skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Extending and automating a Systems-Theoretic hazard analysis for requirements generation and analysis.

Abstract

Systems Theoretic Process Analysis (STPA) is a powerful new hazard analysis method designed to go beyond traditional safety techniques - such as Fault Tree Analysis (FTA) - that overlook important causes of accidents like flawed requirements, dysfunctional component interactions, and software errors. While proving to be very effective on real systems, no formal structure has been defined for STPA and its application has been ad-hoc with no rigorous procedures or model-based design tools. This report defines a formal mathematical structure underlying STPA and describes a procedure for systematically performing an STPA analysis based on that structure. A method for using the results of the hazard analysis to generate formal safety-critical, model-based system and software requirements is also presented. Techniques to automate both the analysis and the requirements generation are introduced, as well as a method to detect conflicts between the safety and other functional model-based requirements during early development of the system.

Authors:
 [1]
  1. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), Albuquerque, NM, and Livermore, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE
OSTI Identifier:
1044959
Report Number(s):
SAND2012-4080
TRN: US201214%%1053
DOE Contract Number:  
AC04-94AL85000
Resource Type:
Technical Report
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS//MATHEMATICS, COMPUTING, AND INFORMATION SCIENCE; ACCIDENTS; DESIGN; FAULT TREE ANALYSIS; FUNCTIONALS; SAFETY

Citation Formats

Thomas, John. Extending and automating a Systems-Theoretic hazard analysis for requirements generation and analysis.. United States: N. p., 2012. Web. doi:10.2172/1044959.
Thomas, John. Extending and automating a Systems-Theoretic hazard analysis for requirements generation and analysis.. United States. https://doi.org/10.2172/1044959
Thomas, John. 2012. "Extending and automating a Systems-Theoretic hazard analysis for requirements generation and analysis.". United States. https://doi.org/10.2172/1044959. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1044959.
@article{osti_1044959,
title = {Extending and automating a Systems-Theoretic hazard analysis for requirements generation and analysis.},
author = {Thomas, John},
abstractNote = {Systems Theoretic Process Analysis (STPA) is a powerful new hazard analysis method designed to go beyond traditional safety techniques - such as Fault Tree Analysis (FTA) - that overlook important causes of accidents like flawed requirements, dysfunctional component interactions, and software errors. While proving to be very effective on real systems, no formal structure has been defined for STPA and its application has been ad-hoc with no rigorous procedures or model-based design tools. This report defines a formal mathematical structure underlying STPA and describes a procedure for systematically performing an STPA analysis based on that structure. A method for using the results of the hazard analysis to generate formal safety-critical, model-based system and software requirements is also presented. Techniques to automate both the analysis and the requirements generation are introduced, as well as a method to detect conflicts between the safety and other functional model-based requirements during early development of the system.},
doi = {10.2172/1044959},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1044959}, journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Tue May 01 00:00:00 EDT 2012},
month = {Tue May 01 00:00:00 EDT 2012}
}