8Cage

Abstract

Matlab Simulink models, mainly used for the specification of continuous embedded systems, employ a data flow-driven notation well understood by engineers. This notation abstracts from the underlying computational model, hiding run time failures such as over-/underflows and divisions by zero. They are often detected late in the development process by the use of static analysis tools on the completely developed system. The responsible underlying faults are sometimes attributable to a single operation in a model. 8Cage is an automated test case generator for the early detection of such single operation related faults. It is configurable to detect these faults and runs automatically in the background. It tries to find potentially failure-causing operations and generates a test case to gather evidence for an actual fault. 8Cage is usable by developing/testing engineers with knowledge of Matlab. It does not require an expert to perform result validation or fault localization.

Generalized observational slicing for tree-represented modelling languages

“…It turns out that each scenario generates additional warnings that indicate failures beyond those considered by Holling et al [26]. In each scenario there are three such warnings.…”

“…This example was used to illustrate their technique for test-case generation (the 8Cage model described in Table 2). Their algorithm is able to construct test cases that induce particular faults at selected blocks in a Simulink model (the values for the specific test cases used are described in a video accompanying their paper [26]). They identify three faults in the model, an absolute value overflow, a division overflow, and a threshold violation.…”

“…Therefore, we also applied XML-ORBS with a relaxed matching relation for each of the nine individual failures. The relaxed matching relation allows Table 1: Slice size and percent reduction for the slices of the system studied by Holling et al [27] using XML-ORBS with the test cases produced by 8Cage [26]. the slice to generate fewer warnings but does not permit additional warnings.…”

“…This accounts for the handful of isolated blocks seen in the figure. In addition, it is also visually evident that the Division Overflow Slice (1) Threshold Violation Slice (1) Figure 2: Slices for the example system of Holling et al [27] using test cases generated by 8Cage [26].…”

Automated Test Data Generation for Embedded System Models Using Combinatorial Testing

“…However, the system failures can cause or contribute to serious accidents that result in death, injury, significant environmental damage, or major financial loss. Therefore, quality assurance for these types of embedded systems has attracted much attention and investment from both academic research and industry communities [2,5,7,8,9,10,12,13,14]. There are many international standards for quality and security of embedded systems such as ISO 26262, IEC 61508, EN-50128, etc.…”