A network virtualization approach for performance isolation in controller area network (CAN)

An important trend in automotive CPS is the shift from federated to integrated IT architectures, where multiple functions are consolidated on shared electronic resources instead of distributed electronic control units (ECUs). It is driven by increasing complexity, cost and installation space requirements of todays architectures. However, side-by-side integration of mixed-criticality functions poses new challenges with respect to safety and security. To achieve isolated performance for multiple integrated partitions with different criticalities, an efficient separation within computing and communication resources is required. This paper introduces a network virtualization approach for CAN, which enables concurrence of mixed-criticality communication on a single physical CAN bus through a strict performance isolation. We present a design concept as well as a prototypical implementation. The feasibility of our approach is demonstrated by an analytic evaluation of message latencies and through experimental case studies.