The LDRA tool suite selected for Orion Crew Exploration Vehicle Space Program

NASA has awarded Lockheed and its subcontractors a multimillion-dollar contract for Orion’s development. Orion CEV will replace the space shuttle scheduled to be retired in 2010. Its first manned mission is targeted for 2014.

Thanks to the long-standing reputation of the LDRA tool suite as critical to success with safety- and mission-critical software, including implementation of associated standards such as DO-178B, LDRA’s Testbed and TBrun tools have been selected to assist in the Orion project. Made up of a number of integrated products which assist users with achieving full lifecycle support, LDRA’s tool suite will assist Orion developers in software standards checking, analysis of code coverage, unit testing and object code verification.

LDRA Testbed, the process management tool at the core of the LDRA tool suite, forms the foundation of automated software verification. LDRA Testbed performs the code, quality and design reviews on the source code. It conducts test verification for code coverage, including statement, branch/decision, test path (LCSAJ), procedure/function call metrics and provides access to the Test Manager.

TBrun, LDRA’s automated unit testing tool, has taken a significant step further than other vendors. With TBrun, a GUI interface automates the production of test data vectors with test harness and stub generation completing automatically. By using the Object-box Mode, developers can create test cases for structural coverage of high-level source code and apply these exact same test cases to the corresponding object code. By being able to quickly identify violations, developers can improves the quality of code, reduce the errors found during formal testing and help ensure on-time delivery within budget.

“Lockheed Martin’s selection of our tool suite is yet another endorsement of our products and a testimony to our ability to deliver solutions for the most demanding programs,” noted Ian Hennell, LDRA Operations Director. “We have recognized and responded to the increasing requirement for object code verification solutions, our products gaining a reputation of assisting with achieving zero-defect software development. As a result, LDRA’s products are considered essential to achieve best-practice development and are being widely adopted by telecoms, computer and appliance manufacturers, and other leading-edge industry suppliers.”

The techniques incorporated in the LDRA tool suite have been performed across hundreds of projects in many vertical industries, such as avionics, defense, automotive, telecoms, energy and medical. These techniques can be utilized by an entire project team within the software development lifecycle, including project or requirements managers, developers, QA managers, and test and maintenance engineers.

The LDRA tool suite capabilities are unique in their integration of requirements traceability with static and dynamic analyses and their ability to test software on virtually any host or target system. The LDRA tool suite provides the most comprehensive C/C++ coding standards enforcement available on the market today. Developers are equipped with the resources needed to quality the LDRA tool suite for certification purposes, saving developers significant time and money during the certification process.

Building on its tool suite’s success since 1975 LDRA plans to announce the expansion of its product portfolio at Embedded Systems Conference—San Jose on April 15, 2008. The soon-to-be-announced tool will offer developers easy visibility into source code, enabling them to determine if it is secure, fault-free and following the quality standards required. Aimed to enhance collaboration and communication between development teams, the new tool will enables managers, teams, and individual developers to monitor testing and quality metrics.