AUTOSAR and Linux - Single chip solution Implementation of Automotive Multipurpose ECU Prototype system using hypervisor solution

The rapid explosion in the complex Electrical and Electronics (E/E) system components in modern automotive systems has resulted in an intricate vehicle on board system design with more than 50 Electronic Control Unit (ECU) nodes. These ECUs are interconnected by various communication networks, implementing diverse functionalities and running more than million lines of code. At one end, there are classical ECU systems implementing core automotive features like active safety, passenger comfort and convenience, etc. characterized by demand for hard real-time behavior and high reliability. At the other end, there are rapidly emerging resource intensive infotainment and connectivity ECUs offering rich multimedia, navigation assistance and Human Machine Interface (HMI) applications. There is a growing need among automotive suppliers and original equipment manufacturers (OEMS) for overall ECU system consolidation as well as integration and interaction between these two heterogeneous ECU systems in the future vehicles. AUTomotive Open System ARchitecture (AUTOSAR) is widely accepted as the standardized automotive software architecture for developing vehicular applications, and it uses OSEK real-time operating system (RTOS) specifications as the basis for AUTOSAR OS. It provides perfect support for the classical automotive control and real-time functionality; however, it fails to provide support for hosting infotainment and user applications that in turn limits the prospects of consolidated ECU integration by a common platform. Likewise, general purpose operating system (GPOS) such as Linux, Android, etc. are used for non-real-time infotainment and connectivity applications, and they are not inherently designed to support the real-time control applications. In order to integrate the classical automotive ECU system, implementing core automotive features with the infotainment and connectivity ECU system, running HMI and user applications, automotive manufacturers have started considering the feasibility of deploying the virtualization technology in automotive embedded systems to support both AUTOSAR architecture and GPOS in a single platform. In this thesis work, we propose a design (with a corresponding pilot implementation) for a consolidated, multipurpose ECU prototype model for simultaneously hosting Linux and AUTOSAR applications in the same hardware platform using an existing hypervisor solution named as COQOS. We start by exploring the various consolidation strategies for the multipurpose ECU prototype and then propose and motivate a suitable hypervisor solution, hardware platform and reference applications for the prototype. Our study concentrates on exploratory design and implementation of the proposed prototype model of consolidated ECU system. This thesis work will serve as a good case study about integrating automotive application based on AUTOSAR and infotainment application based on Linux OS in a common platform and the necessary modifications required for this integration approach using virtualization technology. The report can be the basis for a comprehensive analysis about the key challenges and necessary technology enhancements required for implementing full-scale deployment of the multipurpose ECU system architecture using virtualization technology in the near future.