In May 1993 OSEK has been founded as a joint project in the German automotive industry aiming at an industry standard for an open-ended architecture for distributed control units in vehicles. OSEK is an abbreviation for the German term "Offene Systeme und deren Schnittstellen für die Elektronik im Kraftfahrzeug" (English "Open Systems and the Corresponding Interfaces for Automotive Electronics"). Initial project partners were BMW, Bosch, DaimlerChrysler, Opel, Siemens, VW and the IIIT of the University of Karlsruhe as co-ordinator. The French car manufacturers PSA and Renault joined OSEK in 1994 introducing their VDX-approach (Vehicle Distributed eXecutive) which is a similar project within the French automotive industry. At the first workshop on October 1995 the OSEK/VDX group presented the results of the harmonised specification between OSEK and VDX. After the 2nd international OSEK/VDX Workshop in October 1997 the 2nd versions of the specifications were published.
The open architecture introduced by OSEK/VDX comprises the three areas :
ForCommunication and Operating System, there are alternative standards for normal
requirements (standard operating system/communication specifications), or special
requirements covering globally synchronised fault-tolerant architectures (OSEKtime
specifications).
MODISTARC Besides the three parts of OSEK/VDX an ESPRIT project was launched in September 1997 to provide test methods and tools for conformance testing of OSEK/VDX implementations. |
Support of the portability and reusability of the application software by:
A structured and modular software implementation based on standardised interfaces and
protocols as proposed by OSEK/VDX is a necessary condition for the portability and
extendibility, and thus the reusability of existing software. Functional extendibility
means the integration of new application functions into a single control unit together
with other application functions. Application porting is the transfer of application
functions from one hardware platform to another one with only minor modifications, e.g.
porting of existing application software to the next product generation of an ECU.
Moreover, extendibility and portability should be independent of the supplier of
application functions, i.e. a "co-habitation" of software from different
suppliers must be possible. It shall be remarked that OSEK/VDX does not prescribe the
implementation of OSEK/VDX modules, i.e. different ECUs may have the same OSEK/VDX
interfaces, but different implementations, depending on the hardware architecture and the
performance required.
The Steering Committee which consists out of the mentioned partners above is
responsible for the overall project organisation and co-ordination (e.g. assignment of
working group leaders), for granting of licenses to other companies, and for the external
representation of OSEK/VDX (e.g. publications).
The participation in the Technical Committee offers associated partners to actively
co-operate in OSEK/VDX. Currently the technical committee is formed by the initial
OSEK/VDX partners and over 50 associated partners from different industries related to
automotive electronics, i.e. car manufacturers, automotive suppliers, semiconductor
industries and software companies. Obviously, OSEK/VDX is open for the integration of
additional associated partners.
STEERING COMMITTEE, Accelerated Technology Inc., ACTIA, AFT GmbH, Ashling, ATM Computer GmbH, Blaupunkt, Borg Instruments GmbH, C&C Electronics, Cambridge Consultants, Continental Teves, Cummins Engine Company, Delco Electronics, Denso, EDS Epsilon GmbH, ETAS GmbH & Co KG, FIAT- Centro Ricerche, Ford (Europe), FZI, GM Europe GmbH, Greenhills, Grupo Antolin, Hella KG, Hewlett Packard France, Hitachi Micro Systems Europe Ltd., Hitex, IBM Deutschland Entwicklung GmbH, Infineon, INRIA, Integrated Systems Inc., IRISA, |
Lauterbach LucasVarity, Metrowerks Magneti Marelli, Mecel, Motorola, National Semiconductor, NEC Electronics GmbH, Noral, NRTA, Philips Car Systems, Porsche AG, Sagem Electronic Division, Softing GmbH, ST Mircroelectronics, Stenkil Systems AB, Sysgo Real-Time Solutions GmbH, TECSI, Telelogic GmbH, TEMIC, Texas Instruments, Thomson-CSF Detexis, Trialog, UTA - United Technologies Automotive, Valeo Electronics, VDO Adolf Schindling GmbH, Vector Informatik, Visteon, Volvo Car Corporation, Wind River Systems, 3Soft GmbH. |
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Last Update: 2000/09/17