ACT Standard edition
The Mobilizer, FRC-EP and CANnector product families are the hardware foundation for numerous automotive applications, but their full performance can only be realized in combination with smart configuration software, the Advanced Configuration Tool (ACT). Ixxat developed it with the goal of helping users implement their applications with maximum flexibility and ease of use.
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All of the following main modes can be used in combination. Configurations are always set up on a Windows® PC.
Simple Residual bus simulation
Residual bus simulation (RBS) is used to simulate electronic control units (ECUs) or parts of a vehicle. Common practice has been to program these simulations in a scripting language.
Gateway Mode
Gateway mode is the product’s core functionality. It can be used to exchange data between different bus systems and other functions (logging or display).
Multifunction Logging
Logging functionality can be added to any configuration to record data from any origin (in-vehicle network, EtherCAT, I/O ports, and synthetic data from RBS, user code, or simulation).
ACT Standard Edition has much more functionality than only these three main modes. Below is an overview of all ACT software modules for this version.
ACT Modules
Residual Bus Simulation (RBS)
The Residual Bus Simulation—a component of the Standard edition of the ACT tool—provides a simulation environment for one or more Electronic Control Units (ECUs), allowing them to be tested independently of other network devices. This includes, for example, generating the necessary communication traffic and automatically calculating signal-based CRCs and keep alive counters. ACT’s RBS thus provides a simulation environment for ECUs for development purposes, (sub)system tests, and/or end-of-line verification.
Without any programming and using a configuration wizard, the user is guided through a series of logical, graphical configuration steps for a residual bus simulation.
The target RBS is automatically generated using a vehicle description database defined with the integrated vehicle editor. Select the desired ECUs, and ACT builds the desired configuration:
- Generation of the necessary communication traffic
- Automatic calculation of signal-based CRCs and alive counters
- With configuration wizard – no programming effort
- Easy graphically configuration of the simulation
- Autonomously execution of the generated function modules on the embedded platform
XCPonEthernet
You want to control or adjust the RBS executed on the Mobilizer or FRC-EP series device? For this, XCPonEthernet can be used to connect a third party software supporting this standard.
- Control of the residual bus simulation and evaluation of communication data via standardized protocol
- Presentation of all signals on the bus and influence on all signals sent by the RBS
HIL signaal manipulation
Based on the FlexRay/CAN RBS and the XCPonEthernet extension, the signals sent by the RBS can be defined and manipulated. This includes, for example:
- On/off switching of signals for a defined time or number of cycles
- Transmission of defined substitute values with switched-off signals
- Defined corrupting of CRCs and alive counters
The control of the signal manipulation can take place via user code, the gateway or XCPonEthernet.
Gateway
The gateway is the main application of every configuration being executed on the CANnector, Mobilizer or FRC-EP series. It is not only providing the data transfer from one CAN bus to another, it also allows to connect logical bus systems – like user code, data logger, Matlab/Simulink, etc. – to the overall data exchange. With this strategy it is possible to route every frame, PDU or signal individually from source to destination. This can be operated directly or for example via customized user code to manipulate the data on the fly.
This is possible by using the Gateway view of the ACT tool and using drag & drop to define the relationship between source and destination. Just drag the desired data from the source bus and drop it on the destination - irrelevant whether this is a real bus system or the user code, logger or something else. At the end, the created configuration can be loaded on an Ixxat embedded platform and run stand-alone.
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FlexRay, CAN, CAN FD & LIN
A bus description file can be provided for physical FlexRay, CAN, CAN FD and LIN bus systems. With the signal-based gateway, it is thereby possible to combine signals from different source messages into one target message.
- Free selection of send triggers and possible default values
- Optional automatic signal transformation – if the signal description of the source and target signal deviate from each other
- Cycle time adaptation of the sent messages to relieve the recipient connected to the target bus.
Analog & digital I/O
The FRC-EP and CANnector devices also provide analog or digital I/O ports. With ACT you can use these signals like any other signal in your configuration.
After configuring the data direction, range of values, conversion rules and units, the I / Os can be mapped easily via drag & drop. This makes it possible to map trigger inputs/outputs of the logger or to fill in vehicle signals based on analog inputs.
- Different IOs supported depending on the used embedded platform
- Easily added to the gateway as a virtual bus
Virtuele bus
By means of ACT you can add the virtual bus to your configuration. The virtual bus can be used to define your own “variables” (environment variables) in the configuration. These variables can be mapped via the drag & drop concept to/from any other bus system. This allows – for example – to calculate such a variable by your C user code module and then use it in any other bus system
DBC-generator
One functionality of the gateway is to generate DBC Files based on the mapping of the different physical and logical buses – for CAN, CAN FD, Generic Ethernet, virtual CANonEthernet, CAN@net.
Datalogger
Use ACT's data logging functionality to add data to the configuration. The logger bus is a 'logical' bus within ACT that can only receive data.
Any signal within the configuration - CAN (FD), LIN, FlexRay signal / frames, UserCode, etc. - can be assigned to the logger bus via drag & drop and then recorded to mass storage device, or the cloud, for later analysis . The logger supports:
- Register data in CSV, ASC, BLF or MDF format
- Using multiple recording groups to group the data that belongs together
- Using trigger signals to decide what to record and when
- Using a ring buffer system to also include data "before" a particular trigger occurs
- Decide whether to record a triggered event, cyclically or upon a signal change
- Use of analog and/or digital I/Os for manual triggering
- Use of the logger functionality alone or in combination with any other functionality running in parallel on the CANnector or FRC-EP series device
- Access the logger via web sockets in a browser
Trigger
The trigger is a further logical bus which can be added to the ACT configuration. When added, every signal within the configuration can be mapped to the trigger bus by means of the drag & drop concept and being used as input signal. The trigger engine can be designed in a graphical manner. Several functional blocks can be used:
- Timer
- Counter
- Thresholds
- Flip-flops
- Logical combinations
By connecting these blocks, you are enabled to define a trigger logic which is then resulting in trigger signals as output of the trigger engine. These outputs are normal signals like any other signal in the configuration. They can be used to:
- Trigger the data logger
- Drive the digital outputs of the CANnector or FRC-EP series device
- Trigger the transmission of a certain message
- Steer a binary signal on any physical bus system
- Steer a certain functionality in your UserCode
Visualization
The signal visualization is added as a virtual bus to the gateway configuration. It enables easy display and stimulation of all mapped signals via the integrated web server. Any device (PC, smartphone, tablet) can be used as a display device. The only basic requirement is an HTML5-capable web browser. HMS provides a generic HTML page for this. This can be adapted by the user to suit their own requirements. The visualization device is connected via USB, Ethernet or WLAN.
You can individually select which signals shall be visualized and whether they shall be displayed in textual or graphical form. Such a visualization configuration can be stored either on the CANnector/Mobilizer/FRC-EP series or the visualization device. This allows to store views individually or to define by the person having done the configuration what is allowed to be seen.
Do you want to have a specific visualization? If the default visualization is not sufficient, you can easily add your own HTML5 based visualization. You just need to connect to the standardized data exchange stream.
Additional Communication Protocols
The Standard and Lite versions of the Advanced Configuration Tool (ACT) include these advanced communication protocols, among other features.
FDX
The Fast Data Exchange protocol is an Ethernet-based communication interface and represents a favorable alternative to XCPonEthernet for accessing physical signals.
With ACT, all necessary signals are mapped from / to the FDX bus system via the drag & drop concept. ACT automatically generates the corresponding XML description file for the FDX bus. This XML file can be imported into the target software solution and is therefore immediately ready to read or send data.
- No elaborate communication stack required
- Quick implementation on any target platform
- Interpretation of the data stream via XML description file generated with ACT
XCPonEthernet
If needed, ACT generates a A2L description file containing all signals which are sent by the RBS/GW configuration being executed on the device. From the perspective of the third-party tool, the Mobilizer or FRC-EP series device is a virtual ECU. By means of the A2L virtual memory, locations containing the desired signals can be read or written. By doing so, you are able to influence everything that is sent on the different bus systems. This includes also the CRC and alive counters generated by the RBS or signals which a calculated by your user code being executed on the device.
- Signals of CANdb and/or FIBEX file merged in an A2L file for import in suitable software solutions
- Presentation of all signals on the bus and influence on all signals
Matlab/Simulink
This option for ACT allows the integration of MATLAB/Simulink models into the overall configuration. If desired, ACT automatically generates a base model containing all the signals that will be exchanged. This basic model contains the API for the rest of the system and the signal transformation from raw to physical signal value depending on the definitions in the underlying bus description files.
All that is required is design the desired functions with MATLAB / Simulink or copy the existing model and paste it into the base model. At the end, the executable module is automatically generated from this model and integrated into the overall configuration running standalone on the CANnector or FRC-EP series device.
- Integration of your own MATLAB/Simulink models
- Send/receive data via the gateway
- Required: Matlab/Simulink license for Embedded Systems
EtherCAT
This is available for CANnector or from a FRC-EP series device with an EtherCAT extension. Within ACT, simple drag & drop can then be used to generate mappings from / to the EtherCAT slave. ACT also automatically generates a corresponding ESI file that can be used together with any suitable EtherCAT master to conveniently configure your EtherCAT network.
Once connected to EtherCAT, all data - coming from the CAN (FD), Flexray or LIN bus system or from another EtherCAT based sensor or IO device - is synchronized and distributed on the same communication system to an PLC or Master Controller to facilitate test execution.
- EtherCAT extension allowing to combine automotive and industrial networks
- Easy signal selection for analysis and stimulation via EtherCAT by using ACT
- EtherCAT configuration can be read directly from the device
Development tool (UserCode)
ACT allows for many different configurations, but of course does not offer all possible functionality. In that case, a configuration can be extended with its own C user code.
An Eclipse-based development environment is available for the development of your own applications. Using this development environment, user code can be created for the extension of an ACT solution or for completely separate applications. ACT generates a C user code template that contains all the API to connect functions to the rest of the system. This is supported by the integration into the ACT project, the handy editor, cross compiler, as well as a high-level language debugger. The developed applications can be run stand-alone or on the Ixxat embedded systems.
Functional modela
For some users, the development of C code is too complex or there are already finished models from other projects. The integration of these models is possible via an API based on the user code bus. Similar to the user code, a Matlab/Simulink model can then access the mapped signals/messages.
- Easy implementation of own functions, e.g. for control of digital outputs or implementation of complex trigger modules for the logger
- User code bus added as a virtual bus to the the gateway configuration
- IO signals for own code mapped via drag & drop from and to all other bus systems
- User code application written in standard C and may represent also specific algorithms
- Eclipse-based SDK incl. remote debugger for developing and testing the application
IxAdmin
IxAdmin is the PC based administration tool for the FRC-EP Series, Mobilizer and CANnector platform which can be connected via USB, Ethernet or WiFi.
- Up-/download of configurations
- Management of multiple configurations
- Execution of device updates
- Update firmware/board support package
- Runtime license management
- General settings
- Access to the web-based dashboard
- Access to logger files
- Also available as command line tool
Vehicle Editor
The basis for most solutions are bus description files such as CANdB, DBC, LDF, FIBEX or AUTOSAR-XML. Normally, the descriptions contain a lot of information, but are missing important details like CRC, checksum or alive counter algorithms which are needed to generate e. g. a Residual Bus Simulation (RBS).
The Vehicle Editor allows to create a complete vehicle description database containing all information needed. In case of changes during the life cycle of your testing application (e. g. new vehicle integration levels), a new variant of such a vehicle description database can be created which then allows then an easy porting of existing residual bus or gateway configurations. This saves time and reduces the risk of introducing errors into already verified testing configurations.
