Timing Analysis in Safety-Critical CI Pipelines: Integrating RocqStat with VectorCAST

Hook: Stop late-stage surprises from WCET regressions—automate timing analysis where your CI already runs

One of the most expensive surprises in automotive and embedded projects is discovering, late in integration or during certification, that a control task can exceed its timing budget. Teams struggle with unpredictable WCET (worst-case execution time) regressions, fragmented toolchains, and manual gating processes that don’t scale across millions of lines of code and multicore ECUs. If your CI pipeline doesn’t make timing analysis a first-class, automated gate, you’re leaving safety, schedule, and cost risk on the table.

Why Vector’s acquisition of RocqStat matters in 2026

In January 2026 Vector Informatik announced the acquisition of StatInf’s RocqStat, planning to integrate it into the VectorCAST ecosystem. This is not just M&A noise — it unifies two capabilities teams need: high-confidence timing analysis and industry-proven software testing and verification. For DevOps and CI/CD teams working on automotive and embedded software, that matters for three reasons:

• Unified workflow: timing (WCET) and functional verification live in the same toolchain, enabling shared artifacts and traceability;
• Faster feedback: static WCET tools like RocqStat can be run earlier and more often than hardware-in-the-loop measurements, allowing gating on timing regressions on each PR;
• Certification-ready evidence: integrated reports and trace links are easier to include in ISO 26262/ASIL artefacts, reducing manual evidence assembly.

Reference: Automotive World reported Vector’s acquisition and integration plans in January 2026, describing the move as a step to create a unified timing analysis and software verification environment.

How timing analysis belongs in CI/CD: principles for safety-critical pipelines

Operationalizing timing analysis inside CI requires three principles:

1. Deterministic execution and reproducibility — WCET tools depend on compiler options, binary layout, and microarchitectural models. Pin tool and compiler versions and run in hermetic containers or reproducible build servers.
2. Shift-left static analysis — run static WCET early on feature branches and gate PRs; reserve dynamic measurements (HIL) for release or nightly runs.
3. Traceable gating — every timing decision must be traceable to code changes, test cases, and model assumptions for audits and certification.

Operational architecture: Where RocqStat fits into VectorCAST-powered CI

Below is a recommended pipeline architecture for integrating RocqStat into VectorCAST within a typical CI platform (Jenkins/GitLab CI/GitHub Actions):

• Build stage: reproducible cross-compile, artifacts (ELFs, map files), and debug symbols archived.
• Unit & integration tests: VectorCAST runs existing unit test suites and mutation tests to validate functional behavior.
• Static timing analysis: RocqStat consumes compiled artifacts plus control-flow info and microarch model to produce WCET estimates and path proofs.
• Gating & reporting: pipeline compares current WCET to baseline, applies policies (e.g., fail PR if budget exceeded), and stores timing evidence into artifact storage.
• Nightly HIL & multicore interference analysis: dynamic worst-case checking against static results; used for final validation and model calibration.

Key artifacts exchanged between steps

• Compiled binaries (ELF, map, symbol files)
• Control-flow graphs and flow facts exported by build or analysis plugins
• RocqStat timing model files (microarch, cache, timing parameters)
• WCET reports (machine-readable and human-readable)
• Traceability matrices linking tests, requirements, and WCET evidence

Concrete CI pipeline example (pattern)

The example below is a condensed CI job flow illustrating where to call VectorCAST and RocqStat. Wrap these steps into your CI system as stages and use containers or dedicated runners for tool licensing and deterministic environments.

# Simplified pipeline stages (pseudocode)
stages:
  - build
  - test
  - timing
  - gate

build:
  image: myorg/cross-compiler:1.2.3
  script:
    - make clean && make CFLAGS="-O2 -g -fdata-sections"
    - artifact push build/output/*.elf

unit_test:
  image: vectorcast/runner:2026.1
  script:
    - vectorcast run --project project.vcp --report output/unittest.xml

wcet_analysis:
  image: rocqstat/cli:2026.1
  script:
    - rocqstat import --binary build/output/app.elf --map build/output/app.map --model models/ecu_x1.model
    - rocqstat analyze --entry main_task --output wcet/report.json

gate:
  script:
    - python scripts/compare_wcet.py wcet/report.json baseline/report.json --threshold 5
    - if [ $? -ne 0 ]; then echo "WCET regression detected"; exit 1; fi
  

Practical integration steps — from PoC to certified baseline

Follow these actionable steps to operationalize RocqStat within VectorCAST-powered CI for automotive projects:

1. Proof-of-concept
   • Choose a representative ECU module (e.g., brake controller task or scheduler).
   • Pin compiler and toolchain versions; containerize the build environment to ensure deterministic binaries.
   • Run VectorCAST unit tests and export artifacts for RocqStat.
   • Run RocqStat to produce initial WCET estimates; compare against current timing budgets and dynamic measurements.
2. Baseline and model calibration
   • Calibrate RocqStat microarchitecture models using instructions mixture and cache parameters reflective of your ECU/microcontroller — combine static model and a few targeted dynamic runs.
   • Store a WCET baseline artifact for each release branch; this becomes the point of comparison for PR gating.
3. Integrate into PR flow
   • Run static WCET on PRs and calculate delta vs baseline; reject PRs exceeding delta or absolute budget.
   • Use incremental analysis where supported — only re-analyze changed modules to save CI time.
4. Evidence & traceability
   • Attach machine-readable WCET reports to the build artifact and link them to test cases, requirements, and source commits.
   • For ISO 26262 audits, export human-readable reports with key assumptions, model versions, and proof artifacts.
5. Scale to multicore and mixed-criticality
   • Introduce multicore interference models once single-core baselines are stable. Use a combination of static timing interference analysis and controlled dynamic tests.
   • Flag tasks affected by interference for additional runtime monitoring or partitioning.
6. Continuous improvement
   • Periodically reconcile static WCET with HIL and field telemetry; update models and baselines as hardware or compiler versions change.

Gating policies you can enforce today

Concrete gating rules help your team enforce timing safety without slowing development unnecessarily. Consider these policy examples:

• Absolute budget fail — fail the build if any task’s WCET exceeds its certified budget.
• Delta threshold — allow small regressions but fail if WCET increases by more than X% or Y milliseconds per PR.
• Change-window exemptions — allow changes to non-timing-critical modules to bypass full WCET runs when incremental analysis proves safe.
• Escalation gates — for borderline failures, automatically create a ticket and block merge until a senior reviewer signs off.

Deterministic execution: the often-missed prerequisite

Static WCET depends on deterministic builds and binary layouts. The most common causes of noisy WCET results are unpinned toolchains, non-deterministic link order, and non-reproducible compiler flags.

Mitigate with these rules:

• Pin compiler/linker versions and use reproducible build containers.
• Use linker scripts to stabilize segment placement and symbol ordering where needed.
• Archive map files and symbol tables with each build; RocqStat relies on these artifacts to build control-flow & timing models. Consider local-first sync or caching appliances for large artifact sets (local-first sync appliances).

Handling multicore and shared resources

Multicore ECUs and shared buses introduce interference that static single-core WCET tools can’t fully capture alone. Best practice in 2026 is a hybrid approach:

• Static baseline using RocqStat for single-core analysis and task-level proofs.
• Interference modeling for cache, bus contention, and synchronization — either through extended RocqStat models or complementary tools.
• Runtime monitoring to capture field telemetry on execution jitter and to feed model updates in CI.

Certification evidence and audit readiness

Certification auditors want two things: reproducibility and traceability. VectorCAST integrated with RocqStat can help produce both:

• Machine-readable WCET proof objects and human-readable reports exported per build
• Trace links from WCET evidence back to source code, requirements, and test vectors
• Signed artifact archives that preserve build environment metadata (tool versions, container hashes)

"Timing safety is becoming a critical ..." — Eric Barton, Vector (paraphrased from Vector’s Jan 2026 statement)

Case study (pattern): braking controller PR gating

Hypothetical but realistic pattern to illustrate end-to-end flow:

1. A developer submits a PR that changes the obstacle-detection task in the braking ECU.
2. CI builds deterministic binary and runs VectorCAST unit tests; VectorCAST marks functional regressions.
3. RocqStat runs a targeted WCET analysis on the changed task and produces an updated WCET estimate.
4. The pipeline compares the new WCET to the baseline. The delta is +7% (above the 5% threshold) so the PR is blocked and an automated report is attached with hotspots and suggested optimizations.
5. The developer uses the RocqStat report to identify a loop bound over-approximation and a costly API call; they submit an optimized update and re-run the CI until the WCET delta is acceptable.

Advanced strategies and future-looking trends (2026+)

Timing analysis is evolving rapidly as vehicle software complexity grows. Keep these advanced strategies in your roadmap for 2026 and beyond:

• Machine-assisted model calibration: use telemetry and sampled traces to automatically update cache and pipeline latency models used in static analysis.
• Incremental WCET analysis: analyze only delta-impacted CFGs to reduce CI runtime; RocqStat’s modular analysis capabilities are well aligned for this.
• Toolchain co-simulation: integrate simulators that model real-time OS scheduling and network latencies for distributed ECUs.
• Trace-based verification: combine formal path proofs with sampled runtime traces for stronger probabilistic guarantees where deterministic proofs are too conservative.
• Policy-driven automation: use policy-as-code to express domain rules (ISO 26262 goals, allowable WCET deltas) that the CI enforces automatically.

Checklist: what your team needs to get started this quarter

• Licenses for VectorCAST and RocqStat (or roadmap to integrated Vector solution)
• Containerized deterministic build environments and pinned toolchains
• CI runners with sufficient CPU/RAM for static timing runs
• Artifact storage for binaries, map files, and timing reports
• Policy configuration for gating and escalation
• Process for reconciling static WCET with HIL results and maintaining baselines

Common pitfalls and how to avoid them

• Relying only on dynamic tests — field or HIL tests miss rare worst-case paths. Add static WCET early.
• Non-reproducible builds — variable builds produce noisy WCET; lock toolchain and build scripts. Consider a one-page stack audit to remove underused variability.
• Overly strict gating — false-positives on minor deltas can slow teams. Use tiered thresholds and exemptions for low-risk modules.
• Ignoring multicore interference — static single-core proofs can be optimistic; plan interference analysis early.

Actionable takeaways

• Integrate RocqStat into VectorCAST-based CI to automate WCET analysis and enable PR-level gating.
• Make builds deterministic, archive artifacts, and store machine-readable WCET proofs to support certification.
• Adopt policy-driven gating with sensible thresholds and escalation workflows to balance speed and safety.
• Use hybrid static+dynamic strategies for multicore systems and keep models updated with telemetry.

Next steps — get started now

Vector’s move to integrate RocqStat into VectorCAST is a clear signal that timing analysis will become a standard part of CI for safety-critical embedded projects in 2026. Start by running a short PoC: containerize a deterministic build, run VectorCAST unit tests, and execute a RocqStat WCET analysis on a critical task. Use the artifacts to define your initial gating policy and expand coverage iteratively.

Call to action

If you’re evaluating how to add deterministic, automated timing gates to your CI/CD for ISO 26262 projects, contact our team at tunder.cloud for a hands-on workshop. We’ll help you design a reproducible CI workflow, define practical gating policies, and pilot VectorCAST+RocqStat integration on an ECU module so you can reduce risk and accelerate certification.

Related Reading

• Observability & Cost Control for Content Platforms: A 2026 Playbook
• The Zero-Trust Storage Playbook for 2026: Homomorphic Encryption, Provenance & Access Governance
• Strip the Fat: A One-Page Stack Audit to Kill Underused Tools and Cut Costs
• Field Review: Local-First Sync Appliances for Creators — Privacy, Performance, and On‑Device AI (2026)
• Wearables & Wellness: Using Wristbands and Smart Sensors to Measure Massage Effectiveness
• The Science of Comfort Foods: Pairing Hot-Water Bottles with Hearty Nighttime Eats
• Rechargeable Hot-Water Bottles: How They Work and Which Models Hold Heat the Longest
• Budget Designer Look: Create High-End Prints Under £25
• Resident Evil: Requiem — System Requirements and Optimization Tips for PC Players