Network Topology Design Tutorial
What You Build
This tutorial builds one vehicle network topology, starting from a PAIO window with no project open and using only the PAIO screens. In the System editor of the project TopologyDesign you place three ECU nodes, ECU, ZONE and SLAVE_ECU, and the HPC node HPC, and join these nodes with three buses. ECU and ZONE are joined by the CAN cluster CanCluster, ZONE and HPC by the Ethernet cluster EthernetCluster with VLAN ID 13, and the LIN master ECU and the LIN slave SLAVE_ECU by the LIN cluster LinCluster. The Ethernet connectors get IPv4 addresses and the multicast address 224.0.0.1 used for SOME/IP service discovery (SD), and the three ECU nodes get sleep and wake-up over the bus turned on. The system version is 1.0.0;POPCORNSAR. In the last chapter you export this design to four ARXML files.
The target of the design is the reference design System_Design.arxml. There are two places where this tutorial departs from the reference design on purpose. First, the HPC Ethernet connector of the reference design points at no controller, and its unicast address points at the endpoint of ZONE (192.168.0.19). This tutorial builds this connector in corrected form, with the own controller of HPC, EthernetController, and the address 192.168.0.11. Second, MAC LAYER TYPE of the Ethernet controllers is not clicked, because the toggle value XMII differs from the AUTOSAR schema value X-MII. Apart from these, a few values of the reference design are not created: values for which the System editor has no input field, such as the two partitions; the idle timeout of the LIN channel, which its field does not accept; and a few values whose fields this tutorial leaves empty. The full list is in the Appendix.
| Node | Kind | Bus | Controllers | Connectors |
|---|---|---|---|---|
ECU | ECU node | CAN, LIN (master) | CanController, LinController_Master | CanConnector, LinConnector_Master |
ZONE | ECU node | CAN, Ethernet | CanCommController, EthernetCommController | CanConnector, EthernetConnector |
SLAVE_ECU | ECU node | LIN (slave) | LinSlaveController | LinConnector |
HPC | HPC node | Ethernet | EthernetController | EthernetConnector |
| Cluster | Channel | Connected connectors (in order) | Main values |
|---|---|---|---|
CanCluster | PhysicalChannel | ZONE/CanConnector, ECU/CanConnector | The four bit timing values 0 of ECU |
EthernetCluster | PhysicalChannel (VLAN ID 13) | ZONE/EthernetConnector, HPC/EthernetConnector | Unicast 192.168.0.19, 192.168.0.11, multicast 224.0.0.1 |
LinCluster | PhysicalChannel | SLAVE_ECU/LinConnector, ECU/LinConnector_Master | Protocol version LIN 2.0, time base 1 ms, no idle timeout |
Network management (NM) and the transport protocol (TP) are turned on per cluster in the Communication Cluster Configuration window, and a new cluster has them off. The reference design has neither, so this tutorial leaves them off wherever a cluster offers them, and the VALIDATION panel shows No validation issues. at the end of every chapter.
What You Need
- PAIO must be installed and able to run.
- You start from a PAIO window with no project open. You do not need another tutorial or an example project.
- The figures in this tutorial show a 1920×1080 screen. Selecting an element opens the property panel over the right side of the canvas, so a screen of that size or larger is recommended.
- The exported ARXML is checked in the XML editor against the AUTOSAR schema
R25-11. - A rough idea of CAN, Ethernet and LIN buses and of AUTOSAR controllers, connectors and clusters is enough. Each chapter shows step by step what to enter on which PAIO screen.
Chapters
Each chapter starts from the result of the previous one, so follow them in order.
| Chapter | Title | Editor used | What you end up with |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Project and Nodes | System editor | The project TopologyDesign and the nodes ECU, ZONE, SLAVE_ECU, HPC. No validation issues. |
| 2 | ECU Properties | System editor, SYSTEM panel | SLEEP MODE SUPPORTED and WAKE-UP OVER BUS on the three ECU nodes, VERSION 1.0.0;POPCORNSAR. No validation issues. |
| 3 | CAN Bus | System editor, Communication Cluster Configuration | The controllers CanController and CanCommController, two connectors CanConnector, the cluster CanCluster with NM and TP off. No validation issues. |
| 4 | Ethernet Bus | System editor, Communication Cluster Configuration | The controllers EthernetCommController and EthernetController, two connectors EthernetConnector with addresses, the cluster EthernetCluster (VLAN ID 13) with NM off. No validation issues. |
| 5 | LIN Bus | System editor | The controllers LinController_Master and LinSlaveController, the connectors LinConnector_Master and LinConnector, the cluster LinCluster with no idle timeout. No validation issues. |
| 6 | Validation | VALIDATION panel, System editor | A design with three planted defects fixed, back to No validation issues. |
| 7 | ARXML Export | EDITOR view, XML editor | Four ARXML files in the export folder and how they differ from the reference design |
| 8 | Appendix | — | A checklist of the finished design, all value tables, the file layout, the differences from the reference design, common problems |
How to Read This Tutorial
- Every chapter follows the same order. "What You Will Do" states the goal, and "Before You Begin" shows the starting state and the values you enter in that chapter as a table. Numbered steps with a screenshot per step follow.
- Repetitive work is shown as a procedure for one representative item only. For example, in CAN Bus you follow the controller and connector of the node
ECUfrom start to finish, and those ofZONEare given as short steps and a value table. You enter the table items yourself in the same way. - Every chapter ends with a "Checklist". It lists what the screen must show. When every item matches, move on to the next chapter.
- "Why Is It Designed This Way?" briefly explains why the values are what they are, compared with the reference design. "Values Without an Input Field" in Ethernet Bus and "Values Not Entered in This Chapter" in LIN Bus collect values that the reference design has but that the chapter does not enter in the System editor.
- UI labels are written in bold exactly as the screen shows them, and model element names and values in
code.
Your Export Differs from the Reference Design
The ARXML you build with this tutorial has almost the same design content as the reference design System_Design.arxml, but the files are not byte-for-byte identical. The reference design is a single file, while your export is the four files TopologyDesign_COM.arxml, TopologyDesign_DataType.arxml, TopologyDesign_SWC.arxml and TopologyDesign_System.arxml. Every difference has a known reason: the package and naming rules of the PAIO exporter, elements PAIO adds on its own (basic data types, the SD socket and so on), values that cannot be entered on screen (partitions, CATEGORY WIRED, the LIN idle timeout and so on), defects left in the reference design file, and values this tutorial changes or leaves out on purpose (such as the HPC Ethernet connector). See ARXML Export for the full list with reasons, and the Appendix for a summary.
Next Step
Start with Project and Nodes.