Testing Embedded Systems For Safety And Quality Performance

By Author: Deborah Smith
Total Articles: 1444
Comment this article

Some devices are such a must especially to daily existence of men. There is the mobile phones that most cannot live without, internet router and big screen home television. These also include the equipments and devices used in the transportation, medical and aviation industry like the air traffic control monitoring. Each of these devices or equipment has "intelligence" which we refer to as the embedded systems. Testing embedded systems is a process that the device has to go through in order to ensure quality and security of the system to avoid critical failures.

Both air and land transportation use embedded systems to protect it from hacking and make the craft more reliable. Testing embedded systems also serve to keep the high quality and optimum performance of various devices and equipments. In transportation, the embedded systems maximize efficiency and controls pollution. Another testing tool used is functional testing, this is the type of black box testing that determines the needs and functions of the software and what is expected from it. This evaluation is done to ensure that the system meets any requirements ...
... specified. The test also verifies that the system is functioning correctly and it will respond to certain conditions in accordance to its specifications.

If you'd take a look around you, almost all the technologies and electronic devices around you have this embedded systems. Embedded systems are at the heart of every modern technology, from a simple digital watch to traffic lights, air control and even nuclear power plants. Testing embedded systems in these kind of industries are extremely important the slightest error could result to grave ends. For critical embedded systems that requires thoroughness for safety, the testing conducted is mc/dc testing.

Mc/dc testing is modified condition/decision coverage and is needed for testing software for Level A. This testing includes an exact process to make sure that the Level A equipment is safe since a failure in the system will result in a catastrophic failure of the whole system. Testing safety critical systems are also applied to safety critical software where the failure of the system may cause injury or death to human beings. The requirements for testing safety critical conditions are stringent so that you can make the testing thorough.

Embvue is a systems and software engineering company specializing in the provision of products and services for customers developing complex, real time, embedded systems. Embvue's Generator product is specifically designed for testing embedded systems by automating the generator of test cases directly from the requirements for functional testing.