[SystemSafety] Fault, Failure and Reliability Again (short)

[Peter Bernard Ladkin]

On 2015-03-04 11:48 , José Faria wrote:
>
> Just a note on your comment, "/it is surely a matter of engineering [responsibility] due diligence
> that these engineers get themselves up to date on the concepts the experts, the computer scientists,
> use to talk about their subject matter/":
> 
> The two key standards in aerospace for System and Safety assessment are ARP4754A ...and ARP4761 ...,
> and the terminology used .... is _not_ consistent with Laprie's taxonomy. It's only fair that
engineers working
> in aerospace use the terminology of the regulations they are to comply with.

Yes, most certainly.

And since they are also using and engineering digital computer systems of various sorts, when they
are talking about them they - let me repeat - should also be aware of the technical terms which the
experts in those systems use to talk about them, namely (for example) the Laprie taxonomy. As a
matter of engineering responsibility and due diligence. Not only that, but it would be a good idea
to be aware of the inconsistencies.

And vice versa - it is surely incumbent upon computer scientists working in aerospace not only to be
aware of the Laprie taxonomy, but also of the concepts in the applicable SAE standards.

Ingo Rolle, who is the secretary for both the functional safety groups and the infrastructure
security groups at the German electrotechnical standardisation organisation DKE, has indicated to me
that there is likely to be difficulty with reconciled the concepts between those two groups, now
that it is recognised that safety issues and security issues interact and they need to talk to each
other (read: a new commission is/has been formed......).

We humans do make things difficult for ourselves, don't we?

Although I do find reconciling concepts a less odd activity than responding to suggestions that the
field in which some of the scientists I most respect have worked for four decades actually doesn't
exist!

PBL

Prof. Peter Bernard Ladkin, Faculty of Technology, University of Bielefeld, 33594 Bielefeld, Germany
Je suis Charlie
Tel+msg +49 (0)521 880 7319  www.rvs.uni-bielefeld.de