An approach for rapidly adapting the demands of ISO/DIS 26262 to electric/electronic architecture modeling

The draft international standard ISO 26262 describes a safety lifecycle for road vehicles and thereby influences all parts of development (specification, prototyping, implementation, integration, test, etc.). All functionalities affected by the standard, contain hierarchical electric and electronic systems. Starting from 2011, they should be designed, analyzed, assessed and documented strictly to the demands of ISO 26262. The adaption of the standard to the OEM's (original equipment manufacturer) existing development lifecycle comes along with numerous additional challenges and time-consuming activities. The rapid application and adaption of the ISO 26262 is imperative for OEMs and tier one suppliers to stay competitive and avoid the risk of delayed development kick-offs. The electric and electronic architecture (EEA) of a vehicle comprises the distributed automotive control system (electronic control units (ECU), sensors, actuators, etc.), and the computed functions. The EEA is designed and evaluated during the concept phase of the vehicle development. The EEA design has groundbreaking impact on succeeding development phases. Conformity of the EEA to the demands of the ISO 26262 and well-wrought design decisions enable for fast and safe progress of succeeding phases of the development lifecycle and thereby rapid development of intelligent and future-oriented vehicular systems. This article discusses impacts of the ISO 26262 to the EEA development and the handling of demanded safety requirements during the early phases of EEA development.