Hybrid testbed for simulating in-vehicle automotive networks

This paper presents a novel method of automotive network simulation which is being used in an ongoing research effort to design cost effective, flexible in-vehicle networks suitable for use in multi-camera, high bandwidth environments. The simulation platform uses a hybrid simulation approach, and allows the coexistence of real network traffic streams and simulated network traffic. This approach provides a number of advantages, such as allowing for the injection and extraction of real network streams from a simulated network topology. We present details of the testbed architecture and compare its performance to that of native systems. We also demonstrate that results obtained are in line with those in the literature. Finally, we describe novel experiments and applications made possible using the developed simulation platform and how it can be used in the evaluation and development of automotive video applications.