SafeTI Compiler Qualification Kit to Help Ease Functional Safety Development

Adding to its SafeTI™ design packages, Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) introduced 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 TÜV NORD, an independent third-party assessor, which states: “The requirements of (Part 8, Chapter 11) on classification and qualification of software tools as well as the requirements of (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 SuperTestâ„¢ 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.

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