Simulink® ECUs
Overview
GEMS produces a range of Simulink® Enabled Electronic Control Units (ECUs) for motorsport, automotive and industrial applications. These ECUs are designed to manage various functions such as engine control, transmission control, and vehicle control.
Simulink® Enabled ECUs leverage the power of MATLAB® and Simulink® for model-based design, allowing engineers to develop, simulate, and deploy control algorithms efficiently. This approach enables the development of highly customized control strategies and retention of your own intellectual property.
These ECUs also support running hand-coded applications (for example, C/C++ code), providing flexibility for developers who wish to integrate existing codebases or optimize specific functions alongside Simulink® generated code.
Products
GEMS XCU8
General purpose electronic control unit (ECU) / vehicle control unit (VCU) designed for safety critical automotive applications.
The XCU8 uses ASAM standard XCP over ethernet and ASAM A2L ECU Description files for calibration and diagnostics, providing compatibility with a wide range of industry-standard tools.
GEMS EM80-M
Simulink® Enabled version of the GEMS EM80 ECU, designed for generic control.
The EM80-M uses GEMS proprietary communications protocol over ethernet and GEMS format ECU Description files for calibration and diagnostics.
GEMS EM80-MIC
Simulink® Enabled version of the GEMS EM80 ECU, for use with Internal Combustion Engines (ICE).
As with the EM80-M, the EM80-MIC uses GEMS proprietary communications protocol over ethernet and GEMS format ECU Description files for calibration and diagnostics.
The EM80-MIC includes built-in engine management functionality such as timing wheel / camshaft synchronization, fuel injection, ignition control, and various sensor inputs, making it suitable for a wide range of ICE applications.
Models can provide high-level control over these functions, for more information please contact GEMS directly.
Tools
Ginmake
The ginmake tool is used to integrate Simulink® models with GEMS Simulink® Enabled ECUs. It generates code that automates the process of generating code from Simulink® models, configuring the ECU, and preparing the application for deployment.
GWv4
The GWv4 tool is used for calibration and diagnostics of GEMS Simulink® Enabled ECUs. It provides a user-friendly interface for engineers to monitor and adjust ECU parameters in real-time, facilitating efficient tuning and troubleshooting.
The XCU8 uses ASAM standard XCP over ethernet for communication, and can therefore also be used with other ASAM compliant tools in addition to GWv4. GEMS can develop re-branded versions of the GWv4 tool for OEMs and system integrators if required.
Ginpkg
For rebranded versions of the GWv4 tool, the ginpkg tool is used to package ECU Definition Files for exclusive use with the rebranded GWv4 application. This allows OEMs and system integrators to distribute the rebranded GWv4 tool with different pricing to GWv4 itself.
Development Process
The development process for Simulink® Enabled ECUs typically involves the following steps:
flowchart LR
A["Workspace Generation (API Signals)"] --> B[Model Development]
B --> C[Code Generation / Integration]
C -- creates --> D(ECU Definition File A2L / GIN)
C --> E[Deployment to ECU / Testing]
E --> B
Workspace Generation
The ginmake tool generates workspace files for the MATLAB® / Simulink® environment. These files define Signals and Parameters that are interface between the Simulink® model and the base ECU platform.
Model Development
Engineers develop control algorithms using Simulink® models or hand coded applications. These models can include various components such as filters, controllers, and state machines to implement the control logic requirements.
Code Generation / Integration
C code is generated from the Simulink® models using 3rd party tooling such as MATLAB® Embedded Coder.
This code is then compiled and linked with the base ECU platform code to create a complete application binary.
GEMS provides a project template and documentation to assist with this process, including relevant code library files, build / linker scripts etc.
ECU Definition File Generation
An ECU defintition file (either a GEMS GIN file or an ASAM A2L file) is required for the calibration / diagnostics tool to understand the memory layout of the ECU application.
The ginmake tool generates the ECU Definition File from the Simulink® model and workspace files and either base header files or a base ECU definition file provided by GEMS.
Build Process Flow
The following diagram illustrates the overall build process for Simulink® Enabled ECUs using the ginmake tool:
