Toward Formal Verification of ECU for Gasoline Direct Injection Engines

Currently, electronic control units are employed for almost all automobiles. An engine control unit (ECU), which is also called a powertrain control module, is an electronic control unit for an engine. A fault in computer software for an ECU may cause a hazardous event or a fatal accident. So, in this study, we employ a formal method to design a computer program of ECU. Specifically, we employ a formal method called I/O-automaton, and we model an ECU of a gasoline direct injection engine with a specification language based on I/O-automaton theory. We also introduce an I/O-automaton that is with regard to the correctness of the timing of engine´s ignition, and we discuss how to prove the correctness of the design of ECU.