Tool offers requirements-to-object-code traceability

LDRA unveils what is touted the first requirements-to-object–code traceability. In the safety-critical domain, devices required to meet the most critical levels of certification must verify software traceability from requirements through design to code at both source- and object-code levels. By providing a comprehensive traceability, LDRA boasts that verification problems found at the object-code level can be quickly and easily traced to the originating source code and requirements levels.

Evidence that all lines of software have been fully tested at the source- and object-code levels is becoming more important for a number of industries. DO-178C, the new avionics software standard, will soon mandate this for the most critical software, and medical and automotive industries are recognizing that this verification process is equally valuable in their environments. Discrepancies caused by compiler interpretation or program optimization can lead to code verification passing at the source level, but failing at the assembler object-code level.

Tracing the object code—also referred to as assembler code—back to the originating high-level source code is a tedious, time-consuming challenge without requirements-to-object–code traceability. LDRA claims to have pioneered the requirements-to-object–code traceability to reduce the time and risk for companies developing embedded software that must meet the highest levels of safety standards.

In the past, many companies needing to meet stringent certification requirements verified their object code using in-house tools. However, with the adoption of more complex architectures, engineering teams no longer have in-house expertise on the modern architectures, nor can they afford to develop and maintain complex object-level verification tools for project-specific implementations. LDRA equips developers with the ability to review code instruction by instruction, while eliminating the cost of developing and maintaining tools in-house.