Safety Goal Verification for Mixed Software-Hardware Components
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Solution Overview
Problem
The increased complexity of safety-relevant technical systems leads to higher development and assessment efforts, particularly when multiple functions with different security objectives are developed in parallel, necessitating more complex verification processes.
Innovation Solution
A computer-implemented method for efficiently checking technical components of a technical system against a desired safety objective, involving an input model of the system, actual and target states of safety objectives, predetermined measures, and criteria for each measure, to identify and address deviations efficiently.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If each function of an application is developed according to the highest security goal involved, then the security objective is achieved, but the development effort and assessment effort increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the development and assessment process by function groups rather than requiring all functions to meet the highest SIL level. Functions are divided into groups based on their safety objectives, allowing differential treatment where only relevant functions require high-level verification. This segmentation reduces unnecessary development effort while maintaining security for critical functions.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies local quality by allowing different security levels to be applied to different function groups based on their specific safety objectives. Instead of uniformly applying the highest SIL level to all functions, each function group receives the appropriate level of verification and validation matching its actual safety requirements, thereby reducing overall development effort while maintaining necessary security standards.
2Reliability
If detailed analyses are performed manually to demonstrate the absence of interference from a lower SIL level to a higher SIL level, then interference can be identified, but the analysis becomes very complex and requires comparable effort to developing all functions according to the higher SIL
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an automated analysis system that acts as an intermediary between manual verification processes and the functions being verified. This automated intermediary performs the complex interference analysis between different SIL levels, reducing the complexity of manual analysis while maintaining reliable detection of potential interference. The automated system handles the computationally intensive tasks of verifying isolation between function groups with different safety objectives.
3Reliability
If the safety target is increased above SIL 1, then higher safety assurance is achieved, but the assessment effort increases significantly as assessment must be conducted in accordance with applicable standards
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies partial action by performing assessment only on function groups that require higher SIL levels rather than assessing all functions uniformly. This allows the system to achieve the necessary safety assurance for critical functions while avoiding excessive assessment effort on non-critical functions. The automated analysis identifies and focuses assessment resources only where needed, reducing overall time loss.
Data Source
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AI summary
The invention relates to a computer-implemented method for checking at least one technical component of a technical system to be checked with regard to a security to be achieved, comprising the steps of a. providing an input model of the technical system (S1); wherein the technical system has a plurality of technical components; wherein each technical component of the plurality of technical components is a software component or a hardware component; wherein each technical component of the plurality of technical components is assigned at least one function; wherein each technical component of the plurality of technical components has at least one interface for data transmission; b. providing at least one actual state of the security goal for the at least one function for each technical component of the plurality of technical components (S2); c.Providing at least one target state of the safety objective for the at least one technical component to be checked, of the plurality of technical components, which is intended to achieve safety (S3); d. Providing a plurality of predetermined measures (S4); wherein at least one criterion is assigned to each predetermined measure of the plurality of predetermined measures; e. Checking the at least one technical component which fulfills at least one specific condition for a deviation of the at least one target state of the safety objective from the respective actual state of the safety objective (S5); and f. Determining at least one predetermined measure from the plurality of predetermined measures for each deviation (S6). The invention further relates to a technical system and a corresponding computer program product.