Independent Verification & Validation
Independent Verification & Validation (IV&V) is independent proof that a system performs as specified and as intended, carried out by a team with no stake in the design. On safety- and mission-critical programs, it is how test results become defensible evidence.
What is Polaris
Hardware validation before software. Polaris is a complete, production-ready IV&V platform that proves your hardware on the bench — before your software investment begins.
- Production-ready today: validated on real hardware and used in active engagements.
- Independently validates every core, memory region, peripheral, bus, sensor, and module on the board.
- Runs on Jetson, Raspberry Pi, Zynq, i.MX, Sitara, and x86 SBC hardware, with OTA updates, A/B partitions, and secure boot built in.
- Works from your hardware design package alone — no access to your source code required.
Why Polaris
Hardware faults belong on the bench, not in the software backlog. Polaris proves the silicon first, so your software team builds on hardware that is known to work.
- Independent by design: no source-code coupling to the team that designed or programmed the board.
- Unproven hardware costs the wrong people time — software engineers debugging a board they did not design.
- Faults surface on the bench, before they reach the software backlog or the field.
- Software development starts on proven silicon, recovering months otherwise lost to hardware debugging.
Architecture
Port one layer, keep everything else. A custom OS and HAL are the only board-specific pieces — the client, the server, the operator console, and every test suite carry forward unchanged across hardware revisions.
- Polaris OS: a Yocto-based, OTA-enabled image with A/B partitions and rollback.
- Polaris HAL: the only board-specific layer, exercising every peripheral on the board.
- Polaris client: a lightweight agent on the device under test, driving tests through the HAL.
- Polaris server: orchestrates runs and writes every artifact to the records store.
Polaris OS
Your validation infrastructure is production infrastructure. A custom Yocto Linux built per platform — OTA-enabled, A/B partitions, rollback built in — and the same base your product can ship on.
- A custom Yocto Linux image, minimal, hardened, and reproducible, built for your platform.
- OTA updates with A/B partitions and automatic rollback.
- Read-only rootfs, hardened system services, and secure boot — device security built into the validation stack.
- BSP, bootloader, and device tree built for your exact silicon.
Polaris HAL
The only board-specific layer in the stack. The HAL exercises every CPU core, memory region, peripheral, bus, sensor, and module — and keeps everything above it portable. Porting to your exact part is a short, well-defined step, not a rewrite.
- The only board-specific layer in the stack.
- Exercises every CPU core, memory region, peripheral, bus, sensor, and module on the board.
- Built from your hardware design package — schematics, interface control documents, and bills of materials — with no access to your source code.
- Presents a uniform interface, so test suites run unmodified across peripherals and platforms.
Polaris Client
A lightweight agent on the device under test. It drives every test through the HAL with no meaningful load on the board — the board under test behaves like the board in the field.
- Runs on the device under test and drives every test through the HAL.
- Relays to the server over gRPC on Linux; FlatBuffers on FreeRTOS and Zephyr bare-metal targets.
- Adds no meaningful load to the board — measured behavior reflects field behavior.
- Captures every event with three timestamps: origin, relay, and server.
Polaris Server
Scale from one bench to a validation lab without new tooling. The server orchestrates runs and writes every artifact to the append-only records store — one server validates many boards at once.
- Orchestrates and executes runs; configures and schedules test campaigns.
- Writes every artifact, log, and event to the append-only records store.
- Validates many boards in parallel from a single server.
- Records are timestamped, operator-attributed, and version-pinned.
Polaris Dashboard
A web console for connecting boards, running tests, watching live telemetry, and reviewing results — the same dashboard on every program, so your operators learn it once.
- Connects a board and brings it online; tests are configured and launched from the console.
- Live telemetry streams during every run; time-series results are reviewed after.
- Records are browsed, queried, and exported for review and submission.
- Every state-changing action is attributed to an operator.
Polaris PySDK
Validation becomes part of every build, not a separate event. The Python SDK drives Polaris from scripts and CI pipelines; C/C++ and Rust bindings are supported for teams that need them.
- Ships with every Polaris engagement, documented and handed over.
- Automates configuration, execution, streaming, and results retrieval.
- Integrates into your existing CI pipeline with no new tooling.
- A direct API path reaches the client and HAL for quick single-board checks.
Test Modes
From a one-minute acceptance gate to a multi-day soak — one tool, one audit trail. Four run shapes write the same record format across all of them.
- One-shot: configure, execute, capture, and return a single result — the acceptance gate.
- Monitoring: sampling at a configured rate — continuous background validation.
- Event-based: fires on configured conditions — threshold crossings, faults, and state changes.
- Long-running: hours or days with periodic snapshots — endurance and soak.
Test Types
The full range — functional, performance, thermal, endurance, power, and environmental — including the failures a short bench test never reaches.
- Functional: every core, memory region, peripheral, and bus validated — I2C, SPI, UART, PWM, ADC, RS-422 / RS-485, CAN-FD, and beyond.
- Performance: PCIe, Ethernet, and camera pipelines driven under sustained load.
- Thermal: continuous sampling across the rated temperature range.
- Endurance and burn-in: multi-day runs with periodic snapshots.
What We Deliver
A complete validation platform tailored to your board and your silicon — every engagement produces the same deliverables. Full source, your records, no lock-in.
- A custom Yocto OS and a HAL covering every peripheral on your board.
- A client–server architecture with a web dashboard as the operator console.
- A Python SDK that integrates test runs into your CI.
- Live telemetry, time-series review, and report export.
Platform Integration
Polaris runs on all six SiliconCentric platforms and inherits every platform capability — your validation infrastructure is production-grade from day one.
- Runs on Jetson, Raspberry Pi, Zynq, i.MX, Sitara, and x86.
- Inherits the platforms' BSP, kernel, RTOS, and middleware.
- Inherits the platforms' OTA and fleet management, with A/B partitions, golden recovery, and secure boot.
- Inherits the platforms' cloud/IoT platform connectivity for telemetry and records sync.
Reference Platforms
Polaris runs on six in-house platforms covering the silicon families most embedded products are built on. Porting the HAL to a specific board is a short step, not a rebuild.
- Arches runs on the NVIDIA Jetson SoM with an STM32 co-processor for AI, vision, and robotics.
- Acadia runs on the Raspberry Pi CM4 / CM5 with an RP2040 co-processor for industrial nodes and kiosks.
- Zion runs on the Xilinx Zynq-7000 / UltraScale+ MPSoC for SDR, DAQ, motor control, machine vision, and ASIC prototyping.
- Pinnacle runs on the NXP i.MX with 10–15 year availability for medical and infrastructure programs.
Industries
One platform and one records store across nine regulated and demanding verticals.
- Automotive / ADAS: ISO 26262 and ASIL-B/D, CAN-FD, road-load capture in MDF4.
- Aerospace & defense: DO-178C / DO-254, IRIG-106, MIL-STD-1553, tamper-evident records.
- Medical devices: IEC 62304 and FDA submissions, encrypted storage, EDF output.
- Industrial automation: IEC 61508 SIL-2/SIL-3, EtherCAT, PROFINET, OPC UA.
Compliance
Every test, log, and event is captured audit-ready — timestamped, operator-attributed, append-only. Evidence for ISO 26262, DO-178C, IEC 62304, and IEC 61508. We produce the evidence; your assessor judges it.
- Records are timestamped, operator-attributed, and append-only.
- ISO 26262: fault-injection results mapped to ASIL requirements.
- DO-178C / DO-254: repeatable structural test records and tool-qualification data.
- IEC 62304 / FDA: SOUP mitigation records and lifecycle-aligned logs.
Contact
Tell us your silicon, your board, and where you are in the cycle — we'll tell you what we can do, and what we can't.
- We can demonstrate Polaris on our hardware within days.
- Validation starts from your hardware specification — there is nothing to prepare.
- You'll speak with an engineer, not a sales team.
- Reach us at soccentric.com.