An engineering approach to critical software certification

Abstract

A significant number of computer based systems currently exist that perform human related critical functions (e.g., medical diagnosis/treatment support, weapon systems, banking financial systems, transportation systems). The Software Engineering Directorate (SED) of the United States Army Aviation and Missile Command (AMCOM) develops and maintains numerous critical systems that fall into this category. Prior to operational deployment of AMCOM aviation and missile systems, the SED has responsibility for the certification of these critical systems. This paper will describe a four pronged engineering based analysis for determining a Flight Readiness Risk Index and a Certification for Flight Readiness recommendation.Developers of critical systems have generally approached the certification for flight readiness by performing an independent audit of the development process and technical standards. While the independent audit is a good step towards determining operational readiness, a more rigorous analysis of the software and its execution is necessary to establish high confidence in the system deployment decision. The SED is developing a procedure utilizing an engineering based approach which permits the determination of the operational worthiness of these systems. The engineering based approach addresses four analyses that determine the following: Software Reliability: Measured by frequency of failure Correctness: Measured by error experience and test coverage Safety: Measured by resistance to hazards Operational Usability: Measured by operational scenario driven automated testing, user testing, and/or operational user simulation resultsIt has been standard procedure to audit the development process and engineering standards used for the development of these systems as well as perform in-process oversight (i.e., Independent Verification and Validation (IV&V)) of the software. The purpose of this standard audit is to determine if the approved best practices and established

A methodology for certification of modeling and simulation applications

“…The following references describe how certification of software products and components is currently practiced: [ISACC 1999;Loesh et al 1999;Poore, Mills, and Mutchler 1993;Rae, Robert, and Hausen 1995;Rodríguez-Dapena 1999;Vermesan 1997Vermesan , 1998Voas 1998aVoas ,b,c, 1999aVoas ,b,c,d, 2000aWakid et al 1999;Wallace 1999;Wohlin and Regnell 1998;Wohlin and Runeson 1994].…”