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The development of electronic control systems has become a critical issue in the automotive industry. Rapid control prototyping (RCP) and hardware-in-the-loop simulation (HIL) are important technologies for speeding up the development process. They have already established themselves as viable technologies, albeit not everywhere yet. One big gap in the development process, however, is the transfer from RCP to a target ECU with all its limitations, and upcoming tools are expected to bridge that gap. With major obstacles being removed by the tool-based development process, the focus is shifting to streamlining the process and making it seamless, from requirements analysis right through to the finished production ECU.

Hardware-in-the-Loop Simulation is a technology where the actual vehicles, engines or other components are replaced by a real-time simulation in a simulation computer, based on a mathematical model. That simulation reads ECU (Electronic Control Unit) output signals which would normally go to actuators. On the other hand the simulation must output the sensor signals which make the ECU ‘think’ it controls a real system. Generating these signals can be very difficult. Signals may be complex, depend on on-line computed variables, and be required to be output at high timing resolution. This paper describes the problems and presents a solution which employs high-performance Digital Signal Processors (DSP) to generate such signals on-line by Direct-Digital-Synthesis (DDS).

Hardware-in-the-Loop Simulation allows ECUs to be tested in a simulated environment in closed loop. Engines, vehicles, and other components the ECU normally controls are replaced by high-fidelity models executed on a real-time computer system. This paper shows that today's hardware/software technology makes comprehensive and powerful low-cost desktop simulators feasible. It is also shown that it is now possible to use the same tools for Hardware-in-the-Loop Simulation that have been used in the control development.