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Automotive software is evolving rapidly, with increasing complexity, safety requirements, and demands for efficient development processes. As virtual ECUs (vECUs) play an essential role in enabling faster development and validation, the integration of Rust within AUTOSAR Classic environments introduces valuable new possibilities. While using Rust in a greenfield project might seem straightforward, integrating it into an existing C-based AUTOSAR Classic stack represents a more realistic, highly relevant, and practical use case. This is because existing, series-proven Automotive software stacks are often implemented in C code and porting these stacks to Rust comes with the costs of a complete rewrite. Additionally, this is complex due to supply-chain dependencies and might not be required in all use cases, thus a questionable business case. Rust¡¯s interoperability with C makes it possible to maintain major parts of the AUTOSAR Classic stack, such as RTE, BSW, and MCAL, while implementing new AUTOSAR software components (SWCs) in Rust or by migrating existing AUTOSAR SWCs gradually from C to Rust code.

This hybrid approach allows developers to leverage Rust¡¯s values within AUTOSAR Classic projects by sticking to existing development workflows. In vECU development, this flexibility is particularly significant when combined with market leading tools like ½ðÁ«Ö±²¥ Silver?. By enabling the use of Rust SWCs in AUTOSAR Classic projects, Silver opens pathways for safer, faster, and more secure automotive software development in mixed programming language environments.

Virtual ECUs and Rust: A Powerful Combination

The Importance of Virtual ECUs

vECUs have revolutionized software development and testing in the automotive industry. By simulating the behavior of physical ECUs in a virtual environment, they enable faster development and validation of software without relying on physical hardware. With that, software development and testing can start even when hardware is not available. Furthermore, SDV-focused processes like CI/CD can leverage virtual ECUs during the complete lifecycle to get desired results on code changes faster. Market-leading tools like Silver enable vECUs to accelerate development and validation of AUTOSAR Classic software.

Rust¡¯s Role in Level 1 vECUs

In 2024 ½ðÁ«Ö±²¥ has published a comprehensive white paper [7] on the classification of vECU levels for AUTOSAR Classic and POSIX-based stacks. While ½ðÁ«Ö±²¥ Silver can generate Level 1-3 vECUs, this article is about AUTOSAR Classic Level 1 vECUs. A ½ðÁ«Ö±²¥ Silver Level 1 vECU provides a virtualized AUTOSAR Classic RTE to run AUTOSAR Classic SWCs in a Software-in-the-Loop (SiL) simulation on a typical host PC or in the cloud ¨C therefore, neither an AUTOSAR Classic stack for the target nor physical hardware is required. The RTE is generated by Silver based on AUTOSAR XML files just like in an AUTOSAR Classic workflow for a real ECU. When implementing an AUTOSAR Classic SWC in Rust, the RTE generation process ensures that the C code interfaces of the RTE can be accessed by the Rust SWC. Thus, RTE communication to other SWCs within the simulation is enabled by scheduling and executing runnables through ½ðÁ«Ö±²¥ Silver according to their provided specifications. The following figure shows the high-level architecture to integrate a Rust SWC into a Level 1 vECU to communicate with a C-based SWC via the RTE generated by ½ðÁ«Ö±²¥ Silver.

½ðÁ«Ö±²¥ at the forefront of validating Rust SWCs in SiL simulations

Rust continues to gain traction in the automotive industry. Just recently major vendors of automotive series production software have announced support to integrate Rust-based SWCs into existing C-based AUTOSAR Classic software stacks, see for example [8].

½ðÁ«Ö±²¥ as market-leader in automotive testing and simulation is at the forefront working together with first lead customers on the validation of Rust-based software through SiL simulation. This article outlines one concrete use case in which ½ðÁ«Ö±²¥ Silver enables the validation of Rust-based AUTOSAR Classic SWCs through the generation of a Level 1 vECU based on a virtualized RTE. Further use cases are on the horizon and will pave the way for Rust to become successful in the automotive industry.

Get in touch with our team and get deeper insights! Stefan Pruisken and several Silver experts will be at the embedded world 2025 conference in March in Nuremberg and are looking forward to meeting you.

References

[1] Microsoft Security Response Center. "A proactive approach to more secure code."

[2] Chromium. "Memory Safety." 

[3] Langui.sh. "Apple & Memory Safety."

[4] Google Security Team. "Queue hardening enhancements."

[5] AUTOSAR. "AUTOSAR investigates how the Programming Language Rust could be applied in Adaptive Platform Context within the Working Group Safety."

[6] AUTOSAR. "Explanation of ARA Application in Rust ¨C AUTOSAR AP R23-11."

[7] ½ðÁ«Ö±²¥. "Accelerating Development of Software Defined Vehicles with Virtual ECUs."
/verification/resources/whitepapers/virtual-ecu-wp.html

[8] Elektrobit. "Elektrobit integrates support for Rust."