Granted Patent B2

US 12,730,737 · App. 17/735,215 · Granted Sep 8, 2026

Inventors: Sebastian Bannenberg (Paderborn, DE); Steffen Beringer (Paderborn, DE); Eduard Miller (Paderborn, DE); Markus Deppe (Paderborn, DE)

Assignee: dSPACE GmbH

G06F11/3428G06F11/3457G06F11/3688

Abstract

Claims (40)

1 . A computer-implemented method for an evaluation of simulations and/or test cases in scenario-based testing and/or homologation of at least partially autonomous driving functions to be tested by key performance indicators (KPI), the method comprising:

mapping at least one KPI by a KPI plug-in;

selecting, dynamically and reusably, the KPI plug-in for simulations and/or test cases;

selecting at least one KPI plug-in by a KPI plug-in mechanism in the simulations and/or test cases; and

automatically executing the selected KPI plug-in by the KPI plug-in mechanism,

wherein the KPI plug-in is adapted to be executed:

online during the simulation runtime; and

offline after the simulation.

2 . The computer-implemented method according to claim 1 , wherein at least one scenario includes at least one test of a device used for the at least partially autonomous guidance of a transporter and/or road user.

3 . The computer-implemented method according to claim 2 , wherein at least one test is determined by at least one parameter which is queried during the simulation runtime and/or at the end of the simulation, wherein parameters include:

scenario parameters comprising at least one of the following features: the number of lanes and/or the width of a lane and/or curves and/or road restrictions and/or the ambient temperature; or

driving situation parameters that describe the number and characteristics of moving objects in the scenario, comprising at least one of the following features: the number of road users and/or the number of lane changes in a traffic situation and/or the speed of the road users and/or transporter.

4 . The computer-implemented method according to claim 2 , wherein transporter and/or road users comprises a first which is vehicle with the system under test (SUT) and a second vehicle which is any other vehicle in the scenario.

5 . The computer-implemented method according to claim 1 , wherein a KPI plug-in includes a configuration description and a script executable by a computer.

6 . The computer-implemented method according to claim 1 , wherein for a KPI plug-in executed online, the executable script is automatically started during the simulation runtime and in each simulation step, an evaluation of at least one parameter takes place, so that the evaluation is based on simulation parameters available at runtime and a KPI value is determined from it.

7 . The computer-implemented method according to claim 1 , wherein for the KPI plug-in executed offline, the executable script is started automatically after the end of the simulation, so that the KPI value is determined based on the simulation results.

8 . The computer-implemented method according to claim 1 , wherein the currently determined KPI value specifies an evaluation of the current simulation and/or at least one simulation step.

9 . The computer-implemented method according to claim 1 , wherein the KPI plug-in mechanism contains at least one KPI plug-in and all KPI plug-ins selected in the KPI plug-in mechanism are automatically executed for purposes of simulation and/or test execution.

10 . The computer-implemented method according to claim 1 , wherein the KPI plug-in is managed in a KPI plug-in pool.

11 . A test unit for a computer-implemented method for the evaluation of simulations and/or test cases in scenario-based testing and/or homologation of at least partially autonomous driving functions to be tested by key performance indicators (KPI),

wherein KPIs are mapped by KPI plug-ins and KPI plug-ins are selected dynamically and reusably for simulations and/or test cases, and

wherein at least one KPI plug-in is selected by a KPI plug-in mechanism in the simulations and/or test cases and is automatically executed by the KPI plug-in mechanism, and

wherein the KPI plug-in is adapted to be executed:

online during the simulation runtime; and

offline after the simulation.

12 . The test unit according to claim 11 , wherein the test unit is formed by an electronic control unit (ECU) for which at least one scenario for virtual and/or real tests is determined.

13 . A computer program comprising program code to perform the method according to claim 1 , when the computer program is executed on a computer.

14 . A non-transitory, computer-readable data carrier comprising program code of a computer program to perform the method according to claim 1 when the computer program is executed on a computer.

15 . The computer-implemented method according to claim 1 , wherein the at least one KPI plug-in is selected from a KPI plug-in pool.

16 . The computer-implemented method according to claim 1 , wherein the KPI plug-in mechanism is designed to run two different variants of KPI plug-ins.

17 . The computer-implemented method according to claim 16 , wherein a first variant is executed online and a second variant is executed offline.

18 . A computer-implemented method for an evaluation of simulations and/or test cases in scenario-based testing and/or homologation of at least partially autonomous driving functions to be tested by key performance indicators (KPI), the method comprising:

mapping at least one KPI by a KPI plug-in;

selecting, dynamically and reusably, the KPI plug-in for simulations and/or test cases;

selecting at least one KPI plug-in by a KPI plug-in mechanism in the simulations and/or test cases; and

automatically executing the selected KPI plug-in by the KPI plug-in mechanism,

wherein the KPI plug-in mechanism is designed to run two different variants of KPI plug-ins, and

wherein a first variant is executed simultaneously with the simulations and/or test cases and a second variant is executed downstream of a current simulation.

19 . The computer-implement method 18 , wherein with the first variant an evaluation takes place in each simulation step and a value of the at least one KPI is available immediately after the simulations and/or test cases and with the second variant parameters are not observed real-time during the simulations and/or test cases or used to determine the KPI value and the KPI value is determined after the simulations and/or test cases.

20 . The computer-implemented method according to claim 1 , further comprising transferring results of the KPI plug-in mechanism, in form of KPI values, back to a test configuration of the test cases to obtain an optimized test creation.

Assignments (2)

Priority Claims (1)

Continuity (1)

References Cited (30)