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Evaluating System-Level Test Generation for Industrial Software: A Comparison between Manual, Combinatorial and Model-Based Testing
Mälardalen University, School of Innovation, Design and Engineering, Embedded Systems.ORCID iD: 0000-0001-8746-7209
Mälardalen University, School of Innovation, Design and Engineering, Embedded Systems.ORCID iD: 0000-0003-0611-2655
Mälardalen University, School of Innovation, Design and Engineering, Embedded Systems.ORCID iD: 0000-0003-2416-4205
2022 (English)In: Proceedings - 3rd ACM/IEEE International Conference on Automation of Software Test, AST 2022, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc. , 2022, p. 148-159Conference paper, Published paper (Refereed)
Abstract [en]

Adequate testing of safety-critical systems is vital to ensure correct functional and non-functional operations. Previous research has shown that testing such systems requires a lot of effort, thus automated testing techniques have found a certain degree of success. However, automated testing has not replaced the need for manual testing, rather a common industrial practice exhibits a balance between automated and manual testing. In this respect, comparing manual testing with automated testing techniques continues to be an interesting topic to investigate. The need for this investigation is most apparent at system-level testing of industrial systems, where there is a lack of results on how different testing techniques perform concerning both structural and system-level metrics such as Modified Condition/Decision Coverage (MC/DC) and requirement coverage. In addition to the coverage, the cost of these techniques will also determine their efficiency and thus practical viability. In this paper, we have developed cost models for efficiency measurement and performed an experimental evaluation of manual testing, model-based testing (MBT), and combinatorial testing (CT) in terms of MC/DC and requirement coverage. The evaluation is done in an industrial context of a safety-critical system that controls several functions on-board the passenger trains. We have reported the dominant conditions of MC/DC affected by each technique while generating MC/DC adequate test suites. Moreover, we investigated differences and overlaps of test cases generated by each of the three techniques. The results showed that all test suites achieved 100% requirement coverage except the test suite generated by the pairwise testing strategy. However, MBT-generated test suites were more MC/DC adequate and provided a higher number of both similar and unique test cases. Moreover, unique test cases generated by MBT had an observable effect on MC/DC, which will complement manual testing to increase MC/DC coverage. The least dominant MC/DC condition fulfilled by the generated test cases by all three techniques is the 'independent effect of a condition on the outcomes of a decision'. Lastly, the evaluation also showed CT as the most efficient testing technique amongst the three in terms of time required for test generation and execution, but with an added cost parameter of manual identification of expected outcomes. CCS CONCEPTS •Computer systems organization →Embedded software; • Software and its engineering →Software verification and validation.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc. , 2022. p. 148-159
Keywords [en]
Safety Critical Systems, System-level Tests, Test Coverage, Test Generation, Accident prevention, Automation, Model checking, Safety testing, Security systems, Software testing, Automated testing, Manual testing, Model based testing, Modified condition decision coverage, System-level test, Test case, Test generations, Test-coverage, Testing technique, Efficiency
National Category
Computer and Information Sciences
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:mdh:diva-59578DOI: 10.1145/3524481.3527235ISI: 000850254300016Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85133436269ISBN: 9781450392860 (print)OAI: oai:DiVA.org:mdh-59578DiVA, id: diva2:1683069
Conference
3rd ACM/IEEE International Conference on Automation of Software Test, AST 2022, 17 May 2022 through 18 May 2022
Available from: 2022-07-13 Created: 2022-07-13 Last updated: 2022-11-18Bibliographically approved
In thesis
1. Model-based System Testing of Safety-Critical Embedded Software
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Model-based System Testing of Safety-Critical Embedded Software
2022 (English)Licentiate thesis, comprehensive summary (Other academic)
Abstract [en]

System-level testing of safety-critical embedded systems is complex and costly. MBT has shown promising results in terms of fault detection effectiveness and efficiency of test generation and execution. However, the industrial adoption of MBT approaches is slow and limited to specific industries and domains. Moreover, the strengths and weaknesses of MBT in industrial settings need to be thoroughly evaluated to find an optimal testing strategy.

The objective of this thesis is to adapt, compare, and evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of MBT to help industrial practitioners in the testing of safety-critical embedded software. We have divided this objective into three subgoals. To achieve the first subgoal, we have explored multiple state-of-the- art MBT tools and evaluated the selected tool, GraphWalker (GW), in terms of modeling notations, generation algorithm, stopping conditions, and model completeness. To achieve the second subgoal, we have proposed a Model-Based Test scrIpt GenEration fRamework (TIGER), based on GW, to generate system-level test artifacts (i.e., test cases and test scripts). Based on the proposed framework, we implemented two test script generation tools for combinatorial testing (CT) and MBT. Finally, to achieve the last subgoal, we performed a comparative analysis between test suites developed using MBT, CT, and manual industrial practices. 

The results showed that the MBT-generated test suites using the edge coverage criterion tend to cover each requirement multiple times while achieving the same level of requirement coverage as the manually written test suites. Moreover, MBT provided higher Modified Decision and Condition Coverage (MC/DC) than CT and manual testing. On the other hand, CT came out as the most efficient technique in terms of the time required to generate and execute tests as well as achieving the highest fault detection rate with 3-ways and 4-ways interaction strength. Hence, based on the results, we conclude that manual industrial testing will benefit from MBT and CT for improved coverage and fault detection.

Abstract [sv]

Testning på systemnivå av säkerhetskritiska inbyggda system är komplext och kostsamt. MBT har visat lovande resultat när det gäller feldetekteringseffektivitet och effektivitet i testgenerering och testutförande. Den industriella utvecklingen av MBT-metoder är dock långsam och begränsad till specifika branscher och domäner. Dessutom måste styrkorna och svagheterna hos MBT i industriella miljöer utvärderas noggrant för att hitta en optimal teststrategi.

Syftet med denna avhandling är att anpassa, jämföra och utvärdera effektiviteten hos MBT för att hjälpa industriutövare att testa säkerhetskritisk inbyggd programvara. Vi har delat in detta mål i tre delmål. För att uppnå det första delmålet har vi utforskat flera av de främsta MBT-verktygen och utvärderat det valda verktyget, GraphWalker (GW), i termer av modelleringsnotationer, genereringsalgoritm, stoppförhållanden och modellfullständighet. För att uppnå det andra delmålet har vi föreslagit ett Model-Based Test ScrIpt Generation Framework (TIGER), baserat på GW, för att generera testartefakter på systemnivå (d.v.s. testfall och testskript). Baserat på det föreslagna ramverket implementerade vi två testskriptgenereringsverktyg för kombinatorisk testning (CT) och MBT. Slutligen, för att uppnå det sista delmålet, utförde vi en jämförande analys mellan testsviter utvecklade med MBT, CT och manuell industriell praxis.

Resultaten visade att de MBT-genererade testsviterna som använder kanttäckningskriteriet tenderar att täcka varje krav flera gånger samtidigt som de uppnår samma nivå av kravtäckning som de manuellt skrivna testsviterna. Dessutom gav MBT högre Modified Decision and Condition Coverage (MC/DC) än CT och manuell testning. Å andra sidan kom CT ut som den mest effektiva tekniken när det gäller den tid som krävs för att generera och utföra tester samt att uppnå den högsta feldetekteringshastigheten med 3-vägs och 4-vägs interaktionsstyrka. Baserat på resultaten drar vi därför slutsatsen att manuell industriell testning kommer att dra nytta av MBT och CT för förbättrad täckning och feldetektering.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Västerås: Mälardalens universitet, 2022
Series
Mälardalen University Press Licentiate Theses, ISSN 1651-9256 ; 328
National Category
Computer and Information Sciences
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:mdh:diva-59792 (URN)978-91-7485-560-9 (ISBN)
Presentation
2022-10-03, Alfa, Mälardalens Universitet, Västerås, 13:15 (English)
Opponent
Supervisors
Available from: 2022-08-25 Created: 2022-08-24 Last updated: 2022-11-08Bibliographically approved

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Zafar, Muhammad NoumanAfzal, WasifEnoiu, Eduard Paul

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