What Is Design Error Detection?

Design error detection refers to the process of identifying logical errors, dead logic, and other potential issues in a Simulink® model. Design error detection is most beneficial during initial model development phase to identify errors early, during model updates, and before the model is implemented in real-world systems. Identifying design errors early in the development process helps in:

  • reduce the development cost by detecting errors early in the design phase.

  • improve the design by ensures the system behaves correctly and predictably.

  • enhancing the safety especially critical in safety-critical systems like automotive and aerospace.

Model objects that have decision or condition outcomes receive dead logic detection.

Design Error Detection Analysis using Simulink Design Verifier

Design error detection analysis mode specify options that control how Simulink Design Verifier™ detects runtime errors in the models it analyzes. You can configure Design Error Detection under Design Verifier pane in Configuration Parameters dialog box.

Before you simulate your model, analyze your model in design error detection mode to find and diagnose these errors. Design error detection analysis determines the conditions that cause the error, helping you identify possible design flaws.

Design error detection analysis mode detects the following types of errors:

  • Dead logic

  • Out of bound array access

  • Integer or fixed-point data overflow

  • Division by zero

  • Errors in floating-point usage (Inf/NaN and subnormal)

  • Intermediate signal values that are outside the specified minimum and maximum values

  • Data store access violations

  • Specified block input range violations

  • High-Integrity Systems Modeling checks

To analyze your model for design errors, use the following workflow:

  1. Verify that your model is compatible with Simulink Design Verifier software.

  2. Specify options that control how Simulink Design Verifier detects design errors in your model.

  3. To detect common design errors, use Defect checker.

  4. Execute the Simulink Design Verifier analysis.

  5. Review the analysis results.

After the analysis, you can:

  • Click individual blocks to view the analysis results for that block.

  • Create a harness model containing test cases that demonstrate the errors.

  • Create an analysis report that contains detailed results for the entire model.

Understand Design Error Detection Analysis Results

When you run a design error detection analysis, by default, the software highlights model objects in one of four colors so that the analysis results are easy to review.

Model Object Highlighting ColorAnalysis Results

Green

Both of the following:

  • The analysis proved the absence of dead logic.

  • The analysis proved the absence of errors for the other design error detection checks.

Red

At least one of the following:

  • The analysis found dead logic.

  • The analysis found an error for one of the other design error detection checks.

Orange

For at least one objective, the analysis could not determine if the model object has dead logic or one of the other design error detection errors. This situation can occur when:

Gray

The model object was not part of the analysis.

Steel blue

All objectives from this model object were excluded or justified using a filter files provided during the analysis.

The Simulink Design Verifier Results window initially displays a summary of the analysis results. By default, the Simulink Design Verifier Results window is always the topmost visible window. To change that setting, click the icon and on the context menu, clear the check mark next to Always on top.

Results window for Design Error Detection analysis.

When you click an object in the model, additional details about the results for that object are displayed in the Simulink Design Verifier Results window.

Review the Latest Analysis Results in the Results Summary Window

If you close the analysis results to fix the cause of the errors in your model, you might need to review the analysis results again. As long as your model remains unchanged, you can view the results of your most recent analysis results in the Results Summary Window.

To view the latest results, on the Design Verifier tab, in the Review Results section, click Results Summary.

For any Simulink Design Verifier analysis, from the Results Summary Window, you can perform the following tasks:

  • Open filter explorer.

  • Highlight the analysis results on the model.

  • View tests in Simulation Data Inspector.

  • Generate a detailed analysis report.

  • Create the harness model, or if the harness model already exists, open it. Note that if no objectives are falsified or satisfied, you cannot create the harness model.

  • Export test cases to Simulink Test.

  • View the data file.

  • View the log file.

See Also

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