A Survey of Safety Analysis Techniques for Safety Critical Systems

Abstract

This paper is mainly focused on the study of the techniques available for the safety analysis of critical systems. It is never possible to build a completely safe system. There is a possibility to bring the behavior of these systems within acceptable limits. For safety evaluation of such systems both formal and informal techniques are available. Both techniques have their own prospects and consequences. Informal techniques are simpler to learn and easier to interpret and have more space for creativity and imagination of the analyst. Formal techniques due to their rigorousness ensure completeness. In this paper, we have analyzed both techniques after defining few parameters. Our study found it that formal techniques are better but usage of informal techniques can never be overlooked. Some approaches combine formal and informal techniques to reap the benefits of both. In some cases, informal techniques can be used as pre-requisite to narrow down the input of minimal critical set for formal techniques and reduce the effort required for formalization of the entire system.