Department of Computer Science, Unit Catalogue 2007/08 |
CM50121 Safety critical systems |
| Credits: 6 |
| Level: Masters |
| Semester: 1 |
| Assessment: CW 25%, EX 75% |
| Requisites: |
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This unit shares lectures and tutorials with CM30072. 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: After studying this unit a student will be able to: * understand the concepts of safety, risk and the role of human factors in the design and operation of safety critical systems; * understand the nature and role of the safety lifecycle in developing safety related systems; * choose and apply appropriate hazard identification and analysis techniques for a variety of safety related problems; * critically evaluate and reason effectively about hazardous situations in safety critical systems. Skills: Understanding of safety issues in software and systems development (T, A); critical analysis of safety critical situations in software and systems development (T, F, A); choosing appropriate analysis and design techniques for a wide range of safety-critical situations (T, F, A); assessment of risk and associated human factors in a variety of systems (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. Modelling 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. |