Semi-automatic safety analysis and optimization

Abstract

The complexity of safety-critical E/E-systems within the automotive domain are continuously increasing. At the same time, functional safety standards such as the ISO 26262 prescribe analysis methods like the Fault Tree Analysis (FTA) and Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA). Currently, these analysis methods are mainly performed manually and are often not consistent with an evolving system model. To tackle these challenges, we present our semi-automatic safety analysis and optimization (SASAO) process. The SASAO process extends model-based safety analysis (MBSA) approaches, which require a system model extended with component-internal error propagation information. By extracting necessary artifacts from such an extended system model, we show how safety experts can be supported when performing FTA and design FMEA that are consistent with the model. The resulting FTA and design FMEA represent mandatory arguments in the system's safety case. Furthermore, we propose a method to optimize the cost of the system with respect to the required safety level automatically.