Verify requirements before the design phase

In a typical software project, 40 to 60% of design bugs are caused by faulty requirements that lead to additional testing and re-debugging. STIMULUS bridges design and requirement engineering tools by using simulation to test and check textual specifications, enabling engineers to detect incorrect or conflicting requirements. The tool features a high-level modelling language that formalises natural language requirements and a simulation engine that generates and analyses executable traces to test requirements.

STIMULUS enables system integrators of real-time safety-critical systems, including aerospace, rail, automotive, energy and industrial safety, to deliver correct, unambiguous requirements that comply with IEEE 830. System architects can generate and observe many execution traces that verify requirements, define generic test scenarios and debug requirements against realistic inputs, and generate numerous test vectors for software-in-the-loop validation. Then, by supplying these verified requirements to their subcontractors, the system integrators significantly reduce the amount of rework, scheduling and cost of a typical safety-critical system.

“Companies face unprecedented pressures. Increased system complexity and litigation calls for more rigorous industry compliance, but companies need to achieve this with shorter time-to-market and reduced cost,” said Fabien Gaucher, CEO, Argosim. “Achieving these goals is possible only if companies strip out the amount of rework currently done when requirements are found to be faulty only after coding and testing. STIMULUS gives development teams a chance to disrupt that error-prone development cycle and to make requirements right the first time.”

“As the world’s largest producer of electricity, EDF is highly dependent on nuclear power, generating more than 60GWe annually from nearly 60 nuclear reactors,” commented Thuy Nguyen, Senior R&D Engineer, Électricité de France. “Our systems must therefore comply with rigorous safety-critical standards. STIMULUS makes it possible to validate our functional system requirements early and independently from all design choices made by third-party subcontractors.”