Using formal methods for sophisticated static code analysis

Jay Abraham, MathWorks
EETimes (6/6/2012 2:21 PM EDT)

In this Product How-To design article, Jay Abraham of Mathworks uses the company’s Polyspace code verifier to explain the use formal methods-based static code analysis to ensure high quality and verifiable embedded software.

Software underlies applications in a multitude of industries today. Aircraft, automobiles, industrial machinery, and medical devices all contain specialized software known as embedded software. This software is directly responsible for a variety of critical tasks. This software must be of high quality and must be thoroughly tested to verify it performs as expected.

In such critical systems, even simple operations performed with software can be fraught with risk. For example, consider an algorithm that requires the addition operation. If the underlying 32-bit microcontroller does not have a floating point unit, you need to be careful to avoid overflow conditions.

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