Definition of ECU Samples A, B, C, D (Meaning)

I will be conducting an online industry-academia seminar for one hour each on the next two days with students from the Department of Automotive Engineering at Kookmin University.

 

On the first day, the topic will be “ECU Integration and Automotive Software Development in the Era of SDV.” I will mainly discuss overall trends and the concept of SDV. The second day’s topic will be “Infotainment Trends, System Development Methodologies, and Processes,” covering the history of infotainment, current trends, and software development methods and processes.

 

As I prepare the presentation materials and organize the content, I am also planning to briefly explain the meaning and functions of ECU samples A, B, C, and D, as well as the further subdivisions within each sample, such as C1, C2, etc., which address bug fixes and feature improvements.

Reference: https://www.brusa.biz/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/ZD_007_Sample_definition_Project_management_EN.pdf

 

Here is a brief summary based on the well-organized content above:

 

• A-Sample: A sample with limited functionality, used to verify hardware with restricted specifications. Development samples begin to be created at this stage, and a small quantity is produced for hardware validation. Software bring-up has generally not started yet.
• B-Sample: This sample includes all intended hardware functions and has undergone some level of validation. Design Validation (DV) and bench tests, as well as technical requirement verification, are feasible at this stage. Software (OS) bring-up typically begins here.
• C-Sample: A theoretically fully functional sample, capable of Product Validation (PV) and process validation. At this point, the hardware is considered relatively mature, and both DEV and PROD samples may be produced
• D-Sample: A sample with all functionalities assured, meeting production quality requirements. It ensures compliance with quality requirements, using serial parts for initial sampling. This sample is nearly identical to the mass production version.

In addition, sub-versions like B1, B2, C1, C2, D1, D2, D3, etc., are sometimes created to address bug fixes or add functionalities. I recall seeing multiple versions of the infotainment ECU for the E-Class that launched this year, with each sample named after German regional names in A, B, and C sequence, which was interesting.