LDRA Optimization Reduces On-Target Footprint of LDRA Tool Suite by Sixty Percent

Wirral, United Kingdom, August 15, 2014 --(PR.com)-- LDRA, the leader in standards compliance, automated software verification, source code analysis and test tools, has optimized the LDRA tool suite target implementation to deliver the same comprehensive software test and verification capabilities with a 60 percent smaller on-target footprint. This reduced footprint minimizes test overhead significantly so that time-critical dependencies can now be properly traced. Instrumentation overhead no longer interferes with the real-time execution on the target.

New Verification Method Reduces Overhead to 5-10 Times Less than Conventional Approaches

LDRA has added a new form of instrumentation that integrates all platform coverage dependencies into one structure. LDRA dramatically reduces the application footprint by using this new instrumentation together with an approach that eliminates library calls for target platforms and communication ports during the testing. By using a bitmap structure, test execution overhead can be as little as one hundred bytes.

With such a minimal footprint, not only can developers fully instrument applications on resource-constrained platforms, but they are also able to instrument all of their code in a single build on many targets. System-level testing can be completed more quickly as most testing can be accomplished in a single pass.

“LDRA continues to lead in identifying ways to ease the development life-cycle process and improve software quality,” stated Ian Hennell, LDRA Operations Director. “By optimizing the structure of the LDRA tool suite, we have streamlined our on-target footprint to only a few hundred bytes. This size difference opens up tremendous possibilities for the resource-constrained 8- and 16-bit platforms common in automotive and medical applications.”

Optimization Reduces On-Target Footprint by 60 Percent

Optimizing the LDRA tool suite to enable the test environment to mirror the speed and functionality of application execution is one of many technology breakthroughs that LDRA has achieved. With the on-target footprint reduced by 60 percent, test cases can execute in times very close to normal target execution. With the test environment mirroring the production environment, developers gain complete end-to-end verification of complex, timing-critical code. This opens new frontiers for multicore environments, where instrumentation overhead has traditionally blocked certification across all industries.

In addition, with the new instrumentation integrating all platform coverage dependencies into one structure, a single source file configures both LDRA Testbed, the core static and dynamic analysis engine, and Tbrun, LDRA’s comprehensive unit and integration test component for data transmission to the host. This streamlined approach increases customer flexibility so they can readily make configuration adjustments. For instance, applications using JTAG communications to monitor and debug during test can be reconfigured to the serial, I2C, or SPI communications ports more commonly found on production boards.

About LDRA

For more than forty 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 and India coupled with an extensive distributor network. For more information on the LDRA tool suite, please visit www.ldra.com.

Please send reader inquiries to:

Mark James
Email: mark.james@ldra.com