Software-Based Approach for Sharing Real-Time Peripherals in a Virtualized Automotive Microcontroller Platform

In the automotive domain, the evolution of electrical and electronic (E/E) architecture trend is toward consolidating multiple heterogeneous applications executing on individual devices onto a centralized powerful computing platform. Many forums debate the nature of this centralized computing platform. At least for another decade, automotive powertrain functions will continue their development on a multicore controller platform (MCU) instead of many core processors. Data security and the need to meet Automotive Safety Integrity Level D (ASIL-D)-compliant powertrain functions are some of the reasons for this preference. For the centralized computing platform, virtualizing the underlying MCU will facilitate the simultaneous execution of heterogeneous powertrain applications with guaranteed spatial and temporal isolation. A common problem in virtualizing the MCU is the sharing of peripherals, which are comparatively scarce. In this article, a mechanism to facilitate arbitration and sharing of peripherals in a real-time virtualized system, termed as Virtual Device Emulator (VDE), is proposed. The commonly used in-vehicle communication protocol is the controller area network (CAN), and a demonstrator using VDE for real-time sharing of CAN peripheral among two heterogeneous powertrain applications is realized and experimented with. The performance of the VDE during concurrent access of CAN peripheral, in terms of data consistency and timing aspects, is evaluated and compared.