What are the Most Critical Challenges to Integrating High Assurance Systems
Herbert Hecht · High-Assurance Systems Engineering · 1999
The integrator of any software intensive system is always faced with potential inconsistencies among components in variable naming or formats, coding conventions, array dimensions, and update frequency. The panel will address the additional challenges that arise in high assurance systems, including inconsistencies in the following: Dependability requirements such as: maximum allowable frequency for certain types of failures (a product requirement) vs. CMM level specifications for a component (a process requirement) Exception handling safety critical exception handling provided within a component can be defeated by actions of an operating system or scheduler Assumptions about safe states a system level requirement for maintain prior value does not necessarily propagate into a maintain prior value for a valve position command Verification practices widely varying practices for design and code inspections, for test termination criteria at unit and acceptance level, and for test case generation at all levels Generic verification problems-all high assurance systems face challenges in verifying that required levels of safety, reliability and security have been met.The panelists will be addressing one or more of these bullets in terms of the experience in their environment.