THE HANSEN REPORT ON AUTOMOTIVE ELECTRONICS. A Business and Technology Newsletter

VOL. 18, NO. 6◆◆ PORTSMOUTH, NH USA JULY/AUGUST 2005

Software Process BMW Leads in Chassis Control Standards Gaining FlexRay Network Is Key Enabler from steering angle, acceleration and ride height sensors. Influence FlexRay is not just for steer- or brake- “This is a pilot project for us to learn by-wire anymore. BMW is about to bring what it means to bring FlexRay into a se- As software becomes more and more to market some groundbreaking new chas- ries car,” noted Karl-Heinz Gaubatz, gen- essential to the delivery of vehicle fea- sis control features implemented on a eral manager of electronics driving tures, carmakers and suppliers, particularly FlexRay network—a world’s first. This dynamics and lateral dynamics for BMW. in the West, are taking steps to ensure unexpected deployment of FlexRay comes BMW will build 15,000 cars per year with that their software development processes well before by-wire brakes or steering will this FlexRay application so the carmaker yield high-quality, reliable products. Two be ready for production vehicles. and its suppliers can gain experience with approaches have emerged: CMMI (Capa- By-wire systems operate without me- the network hardware and software before bility Maturity Model Integration) and chanical or hydraulic linkages so they it goes into high volume production. ISO/IEC (International Standards Orga- need safety-critical components such as “In the future, all new cars from BMW nization/International Electro-technical FlexRay to ensure reliability. FlexRay is a that come into production after 2006 will Commission) 15504, a.k.a. SPICE. time-triggered, deterministic data commu- have FlexRay as a complete bus system in At this time, CMMI is the approach nications network that is many times the car,” said Mr. Gaubatz. Indeed, the most widely applied around the world, faster than CAN (Controller Area Net- new BMW 7 series due in late 2008 will either “as is” or customized to fit a work), the communications bus that car- introduce a FlexRay-linked integrated company’s unique approach to continuous makers have been using for chassis control chassis management (ICM) system that improvement. SPICE is exclusively fa- applications. But BMW’s pioneering ap- will coordinate damping, braking and vored by Volkswagen and Continental plication of FlexRay will lead other car- steering from one central ECU. One re- Automotive Systems, but other compa- makers to use, or at least consider using, sult will be active yaw-torque control. “If nies including Mercedes, Chrysler, Valeo, FlexRay in place of CAN in future real- you go around a corner and the car begins Delphi and Visteon are also involved to time control applications, first in chassis to drift where the rear part of the car is some degree with CMMI. In December control and later in powertrain control. coming faster than the front, then you can 2004, five German carmakers within the A FlexRay bus will first be used in control that with the braking system and HIS (Herstellerinitiative Software) inter- BMW’s redesigned X5 SAV (sports activ- the steering angle adjustment,” explained est group agreed to apply the SPICE as- ity vehicle), due in 2006, in an electronic Mr. Gaubatz. sessment method. damper control system to link an elec- Toyota bases it own software process tronic control unit to four variable Chassis Innovation development requirement loosely on damper actuators. Damping forces are var- “While I can’t talk specifically about CMMI. And while it is considering ied by a current-driven linear magnetic them, we have a number of chassis inno- CMMI processes, Honda has not yet valve. The damper control system calcu- vations in the queue,” said Mr. Gaubatz. adopted either approach. Nissan, which lates proper damping forces using data Turn to FlexRay, page 2 writes no software in-house, doesn’t use Comparing CAN with FlexRay either standard when selecting suppliers. Nevertheless, Toyota, Honda and Nissan Characteristic CAN FlexRay cars suffer fewer quality problems resulting Data rate (gross) 500 kbit/s 10 Mbit/s from electronics, software and electrical Data rate (net) <200 kbit/s 5 Mbits/s parts compared with American- and Ger- Cycle time (message) >=10 ms 1 – 2 ms man-made vehicles sold in the United Message jitter 0 – >30 ms <2 µs States. German-made vehicles have had (depending on BUS load and ID) the greatest number of E/E problems. The Message delay 10 – 20 ms 1 – 2 ms table on page 8 describes how major car- Message delay with gateway 11 – >50 ms 1 – 2 ms (no gateway necessary) makers and suppliers are dealing with Synchronization STG not possible <2 µs CMMI and SPICE software development Redundancy none 2 channels methodologies. Maximum allowed load 35% 100% Turn to Software, page 3 Source: BMW FlexRay... Continued from page 1 “The main innovations at BMW are com- But now BMW has taken the role as them certain to get through. Claas ing in the chassis area and driving assis- FlexRay’s leading advocate, because Bracklo, BMW manager in charge of E/E tance, in steering, damping and braking. FlexRay is an essential ingredient to the architecture and systems design, described On the engine side, the last big innova- carmaker’s advanced chassis control sys- the disadvantage of CAN: “With CAN, tion was direct injection. We had electri- tems that will be brought to market over messages have to compete with each other cal valve train in development for years, the next three or four years. In contrast, to get through; access to the CAN net- but nobody is working on that now for a Mercedes’ new S class, coming this fall, work is actually a matter of chance. We series car,” he noted. won’t employ a FlexRay network. That manage this situation by over-sampling. Upcoming BMW models will soon em- suggests that FlexRay won’t be needed at For example, if we need some piece of in- ploy a FlexRay bus to connect all five ve- Mercedes anytime soon. In the past, new formation every hundred milliseconds, we hicle domains: infotainment, body Mercedes technology has appeared in might transfer the data every 10 millisec- controller, powertrain control, safety (air- other Mercedes models only after it has onds. The need to over-sample leads to bag) and chassis control (brakes, damping been presented in the S class. The next S the bandwidth problem with CAN.” and steering). Of the many possible new class redesign won’t come for another FlexRay’s deterministic behavior means features involving chassis controls, one is seven to eight years. that you don’t have to over-sample. using the steering wheel to alert the driver Since each new node brings more traf- that he has wandered out of his lane by CAN Limitations fic, only a limited number of nodes can be vibrating the steering wheel, as if the ve- FlexRay provides significant advan- attached to each CAN bus. Over the hicle is driving over a rumble strip. tages over CAN communications net- years, as more features were added, BMW BMW and Mercedes were jointly re- works. (Please see the chart on page 1.) has had to add additional CAN buses. sponsible for getting FlexRay off the Not only can FlexRay transmit messages Each CAN bus can handle no more than ground; in the fall of 1999 the two car- at a much faster rate, the protocol is time- 500 kilobits per second, gross. Further, to makers announced that they would coop- deterministic, meaning that specific time be sure that messages get though, each bus erate to develop and promote FlexRay. slots are allocated for all messages, making should only be used up to 35% of its full capacity. Given all of the new vehicle fea- Coordination Through a Hierarchical Structure tures coming soon to the new 7 series in 2008, BMW would have needed a total of “BMW’s aim is to provide stability in every independently. Mr. Gaubatz added: “If every six CAN buses. With every additional dimension,” said Claas Bracklo, “up, down, ECU makes independent decisions, one ECU CAN bus a gateway is needed to connect right, left, back and forth. This is what will might decide to make the vehicle yaw to the one bus to another. “We don’t want that differentiate BMWs from other vehicles.” To right while another ECU might call for a yaw because those gateways make the vehicle accomplish that, BMW has adopted a system to the left—then the car does nothing.” continued on page 3 in which control functions are organized into a As part of its quality “categorical impera- hierarchy. With hierarchical control, all of the tives,” DaimlerChrysler announced in May THE HANSEN REPORT ON chassis control functions are coordinated by 2004 that it would implement hierarchical bus AUTOMOTIVE ELECTRONICS the integrated chassis management ECU. systems based on CAN, LIN, MOST and © 2005 Paul Hansen Associates, 150 Hierarchical architecture contrasts with FlexRay standards and on the Autosar soft- Pinehurst Rd., Portsmouth, NH 03801, today’s distributed control architecture where ware architecture. USA. Telephone: 603-431-5859. Fax: 603- each microcontroller system operates almost 431-5791. Email: [email protected]. Environment State Sensed All rights reserved. Materials may not be Observer Dynamics reproduced in any form without written per- mission. The Hansen Report on Automotive Electronics is published 10 times a year, Prediction Driver Dynamics monthly; July/August and December/Janu- Observer Commands Coordinator ary are combined issues. The annual sub- scription rate is $717 (North America), $747 (elsewhere). Back issues are available for Longitudinal Ride Lateral $50 each; see our online index at Domain Domain Domain www.hansenreport.com. Paul Hansen Asso- ciates is a strategy and market research firm consulting to the electronics industry. Publisher/Editor Paul Hansen e.g. brake actuation, e.g. air springs, Managing Editor/ Brianne Wolfe (active) cruise control e.g. front/rear damper control, Circulation Manager steering active stabilizer bars Source: BMW intervention ISSN 1040-1105

Page 2, July/August 2005 The Hansen Report on Automotive Electronics, Portsmouth, NH USA www.hansenreport.com FlexRay... Continued from page 2 too complex,” said Mr. Gaubatz. “With lers with FlexRay interfaces are Freescale, FlexRay. “I am convinced that FlexRay one FlexRay bus we don’t need those gate- Renesas, NEC and Philips. will substitute for CAN in chassis and ways.” powertrain applications,” said Vector Interest in FlexRay is not at all limited Gaining Momentum CEO, Dr. Thomas Beck. “And long term, to BMW. With today’s Golf and Passat Despite today’s high cost, embedded possibly even in body controls,” noted one models already requiring five CAN buses, applications of FlexRay are almost certain of Vector’s founders, Helmut Schelling. Volkswagen’s top electrical engineer, to grow, first in Europe and then in Japan, Real steer- or brake-by-wire applica- Jürgen Leohold, is looking seriously at where the Jaspar (Japan Automotive tions, where electrical signals between FlexRay as a requirement for introducing Software Platform and ARchitecture) co- ECU and actuators completely substitute safety-critical systems like advanced operation, initiated by Toyota and for hydraulic and mechanical linkages, driver assistance and by-wire steering and Nissan, is considering the adoption and won’t be ready for the market until at braking. But Volkswagen does not yet application of FlexRay. Hiroshi Tanigawa, least 2015, suggested BMW’s Mr. Gaubatz. have firm plans to implement FlexRay. responsible for software and vehicle LAN Dietmar Millinger, chief technical of- “Before we can create a migration sce- development at Toyota, steering member ficer for Decomsys, agrees that by-wire nario to FlexRay, we must get FlexRay of Jaspar, and executive board member of applications are no longer what’s driving down to CAN prices on a system basis. ... Autosar, confirmed that both Toyota and FlexRay. “That trend is broken. OEMs are We need to get semiconductor producers Jaspar recognize the advantages FlexRay now focusing more on cleaning up their to make FlexRay interfaces available on offers over CAN. “We think FlexRay’s architectures and reducing complexity, the same basis that CAN interfaces are predefined latency and high data-trans- which includes replacing CAN at certain available now,” he said. mission rate are indispensable and a great points.” Mr. Millinger is aware of at least According to BMW’s Mr. Bracklo, advantage for vehicle control systems,” he five FlexRay projects that are in the CAN prices will be nearly impossible to said. But Mr. Tanigawa also noted that the works, not all of them with BMW. beat. “We think 20 cents extra for cost of FlexRay controllers and transceiv- Founded in 1999, Decomsys provides FlexRay is affordable, but the footprint for ers as well as the wiring harness layout of design services, basic software and the FlexRay interface chip is four times FlexRay are concerns for Jaspar and prototyping systems including test and the size of CAN.” It’s hard to say how Toyota, and they will remain “committed analysis tools for FlexRay. The company much each CAN interface costs. “You al- to CAN as a main bus protocol for several has about 50 employees. most can’t buy a micro today that doesn’t years.” The first application of FlexRay in The FlexRay consortium will finish its have a CAN interface; you have to pay a Japanese production vehicle will come technical work by the end of 2005. For extra if you don’t want it,” he said. For between 2009 and 2012, according to Mr. more on FlexRay please visit www.flexray- now BMW will use FlexRay chips that Tanigawa. group.com. ◆ aren’t integrated with the microcontroller. Even CAN tools pioneer Vector Among possible suppliers of microcontrol- Informatik believes in the future of

Software... Continued from page 1 Created by the Software Engineering practices. It expands oversight into the is project focused and often reactive. The Institute (SEI), the Capability Maturity entire product life cycle, as well as engi- “defined” level, 3 is organization focused Model or CMM has been used since 1991 neering activities, to be sure that products and proactive. Level 4 organizations are across a number of industries as a model meet customer expectations. As a step up “quantitatively managed,” where the pro- for software process improvement and to from CMM, CMMI helps companies cess is measured and controlled. At the measure the capability of project teams to implement more robust high-maturity highest level, the “optimizing” level, the produce high quality software systems. practices, and it more fully complies with focus is on constant process improvement. The forerunner of CMMI, CMM is an ISO standards. CMMI covers the integra- Also playing an important role in soft- application of Total Quality Management tion of software modules with electronics ware development, especially in Europe, is to the principles of software engineering, hardware and the overall system. SEI de- ISO/IEC 15504 or SPICE, an emerging which focus on process measurement and veloped CMMI in order to integrate the standard for software process assessment. control as a means of continuous improve- various CMMs as well as systems engi- The first parts of the 15504 Technical Re- ment. SEI is a federally funded U.S. re- neering into a single model. port have been approved for publication; search and development center sponsored There are five CMMI levels, from 1, the remaining parts are due in mid-2006. by the U.S. Department of Defense and the “performed” level where the process is Once the report is published, 15504 will operated by Carnegie Mellon University, unpredictable, poorly controlled and reac- be considered for release as an interna- Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. tive, to level 5, the “optimizing” level. A tional standard, which will help software CMMI improves on CMM by enabling number of automotive players say they’re customers assess the capabilities of soft- organizations to link management and striving to meet either level 2 or level 3. ware suppliers. engineering activities to their business Referred to as the “managed” level, level 2 continued on page 7 The Hansen Report on Automotive Electronics, Portsmouth, NH USA www.hansenreport.com July/August 2005, Page 3 The Company Profile... Vector Informatik GmbH

Thumbnail Sketch Vector Sales by Year in € Millions Vector Sales by Region Headquarters: Vector Informatik GmbH, 2004 Total Sales: €79 million 1997 to 2004 Annual Ingersheimer Str. 24, D-70499, Stuttgart, ($95.3 million) Sales Growth Rate: Germany; Telephone: 49 711 80670-0; Fax: U.S.A., 13.9% 49 711 80670-111; www.vector- 39.7% informatik.com; Email: info@vector- Japan, 16.5% informatik.com 2004 Sales: €79 million ($95.3 million) 8 13 26 32 46 55 60 79 83 2004 R&D: about 16% of sales Products: Networking and automotive electronics development tools and software 1997 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 Europe, 69.6% components (est.) Employees: 462 at year end 2004; 508 as Vector Sales by Product of June 27, 2005; 70% are engineers customer base. Mercedes is Vector’s largest € Sales per Employee: €171,000 ($206,000) customer, but accounts for less than 10% 2004 Total Sales: 79 million Largest Customers*: DaimlerChrysler is #1, of sales. In the five years since 1999, Vec- ($95.3 million) tor has grown annually at the rate of 25% Bosch is #2 Tools for networks, 47% Ownership: Privately held by the four and expects to grow at least 10% per year Process man- managing directors for the next five years, through 2009. agement tools *Each customer accounts for less than 10% While Vector was founded to deliver and consult- of sales. embedded CAN software and CAN engi- ing, 3% neering tools, it now considers itself a Background “network company,” since it added Embedded Founded in 1988 to provide CAN soft- MOST, FlexRay and LIN network prod- software com- ware tools and components, Vector ucts to its repertoire. “That’s our greatest Tools for automotive ponents, 25% Informatik’s roots go back to Bosch, challenge,” suggested Thomas Beck, electronics, 25% which along with Mercedes invented the managing director and co-owner of Vec- (includes tools for mea- Controller Area Network (CAN) tech- tor, “maintaining our position as the mar- surement, calibration nology. CAN, a mid-speed multiplexing ket leader in engineering tools for and diagnostics) protocol, is now used by carmakers world- networking and in networking software.” wide for serial data communications be- In line with that thinking, Vector, as a CAN networks are customers,” said Dr. tween electronic control units. Two of premium member of the AUTOSAR con- Schelling. Vector’s three founders, Martin Litschel sortium, actively supports development of Since most of the networks used to- and Helmut Schelling, joined Bosch in the AUTOSAR open architecture stan- day—CAN, MOST, LIN and FlexRay—as 1982, a year before CAN development dard, which will incorporate MOST, well as the OSEK operating system got began. Along with deputy chairman of FlexRay and LIN network protocols. their start in Germany, the market there the Bosch management board, Siegfried Despite the fact that it is a network for Vector’s network tools and software is Dais, and a few others, Vector’s Martin company, Vector’s U.S. operation is still already well developed. Vector’s markets Litschel is named in the CAN patent. called Vector CANtech. Founded in in Japan, the United States and else- CAN was first used for a powertrain 1997, the subsidiary produced $14 million where, however, are still emerging. Ac- application in a Mercedes S class in 1990. in sales in 2004. cording to Dr. Beck, Vector is working Vector’s first automotive CAN protocol Vector Informatik’s four managing di- closely with Hyundai, the up-and-coming stack was used by Mercedes-Benz in 1994, rectors and co-owners include Thomas Korean carmaker, which could lead to sig- for CAN-based body controls on the E Beck and the three founders: Helmut nificant future business. class, and in 1997 on the CLK class. Vec- Schelling, Martin Litschel and Eberhard Among its competitors, Dr. Beck sees tor built its first CAN tool in 1992, the Hinderer, who came to Vector from Vector as roughly equivalent to ETAS CANalyzer network analysis tool. Hewlett-Packard. Prior to joining Vector, without its acquired diagnostics business, In 1996 Vector negotiated with Dr. Beck was president of ETAS, a Bosch Vetronix. “We have similar capabilities, Daimler-Benz for the rights to apply the subsidiary. sales numbers and global footprint, al- carmaker’s CAN technology worldwide, Today, Vector tools or embedded net- though ETAS started with powertrain ap- which helped to make CAN more widely work software is used by most carmakers plications, and we started with body applied and therefore more affordable to worldwide. “All tier ones worldwide that applications,” he pointed out. carmakers. Today Vector serves a broad make products that are connected to

Page 4, July/August 2005 The Hansen Report on Automotive Electronics, Portsmouth, NH USA www.hansenreport.com The Company Profile Continued

Vector Employees at Year End Top Six Vector Customers Vector’s Competitors

Ranked by Sales Embedded Software Components 1999 to 2004 Annual 462 #1 DaimlerChrysler 3Soft 420 Employee Growth Rate: #2 Bosch ETAS (Live Devices) 35.5% 330 #3 Denso Micron Electronics Devices AG #4 Siemens VDO Decomsys (FlexRay) 225 #5 Continental Mentor Graphics 165 #6 Delphi 120 80 Tools for CAN Networks 55 Vector’s Global Presence Dearborn Group Ixxat Stuttgart, Germany: Vector Informatik 1997 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 GmbH, founded 1988 www.vector-informatik.com Diagnostics and Calibration Tools for Automotive Electronics Vector Employees by Region Novi, Michigan, USA: Vector CANtech Inc., founded 1997, www.vector-cantech.com dSPACE Total Employees Year End 2004: 462 Tokyo, Japan: Vector Japan Co. Ltd., ETAS founded 1998, www.vector-japan.co.jp ATI Japan, 9.5% Malakoff, France: Vector France SAS, U.S.A., 9.5% founded 2002, www.vector-france.com cation that compared with our competi- Göteborg, Sweden: VecScan AB, tors in Germany, our customers see us as founded 2002, www.vecscan.com on the top,” said Dr. Beck. In the February 2005 “Great Place to Key Competitive Strengths Work” survey, a European-wide initiative, Europe, 81% Why do customers buy from Vector Vector Informatik finished fourth among rather than from its competitors? Accord- companies in Germany with up to 500 Self-Funded ing to Dr. Beck two things stand out: employees and sixth among all companies Vector’s owners have no interest in in- Vector’s global presence and the friendly, in Germany. In the survey, Vector em- vestment partners. With the company pri- easy-to-learn human interface to its tools. ployees were asked 59 questions regarding vately held and self-funded they are free “We have operations where most automo- the company’s credibility, respect, fairness, to build and manage it without a lot of tive electronics and vehicles are pro- pride and team orientation, the five di- people looking over their shoulders. “We duced: in Japan, the United States, mensions that correspond with the Great fear that investment partners would de- France, Sweden and Germany,” he said. Place to Work model. Vector’s success mand higher profitability,” explained Dr. Dr. Schelling noted that Vector’s first with its employees is not a matter of high Beck. “That would change our focus away products were developed with a lot of salaries—Vector pays its employees the from our two primary goals, which are our close feedback from DaimlerChrysler and going rates. Rather, it’s about the respect customers’ needs and good products that Bosch. “Our tools come from engineers for Vector pays to its people. “We share a lot meet those needs.” engineers,” he said. Vector mainly sells its of information with our employees,” said While the company does not publicly products to electrical engineers in middle Dr. Schelling. “We have an open door report profits, Dr. Schelling disclosed that management including chief engineers policy. Any employee can come in and “Profits are big enough for long-term in- and team leaders at carmakers and top-tier talk to me.” vestments. We are focused not only on automotive electronics companies. products that bring in money in six Products months or a year, but also on those that High Grades from Customers ◆ Embedded Software Components will produce profits in five years.” For ex- and Employees Vector offers OSEK operating systems ample, last year Vector committed about Vector contracted with a German mar- and network management components for seven man-years to standards develop- ket research firm in early 2004 to survey CAN, LIN and FlexRay. ment work. Vector is active in MOST, German customers about Vector’s sales CAN embedded software can cost any- FlexRay, ASAM (Association for Stan- performance, customer interactions, prod- where from €50,000 to €100,000 for each dardization of Automation and Measuring uct support, and the quality and function- car/microcontroller platform, depending Systems), ODX (Open Data eXchange), ality of Vector’s products. After more than on what’s in the protocol stack or what LIN, Autosar and, through Vector Japan, 100 customer interviews, Vector was very diagnostics software is included. The soft- in Jaspar, which is working on both pleased with the results. On a scale where ware Vector supplies covers the life of the FlexRay and Autosar specs. 1 is perfect and 5 is poor, Vector received platform. a score of 1.9. “That gave us a clear indi- continued on following page The Hansen Report on Automotive Electronics, Portsmouth, NH USA www.hansenreport.com July/August 2005, Page 5 Vector Informatik GmbH

Business relationships vary from OEM Products to OEM. For example, Vector sells the CAN-based Ford Network Operating Sys- Tools for Networks Synchronization and power supply module tem (FNOS) and General Motors Local CANoe/DENoe (Distributed Embedded Net- Measurement modules for analog voltages Area Network (GM-LAN) directly to work) tools for network development and temperatures those carmakers’ suppliers. But BMW pur- With options for: LIN, MOST and FlexRay CANgraph tool to evaluate offline measure- chases its network software directly from development ments Vector and then distributes it to BMW Emulation of OSEK OS applications ASAP2 Tool Set for updating and merging suppliers. CANalyzer/DENalyzer tools for network analy- ASAP2 files sis ASAP2 Function Library for reading ASAP2 ◆ Tools for Networking With options for LIN, MOST and FlexRay files CANoe and CANalyzer tools not only network development ASAP2-Editor support the development of CAN net- CANalyzer Pocket 1.0, a Windows-based ver- works, but also of LIN, MOST and sion for PDAs Tools for Diagnostics FlexRay networks. CANdb++/CANdb++ Admin CANdela product family, a software environ- CANoe is helpful both on the down- Distributed system backbone for work pro- ment for diagnostic data stream and upstream sides of the product cesses Diagnostic embedded software components development V-cycle, especially for de- CANdbLib programming interface for access CANdito 1.5, one tool for diagnostic testing signing the network, simulating the net- to CAN database and measurement data acquisition work including gateways, and testing. DaVinci Tool Suite, functional design software With CANoe, engineers can answer some for automotive systems Embedded Software Components for basic questions about the network, for ex- CANscope tool to analyze the CAN bus CAN networks ample, “How many messages can the bus Hardware module to stress CAN networks LIN communications handle?” or, “Is the distribution of the CAN bus data loggers OSEK real-time operating system body control functions to the ECUs fea- USB interface for MOST Flash boot-loader to download code to ECUs sible from the point of view of the com- CANcaseXL Log, data logger and bus inter- via CAN munications bus?” A network and system face, two-in-one solution for CAN and LIN modeling tool, CANoe simulates and also Process Management Tools runs actual embedded software code to Tools for Measurement & Calibration Tool Suite eASEE check it against the requirements model. CANape Graph ECU application tool CANoe ranges widely in price—from Options for GPS and OSEK monitoring €2,500 to €18,000, depending on which options are included. If you want to con- versatile CANape Graph tool used for tent XML database can be used across the nect to all networks, CAN, LIN, MOST development, calibration and diagnostics development cycle—in requirements en- and FlexRay, the platform costs about of ECUs including controls for engine, gineering, to implement diagnostics func- €18,000 per seat, not including the PC. ABS, electronic stability control, active tionality within the ECU and in the Since 1994 when the product was first suspension, air conditioning, adaptive parameterization of diagnostics testers. brought to market, Vector has sold a total cruise control, vehicle electrical systems XML (Extensible Markup Language) is of 10,000 CANoe seats. and navigation. With CANape Graph the universal format for structured data- The CANalyzer network measurement engineers can arrange multiple windows bases on the Web. and analysis tool, Vector’s first major on the computer’s display for visualizing product, is part of the CANoe platform and evaluating measurement data. The New Products but is also sold separately for roughly tool also provides controls for executing As it evolved from a CAN-focused €3,000 per seat. Vector has sold about diagnostics functions in ECUs. company to a network company by ex- 20,000 CANalyzer seats since 1992. Diagnostics tools are an important part panding and adapting its portfolio, Vector Software-based, all Vector’s tools are of this segment. While today tools for di- intends to evolve over the long term to an run on PCs. Vector also sells interface agnostics account for just 2% to 3% of engineering company. “We will adapt the units (PCMCIA, PCI, USB) to connect Vector’s sales, the demand for diagnostics product portfolio according to the needs to the different networks. capability is growing fast. At the core of of the auto industry,” declared Dr. Beck. Vector’s diagnostics product line is the Perhaps the company’s most promising ◆ Tools for Automotive Electronics CANdela (CAN Diagnostic Environment new product category is tools for engineer- The Tools for Automotive Electronics for Lean Applications) product family. ing process management. Inside the com- product segment includes tools for mea- Used for acquiring, editing and processing pany, Vector refers to the new product surement, calibrations and diagnostics. diagnostic description data, CANdela is a line as “SAP for development,” not to im- Central to this product line is Vector’s software environment in which a consis- ply that it is in league with the giant Ger-

Page 6, July/August 2005 The Hansen Report on Automotive Electronics, Portsmouth, NH USA www.hansenreport.com The Company Profile Continued man software company, but to suggest that get in light of the fact that they will be New Products for Autosar the products will be like SAP’s, with a competing with huge players like SAP Vector will provide software compo- focus on engineering processes. SAP is a and IBM. “This business will either be nents and tools in the Autosar environ- global market and technology leader in very small—several ten million euros in ment, a software architecture standard client-server enterprise application soft- revenue—or very big—several hundred promoted by the German auto industry, ware. million euros,” said Dr. Beck. “We don’t which later this decade could be used in Vector’s new tool suite will be designed yet know.” production vehicles made by carmakers to run all the processes in the engineering Within the process management seg- worldwide. More encompassing than net- area, including change request manage- ment, Vector already provides consulting works, the Autosar consortium intends to ment, project management and configura- services to companies implementing develop standard interfaces for plug and tion management. The client-PC server CMMI and SPICE software process meth- play software modules used throughout based suite will be run from an Oracle da- odologies. For more on CMMI and the car. That will lead to many product tabase, the software Oracle sells to man- SPICE, see the article “Software Process opportunities for Vector, for standard age large amounts of data. The suite will Standards Gaining Influence,” which be- Autosar middleware and software tools also include a workflow engine. gins on page one. used to describe, develop and integrate At this point, Vector management is software applications based on Autosar. ◆ not certain just how big the business will

Software... Continued from page 3 The purpose of 15504 was to harmo- develop a common, global approach to 9001:2000 certified. ISO 9001:2000 is a nize a number of different software devel- software requirements definition, develop- family of specifications and standards of opment models including CMM, CMMI, ment and validation,” wrote Ronn quality assurance management. ISO 9001 and ISO 12207, along with Jamieson in an email to The Hansen Re- Vector Informatik, the German com- some others. While 15504 is frequently port. Mr. Jamieson is responsible for GM’s pany profiled in this issue, conducts semi- referred to as SPICE, the two names are electronic controls and software strategy nars on building expertise in engineering not synonymous. SPICE (Software Pro- worldwide. A common practice will be development and provides consulting ser- cess Improvement Capability dEtermina- used not only in chassis and body systems, vices to companies interested in applying tion) was actually the name given to the but also within the GM Powertrain the CMMI methodology within their or- ISO and IEC joint technical committee’s (GMPT) group, which pioneered software ganizations. Vector will soon have three project to provide the common framework process development at GM. employees certified as CMMI lead ap- that resulted in 15504. The goals of the An email from Dennis Bogden, GM praisers. Vector also has a SPICE assessor SPICE project are to assist in the stan- powertrain electronics director, explained: on staff. dardization effort, undertake user trials “We have internal goals that are defined continued on page 8 and create market awareness and accep- by specific metrics, which relate to rework tance of the 15504 standard. due to errors, on-time delivery, changes to SPICE Capability Levels While SEI has been working with the requirements after the requirements have 0 Incomplete international standards community to been finalized, supplier errors and tool 1 Performed align CMMI closely with 15504, it is un- chain issues.” 2 Established likely that one standard process will be Reaching specific CMMI ratings isn’t 3 Managed adopted worldwide by all carmakers and GM’s goal. “We [at GMPT] decided not to 4 Predictable suppliers. As a path to competitive superi- spend the money to do a CMMI audit 5 Optimizing ority, quality performance is too important [since] we already have a quarterly ISO Note: See www.isospice.com/standard/ to be left entirely to standards bodies. audit covering our processes,” wrote Mr. assessmentmodel.htm for level definitions. More likely, automotive companies will Bogden. eventually use parts of these protocols but CMMI ratings don’t necessarily lead to CMMI Capability Levels supplement them with their own propri- success. “We have worked with some or- 1 Performed etary processes. ganizations that have been rated very high 2 Managed General Motors exemplifies this mix- on CMMI but needed improvement in 3 Defined and-match approach. While GM is an SEI the delivery. So rather than requiring our 4 Quantitatively Managed partner, the carmaker isn’t in lockstep suppliers to be rated, we require them to 5 Optimizing with the entire CMMI package. Instead it deliver on time a robust product according Note: See www.sei.cmu.edu/cmmi/presenta- has created what it terms a Target Profile to our requirements, with no errors, and tions/euro-sepg-tutorial/sld052.htm for level that is more in keeping with GM’s busi- no faults when installed on the system,” definitions. ness objectives and GM’s intention “to Mr. Bogden elaborated. GMPT is ISO The Hansen Report on Automotive Electronics, Portsmouth, NH USA www.hansenreport.com July/August 2005, Page 7 Software... Continued from page 7 Like GM, Toyota has developed soft- uct Lifecycle Management, Automotive of CMMI ratings, according to Mr. ware development processes that, while Solutions, said his organization is in the Robison. based on CMMI, are tailored to meet process of developing products that can Valeo, one of IBM’s customers, told us Toyota’s requirements. Toyota asks its sup- help the automotive industry integrate its new VIAS (Valeo Interbranch Auto- pliers to use this custom Toyota system for processes such as CMMI. IBM sees the motive Software) division, a joint initia- continuous improvement in their own demand to meet CMMI requirements tive with IBM, is “benefiting from IBM’s development processes. growing globally, more so than for SPICE. expertise in software development pro- IBM’s Peter Robison, director of Prod- Internally, IBM has reached “high levels” cesses and tools.” ◆ CMMI/SPICE Activity in the Automotive Industry* Osrganization Flavored Proces C)urrent Maturity Leve G?oal(s What Do Carmakers Require of Suppliers

BnMW En/E Process Chai CMMI in additio N5one R,each CMMI level 2 by 200 BMW relies on SPICE to assess suppliers to specific BMW according to the HIS agreement1 targets Cehrysler E/E Cor CeMMI/SPICE Neon NIot Applicabl Starting with 2008 source package: CMM Engineering2 level 2 or SPICE level 1 Long term: CMMI level 3 Geeneral Motors Powertrain, Vehicl GM-specific, From 0-4 depending Considering goal to reach CMMI compliance is encouraged, but not Engineering based on parts on process, according equivalent of level 3 in target required Considering a target profile that of CMMI3 to in-house processes by 2006 customizes CMMI requirements assessments HDonda Eg/E Systems R& Considerin Neone Neot applicabl Not applicabl CMMI and other methodologies Mercedes Car USA CMMI None Group Germany SPICE S8PICE level 3 in 2007/2008 SPICE level 3 in 2007/200 Nnissan None, Nissa Neot applicable Nyot applicabl "Quality software," but Nissan does not specif writes no software CMMI or SPICE T,oyota Proprietary Neone Nrot applicabl Requests suppliers continually improve thei based some- processes, based on Toyota's system what on CMMI Vgolkswagen E/E Engineerin S,PICE Various levels S,PICE level 3 SPICE level 3 required now or by 2006 R&D depending on tasks depending on supplier

Bosch All software busi- CnMMI/SPICE CMMI level 2–4 i Staged CMMI level 4; CMMI or SPICE for audits, depending on Automotive ness units, plus software; some level SPICE level 3 customer's choice component 2 in hardware; SPICE development level 3 in gas & diesel departments software development Continental All business units SgPICE From 0–3, dependin L.evel 3 by year end 2006 Most Europeans specify SPICE; some in U.S Automotive that deliver on the product or specify CMMI Systems software project Dyelphi EIlectronics & Safet CtMM CMMI assesmen CMMI level 3 short term; Some European carmakers have requested planned for Q1 2006 level 5 long term SPICE compliance Ssiemens VDO AIll 13 division CeMM N;on Level 3 by year end 2005 "Proven robustness" level 5 long term Vtaleo All divisions tha ClMMI/SPICE CMM level 2; globa CnMMI level 3 by early 2006 CMMI and SPICE, level 2 or 3, depending o deliver software deployment in progress key process area Vnisteon Visteo CMM-SW level 3 since VnEP Some will require at least CMMI level 2 withi Engineering 2000 the next few years; others want SPICE Process (VEP), which uses elements of CMMI and SPICE 1 In December 2004, five German carmakers within the HIS (Herstellerinitiative Software) interest group agreed to apply the SPICE assessment method. 2 E/E Core Engineering no longer writes software for the controllers it purchases. Instead it creates STATEMATE models to convey desired controller behavior. Chrysler E/E Powertrain may deal with software differently. 3 GM Powertrain Group is ISO 9001:2000 certified. Vehicle Engineering has adopted all ISO work practice methodologies but is not officially ISO certifed. *The above list includes only those carmakers and suppliers who responded to The Hansen Report’s survey. Page 8, July/August 2005 The Hansen Report on Automotive Electronics, Portsmouth, NH USA www.hansenreport.com