AdaCore, a leading supplier of Ada development tools and support services, today announced a merger with SofCheck, Inc., a Lexington, Massachusetts-based automated software quality (ASQ) company. SofCheck’s staff has joined the AdaCore technical team, and SofCheck Founder Tucker Taft has been named as AdaCore’s Director of Language Research. AdaCore has acquired SofCheck’s products, including static error detection tools, the AdaMagic compiler front end technology, and also ParaSail, a new Parallel Specification and Implementation Language intended for high-reliability applications on multicore target platforms.

AdaCore and SofCheck personnel share a long and direct involvement in the design of the Ada programming language, and the two companies have specialized in software development tools that nicely complement each other. AdaCore’s major product is GNAT Pro, a development environment especially suited for long-lived systems with requirements for reliability, safety, and/or security. SofCheck’s advanced static analysis technology fits in smoothly with GNAT Pro, and prior to the merger the two companies jointly developed AdaCore’s CodePeer product, an efficient and accurate code reviewer that incorporates the SofCheck static analysis engine.

“AdaCore and SofCheck have worked towards common goals for a very long time,” said Tucker Taft, SofCheck’s Chairman and Founder. “This merger is a natural next-step for both our companies: the whole SofCheck team is very excited to be joining up with AdaCore where together we can continue adding capabilities to the industry-leading CodePeer static analysis technology, while creating new offerings for customers building and certifying high-integrity software as they move into the multicore era.”

“Our complementary skills, shared history, and dedication to the software engineering principles supported by the Ada programming language have made this merger a positive, seamless experience for both companies,” said Robert Dewar, AdaCore President and CEO. “We particularly welcome Tucker’s addition to AdaCore’s existing team of experts, which will help us move forward with our joint goal of improving software engineering capabilities for developers of safe, secure, and highly-reliable software applications.”

About SofCheck

Founded by a team of internationally recognized leaders in the development of programming languages and compiler technology, SofCheck has focused principally on the automated software quality (ASQ) domain for its products and services. The company’s tools have enabled software development organizations to build critical systems efficiently, through automated, advanced static error detection without unit testing or style checking. SofCheck has also developed a reusable Ada compiler front end technology that can be easily integrated into software tools. SofCheck Founder Tucker Taft was the lead designer of Ada 95 and a major contributor to the Ada 2005 and Ada 2012 language revisions. Recently, he has been working on the design of the ParaSail language.

About AdaCore

Founded in 1994, AdaCore is the leading provider of commercial software solutions for Ada, a state-of-the-art programming language designed for large, long-lived applications where safety, security, and reliability are critical. AdaCore’s flagship product is the GNAT Pro development environment, which comes with expert on-line support and is available on more platforms than any other Ada technology. AdaCore has an extensive world-wide customer base; see www.adacore.com/home/company/customers/ for further information.

Ada and GNAT Pro see a growing usage in high-integrity and safety-certified applications, including commercial aircraft avionics, military systems, air traffic management/control, railroad systems, and medical devices, and in security-sensitive domains such as financial services. The SPARK Pro toolset, available from AdaCore, is especially useful in such contexts.

AdaCore has announced its participation in ‘Project P’ and ‘Hi-MoCo’ (High-Integrity Model Compiler), two open-source research efforts supported and partly funded by the French and Estonian national governments and the European EUREKA agency. The combined projects, which started in October 2011, aim to provide an open-source, tunable and qualifiable code generation framework for domain-specific modeling languages. The key idea is to allow control engineers (using Simulink, Stateflow and Scicos/XCos), system engineers (using SysML/MARTE and AADL), and software engineers (using UML) to easily collaborate for system-level model integration, verification, and final optimized code generation targeting the Ada 2012, C/C++ and VHDL languages.

AdaCore, the technical coordinator of the projects, is working closely with the IB Krates team led by Tõnu Näks and members from IRIT (Institut de Recherche en Informatique de Toulouse) led by Marc Pantel, the principal architects of the ITEA GeneAuto project and technology on which Project P and Hi-MoCo are based. AdaCore, IB Krates, and IRIT will be the principal contributors to the code generation technology at the heart of the toolset being developed. Together with Frédéric Pothon of ACG Solutions and chair of the Tool Qualification subgroup of the DO-178C committee, the three companies will play a major role in the cross-domain qualification effort spanning the avionics, space, and automotive domains. AdaCore’s expertise in developing and supporting the certification/qualification of tunable, open-source commercial-of-the-shelf (COTS) components and tools that meet safety and reliability certification standards such as DO-178 (avionics) and ECSS-E-ST-40 (space) will be especially relevant.

“The ultimate goal of these projects is to end the segregation between the control, system and software engineers,” said Franco Gasperoni, Managing Director of AdaCore. “A major bottleneck in the model-driven development of software for avionics, space, and automotive systems is the integration of heterogeneous models and the lack of comprehensive verification and code generation technologies. Project P and Hi-MoCo aim to solve this problem by developing an open-source, tunable and qualifiable code generation framework for heterogeneous models, while making cross-domain qualification material available.”

“The current state-of-the-art is to perform integration on generated sources,” concluded Matteo Bordin, project manager of the Project P and Hi-MoCo efforts at AdaCore. “We are proposing to do this at the model level to verify integration issues well before models are mature enough for code generation.”

About Project P

Project P is a three-year research project financially supported within the French FUI 2011 funding framework. Headed by Continental Automotive France, it involves the collaboration of 19 partners, including major industrial users from the avionics, automotive and space domains (Airbus, Astrium, Continental Automotive, Rockwell Collins, Safran, Thales Alenia Space and Thales Avionics), technology providers (AdaCore, Altair, STInformatique, Scilab Enterprise), service companies (ACG Solutions, Aboard Engineering, Atos Origins) and research centers (ENPC, IRIT-INPT/CNRS, INRIA, ONERA, Lab-STICC/Université de Bretagne Sud). Additional information can be found at www.open-do.org/projects/p

About Hi-MoCo

Hi-MoCo is a two-year research project financially supported within the Eurostar 2011 funding framework. It supports the collaboration of IB Krates (Estonia), IRIT, and AdaCore.

AdaCore, provider of Ada tools and expertise for the mission-critical, safety-critical, and security-critical software communities, today announced the immediate availability of the GNATtest unit test harness generator for Ada. The GNATtest tool helps automate the essential, but tedious and error-prone, processes for developing and managing the large number of test cases that accompany the verification of large software systems.

The task of writing and managing unit tests and their invocation framework is critical to the development of high-reliability software, but it is repetitive and cumbersome for large projects, and error-prone when done manually. Changes to the application software during development and maintenance, such as adding a subprogram to a package (module) or changing a subprogram’s specification (interface), require corresponding modifications to the test suite and its invocation harness. GNATtest addresses this issue by automatically creating and maintaining the harnessing code, as well as the unit test skeletons for each subprogram to be tested, taking into account all Ada semantics (subprogram overloading, visibility, etc.). The developer can thus focus on the high-value task of writing the actual test cases.

“At AdaCore, we emphasize the principle that developing critical software can be done more efficiently by combining rigor with the use of agile methods,” said Cyrille Comar, Managing Director of AdaCore. “This requires continuous testing, and a tool like GNATtest is essential for keeping quickly evolving software in sync with its unit tests.”

GNATtest is a valuable tool for developing all kinds of software, whether host-based or embedded, across the entire spectrum of application domains, and fits in smoothly with modern development approaches such as agile methods. It is especially valuable in systems requiring high levels of reliability, safety, and/or security, as it simplifies the effort required to implement test procedures and produce test cases that meet the objectives of certification standards such as DO-178B and DO-178C. These standards emphasize requirements-based testing as a critical part of the software verification process. Since individual subprograms often directly implement low-level requirements, the test harness and skeletons generated by GNATtest can become an immediate part of the application’s certification evidence. When combined with a coverage technology such as GNATcoverage, GNATtest offers a unique solution for verifying embedded Ada software.

For developers who are using the more advanced features of the Ada language, GNATtest handles object-oriented programs and can help verify type substitutability (known as the Liskov Substitution Principle) as required by DO-178C’s supplement on Object-Oriented Technology and Related Techniques (DO-332). GNATtest also takes advantage of Ada 2012 programming-by-contract capabilities, such as preconditions, postconditions and invariants.

GNATtest is included in GNAT Pro and supports all versions of Ada and all target configurations. It is based on, and replaces, the earlier AUnit technology.

Webinar

A webinar presenting unit-testing strategies using GNATtest and GNATcoverage will be held on Tuesday, March 20. For more information and/or to register, please visit: http://www.adacore.com/home/products/gnatpro/webinars/

Inside this issue:

1. AdaCore and SofCheck merge

2. Webinar, Delivering Critical Patient Information Safely and Securely

3. COTS RTCA DO-178C Certification Evidence for VxWorks

4. 4-Channel, High Speed Strain Gauge Input DNA/DNR-AI-224

5. AB3000 Rugged Embedded Computer

6. Qualification Material Available for GNATcheck and GNATcoverage

7. New 3U Compact PCI Serial Chassis from Schroff

Download the white paper here.

CompactPCI® PlusIO (PICMG 2.30) is a new standard for rear I/O across J2, specified by the PICMG®. High speed signal lines (PCI Express®, SATA, Gigabit Ethernet and USB) are passed from the PC2-LIMBO through the special UHM connector to the backplane, for usage either on a PlusIO rear I/O transition module, or CompactPCI® Serial card slots. CompactPCI® Serial (PICMG CPCIS.0) defines a completely new card slot, based on PCI Express®, SATA, Gigabit Ethernet and USB serial data lines. On a hybrid backplane, both card styles can reside, CompactPCI® and CompactPCI® Serial, with the PC2-LIMBO in the middle as system slot controller for both backplane segments.

The PC2-LIMBO is equipped wit a set of local expansion interface connectors, which can be optionally used to attach a mezzanine side board. A variety of expansion cards is available, e.g. providing legacy I/O and additional PCI Express® based I/O circuitry. Typically, the PC2-LIMBO and the related side card would come as a readily assembled 8HP or 12HP unit with a common front panel. As an alternate, Flash based mezzanine storage modules are available that fit on the PC2-LIMBO while maintaining the 4HP profile.

Click here for more information about the PC2-LIMBO.

Click here for more infoirmation about CompactPCI® PlusIO (PICMG 2.30).

 ”Altera’s Stratix V FPGA is an exciting technology bump that provides more flexibility and bandwidth with less power consumption, while adding amazing DSP capabilities,” stated Jeff Milrod, BittWare President & CEO. “Our S5-PCIe board takes that technology a step further by enabling customers to easily add co-processing and data acquisition that is seamlessly connected to the FPGA, all supported by our FPGA framework and development tools.”

 The S5-PCIe board features either an Altera Stratix V GX FPGA or a Stratix V GS FPGA, which offers additional DSP resources, and up to 32 GB of DDR3 SDRAM. By providing a direct path to the high-performance Stratix V FPGA, the S5-PCIe enables customers to go-to-market with a Stratix V FPGA-based solution quickly and efficiently.

 S5-PCIe Overview

 Designed for high-end applications, the Stratix V FPGA provides a high level of system integration and flexibility for I/O, routing and processing. It is optionally supported by BittWare’s Anemone chip - the low power, floating point, c-programmable FPGA co-processor; and the ATLANTiS FrameWork, which is implemented in the FPGA and greatly simplifies application development and integration. The board provides up to 32 GB of DDR3 SDRAM with error-correcting code (ECC). Providing additional flexibility are up to two VITA 57- FMC sites for enhancing the board’s I/O and processing capabilities. The board also has the option of two front-panel QSFP+ cages for serial I/O.

 Stratix V GX and Stratix V GS FPGAs are optimized for high-performance, high-bandwidth applications with integrated 14.1 Gbps transceivers supporting backplanes and optical modules. The devices support 1.6 Tbps of serial switching capability, 2.5 TMACS of signal-processing performance, and 6 x72 DDR3 memory interfaces at 1,066 MHz. The Stratix V also provides PCI Express Gen3 x8 via a hard IP block and supports configuration by PCI Express using the existing PCI Express link in your application. The FPGA implements BittWare’s ATLANTiS FrameWork and provides seamless routing of all on-board data, I/O, and memory.

 The S5PE features up to two FMC (FPGA Mezzanine Card) sites, which provide high-performance SerDes and LVDS, along with clocks, I2C, JTAG, and reset connected to the Stratix V FPGA. The sites are based on the VITA 57 mezzanine standard for FPGA I/O, enabling designers to customize the S5PE to their individual needs with optional FMC I/O boards.

In addition to the FMC I/O, the S5PE provides a variety of interfaces for high-speed serial I/O as well as debug support. Two QSFP+ cages are optionally available on the front panel (in place of the front panel FMC interface), providing support for virtually any serial communication standard, including: Fibre Channel, 40 GigE, 10 GigE, SONET, CPRI, OBSAI, Serial RapidIO, and SerialLite. The eight QSFP+ SerDes channels are connected directly to the Stratix V FPGA.

The x8 PCIe interface provides 8 SerDes lanes to the Stratix V FPGA. USB 2.0, RS-232, and JTAG interfaces are available for debug and programming support.

 Complete Development Support

 The S5-PCIe is supported by the BittWorks II Toolkit, a collection of libraries and applications for BittWare’s signal processing boards featuring both Stratix IV and V FPGAs. Designed to make developing and debugging the applications for BittWare’s boards easy and efficient, the Toolkit provides the glue between the host application and the hardware. The Toolkit supports 32-bit, and 64-bit Windows and Linux platforms. Complementing the BittWorks Tool Suite is Altera’s Quartus® II software for application/code development.

Click here for technical details.

Click here for other FPGA Boards.

Measuring a very small 10×10x10cm, the smallest Cube from United Electronic Industries (UEI) provides a flexible, rugged and cost effective solution for addressing data acquisition, simulation, data logging and control applications. More importantly they have been designed with many end users in mind. They provide a number of benefits to research and educational institutions seeking to save costs by reusing components across projects and protecting their investment. Specific benefits include but are not limited to:
Software support
The cubes support a broad array of programming languages, development environments and both real-time and general purpose operating systems. Support is available for Labview, Simulink/Matlab, C/C++, Java and more.
Configurability
The cubes provide between 1 and 6 expansion slots that can be configured with any of around 30 I/O cards. Options include Analog IO, Digital IO, Serial, CAN, Avionics busses 1553 and ARINC429, WIFI/Cellular, GPS, IRIG and more.
Reusability
The ability to interchange IO cards between the various cube devices provides flexibility to reuse hardware modules between projects. A lab setup involving a number of chassis and IO layers can provide a useful platform for prototyping projects.
Long Term Availability (10 Years Minimum)
Unless you are specifically notified at the time of purchase, UEI guarantees the availability of all Cube series products for a minimum of 10 years.
Ruggedisation
-  Operating temperature: -40C to +70C (some Cubes to +85C)
-  Humidity: 0…95% non-condensing
-  Vibration: 10-500Hz, 5g
-  Shock: 50g, 3msec half sine - 30g, 11msec half sine
-  Altitude: 16,000 feet (some Cubes 70,000 ft)

More information on Data Acquisition Cubes.

More information on Data Logging Cubes.

More information on Control and Simulation Cubes.

1. UEI: Rugged Cubes for Data Acquisition, Logging, Simulation & Control

2. AdaCore and Dedicated Systems sponsor Final Year Project at the University of Adelaide

3. AdaCore: Major New Version of GNAT Programming Studio

4. EKF: CompactPCI GBit Ethernet Switch with M12 Connectors

5. Wind River: Software Platform for Medical Devices complete with Compliance Documentation

6. UEI: DNA-CAR-550 PCIexpress Mini Card module Carrier for UEI Cubes

7. BittWare: Anemone Floating Point Co-Processor for FPGAs now available on AA-FMC (VITA-57) Board

1. BittWare announces Rapid Development Environment for 3U VPX Systems
2. AdaCore and Altran Praxis Release SPARK Pro 10
     Increased flexibility and functionality for high-assurance systems
3. Elma System Chassis for VME64x, CPCI, VXS and VPX
     Highest quality - Aggressive price - Fast delivery
4. EKF 3U CPCI : PCI Express® Mini Card & GSM-R (Railway) Module Wireless Technologies Carrier Board
5. RTI: Upcoming DDS Presentations: IEEE / Adelaide University and iSSEC Conference Sydney
6. UEI: Flight and in-vehicle Data Logging / Recording
7. Wind River Launches Certified EAL4+ Embedded Linux Platform
8. Ballard: AB2-ES Rugged Ethernet Switch Box