PREEvision – Automotive Ethernet and Service-Oriented E/E Architectures
Automotive Ethernet has become the network technology of choice to meet the increasing demands for bandwidth and connectivity in vehicles.
PREEvision supports the AUTOSAR compliant design of automotive Ethernet networks from scratch. You can set up a hardware topology with Ethernet clusters structured by VLANs. The tool supports the common transport protocols like SOME/IP and DoIP and helps to specify the communication infrastructure and the Ethernet communication.
It additionally allows to design and visualize the underlying service-oriented architecture (SOA) and to define service interfaces and the corresponding software architecture. PREEvision's functionality for automotive Ethernet networks supports both the AUTOSAR Classic platform with its signal-based approach as well as the service-oriented Adaptive AUTOSAR platform.
Advantages
- Dedicated UI for an Ethernet design from scratch
- Network diagram for mixed topologies with Ethernet
- Switch configuration with tables and diagram
- Definition of time domains and their synchronization
- Synthesis of communication artifacts (socket addresses, etc.) based on Ethernet topology and the service design
- Multiple diagrams for service-oriented architectures and service interfaces
- AUTOSAR-compliant configuration of transformers
- AUTOSAR import and export for Ethernet systems
The Use Case
Bandwidth for Tomorrow's Vehicle Systems
Ethernet in automotive brings the bandwidths needed for data-rich applications within the vehicle like ADAS or multimedia, as well as off-board communication like car-to-car and car-to-x. Initially used for on-board diagnostics, communication with electric charging stations and camera-based driver assistance systems, the application areas of Ethernet are still expanding.
Besides enabling data-rich applications, Ethernet is also used to replace existing CAN networks. If you are already working with AUTOSAR Adaptive, Ethernet is the exclusive communication technology.
Designing In-Vehicle Ethernet Systems
PREEvision supports the design of Ethernet networks from scratch. Diagrams, editors, automations and synthesis functions help to quickly set up an AUTOSAR-compliant Ethernet design. A dedicated user interface presents the editors needed for each step.
PREEvision supports parallel design and existence of AUTOSAR Classic and AUTOSAR Adaptive components in one model.
SOA
Service-Oriented Architectures
Automotive Ethernet complements the signal-based approach of classic network technologies with a service-oriented design. In a service-oriented approach, services consisting of roles for service providers and service consumers are the basis of the architecture.
PREEvision provides several UML and SysML diagrams to graphically design und visualize the dependencies and relations within a service-oriented architecture. Service providers and service consumers exchange information via SOA ports that are later typed by service interfaces.
Service Interfaces
Services communicate via well-defined service interfaces. The service interface design defines methods, properties (or fields), and events for the data exchange between service roles. The modeling of service interfaces is one of the key tasks in deploying a service-oriented software architecture.
PREEvision provides multiple table editors and the UML-based class diagram to model service interfaces. For the implementation and deployment of the service interfaces by software component types and software components, PREEvision provides automations and synthesis functions that automatically create the needed structure of software components.
SOME/IP and DoIP
In automotive Ethernet networks, the SOME/IP protocol is widely used as middleware. For diagnostics, DoIP (Diagnostics over Internet Protocol) is the main protocol. PREEvision supports both protocols as well as the underlying transport protocols TCP or UDP and allows the definition of the IDs needed to set up the Ethernet communication.
Ethernet Topology
Hardware Network
In PREEvision, the hardware topology is set up in the network diagram, where mixed topologies with CAN (FD), LIN, FlexRay and Ethernet clusters can be modeled.
In Ethernet networks, switches for the communication routing can be modeled as stand-alone or internal switches. Via gateways, data is routed across different communication technologies.
Switch Configuration
In Ethernet, all connections are point to point connections linked by switches. The switched network of an Ethernet cluster can be logically separated in different virtual networks, the so-called VLANs. The separation of the communication in VLANs can be used for security reasons or to define different levels of quality of service (QoS).
PREEvision can set up an initial switch configuration that can later be edited. PREEvision also supports a manual switch configuration from scratch. In a dedicated diagram, the ports of a switch can be modeled with FIFOs, shapers and schedulers.
Ethernet Communication Design
Socket Addresses and Transport Protocols
PREEvision’s signal router, originally used for signal routing in CAN, is a powerful tool in designing Ethernet networks as well. The signal router not only finds communication paths based on the defined switch configuration, but can also create a valid switch configuration if necessary. And it synthesizes a lot of the communication artifacts needed for a consistent design.
An essential work step in Ethernet communication design is the definition of sockets in terms of their IP address, transport protocol, and port. While a description of socket addresses suffices for AUTOSAR Adaptive, for AUTOSAR Classic the signals must also be specified. The signal router and further automations and synthesis functions take over a good deal of the failure prone creation of these communication artifacts.
Service Discovery
The AUTOSAR Service Discovery module offers functionality to detect and offer available services, i.e. functional entities, within the vehicle network. Via service discovery in SOME/IP, you can set up communication between service providers and service consumers.
Service providers announce the availability and the location of an offered service. Service consumers subscribe to event groups to get notifications from the service. PREEvision provides dedicated tables for the service discovery announcement of the provider as well as for the service discovery subscription by the consumer.
Further Functions
Time Sensitive Networks
The introduction of automotive Ethernet enhances the fragmentation of the on-board network. The coexistence of Ethernet, CAN, LIN or FlexRay in one network topology prompts the necessity to define clocks and their dependencies.
The global time synchronization in PREEvision allows to define time masters, slaves, and time gateways. A dedicated highlighting in the network diagram offers a clear overview over the different time domains.
PREEvision also supports the definition of credit based shapers to prioritize time sensitive data over AVB data for audio and video.
Transformers
For the communication via Ethernet, it is possible to transform the data that will be transmitted over the network into a bit stream by the sender. Afterwards the receiver must reconstruct the data again. This serialization or transformation can be carried out by one or by multiple transformers, defined in a transformer chain.
PREEvision provides a dedicated tool to set up AUTOSAR compliant transformer chains, to define transformation properties and to assign signals to transformers. AUTOSAR has defined several E2E profiles as recommendations for the configuration of End to End Transformers. PREEvision provides metrics that set the values defined for these E2E profiles.
AUTOSAR
Supported AUTOSAR Versions for Import and Export
Ethernet designs can be exported or imported via AUTOSAR Classic (since PREEvision 8.0) or AUTOSAR Adaptive (since PREEvision 9.0).
The table shows which AUTOSAR formats can be exported in which AUTOSAR version. We send detailed information for ARXML schema support on request.
| AUTOSAR Version | System Description | Software Component Description | ECU Extract | System Extract |
| 3.2.2 | Import | Import | - | - |
| 4.0.3 | Import/Export | Import/Export | Export | Export |
| 4.1.1 | Import/Export | Import/Export | Export | Export |
| 4.2.2 | Import/Export | Import/Export | Export | Export |
| 4.3.0 | Import/Export | Import/Export | Export | Export |
Vector AUTOSAR Tool Chain
As a part of the Vector AUTOSAR tool chain, PREEvision works with CANoe, DaVinci Developer and DaVinci Configurator Pro.
Publications
Videos
Service-Oriented Architecture and Ethernet Design
Automotive Ethernet is changing the paradigm for designing communication architectures: Instead of a signal-oriented communication, ECUs offer services via a defined protocol to all other participants in the network.
The lecture illustrates what is meant by the term "service", what distinguishes service-oriented architectures and what consequences they have for the development of distributed systems. Design workflows for Ethernet communication in AUTOSAR Classic and AUTOSAR Adaptive are presented and explained using Vector's model-based E/E development environment PREEvision as an example.
Playing time 26:00 minutes, published 5/2019
Technical Articles
Service-Oriented Architectures and Ethernet in Vehicles
Towards data centers on wheels with model-based methods
The development tool PREEvision supports the methodical, consistent design of a service-oriented architecture. PREEvision accompanies system designers through the challenging task of combining classic embedded design with modern service orientation and the necessary back-end communication via Ethernet – and thereby supports the transformation of the automobile into a data center on wheels.
Translation of a German-language publication "Elektronik automotive", special "Ethernet" 2017
Developing Diagnostic Communications for E/E Systems
AUTOSAR-Conformant Vehicle Diagnostics over DoIP
The communications protocol DoIP (Diagnostics over Internet Protocol) – which is supported by AUTOSAR – enables flexible and powerful diagnostics of vehicle systems. Over Ethernet, WLAN and mobile data connections both offboard in the workshop as well as onboard and via remote access during the drive diagnostic data can be obtained.
Translation of a German-language publication "AUTOMOBIL Elektronik", December 2018
Webinar Recording
PREEvision – Automotive Ethernet Design
In this webinar our product manager explains how Ethernet networks and clusters can be easily described from scratch with PREEvision: Along the dedicated user interface, the PREEvision "SOA & Ethernet Explorer" guides the user step by step to an AUTOSAR-conformant description.
Brochure
Designing Service-Oriented Architectures and Ethernet with PREEvision
Get to know how PREEvision supports developers integrating Ethernet networks into vehicles as well as the setup of a service-oriented architecture. On 22 pages, the new PREEvision brochure portrays the complete E/E engineering solution and its comprehensive functions.
