JP2019008470A - Management device, simulation system, and simulation method - Google Patents

Abstract

To provide a management device, simulation system and simulation method that lessen a risk of a re-measurement.SOLUTION: In a simulation system, a management device comprises: a communication unit; an estimation unit; a calculation unit; and a comparison unit. The communication unit is configured to communicate with a simulation device that converts an input signal to be input from a non-control device into simulation data for each channel. The estimation unit is configured to estimate an upper limit value of a communication data capacity for a unit time of the simulation data in a measurement environment. The calculation unit is configured to calculate a total value of data capacities of the set channel on the basis of channel information indicative of the data capacity of the simulation data for each channel. The comparison unit is configured to compare the total value calculated by the calculation unit with the upper limit value estimated by the estimation unit.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

  The present invention relates to a management device, a simulation system, and a simulation method.

  2. Description of the Related Art Conventionally, for example, there is a simulation system that performs a simulation of the operation status of each control device mounted on a vehicle or an aircraft. Such a simulation system includes a simulation device and a management device that manages the simulation device (see, for example, Patent Document 1).

  In such a simulation system, measurement conditions that can be measured, that is, combinations of channels that can be measured, vary depending on a measurement environment such as a communication standard and the performance of the simulation apparatus.

JP 2008-84121 A

  However, in the prior art, it was not possible to confirm before measurement whether the measurement conditions were measurable. For this reason, in the prior art, simulation may be executed despite measurement conditions that cannot be measured, and it is necessary to change measurement conditions and perform remeasurement.

  The present invention has been made in view of the above, and an object thereof is to provide a management device, a simulation system, and a simulation method that can reduce the risk of remeasurement.

  In order to solve the above-described problem, the management apparatus according to the embodiment includes a communication unit, an estimation unit, a calculation unit, and a comparison unit. A communication part communicates with the simulation apparatus which converts the input signal input from a non-control apparatus into simulation data for every channel. The estimation unit estimates an upper limit value of communication data capacity per unit time of the simulation data in the measurement environment. The calculation unit calculates a total value of the data capacities of the set channels based on channel information indicating a data capacity of the simulation data for each channel. The comparison unit compares the total value calculated by the calculation unit with the upper limit value estimated by the estimation unit.

  According to the present invention, the risk of remeasurement can be reduced.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of a simulation method. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the simulation system. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of the upper limit estimation process. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of channel information. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of the notification information. FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure executed by the management apparatus.

  Hereinafter, a management device, a simulation system, and a simulation method according to embodiments will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. In addition, this invention is not limited by embodiment shown below.

  First, the outline of the simulation method according to the embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an outline of a simulation method.

  As shown in FIG. 1, the simulation system 100 according to the embodiment includes a management device 1 and a simulation device 50. In addition, the management device 1 and the simulation device 50 are connected via, for example, a LAN (Local Area Network) cable or a switching hub S. Note that the management device 1 and the simulation device 50 may be directly connected via a LAN cable without using the switching hub S, or may be connected via wireless communication.

  The management device 1 manages the operation status of the simulation device 50, simulation measurement conditions, and the like. In addition, the management device 1 is connected to, for example, an operation unit or a display unit. The user can input measurement conditions for the simulation performed by the simulation apparatus 50 via the operation unit, and can confirm the simulation result via the display unit.

  The simulation device 50 is a so-called HILS (Hardware In The Loop Simulator). Moreover, the simulation apparatus 50 is connected with ECU (Electro Control Unit) 70 mounted in a vehicle etc., for example. The ECU 70 is an example of a non-control device.

  The simulation apparatus 50 inputs a pseudo signal imitating a control signal indicating an actual operation state of a brake, an accelerator or the like to the ECU 70. The ECU 70 operates based on the pseudo signal and outputs an input signal as an operation result to the simulation device 50.

  The simulation apparatus 50 converts the input signal into simulation data that can be read by the management apparatus 1 and outputs the simulation data to the management apparatus 1. Thereby, the user can confirm the simulation result of ECU70 in real time.

  As described above, in the simulation system 100, the operation confirmation and performance evaluation of the ECU 70 can be verified in the virtual environment. As a result, the development cost and development time of the ECU 70 can be reduced.

  By the way, the measurement conditions that can be measured differ according to the performance (spec) of the management device 1 and the simulation device 50, the communication standard, and the like. For example, when the simulation data exceeding the communication speed at which communication is possible, that is, the communication data capacity per unit time, is output from the simulation apparatus 50 to the management apparatus 1, there is a possibility that problems such as missing or damage of simulation data may occur.

  Further, when a measurement condition that exceeds the processing load that can be processed by the management apparatus 1 or the simulation apparatus 50 is set, there is a possibility that problems such as interruption of measurement may occur due to the freeze of the management apparatus 1 or the simulation apparatus 50.

  However, in the prior art, it was not possible to check whether the measurement conditions were measurable before measurement. For this reason, in the prior art, when the above-described problem occurs, it is necessary to perform re-measurement after changing the measurement conditions.

  Therefore, in the simulation method according to the embodiment, it is determined whether the measurement conditions are measurable before the measurement. Specifically, in the simulation method according to the embodiment, it is determined whether the measurement conditions are measurable based on the upper limit value of the communication data capacity per unit time of simulation data in the measurement environment.

  In the simulation method according to the embodiment, for example, a total value of data capacities of simulation data of channels set as measurement conditions by the user is calculated. Here, the channel is an item that can be measured by the simulation apparatus 50, and the data capacity of the simulation data of the channel is a value defined for each channel. Hereinafter, information regarding the data capacity of simulation data for each channel is referred to as channel information.

  In the simulation method, the upper limit value of the communication data capacity per unit time of simulation data in the measurement environment is estimated. Here, the measurement environment refers to the performance (so-called specifications) of the management device 1 and the simulation device 50, the communication standard in the simulation system 100, and the like.

  Here, in the simulation method, the speed at which the communication speed of the simulation data is the lowest in the simulation system 100, that is, the speed that becomes the bottleneck of communication is estimated as the upper limit value of the communication speed of the simulation data.

  For example, when the simulation data output by the simulation device 50 becomes a bottleneck at the time of simulation measurement, the output speed of the simulation data by the simulation device 50 becomes the upper limit value of the communication data capacity per unit time.

  Further, when the transfer rate of the simulation data on the LAN cable becomes a bottleneck, the transfer rate becomes the upper limit value of the communication data capacity per unit time of the simulation data.

  That is, if the total value is less than the upper limit value, it is a measurement condition that allows smooth measurement, and if the total value is greater than or equal to the upper limit value, it becomes a measurement condition that may cause problems during measurement.

  That is, in the simulation method according to the embodiment, it is possible to check whether or not the measurement condition is executable before the measurement by comparing the upper limit value and the total value.

  Therefore, according to the simulation method according to the embodiment, only measurable measurement conditions can be executed, and the risk of remeasurement can be reduced. In addition, it is possible to avoid re-measurement and set the limit of the upper limit in the measurement condition as the measurement condition, so that the quality of the simulation can be improved.

  Next, the configuration of the simulation system 100 according to the embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the simulation system 100.

  As shown in FIG. 2, the simulation system 100 includes a management device 1 and a simulation device 50. Although FIG. 2 shows the case where there are two simulation apparatuses 50, the number of simulation apparatuses 50 may be one, or may be three or more. In FIG. 2, the switching hub S shown in FIG. 1 is omitted, and the operation unit 5, the display unit 6, and the ECU 70 are shown together.

  The simulation device 50 is connected to the ECU 70, for example, generates a pseudo signal imitating a control signal for controlling the ECU 70 in a real environment based on the measurement conditions set by the management device 1, and operates the ECU 70.

  Then, the simulation apparatus 50 converts an input signal input according to an operation based on a pseudo signal from the ECU 70 into simulation data that can be read by the management apparatus 1 and outputs the simulation data to the management apparatus 1.

  The operation unit 5 is, for example, a keyboard or a mouse, and outputs an operation signal based on a user operation to the management device 1. For example, the user can set measurement conditions via the operation unit 5. In the present embodiment, the measurement condition refers to a combination of channels.

  The operation unit 5 outputs an operation signal corresponding to the set channel to the management apparatus 1 every time the user sets the channel. Thereby, in the management apparatus 1, the process which derives | leads out said upper limit and a total value will be started.

  The display unit 6 displays a measurement result obtained by the simulation device 50 and displays measurement conditions. That is, the user can set a channel based on the information displayed on the display unit 6. Details of this point will be described later with reference to FIG.

  The management device 1 includes a control unit 2, a storage unit 3, and a communication unit 10. The control unit 2 includes an estimation unit 21, a calculation unit 22, a correction unit 23, a comparison unit 24, and a generation unit 25. The control unit 2 includes, for example, a computer having a central processing unit (CPU), a read only memory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), a hard disk drive (HDD), an input / output port, and various circuits.

  The CPU of the computer functions as the estimation unit 21, the calculation unit 22, the correction unit 23, the comparison unit 24, and the generation unit 25 of the control unit 2 by reading and executing a program stored in the ROM, for example.

  In addition, at least any one or all of the estimation unit 21, the calculation unit 22, the correction unit 23, the comparison unit 24, and the generation unit 25 of the control unit 2 may be ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or the like. It can also be configured with other hardware.

  The storage unit 3 corresponds to, for example, a RAM or an HDD. The RAM and HDD can store channel information 31, speed history information 32, measurement history information 33, and various program information. Note that the management apparatus 1 may acquire the above-described program and various types of information via another computer or a portable recording medium connected via a wired or wireless network.

  The communication unit 10 is a communication interface that communicates with the simulation apparatus 50. The communication unit 10 can communicate with each simulation apparatus 50 via a wired cable such as a LAN cable. The communication method between the communication unit 10 and the simulation device 50 may be a wireless communication method.

  For example, the communication unit 10 measures an actual measurement value of the communication speed with the simulation device 50 and stores the communication speed as speed history information 32 in the storage unit 3. Further, when the communication unit 10 acquires the simulation data from the simulation device 50, the communication unit 10 stores the simulation data in the storage unit 3 as the measurement history information 33.

  The simulation data is displayed on the display unit 6. Thereby, the user can check the simulation data as the measurement result via the display unit 6. Note that the user can take out the simulation data from the storage unit 3 at an arbitrary timing and check it.

  The estimation unit 21 of the control unit 2 estimates the upper limit value of the communication data capacity per unit time of simulation data in the measurement environment. Specifically, the estimation unit 21 determines the upper limit based on the measured values of the communication speed of the communication unit 10 and the simulation device 50, the performance of the management device 1 and the simulation device 50, and the processing load of the communication unit 10 and the simulation device 50. Estimate the value.

  Here, the specific example of the estimation process by the estimation part 21 is demonstrated using FIG. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of the upper limit estimation process. As illustrated in FIG. 3, the estimation unit 21 estimates temporary upper limit values for the communication speed, processing load, and performance.

  The temporary upper limit value is a maximum value of the communication speed of simulation data in each item. Specifically, the temporary upper limit value in the “measured value of communication speed” is, for example, a value estimated based on the latest measured value of communication speed or the history of such communication speed. The estimation unit 21 estimates, for example, the earliest communication speed as the temporary upper limit value among the past measured values of the communication speed.

  Further, the temporary upper limit value in the “processing load” is, for example, a value estimated according to each processing load of the management device 1 and the simulation device 50 under the measurement condition.

  For example, as the processing load of the simulation apparatus 50 increases, the work area of the CPU for the output of simulation data decreases. Further, when the processing load of the management apparatus 1 increases, the work area of the CPU for acquiring such simulation data decreases.

  For this reason, for example, when the processing load of the management device 1 or the simulation device 50 exceeds a predetermined threshold under the measurement conditions set by the user, the estimation unit 21 estimates the temporary upper limit value in the “processing load” to be low. The threshold value is, for example, a value at which the CPU work area cannot be assigned to simulation data communication.

  Further, the temporary upper limit value in “performance” is a value estimated in accordance with, for example, the clock frequency of each CPU of the management device 1 and the simulation device 50, each memory (for example, RAM), or the like. It is assumed that the information regarding the performance is input by the developer of the simulation system 100, for example, when the simulation system 100 is assembled.

  The estimation unit 21 estimates each of the temporary upper limit values, and determines the lowest value among the temporary upper limit values as the upper limit value. In other words, the estimation unit 21 determines a communication speed that becomes a bottleneck with respect to simulation data at the time of simulation execution, that is, a communication data capacity per unit time as an upper limit value.

  The management device 1 checks whether or not the measurement condition is measurable based on the upper limit value and a total value described later. That is, the estimation unit 21 can perform such a check with high accuracy by setting the processing speed as a bottleneck to the upper limit value.

  Returning to the description of FIG. 2, the calculation unit 22 will be described. Based on the channel information 31, the calculation unit 22 calculates the total data capacity for the simulation data of the set channel. The channel information 31 is information stored in advance in the storage unit 3.

  Then, the calculation unit 22 outputs the calculated total value to the comparison unit 24. Here, the channel information 31 will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of the channel information 31.

  As shown in FIG. 4, the channel information 31 is information in which a channel name, a data capacity, and a sampling period are associated with each other. The “channel name” is an item that can be measured by the simulation apparatus 50 and differs depending on the ECU 70 connected to the simulation apparatus 50.

  “Data capacity” indicates the capacity of simulation data in each channel. The “sampling period” indicates a period for converting into simulation data for each channel. Although FIG. 4 shows the case where the sampling period is the same, the sampling period may be a different value.

  Based on the channel information 31, the calculation unit 22 calculates the total value of the data capacity of the set channel every time the user sets the channel. Specifically, the calculation unit 22 calculates the total value by adding the data capacity every time a channel is set by the user. In addition, the calculation unit 22 outputs the total value to the comparison unit 24 (see FIG. 2) every time the total value is calculated. Thereby, the comparison unit 24 compares the upper limit value with the total value.

  Returning to the description of FIG. 2, the correction unit 23 will be described. The correction unit 23 corrects the upper limit value estimated by the estimation unit 21 based on the actual communication speed value. The correction unit 23 can correct the upper limit value based on the speed history information 32 stored in the storage unit 3.

  Here, the speed history information 32 is information in which measured values of communication speed are stored for each measurement condition. For example, when the upper limit value is larger than the actual communication speed value, the correction unit 23 corrects the upper limit value to the actual communication speed value.

  This is because when the upper limit value exceeds the actual measurement value, the upper limit value estimated by the estimation unit 21 may be deviated from the actual value. That is, the correction unit 23 can improve the certainty of the upper limit value by correcting the upper limit value based on the actually measured value.

  The correction unit 23 can also correct the upper limit value according to the number of simulation devices 50 connected to the management device 1. This is because when the simulation data is input from each of the plurality of simulation apparatuses 50, the simulation data may not be processed on the management apparatus 1 side.

  That is, even if the number of simulation devices 50 increases, the processing load of each simulation device 50 does not change, but the processing load of the management device 1 increases according to the number of simulation devices 50.

  For this reason, when the value obtained by multiplying the upper limit value estimated by the estimation unit 21 by the number of the simulation devices 50 exceeds the temporary upper limit value (see FIG. 3) in the processing load of the management device 1, The upper limit value is corrected to the temporary upper limit value.

  That is, when there is a possibility that the simulation data input from each simulation device 50 cannot be processed on the management device 1 side, the correction unit 23 corrects the upper limit value to a value that allows the simulation data to be processed on the management device 1 side.

  In this way, the correction unit 23 can accurately check whether the measurement conditions set by the user can be measured by correcting the upper limit value.

  The comparison unit 24 compares the upper limit value input from the correction unit 23 with the total value input from the calculation unit 22. That is, the comparison unit 24 can determine whether the measurement condition is measurable by comparing the upper limit value with the total value. The comparison unit 24 outputs the comparison result to the generation unit 25 for each comparison.

  As described above, when the total value exceeds the upper limit value, it indicates a measurement condition that may cause a problem during measurement. If the total value is equal to or lower than the upper limit value, the measurement condition can be measured smoothly. It shows that.

  The generation unit 25 generates notification information based on the comparison result of the comparison unit 24 and outputs the notification information to the display unit 6 every time it is generated. Here, the specific example of the alerting | reporting information produced | generated by the production | generation part 25 is demonstrated using FIG. FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a specific example of the notification information.

  FIG. 5 shows a scene where the user sets measurement conditions from the image displayed on the display unit 6. As shown in FIG. 5, the display unit 6 displays a channel list L for setting a channel and a graph G indicating the ratio of the total value to the upper limit value.

  The total value is, for example, a value that is updated by the calculation unit 22 every time the user sets a channel by checking a check box in the channel list L ("Measurement" column shown in the figure).

  The upper limit value is a value that is updated by the estimation unit 21 or the correction unit 23 every time the user sets a channel. In addition, the comparison unit 24 outputs the comparison result to the generation unit 25 every time the total value and the upper limit value are updated.

  The generation unit 25 updates the graph G as needed based on the comparison result. Thereby, the user can confirm whether or not the set channel combination is a measurement condition that can be measured for each channel setting.

  For example, the data capacity (number of bytes) obtained by subtracting the total value from the upper limit value may be displayed on the graph G. In such a case, the user can set the measurement conditions based on the data capacity of each channel displayed in the channel list L and the number of bytes displayed in the graph G.

  Further, for example, when the total value exceeds the upper limit value, the generation unit 25 can generate a warning image indicating that the total value exceeds the upper limit value and display the warning image on the display unit 6. In other words, the generation unit 25 displays a warning image on the display unit 6 when a measurement condition with a risk of remeasurement is set.

  Thereby, the user can remove unnecessary channels from the set measurement conditions and set the measurement conditions so as to obtain a combination of channels that can be measured.

  In such a case, the generation unit 25 can change the display mode of the warning image according to the degree of risk of remeasurement, that is, the degree that the total value exceeds the upper limit value. In such a case, for example, the generation unit 25 generates a warning image that prompts the review of the measurement conditions as the remeasurement risk increases, and displays the warning image on the display unit 6.

  In this case, the generation unit 25 may tone down the measurement start button B displayed on the display unit 6 so that the user does not press the measurement start button B. That is, the generation unit 25 may not start measurement with a risk of remeasurement.

  Further, the generation unit 25 can display only the channels whose total value is within the upper limit value in the channel list L. Specifically, the generation unit 25 can prevent the channels whose set total value exceeds the upper limit value from being displayed in the channel list L, or can display the channel list L in which such channels are toned down. That is, the generation unit 25 can prevent the user from setting measurement conditions that involve a risk of remeasurement.

  As described above, the generation unit 25 generates a notification image to be displayed on the display unit 6 based on the comparison result of the comparison unit 24, thereby notifying the user that the measurement condition has a risk of remeasurement. it can.

  Next, a processing procedure executed by the management apparatus 1 according to the embodiment will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a processing procedure executed by the management apparatus 1. The processing procedure shown below is repeatedly executed by the management apparatus 1 before the measurement is started.

  As shown in FIG. 6, the control unit 2 acquires an operation signal for channel setting from the operation unit 5 (step S101). Subsequently, the estimation unit 21 estimates the upper limit value of the communication data capacity per unit time of the simulation data (step S102).

  The calculation unit 22 calculates the total value of the data capacity of the set simulation data (step S103). Note that the control unit 2 may perform step S102 and step S103 in parallel, or may perform step S102 after step S103 by changing the order.

  Subsequently, the comparison unit 24 compares the upper limit value and the total value (step S104), and the generation unit 25 generates notification information based on the comparison result (step S105). And the control part 2 determines whether the operation signal of a measurement start was acquired (step S106).

  The control part 2 complete | finishes a process, when the operation signal of a measurement start is acquired (step S106, Yes). On the other hand, the control part 2 will repeat the process after step S101, when the operation signal of a measurement start is not acquired (step S106, No).

  As described above, the management device 1 according to the embodiment includes the communication unit 10, the estimation unit 21, the calculation unit 22, and the comparison unit 24. The communication part 10 communicates with the simulation apparatus 50 which converts the input signal input from a non-control apparatus (ECU70) into simulation data for every channel. The estimation unit 21 estimates an upper limit value of communication data capacity per unit time of simulation data in the measurement environment. The calculation unit 22 calculates the total value of the data capacity of the set channel based on the channel information 31 indicating the data capacity of the simulation data for each channel. The comparison unit 24 compares the total value calculated by the calculation unit 22 with the upper limit value estimated by the estimation unit 21. Therefore, according to the management device 1 according to the embodiment, the risk of remeasurement can be reduced.

  Further effects and modifications can be easily derived by those skilled in the art. Thus, the broader aspects of the present invention are not limited to the specific details and representative embodiments shown and described above. Accordingly, various modifications can be made without departing from the spirit or scope of the general inventive concept as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 Management apparatus 10 Communication part 21 Estimation part 22 Calculation part 23 Correction part 24 Comparison part 25 Generation part 31 Channel information 32 Speed history information 33 Measurement history information 50 Simulation apparatus 70 ECU
100 simulation system

Claims (7)

A communication unit that communicates with a simulation device that converts input signals input from a non-control device into simulation data for each channel;
An estimation unit that estimates an upper limit value of communication data capacity per unit time of the simulation data in a measurement environment;
Based on channel information indicating the data capacity of the simulation data for each channel, a calculation unit that calculates the total value of the data capacity of the set channel;
A management device comprising: a comparison unit that compares the total value calculated by the calculation unit with the upper limit value estimated by the estimation unit. The estimation unit includes
Estimating a temporary upper limit for at least one of the measured value of the communication data capacity per unit time, the processing load of each component in the measurement environment, and the performance of each component, and the lowest temporary upper limit The management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the management apparatus estimates the upper limit value. The management apparatus according to claim 1, further comprising: a correction unit that corrects the upper limit value estimated by the estimation unit based on a history of actual measurement values of the communication data capacity per unit time. The correction unit is
The management apparatus according to claim 3, wherein when the communication unit communicates with a plurality of the simulation apparatuses, the upper limit value is corrected based on the number of the simulation apparatuses that communicate with each other. The management device according to claim 1, further comprising: a generation unit that generates notification information based on a comparison result by the comparison unit. The management device according to any one of claims 1 to 5,
A simulation system comprising the simulation device. A communication step of communicating with a simulation device that converts an input signal input from a non-control device into simulation data for each channel;
An estimation step of estimating an upper limit value of communication data capacity per unit time of the simulation data in a measurement environment;
A calculation step of calculating a total value of the data capacity of the set channel based on channel information indicating a data capacity of the simulation data for each channel;
And a comparison step of comparing the total value calculated in the calculation step with the upper limit value estimated in the estimation step.

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