a³ 25.04 release notes

An HTML version of these notes is available at
absint.com/releasenotes/a3/25.04



New targets

aiT for C28x now supports TMS320F28377D.


TimingProfiler

TimingProfiler now uses generic processor models 
for all of the supported ISAs.

This results in faster analyses across the board
and enables us to introduce additional options
to further reduce the memory consumption.

This change has no effect on aiT WCET Analyzers,
which rely on non-generic models.


Transport layer security

If you are upgrading your client from a release older than 23.10, 
make sure that your License Manager has been upgraded as well. 
This is necessary due to the TLS-encrypted connection between 
the client and the License Manager that was first introduced 
in release 23.10.


Linux support

Support for RHEL 7 is now deprecated. In the near future, 
the Linux version will require at least RHEL 9 (or compatible).


Improved graphs

* Improved visualization of irreducible-loop exits.

* Improved handling of trampoline routines.

* Improved visualization of flow coverage.

* Basic blocks with multiple End nodes now let you easily navigate 
  from each End node to the corresponding target block.


Improved search

* In the Sections view, the search now lets you find a hex sequence 
  even if it happens to be broken up by a line end.

* In the Symbols view, the search is now able to yield 
  all potential paths through union objects.

* In the Graph view, searching for accessed addresses and data ranges 
  has been improved, with a new button to toggle between search modes.


Improved stats

* Per-analysis object size statistics now take into account 
  additional entry points, e.g. specified via "additional start" annotations.
    
* Statistics for additional-start analyses that have finished 
  can now be already accessed while analyses for the remaining 
  additional starts are still running.


Other GUI improvements

* Improved visualization of routine starts in Disassembly view.

* The context-menu option "Show in call graph" now indicates 
  whether annotation targets are infeasible.
    
* Value analysis results for a given instruction now offer 
  two additional buttons for easily navigating to the results 
  for the preceding and succeeding instruction in the basic block.

* Improved character encoding in all the integrated editors.


Annotations

* evalC expressions now support C-style casts.

* Improved handling of AIS files in analysis configurations.


Decoding

The pattern-based approach of the control-flow reconstruction 
has been re-worked and optimized.


DWARF

* Improved extraction of type information.

* Improved EDG symbol name demangling.

* Improved handling of bit field members, type declarations,
  and template value parameters,


Value analysis

* Improved precision of the type domain.

* Improved evaluation of the mem functor.


CSV export

Commas used as thousands separators are now omitted 
when exporting analysis results in CSV format.


ARM

* Improved automatic resolution of computer calls.


C28x

* Support for C++ virtual member function calls.


PowerPC

* Improved automatic switch table decoding.


TriCore

* Improved handling of bit extraction instructions in the value analysis.

* Improved stability of the decoder.


TimeWeaver

* Introduced trace-based guessing of dymanic linking base addresses.

* Improved tail call handling.


TraceVisualizer

* Additional starts can be used to determine task info
  to extract from the input traces.

* Improved interrupt handling.


Qualification Support Kits

* Improved driver program with a re-designed GUI.

* The API has been extended such that the parameter list 
  for the evaluation-run functions "toolRunNames" and "evaluate" 
  now includes the following information:

    core feature
    architecture
    compiler
    instruction set

  This allows for a more fine-grained differentiation 
  and enables implementation of cross-feature evaluation runs. 

* New board-specific QSKs:

  * aiT for AURIX TC375
  * aiT for TMS320F28377D

* New compiler-specific QSKs:

  * aiT for C28x with TI 21.6.0.lts
  * StackAnalyzer for ARM with LLVM 10.0.1.1 Helix 23.06
  * StackAnalyzer for PowerPC with GCC 4.3.3.1a VxWorks 653-3-sp4.1
  * StackAnalyzer for PowerPC with CodeWarrior 10.6
  * StackAnalyzer for PowerPC with Diab 5.2.1 VxWorks 5.5.1 32-bit
  * StackAnalyzer for PowerPC with GCC 4.2.0

  
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Last updated on 25 April 2025 by alex@absint.com. Copyright 2025 AbsInt.
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An HTML version of these release notes is available at
absint.com/releasenotes/a3/25.04