LDRA Gains TÜV SÜD Certification

TÜV SÜD test results showed that the LDRA tool suite fulfills the requirements for support tools according to these international industry standards. The certification gives customers an additional level of assurance that the LDRA tool suite will enable their software to comply with IEC 61508, ISO 26262, and EN 50128.

TÜV SÜD Certification—LDRA’s Latest Achievement in a 40-Year Commitment to Software Quality

TÜV SÜD certification marks yet another certification achievement for LDRA. As long ago as 1993, LDRA completed ISO 9000 compliance, adding ISO 9001:2008 compliance more recently. For more than 40 years, LDRA has been directly involved in various safety standards, actively chairing standards committees and providing technical expertise in working committees. LDRA tools drive the software quality market by automating code analysis and testing for safety-, mission-, security-, and business-critical systems that must comply with safety standards and coding rules for a broad range of standards, including EN-12C/DO-178B/C, IEC 61508, ISO 26262, IEC 62304, EN 50128, and MISRA C:2012.

“Adherence to the latest functional safety standards and industry certifications is increasingly critical to safety-critical markets,” stated Günter Greil, Unit Manager Generic Safety Systems at TÜV SÜD Rail GmbH. “We have successfully assessed the LDRA tool suite against the ISO 26262, IEC 61508, and EN 50128 standards.”

LDRA Tools Deliver Benefits of Software Compliance

“When it comes to safety-critical systems, software quality not only reduces the risk of loss of life or serious injury, but also significantly reduces the cost of development, length of time needed for debugging, and potential for litigation while improving product maintainability and upgradeability,” noted Ian Hennell, LDRA Operations Director. “Our TÜV SÜD certification assures clients that they can trust the LDRA tool suite to properly guide them through the certification process, correctly analyse their software, and verify that full compliance has been achieved.”

Functional safety standards—IEC 61508, EN 50128, and ISO 26262—take into account the increasing use of tools for software application development and explicitly require the development tools to be qualified. TÜV SÜD Rail GmbH examined the quality and compliance of the software development processes and Functional Safety Management of the LDRA tool suite to the given standards. TÜV SÜD assessed the suitability of the LDRA tool suite and associated user documentation as capable of supporting developers in safety-critical industries to achieve certification.

The TÜV SÜD certification process reviews and confirms:

• Functional safety

     • Tool development lifecycle

     • Quality assurance measures

• Modification, configuration, and release management

• Verification and validation

• Customer support and bug tracking

• Safety information in the product documentation

• Ongoing surveillance in development process and change management

• Certification management using the LDRA Quality Management System

Hennell added, “Because so many of the industry standards follow the same guidelines for software development as those outlined by IEC 61508, the impact of this verification qualifies the LDRA tool suite for several other industry sectors as well. Medical, in particular, advises applicants to use IEC 61508 as a source of methods, tools, and techniques that can be implemented to fulfill the requirements of IEC 62304.”