Method for determining a physical connectivity topology of a controlling development set up for a real-time test apparatus

A method for running a simulation using a test device with real-time capability and set up for control device development, wherein the test device has a plurality of data processing units and wherein a plurality of simulation models is are associated with the plurality of data processing units, the method comprising:

• specifying communication requirements of the plurality of simulation models;
• determining a physical connection topology of the test device, wherein determining the physical connection topology of the test device comprises:
• determining logical communication links between the plurality of simulation models, wherein each logical communication link represents a data link between two of the plurality of simulation models, and wherein a specified quantity of physical interfaces for a respective data processing unit of the plurality of data processing units is smaller than a quantity of logical communication links associated with the respective data processing unit;
• and
• automatically determining the physical connection topology by specifying direct physical communication links between the plurality of data processing units based on respective specified quantities of physical interfaces of the plurality of data processing units, wherein specifying the direct physical communication links includes determining, for each of the logical communication links, whether a direct physical communication link corresponding to the logical communication link forms part of the physical connection topology;
• creating the specified direct physical communication links in the test device;
• and
• running the simulation, wherein the plurality of simulation models exchange data with each other during execution of the simulation.