RAPITA

iSYSTEM AG and Rapita Systems Ltd., based in York/UK, are collaborating. The connection between their two products allows obtaining accurate information about the longest period of time software can take to run termed the worst-case execution time of an embedded real-time application. This is essential to ensure that time constraints are met and that real-time systems operate correctly.

RapiTime from Rapita Systems is an automated performance measurement and timing analysis tool, which provides a solution to the problem of obtaining detailed execution time information about complex systems implemented in C or Ada. RapiTime can automatically instrument the code at various levels of abstraction from function or sub-program boundaries down to the sub-paths between individual decision points. The instrumented software is then executed on the embedded target and subject to extensive testing. During testing, when each instrumentation point is executed, its identifier and a timestamp are captured in a trace of the software’s execution. RapiTime processes the trace data obtained during testing and combines it with structural information derived from source code analysis. The result is a wealth of detailed timing information about the system.

Trace date is obtained by using an iSYSTEM on-chip debugger with trace. iSYSTEM tools are a proven method of capturing the timing trace data required by RapiTime. They provide simple and effective means of capturing timing trace data for use by RapiTime. This solution minimises measurement overheads by supporting minimal instrumentation points (typically a single instruction) via the use of external time-stamping.