Requirement Management and Link with Architecture and Components

Standards And Obligation

It is well known that a failure in safety-critical systems such as nuclear, railway, aeronautics or automobile may endanger human life or the environment. This is especially true when more and more electronics are embedded in these systems. For this reason, many standards were conceived to normalize the systems design, implementation and exploitation. Examples of these standards are CEI 880 in nuclear system, CENELEC EN50126, EN50128 and EN50129 in railway system in Europe, and DO-178 and DO-254 in aeronautic system. Above all these standards are the general CEI 61508 (2000), which covers all systems, based on electric, electronics and programmable electronics.

The standard CEI 61508 (2000) covers aspects concerning the safety of the electrical/electronic/programmable electronic systems (E/E/PESs). It aims for use in many different sectors of industry (see Figure 1). The objective is that it shall suit all contexts where electrical, electronic or programmable electronic systems are included.

Figure 1.

CEI 61508 and its derivation in different sectors