Software fault failure and error analysis at the early design phase with UML
Chetan Mutha · OhioLink ETD Center (Ohio Library and Information Network) · 2011
A framework for fault-failure and error propagation through different UML diagrams is introduced.The method is formalized by defining rules for fault propagation across different UML diagrams and also within a particular diagram.A study of the propagation of faults through each diagram highlights various structural and behavioral aspects of the software failure.This method will allow the designers to proactively analyze the functionality of the systems early in the design process, understand functional and other failures and their propagation paths, overall impact on the system, and redundancies and safeguards that should be added.The main advantage of the method is that it permits the analysis of the failure and fault propagation at a highly abstract level before any potentially high-cost design commitments are made thereby supporting decision making early in the design process, providing guidance to the designers to allow elimination of failures through exploration of system components and their functionality, and facilitating the development of more reliable system configurations.This method is discussed using an example and results are given for the Helium tank sub-system of the Space Shuttle's Reaction Control System (RCS).The work is further extended to automate the FPSA and build an executable model of FPSA.