LDRA, previously known as the Liverpool Data Research Associates, is a privately held company producing software analysis, testing, and requirements traceability tools for the public and private sectors. It is involved static and

dynamic Dynamics (from Greek δυναμικός ''dynamikos'' "powerful", from δύναμις ''dynamis'' "power") or dynamic may refer to: Physics and engineering * Dynamics (mechanics), the study of forces and their effect on motion Brands and enter ...

software analysis.

History

''Liverpool Data Research Associates'' was founded in 1975 by Professor

Michael Hennell Professor Michael A. Hennell (born 9 September 1940) is a British computer scientist who has made leading contributions in the field of software testing. Michael Hennell was a Professor of Mathematical Sciences, University of Liverpool in Engla ...

to commercialize a software test-bed created to perform quality assessments on the mathematical libraries on which his

nuclear physics Nuclear physics is the field of physics that studies atomic nuclei and their constituents and interactions, in addition to the study of other forms of nuclear matter. Nuclear physics should not be confused with atomic physics, which studies th ...

research at the

University of Liverpool The University of Liverpool (abbreviated UOL) is a Public university, public research university in Liverpool, England. Founded in 1881 as University College Liverpool, Victoria University (United Kingdom), Victoria University, it received Ro ...

depended.M. A. Hennell, ''An experimental test bed for numerical software. . '', The Computer Journal 21(4):333--336, @nov, 1978M. A. Hennell and D. Hedley, ''An experimental testbed for numerical software. . '', The Computer Journal 22(1):53--56, @feb, 1979 This research included the invention of the

Linear Code Sequence and Jump Linear code sequence and jump (LCSAJ), in the broad sense, is a software analysis method used to identify structural units in code under test. Its primary use is with dynamic software analysis to help answer the question "How much testing is enoug ...

(LCSAJ) software analysis method.M.A. Hennell, M.R.Woodward and D.Hedley, "On program analysis", Information Processing Letters, 5(5), pp. 136 – 140, 1976

Products

LDRA tool suite

LDRA tool suite is a proprietary software analysis tool providing

static code analysis In computer science, static program analysis (also known as static analysis or static simulation) is the analysis of computer programs performed without executing them, in contrast with dynamic program analysis, which is performed on programs duri ...

, and also provides

code coverage In software engineering, code coverage, also called test coverage, is a percentage measure of the degree to which the source code of a program is executed when a particular test suite is run. A program with high code coverage has more of its ...

analysis, code, quality, and design reviews. It is a commercial implementation of the software test-bed created by Hennell as part of his university research. It is used primarily where software is required to be reliable, rugged, and as error free as possible, such as in safety critical aerospace electronics (or

Avionics Avionics (a portmanteau of ''aviation'' and ''electronics'') are the Electronics, electronic systems used on aircraft. Avionic systems include communications, Air navigation, navigation, the display and management of multiple systems, and the ...

). It has also been used in the detection and removal of security vulnerabilities. LDRA tool suite is an integrated suite of software tools from LDRA, including: *TBrun — an automated

unit testing Unit testing, component or module testing, is a form of software testing by which isolated source code is tested to validate expected behavior. Unit testing describes tests that are run at the unit-level to contrast testing at the Integration ...

tool *TBmanager — a requirements traceability tool *TBevolve — supports software baseline management *TBsafe — supports certification objectives:

DO-178C DO-178C, Software Considerations in Airborne Systems and Equipment Certification is the primary document by which the certification authorities such as Federal Aviation Administration, FAA, European Aviation Safety Agency, EASA and Transport Can ...

, Def Stan 00-55,

IEC 61508 IEC 61508 is an international standard published by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) consisting of methods on how to apply, design, deploy and maintain automatic protection systems called safety-related systems. It is titled '' ...

*TBpublish — for publishing HTML indexes *TBaudit — for

Microsoft Word Microsoft Word is a word processor program, word processing program developed by Microsoft. It was first released on October 25, 1983, under the name Multi-Tool Word for Xenix systems. Subsequent versions were later written for several other platf ...

reports *LDRAcover — coverage tool *LDRArules — standards compliance *TBmisra — LDRArules add-on to apply

MISRA C MISRA C is a set of software development guidelines for the C (programming language), C programming language developed by Motor Industry Software Reliability Association, The MISRA Consortium. Its aims are to facilitate code safety, Computer secur ...

and other related or similar safety and security rulesets *Tool Qualification Support Packages — for safety- and security-critical workflows, e.g., DO-178C

LDRA Testbed

LDRA Testbed was a set of core static and

analysis engines for both host and embedded software. LDRA Testbed is made by

Liverpool Data Research Associates LDRA, previously known as the Liverpool Data Research Associates, is a privately held company producing software analysis, testing, and requirements traceability tools for the public and private sectors. It is involved static and dynamic softw ...

(LDRA). LDRA Testbed provides the means to enforce compliance with coding standards such as

MISRA Misra or Mishra may refer to: * Motor Industry Software Reliability Association * MISRA C, a software development standard for the C programming language * Misra', half of a bayt in Arabic, Persian, Turkic and Urdu poetry * Mishra or Misra, an ...

, JSF++ AV,

CERT C The SEI CERT Coding Standards are software coding standards developed by the CERT Coordination Center to improve the safety, reliability, and security of software systems. Individual standards are offered for C, C++, Java, Android OS, and Perl. ...

, CWE and provides visibility of software flaws that might typically pass through the standard build and test process to become latent problems. In addition, test effectiveness feedback is provided through structural coverage analysis reporting facilities, which support the requirements of the

DO-178B DO-178B, Software Considerations in Airborne Systems and Equipment Certification is a guideline dealing with the safety of safety-critical software used in certain airborne systems. It was jointly developed by the safety-critical working group R ...

standard up to and including Level A. LDRA Testbed automatically checks adherence to programming standards with static analysis. LDRA Testbed reports violations of the chosen set of standards in both textual reports and as annotations to graphical displays. It includes a dynamic coverage analysis module. LDRA Testbed has a software quality metrics breakdown (e.g. Halstead complexity,

cyclomatic complexity Cyclomatic complexity is a software metric used to indicate the complexity of a program. It is a quantitative measure of the number of linearly independent paths through a program's source code. It was developed by Thomas J. McCabe, Sr. in 1976. ...

, Knots metric) from static analysis. Some companies using LDRA products include

MathWorks The MathWorks, Inc. is an American privately held corporation that specializes in mathematical computing software. Its major products include MATLAB and Simulink, which support data analysis and simulation. History MATLAB was created in the 1 ...

, which has integrated its

Simulink Simulink is a MATLAB-based graphical programming environment for modeling, simulating and analyzing multidomain dynamical systems. Its primary interface is a graphical block diagramming tool and a customizable set of block libraries. It offe ...

tools, as well as IBM Rational Rose and Wind River.

FAA/EASA verification

In March 2012, LDRA announced a fully compliant FAA/

EASA The European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) is an agency of the European Commission with responsibility for civil aviation safety in the European Union. It carries out certification, regulation and standardisation and also performs inve ...

certification solution to provide support and guide certification applicants through a wide range of standards including: *

( B), DO-278A,

DO-254 RTCA DO-254 / EUROCAE ED-80, Design Assurance Guidance for Airborne Electronic Hardware is a document providing guidance for the development of airborne electronic hardware, published by RTCA, Incorporated and EUROCAE. Initially released in 20 ...

IEC 62304 IEC 62304 – medical device software – software life cycle processes is an international standard published by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). The standard specifies life cycle requirements for the development of medical ...

ISO 26262 ISO 26262, titled "Road vehicles – Functional safety", is an international standard for functional safety of electrical and/or electronic systems that are installed in serial production road vehicles (excluding mopeds), defined by the Intern ...

*EN 50128 *IEC 60880

Formula One launch control controversy

Following the

1994 San Marino Grand Prix The 1994 San Marino Grand Prix (formally the 14º Gran Premio di San Marino) was a Formula One motor race held on 1 May 1994 at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, located in Imola, Italy. It was the third race of the 1994 Formula One World Cha ...

, a

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

race, the

Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA; ) is an international organisation with two primary functions surrounding use of the automobile. Its mobility division advocacy, advocates the interests of motoring organisations, the automot ...

(FIA) hired LDRA to investigate allegations of cheating. These involved driving aids that had been prohibited at the start of the year, such as 

traction control A traction control system (TCS), is typically (but not necessarily) a secondary function of the electronic stability control (ESC) on production motor vehicles, designed to prevent loss of traction (i.e., wheelspin) of the driven road wheels. TCS ...

 and  launch control. The top three cars of 

Michael Schumacher Michael Schumacher (; born 3 January 1969) is a German former racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to and from to . Schumacher won a record-setting seven Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles, tied by Lewis Hamilton in ...

( Benetton), 

Nicola Larini Nicola Larini (born 19 March 1964) is an Italian former racing driver, who competed in Formula One between and . In touring car racing, Larini won the Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft in 1993 Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft, 1993 and the I ...

(

Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello. Founded in 1939 by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988), the company built Auto Avio Costruzioni 815, its first car in 1940, adopted its current name in 1945, and be ...

) and 

Mika Häkkinen Mika Pauli Häkkinen (; born 28 September 1968) is a Finnish former racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Nicknamed "the Flying Finn", Häkkinen won two Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles, which he won in and with M ...

 (

McLaren McLaren Racing Limited ( ) is a British auto racing, motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. The team is a subsidiary of the McLaren Group, which owns a majority of the team. McLaren is best known a ...

) were investigated and their teams were asked to surrender their systems' source code to the company. Ferrari complied but Benetton and McLaren refused, citing copyright reasons. After being fined $100,000 by the FIA, both teams complied eight days after the race. LDRA found that McLaren were running a program that permitted  automatic gearshifts but the car was declared legal. The winning Benetton-Ford car was found to have launch control software in its engine management computer, designed to regulate engine speed and prevent wheel spin. Benetton admitted its presence but asserted that it wasn’t used during the race, asserting it was added for testing and left there due to workload pressures. LDRA concluded that the software likely wasn't used during the Grand Prix, leading the FIA to take no action against Benetton or Schumacher. The incident underscored concerns about prohibited software in Formula 1 and the challenges of enforcing regulations in the evolving landscape of engine management technology.

Industry standards

LDRA is a contributor to several industry standards, including

,''LDRA Certification Services team lead to be formally recognized in Washington, D.C. as a key member of the RTCA SC-205 Committee.'' 30 April 2012 01:00 PM Eastern Time (http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20120430005629/en/RTCA-Honors-LCS-Team-Lead-Todd-R.)

''MISRA - The Motor Industry Software Reliability Association - MISRA C'', http://www.misra-c2.com/ and MISRA C++.''MISRA - The Motor Industry Software Reliability Association - MISRA C ++'', http://www.misra-cpp.com/ Additionally, LDRA is an Industry Partner for the

Secure Coding Standard''CERT C Secure Coding Standard, The'', Robert C. Seacord, 14 Oct 2008, Addison-Wesley Professional, . produced by the Computer Emergency Response Team at

Carnegie Mellon Carnegie may refer to: People *Carnegie (surname), including a list of people with the name **Andrew Carnegie, Scottish-American industrialist and philanthropist * Clan Carnegie, a lowland Scottish clan Institutions Named for Andrew Carnegie * ...

Software Engineering Institute Software Engineering Institute (SEI) is a Federally funded research and development centers, federally funded research and development center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1984, the institute is now sponsored by the Uni ...

. In September 2012, the United States arm of LDRA joined

The Open Group The Open Group is a global consortium that seeks to "enable the achievement of business objectives" by developing " open, vendor-neutral technology standards and certifications." It has 900+ member organizations and provides a number of services ...

Future Airborne Capability Environment The Open Group Future Airborne Capability Environment (FACE Consortium) was formed in 2010 to define an open avionics environment for all military airborne platform types. Today, it is a real-time software-focused professional group made up of indu ...

(FACE) Consortium as a Verification Authority.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:LDRA Privately held companies of the United Kingdom Science and technology in Merseyside Software companies of the United Kingdom University of Liverpool Companies based in Wirral