Practical ICT Experience – Flexibility – Worldwide References

Knowledge Evolution
Design of Safety-Critical Systems & Software
Course ID: EPOL-10:024
Duration: 2 or 3 days
Number of participants: recommended optimum 15, maximum 25
Course objectives
The primary goal of this course is to give the participant the skills necessary to design software for
real-time and embedded computer systems in which faults and failures could pose a danger to human
life. This is a very practical, results-oriented course that will provide knowledge and skills that can be
applied immediately.
This course examines the design of embedded systems and software that are to provide services in applications
that could, when they fail, threaten the well-being or life of people. It offers practical guidance on
how to address safety concerns when designing safety critical software in fields such as medical, automotive,
avionics, nuclear and chemical process control.
The course surveys concepts and alternatives for software and system architectures appropriate for
safety-critical systems. Following an examination of hazard and risk analysis techniques, it goes on to list
a number of approaches to software safety that span fault avoidance, fault detection, and fault containment
tactics including redundancy, recovery, masking and barriers. A variety of candidate architectural
design patterns are examined, including dual/triple modular redundancy, dissimilar independent
designs, backup parallel patterns and active/monitor parallel patterns. Many real-world examples are
presented. Software design approaches are discussed for run-time Built-In Self Test (BIST) of processor
and peripheral hardware.
This course is far from a general course about system or software design theory, but rather it is tightly
focused on the design of embedded systems and software that are required to provide their intended
functions without endangering the safety or life of users or their environment.
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