Static Analysis

Static analysis is a method of evaluating software without executing the program. It involves automatically scanning the source code, byte code, or binaries before the software is run to evaluate its structure, syntax, and logic.

Static analysis is relevant for functional safety because it detects systematic software faults early and supports compliance with safety standards such as ISO 26262 and IEC 61508.

Functional safety standards emphasize systematic fault avoidance and fault detection throughout the software lifecycle. Static analysis contributes to these objectives by addressing classes of errors that are known to cause hazardous behavior in safety-related systems.

Standards such as IEC 61508-3 and ISO 26262-6 explicitly recommend or require static analysis techniques as part of software verification. DO-178C similarly recognizes static analysis as a means to supplement testing, particularly where full structural coverage is difficult to achieve by execution alone.

Statics analysis can detect error patterns in a very early stage of development that might be otherwise overlooked even when there are tests. From a management perspective it is more effective to detect errors earlier than later.

Static analysis has limitations because it relies on abstractions and configurations that cannot prove the absence of all software defects.

Advanced considerations include managing false positives, ensuring tool configuration consistency, and maintaining traceability between analysis results and safety requirements. For high-integrity systems, it is also important to define which static analysis results are mandatory to resolve and which may be justified as acceptable deviations.

Static analysis should therefore be viewed as one element of a layered verification strategy. Its role and limitations must be explicitly addressed in the software development plan and, where applicable, in the tool qualification rationale.

Validas automates the complex process of verifying static analysis frameworks through their Qualification Kits (QKits) and their model-based platform, COSAFE. Rather than forcing safety managers to manually build verification documentation, Validas provides kits that assess the tool's capabilities, map out potential software bugs, and define concrete mitigations.

• ISO 26262 and IEC 61508 Functional Safety Overview (NXP Community)

• ISO 26262 – Road Vehicles – Functional Safety