An I/O Simulation Method for AUTOSAR-Based Operation Verification in an QEMU-Based Virtual ECU

As the user requirements for automotive embedded systems diversify, hardware performance improves, and software complexity increases. It is, therefore, imperative to find ways to improve safety and reliability of vehicles. Due to these challenges, research has been actively conducted in recent years on methods of verifying automotive embedded systems in a virtual environment, which is highly efficient in terms of time and cost. This paper proposes a method for verifying automotive embedded systems by virtualizing electronic control units (ECUs) through Quick EMUlation (QEMU). The proposed method simulates inputs and outputs of the I/O module by modifying or reading the values of the virtualized ECU's registers. For this purpose, separate Complex Device Driver (CDD) and Application Software (ASW) are configured in AUTomotive Open System Architecture (AUTOSAR). CDD is implemented to periodically input signals corresponding to "on"and "off"to the registers associated with the button inputs of the virtualized ECU. ASW is implemented to periodically read the registers corresponding to the buttons and turn on/off the LED. As a result, we have found that the LED is turned on/off appropriately in the ASW according to the register operation of the virtual ECU in the CDD. This allows software and hardware operation verification through hardware input/output solely by manipulating ECU registers, without the need for a separate external device implementation. Therefore, as a cost-efficient and feasible verification technique, the proposed method can be utilized for future operational verification of vehicle embedded systems based on various input/output scenarios.