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Fault Tree Analysis with Bayesian Belief Networks for Safety-Critical Software




January 2010
10 pages
Fault Tree Analysis with Bayesian Belief Networks for Safety-Critical Software

The flexibility of Bayesian Belief Networks makes them particularly suitable for presenting a quantified safety case incorporating hard and soft evidence. This paper describes their application to one component of an overall safety assessment of the QNX Neutrino microkernel.

Contents

Introduction — Failure Analysis — The Fault Tree — The Bayesian Belief Network — Application to the QNX Neutrino Microkernel — Statistical Analysis — Bathtub Curve — Theoretical Foundations — Conclusion — Appendix: Bayes' Theorem [+]





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Author
Chris Hobbs
chobbs@qnx.com

Chris Hobbs

Chris Hobbs is a kernel developer at QNX, specializing in "sufficiently-available" software: software created with the minimum development effort to meet the availability and reliability needs of the customer; and in producing safe software (in conformance with IEC61508 SIL3). He is also a specialist in WBEM/CIM device, network and service management, and the author of A Practical Approach to WBEM/CIM Management (2004).

In addition to his software development work, Chris is a flying instructor, a singer with a particular interest in Schubert's Lieder, and the author of several books, including Learning to Fly in Canada (2000) and The Largest Number Smaller than Five (2007). His blog, Software Musings, focuses "primarily on software and analytical philosophy".

Chris Hobbs earned a B.Sc., Honours in Pure Mathematics and Mathematical Philosophy at the University of London's Queen Mary and Westfield College.

See Also...

Exactly When Do You Need an RTOS?

Using Resource Partitioning to Build Secure, Survivable Embedded Systems

Protecting Applications Against Heisenbugs

Memory Errors in Embedded Systems

Building Functional Safety into Complex Software Systems, Part I


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