Evaluation of Variability Concepts for Simulink in the Automotive Domain
This work addresses variability modeling challenges for automotive software developers at Volkswagen AG, representing an incremental improvement.
The researchers evaluated three variability modeling concepts for Matlab/Simulink in automotive applications, finding that the delta approach was both developer-preferred and objectively most efficient.
Modeling variability in Matlab/Simulink becomes more and more important. We took the two variability modeling concepts already included in Matlab/Simulink and our own one and evaluated them to find out which one is suited best for modeling variability in the automotive domain. We conducted a controlled experiment with developers at Volkswagen AG to decide which concept is preferred by developers and if their preference aligns with measurable performance factors. We found out that all existing concepts are viable approaches and that the delta approach is both the preferred concept as well as the objectively most efficient one, which makes Delta-Simulink a good solution to model variability in the automotive domain.