Turbocharge Automotive Embedded Software Testing to Meet MISRA and ISO 26262 Standards

Competition in the automotive industry is intense. Successful companies must constantly innovate by introducing new features, many of which contain significant amounts of software. The automobile was transformed from a primarily mechanical device, into an integrated machine with embedded software in all major systems including: engine control, power train, suspension, braking, and entertainment.

Controlling cost of automotive embedded systems is extremely important for automotive industry suppliers since you have much higher volume than other safety-critical industries like avionics. Software testing has traditionally been very expensive, but the cost of finding software bugs now versus the direct costs and damaged product branding associated with recalls makes thorough testing a necessity in the automotive industry.

TÜV SÜD Certified Tool for ISO 26262 Safety Related Development

Automotive Software Verification and Validation Standards

ISO 26262 and MISRA are the two software standards applying to verification and validation of vehicle based software.

ISO 26262 is a Functional Safety standard titled "Road vehicles -- Functional safety". The standard is an adaptation of the Functional Safety standard IEC 61508 for Automotive Electric/Electronic Systems. Part 6 of this standard addresses the recommendations for software testing and verification as part of the standard for software development.

Recommended activities include both unit level and system level testing such as functional tests (requirement-based tests and partition tests) and structural coverage tests. VectorCAST tools support capture and reporting of structural code coverage for all Automotive Safety Integrity Levels (ASIL) required by ISO 26262. ASIL is the automotive-specific risk-based approach for determining product risk classes. Risk classes are defined as Level A though D, with ASIL D representing the highest risk due to a failure.

 

How VectorCAST Supports Your Compliance with the ISO 26262 Standard

VectorCAST embedded tools for ISO 26262 satisfy recommendations for software testing and verification specified in Part 6 of the standard for software development by supporting the creation and management of test cases to prove that the low level software requirements have been tested.

VectorCAST is also used for a variety of robustness testing activities such as range and out of bounds testing. Additionally, VectorCAST tools support capture and reporting of structural code coverage at all levels required by ISO 26262.

The VectorCAST/C++ test tools for C and C++ unit and integration testing, combined with VectorCAST/Cover for system-level test verification, provide a complete dynamic test suite for host, simulator, and target level testing.

  • Supports all levels of code coverage required by ISO 26262:
    • Statement
    • Branch
    • MC/DC
  • Supports differing testing requirements based on ASIL level
  • Automatic generation and compilation of complete test stubs and driver programs for unit and integration testing
  • Automatic regression testing
  • Requirement to test case mapping
  • Robustness testing
  • Out of bounds values testing
  • Boundary condition testing
  • Test execution on host, simulator, and embedded target systems

Integrated Support for MISRA

Static analysis has been a major component of the automotive application development process since the advent of the Motor Industry Software Reliability Association (MISRA) C standard.

The Guidelines for the Use of the C Language in Vehicle Based Software is a document which was first published in 1998 to promote safe use of the C language in the automotive industry. It contains rules defining a subset of the C language that is now widely accepted as a model for good programming practice.

The MISRA C++: 2008 Guidelines for the use of the C++ Language in Critical Systems standard was published in 2008 to define similar rules for the C++ language.

VectorCAST/Lint integrates the Lint analysis engine from Gimpel Software. VectorCAST/Lint provides out-of-the box checking for the MISRA C, MISRA C 2004, and MISRA C++ 2008 standards and can analyze source code and detect constructs which do not comply with the MISRA rules. VectorCAST/Lint can examine individual source files or an entire application and provides comprehensive reporting capabilities.

VectorCAST/Lint static analysis for embedded software testing provides the following:

  • Out-of-the-box MISRA support for C and C++
  • Static Variable Tracking
  • Thread Analysis
  • Dimensional Analysis
  • Source Code Browser with Message Annotations
  • Message Rationale and Concept Browser
  • Message Filtering
  • Graphical Configuration of Analysis
  • Customizable Reporting

ISO 26262 Certification

The VectorCAST product family is a TÜV SÜD certified software tool for safety related development. The TÜV SÜD assessment and resulting tool qualification of the Vector Software products, offer development organizations the required evidence to demonstrate compliance with IEC 61508 and ISO 26262 standards.

The VectorCAST IEC Certification Kit for IEC 61508 and ISO 26262 provides documentation, certificates, and templates that help you use VectorCAST on projects based on the IEC 61508
and ISO 26262 standards.

The kit includes certificates and reports from certification authority TÜV SÜD that are based on documented, application-specific verification workflows.

The VectorCAST IEC Certification Kit offers organizations the required evidence to demonstrate compliance with IEC 61508 and ISO 26262.

See the Benefits of VectorCAST for Your Automotive Applications

If you would like to see how VectorCAST tools for ISO 26262 and MISRA improves performance in your exact testing environment, register today for a 30-day, fully-functional trial.

You may also contact Vector Software to arrange a demo for your project.

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