Wirral, UK—September 9, 2021—LDRA, the leader in standards compliance, automated software verification, software code analysis, and test tools, today announced that G.G.Tronics has chosen the LDRA tool suite to perform static and dynamic analysis on its software code. The company chose the tool suite to improve quality, confirm correct functionality, and demonstrate and maintain requirements traceability in accordance with EN 50128.
G.G.Tronics is part of the M/s. Nippon Signal Co. Ltd. of Japan, and is situated in Bengaluru, India’s own “Silicon Valley.” The company’s commitment to quality is underscored by its ISO 9001:2015 certification and by the approval of the Indian Railways’ Research Designs and Standards Organisation (RDSO).
G.G.Tronics’ latest product is MSDAC-G39, a Multi Section Digital Axle Counter. A fail-safe, reliable and user-friendly 2 out of 3 architecture-based design, MSDAC-G39 is compliant with RDSO/SPN/176/2013 Ver 3.0 and meets the SIL4 integrity level defined by the EN5012X series of standards (“CENELEC”).
Axle counters monitor each track section for the presence of a train. When the first axle of a train is detected within a section, a so-called “Vital output” is dropped to confirm occupancy. When all axles of the train have left the section, the Vital output is driven again. A software failure here could result in an axle counter driving its Vital output with a train still occupying a track section, potentially permitting another train to enter the same section with life-threatening consequences.
G.G.Tronics chose the LDRA tool suite to help the company meet these demanding objectives, applying static and dynamic analysis to improve the source code quality, confirm correct functionality, and demonstrate and maintain requirements traceability in accordance with EN 50128 SIL4.
“From the outset, the TUV approval of the LDRA tool suite was important to us,” said Mr. Rajganesh Marappan, Software Quality Manager of G.G.Tronics. “Seeking a similar level of assurance for unapproved tools represents a major overhead. LDRA tools are approved by TUV SUD and TUV SAAR for safety-related development in accordance with EN 50128, right up to SIL 4.”
“We also wanted to invest in a tool that could accommodate the future,” Mr Marappan continued. “Our priority for MSDAC-G39 was for functional safety, but we will need to consider cybersecurity too. The TBmanager component of the LDRA tool suite is capable of concurrently tracing IEC 62443 and EN 50128 objectives to source code and test cases.”
The LDRA tool suite is a completely integrated solution that enables customers to build quality into their software from requirements through to deployment. Integrating the LDRA tool suite into the software development process has proven critical to the success of many safety-, security-, business- and mission-critical software projects, especially those projects with strict safety-critical process guidelines such as EN 50128, DO-178C, ISO 26262, IEC 62304, and IEC 61508.
The project was a successful experience for LDRA and G.G.Tronics alike. “We are proud of our involvement with G.G.Tronics who are innovating in India for India and the world,” said Shinto Joseph, Director, South East Asia Operations, LDRA. “MSDAC-G39 has been RDSO approved and certified in accordance with EN 50128 SIL 4. We are very happy to see the world-class products being built in India. It is a great milestone in railway indigenization.”
Additional information about how LDRA helps software development teams build safety into their critical GTS development is available at https://www.ldra.com/rail.
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 and verification for a wide variety of hardware and software platforms. Boasting a worldwide presence, LDRA is headquartered in the United Kingdom with subsidiaries in the United States, Germany, and India coupled with an extensive distributor network. For more information on the LDRA tool suite, please visit www.ldra.com.
