Safety assessment of systems containing COTS software (NT TR 460)

  • Report #: NT TR 460
  • Approved: April 2000
  • Author(s): Tor Stålhane, Jacques Herard, Andreas Söderberg, Timo Malm, Kaarle Kylmälä, Ilpo Pöyhönen
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Abstract

  The integration of COTS software adds uncertainties in the design and construction of safety related systems. Limited documentation on the COTS characteristics such as design, resource demands and performances are likely to introduce additional risks to the system. The end user has rarely access to the source code and little data related to the concerned application may have been collected. These aspects are to be treated in the validation process in order to evaluate the safety requirements set-up and to assess the choice of design and safety features necessary to match those requirements. The main objective of this guideline is to provide the necessary support to perform the evaluation of safety critical programmable electronic systems partly realised by using COTS (Commercial Off The Shelf) software.