Model Based Design in Automotive Open System Architecture

Model based design (MBD) methodology is gaining popularity over all the world. Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) as well as their suppliers are finding MBD more useful and effective over the traditional design methodologies. MBD is a system model-based designing process which primarily involves four concepts that make it highly efficient: model-based specification, simulation-based design, code generation-based implementation, and continuous testing and verification. The automotive open system architecture (AUTOSAR) provides a seamless grade of interfacing between the basic hardware functions of an automotive vehicle and the corresponding application software. AUTOSAR also handles the electronic control unit software-hardware architecture and integration for all automotive components. The application of MBD principles in AUTOSAR development provides a lot of benefits like shortened development time, design reusability, effective design and model maintenance/upgradation and overall improved product quality. This paper describes the AUTOSAR layered architecture with an MBD perspective, including its basic software architecture (BSW), runtime environment (RTE) and application layer, as well as popular workflows such as the top-down, bottom-up, and round-trip configurations.