LDRA tool suite integration maximizes IAR Embedded Workbench Strengths

IAR Embedded Workbench reaches beyond the capabilities of native tool chains, providing full ANSI C compliance, support for embedded C++ as well as host-controlled I/O facilities not typically available for these microcontrollers. LDRA leverages these capabilities to add static analysis, code coverage to Modified Condition/Decision Coverage (MC/DC), and requirement traceability on these resource-constrained footprints.

The LDRA tool suite fully hooks into these PIC, Atmel and TI tool chains, allowing for compilation, linking, programming, and execution in these environments. LDRA Testbed can read IAR project files and use these files to speed static analysis efforts by reading include paths, macros and other settings. In addition, LDRA Testbed and LDRA TBrun use the project files to compile, control IAR’s simulation and device-programming environments, execute on target, and extract the results. With this, developers get a head start on performing system and unit tests using the already available IAR infrastructure.

The LDRA tool suite integration enables these microcontrollers to be used in DO-178B and similar medical and industrial certification environments. With medical standards now pushing medical device vendors to produce test output results that conform to MC/DC certification criteria, these capabilities are increasingly important. Since these capabilities are available in hosted as well as microprocessor-based devices, enterprises can standardize on LDRA and IAR as a common set of tools that developers can use to support a variety of devices and target environments.

LDRA’s partnership with IAR has allowed LDRA and IAR to provide seamless solutions to customer test automation needs. For example, the recently completed MSP430 integration takes advantage of IAR’s JTAG I/O capabilities as well as cspybat command line integration tools. IAR’s full-featured hardware simulator is also fully supported by LDRA Testbed and TBrun. Developers can test identical instrumented executables and test harnesses on a target and simulator environment, greatly speeding time to market.