Functional safety for automotive software development

The software development lifecycle

Functional safety affects both hardware and software development, particularly in areas such as requirement changes, version control, and test validation. For example, in ASIL-D level applications, every code change must go through a full impact analysis and regression testing to ensure it doesn’t introduce new risks.

Software development practices for functional safety

These practices ensure that software meets industry standards and can withstand system-level failures:

• Defining requirements clearly

  • Specifying safety-critical requirements and conduct formal risk assessments.

• Following safety-oriented programming standards

  • Using MISRA C or CERT C/C++ and static analysis tools to detect unsafe behavior.

• Implementing fault-handling mechanisms

  • Using redundancy, health monitoring, and fail-safe logic to manage faults gracefully.

• Testing and verifying rigorously

  • Using Hardware-in-the-Loop (HIL) testing to validate behavior under realistic conditions.

• Tracking changes with version control and audits

  • Using tools like Git, JIRA, or Polarion to manage revisions and maintain traceability for audits.

• Building an ASIL-partitioned development environment and adopting SOAFEE technologies to help improve software maintainability and ensure consistent compliance with functional safety standards.