In automotive electronics development, Ethernet communication simulation has become a key part of ECU testing, diagnostics and network analysis. TSMaster, as a powerful automotive electronics simulation and testing tool, provides engineers with efficient Ethernet communication solutions. This manual will bring you an in-depth analysis of TSMaster's Ethernet communication configuration, message sending/receiving, protocol simulation and automated test techniques, which will help you get started quickly and improve development efficiency.
KEYWORDS in this article: TSMaster.Ethernet Communication Simulation
Description of symbols
Some of the styles and symbols used in this article can be found in the following table descriptions.
Functional Overview
Currently users face the following scenarios that require Ethernet communication simulation during software development:
- Multi-ECU communication for functional verification: real ECUs are not fully developed;
- Simulating complex communication conditions and faults to test the robustness of the system: it is difficult to construct such scenarios for real ECUs;
- Automotive software upgrade to verify compatibility with other versions: different versions of the real ECU are required;
- ECU communication from different vendors, collaborative validation: inconvenient for different vendor ECUs to collaborate;
- Other development/testing issues.
Based on the above user problems, TSMaster developers have developed an Ethernet communication simulation module for users. The simulation module uses the Ethernet communication protocol and is designed to highly simulate the communication between real ECUs, providing users with a comprehensive and effective solution.
The Ethernet communication simulation module simulates the process of real ECUs sending and receiving communication messages to verify the accuracy and stability of the software in handling different types of messages. The module can flexibly simulate various communication failure scenarios to meet the system robustness testing requirements. For example, it simulates network delay, packet loss, error message injection and other faults to help developers test the software's ability to cope with complex communication conditions.
Windows Forms
The Ethernet communication simulation module contains three main functional areas.
- toolbar (in computer software)
- Node Display
- message list
3.1 Toolbar
A collection of commonly used function displays.
The form icons are described below:
3.2 Node Display
Displays the nodes of the database. Hover the mouse over the node display and double click 2 times to check or uncheck the node.
3.3 List of messages
Displays all messages in the database.
The data in each column of the message list is described below:
typical example
This section contains content related to the use of Ethernet communication simulation.
4.1 Importing the Ethernet database
The following import Ethernet database (arxml\xml) methods are supported:
▲ Drag and drop the database file into the TSMaster software, it can be loaded to the corresponding bus type channel 1 by default, then in the TSMaster software, you can modify the database to bind to the specified channel, the operation is shown in the following figure:
▲ In TSMaster, click [Analyze] -> [Database] -> select the corresponding bus -> right-click the corresponding channel to add the database, as shown in the following figure:
After the above operation, the data has been successfully added to the TSMaster software.
4.2 Ethernet Communication Simulation Configuration
4.2.1 Channel selection
In TSMaster, check [Hardware] -> [Channel Selection], in the pop-up interface, select the channel of Ethernet, you can choose virtual channel or real hardware channel.
The actual operation is shown below:
4.2.2 Checking the General Configuration
In TSMaster, select [Hardware] -> [TCP/IP Stack], in the pop-up interface, select General Configuration, and check the box of "Keep the configuration dynamically created during operation, otherwise it will be cleared when disconnecting".
4.3 Ethernet Communication Simulation
4.3.1 Configuring Messages
In TSMaster, select [Simulation] -> [Ethernet Communication Simulation]. In the pop-up interface, check the message and configure the value of "Interval (ms)", then the message will be sent according to the cycle time. You can configure the value of "Data".
4.3.2 Starting the simulation
In TSMaster, click Start Connection. Check [Simulation] -> [Ethernet Communication Simulation], and in the pop-up screen, click Start Simulation.
4.3.3 Ethernet Message Information Grabber
In TSMaster, check [Analyze] -> [Message Information]. In the pop-up Ethernet message information interface, you can view the messages sent by the emulation.
After catching the packet, you can click "Detail View1" to display the data column 1, that is, the button in the red box in the following figure; and then click the message, you can display the parsed information on the left side; the parsed information is as follows:
You can click "Detail View2" to display the data column 2, i.e., the key in the red box in the figure below; then click the message to display the parsed information on the left side; the upper part shows the parsed fields; the lower part shows the original data in hexadecimal and ASCII; the parsing of the upper part is as follows:
4.4 Fault simulation
4.4.1 Simulating network delays
In the Ethernet communication simulation interface, modify the value of Interval(ms) to set the period of message sending; modify the value of Phase(ms) to set the phase of message sending; as shown in the following figure, set the sending period to 500ms and the sending phase to 100ms, so as to simulate the network delay.
4.4.2 Simulating packet loss
In the Ethernet communication simulation interface, if you do not check the corresponding message, it will not be sent during the simulation, thus simulating packet loss.
4.4.3 Analog data error messages
In the Ethernet communication simulation interface, you can modify the Data field and set the error value to simulate the sending of data error messages.
connector
5.1 API List
5.1.1 eth_rbs_set_pdu_phase_and_cycle_by_name
5.1.2 eth_rbs_configure
5.1.3 eth_rbs_activate_all_networks
5.1.4 eth_rbs_activate_network_by_name
5.1.5 eth_rbs_activate_node_by_name
5.1.6 eth_rbs_activate_pdu_by_name
5.1.7 eth_rbs_set_signal_value_by_element
5.1.8 eth_rbs_set_signal_value_by_address
5.1.9 eth_rbs_get_signal_value_by_element
5.1.10 eth_rbs_get_signal_value_by_address
5.1.11 eth_rbs_start
5.1.12 eth_rbs_is_running
5.1.13 eth_rbs_stop
5.2 API Use Cases
In this section, it will be shown how to call the API to realize a series of functions, covering operations such as checking the box to send a message, setting the message sending period, setting the message data value, and starting the emulation.
5.2.1 Initializing the environment
Refer to sections 4.1 and 4.2, and follow the guidelines therein to complete the operations of importing Ethernet database, selecting the corresponding channel, and checking the configuration items.
5.2.2 How to call the APIs
Add C applet editor in [Design] -> [C Applet] module. Once added, the editor supports calling all APIs mentioned in section 5.1.
In the C applet editor, there are various types of events, and the following is an example of a program start event. You can add a program startup event by right-clicking on it and writing the required code logic in the code area corresponding to the event. In this way, the code logic will be executed automatically when the program starts running.
5.2.3 Code descriptions
Edit the following sample code in the new program startup event code area, which functions to periodically send a specified message and dynamically modify the message's send value during the sending process. The specific logic is as follows:
1) Check the PDU message named "PDUTXDemo1_0" to make it active.
(2) Parameterize the "PDUTXDemo1_0" message, setting its phase to 0ms and its transmission period to 500ms.
3) Set the value of the signal named "SignalDemo1_0_0″ to 1.
4) Start the Ethernet communication emulation and begin the periodic sending of messages.
5) After the simulation is started, it enters into a loop operation and sets the value of the signal named "SignalDemo1_0_0″ to 0 and 1 alternately.
6) Stop the simulation of Ethernet communication simulation after ending the cyclic operation.
5.2.4 Compilation and execution
In the C applet editor, when you click the "Compile" button, the editor will immediately start compiling the code. After the compilation is completed, the system will give you a clear indication of the compilation result, displaying "Compile Successful" or "Compile Failure".
If you are prompted with a compilation failure, you need to carefully review the specific prompt messages, locate and modify the errors in the code according to these messages, and then try compiling again.
If prompted for a successful compilation, the editor will automatically generate an executable file corresponding to the code, which can be subsequently run to verify the program's functionality.
Since the Ethernet communication simulation startup is based on the TSMaster startup connection, it is important to ensure that the TSMaster has been started and the startup connection operation has been completed before executing the executable file generated above. Only when TSMaster is in the startup connection state, the execution of the executable file will not cause any abnormal operation.
In the C Applet Editor screen, click the "Run" button to execute the executable file.
5.2.5 Implementation results
After launching the executable file, you can view the relevant information in the Ethernet communication simulation interface. The content presented in this interface is exactly the same as the settings made by calling the API in the sample code, specifically including: the corresponding message that has been checked, the set period of sending the message, the specific value of the signal value in the message, and you can also see that the Ethernet communication simulation has been successfully started.
At the same time, in the [Ethernet message information] interface, you can observe the message being sent. The data value in the message is in a cyclic state, which is exactly the effect of the sample code by cyclically setting the signal value to 0 and 1 alternately. When the loop is finished, the Ethernet communication simulation is stopped; thus, the sample code completes the whole execution process.
Tip:
1. Software download:
Click on the software download link below to download and install directly, beta version is recommended:
2. Software upgrades:
You can check for upgrades to the latest version within the software, provided that your computer has an Internet connection.
Note: TOSUN Technical Support Email:support@tosunai.cnWe welcome inquiries! (Company and contact information must be indicated)
English 
Chinese