Evaluation and Integration of COTS in Evidence based Assurance Frameworks

George Despotou, Mike Bennett, Tim Kelly

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

Abstract

COTS have increasingly been used by industrial practice as a means of maintaining low development costs of a product, whilst offering significant capability upgrades. COTS are multipurpose products driven by commonly used functionality. However, being general purpose products raises certain challenges regarding their ability to be certified. Previously used (process-based) standards stipulated a process that the product needed to adhere to. This involved production of a generic set of evidence known as the certification pack (CertPack). Being the product of a generic test process, the available (CertPack) COTS evidence may not be sufficient or suitable to support the developers' safety claims The challenges raised by use of COTS in such assurance frameworks can have ramifications on a project both from a managerial and safety assurance perspective. The paper presents an analysis of the challenges from the use of CertPack and their impact on assurance and project management. Moreover a process is presented that assists de-risking the integration of evidence, as early as possible during system development or upgrade.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationMAKING SYSTEMS SAFER
EditorsC Dale, T Anderson
Place of PublicationGODALMING
PublisherSpringer
Pages233-254
Number of pages22
ISBN (Print)978-1-84996-085-4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2010
Event18th Safety-Critical Systems Symposium - Bristol
Duration: 9 Feb 201011 Feb 2010

Conference

Conference18th Safety-Critical Systems Symposium
CityBristol
Period9/02/1011/02/10

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