The constantly growing amount of semiconductors in automotive systems increases the number of possible defect mechanisms, and therefore raises also the effort to maintain a sufficient level of quality and reliability. A promising solution to this problem is the on-line application of structural tests in key components, typically ECUs. In this work, an approach for the optimized integration of both Software-Based Self-Tests (SBST) and Built-In Self-Tests (BIST) into E/E architectures is presented. The approach integrates the execution of the tests non-intrusively, i. e., it (a) does not affect functional applications and (b) does not require costly changes in the communication schedules or additional communication overhead. Via design space exploration, optimized implementations with respect to multiple conflicting objectives, i. e., monetary costs, safety, test quality, and required execution time are derived.

With ever more complex automotive systems, the current approach of using functional tests to locate faulty components results in very long analysis procedures and poor diagnostic accuracy. Built-In Self-Test (BIST) offers a promising alternative to collect structural diagnostic information during E/E-architecture test. However, as the automotive industry is quite cost-driven, structural diagnosis shall not deteriorate traditional design objectives. With this goal in mind, the work at hand proposes a design space exploration to integrate structural diagnostic capabilities into an E/E-architecture design. The proposed integration is performed non-intrusively, i. e., the addition and execution of tests (a) does not affect any functional applications and (b) does not require any costly changes in the communication schedules.

Today, design automation approaches for automotive E/E-architectures focus solely on application functionality, neglecting firmware-related functionalities like diagnostic tests that are of utmost importance for quality features such as dependability or maintenance. However, the latter are typically considered dispensable since they do not provide direct service to the user. This paper proposes a novel approach for integrating optional diagnosis functionality into a holistic design space exploration of automotive E/E-architectures at system-level. Opposed to application functionality, hardware-diagnostics dig deep into the hardware-structures and, hence, require specific tailoring for the employed resources. A case study with Software-Based Self-Tests representing advanced diagnosis functionality gives evidence of the viability and efficiency of the proposed approach, highlighting the importance of a holistic consideration of application as well as firmware-related functionality.

Developing a state-of-the-art premium car means implementing one of the most complex electronic systems mankind is using in daily life. About 100 ECU's with more than 7.000 semiconductor components realize safety, comfort and powertrain functions. These numbers will increase drastically when going the step from the conventional vehicle to the e-car, where a lot more functions have to be realized just by electronics. Finally the functionality has to be guaranteed in one of the harshest environments where electronics are used with a target of 0 ppm concerning the subcomponents for the 15 years lifetime of the car. We give an overview of the challenges on the way to reach this target. The task of getting to a high level of robustness and quality within short maturing periods of new technologies and semiconductor products are discussed. Using state-of-the-art semiconductor process technologies for devices in a car is necessary to fulfill today's performance requirements and even more future requirements with respect to the e-car. But it leads to a mission which seems to be a paradoxon: combining more robustness of the complete system and quality of its subcomponents with less mature technologies. A way out of this dilemma can only be found by reviewing carefully today's qualification and validation processes and understand their strengths, weaknesses and capabilities. This must be the starting point for an evolution to a qualification strategy which is suitable for this fundamentally changed situation. Therefore the limits of today's qualification methods will be discussed as well as some suggestions for future strategies will be made to bring complexity, quality and robustness in an early phase of product lifetime together. The roles of the parties in the supply chain shall be highlighted in these strategies as well.

In-field diagnosability of electronic components in larger systems such as automobiles becomes a necessity for both customers and system integrators. Traditionally, functional diagnosis is applied during integration and in workshops for in-field failures or break-downs. However, functional diagnosis does not yield sufficient coverage to allow for short repair times and fast reaction on systematic failures in the production. Structural diagnosis could yield the desired coverage, yet recent built-in architectures which could be reused in the field either do not reveal diagnostic information or necessitate dedicated test schemes. The paper at hand closes this gap with a new built-in test method for autonomous in-field testing and in-field diagnostic data collection. The proposed Built-In Self-Diagnosis method (BISD) is based on the standard BIST architecture and can seamlessly be integrated with recent, commercial DfT techniques. Experiments with industrial designs show that its overhead is marginal and its structural diagnostic capabilities are comparable to those of external diagnosis on high-end test equipment.