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| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Preprint |
| Published: |
2026
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.18142 |
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| _version_ | 1866914526922801152 |
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| author | Dingler, Sebastian Boenke, Frederik |
| author_facet | Dingler, Sebastian Boenke, Frederik |
| contents | Automotive software increasingly outpaces hardware availability, forcing late integration and expensive hardware-in-the-loop (HiL) bottlenecks. The InnoRegioChallenge project investigated whether a virtual test and integration environment can reproduce electronic control unit (ECU) behavior early enough to run real software binaries before physical hardware exists. We report a prototype that generates instruction-accurate processor models in SystemC/TLM~2.0 using an agentic, feedback-driven workflow coupled to a reference simulator via the GNU Debugger (GDB). The results indicate that the most critical technical risk -- CPU behavioral fidelity -- can be reduced through automated differential testing and iterative model correction. We summarize the architecture, the agentic modeling loop, and project outcomes, and we discuss the technical approach in a manner consistent with the reported qualitative findings. While cloud-scale deployment and full toolchain integration remain future work, the prototype demonstrates a viable shift-left path for virtual ECU twins, enabling reproducible tests, non-intrusive tracing, and fault-injection campaigns aligned with safety standards. |
| format | Preprint |
| id |
arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2602_18142 |
| institution | arXiv |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| record_format | arxiv |
| spellingShingle | Toward Automated Virtual Electronic Control Unit (ECU) Twins for Shift-Left Automotive Software Testing Dingler, Sebastian Boenke, Frederik Software Engineering Automotive software increasingly outpaces hardware availability, forcing late integration and expensive hardware-in-the-loop (HiL) bottlenecks. The InnoRegioChallenge project investigated whether a virtual test and integration environment can reproduce electronic control unit (ECU) behavior early enough to run real software binaries before physical hardware exists. We report a prototype that generates instruction-accurate processor models in SystemC/TLM~2.0 using an agentic, feedback-driven workflow coupled to a reference simulator via the GNU Debugger (GDB). The results indicate that the most critical technical risk -- CPU behavioral fidelity -- can be reduced through automated differential testing and iterative model correction. We summarize the architecture, the agentic modeling loop, and project outcomes, and we discuss the technical approach in a manner consistent with the reported qualitative findings. While cloud-scale deployment and full toolchain integration remain future work, the prototype demonstrates a viable shift-left path for virtual ECU twins, enabling reproducible tests, non-intrusive tracing, and fault-injection campaigns aligned with safety standards. |
| title | Toward Automated Virtual Electronic Control Unit (ECU) Twins for Shift-Left Automotive Software Testing |
| topic | Software Engineering |
| url | https://arxiv.org/abs/2602.18142 |