The development of vehicles has become increasingly complex, involving over 50 different suppliers
who need to ensure that all components, parts and devices work together. Modelling and simulation
represent key methods for a successful development. To facilitate this, the introduction of co-simulation
methodologies and the interoperability of simulation tools and infrastructure had already taken root. But
there was no standardised way of integrating distributed simulation and test environments back in 2015.
So there was still room to enhance the process.
In the ACOSAR project, 16 partners came
together under the lead of VIRTUAL VEHICLE in
order to accelerate development steps with new
simulation technologies. With a strong focus
on the automotive domain, the consortium’s
members operated on all levels of the
automotive supply chain and included original
equipment manufacturers (OEMs), suppliers,
software tool and real-time system vendors, as
well as research and academic partners.
Early predictions and correspondingly early
design decisions are key success factors in
modern development processes. With the aid of co-simulation, diverse simulation
models can be linked together to enable
overall system analysis at a very early stage
of development (‘front loading’). Within the
virtual system development, front loading is
getting more and more important in a plenitude
of industrial domains to reduce development
times, stranded costs and time-to-market. Cosimulation
is a particularly promising approach
for interoperable modular development.
However, the coupling and integration of realtime
systems into simulation environments
(especially of systems of distributed Hardwarein-
the-Loop (HiL) systems and simulations) still require enormous effort. ACOSAR
developed both a non-proprietary ‘Distributed
Co-simulation Protocol’ (DCP) for Real-Time
(RT) System integration and a corresponding
integration methodology, which is a substantial
contribution to the international standardisation
(Modelica Association Project DCP - MAP DCP).
Standardised Distributed Co-simulation Protocol
Impact highlights
- Since July 2018, the main and
sustainable project outcome the
Distributed Co-simulation Protocol
(DCP) is developed as a Modelica
Association Project (MAP) and
is available as an open-access
international standard.
- International technology leaders such
as AVL, Volkswagen and Boeing are
already applying this solution.
- prominent German sports car
manufacturer reports over 13,000
developer days which could be
saved in the next five years thanks
to this developed protocol – which
corresponds to a value of around five
to seven million euros.
- In the final year of the ACOSAR project
the DCP was adopted by the Modelica
Association.
- The international partner network
of VIRTUAL VEHICLE now consists
of 30 national and 50 international
industrial partners (OEMs, Tier 1 and
Tier 2 suppliers as well as software
providers) as well as 18 national
and 30 international scientific
institutions.
The DCP is an application level communication
protocol. It is designed to integrate models and
real-time systems into simulation environments.
It enables the exchange of simulation-related
configuration information and data by use of
an underlying transport protocol (such as User
Datagram Protocol (UDP), Transmission Control
Protocol (TCP), or CAN). At the same time, the
DCP supports the integration of tools and realtime
systems from different vendors.
DCP has the potential to simplify and accelerate
integration aspects for system development by
blurring the boundaries between purely virtual
and real tests. International technology leaders
such as AVL, Volkswagen and Boeing are already
applying this solution. A prominent German
sports car manufacturer reports over 13,000
developer days which could be saved in the next
five years thanks to this developed protocol –
which corresponds to a value of around five to
seven million euros.
Transfer of results into standardisation was one
of the key goals of ACOSAR. In the final year of
the project, the consortium members therefore
decided to pursue standardisation of the DCP
with the Modelica Association. Since July 2018
the DCP has been developed as a Modelica
Association Project (MAP), also with VIRTUAL
VEHICLE in the lead. The DCP specification
document 1.0 was released in March 2019, as
an open-access Modelica Association standard.
The DCP complements an existing set of
standards for system simulation, including the
Modelica Language, the Functional Mock-Up
Interface (FMI), and the System Structure and
Parameterisation (SSP) standard.
All these efforts have received broad
international recognition. During the ITEA Project
Outline Preparation Days 2019, ACOSAR received
an Award of Excellence for its outstanding
project results, especially on standardisation
and communication. On top of this distinction,
ACOSAR was presented with an additional
Eureka Award during the subsequent Eureka
Stakeholder Conference.
For project coordinator VIRTUAL VEHICLE, the
success of the project was another milestone
in its 15 years of experience in the field of
simulation technologies. This focus on industryrelated
research makes VIRTUAL VEHICLE
the innovation catalyst for future vehicle
technologies. The international partner network
of VIRTUAL VEHICLE now consists of 30 national
and 50 international industrial partners (OEMs,
Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers as well as software
providers) in addition to 18 national and 30
international scientific institutions.
For instance, ESI Group implements DCP for
its system simulation solutions. ESI expects
to significantly increase the interoperability of
its tools and a reduction of development and
maintenance costs due to the replacement of
several tool specific co-simulation modules by
the standardised and tool-independent DCP.
Impact beyond the project
The range of applications is wide and can, for
example, reduce the setup and configuration
time. A typical example can be found in the
field of automated driving where new sensor
technologies are becoming available and must
be tested before real prototypes are used for
selected test scenarios. Further applications
gaining benefit from the DCP are typically found
in the fields of distributed simulation, cosimulation,
hardware-, software-, or model-inthe-
loop testing, and process automation
The results of ACOSAR will lead to a modular,
considerably more flexible and shorter system
development process for numerous industrial
domains as well as enable the establishment of
new business models.
More information
http://www.acosar.eu/