System and method for simulating an input to a telematics system

1. A method for simulating an input to a telematics system comprising:

simulating a component including:

selecting a vehicle component simulator from a plurality of vehicle component simulators;

retrieving a corresponding simulator description file (SDF), wherein the retrieved SDF corresponds to the selected vehicle component simulator and includes at least one component for a selected vehicle simulation; and

activating at least one component simulation identified in the SDF;

displaying the activated component simulation; and

establishing a communication link via a telematics client framework between the simulated component and a corresponding cadet in a telematics control unit (TCU) wherein the telematics client framework includes a client communications framework including a message manager, a stream manager, a data multiplexer, a flow controller, a policy manager, a channel monitor and an interface to a plurality of physical channels available to the client communications framework and wherein the TCU includes a hardware layer, a real-time operating system, Java virtual machine (JVM) layer, an open services gateway initiative (OSGi) layer, and a plurality of client applications, the plurality of client applications including an interface to the plurality of client applications.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

enabling an adjustment of the simulated component to a desired condition; and

enabling monitoring of the TCU for a responsive output.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the TCU is an emulated TCU.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the SDF includes an XML file.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the SDF includes a plurality of links and wherein each of the plurality of links identify a location for a corresponding component simulation file.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the vehicle component simulator identifies a component simulator for each of a plurality of components included in the selected vehicle.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of activated component simulation is displayed.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein enabling an adjustment of the simulated component to a desired condition includes enabling an input to an interactive control on the simulated component.

9. A system for simulating a vehicle component comprising:

A processor; and

A storage facility coupled to the processor and containing instruction executable by the processor which configure the system to:

simulate a component;

establish a communication link via a telematics client framework between the simulated component and a corresponding cadet in a telematics control unit (TCU) wherein the telematics client framework includes a client communications framework including a message manager, a stream manager, a data multiplexer, a flow controller, a policy manager, a channel monitor and an interface to a plurality of physical channels available to the client communications framework and wherein the TCU includes a hardware layer, a real-time operating system, Java virtual machine (JVM) layer, an open services gateway initiative (OSGi) layer, and a plurality of client applications, the plurality of client applications including an interface to the plurality of client applications;

select a vehicle component simulator from a plurality of vehicle component simulators;

retrieve a corresponding simulator description file (SDF), wherein the retrieved SDF corresponds to the selected vehicle component simulator and includes at least one component for a selected vehicle simulation;

activate at least one component simulation identified in the SDF; and

display the activated component simulation.

10. The system of claim 9 , further comprising instructions executable by the processor which configure the system to:

adjust the simulated component to a desired condition; and

monitor the TCU for a responsive output.

11. The system of claim 9 , further comprising instructions executable by the processor which configure the system to automatically:

adjust the simulated component to each one of a plurality of desired conditions; and

monitor the TCU for a responsive output to each one of the plurality of desired conditions.

12. The system of claim 9 , wherein the communication link between the simulated component and a corresponding carlet in the TCU includes a network communication link.

13. The system of claim 9 , wherein the TCU is an emulated TCU.

14. The system of claim 9 , wherein the SDF includes an XML file.

15. The system of claim 9 , wherein the SDF includes a plurality of links and wherein each of the plurality of links identify a location for a corresponding component simulation file.

16. A method of testing a telematics system comprising:

developing a carlet for a telematic control unit (TCU), wherein the TCU includes a hardware layer, a real-time operating system, a Java virtual machine (JVM) layer, an open services gateway initiative (OSGi) layer, and a plurality of client applications, the plurality of client applications including an interface to the plurality of client applications;

receiving a component simulation that produces an output to the carlet wherein the component simulation includes:

selecting a vehicle component simulator from a plurality of vehicle component simulators;

retrieving a corresponding simulator description file (SDF), wherein the retrieved SDF corresponds to the selected vehicle component simulator and includes at least one component for a selected vehicle simulation;

activating at least one component simulation identified in the SDF;

displaying the activated component simulation;

coupling the simulated component to the TCU via a telematic client framework between the simulated component and a corresponding carlet in a telematics control unit (TCU) wherein the telematics client framework includes a client communications framework including a message manager, a stream manager, a data multiplexer, a flow controller, a policy manager, a channel monitor and an interface to a plurality of physical channels available to the client communications framework;

enabling an adjustment of the simulated component to a test condition; and

enabling monitoring of the TCU for a responsive output corresponding to the test condition.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein receiving a component simulation includes retrieving the component simulation from a storage that includes a plurality of component simulations.

18. The method of claim 16 , wherein retrieving the component simulation from a database of a plurality of component simulations includes selecting the component simulation from a vehicle component simulation.