Model-Based Design for Safety-Related Applications

Production code generation with Model-Based Design has replaced document-based development and manual coding in various automotive domains such as chassis and powertrain. Safety-related applications are increasingly developed using Model-Based Design as well. For these applications, software development and quality assurance activities within Model-Based Design must meet the requirements of the safety standard relevant to the particular domain. For in-vehicle applications, currently this standard is typically IEC 61508.

This paper discusses workflows for developing safety-related application software components and specific requirements with respect to Model-Based Design. Generally, the objectives of IEC 61508-3 influence the entire software development process. However, some activities are of particular importance. This paper is concerned with the following activities exhibiting certain specifics if they are carried out as part of Model-Based Design: traceability between work products, production code generation, dynamic testing, and design for robustness and reliability.