Static Detection of Parametric Loop Bounds on {C} Code

Static Worst-Case Execution Time (WCET) analysis is a technique to derive upper bounds for the execution times of programs. Such bounds are crucial when designing and verifying real-time systems. A key component for static derivation of precise WCET estimates is determination of upper bounds on the number of times loops can be iterated. The idea of the parametric loop bound analysis is to express the upper loop bound as a formula depending on parameters { variables and expressions staying constant within the loop body. The formula is constructed once for each loop. Then by instantiating this formula with values of parameters acquired externally (from value analysis, etc.), a concrete loop bound can be computed without high computational effort