What’s a Validation Suite?

A Validation Suite is a test suite designed to meet the requirement for certification. It consists of a collection of test cases that will be used to test a software program to show that it has performs a certain set of activities predictably and reliably. Validation Suites are available for the µC/OS-II^® and µC/OS-III^® real time operating system (RTOS) kernels.

A Validation Suite often contains detailed instructions or goals for each collection of test cases, and information on the system configuration to be used during testing. These test cases may also include any necessary prerequisite states or steps, and descriptions of the tests. The Validation Suite for µC/OS-II^® is in excess of 3000 pages.

Micrium Coverage

• Avionics – DO-178C & ED-109A Level A for flight control systems
• Medical – IEC 62304 Class C, and FDA/CDRH 510K/PMA Class III software used in medical devices
• Industrial Controls – IEC 61508 SIL 3 software used in industrial automation and control systems
• Rail Transportation – CENELEC EN-50128 SIL 4 for software used in railway systems and equipment

Micrium Product	Safety Standard Met
µC/OS-II	EN50128 / IEC 61508 SIL 2 IEC 61508 SIL 3 FDA 510(k) Medical Class II FDA 510(k) Medical Class III IEC 62304 Class C DO-178B Level A DO-178B Level B DO-178B Level C DO-178B Level D DO-178C Level C DO278 AL1
µC/TimeSpaceOS	IEC 61508 SIL 2 DO-178B Level A DO-178B Level B DO-178B Level C

Obtaining Software Certification

To obtain certification for your product, you must:

• Produce a Validation Suite that meets the requirements of the certification standard for your product. This includes the hardware and tools used, and the source code of all the software.
• Submit the Validation Suite to the certification authority.

What's in a Validation Suite?

For example, the following is a list of Validation Suite deliverables required for FDA 510(k) certification, which is for medical devices:

Document Title	Type
Safety Requirements Specification	Document
Software Safety Validation Plan	Document
Software Development Plan	Document
Software Verification Plan	Document
Software Configuration Management Plan	Document
Software Quality Assurance Plan	Document
Software Requirements Standards	Document
Software Design Standards	Document
Software Code Standards	Document
Software Requirements Data	Document
Software Design Description	Document
Source Code	Software
Executable Object Code	Software
Software Verification Cases and Procedures	Document
Software Verification Results	Records
Software Life Cycle Environment Configuration Index	Document
Software Configuration Index	Document
Problem Reports	Records
Software Configuration Management Records	Records
Software Quality Assurance Records	Records
Software Accomplishment Summary	Document
Safety Manual	Document

Certification Consulting

Consultation is usually required to produce the necessary documentation for chip-specific code such as kernel ports, and also for the tool chain used in the creation of the Validation Suite. This process can take from six months to a few years depending on the complexity of the application.

Only the complete application and final hardware is certified; it is not possible to certify sub-modules.

A Validation Suite is required for embedded software components that are included in a certified end-product. Validation Suites for components are created using the same process as for a complete product, except that components themselves cannot be certified, only end-products. Validation Suites for embedded software components are developed in order to make the embedded software component “certifiable.”

The Validation Suites are then used as a part of the end-product certification process. Many Micrium embedded software components have Validation Suites that have been used to certify end-products (see the list below).

Micrium Coverage

Micrium Product	Safety Standard Met
µC/OS-II	EN50128 / IEC 61508 SIL 2 IEC 61508 SIL 3 FDA 510(k) Medical Class II FDA 510(k) Medical Class III IEC 62304 Class C DO-178B Level A DO-178B Level B DO-178B Level C DO-178B Level D DO-178C Level C DO278 AL1
µC/TimeSpaceOS	IEC 61508 SIL 2 DO-178B Level A DO-178B Level B DO-178B Level C

Processors

Manufacturer	Family	Core
Aeroflex Gaisler	LEON3*	LEON3
Analog Devices	Sharc	-
Analog Devices	Blackfin	-
Atmel	All	ARM 7
Atmel	All	ARM 9
Atmel	All	Cortex M3
Freescale	i.MX53	Cortex A8
Freescale	Kinetis L series	Cortex M0+
Freescale	Kinetis E series	Cortex M0+
Freescale	Kinetis M series	Cortex M0+
Freescale	Kinetis W series	Cortex M0+
Freescale	Kinetis K series(All)	Cortex M4
Freescale	MPC55xx	e200 core
Freescale	MPC56xx	e200 core
Freescale	MPC512x	e300 core
Freescale	MPC52xx	e300 core
Freescale	MPC83xx	e300 core
Freescale	MPC82xx	G2 core
Freescale	MPC5xx	-
STMicro	STR9 Family	ARM9E
STMicro	STM32 F0 Series	Cortex-M0
STMicro	STM32 L0 Series	Cortex-M0+
STMicro	STM32 L1 Series	Cortex-M3
STMicro	STM32 F1 Series	Cortex-M3
STMicro	STM32 F2 Series	Cortex-M3
TI	C28xx	C28 DSP
TI	F28M3x MCUs	C28x, Cortex-M3
TI	C5xxx	C55 DSP
TI	C6xxx	C6X DSP
TI	Hercules TMS470M	Cortex-M3
TI	Tiva C Series	Cortex-M4
TI	Hercules RM4	Cortex-R4
TI	Hercules TMS570	Cortex-R5

Tools/Compilers

Toolsets
ADI Visual DSP++
ARM ADS
CodeWarrior
CrossCore Embedded Compiler
GNU/GCC
Green Hills Multi
IAR EWARM, ARM
Keil uVision
TI CCS (ARM/DSP)
Wind River Compiler