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Component Verification in Target Environment

After you generate production code for a component design, you need to integrate, compile, link, and deploy the code as a complete application on the embedded system. One approach is to manually integrate the code into an existing software framework that consists of an operating system, device drivers, and support utilities. The algorithm can include externally written legacy or custom code.

An easier approach to verifying a component in a target environment is to use processor-in-the-loop (PIL) simulation. For information about PIL simulations, see SIL and PIL Simulations.

Goals of Component Verification

Assuming that you have generated production source code and integrated required externally written code, such as drivers and a scheduler, you can verify that the integrated software operates as expected by testing it in the target environment. During testing, you can achieve either of the following goals, depending on whether you export code that is strictly ANSI® C/C++ or mixes ANSI C/C++ with code optimized for a target environment.

GoalType of Code Export
Maximize code portability and configurabilityANSI C/C++
Simplify integration and maximize use of processor resources and code efficiencyMixed code

Regardless of your goal, you must integrate required external drivers and scheduling software. To achieve real-time execution, you must integrate the real-time scheduling software.

To maximize code portability and configurability, limit the application code to ANSI/ISO® C or C++ code only, as the following figure shows.

To simplify code integration and maximize code efficiency for a target environment, use Embedded Coder® features for:

  • Controlling code interfaces

  • Exporting subsystems

  • Including target-specific code, including compiler optimizations

The following figure shows a mix of ANSI C/C++ code with code that is optimized for a target environment.

Run Component Tests

The workflow for running software component tests in the target environment is:

  1. Integrate external code, for example, for device drivers and a scheduler, with the generated C or C++ code for your component model. For more information, see S-Functions and Code Generation. For more specific references that depend on your verification goals, see the following table.

  2. Simulate the integrated component model.

  3. Generate code for the integrated component model.

  4. Connect to data interfaces for the generated C code data structures. See Write External Code to Access Generated C API Code and Generate ASAP2 and CDF Calibration Files.

  5. Customize and control the build process, if required. See Customize Post-Code-Generation Build Processing, and open the BuildInfoModel model.

    openExample('BuildInfoModel')
  6. Create a zip file that contains generated code files, static files, and dependent data to build the generated code in an environment other than your host computer. See Relocate or Share Generated Code, and open the BuildInfoModel model.

    openExample('BuildInfoModel')