About Hardware Architecture

In the Hardware tab, you can create the elements required for the description of embedded network topologies and racks: ECUs, sensors, actuators, communication ports, buses, electrical wires, and their interconnections.

The topology layer is a support for the description of function and software allocations.

This page discusses:

Hardware Objects

The Hardware tab displays the hardware topologies, racks, and EE components.

EE Components

EE components are the following devices:

  • ECUs, Actuators, Sensors, Electrical Devices, Other Devices
  • Subsystems
  • Buses and Wires
  • Switches
  • Virtual Links
  • Networks
  • Connector Types
  • Generic Connector Types

Topology and Rack

Topology

A network topology is a schematic description of the arrangement in the way EE component instances are interconnected to each other through communication channels.

Rack
Note:

A rack is a constrained topology with spatial placements of constrained device instances (ECU, Sensor, ...). It is a matrix defined by a number of rows and a number of columns. Each matrix entry is subdivided in slots. Coordinates are attached to a rack to enable the placement of the devices instantiated into the rack.

A rack can contain the same EE components as the topology, except the subsystems.

Hardware Tab Commands

In the Hardware view, you can:

  • Create EE components and their topology interfaces, buses, wires, subconnector types.

    See Creating EE Components.

  • Search topology objects in the database.
  • View and edit the properties of any object.
  • Open a diagram for a selected topology.
  • Graphically edit a topology to insert EE components, modify their interfaces, and interconnect them through the network.
  • Model electrical distribution.

    See Working with Power Distribution.

  • Define Ethernet Networks

    See Working with Ethernet Topology.