aiT, StackAnalyzer integrated into SCADE Suite

Powered by AbsInt’s aiT and StackAnalyzer tools, Esterel Technologies SCADE Suite Timing Verifier and SCADE Suite Stack Verifier provide worst-case execution timing (WCET) and stack usage analysis at the SCADE Suite model level.

Elancourt, France and Saarbruecken, Germany, September 22, 2008 — Esterel Technologies, the worldwide leading provider of model-based solutions for the development of safety-critical systems and AbsInt Angewandte Informatik GmbH, the worldwide leading provider of timing and stack usage analysis solutions announced today their signing of an OEM agreement that allows Esterel to recast AbsInt’s aiT and StackAnalyzer products as SCADE Suite Timing Verifier and SCADE Suite Stack Verifier under the SCADE® family of products.

As a result, SCADE Suite will be the first model-based critical-software development solution to offer intrinsic stack usage analysis and worst-case execution time analysis. These technologies have become invaluable to the developers of critical embedded systems and software. In terms of cost efficiency, quality, and safety, no longer can developers rely purely on manual methods for examining stack usage and timing properties of their applications.

Both AbsInt products have been tightly integrated into the SCADE Suite product line, thus offering a seamless workflow from model-based design through implementation, including stack and timing verification. SCADE Suite Timing Verifier and SCADE Suite Stack Verifier directly analyze the binary executables and account for the cache and pipeline behavior of the specific processor. This verification technology is available for a variety of processors such as ARM, C16x, and PowerPC.

SCADE Suite logo

SCADE is the only model-based development solution to offer DO-178B qualified C code generation up to level A, certified IEC 61508 C code generation up to SIL 3 and certified EN 50128 C code genera­tion up to SIL 3/4.

With this OEM agreement between Esterel Technologies and AbsInt, developers of safety-critical embedded software now have a one-stop provider in Esterel Technologies for model-based development, deployment, and verification. The coupling of Esterel SCADE Suite with AbsInt’s aiT and StackAnalyzer provides an optimal feedback on the run-time performance and memory usage of the system by reporting the WCET and stack usage of each design element, at the model level. By raising the level of abstraction with model-based development and these breakthrough analysis capabilities, embedded software developers can quickly identify and eliminate potential performance bottlenecks and design flaws early in the development cycle.

The integrated solution will be delivered within SCADE Suite 6.1, under the name Timing and Stack Verifiers. Esterel Technologies and AbsInt have cooperated on the partnership and integration in the framework of the INTEREST project within the European Commission’s 6th Framework Programme on Research, Technologi­cal Development and Demonstration.

The OEM agreement we have with Esterel Technologies will enable more real-time embedded developers to experience the value of our stack and timing verification tools, both in terms of quality and productivity, in the development of their safety-critical applications”, said Christian Ferdinand, CEO of AbsInt.

We are very excited to offer these capabilities to our customers as an integral part of our SCADE family of products. The feedback we have received regarding the integration validates our belief that this is truly a breakthrough technology for model-based development of critical applications”, said Eric Bantegnie, President and CEO of Esterel Technologies.

About aiT and StackAnalyzer

aiT WCET Analyzer computes tight bounds for the WCET of all tasks in an embedded system. aiT is based on statically analyzing a task’s intrinsic cache and pipeline behavior. The results are valid for any input and for any program execution. The precise bounds on the execution time enable better system utilization without compromising safety.

StackAnalyzer automatically calculates the worst-case stack usage of the tasks in a program. Stack memory has to be allocated statically by the programmer. Underestimating stack usage can lead to serious runtime errors which can be difficult to find. Overestimating stack usage means a waste of memory resources. StackAnalyzer provides automatic tool support to precisely calculate the actual stack usage by your application.

About Esterel SCADE

Esterel SCADE, 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. It includes SCADE Suite® and SCADE Display®.

SCADE Suite is the market leading, model-based development environment dedicated to safety-critical embedded software:

SCADE Display is the leading-edge embedded graphics design environment dedicated to safety-critical display systems, DO-178B qualified up to level A for Military and Aerospace Industries.

About AbsInt

AbsInt Angewandte Informatik GmbH provides advanced development tools for embedded systems, and tools for validation and verification of safety-critical software. AbsInt’s customers are companies from the automotive, avionics and telecommunication sectors.

About Esterel Technologies

Esterel Technologies is the worldwide leader for model-based design, verification and code generation tools for critical embedded systems. Esterel Technologies is a privately-held company with headquarters in Elancourt, France and Mountain View, California, USA, and with direct sales offices in Germany, the United Kingdom, and China.

Press contacts

Gundel Hahn, Esterel Technologies
Phone: (+49 89) 123 922 04
gundel.hahn@esterel-technologies.com

Bärbel Franzen, AbsInt
Phone: (+49 681) 383 60 14
franzen@absint.com