Dynamic flowgraph methodology as a tool for process control software PRA

Journal Article · Sat Dec 31 04:00:00 EST 1994 · Transactions of the American Nuclear Society

OSTI ID:75988

Guarro, S; Yau, M

Software-based process control is finding increased use in the nuclear industry. Because, unlike hardware, software can be easily endowed with very complex functionality, it is vulnerable to errors resulting from its own possible design complexity. To evaluate and limit the risk of safety-critical process control software applications, it may be essential to develop tools to model and analyze digital control system software design to enforce a disciplined process of software specification. Although it would also be desirable to well integrate the modeling and analysis of the hardware and software components of a digital control system, past practice has generally kept the hardware and software portions of the systems assurance analysis almost completely separate. This paper introduces a new technique, the dynamic flowgraph methodology (DFM), which provides an integrated modeling framework for both the hardware and software portions of digital control systems and produces hardware/software fault trees that can be used for probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) of such systems.

• OSTI ID: 75988
• Report Number(s): CONF-940602--
• Journal Information: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society, Journal Name: Transactions of the American Nuclear Society Vol. 70; ISSN 0003-018X; ISSN TANSAO
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

22 GENERAL STUDIES OF NUCLEAR REACTORS
99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS
COMPUTER ARCHITECTURE
DIGITAL SYSTEMS
FAULT TREE ANALYSIS
PERFORMANCE
REACTOR CONTROL SYSTEMS
RELIABILITY
RISK ASSESSMENT