b - ASAM

eports from the workgroups
activity report from
ASAM ODS
(Open Data Services)
Solutions Guide 2007 SECTION TWO
Description
Numerous solutions in the area of test,
evaluation and simulation environments within
the automotive industry have their own
administrative systems and proprietary
formats to store data. These systems and
formats usually have very different
configuration descriptions (unit under test,
test sequence, test equipment, etc.) and
methods for storing test results (database,
binary files, etc.). Extending and modifying
such solutions, and connecting them to third
party components, becomes a challenge as
complexity increases continuously.
ASAM ODS (Open Data Services) is that part
within the portfolio of ASAM standards which
focuses on persistent storage and retrieval of
such data, thereby establishing standards for
such application areas. The main objectives
are to reduce costs and risks within projects,
and to provide a reliable basis for
implementations in the area of data storage
and data usage. Using standardized
interfaces and common structures minimizes
the efforts for system integration within
heterogeneous environments and makes it
much easier to exchange data. Moreover, it
allows light-weight solutions to be developed
and integrated, working on the same,
standardized data pool.
A closer look unveils that ODS provides:
• A common data model (base model) for
the unambiguous and complete storage
of data. This base model can be viewed
as a rough data classification, thereby
adding semantics to the data, which
finally allows different systems to interpret
same data in the same way. The data
model covers the needs of a multitude of
application areas and is adaptable to
individual requirements of a specific
system or project by building a so called
‘application model’ from the base model.
• Interfaces (API, Application Programmer’s
Interfaces) to access data of ODS
compatible systems and tools in a
standardized way.
Furthermore, interfaces to create and
access a self-explanatory description
(meta-information) of the actual
application model are specified. This
allows systems to operate on very
different ODS data pools.
• A standardized, easy to use, text-based
exchange format (ATF, ASAM Transport
Format) in order to exchange ODS data
(including its meta-information) between
different systems and different platforms.
The current ODS version supports both,
the classic ATF (ATF/CLA) as well as the
XML based ATF (ATF/XML).
• A database model for the (wide-spread)
relational databases. This specifies the
physical storage of the data. It also
allows exchanging database files
between systems with the same DBMS,
and provides some further benefits.
• A set of application models which reflect
typical scenarios for the use of ODS and
which easily allow a mapping between
data originating from different companies.
Standard and current version
ASAM ODS V5.1.1
Active workgroup members and speaker
AMS, Audi, AVL, DaimlerChrysler, FEV, FH
Köln, General Motors, HighQSoft, Horiba,
Kessler, LMS, MTS, Müller-BBM, National
Instruments, ORME, Porsche, rd electronic,
Renault, SRH, T-Systems, Volkswagen AG
Speaker: Dr. Helmut Helpenstein, National
Instruments
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