Developing and Testing Distributed CAN-based Real-Time Control-Systems using a Single PC

Developing and testing of distributed embedded real-time controlsystems is known to be very challenging due to the difficulties of debugging these systems in a target environment (e.g. due to weak monitoring capabilities and lack of powerful debugging tools). The simulation technology described in this industrial experience paper is a toolbox aimed to improve the development and testing of distributed, CAN-based, embedded real-time control-systems. When using our technology, a complete control-system can be developed and tested without, or with only partial, access to target hardware. This is achieved by replacing target hardware dependent operations (e.g. device driver and operating system calls) with simulated equivalences that allow execution in a regular PC environment using regular PC programming tools. Thus, powerful PC tools for debugging, automated testing, fault injections, and dynamic modelling of the target machine, are made available for the embedded systems engineer. Complex dynamic behaviours can be studied in the simulated environment, without access to the target hardware, e.g. allowing single stepping through scenarios. Simulating the complete system also facilitates customer tests and end-user evaluation of the system in an early phase of system development. It also shortens the turn around time for change, test, and evaluation, because development can be performed on a single PC instead of a full target system.