Automatic library migration for the generation of hardware-in-the-loop models

Embedded systems are widely used in several applications nowadays. As they integrate hard- and software elements, their functionality and reliability are often tested by hardware-in-the-loop methods, in which the system under test runs in a simulated environment. Due to the rising complexity of the embedded functions, performance limitations and practicability reasons, the simulations are often specialized to test specific aspects of the embedded system and develop a high diversity by themselves. This diversity is difficult to manage for a user and results in erroneously selected test components and compatibility problems in the test configuration. This paper presents a generative programming approach that handles the diversity of test libraries. Compatibility issues are explicitly evaluated by a new interface concept. Furthermore, a novel model analyzer facilitates the efficient application in practice by migrating existing libraries. The approach is evaluated for an example from the automotive domain using MATLAB/Simulink.