Holistic simulation of FlexRay networks by using run-time model switching

Automotive network technologies such as FlexRay present a cost-optimized structure in order to tailor the system to the required functionalities and to the environment. The space exploration for optimization of single components (cable, transceiver, communication controller, middleware, application) as well as the integration of these components (e.g. selection of the topology) are complex activities that can be efficiently supported by means of simulation. The main challenge while simulating communication architectures is to efficiently integrate the heterogeneous models in order to obtain accurate results for a relevant operation time of the system. In this work, a run-time model switching method is introduced for the holistic simulation of FlexRay networks. Based on a complete modeling of the main network components, the simulation performance increase is analyzed and the new test and diagnosis possibilities resulting from this holistic approach are discussed.