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new products
The DS90UB964-Q1 deserializer hub is now available
in the TI store and with authorized distributors in a 64-
pin very thin quad flat no-lead (VQFN) package. Pricing
starts at US$15 in 1,000-unit quantities. Contact your TI
field sales representative to sample TI’s other new 1-MP
and 2-MP SerDes devices.
Timing-Architects and Vector join Forces
for Multi-core Development
Stuttgart and Regensburg, Germany, 2016-10-18 –
Vector Informatik GmbH (Vector) of Stuttgart invests in
Timing-Architects Embedded Systems GmbH (TA) of
Regensburg. Together they now offer a complete tool
chain for developing distributed multi-core real-time
systems for Electronic Control Units (ECU) in vehicles.
Vector is also enabling global sales of TA products.
Through this partnership, ECU developers and
automotive OEMs will benefit from a universal tool
solution. The multi-core capable AUTOSAR basic
software MICROSAR and the Vector tools PREEvision,
DaVinci Developer and DaVinci Configurator Pro
are complemented by the TA Tool Suite from Timing-
Architects. By this means, engineers get an innovative
and comprehensive solution which lets them cover
all phases of software development for real-time
multi-core processors. Software integration into the
ECU is simplified by architectural design, simulation,
optimization and the evaluation of real-time data.
To intensify the already successful collaboration, Vector
Informatik GmbH has acquired 49% of Timing-Architects
Embedded Systems GmbH shares. Vector also supports
worldwide sales of the TA Tool Suite and provides local
technical expertise as well. This sales partnership, which
has already been launched in the USA and Japan, will
soon be extended to other countries. TA and Vector will
still remain autonomous and independent companies.
Dr. Michael Deubzer, CEO of Timing-Architects,
sees many advantages how software and functional
developers will benefit from the partnership: “Due to
their complexity, it is nearly impossible to develop
networked multi-core systems without tool support. The
real-time behavior of such systems can be validated
by a combination of Vector and TA tools. Now, our
partnership with Vector ensures easy and competent
access to our tools for customers worldwide.”
Dr. Thomas Beck, CEO of Vector Informatik GmbH,
adds: “Today, our customers are already benefiting from
a jointly developed interface for our tools, which can be
used to analyze and optimize an AUTOSAR-conformant
system configuration. Our two companies can now
network this special knowledge even better to optimally
tune our products to one another.”
In the framework of the partnership, Vector and TA are
already planning additional steps towards realizing
efficient and productive automotive engineering.
In using the joint solution during development,
first the AUTOSAR tools from Vector are used to
describe the software components (SWCs) and
create a preliminary draft of the ECU configuration.
Engineers use PREEvision, DaVinci Developer and
DaVinci Configurator Pro for this purpose. Then, the
TA tools are used to analyze this configuration and
make comparisons to time requirements. The best
distribution of the SWCs to the cores and OS partitions
is determined by simulation and optimization, and
the configuration is then updated. The interplay of
different ECUs is considered by simulating the network
communication. Data is exchanged between the tools
over an AUTOSAR-conformant file interface.
Due to their higher computing power, multi-core
processors offer ideal conditions for innovative
software applications in vehicles, such as for ADAS
systems. However, when applications are running
on multiple cores, runtime losses are incurred due to
data communication between the cores. For time-
critical applications, the challenge is to find an optimal
distribution of the application software. With the joint
solution from TA and Vector, the network of multi-core
ECUs can now be analyzed and optimized consistently,
New-Tech Magazine Europe l 69