I-Corps: Commercialization of a Tool Chain for Static Program Analysis

Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge LA

Investigators

Abstract

Researchers intend to further develop a static program analysis tool chain. The analysis chain is comprised of the following tools: - A static analyzer for MATLAB models - A static analyzer of Android programs - A static analyzer for detecting program termination The proposed effort may lead to wider availability of a high performance static analysis toolkit for embedded software that outperforms existing tools in (1) being able to uncover software flaws resulting from deep logical errors, (2) having lesser percentage of false positives, (3) providing on-demand property-specific checkers, (4) bridging the gaps between the various abstraction levels in the software design cycle - from requirements (application-dependent checking) all the way down to code (application independent checking), and (5) providing correctness proofs for successfully checked code. If successful, the proposed effort can lead to wider acceptance of static program analysis tools in the mainstream embedded systems programming community. It could lead to better understanding of usability issues concerning static program analysis tools among less mathematically sophisticated users. The wider deployment of high-performance static program analysis tools as a result of the proposed effort can lead to development of safer and more secure embedded systems. It may lead to close interaction between academia and industry.