Abstract
Keywords: Software Framework, Software Development Kit, Vehicle Applications, Vehicle Safety Systems, Driver Assistance, Drive Recorder
Software is one of the most important parts of today's vehicle development. Driver assistance and vehicle safety systems are necessary to keep a car state-of-the-art. The Automotive Data and Time triggered Framework (ADTF) is a platform independent software module kit, which supports the vehicle application designer in easily creating new optimized software components.
ADTF provides a continuous development and testing environment written in C++ that enables efficient implementations of new vehicle functions. Originally the framework was designed for developing driver assistance systems and active safety systems. Because of similar requirements in different applications, the framework was developed in a modular plug-in software architecture, which allows a very flexible reuse of software components for a faster integration. Most common hardware used in the car industry such as CAN, LIN and Flexray or several camera devices already supported through ADTF, shipped with the frameworks installation package.
ADTF is able to catch data from different sources and synchronize it by time. It connects data-inputs and data-outputs for a straight forward modelling of the data flow. High performance time based data recording and playback allows creating algorithms offline in the lab, just as well online in the car. This homogenous infrastructure reduces the amount of deployment cycles in developing control unit software.
ADTF provides a graphical user interface to visualize and display the values and signals of interest in many different fashions. Use cases in several car research and deployment departments have shown the strengths of ADTF in sensor evaluation, measurement, software validation, software development and drive recording. Developers were able to create simple or complex systems by using the graphical user interface and to execute it immediately or to program and integrate their own software modules by using the application programming interface of the framework.
ADTF describes a binary standard, where functional interfaces and data formats are open to developers. This simplifies the cooperation between OEMs and suppliers. The framework offers the possibility to exchange software components in binary form which ensures knowhow protection, to prototype new ideas which ensures fast product decision and to test functionality online or offline which reduces the time of development.