronic control units.
• the tool then adds the measurements of all the components making up the electrical and electronic architecture.
• the user can also refine the routing strategy by integrating splices for power wires and ground wires. These splices can be made at the connectors or within an area, preferably at a routing point.
• Making a mass splice consists in joining all the (n) ground wires passing through a point, and in particular at a connection point or a routing point. In this way, going back to the nearest mass, one saves on the one hand wires and on the other hand connection pins corresponding to the (n-1) wires removed.
• Making a power splice consists of joining power wires which, on the one hand, pass through a common point, in particular through a connection point or through a routing point, and, on the other hand, join loads to a common fuse and relay box.
• the power supply wire of the locking motor 406 and the power supply wire of the lamp 404 can be joined at the level of the routing point 452 or even at the level of the connector 410.
• Such splices serve to save pins at the connectors and the pieces of wire thus removed.
• Point 452 is the one that minimizes the lengths of wire for the realization of the splice in the example of figure 5.
• Practicing a splice at the level of a connector amounts to linking together the pins of the connector corresponding to the wires that one wishes to join.
• FIGS. 6 et seq. Describe a system architecture design tool and a method for designing a specification of a hardware and software system implementing this tool.
• This tool is particularly suited to the case of complex systems comprising a set of computers performing numerous services or benefits for the benefit of a user, each service has many use cases.
• vehicle electronic and computer systems are particularly targeted by this tool.
• Services are defined by what the user wants (for example the start of air conditioning, wipers) or by what is offered (for example passive safety, especially in the event of accidents) .
• They are also defined by sensors and / or actuators which they implement. They each correspond to a sensor / software / actuator hardware implementation.
• the manufacturer has a margin of maneuver in the definition of the internal architecture of the electronic / IT system, in particular in the choice of on-board networks and electronic boxes connected to these networks and the design tool presented here allows the design of this architecture.
• the design tool makes it possible to determine specifications rather than finished products. However, this tool also determines interfaces and what must include the elements and their communication with the electronic / computer system.
• this tool does not aim to program the computers automatically but to manage cost / quality / time compromises of the specified system.
• the design tool is implemented in the form of software running on a personal computer and using a known database and resources (operating system and distribution over the network).
• each service represents a service rendered to a user, a set of formalized use cases of each service is defined, each formalized use case comprising an original context, a user request, possibly implicit, and a response from the system corresponding to a change in its state, and
• the system is organized and specified to carry out the response, upon detection of rejection of the request in the original context.
• the method comprises a step of designing, for each service, an automatic service control controller intended to be implemented by the system of hardware and software components and which represents the behavior of this system.
• This design step comprises, for each service, a step of defining a formalized use case of the service, specified by a context, a request from a user to the system and a response from the system corresponding to a change in its state. and, iteratively, until all cases of use of the service have been treated:
• a step of adding a formalized use case of the service specified by a context or initial situation of the system, a request from a user to the system and a response from the system corresponding to a change in its state, - and, iteratively, for each state already constructed, we seek whether it is compatible with the context of the added formalized use case and, if so, we construct a new state of the system linked to said state already constructed by the request of the added formalized use case, the new state taking into account the already constructed state and its modification by the response of the added formalized use case.
• the service control automaton consisting of all the state pairs linked by the requests forming the transitions of said automaton is synthesized.
• the context represents at least one mode (or parameter) of operation of the system, the modes being transversal to the services and outside of direct control of the services, for example a mode representing a level of available energy (low battery, on battery, in progress starting mode, with the engine running, for example), another mode representing a type of system user (designer, manufacturer, vehicle owner, vehicle driver or passenger, after-sales service, car garage, for example) and another mode representing an accident or not state of a vehicle.
• a mode representing a level of available energy low battery, on battery, in progress starting mode, with the engine running, for example
• another mode representing a type of system user (designer, manufacturer, vehicle owner, vehicle driver or passenger, after-sales service, car garage, for example)
• another mode representing an accident or not state of a vehicle.
• any context is part of a system life phase consisting of a combination of vehicle operating modes, the declination in phase mode thus being transversal to the services.
• a context will correspond to a set of couples (phase, state of the system), each state being in fact characterized by the system response when accessed.
• the use case "in the context where the vehicle is condemned, the user presses his unlocking badge and the vehicle unlocks” applies to the "vehicle locked” states in the “engine running” phases and “engine stopped”, if these two phases have been identified as relevant by other formalized use cases of the "unlocking" service.
• Each phase corresponds to a set of combinations of modes in which the behavior of the service is uniform, that is to say that the same states and the same customer requests are observed, or, put differently, the same customer requests and same system responses from a given state.
• the tool allows a completion step during which, for each response, that is to say a state of the system, we consider all the customer requests not yet processed and we ask the designer if a processing of the request must be performed in the state corresponding to this response. Only customer requests can have an effect on the service.
• the design tool also allows for a correction step during which if, in the same starting state, two states of the service control automaton are linked by different requests, then the need to define a priority between system responses and this priority is incorporated as an attribute of the state outputs. Priority information typically comes after the design of formalized use cases. It is possible that for mechanical or other reasons, two potentially competing demands may never in fact be possible simultaneously.
• each change of context is a change of state object of a CUF
• a service is added for the intersection part, so as to resolve conflicts between services.
• the purpose of this service will be to arbitrate when two concurrent actions are applied to a component given by two services, which of the services takes precedence or if a specific action corresponding to this particular case must be carried out.
• Such a service is typically not specified from the use case but rather by identification of the states of the two services in which reactions leading to conflict (with respect to one or more given components) are identified.
• the service control automaton is produced by programming at least one control computer for the corresponding service.
• the tool has different pages accessible by clicking on tabs. These pages are described with reference to Figures 6 to 16. For the sake of clarity, in Figures 6 to 16, the titles of the tabs and list items selected by the designer are underlined and in bold.
• the user interface 600 of this software tool comprises: - drop-down menus 601 to 608,
• the drop-down menus 601 to 608 are represented by their titles "File”, "Edit”,
• the design tool presents a screen comprising a hierarchical list part (on the left in FIGS. 6 to 16) representing a hierarchical description and a graphic part (on the right on FIGS. 6 to 16) giving, as a function of a selection, via a pointing device (in the following description, a mouse), of an element of the hierarchical list, a synthetic view concerning the selected item.
• a hierarchical level of the hierarchical list represents services.
• the first three tabs 611 to 613 have this characteristic.
• the user successively selects horizontal tabs 611 to 616 by clicking on them, knowing that one of the qualities of the design tool is that the user can select the tabs in the order he wants.
• the horizontal tabs have the following titles:
• the designer first selects the 611 "Requirements" tab and observes the screen illustrated in FIG. 6.
• the hierarchical list box 620 which includes a part d '' a list with the five highest hierarchy levels: vehicle name services or services service variants use case link between states
• the elements of a lower hierarchical level may or may not be apparent.
• the list apparently only contains vehicle names
• the list of services offered on this vehicle appears.
• the list of service variants which concerns it is made apparent, and so on.
• a use case is, in the design tool, defined by an initial phase (for example an available energy level) transverse to the vehicle, an initial state (for example the position d actuators), a request or request, a final phase and a final state.
• a new use case (CU) is added concerning what must be done following a serious accident.
• CU new use case
• the name and description are called” properties "of the new use case.
• the interface is represented, when the "User opens trunk" use case is selected.
• the interface is represented, when the "User opens trunk" use case is selected.
• graph area 630 Depending on the level of the item in the hierarchical list selected, in graph area 630: - name of the vehicle: the list of services
• a contextual menu includes four zones, “initial phase”, “initial state”, “final phase” and “final state” which make it possible to select between all the phases already defined or between all the states already defined, those which represent the use case.
• the "brake" service has four phases: - emergency braking,
• the air conditioning service two phases are defined, one for the low levels of available energy, for which ventilation is carried out without cooling the ventilated air, which consumes too much energy, and the other for the case of the engine running, the air conditioning being carried out with cooling of the ventilated air.
• the operating algorithm of a service is represented by rectangular blocks, representing states, and arrows, representing an action or inaction causing a transition between states.
• states representing states
• arrows representing an action or inaction causing a transition between states.
• a transition represents a request from the client. For example, a click on a boot opening badge changes from the "all closed” state in which all the doors of the vehicle are closed, to a "doors closed / boot open” state. For each state, a set of elementary operations is thus defined which must function or be executed in said state. All the states and transitions form a control automaton associated with the service. It is observed that the states can be considered as "felt customers", the transitions being the requests of the customer, possibly implicit. It is understood that the phases are attributes of the states but that two identical states with the exception of their phases ("before contact” and "after contact” phases, for example) are considered as two independent states.
• FIG. 7 illustrates an image of the user interface which is then displayed on the screen of the design station.
• the user interface 700 of this software tool then comprises:
• the vertical tabs 731 and 732 are respectively named “functional diagram” and “feature” and are attached to the graphic area 730. They are used to select content to be displayed in this graphic area 730, as explained below.
• the hierarchical list zone 720 comprises a part of the list whose top ten hierarchy levels are: vehicle name services or services service variants phase state group of elementary operations elementary operation given driver (“driver”) component.
• driver phase state group of elementary operations elementary operation given driver
• the selection of one of the components of the hierarchical list, by a left click causes with the tab "feature" 732 selected, the appearance, in the graphic part 730, of all the elements of the level list immediately lower with sometimes a flow of control between the components if you point and click with the mouse on service variant (the phases appear in the left part linked together by customer requests corresponding to phase transitions) or on a phase (the phase states appear on the left, linked together by "customer requests").
• the tool allows you to add or remove elements in the hierarchical level immediately below.
• an elementary operation transversely in said phase respectively, that is to say in all of the states of said phase and in indicating in which group of elementary operations we add said elementary operation, in said state in particular by indicating in which group of elementary operations we add elementary operation in said state, and in said group of elementary operations.
• the tool By right-clicking on the phase item of the hierarchical list 720, it is possible to add a phase transition, the tool then requests the arrival phase, the customer request corresponding to the transition, and the states of departure and of arrival for the phase transition.
• the state item in the hierarchical list 720 it is possible to add a state transition, the tool then asks what is the arrival state of the transition and what is the corresponding customer request.
• the elementary operation groups represented as the nodes an oriented graph, each arrow representing the flow of data between the group of elementary operations of departure and the group of operations of elementary arrival.
• This data flow is defined with respect to the data flow between elementary operations, insofar as any data appearing is in fact produced by one or more elementary operations of the group of initial elementary operations and consumed by one or more elementary operations of the group of elementary arrival operations.
• - vehicle name the oriented graph, the nodes of which are service variant envelopes and the arrows the streams of data between these service variants.
• This graph is conditioned by the choice of a configuration, i.e. the choice of a variant of service by service. This is shown in Figure 15.
• - state envelope view of diagram type illustrated in FIG. 8 for the elementary operations of the state and by restricting the other services to the mode combinations of the phase in which the state is specified.
• - elementary operation a graph with in the center the selected elementary operation and around it the sensors, actuators and other elementary operations of the architecture as a whole to which it is linked the edges of the graph are the data flows between the nodes .
• - data the elementary operations, sensors or actuators to which the data is directly linked are displayed in a graph.
• the sensors or elementary operations which produce the data appear to its right while the actuators or elementary operations consuming the data are placed to the left of the data.
• the arrows indicate the direction of passage of the data (from producer to consumer).
• pilot the characteristics of the pilot, type of analog / digital input / output, all-or-nothing, its electrical characteristics.
• actuator a graph with in the center the selected sensor or actuator and around it the elementary operations of the architecture as a whole to which it is linked, the edges of the graph are the data flows between the nodes.
• a popup menu appears which allows, among other things, to link the phase modes (a context menu shows a list of modes, for example energy, customer, vehicle condition with check boxes to associate the phase with combinations of modes). For example, the "crash" phase is specified in modes where it is valid.
• the operation groups include the same basic operations for all the horizontal tabs 611 to 616.
• an elementary operation we observe, in the graphic area 730, the flow of data (in English "data flow"), that is to say the data exchanged by this operation (given in input and output rectangles). If a group of elementary operations is selected, in the sixth one observes, in the graphic area 730, the flow of data between the elementary operations which it comprises. If we select a state, at the fifth level of hierarchy, we observe, in the graphic part 730, the flow of data between the groups of elementary operations which it comprises. For each of the fifth to seventh levels, if one selects a link in the graphic part, with a click on the left button, one observes, in a contextual menu, a list of the exchanged data. By selecting one, you can modify it (see below).
• driver and "component”
• components The elements of the ninth and tenth levels of hierarchy (driver” and "component") are known elsewhere and come from the vehicle manufacturer's library, from equipment manufacturers or from suppliers.
• a hierarchical list Phase / State / Group of elementary operations / Elementary operations / Data / Pilots / Components of the two services selected with at the different levels of said hierarchical list which one selects, a "+" sign when only the service variant selected first includes the elements of the selected level, a "-” sign when only the service variant selected second includes the elements of the selected level, a "! sign if there is a difference at a level lower than the selected level, and no particular sign if the two hierarchical lists of the compared service variants are identical at this level
• FIG. 8 One of the screens corresponding to this selection is illustrated in FIG. 8.
• This envelope 840 is represented in the form of a rectangle, divided horizontally into two rectangular parts.
• the upper part is connected, on the left, to representations of the sensors 851 which supply it with data and, on the right, to actuators 852 and 853, to which the service variant supplies data.
• the lower part is connected, on the left to incoming data 856 and 854 and, on the right, to outgoing data 855. The data which only pass through the variant, without being used (or consumed) is not shown.
• an exclamation point indicates a supposed conflict (for example in the case where, at the output, several services claim to provide the same data) which supposes to resolve an arbitration problem, a question mark next to an incoming data item for which no element has yet been defined to produce it.
• This representation of envelope 840 gives a very practical summary view for the user of the design tool. If, in the envelope representation, a data, a sensor or an actuator is clicked, a functional view is obtained, indicating the elementary operations which produce the data and those which consume it. If one selects or clicks on one of these elementary operations, then one sees in a new screen the list of the computer variants on which this elementary operation is placed. This display is performed in a new window. Which appears when you double click. If you click on a sensor or an actuator, you get the list of service variants using this component as well as the list of computer variants to which the component is attached. The return to normal takes place by closing the windows thus created.
• the services with which the selected service exchanges data appear directly in boxes like 855 directly associated with the input and output data of the service.
• boxes like 855 directly associated with the input and output data of the service.
• the user interface 900 of this software tool then comprises:
• the vertical tabs 931 and 932 are respectively named “networks” and “feature” and are attached to the graphic area 930. They are used to select content to be displayed in this graphic area 930, as explained below.
• the hierarchical list box 920 which includes a part of the list whose seven highest hierarchy levels are: name of the vehicle services or services variants of service group of elementary operations elementary operation pilot data
• the three highest hierarchy levels are identical to those of the hierarchical lists 620 and 720 and, in particular, include services.
• the selection of one of the components of the hierarchical list, by a left click causes, with the "network" tab 931 selected, the appearance, in the graphic part 930, of the set networks 941 to 943 of computers 951 to 955, synthetic representation making it possible to observe, for the selected element, its distribution on the computers and the data streams which concern it on the networks.
• Each network is represented with all the computers connected to it, the network having a specific color, represented here by stickers, vignettes or pads 961 to 963 bearing signs "+", "x” or “o".
• Computers present on two networks, computers 951 and 955, are, on each network to which they are connected, equipped with "sticker (s)", each "sticker” having the color, represented here by the sign corresponding to each other network to which the computer in question is directly connected.
• the stickers thus give a three-dimensional view without complexity of representation.
• the icons representing the data which are followed by their name in clear, appear in green on a white background if the data in question is not placed in a frame circulating on this network, in blue on a white background when the data is placed in a frame and in blue on a gray background if the data is not used by any computer, whether this computer is directly on the network or accessible via gateway computers between networks and other networks.
• This average duration is estimated for example by taking into account the communication protocol implemented on the network considered and displayed in the popup window and the performance of this protocol, for example the load level saturating the network (from 30% of load for the CAN we observe that the most critical frames may not arrive in due time due to the arbitration mechanism which delays the transmission of a frame when the transmission of another frame of priority greater than or equal to already requested, and - the share of data flow that falls under protocol management (50% for the CAN, typically because the protocol management data (arbitration, CRC, 7) represents practically as many bits on average than the data actually transported by a frame).
• the data flow calculation is done by mode and the highest load is taken in the mode in which it appears. This aspect motivated by the fact that for example, in diagnostic mode, certain frames corresponding to a client mode are inhibited and therefore are not taken into account in the load calculation. Conversely, the calculation of load in operation for the end customer must not take diagnostic frames into account.
• a frame is transmitted in a given mode if and only if at least one of its data is exchanged between two elementary operations active in this said mode.
• the user of the tool can perform the placement (in English "mapping") of a service variant or a group of elementary operations, or even of a elementary operation selected in the list box 920, on one or more computers represented in the graphic part 930, by the well-known function of "drag and drop” (which one can translate, in French, by "to move and to let go” ).
• drag and drop which one can translate, in French, by "to move and to let go
• the different types of placement include, in particular, placement on a single computer, placement in master and slave and distributed placement.
• the "control" part of the service sends control messages on at least one network to control each slave and the tool automatically adds these control messages inside or outside the already defined frames (to see further).
• an elementary operation representing the service control automaton, is automatically added in relation to the service variant considered. It is called "elementary control operation”.
• the node on which the elementary operation for controlling the service is placed is the master node.
• this operation consumes all the data allowing the calculation of the service control automaton. For example, if a transition is conditioned by the setting to one of a Boolean datum a, a being the result of an elementary operation, then, in the case of a master - slave placement, the elementary control operation will have in particular has as input data.
• the type of placement distributed means that elementary operations of the same service are distributed over several computers and that, on the other hand, the service control automaton is synthesized on each of said computers.
• a placement dialog box appears asking if the elementary operations, the sensors and actuator concerned should be placed simultaneously and on the same computer. If it is decided to place the service with the actuators and / or sensors concerned, the design tool connects them to the computer. If the elementary operations, the sensors and / or the actuators are not placed on the same computer as the rest of the service, the design tool adds the data necessary for the proper functioning of the service in or outside the frames already defined (to see further).
• the data flows are observed in the graphical area 1030 (see “Func" tab 612 above) but for all the states combined (there is no longer a level representing the states in the hierarchical list 820).
• the last three tabs, 614 to 616, concern the hardware with diversity management, that is to say different variants of the hardware implementation of the system.
• FIG. 11 shows a user interface displayed when the 614 "OPER" tab is selected.
• the user interface 1100 of the software tool then comprises:
• the hierarchical list box 1120 which includes a part of the list whose six highest hierarchy levels are: vehicle name type of calculator variant of calculator service elementary operation pilot data Sensor or actuator
• type of calculator The flow of data between the different nodes of the network independently of the implementation of this flow in frames or networks of all kinds. If an elementary operation placed on a node consumes a data produced by another elementary operation on another node, then the exchanged data appears in the data flow represented graphically by an arrow going from the node where the data is produced towards the node where the data is consumed.
• calculator variant The oriented graph whose nodes are the elementary operations placed on the calculator variant, 1140, 1142, 1144, 1146, 1148 and the arrows are the data flows between these elementary operations such as for example 1162.
• the user interface 1200 of the software tool then comprises:
• the hierarchical list box 1220 which includes a part of the list whose six highest hierarchy levels are: name of the vehicle type of calculator variant of frame calculator given in the pilot data sensor / actuator frame
• the "networks" tab 1232 is selected: vehicle name the networks of this typical vehicle architecture of computer the networks to which this type of computer is connected, represented in FIG.
• This messaging interface consists of message frames consumed or produced on the various networks to which the selected computer variant is connected.
• the consumed frames are represented on one side of the zone, and the outgoing frames on the other side.
• T_in_1, 1246 is an incoming frame
• T_out_1 and T_out_2, respectively 1247 and 1248 are transmitted frames. Only the data actually consumed and produced by at least one elementary operation on the selected computer variant are represented in area 1244 in correspondence with the different frames.
• zone 1242 we find the input and output data of the selected computer which are neither linked to sensors / actuators, nor to frames, and which nevertheless come from or are intended for other nodes. The conventions of zone 841 are used for this zone 1242.
• the data which only pass through the selected computer variant, which then acts as a gateway between networks can be accessed in the form of a list by selecting a tab.
• sensor / actuator a rectangular outline (not shown) separated into two parts, the top part being used to indicate the data produced by the sensor / actuator using a pilot and used on other computers than that to which the component is attached, the lower part being used to represent the data produced using a pilot and used on the computer to which the component is attached.
• the data received by the component is on the left of the outline while the transmitted data are on the right of the outline.
• Such a data-calculator link is represented by similar to the data-service link 855 in Figure 8, except that if the same data is for example sent to several computers, then it will be repeated several times, which is an alternative to a display of the type ". .. "with a box that should be clicked to access the different calculator variants, other than the one to which the component is attached, using the data.
• the "networks" tab 1232 is selected, in the graphical part 1230, the hardware architecture and the placement of computers on networks are observed.
• Each network is represented with all the computers connected to it, the network having a specific color, represented here by stickers with a sign “+”, “x” and “o” as in Figure 9.
• Computers present on two networks are, on each network to which they are connected, provided with "sticker (s)", each "sticker” having the color, represented here by a sign "+”, "x” or “o” of the other networks to which the computer question is directly related.
• the stickers thus give a three-dimensional view without complexity of representation.
• a list of data circulating on this network appears in a contextual dialog box.
• different colors indicate the data that is not allocated in a frame, that which is allocated and actually passes in a frame and that which is allocated but does not pass effectively because for example it is not produced .
• the data circulating on a network are visible in a dialog box when one clicks with the right button on the network in question, the tab "networks" 1232 or 1232 being active.
• This dialog uses colors to indicate the placement in a frame and the use of the data, as explained above, with reference to FIG. 9.
• a popup menu allows you to reach a contextual dialog box which provides information on this data, in particular, the dimension (a boolean at a size of one bit), the extreme values, a default value, etc. the maximum age of the data, i.e. duration after capture after which the data can be considered obsolete ... etc.
• FIG. 13 represents a screen 1300 for entering and displaying the zones of a product called "vehicle Z23" for which it is desired to build an electrical and electronic architecture.
• This screen can be accessed from any of the screens in Figures 6 to 12 by selecting from the tools menu 606.
• the graphic part, on the right of the screen includes an upper zone in which three buttons 1312, 1314 and 1316 are represented.
• the different areas of the vehicle on which the components of the system can be placed appear in the lower right graphic part of the screen, or sub-screen 1330. These areas of the vehicle are represented by rectangles 202, 204, 206, ... , 236, 240.
• the user To add a zone, the user must first select the button 1312 place this rectangle, which corresponds to a new zone of the vehicle, by clicking in the sub-screen 1330. He can then change the dimensions of said rectangle, for example by clicking on one of the angles of the rectangle, then by moving this angle at will, the opposite angle of said rectangle does not move.
• the name 1342 of the product is listed at the bottom of the 1330 sub-screen.
• nodes and components defined for the design tool are included in the hierarchical list 1320.
• this hierarchical list is used once the different components are placed: selecting a particular node or calculator makes it possible to locate in which vehicle zone it is placed, this zone automatically changing appearance in the sub-screen 1330. For example, when in the hierarchical list, the accelerator pedal 1321 is selected, the cockpit zone 218 changes appearance.
• the components which have not yet been placed also have a particular appearance, such as the BVA node 1323 or the front wiper motor 1322.
• an orientable compass 1344 for readability for all users. It is up to the user to indicate which axes (left, right), (up, down), (front, back) should be used as well as their direction.
• FIG. 13 in the case of a motor vehicle of which zones, seen from above, have been shown, the orientation allows the person skilled in the art to recognize some of these zones, such as, for example, flag 216, then step by step, all the areas represented. In order to make this division into zones more readable, it is possible to name the zones. This is for example the case of the right front wing named Aile AVD 1346.
• FIG. 14 represents a local view of one of the zones of the vehicle represented in FIG. 13 in the sub-screen 1330 of the screen 1300. It is accessed, for example, by selecting the said zone in the sub-screen 1330 then by double clicking.
• the dimensions of the said zone can be specified by selecting the button 1410 then by selecting one of the vertices of the said zone and moving it at will, the other vertices remaining unchanged. Selecting a point on the edge of the area other than a vertex allows you to define a new vertex.
• the avoidance sub-area is then placed in the form of a rectangle with default dimensions.
• the exact dimensioning of the subzone is then done, as for the vehicle zone, by selecting a button 1410 then by selecting one of the vertices of the selected avoidance subzone or by adding a vertex. By selecting a point on the contour other than a vertex.
• the routing points are placed on the zone by first selecting a button 1414 then by selecting the place in the zone where it is desired to place said routing point.
• the connection points of the zone are placed by first selecting the button 1416 then by selecting the place in the zone where it is desired to place said connection point.
• a compass can be placed next to the area by selecting the button 1316, then oriented.
• a recommended routing path can be placed by selecting a button
• the components and calculators are placed on the area by click-and-drag from the hierarchical list 1420. They can be associated with icons which make it possible to locate and recognize them more quickly.
• the background screen can for example be made up of parallel and regular horizontal and vertical lines, cutting the space into blocks of 20mm by 20mm in the 1: 1 scale.
• connection point placement operation it is possible to enlarge and shrink the area of the vehicle shown for ease of use, i.e. change the scale of the figure so that it is adapted to the part of the sub-screen 1430 by means known as zooms. The area and all the elements placed on the screen then change scale.
• connection points 1355 and 1353 correspond, that is to say represent in fact the same point in space
• select button 1314 select connection point 1355, then select connection point 1353.
• a graphic link 1354 is then automatically generated.
• a new selection of the "View” menu 603, allows, if desired, to hide all the connection points and their links. It is possible to name the connection points, as is done for example for the connection point "C3" 1448. In this case, the name of the connection point is shown in sub-screen 1330, when the option to display the names of connection points is activated.
• the 406 engine has a three-pin connector, one for control, low power, one for high power, the third for mass, we obtain the following list:
• FIG. 15 represents the screen which appears when the "Vehicle Z23" is selected and the "Func" tab 612 is selected.
• a graph whose nodes are the service variants and the arrows the data flows exchanged between the service variants.
• Such a flow of data represented by an arrow between a variant of departure service and a variant of arrival service is defined by the set of data produced by at least one elementary operation of the variant of departure service, which are not produced by no elementary operation of the arrival service variant, but which are consumed by at least one elementary operation of the arrival service variant.
• the inter-service data flow as shown in FIG. 15 is generated for a choice of a service variant for each service corresponding to a configuration.
• FIG. 17 the method for designing the specification of a service variant is detailed.
• Steps 1712 and 1714 are syntheses carried out automatically for the tool while all the other steps are assisted by the ergonomics of the tool but are left to the initiative of the designer.
• the use cases are specified, step 1702.
• the operating phases are identified, the customer requests which are the transitions and the system responses which are the states, step 1704.
• the phases are preferentially defined by their decomposition in transverse modes as this is presented in figure 7. Two phases should preferably not share any combination of transverse modes.
• a service control automaton is automatically synthesized for all the use cases of the service, step 1712.
• step 1716 We then proceed to the correction steps, step 1714, and completion, step 1716, which make it possible to perfect the automaton and to enrich the use cases, step 1720, according to new situations identified in particular during the completion step, step 1716.
• stages 1712, 1714 and 1716 the elementary operations carried out in each of the states of the service control automaton are specified, stage 1706.
• phase transitions are identified, step 1708, as well as the elementary operations carrying out the customer requests, step 1710.
• the realization of a phase or state transition by an elementary operation is preferably represented by an elementary operation whose result is a boolean which when it is worth the boolean value "true" results in the activation of said transition.
• boolean boolean value "true” results in the activation of said transition.
• step 1722 We can then synthesize a model of the specified service variant, step 1722, by completing in particular the automaton synthesized during step 1712 and the various elementary operations which are attached to it with the description of sensors and actuators preferably attached to the service and corresponding pilots.
• FIG. 18 describes a method of designing electrical and electronic architecture making it possible to understand the interactions between the different stages of the method described in the invention, but also the different views proposed by the tool.
• a specification of the product configurations is specified by the user, step 1802. It indicates the different configurations characterized in particular by a set of service variants and a set of computer variants. For each configuration, a percentage is indicated corresponding to the ratio of the number of products comprising said configuration by the total product number.
• a specification of each variant of service is carried out, step 1806, in particular by applying the method described in FIG. 17.
• a set of configurations specified during step 1802, a set of nodes and the networks connecting them is specified and for each node a set of variants of computers, step 1810.
• the geometry of the product is specified, step 1804.
• the services can be placed on the different nodes, step 1812.
• step 1810 the different computer variants, specified during step 1810, and the various sensors and actuators, in particular attached to the service variants, specified during step 1806, are placed on the geometric description of the vehicle, step 1814.
• the routing points, connection points, connectors and avoidance zones are likewise placed, step 1820.
• step 1822 From the placement of the various electrical and electronic components, step 1814, and from the description of the geometric constraints, step 1820, the routing of the signals, in particular of data, power or ground-related signals, step 1822 is synthesized. on the other hand, the characteristics of the various elementary operations in terms of code size, RAM size required and CPU consumption, step 1824.
• step 1824 Given the routing, step 1822, on the one hand, and the specification of the resources necessary for the execution of the software components which perform the elementary operations, step 1824, on the other hand, an estimate of the cost of the system is deduced based on the cost of the electrical architecture (sensors, actuators, wires, connectors) and the cost linked to the types inputs - outputs and to the choices of processors induced by the placement, step 1830, This synthesis, step 1830, is carried out by taking in particular account for the optimization induced by splices on the power and ground wires, step 1828.
• the architecture evaluated can be compared with other architecture, in particular by a criterion of cost, quality or weight, in particular by a cost criterion consolidating in particular the quality and weight criteria, step 1832.
• a criterion of cost, quality or weight in particular by a cost criterion consolidating in particular the quality and weight criteria, step 1832.
• steps must be carried out: - automatically calculating a quality measure for the execution of an elementary operation, and for the execution of a set of elementary operations on a computer, given a quality measurement for each type of input / output, for each type of wire (power, mass, data), and given a measure of quality for performing a instruction on a computer, for access in random access memory, for access in flash memory,
• the service configuration is the selection of a set of service variants (optional or not).
• the optional configuration services are those that are not always present.
• the rate of rise of the optional services will be given, in particular in the form of a percentage.
• the configurations planned for a product have an impact on the choice of the hardware architecture of the product. For example, low-rate air conditioning
• the configurations are also used to make wiring choices, the example of air conditioning above shows this well since the wiring for a specific computer will have a different cost than the wiring for a non-optional computer.
• the choice of an optimal electrical-electronic architecture is therefore preferably made as a function of a set of predefined configurations.
• the configurations are also used to manage diversity by making it possible to limit by design the combinations of options available. They also represent an intermediate element making it possible to simplify the validations as we will see later.
• the step of placing the services on the computers it is possible to deduce the computer configurations associated with a service configuration.
• These are in particular the computers containing at least one elementary operation of at least one service from the Service Configuration.
• the optional nature of the calculator is also deducted, a calculator containing in particular elementary operations attached only to optional services may be optional.
• a component of which at least one variant is absent in at least one configuration is said to be optional.
• the economically optimal routing is, for example that which satisfies the following constraints: • 1) one cannot link a component (sensor, actuator) to an optional node such that there is at least one configuration where the node is absent and the component is present. Therefore in the search for the routing of said component, the nodes not satisfying the above criterion are not considered.
• the cost calculation weighted by the rate of assembly of the various components is applied, that is to say that a component present in 40% of the configurations will have a cost weighted by 0.4. Routing that minimizes cost is economically optimal routing for all configurations. For example, you can attach the air conditioning compressor to the air conditioning node (optional and specifically installed for the air conditioning service) or to the passenger compartment computer node (always present).
• the connection to the air conditioning node costs two euros including, for example, the cost of the computer connector for connection to the compressor and the other components, either one euro, the cost of the wires, one euro, and one euro on the passenger compartment controller.
• the compressor must be routed to the passenger compartment controller node, otherwise to the air conditioning node. For example, with an assembly rate of 40% and per hundred copies, routing to the passenger compartment node costs 1 * 100 * 1 euro is one hundred euros, while routing to the air conditioning node costs 0.40 * 100 * 2 euros is four- twenty euros. Knowing the relative costs of the pilots according to the number of copies makes it possible to refine the economic estimate.
• the routing option on the air conditioning computer costs 120 euros + 0.4 * 100 * 1 + 1 * 100 * 2 360 euros, while the cost of routing on the passenger compartment computer is 150 euros + 1 * 100 * 2 or 350 euros. Suddenly the air conditioning computer is no longer justified. Let us further refine our analysis.
• the unit cost for replacing the computer is 100 * 200 / 1,000,000, ie 0.04 euros, to be increased by 0.01 euro for the air conditioning computer and 0.002 euros for the air conditioning computer.
• the cost of repairing the wiring is 0.01 euro for a fault on all the wiring which is only present when the air conditioning option is selected.
• Our consolidated unit cost including quality defects is therefore now 360 + 0.4 * 100 * ((0.04 + 0.01) (calculator) + 0.01 (wiring)) euros or 362.4 euros while the scenario with passenger compartment computer now costs 350 + 0.4 * 100 * 0.01 or 350.4 euros if we take into account the fact that the quality costs linked to the passenger compartment calculator are identical in both scenarios and that the air conditioning specific wiring is only fitted when the air conditioning option is selected.
• the number of ppm of the scenario with air conditioning calculator is 0.4 * (100 + 100) or 80 ppm while the number of ppm of the scenario without air conditioning calculator is 0.4 * 100 or 40 ppm if we ignore the ppm linked to the constant cabin computer in the two scenarios. In terms of quality, the scenario without an air conditioning computer is therefore preferable. If we now take the weight impact into account and estimate the consolidated cost of a load of one kilo at 1 euro.
• the weight of the scenario with air conditioning calculator is 0.4 (rate of rise) * 0.4 (kilos) or 160 grams while the weight of the option without air conditioning calculator is 0.4 (rate of clim clim) * 0.3 (300 grams) + 0.6 (without clim) * 0.150 (weight of the calculator surplus) or a marginal weight of 129 grams and it is the latter wiring that is optimal in weight.
• the cost of carrying out the basic operations of the air conditioning service must also be taken into account in each of the scenarios, a cost which must be consolidated in the part cost of the computers.
• the basic operations of air conditioning require 1 MIPS and that the marginal cost of MIPS in a processor is entered in an abacus and gives for 1 MIPS 2 euros and for 20 MIPS 10 euros and 9.6 euros for 19 MIPS.
• the passenger compartment computer carries 19 MIPS for performing basic operations.
• Functional validation after placement which consists in verifying that any data consumed by an elementary operation must be produced by an elementary operation and, moreover, that between the producer and the consumer, there is a path possibly made up of networks and intermediate nodes. This step can be carried out once the services have been completely or partially placed in the MAP window accessible via the 613 tab.
• Functional validation and messaging which consists in verifying that any data consumed by an elementary operation must be produced by an elementary operation and that in addition, between the producer and the consumer, there is a path possibly made up of networks and intermediate nodes and moreover, for at least one path, locations in frames are provided for the routing of the data from the producer to the consumer. This step can be carried out when the data frames have been partially or completely carried out using the windows
• HWD and MSG accessible via tabs 615 and 616.
• the validation of the service architecture by configuration and / or by mode which consists in applying the three previous validations on the one hand for each configuration of the product and on the other hand for each transverse mode of the product.
• validations are accessible by a user menu (not shown) accessible by clicking on the Tools 606 tab shown in particular in Figure 6.
• a user menu accessible by clicking on the Tools 606 tab shown in particular in Figure 6.
• CRASH "In a running engine context, if a crash is detected, then the vehicle must be unlocked urgently".
• a "crash detected" request is specified. It is carried out by an elementary operation which captures the value given by an accelerometer "A”. This value is "a”.
• the acceleration capture software driver corresponds to program "P1".
• the state of arrival of the CRASH use case is for example a state which we will name "Emergency unlocking”.
• the elementary operation "unlocking the doors” is carried out. It corresponds to a datum set to 1 which controls by a software driver P2 which controls the locks of the doors Vi. If we give a performance constraint of 100ms on the realization of the CRASH use case this means:
• That the accelerometer has detected a crash value a. - that the value of has been refreshed by executing the pilot P1 that entry into the state of emergency unlocking has been carried out that the data has been set to 1 that the software P2 has been executed that the latches Vi have operated on everything in less than 100 ms.
• the accelerometer is placed on an airbag computer and the lock control is placed on another computer, for example the passenger compartment computer, and these two computers are connected by a CAN bus on which the data has is transported by a T frame.
• the constraint of 100 ms now means:
• the accelerometer has detected a crash value a. that the value of has been refreshed by executing the pilot P1 that the value of has been written in the CAN pilot of the Airbag computer for the transmission of the frame T that the frame T has circulated on the bus - that the frame T has been read and the value of a extracted by the CAN pilot from the passenger compartment computer that entry into the Emergency unlocking state has been carried out that the data has been set to 1 that the P2 software has been executed - that the Vi locks have worked all in less than 100ms. From this list we establish performance requirements for the execution of each of these steps.
• the frame T be transmitted every 20 ms, which leaves 80 ms of execution time for the other operations which are sequentially executed before or after the transmission of the frame. If this assumption turns out to be too difficult to hold, we will reduce the transmission time from T to 10 ms for example. If, on the contrary, we notice that the network through which T transits is very busy, we will try to issue a transmission requirement every 30 ms for T and we will try to carry out all the operations which must take place before or after the emission of T in less than 70ms. Conversely, if performance requirements have been expressed on these various operations, we can verify that the sum of these operations is done in less than 100ms.
• the elementary operations which must be operational can be identified automatically in each transversal mode.
• procedure of the present invention can be performed in the form of a device, or in the form of a computer program and saved to the memory of a computer. Manufactured articles may be produced on which such computer programs may be recorded.

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