Software safety - A user's practical perspectiveSoftware safety assurance philosophy and practices at the NASA Ames are discussed. It is shown that, to be safe, software must be error-free. Software developments on two digital flight control systems and two ground facility systems are examined, including the overall system and software organization and function, the software-safety issues, and their resolution. The effectiveness of safety assurance methods is discussed, including conventional life-cycle practices, verification and validation testing, software safety analysis, and formal design methods. It is concluded (1) that a practical software safety technology does not yet exist, (2) that it is unlikely that a set of general-purpose analytical techniques can be developed for proving that software is safe, and (3) that successful software safety-assurance practices will have to take into account the detailed design processes employed and show that the software will execute correctly under all possible conditions.
Document ID
19910046450
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Dunn, William R. (NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Corliss, Lloyd D. (NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA, United States)