Why Choose TESSY over Cantata and Polyspace: Tool-Qualified MC/DC, TriCore Support, and AUTOSAR SWC Testing

Why Choose TESSY over Cantata and Polyspace

Indian embedded teams sometimes group Razorcat TESSY, QA Systems Cantata, and MathWorks Polyspace into the same evaluation shortlist. While all three are used in safety-critical development, they serve different purposes and have different architectural strengths. Understanding these differences prevents teams from comparing tools that solve fundamentally different problems.

What Each Tool Does

TESSY (Razorcat Development GmbH) is a dynamic unit and integration testing tool for embedded C/C++. It automates test driver generation, stub creation, and interface analysis. It measures MC/DC and MCC coverage. Razorcat states that TESSY is qualified for safety-related software development according to IEC 61508, IEC 62304, ISO 26262 and EN 50128. DO-178C is a separate regime: qualifying any verification tool for it is the applicant’s own activity under DO-330.

Cantata (QA Systems, now part of Perforce) is also a dynamic unit and integration testing tool for C and C++. It generates test harnesses, provides coverage measurement, and supports safety-critical development. Cantata has been used in automotive and aerospace certification projects for decades.

Polyspace (MathWorks) is fundamentally different, it is a static analysis tool that uses abstract interpretation to prove the absence of runtime errors (division by zero, buffer overflow, unreachable code) without executing the software. Polyspace does not perform dynamic unit testing and does not generate test cases.

The first decision is whether your project needs dynamic testing, static proving, or both. For ISO 26262 Part 6 compliance, you need dynamic structural coverage testing (TESSY or Cantata) and you benefit from static analysis (Polyspace, or Perforce Helix QAC). These are complementary, not competing, verification activities.

TESSY vs Cantata: The Genuine Comparison

Since both TESSY and Cantata are dynamic unit testing tools, this is the meaningful comparison.

MC/DC Coverage Implementation

TESSY measures MC/DC coverage by instrumenting the source code at the condition level and tracking which combinations of atomic conditions independently affect the decision outcome. TESSY also supports MCC (Multiple Condition Coverage) coverage, which evaluates all possible condition combinations within a decision. Coverage results display as colour-coded source annotations with per-condition highlighting.

Cantata measures MC/DC coverage through its instrumentation framework. Coverage results integrate with the Cantata test environment for report generation.

Both tools measure MC/DC to the level DO-178C DAL A requires and to the level ISO 26262 ASIL D highly recommends, the strongest rating ISO 26262 applies to any method. TESSY’s additional MCC metric provides extra evidence depth for assessors who want exhaustive condition combination analysis.

Infineon TriCore (AURIX) Support

This is a significant differentiator for Indian automotive teams.

TESSY has direct support for TriCore compilation and on-target test execution. Tests compile with the TASKING or HighTec compiler toolchains used for AURIX development and execute on the target via debug probe. TESSY’s integration with SEGGER J-Link provides a streamlined on-target testing workflow for AURIX TC3xx devices, the dominant safety microcontroller in Indian automotive ECU projects.

Cantata supports TriCore targets but through a more general target deployment framework. Teams working on AURIX TC3xx projects in Pune and Bengaluru have found TESSY’s direct TriCore support requires less configuration effort to achieve on-target test execution.

Classification Tree Method

TESSY includes the Classification Tree Editor (CTE) for systematic test design. This graphical method is based on equivalence partitioning and boundary value analysis, engineers define input classifications visually and generate test vectors from a combination matrix. The CTE addresses the systematic test case derivation ISO 26262 Part 6 recommends, providing assessors with documented test design rationale.

Cantata supports test case creation through its scripting-based test editor. Test scripts are written in an extended C syntax, giving engineers fine-grained control over test setup, execution, and verification. Cantata’s script-based approach is flexible but does not provide the same visual test design documentation that the CTE produces.

For teams where audit evidence quality matters, and in Indian automotive, it always does, the CTE provides stronger documentation of systematic test design.

AUTOSAR SWC Testing

TESSY generates stubs for AUTOSAR RTE interfaces (Rte_Read, Rte_Write, Rte_Call) automatically, enabling SWC testing independent of the AUTOSAR configuration tool. This works with Elektrobit tresos, ETAS ISOLAR, and Vector DaVinci.

Cantata also supports AUTOSAR SWC testing through its harness generation. Cantata’s integration with the broader Perforce ecosystem (including Helix QAC for MISRA) provides a combined static + dynamic workflow under one vendor.

When Polyspace Complements TESSY

Polyspace proves code correctness through abstract interpretation, it can formally demonstrate that certain categories of runtime errors (null pointer dereference, integer overflow, array index out of bounds) cannot occur. This is a different verification activity from unit testing.

A complete ISO 26262 Part 6 verification workflow for ASIL C or D typically includes:

1. Static analysis: MISRA compliance checking (Helix QAC) + runtime error proving (Polyspace)
2. Dynamic unit testing: MC/DC coverage measurement and systematic test execution (TESSY)
3. Requirements traceability: Linking test cases to requirements (TESSY via ReqIF)

TESSY and Polyspace are not alternatives, they verify different properties of the software. Using both provides a stronger safety argument than using either alone.

Ecosystem Advantage

GSAS supplies TESSY alongside the complementary tools Indian teams need: Arm Keil MDK for Cortex-M compilation, SEGGER J-Link for debug and on-target testing, and Perforce Helix QAC for MISRA static analysis. All sourced and supported locally with INR invoicing.

Why Buy from GSAS

GSAS Micro Systems is the authorized Razorcat partner, providing TESSY licensing, evaluation support, onboarding workshops, and technical consulting for ISO 26262, IEC 61508, and DO-178C projects. Our functional safety engineers in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune, Mumbai, and Delhi NCR help teams select the right tool for their verification strategy, whether that means TESSY alone for dynamic testing, or TESSY combined with Helix QAC and other static analysis tools for a complete ISO 26262 Part 6 workflow.

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