Test

Abstract

The purpose of testing is to make sure that a manufactured embedded system behaves as intended. Testing can be done during or after the fabrication (fabrication testing) and also after the system has been delivered to the customer (field testing). Testing of embedded systems needs special attention for several reasons:

• ▪ Embedded/cyber-physical systems integrated into a physical environment may be safety-critical. Therefore, their malfunctioning can be much more dangerous than, say, the malfunctioning of office equipment. As a result, expectations for the product quality are higher than for non-safety critical systems.

• ▪ Testing of timing-critical systems has to validate the correct timing behavior. This means that just testing the functional behavior is not sufficient.

• ▪ Testing embedded/cyber-physical systems in their real environment may be dangerous. For example, testing control software in a nuclear power plant can be a source of serious, far-reaching problems.