Architecture framework for software safety

Abstract

Currently, an increasing number of systems are controlled by soft- ware and rely on the correct operation of software. In this context, a safety- critical system is defined as a system in which malfunctioning software could result in death, injury or damage to environment. To mitigate these serious risks, the architecture of safety-critical systems needs to be carefully designed and analyzed. A common practice for modeling software architecture is the adoption of software architecture viewpoints to model the architecture for par- ticular stakeholders and concerns. Existing architecture viewpoints tend to be general purpose and do not explicitly focus on safety concerns in particular. To provide a complementary and dedicated support for designing safety critical systems, we propose an architecture framework for software safety. The archi- tecture framework is based on a metamodel that has been developed after a tho- rough domain analysis. The framework includes three coherent viewpoints, each of which addressing an important concern. The application of the view- points is illustrated for an industrial case of safety-critical avionics control computer system. © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2014.