Editor's Note: Software reliability necessary for next-gen vehicles
Dan Romanchik, Technical Editor -- Test & Measurement World, 4/1/2003
While I've bemoaned the fact that there wasn't much new in test at this year's SAE World Congress, one area in which there has been some movement is software reliability. Software reliability will become more critical as automakers adopt technologies such as drive-by-wire and as electric vehicles become more common.
Fortunately, several efforts are underway to help ensure that the software in tomorrow's cars works safely. Perhaps the effort that is furthest along is that of the Motor Industry Software Reliability Association (MISRA; http://www.misra.org.uk), a UK-based group that includes automakers, suppliers, consultants, and universities.
MISRA has produced a number of reports, but the most widely known is "Guidelines for the Use of the C Language in Vehicle Based Software." Published in 1994, the document recommends the use of a restricted subset of the C language for programming safety-related systems.
MISRA is developing version two of these recommendations and expects to publish it in mid-2003. The SAE is working on its version of the recommendations and should publish its standard shortly thereafter.
Test engineers as well as development engineers should pay attention to these standards. Many tests are now being conducted in real time, and by adhering to these standards, test engineers can help ensure that their tests will run safely, as well as yield good test data.
Contact Dan Romanchik at editor@aatr.net .
