GrammaTech CodeSonar

Many critical processes in our lives today are controlled by software systems, from airplanes, to power grids, to nuclear power plants to self-driving cars, to infusion pumps to trains. The software in these devices is becoming ever more complex and development teams can use all the help they can get to develop these devices quicker while maintaining high safety standards. Static analysis is here to help.

Many functional safety standards such as IEC 61508, DO178 B/C, CENELEC EN 50128, ISO 26262 either recommend or mandate the use of static analysis to improve code quality and enforce coding standards. CodeSonar is specifically developed to assist software developers in building these safety and security critical software systems. Its high levels of defect recall, its whole program, deep analysis using abstract execution, the elaborate explanations of warnings, including warning paths and code navigation and the extensibility make it a favorite for developers of systems that cannot fail.

Static analysis is a great help during the software development phase, but it can also be a great time-saver in the functional safety process. This is where the CodeSonar Safety Documentation Kit comes in. This kit contains functional safety certificates issued by Exida that describe the qualification level that CodeSonar has reached for the various safety standards, complete with the report of that assessment. It also includes a Tool Safety Manual that has information as to how the team can best utilize CodeSonar in the functional safety process.

The Safety Documentation Kit is particularly useful for teams developing software that has to adhere to IEC 61508, ISO 26262 and CENELEC EN 50128.

CodeSonar is also frequently used in avionics related projects that have to adhere to the DO178C safety standard. The DO-330 document describes how tools can be qualified for this standard. DO-178C is a lot more project specific and GrammaTech has experience in working with customers on certification for this standard, together with our partner Afuzion. AFuzion provides DO-178C Training and Certification Services. Have a look at their free DO-178C Introduction whitepaper here. Cyber security is also rapidly becoming a requirement in avionics projects, these requirements are described in the DO-326A and ED202A document set.