Department of Computer Science, Unit Catalogue 2007/08 |
CM30072 Safety-critical computer systems |
| Credits: 6 |
| Level: Honours |
| Semester: 1 |
| Assessment: EX100 |
| Requisites: |
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Aims: To give an appreciation of the current state of safe systems development. To develop an understanding of risk in systems. To give a foundation in hazard analysis models and techniques. To show how safety principles may be built into all stages of the software development process.
Learning Outcomes: At the end of this course a student should be able to demonstrate the following: 1. An understanding of the nature of risk in developing computer-based systems. 2. The ability to choose and apply appropriate hazard analysis models for simple safety-related problems. 3. An understanding of how to approach the design of safety-critical software systems. Skills: IT (T, A). Content: The nature of risk: computers and risk; how accidents happen; human error. System safety: historical approaches to system safety; basic concepts and terminology. Managing the development of safety-critical systems. Modeling human error and the accident process. Hazard analysis: basic principles; models and techniques. Safety principles in the software lifecycle: hazard analysis as part of requirements analysis; designing for safety; designing the human-machine interface; verification of safety in computer systems. |