DESIGNING FOR FAILURE: ANOMALY IDENTIFICATION AND TREATMENT IN SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS ANALYSIS
Ronald S. Carson · INCOSE International Symposium · 1996
Abstract A method for identifying anomalous (or “what if”) conditions in the system requirements analysis (SRA) is proposed using the concept of functional failure (Spangler 1993, Armstrong 1995). The method complements and extends (Carson 1995) by defining “sufficient” conditions for SRA completeness which complement the previously defined “necessary” conditions for completeness. Identification of the functional failures during the SRA allows the system designer to treat different anomalies rigorously at the beginning of a program as part of the system design. System requirements for “fault tolerance” or “inhibiting fault cascading” are easily incorporated into the resulting SRA as required behaviors (functions) for specific antecedents. The developed process ensures in a verifiable manner that the SRA is complete and there are no incorrect or indeterminate behaviors due to inadequate system design. If applied at all levels of the system development (mission design, system design, subsystem design, end item design) one could expect no surprises during test and integration at any level of design.