A Design Methodology for Real-Time Distributed Software Architecture Based on the Behavioral Properties and Its Application to Advanced Automotive Software

Automotive software is required to collaboratively control multiple distributed processors, called ECUs (Electronic Control Units) connected through in-vehicle networks and embedded into different locations in a physical system of a vehicle. The extremely high complexity of interactions among ECUs makes it difficult to design the collaborative control. For such systems, conventional design methodology based on the structure is not able to adequately present the architectural properties. This article proposes a design methodology for collaborative software architecture based on the behavioral properties. We define the property as attributes and states of the vehicle, surrounding environment and users. Based on the property model, we propose the extended DSM (Design Structure Matrix) and a set of associated models for modeling global behavior of systems for meeting NFRs (Non-Functional Requirements). We applied the proposed methodology to the VDM (Vehicle Dynamics Management System), one of the most complicated automotive control software, and demonstrated the effectiveness of the methodology.