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Combining functional and structural reasoning for safety analysis of electrical designs

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 April 2001

C. J. PRICE
Affiliation:
Department of Computer Science, University of Wales, Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, SY23 3DB, UK, email: [email protected]
N. SNOOKE
Affiliation:
Department of Computer Science, University of Wales, Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, SY23 3DB, UK, email: [email protected]
D. R. PUGH
Affiliation:
Department of Computer Science, University of Wales, Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, SY23 3DB, UK, email: [email protected]
J. E. HUNT
Affiliation:
Department of Computer Science, University of Wales, Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, SY23 3DB, UK, email: [email protected]
M. S. WILSON
Affiliation:
Department of Computer Science, University of Wales, Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, SY23 3DB, UK, email: [email protected]

Abstract

Increasing complexity of design in automotive electrical systems has been paralleled by increased demands for analysis of the safety and reliability aspects of those designs. Such demands can place a great burden on the engineers charged with carrying out the analysis. This paper describes how the intended functions of a circuit design can be combined with a qualitative model of the electrical circuit that fulfils the functions, and used to analyse the safety of the design. FLAME, an automated failure mode and effects analysis system based on these techniques, is described in detail. FLAME has been developed over several years, and is capable of composing an FMEA report for many different electrical subsystems. The paper also addresses the issue of how the use of functional and structural reasoning can be extended to sneak circuit analysis and fault tree analysis.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
© 1997 Cambridge University Press

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