Test Generation for Embedded Executables via Concolic Execution in a Real Environment

Abstract

Traditional software testing methods are not effective for testing embedded software thoroughly due to the fact that generating effective test inputs to cover all code is extremely difficult. In this work, we propose an automatic method to generate test inputs for embedded executables which is based on concolic execution. The core idea of our method is to divide concolic execution into symbolic execution on hosts, and concrete execution on targets, so considerable development work can be saved. Our method overcomes the limitations of the software and hardware abilities of embedded systems by restricting heavy-weight work on resourceful hosts. One feature of our method is that it targets executables, so the source of tested software is not needed. Another feature is that tested programs run in a real environment rather than in a simulator, so accurate run-time information can be acquired. Symbolic execution and concrete execution are coordinated by cross-debugging functions. Then we implement our method on Wind River VxWorks. Experiments show that our method achieves high code coverage with acceptable speed.