Esterel Technologies Introduces CVK™ (Compiler Verification Kit)

Summary:
New module in the SCADE Suite™ tool chain accelerates
the development and certification of safety-critical software

Full Text:
MOUNTAIN VIEW (California) and ELANCOURT (France)  August 8, 2005 Esterel Technologies has added the CVK™ (Compiler Verification Kit) to its SCADE Suite development tool for safety-critical embedded software applications. Developing safety critical software implies demonstrating that the system requirements have been transformed and implemented correctly at each and every step of the software development process. This traditionally implies time-consuming reviews and tests that generally represent more than half of a safety critical project´s costs.


The SCADE Suite™ solution enables an efficient methodology that consists of:

1. Capturing the software specifications in an unambiguous software model.
2. Verifying requirements at the model level early in the development process, when the detection and fixing of software errors are easier and cheaper.
3. Generating certifiable embedded code with the SCADE KCG qualified code generator.
4. Using SCADE´s new CVK, verifying the target processor with the cross-compiler environment, resulting in a proven platform for executing any volume of SCADE-generated C code.


KCG, the SCADE Suite automatic code generator, has been qualified as a Level A development tool under RTCA DO-178B, and certified as a product for all SIL levels under IEC 61508. Therefore KCG creates immediately certifiable code from the SCADE model-based development system. The new Compiler Verification Kit (CVK) from Esterel Technologies now enables developers to prove, with a limited effort, that the C code generated from any SCADE environment will execute correctly on a selected target platform.


KCG produces an exactly defined and circumscribed subset of C. Applied to SCADE models, it generates a totally predictable C code structure. It is therefore possible to define a reference SCADE model which will produce every possible C construct upon code generation that KCG can produce. This is the foundation of Esterel´s CVK.


With CVK, the user receives the following components to verify a target platform:

1. A SCADE model containing all possible SCADE constructs.
2. The reference C code generated from this model.
3. A set of test vectors that enable testing of the C code generated from this sample model at the 100% MC/DC level. Applying this test suite will ensure consistent behavior between the SCADE models running on a host development environment and the compiled SCADE-generated C code running on a target.
4. Documentation and methodology descriptions as requested by certifying bodies.


This CVK verification needs to be performed only once for any compiler/linker/processor combination, saving SCADE users substantial engineering and test resources for DO-178B and IEC 61508 certified projects.


CVK is processor-independent and compatible with all C cross-development systems.


“CVK provides the critical link that ensures the certifiable flow between the SCADE graphical models, KCG-generated C code, and object code,” states Chip Downing, CEO of Esterel Technologies Inc. “Our DO-178B aerospace and defense customers, as well as our IEC 61508 customers in automotive and transportation industries, will derive substantial savings and efficiencies from this exciting new SCADE component.”


The tools from Esterel Technologies allow the design of unambiguous specifications of software systems, to simulate them and automatically verify these designs with the help of formal methods.


About SCADE Suite
SCADE Suite, a design environment for safety-critical embedded software applications, provides graphical specification capture and simulation, along with the capability to check safety properties at the model level. In addition, the SCADE KCG certified code generator has achieved compliance with the highest safety standards, IEC 61508 for all SIL levels and RTCA DO-178B up to level A, enabling rapid deployment of SCADE-generated designs. SCADE Design Verifier™ is the industry leader in providing a platform for applying formal methods to control systems models.


About Esterel Technologies
Esterel Technologies´ tools create unambiguous specifications that produce correct-by-construction, automated implementation in software and/or hardware. Today, SCADE Suite™ is the standard for the creation of RTCA DO-178B, EUROCAE ED-12B, IEC 61508 and EN50128 safety-critical embedded software in the civilian avionics and transportation industries. SCADE Drive™ is the emerging standard for the creation of safety-critical embedded software in the automotive industry. Esterel Studio™ enables electronics hardware designers to create golden specification models that can be automatically implemented in RTL or C.


Esterel Technologies is a privately held company with headquarters in Mountain View, California, USA, and Elancourt, France, with direct sales offices in Germany, the United Kingdom, and China. For additional information, visit the Esterel Technologies website at www.esterel-technologies.com.

Contact:
UK
Suzy Kenyon, Napier Partnership Limited
Phone: +44 1243 531123
Email: suzy@napier.co.uk

Europe
Gundel Hahn, Gundel Hahn Medienservice
Phone: +49 (0) 89 123 922 04
Email: gundelhahn@compuserve.com

North America
Chip Downing, Esterel Technologies
Phone: +1 650-641-1707
Email: chip.downing@esterel-technologies.com