TI introduces SafeTI™ Compiler Qualification Kit to help ease functional safety development for industrial, automotive and medical products

07/03/2013

Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) (NASDAQ: TXN) introduces its new SafeTI™ Compiler Qualification Kit. The SafeTI™ Compiler Qualification Kit assists customers in their efforts to qualify their use of the TI ARM^® C/C++ compiler to functional safety standards such as IEC 61508 and ISO 26262 while helping maximize its functionality and performance. This kit, a component of the SafeTI design packages, was developed primarily for use with TI ARM Cortex-R4-based Hercules™ ARM microcontroller (MCU) platform to help make it easier for customers to develop functional safety applications.

The SafeTI Compiler Qualification Kit utilizes a model-based tool qualification methodology developed by Validas, a consulting company that specializes in software quality for embedded systems and software tool qualification to functional safety standards. Included in the SafeTI Compiler Qualification Kit is an assessment document from TUV NORD, an independent third-party assessor, which states: "The requirements of [ISO 26262] (Part 8, Chapter 11) on classification and qualification of software tools as well as the requirements of [IEC 61508] (Part 3, Chapter 7.4.4) on the tool validation can be sufficiently fulfilled by applying the qualification kit."

The SafeTI Compiler Qualification Kit also includes the new SuperTest™ qualification suite from Associated Compiler Experts (ACE). The SuperTest qualification suite was derived from the ACE SuperTest compiler test and validation suite and helps adhere to the strict compliance of C compiler standards. The ACE SuperTest compiler test and validation suite have been successfully used in assessing compiler quality by TI automotive MCU customers for many years.

Model-based tool qualification

The IEC 61508 and ISO 26262 safety standards require evaluation and classification of all tools used in functional safety product development flow to help ensure the tools cannot impact the safety of the developed product. If further confidence in the tool is needed, tool qualification is used to provide evidence of suitability for use. Model-based tool qualification used in the SafeTI Compiler Qualification Kit is flexible, allowing the user to select the desired tool features for the development process. Tool features are either testable or provide a list of several mitigation options the user can choose to best fit the process. The SafeTI Compiler Qualification Kit guides customers through the selection of features, tests and mitigation measures and generates required documents based on documentation templates and the qualification model.

The SafeTI Compiler Qualification Kit includes:

• User manual
• Qualification support tool to help qualification configuration and document generation
• Templates for the required safety documentation, including Tool Classification Report, Tool Qualification Plan, Tool Qualification Report and Tool Safety Manual
• Instrumented version of the compiler to compare the compiler coverage between application and qualification tests
• TUV Nord report – showing approval of the qualification process
• The ACE SuperTest qualification suite for the C compiler on the ARM architecture
• Verified and validated test cases for selected TI ARM compiler features
• A test automation framework to run the test in the user's environment on target hardware
• Up to 24 hours of Validas consulting for general support, model-extensions, coverage comparison and result/documentation review support offered via Webex sessions and email

The SafeTI Compiler Qualification Kit includes tests for most compiler features and is extensible to support future test case updates from TI and Validas.

Partnership

The strong collaboration between TI, Validas and ACE to develop this qualification kit allows customers to qualify their specific use case of the ARM compiler while maximizing the use of its functionality and performance. New revisions and features of the TI ARM compiler can be qualified by using the Validas modular qualification approach and running the ACE SuperTest qualification suite and other TI validation test cases provided in the kit.

TI's broad portfolio of microcontrollers (MCUs) and software

Leading the industry in MCUs for low-power, real-time control, safety and connectivity, TI continues its 20+ years of microcontroller innovation to offer the broadest microcontroller portfolio in the industry: Ultra-low-power MSP MCUs, real-time control C2000™ MCUs, Tiva™ ARM^® MCUs and Hercules™ ARM MCUs. Designers can accelerate time to market by tapping into TI's tools, software, wireless connectivity solutions, extensive Design Network offerings and technical support.

Texas Instruments Incorporated, www.ti.com

Company profile:  Texas Instruments