Mentor Graphics achieves ISO 26262 certification

With this certification, these Questa solutions are the latest additions to the Mentor Safe program, which is a broad ISO 26262 qualification initiative. Mentor Safe enables customers to integrate Mentor tools and software into their safety-critical design and verification flows at all criticality levels from ASIL A to ASIL D. Mentor Tool Qualification Kits provide all information necessary to properly evaluate use cases and confidence levels, reducing qualification efforts for OEMs and automotive semiconductor suppliers.

“Securing ISO 26262 certification for our Questa Tool Qualification Report further reinforces Mentor’s commitment to helping our customers meet and exceed the automotive industry’s rigorous safety requirements,” said Brian Derrick, Vice President and General Manager at Mentor Graphics. “With this milestone, the Mentor Safe functional safety program continues its rapid expansion across our world-class portfolio of design automation technologies.”

SGS-TÜV Saar certified the Software Tool Qualification Report for the three Questa products. The report provides assumed use cases and evidence that the software tool is suitable to be used for any Tool Confidence Level (TCL) activity or task required by ISO 26262. Questa Simulation provides high performance, high capacity simulation for comprehensive advanced verification capable of reducing risk of validating complex automotive designs. Questa Verification Management analyses coverage and verification data, providing complete insight necessary for the coverage and metric driven flows required to satisfy ISO 26262. Questa CDC provides clock domain crossing analysis for complex automotive SOC’s, verifying synchronisation and metastability effects that cannot be dealt with by simulation-based verification techniques.

“Today’s safety-critical automotive products require development and tool flows which are proven safe in accordance with ISO 26262,” said Gudrun Neumann, Software & Automation Team Leader for SGS-TÜV Saar. “SGS-TÜV Saar certification gives OEMs and suppliers confidence that qualification reports for software tools used in the development of safety-critical products have been properly assessed in accordance with ISO 26262, reducing the costly efforts needed for tool qualification.”

Mentor is a long-established automotive systems supplier, engaged with nearly every leading OEM and Tier 1 supplier, and providing design tools and embedded software in the areas of connectivity, electrification, autonomous drive and vehicle architecture. The company also offers a broad portfolio of ISO 26262-compliant tools for the design and creation of automotive-grade ICs. Mentor’s distinguished track record in supplying automotive-grade electrical and electronic systems spans nearly 30 years.