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Adaptive Applications and Ports

What You Will Do​

In this chapter you drill into the composition HPC created in Creating the Project and the HPC Machine in the VFB editor and create five Adaptive Applications. You right-click inside the frame, create a node with Add SWC › Adaptive Application, and type the same name into NAME and AS PROTOTYPE — five times, for Sensor, Fusion, Actuator, CM and EM. Then you attach a P port to Sensor and R ports to Fusion and Actuator, and pick Sensor, created in The Service Interface, as the PORT INTERFACE of all three ports. Finally you connect the P port of Sensor to both R ports with Connect to, give the two connectors the names of the reference design, tidy the frame with Auto Layout and save.

When you finish this chapter, design/SWC/AdaptiveApplication/ holds five *.swc.io.model files, and design/SWC/Composition/HPC.swc.io.model holds five prototypes and the connectors Assembly_Sensor_Fusion and Assembly_Sensor_Actuator. In ARXML Export these become the reference design's five ADAPTIVE-APPLICATION-SW-COMPONENT-TYPE elements, one P-PORT-PROTOTYPE, two R-PORT-PROTOTYPE elements and two ASSEMBLY-SW-CONNECTOR elements.

Before You Begin​

  • Start from the state at the end of Binding Service Instances to the Connector. design/SWC/ contains only Composition/HPC.swc.io.model (no prototypes, no connectors), Composition/System.swc.io.model and Layout/System.vfb.layout; the folder AdaptiveApplication/ does not exist yet. design/INTERFACE.io.model holds one service interface, Sensor.
  • The VALIDATION panel shows No validation issues.. While you work, each new Adaptive Application adds one warning that stays until you save; saving removes them, so the chapter ends with No validation issues. again.
  • You may close the AADesign:System tab left open in chapter 7. This chapter starts by opening VFB from DESIGN in the EDITOR view.

The table below and the two connector names Assembly_Sensor_Fusion and Assembly_Sensor_Actuator are everything you type on the keyboard in this chapter. The five type names go into both NAME and AS PROTOTYPE, and all three port names are Sensor. Everything else is picked from menus and lists by clicking.

Adaptive ApplicationNAME = AS PROTOTYPEPortPort NAMEPORT INTERFACE
SensorSensorone PPortSensorService: Sensor
FusionFusionone RPortSensorService: Sensor
ActuatorActuatorone RPortSensorService: Sensor
Communication managementCMnone——
Execution managementEMnone——

Drilling into the Composition HPC​

Opening the VFB Editor and Drilling into HPC​

  1. In the EDITOR view on the left, click VFB under DESIGN. The tab AADesign:VFB opens, and the root canvas System shows the single composition node HPC [Ecu] created in chapter 1. The machine icon at the right of its header shows that it is mapped to the HPC node Ecu in the System editor.

  2. Double-click the node HPC [Ecu]. The breadcrumb above the canvas changes to System > HPC, and the canvas shows one frame, HPC. The frame is empty.

  3. Click the title HPC at the top left of the frame header to select the frame. Its border brightens, eight small resize handles appear at the corners and the middles of the sides, and the COMPOSITION panel opens on the right. It shows NAME HPC, AS PROTOTYPE HPC, DESCRIPTION, PORTS (No ports available) and PORT GROUPS (No port groups).

  4. Drag the handle at the bottom-right corner down and to the right to widen the frame. From the default size of 600×400, about 900×520 is enough. The tab AADesign:VFB gets the modified mark ●.

    The VFB editor after drilling into HPC and widening the frame

    Figure 8-1. The VFB editor after drilling into the composition HPC and widening the frame. ① The breadcrumb System > HPC, ② the widened empty frame HPC (selected, with its eight resize handles), ③ the resize handle at the bottom-right corner. The COMPOSITION panel on the right shows NAME HPC and AS PROTOTYPE HPC. The footer has no validation badge yet.

Note. The frame does not grow by itself when you put nodes into it. With five 160×120 nodes in the default 600×400 frame, the ports touch each other and the connector lines are hard to click later. The widened size has no effect on the design values, and Auto Layout later sets the frame size again.

Creating the Adaptive Application Sensor​

Of the five, Sensor is shown as a procedure. Creating the node and typing the two fields NAME and AS PROTOTYPE is the same for the other four.

Adding an Adaptive Application inside the Frame​

  1. Right-click an empty spot inside the frame HPC (top left). A five-line menu opens: Add SWC, Attach SWC, Add Port, Add Composition, Attach Composition. Right-clicking the empty canvas outside the frame opens no menu.

  2. Hover over Add SWC. A seven-line submenu opens: Composition, Adaptive Application, Application, Complex Device Driver, Ecu Abstraction, Sensor Actuator, Service.

  3. Click Adaptive Application. The node AdaptiveApp_0 appears with its top-left corner at the point you right-clicked.

    Picking Add SWC › Adaptive Application in the frame's right-click menu

    Figure 8-2. The menu after right-clicking inside the frame HPC. ① Add SWC, ② Adaptive Application in the submenu. Of the seven submenu items, this chapter uses only Adaptive Application. Application is the atomic software component of the Classic Platform and is not used in this tutorial.

Checking the New Node and the Properties Panel​

  1. Click the header AdaptiveApp_0 of the new node. The node border brightens, eight resize handles appear, and the ADAPTIVE APPLICATION panel opens on the right.

  2. Check the fields of the panel: NAME AdaptiveApp_0, AS PROTOTYPE AdaptiveApp_0_0, DESCRIPTION (hint Text), and below them the section PORTS showing No ports available.

    The newly created Adaptive Application node and the ADAPTIVE APPLICATION panel

    Figure 8-3. The new node and the ADAPTIVE APPLICATION panel. ① The node AdaptiveApp_0 (selected), ② NAME = AdaptiveApp_0, ③ AS PROTOTYPE = AdaptiveApp_0_0. The PORTS section shows No ports available, and the validation badge in the footer is 1.

NAME is the name of the Adaptive Application type and is used as the node label on the canvas. AS PROTOTYPE is the name of the prototype of that type placed inside the composition HPC. The reference design uses the same name for both, so you type the same value into both fields.

Typing the Name and the Prototype Name​

  1. Click the NAME field, delete AdaptiveApp_0, type Sensor and press Tab. The node label on the canvas changes to Sensor. AS PROTOTYPE does not follow and stays AdaptiveApp_0_0.

  2. Click the AS PROTOTYPE field, delete AdaptiveApp_0_0, type Sensor and press Tab.

    NAME and AS PROTOTYPE both set to Sensor

    Figure 8-4. The screen after typing both fields. ① The node whose label changed to Sensor, ② NAME = Sensor, ③ AS PROTOTYPE = Sensor.

Note. Changing NAME does not change AS PROTOTYPE. For all five nodes you must type both fields separately. After you rename the previous node, the next new node again gets the default names AdaptiveApp_0 / AdaptiveApp_0_0.

Creating the Other Four Adaptive Applications​

Create Fusion, Actuator, CM and EM the same way. Only the spot you right-click differs. Putting Sensor, Fusion and Actuator in the top row from left to right and CM and EM in the bottom row gives the shape shown in the following figures.

OrderSpot to right-clickNAMEAS PROTOTYPE
2top row, right of SensorFusionFusion
3top row, right of FusionActuatorActuator
4bottom row, leftCMCM
5bottom row, right of CMEMEM

  1. Right-click an empty spot inside the frame and click Add SWC › Adaptive Application.

  2. Click the header of the new node, type the name from the table into NAME and press Tab, then type the same name into AS PROTOTYPE and press Tab.

  3. Finish all four rows of the table. The frame holds five nodes, with no ports and no lines yet.

    The frame HPC with all five Adaptive Applications

    Figure 8-5. The frame HPC after creating all five. ① Sensor, ② Fusion, ③ Actuator (top row), ④ CM, ⑤ EM (bottom row; created last and therefore selected). The validation badge in the footer is 5.

Creating them in the order Sensor, Fusion, Actuator, CM, EM gives the prototype list in the saved file the same order. Creating them in another order yields the same design content.

Attaching the P Port to Sensor​

Of the three ports, the P port of Sensor is shown as a procedure. A port is created by right-clicking near the node border, and its name and interface are set in the properties panel.

Creating a PPort with Add Port​

  1. Right-click near the right edge of the node Sensor (inside the node). The node Sensor is selected, and a three-line node menu opens: Add Port, Detach SWC, Delete.

  2. Hover over Add Port. The submenu PPort, RPort, PRPort opens.

  3. Click PPort. A port with a P icon appears on the side nearest to the point you right-clicked, that is, on the right side of the node. Its default name is PPort_0.

    Picking Add Port › PPort in the right-click menu of the Sensor node

    Figure 8-6. The menu after right-clicking the right edge of the node Sensor. ① Add Port, ② PPort in the submenu. The port is created on the side nearest to the right-clicked point, at that height.

Typing the Name and Picking the PORT INTERFACE​

  1. Click the new P icon. The PPORT panel opens on the right and shows NAME PPort_0 and PORT INTERFACE. PORT INTERFACE is empty, and its label and the message Port Interface is required below it are red.

  2. Type Sensor into the NAME field and press Tab. The name label Sensor appears next to the icon on the canvas.

  3. Click the PORT INTERFACE field. The field shows the search hint Type to search..., and a list opens with a single entry, Service: Sensor. A port of an Adaptive Application is offered only service interfaces and Adaptive Platform interfaces, and the only one in this project is the service interface created in chapter 5.

    The PORT INTERFACE list opened in the PPORT panel

    Figure 8-7. The PPORT panel of the P port. ① NAME = Sensor, ② the PORT INTERFACE field (hint Type to search...), ③ the only list entry, Service: Sensor. The label PORT INTERFACE stays red until an interface is picked. The name label Sensor is visible next to the P icon on the canvas.

Checking the Result​

  1. Click Service: Sensor in the list. The PORT INTERFACE field shows Service: Sensor, with clear × and expand ˅ at its right, and its label is no longer red.

  2. The section SERVICE COMSPEC appears below in the panel. The EVENTS row is ByteArray SensorData QUEUED-SENDER, and the METHODS row is Calculation SERVER.

    The PPORT panel and the SERVICE COMSPEC section after picking the PORT INTERFACE

    Figure 8-8. The PPORT panel after picking the interface. ① The P icon on the right side of the node Sensor (selected), ② PORT INTERFACE = Service: Sensor. The SERVICE COMSPEC section below shows EVENTS ByteArray SensorData QUEUED-SENDER and METHODS Calculation SERVER.

SERVICE COMSPEC shows the events and methods of the chosen interface in the role of this port. Because it is a P port, the event SensorData is on the sending side (QUEUED-SENDER) and the method Calculation is the server (SERVER). This chapter does not change any value in this section.

Attaching the R Ports to Fusion and Actuator​

Attach R ports to the two consumers the same way. What differs is picking RPort in the menu and the side you right-click.

NodeSpot to right-clickMenuDefault nameNAMEPORT INTERFACE
Fusionnear the left edgeAdd Port › RPortRPort_0SensorService: Sensor
Actuatornear the left edgeAdd Port › RPortRPort_0SensorService: Sensor

  1. Right-click near the left edge of the node Fusion and click Add Port › RPort. A port RPort_0 with an R icon appears on the left side of the node.

  2. Click the R icon. The RPORT panel opens. Type Sensor into NAME and press Tab, then click the PORT INTERFACE field and click Service: Sensor. The SERVICE COMSPEC section appears below in the panel.

  3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 for the node Actuator.

    The frame HPC with all three ports: P on Sensor, R on Fusion and Actuator

    Figure 8-9. The frame HPC after creating all three ports. ① P on the right side of Sensor, ② R on the left side of Fusion, ③ R on the left side of Actuator (selected). There are no connector lines yet.

Connecting the Ports​

A connector starts at the providing port. From the single P port of Sensor you draw lines to the two R ports of Fusion and Actuator.

Connecting to Both R Ports with Connect to​

  1. Right-click the P icon of the node Sensor. A three-line port menu opens: Connect to, Connect to Mapping, Delete.

  2. Hover over Connect to. The submenu shows two entries, [A] Fusion / Sensor and [A] Actuator / Sensor. [A] means an assembly connector, and the rest is node label / port. Only ports of the opposite direction using the same interface are offered.

    Connect to opened in the right-click menu of the P port of Sensor

    Figure 8-10. The menu after right-clicking the P port of Sensor. ① Connect to, ② the candidate list [A] Fusion / Sensor, [A] Actuator / Sensor.

  3. Click [A] Fusion / Sensor. One line appears from the P port of Sensor to the R port of Fusion.

  4. Right-click the same P icon again and hover over Connect to. Fusion, already connected, is gone, and only [A] Actuator / Sensor remains. Click it. There are now two lines.

Renaming the Connectors​

  1. Click the line from Sensor to Fusion. The two lines overlap near the P port, so click a non-overlapping stretch close to the R port of Fusion. The line turns cyan and both end ports are highlighted.

  2. The ASSEMBLY panel opens on the right, and NAME in the BASIC INFO section is Assembly_Sensor_Sensor_Fusion_Sensor. Click the field, replace the name with Assembly_Sensor_Fusion, the name in the reference design, and press Enter.

  3. Click the line from Sensor to Actuator too, for example on the stretch that runs above Fusion. Its NAME is Assembly_Sensor_Sensor_Actuator_Sensor; change it to Assembly_Sensor_Actuator the same way and press Enter.

    The connector Sensor → Fusion selected, with the ASSEMBLY panel

    Figure 8-11. The screen with the line Sensor → Fusion selected, after renaming. ① The clicked point on the line, ② NAME = Assembly_Sensor_Fusion under BASIC INFO in the ASSEMBLY panel. The other line leaves the P port of Sensor, goes around the top and enters the R of Actuator.

Note. The editor names a new assembly connector Assembly_<provider prototype>_<provider port>_<requester prototype>_<requester port>, so that the name stays unique even when two prototypes are joined by more than one port pair. The reference design names its connectors after the two prototypes only, so you shorten both names.

Tidying with Auto Layout and Saving​

  1. In the toolbar below the canvas, click the fourth button, Auto Layout (hierarchy icon). A progress dialog appears briefly, and the five nodes and two lines are rearranged. Ports may move to the opposite side.

  2. Click an empty spot on the canvas to clear the selection.

  3. Press Ctrl+S. The modified mark ● on the tab AADesign:VFB disappears, and so does the validation badge in the footer.

    The frame HPC after applying Auto Layout and saving

    Figure 8-12. The frame HPC after Auto Layout and saving. The left column holds, from the top, CM, EM, Actuator and Fusion, and Sensor is on the right. ① The P port of Sensor (moved to the left side), ② the R port of Fusion, ③ the R port of Actuator (both moved to the right side). The tab has no modified mark ● and the footer has no validation badge.

Note. The shape produced by Auto Layout may differ slightly from the figure. Node positions, the frame size and the side a port sits on are view state stored only in design/SWC/Layout/HPC.vfb.layout; they are not design values and are not exported to ARXML.

Saving creates five files in design/SWC/AdaptiveApplication/: Sensor.swc.io.model, Fusion.swc.io.model, Actuator.swc.io.model, CM.swc.io.model and EM.swc.io.model. The port of Sensor.swc.io.model looks as follows; Fusion and Actuator have direction required, and CM and EM have ports [].

"name": "Sensor",
"type": "adaptive-application",
"ports": [
  { "name": "Sensor", "direction": "provided", "port-interface": "Sensor", "port-interface-category": "service" }
]

design/SWC/Composition/HPC.swc.io.model gains prototypes and connectors. The HPC entry of design/VFB.io.model gets the same five prototypes; the connectors are not written there.

"prototypes": [
  { "name": "Sensor",   "swc-ref": "AdaptiveApplication/Sensor" },
  { "name": "Fusion",   "swc-ref": "AdaptiveApplication/Fusion" },
  { "name": "Actuator", "swc-ref": "AdaptiveApplication/Actuator" },
  { "name": "CM",       "swc-ref": "AdaptiveApplication/CM" },
  { "name": "EM",       "swc-ref": "AdaptiveApplication/EM" }
],
"connectors": [
  { "name": "Assembly_Sensor_Fusion",   "category": "assembly",
    "provider": { "prototype": "Sensor", "port": "Sensor" }, "requester": { "prototype": "Fusion",   "port": "Sensor" } },
  { "name": "Assembly_Sensor_Actuator", "category": "assembly",
    "provider": { "prototype": "Sensor", "port": "Sensor" }, "requester": { "prototype": "Actuator", "port": "Sensor" } }
]

design/INTERFACE.io.model does not change, and design/SIGNAL.io.model is not created in this chapter.

Viewing the Validation Result​

  1. Look at the V icon in the footer at the bottom of the window, the fifth icon from the left. It carries no badge, but its tooltip still reads Validation: 0 error(s), 5 warning(s), 0 info(s), the last non-zero count; the VALIDATION panel shows the current result.

  2. Look at the VALIDATION panel. If it is closed, click the V icon in the footer. Under the column headers ELEMENT TYPE, NAME, DESCRIPTION and CONSTR there is no row for anything created in this chapter: Sensor, Fusion, Actuator, CM, EM, the port Sensor, Assembly_Sensor_Fusion, Assembly_Sensor_Actuator or HPC.

    The Validation panel showing No validation issues.

    Figure 8-13. The VALIDATION panel after saving. The header has no badge and the body shows No validation issues..

Note. While you edit, the V icon in the footer carries an orange badge that counts warnings. It reads 1 after the first Adaptive Application, grows by one with each new one to 5, and stays 5 while you add the ports and connectors. Each warning is a row with ELEMENT TYPE SwComponentPrototype, an empty CONSTR and a DESCRIPTION such as Prototype "Sensor" in "HPC": referenced SW component "AdaptiveApplication/Sensor" not found., because the files of the new Adaptive Applications are written only when you save. Ctrl+S clears all five. Ignore the badge before saving.

Why Is It Designed This Way?​

  • The five Adaptive Applications are the five ADAPTIVE-APPLICATION-SW-COMPONENT-TYPE elements of the reference design. The reference design has Sensor, Fusion, Actuator, CM and EM under /SwComponentType/AdaptiveApplication/. CM and EM have no ports.
  • The prototype name equals the type name. The composition HPC of the reference design has five SW-COMPONENT-PROTOTYPE elements, each named like its type. That is why you type the same value into AS PROTOTYPE as into NAME.
  • All three ports are named Sensor. In the reference design, P-PORT-PROTOTYPE Sensor/Sensor, R-PORT-PROTOTYPE Fusion/Sensor and Actuator/Sensor carry the name of the interface. All three point to /PortInterface/Service/Sensor through PROVIDED-INTERFACE-TREF or REQUIRED-INTERFACE-TREF.
  • One provider, two consumers. The reference design has two ASSEMBLY-SW-CONNECTOR elements, Assembly_Sensor_Fusion and Assembly_Sensor_Actuator, and the PROVIDER-IREF of both is the port Sensor of HPC/Sensor. It is a fan-out from Sensor to two consumers, not a chain from Sensor through Fusion to Actuator.
  • The connector names are typed. The default names given by the editor also carry the port names (Assembly_Sensor_Sensor_Fusion_Sensor), while the reference design names its two ASSEMBLY-SW-CONNECTOR elements after the prototypes only (Assembly_Sensor_Fusion, Assembly_Sensor_Actuator).
  • Layout is not design. The ports of the reference design carry no coordinates. Node and port positions are stored only in HPC.vfb.layout and are not exported to ARXML.

Checklist​

  • The breadcrumb is System > HPC, and the frame HPC holds the five nodes Sensor, Fusion, Actuator, CM and EM.
  • Clicking each node shows the same name in NAME and AS PROTOTYPE of the ADAPTIVE APPLICATION panel.
  • Sensor has one P port, Fusion and Actuator have one R port each, and PORTS of CM and EM shows No ports available.
  • All three ports have NAME Sensor, PORT INTERFACE Service: Sensor and a SERVICE COMSPEC section.
  • There are two lines, and clicking them shows NAME Assembly_Sensor_Fusion and Assembly_Sensor_Actuator respectively in the ASSEMBLY panel.
  • The tab AADesign:VFB has no modified mark ●.
  • design/SWC/AdaptiveApplication/ holds five *.swc.io.model files.
  • The VALIDATION panel shows No validation issues. and the header carries no badge.

Next Step​

In Executables and Processes, you create an Executable and a Process for each of the five Adaptive Applications.