As the amount of software embedded within intelligent devices continues to increase, the challenge of integrating, verifying, and validating it also expands. The system integration challenge is multiplied when complex new technologies are employed in the device, leading to complex run-time defects. Typically, traditional debuggers are too intrusive to be used on production software in the lab, thereby severely limiting developer access to device internals for root-cause diagnostics.
The elimination of defects is often made even more difficult when teams are geographically distributed across the globe. Once a defect is discovered in a remote lab, development engineers are challenged to isolate it or reproduce it and repair it then resubmit the software for test and validation. This is often a time-consuming, unpredictable cycle that uses essential resources. Current methods require lengthy debug, code, build, reload, and test steps that together limit diagnostic efficiencies and delay time-to-market.
A New Approach to Run-Time Diagnostics
The Wind River Test Diagnostics system provides a unique approach to addressing the complex run-time defects that surface during system integration and test. It is a scalable system that links product development teams in an intelligent, collaborative workflow so they can efficiently validate embedded devices and rapidly resolve issues. The product is designed to manage multiple devices at multiple lab locations, maximizing resource utilization and streamlining the diagnostics process.
Wind River Test Diagnostics leverages Wind River sensorpoints, a minimally intrusive, dynamic instrumentation technology, to probe the run-time system for forensic data, input or read run-time data values, or insert patch code, all without stopping, reloading, or rebooting the device. A server-based, workgroup solution, it provides a collaboration platform and diagnostic information repository that can be shared across distributed teams. It also includes an integrated Virtual Lab Manager for network-based target management that enables optimal use of lab device assets by embedded development teams.
Wind River Test Diagnostics is a functional subset of the full featured Wind River Test Management collaborative test automation and diagnostics system.
Higher-Quality Devices in Less Time and Cost
Wind River Test Diagnostics enables development teams to adopt a more repeatable process for diagnosing problems with embedded systems, detecting bugs earlier, and correcting faults as much as 10 times faster. It provides unprecedented visibility into device internals at run-time for developers. The system streamlines workflow and mitigates risks and delays so products can get to market faster at lower cost. It enables new white box techniques that can help exercise and validate hard-to-achieve device states, accelerating system validation and improving quality.
Optimized Diagnostic Time for Faster Time-to-Resolution
Wind River Test Diagnostics eliminates the delays caused by symptom reporting, hit-or-miss fault isolation, and long rebuild cycles. It offers dynamic instrumentation and patching technology that can be deployed without a debugger to gather run-time data. When integration teams detect defects they can dynamically deploy diagnostics probes in devices without stopping them. Developers can access resulting fault logs to quickly identify and debug defects in their own environments. When the problem is fixed, software patches can be "hitlessly" applied to running lab devices for validation, dramatically accelerating the defect resolution cycle.
More Effective Resource Management
Wind River Test Diagnostics lets distributed teams work more effectively. Users can create and manage repositories of reusable diagnostics assets and patches and share them across distributed teams throughout the product life cycle. Its Virtual Lab Manager allows distributed target device management and scheduling. It allows management of device utilization to help prevent team inefficiencies when waiting for target hardware and helps save money by minimizing underutilized capital equipment.
