Specification and testing of automotive powertrain control system software using CACSD tools

A trial evaluation of commercially available computer-aided control systems design (CACSD) tools has been successfully completed. In this study, engineers responsible for the production powertrain control system used the CACSD tools to develop subsystem features that comprise approximately 60 percent of a complete engine control algorithm. Powertrain control algorithms are a rich combination of supervisory logic that determines the operating mode of the powertrain system and the associated transformations from controller input to output that are appropriate for that mode. In this paper, we present: 1) the characteristics of an executable software specification methodology that captures this rich behavior; and 2) automated procedures for verifying the software realization of the specified behavior.