An Architecture-Led Safety Analysis Method
Year: 2016
Type: article
Abstract: Safety-critical systems require specific development and evaluation activities in the software development life cycle to ensure that the product is safe. Some of these activities are aggregated into comprehensive safety engineering practices, which are standardized within an industry, such as Aerospace Recommended Practice (ARP) 4761 in the aircraft industry. These techniques focus on individual component failures and reliability. More recent techniques such as the Systems-Theoretic Process Analysis (STPA) go beyond reliability of individual components to consider the interactions among the components. In this paper we present the Architecture-Led Safety Analysis (ALSA) method that is part of the Architecture-Led Safety Engineering practice. ALSA combines the development and analysis of at least a partial architecture model using notations such as the Architecture Analysis and Design Language, its Error Model Annex, and existing ARP 4761 and ARP 4754A practices such as Functional Hazard Assessment, Preliminary System Safety Assessment, and System Safety Assessment as well as the emerging technique of STPA. This work contributes an illustration of using ALSA to analyze a Full-Authority Digital Engine Controller. The method is supported by the Open Source Architectural Tool Environment and has been piloted on an industrial-strength example.
Institutions: Software Engineering Institute, Carnegie Mellon University
Language: English
Subfield: Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2885644532