Mentor Graphics and Mecel announce first complete AUTOSAR 4.x solution

WILSONVILLE, USA & GOTHENBURG, SWEDEN: Mentor Graphics Corp. and Mecel AB announced the availability of a solution for the design, configuration, generation, and implementation of an AUTOSAR Basic Software (BSW) solution for Versions 4.0.2 and 4.0.3.

Mentor Graphics partnered with Mecel, a subsidiary of Delphi Automotive PLC, in the development of the industry’s first complete AUTOSAR 4.x solution for the automotive marketplace. AUTOSAR is currently the largest E/E (Electrical/Electronic) standardization project in the automotive industry.

The Mentor Graphics offering of AUTOSAR design tools (available since 2009) is accompanied by the AUTOSAR BSW. The Mecel offerings include Mecel Picea BSW, RTE and configuration tools, also available since 2009. In their collaboration, Mentor Graphics and Mecel implemented different portions of the configuration tool and software stack with jointly ensured interoperability, enabling both parties to offer the complete stack to their customers.

Mentor Graphics and Mecel will both sell the jointly developed tools, and support for the tools will be provided by both companies to their respective customer bases. The AUTOSAR BSW solution includes the Volcano VSTAR product and the VSB configuration tool from Mentor Graphics. Mecel calls the AUTOSAR BSW product Mecel Picea Suite and the configuration tool Mecel Picea Workbench. All of these products will be available in December, 2011.

Additionally, Mecel will be complementing this offering with their consulting services to help automakers and suppliers create, configure, customize, and extend AUTOSAR-based systems.

Lennart Lundh, director EESE Electrical System Design at Volvo Cars, said, “The Mecel/Mentor Graphics cooperation is positive for Volvo Cars since it is important to have a strong and healthy supplier base moving into AUTOSAR 4.0.”

“As a result of the Mecel partnership, Mentor Graphics can now offer an industry-leading, modular, and open tool chain based on our proven tool suite, accompanied by a production-ready AUTOSAR Basic Software solution,” stated Serge Leef, VP and GM of System Level Engineering Division at Mentor. “Mecel’s experienced services operation further enhances the value of this solution. We are now even better positioned to support current and future E/E system design and implementation needs in the worldwide automotive market.”

Mecel is an automotive software and services operation that has developed several AUTOSAR-based Electronic Control Units (ECUs) based on Picea 3.1 software and tools for production programs. As a result, Mecel gained extensive experience in supporting AUTOSAR ECU projects from design to production.

Mentor Graphics has also provided several generations of AUTOSAR design automation tools and embedded software to the automotive OEMs and suppliers worldwide. Potential customers of this joint offering can greatly benefit from extensive capabilities brought forth in the design tools, embedded software, and services.

Henrik Häggström, managing director, Mecel, stated: “With the fast growth we see with AUTOSAR 4.0, the partnership with Mentor Graphics and their track record within the tool chain will strengthen Mecel’s capability and put us in a leading position as AUTOSAR software suppliers and enable us to deliver world-class solutions and support to Tier 1s and OEMs around the globe.”

Mecel Picea addresses automotive suppliers’ need to have an efficient tool for configuration and integration when their engineers are developing applications for ECUs. Mecel Picea supports the complete development process with a seamless integrated tool chain and embedded software. Since 2009, Mecel Picea Suite has been delivered to AUTOSAR 3.1 production programs for Volvo Cars, Daimler and BMW. In addition Mecel has been supporting OEMs and Tier 1s to adapt their existing applications to AUTOSAR-based platform. Mecel has already started to deliver AUTOSAR 4.0 software to Volvo Car suppliers.

The Mentor tool suite for AUTOSAR, named Volcano VSx, includes the Volcano Vehicle System Architect (VSA) product, a systems design and authoring tool for AUTOSAR-based systems. It enables engineers to design AUTOSAR-compatible Software Components (SWC), map them to hardware architectures, and manage the resulting relationships. Additionally, it provides the user with the necessary support for managing large-scale projects with distributed development personnel. Other products in the VSx family include the Volcano VSA COM and the Volcano Vehicle System Integrator (VSI) tools.

VSA COM is a communication matrix design tool for LIN, CAN, FlexRay, and (in the future) Ethernet. The VSI tool is used for AUTOSAR RTE simulation, verification, and debug of SWCs. The VSx tools are, for example, in use at BMW and Volvo Cars in various production programs based on AUTOSAR 3.1 and AUTOSAR 4.0.2/.3.