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Towards Evidence-Based Architectural Design for Safety-Critical Software Applications

  • Chapter
Architecting Dependable Systems IV

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNPSE,volume 4615))

Abstract

Robust software and system architectures have been increasingly recognised as one of the keys to improving dependability. However, most modern design methods and explanations of underlying design principles still remain ad hoc. The communication between design and safety assessment in practice is often characterised as an “over-the-wall” process. The problems are exacerbated by the uncertainty problem in the early development lifecycle. In this paper, we propose a Triple Peaks process framework, from which a system model, deviation model, mitigation model are proposed and linked together. The application of this framework is supported by the use of Bayesian Belief Networks and collation of relevant evidence. We elaborate the linkage between the three models by means of a case study. The central tenet in this paper is to address safety concerns based upon evidence available at an architectural level.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Computer Science, The University of York, York YO10 5DD,  

    Weihang Wu & Tim Kelly

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  1. Weihang Wu
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  2. Tim Kelly
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Rogério de Lemos Cristina Gacek Alexander Romanovsky

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Wu, W., Kelly, T. (2007). Towards Evidence-Based Architectural Design for Safety-Critical Software Applications. In: de Lemos, R., Gacek, C., Romanovsky, A. (eds) Architecting Dependable Systems IV. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 4615. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-74035-3_17

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-74035-3_17

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-74033-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-74035-3

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