Realization of a Model-Based DevOps Process for Industrial Safety Critical Cyber Physical Systems

Abstract

Safety critical Industrial Cyber Physical Systems (CPS) have stringent safety and security requirements and need assurance of deterministic behavior during system operation. In many safety critical application domains, runtime monitors (or runtime verification) are used to enforce operational safety and security. One of the challenges in runtime verification is to identify the critical safety properties that we want to monitor at runtime. In this paper, we explore how structural verification activities in a Model Based Design and Engineering (MBDE) context help formulate more effective monitoring specifications to cover vulnerable areas in a system. We assert that leveraging synergy between design and runtime verification produces more informed runtime safety monitors. This approach of integrating design assurance and runtime safety and security is an important aspect of the dependable DevOps continuum process. To demonstrate this, we perform verification of an Emergency Diesel Generator Startup Sequencer (EDGSS) implemented on an FPGA overlay architecture using model-based verification techniques. We present our key findings on synergy between runtime verification and design processes to support a more inclusive safety case.