EE-Components
Note: There is a newer version of this specification see VEC 2.1.0
An EEComponentSpecification is used to describe the technical aspects of an EE-component. An EE-component is an electrical component to which the wiring harness is attached to (e.g. an ECU, a sensor, a relay, an antenna, a battery, a fuse). All EE-components have in common that they have a certain electrical interface (e.g. to which the wiring harness is attached). To describe this interface, the EEComponentSpecification is used.
An EEComponentSpecification can define a couple of HousingComponents. A HousingComponent is one interface to which other components can be attached (e.g. the wiring harness). To describe a HousingComponent satisfyingly two aspects are necessary: its geometrical shape and its electrical behavior. In order to describe the geometrical shape of a HousingComponent it can reference a ConnectorHousingSpecification, so the same concept is used to describe a connector in the wiring harness and in an EE-component. The electrical behavior of a HousingComponent is defined by a number of PinComponents. A PinComponent references a Cavity to define its location in the geometrical shape of the HousingComponent. To define its physical properties a PinComponent references a TerminalSpecification. These properties are defined inherently by the material and the type of the pin. It is quite probable that most of the PinComponents of a single HousingComponent are referencing the same TerminalSpecification. The definition of properties regarding the behavior of a PinComponent (e.g. defined by the software deployed on an ECU) is explained in the next diagram.
In order to define additional aspects of an EE-component there are some subclasses of the EEComponentSpecification. Notable is the RelaySpecification which can reference certain PinComponents to give them a special semantic (switchContact and coilContact).