# US 8,751,093 B2 · Hierarchical accumulated validation system and method > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 8,751,093 B2 - Document ID: US8751093B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 13/448,304 - Filed: 2012-04-16 - Published: 2013-10-17 - Granted: 2014-06-10 - Earliest claimed: 2012-04-16 - Assignees: Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America, Inc. - Applicants: Jared M. Farnsworth; Koichi Ueda; Hakan Yazarel - Inventors: Jared M. Farnsworth; Koichi Ueda; Hakan Yazarel - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US8751093B2 ## CPC - B60W 50/04: Monitoring the functioning of the control system - B60W 2050/0006: {Digital architecture hierarchy} - B60W: CONJOINT CONTROL OF VEHICLE SUB-UNITS OF DIFFERENT TYPE OR DIFFERENT FUNCTION; CONTROL SYSTEMS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR HYBRID VEHICLES; ROAD VEHICLE DRIVE CONTROL SYSTEMS FOR PURPOSES NOT RELATED TO THE CONTROL OF A PARTICULAR SUB-UNIT ## Abstract The present disclosure generally relates to improvements in validating control specifications and more particularly pertains to a system and method to hierarchically validate graphically based executable logic control specifications. This method may include identifying, by a processor for hierarchically validating a graphically based logic control specification, a functional hierarchy of a first application of the control specification comprising a first feature. The method may include executing, by the processor, a specific first feature test case on the first feature to at least one of validate a structure of the first feature and validate that a specific functional requirement of the first feature is met. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A computer-based method comprising the steps of: identifying, by a processor for hierarchically validating a graphically based logic control specification, a functional hierarchy of a first application of the control specification comprising a first feature that comprises a first module, the first module being at a lower layer or level than the first feature, and the first feature being at a lower layer or level than the first application; executing, by the processor, a first module test case on the first module to at least one of validate a structure of the first module or validate that a functional requirement of the first module is met; executing, by the processor, a first feature test case on the first feature after executing the first module test case to at least one of validate a structure of the first feature or validate that a functional requirement of the first feature is met; and executing, by the processor, a first application test case to the first application after executing the first feature test case to validate a functional requirement of the first application is met. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The computer-based method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of: executing, by the processor, a second feature test case to a second feature to at least one of validate a structure of the second feature or validate that a functional requirement of the second feature is met, wherein the functional hierarchy comprises the second feature, and wherein the validation of the second feature includes the validation of first feature results. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The computer-based method of claim 1, wherein the first feature comprises a plurality of modules, and the method further comprises executing, by the processor, a plurality of module test cases on the plurality of modules to at least one of validate a structure of each of the plurality of modules or validate that a functional requirement of each of the plurality of modules is met. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The computer-based method of claim 1, further comprising translating text based code into graphically based logic. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The computer-based method of claim 1, further comprising translating graphically based logic into text based code. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The computer-based method of claim 1, further comprising validating all of a plurality of applications in the control specification. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The computer-based method of claim 1, further comprising identifying, by the processor, a functional hierarchy of the first feature of the first application. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The computer-based method of claim 1, further comprising starting at the end of the control specification and validating to the beginning. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The computer-based method of claim 1, further comprising validating an entire electronic control unit. ### Claim 10 (depends on 9) The computer-based method of claim 9, wherein the electronic control unit is an electronic control unit of a vehicle. ### Claim 11 (depends on 1) The computer-based method of claim 1, wherein a unique feature test case is developed to validate each feature's unique functional requirement. ### Claim 12 (depends on 1) The computer-based method of claim 1, wherein the hierarchical validation process flows from module level to feature level to application level. ### Claim 13 (depends on 1) The computer-based method of claim 1, further comprising subdividing the feature functional hierarchy based on computational constraints. ### Claim 14 (depends on 1) The computer-based method of claim 1, wherein overlapping test case validation provide substantially exhaustive validation coverage. ### Claim 15 (depends on 1) The computer-based method of claim 1, wherein each feature comprises a function within the graphically based logic control specification. ### Claim 16 (depends on 1) The computer-based method of claim 1, wherein the computer-based method is used to validate the control specification to an International Organization for Standardization (ISO) specification. ### Claim 17 (depends on 1) The computer-based method of claim 1, wherein elements of the graphically based logic control specification are rendered on a user interface. ### Claim 18 (depends on 1) The computer-based method of claim 1, further comprising executing, by the processor, a second application test case on a second application to validate that a functional requirement of the second application is met. ### Claim 19 A system comprising: a processor configured to hierarchically validate a graphically based logic control specification, a tangible, non-transitory memory configured to communicate with the processor, the tangible, non-transitory memory having instructions stored thereon that, in response to execution by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising: identifying, by a processor for hierarchically validating a graphically based logic control specification, a functional hierarchy of a first application of the control specification comprising a first feature that comprises a first module, the first module being at a lower layer or level than the first feature, and the first feature being at a lower layer or level than the first application; executing, by the processor, a first module test case on the first module to at least one of validate a structure of the first module or validate that a functional requirement of the first module is met; executing, by the processor, a first feature test case on the first feature after executing the first module test case to at least one of validate a structure of the first feature or validate that a functional requirement of the first feature is met; and executing, by the processor, a first application test case to the first application after executing the first feature test case to validate a functional requirement of the first application is met. ### Claim 20 An article of manufacture including a non-transitory, tangible computer readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon that, in response to execution by a computer-based system configured to hierarchically validate a graphically based logic control specification, cause the computer-based system to perform operations comprising: identifying, by the computer-based system, a functional hierarchy of a first application of the control specification comprising a first feature that comprises a first module, the first module being at a lower layer or level than the first feature, and the first feature being at a lower layer or level than the first application; executing, by the processor, a first module test case on the first module to at least one of validate a structure of the first module or validate that a functional requirement of the first module is met; executing, by the computer-based system, a first feature test case on the first feature after executing the first module test case to at least one of validate a structure of the first feature or validate that a functional requirement of the first feature is met; and executing, by the computer-based system, a first application test case to the first application after executing the first feature test case to validate a functional requirement of the first application is met.