Abstract
System partitioning is essential to the design of complex systems such as automobiles.
Complexity can be because of compounded phenomena or because of intricate behavior. This
paper focuses on the compounding effect of integrating the different subsystems that result
from the partitioning. In particu- lar, it concentrates on subsystems, or features, that have an
embedded computation part to them. Three types of feature integration are classified: (i) shared
resources, (ii) communicating features, and (iii) interacting control. The integration is addressed
from a Model-Based Design perspective. It is discussed how this allows managing the complexity of
integrating computations because it is operative at a higher level of abstraction than even highlevel
programming lan- guages.
Conclusions
The application of embedded computing power in the automotive industry is increasing at a
steady pace. The main benefit of embedded computations are the relatively low cost for the
design flexibility that it provides.
With the flexibility comes a complexity, though,
that can be difficult to negotiate. This complexity can be because of size, but also because of
compli- catedness. In this paper, it is concentrated on the former, and it is discussed how
partitioning aids in managing the complexity because of the compounded phenomena.
With partitioning comes the inevitable integra- tion, and three classes of integration are identified:
(i) shared resources, (ii) communicating features, and (iii) interacting control. It is argued that highlevel
programming languages such as C and C++ do not suffice in addressing those three
integration issues.
Instead, Model-Based Design is introduced as a means to support the subsystem integration at a
much higher semantic level, that is closer to the domain specific notions. Some of the benefits of
Model-Based Design for subsystem integration are presented. The models that are used are better
suited to address intricate matters such as interface compat- ibiliy, not just from a syntactic, but
also from a static and dynamic semantics perspective.