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Embedded Systems Europe
Standards Column
Vol1.6 June 2009

  
A Standard Individual:
A New standard on shaky ground?

By Chris Hills

Chris Hills

 

These are my own personal views and not those of my company Phaedrus Systems see www.phaedsys.com which is where the full version of this column, with links etc, resides under the Documents tab.

 

This column was part of the ESE 8 page insert in Electronics Engineering Times and restricted down to 500 words.

 

For readers of EE Times:  I have written a loosely standards based column for ESE for the last 6 years. Traditionally the summer issue has been entitled “two weeks in the summer” and of a more philosophical tone, extolling all of you to take a break and refresh the mind.  This year is no different.

 

Take a break, think about other things and refresh the mind.  Most Europeans understand this and attend trade shows throughout the year as they understand the benefits of fresh input, particularly from sources they don’t normally look at.  The UK engineers do not normally attend trade events. If they did the UK ESC in September would have over10,000 visitors.   They don’t know what they are missing.

 

Coming back to standards the much-anticipated automotive standard IEC26262 [DRAFT] will be out sometime August-September. This is the automotive variant of universal IEC 61508 Functional Safety standard.  It is so anticipated that I know of one company that will have, available in September, a requirements capture tool based on the IEC26262 draft!

 

One of the problems associated with IEC 26262 is the way it has been developed. As it is very tightly linked to AUTOSAR the people developing it, as you might expect are all automotive companies. There are, as far as I can see, no independent people involved. The companies mean  the standard has had a lot of resources put behind it, time and people in particular. Many of the people doing IEC26262 are also involved in AUTOSAR, which should mean a near seamless integration.  Whereas with 61508 there are many independent consultants who can advise for 26262 it is in reality the automotive companies who are the designers and arbiters with no external voices.

 

So apart from the lack of independent people who can consult on IEC26262 the standard has come together well.  That is assuming you think AUTOSAR is a good standard and I understand there are some politics on that depending where you stand. I shall not go into that now as the politics and technicalities are entangled with commercial necessities. A real mine field and it is difficult to determine reality from spin.

Obviously the other parent of 26262 namely IEC 61508 Functional Safety is solid…. Well is it? Recently on the York University Safety Critical group email list  (which is international in composition and contains some of the worlds leading authorities) the very premise of 61508 has been called into question…  It reminded me of the old joke that if you put 10 lawyers in a room you get 11 opinions!  The question was does the basic premise of 61508 actually work… could some one demonstrate a real proof?

 

As it is a closed list I am not going to name names but for your “two weeks in the summer” I suggest you think on: “What is Functional Safety and how do you measure it, make a system to insure you get it?”   More to the point: Does 61508 actually do what it is supposed to do?

 

For inspiration read “Zen and he Art of Motorcycle Maintenance” [25th anniversary edition if you can get it] on your summer break and muse on it.  Its theme is what is “quality”?   It is a most thought provoking novel.

So take a break from work, relax and take a philosophical view of life, safety, standards  and safety standards. Its OK the car/aeroplane you take to your holiday has been built to an approved safety standard….

 

 

Author Details and contact

 

Eur Ing Chris Hills BSc CEng MIET MBCS MIEEE  FRGS   FRSA is a Technical Specialist and can be reached at This Contact

 

Copyright Chris A Hills  2003 -2008
The right of Chris A Hills to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988