Formal Modeling and Verification of Safety-Critical Software

Rigorous quality demonstration is important when developing safety-critical software such as a reactor protection system (RPS) for a nuclear power plant. Although using formal methods such as formal modeling and verification is strongly recommended, domain experts often reject formal methods for fou...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inIEEE software Vol. 26; no. 3; pp. 42 - 49
Main Authors Yoo, Junbeom, Jee, Eunkyoung, Cha, Sungdeok (Steve)
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Los Alamitos IEEE 01.05.2009
IEEE Computer Society
Subjects
Automation
Computer aided software engineering
Computer programs
Control systems
Embedded software
Failure analysis
Formal method
formal methods
Formalism
function block diagram (FBD)
Language
Logic testing
modeling
Nuclear engineering
Nuclear power generation
Nuclear power plants
Nuclear reactors
Product development
Program verification (computers)
Programmable control
Protection systems
Requirements analysis
Safety management
safety-critical software
Semantics
Software
Software development
Software engineering
Software safety
Software testing
Software tools
Subject specialists
US Department of Transportation
verification
United States > US
Online AccessGet full text
ISSN0740-7459
1937-4194
DOI10.1109/MS.2009.67

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Summary:Rigorous quality demonstration is important when developing safety-critical software such as a reactor protection system (RPS) for a nuclear power plant. Although using formal methods such as formal modeling and verification is strongly recommended, domain experts often reject formal methods for four reasons: there are too many candidate techniques, the notations appear complex, the tools often work only in isolation, and output is often too difficult for domain experts to understand. A formal-methods-based process that supports development, verification and validation, and safety analysis can help domain experts overcome these obstacles. Nuclear engineers can also use CASE tools to apply formal methods without having to know details of the underlying formalism. The authors spent more than seven years working with nuclear engineers in developing RPS software and applying formal methods. The engineers and regulatory personnel found the process effective and easy to apply with the integrated tool support.
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ISSN:0740-7459
1937-4194
DOI:10.1109/MS.2009.67