Patent ID: 8065126

Claim:
A computer-implemented method comprising: providing a database comprising information representative of an electrical/electronic architecture of a vehicle, the information including information regarding relationships and connections between components of the electrical/electronic architecture of the vehicle; determining on a computer an impact status of a second aspect of a second component of the electrical/electronic architecture resulting from a modification to a first aspect of a first component based on the relationships and connections between components of the electrical/electronic architecture as represented in the database, wherein determining the impact status of the second aspect of the second component comprises at least one selected from: determining whether the second aspect is added to the second component as a result of modifying the first aspect of the first component; determining whether the second aspect is removed from the second component as a result of modifying the first aspect of the first component; and determining whether the second aspect is changed from a first value to a second value as a result of modifying the first aspect of the first component; displaying, via a graphical user interface, a visual representation of the impact status of the second aspect of the second component of the electrical/electronic architecture; and modifying, via the graphical user interface, the first aspect of the first component, wherein modifying the first aspect of first component comprises at least one selected from a group consisting of: adding the first component to the electrical/electronic architecture; removing the first component from the electrical/electronic architecture; adding a function to the first component; removing a function from the first component of the electrical/electronic architecture; reassigning a function from another component of the architecture to the first component; reassigning a function from the first component of the architecture to another component; adding a performance parameter to the first component; removing a performance parameter from the first component; and modifying a performance parameter of the first component.