NI-VCOM Parser Does Not Show Ethernet Traffic With .ARXML File

Issue Details

I am testing the Vehicle Communication Toolkit with my application and .arxml file. When I run the VCOM custom device in Veristand, it imports the PDUs and assigns them equally named signals. The custom device core runs without error, but I cannot see any traffic on the specific ethernet port after I enable all TX channels. 

However, this does not seem to be an issue when I use  the VCOM Automotive Ethernet example and its corresponding .arxml file. It works and generates traffic. 

What could be the issue with my .arxml file that there is no ethernet traffic?

Solution

VCOM is a Restbus tool, i.e., it's function is to simulate a network, and not just send raw frames like XNET does. It has a parser underneath that processes your configuration and the .arxml to generate a list of signals, ECUs, IPs and sockets for receiving and transmitting data on different ports, IPs, VLANs etc.

If your .arxml contains the information for only 1 ECU, but it does not define the full communication of the network between that ECU and others, you will not see any traffic as the simulation does not know where to send the data generated by the singular ECU. The parser requires both endpoints in the .arxml in order to have all the information it needs to create that full Restbus Simulation.