Ian Hennell LDRA Operations Director LDRA

LDRA, a leading provider of automated software verification, source code analysis and test tools, offers validation from requirements through to certification for radiation-hardened environments where radiation anomalies (single event upsets) can disrupt system functionality causing catastrophic results.

Such environments demand the most rigorous compliance standards for industrial safety (IEC 61508) and avionics (DO-178B/C) and run on specialized radiation-hardened processors not typically supported by general-purposed tool chains. Due to the extreme cost of these processors, development boards are shared between all system teams. The LDRA tool suite^® creates rigorous test harnesses that fully exercise the code in simulated systems, eliminating errors and reducing on-target testing time.

Radiation-hardened processors, such as MIL-STS-1750 and Aeroflex Gaisler, represent a range of legacy to best-in-class processors for spacecraft and nuclear applications. Highly reliable, these components offer a full range of capabilities from 16-bit through to 64 and have dominated the space industry for decades. The integration of the LDRA tool suite with operating systems such as Linux and VxWorks enables developers to run code on the target and load and extract results through networks including Ethernet, TCP/IP, and SpaceWire.

LDRA Tool Suite Creates Rigorous Test Harness

Since access to these specialized development systems is limited, developers use the LDRA tool suite to perform code review, code coverage, unit testing and requirements traceability before deployment on the target. The LDRA tool suite exercises the code fully, automatically generating test cases and confirming code coverage down to the assembly level in a simulated test environment. Such tests ensure that the application along with all development tools whether compilers, real-time operating systems or other tool chain components function reliably and as expected and are compliant with DO-178B/C and IEC 61508 certification requirements. These tests can be repeated on target before deployment and the ability to run the same tests on simulator and target allows for developers to maximize use of target resources.

“Because of the safety risks and the expense of development, regulators mandate that the hundreds of thousands of lines of code responsible for the various systems within a nuclear power plant and space crafts comply with the most rigorous certification standards,” confirmed Ian Hennell, LDRA Operations Director. “Our broad safety-driven customer base and strong technical relationships with chip and tool chain vendors alike ensures the LDRA tool suite can provide the more rigorous validation for applications that we cannot afford to fail.

LDRA Offers Seamless Transition to the Target

Because the LDRA tool suite is capable of fully exercising the code, identifying errors, untested code, and unfilled requirements for applications running on these specialized processors, developers can fully vet the code, ensuring that applications function as expected. As development boards become available, developers can then apply the same test harness used in the simulated test environment to the target system. The team can quickly load, execute, and get results through whatever mechanisms are available on each processor.

The LDRA tool suite supports Linux, Solaris, and VxWorks tools for these highly specialized processors.

For more than 40 years, LDRA has developed and driven the market for software that automates code analysis and software testing for safety-, mission-, security- and business-critical markets. Working with clients to achieve early error identification and full compliance with industry standards, LDRA traces requirements through static and dynamic analysis to unit testing and verification for a wide variety of hardware and software platforms. Boasting a worldwide presence, LDRA is headquartered in the UK with subsidiaries in the United States and an extensive distributor network.