In an era where the software complexity of modern vehicles is increasing exponentially, the AUTOSAR standard (AUTomotive Open System ARchitecture) forms the backbone of ECU development. During my time at Bertrandt, I bridged this gap between complex specification and practical application by conceiving company-wide training courses and conducting them at various locations in Germany as well as internationally in Paris (in English).
Holistic Knowledge Transfer in Two Days
The goal of these two-day intensive courses was to convey the entire AUTOSAR basic knowledge. The focus was not only on the “What” but primarily on the “Why”. Participants received a deep insight into the historical development and the core goals of the consortium: scalability, hardware independence, and the reusability of software components across different vehicle manufacturers and platforms.
The Architecture in Detail
A major focus of the training was on deconstructing the multi-layered AUTOSAR architecture:
- Application Layer (ASW): Here, the concepts of software components (SWCs), ports, and interfaces were explained, which can be developed completely hardware-independently due to strict abstraction.
- Runtime Environment (RTE): As the “glue” of the system, the RTE mediates between the application and the basic software. We analyzed how the Virtual Functional Bus (VFB) abstracts communication before it is mapped to concrete bus topologies.
- Basic Software (BSW): Here we dove into the layers of services (System, Memory, Communication), ECU abstraction, and the Microcontroller Abstraction Layer (MCAL).
Special attention was paid to the Methodology: From System Configuration Description to ECU Extract to the generation of the ECU Configuration Description (ARXML flow) – the red thread of the toolchain became tangible for the participants.
Theory vs. Practice: A Conscious Decision
The trainings were deliberately designed as pure theory trainings. In the AUTOSAR world, practical implementation is inextricably linked to a specific BSW stack (e.g., from Vector Informatik or Elektrobit) and a specific microcontroller (MCU). Since these configurations are highly project-dependent, the focus of the training was on the universal understanding of the standards. This empowered the developers to quickly familiarize themselves with the respective tool environment in their subsequent, concrete customer projects.
Through these trainings, I was able to significantly contribute to harmonizing the technical level in the area of E/E architecture at Bertrandt across locations and sustainably increasing development quality in safety-critical projects (ASIL).