Wirral, UK, May 30, 2012. LDRA, the leader in standards compliance, automated software verification, source code analysis and test tools, has automated the interface between the LDRA tool suite and Atmel’s AVR Studio. This interface ensures that aerospace applications developed using Atmel’s AVR ATmega128 are certifiable to DO-178C Level A. Automating the interface provides an efficient way for developers to more easily complete elements of DO-178C qualification that otherwise demand a highly skilled and labor-intensive process.
To achieve compliance with the FAA’s software standard DO-178C Level A, certification applicants must prove that their system and its application work as expected not only at the source-code level, but also at the object-code level. Problems determining the cause of failures in the medical and automotive industries are also leading to the same technique becoming increasingly required in IEC 62304 and ISO 26262 certifications. For systems needing such stringent compliance, the LDRA tool suite traces requirements to the underlying assembler code to confirm no errors have been introduced when the higher-level programming language devolves into low-level object code.
“LDRA’s reputation for standards-compliant expertise and tools has been established over nearly 40 years of helping companies successfully achieve rigorous, safety-critical certifications and standards compliance,” noted Ian Hennell, LDRA Operations Director. “Since the company’s inception, LDRA has focused on creating tools that improve and automate the development of reliable software. LDRA supports any client environment, offering the broadest range of supported architectures, software development tools and real-time operating systems involved in safety- and mission-critical applications.”
With this interface, the LDRA tool suite drives the test environment to automate the exchange of execution history and test data using Atmel’s AVR Studio 4.18 command-line utilities, AVRISP mkII device, and an onboard serial port. The collation of the LDRA tool suites for both Assembler and C languages with the AVR-GCC compiler streamlines the interface for the developers, enabling them to efficiently verify that the AVR-GCC-generated object code accurately and completely represents the application’s C source code operational requirements. Developers can fully verify the application on target, automating the functionality required to meet the stringent demands of DO-178C Level A.
Hennell adds, “This port is yet another example of how LDRA will support any client environment, and for companies seeking certification assistance, we also offer comprehensive certification services at a fixed price. Given our global economic climate, we believe customers should have complete confidence that their certification efforts are accurate, complete, and fully compliant and will be delivered at the price initially detailed. LDRA delivers this.”
LDRA is devoted to helping customers develop certification-ready products using any architecture, real-time operating system or integrated development environment. Both the LDRA tool suite and LDRA Certification Services (LCS) can provide certification expertise in DO-178/DO-278, DO-254, DO-297, IEC 61508, IEC 62304, ISO 26262, IEEE 1012:2004 and EN 50128.
About LDRA
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 andverification 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 with an extensive distributor network. For more information on the LDRA tool suite, please visit: www.ldra.com.
