High-integrity software is
software
Software is a set of computer programs and associated software documentation, documentation and data (computing), data. This is in contrast to Computer hardware, hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work.
...
whose failure may cause serious damage with possible "life-threatening consequences." “Integrity is important as it demonstrates the safety, security, and maintainability of… code.”
Examples of high-integrity software are
nuclear reactor
A nuclear reactor is a device used to initiate and control a fission nuclear chain reaction or nuclear fusion reactions. Nuclear reactors are used at nuclear power plants for electricity generation and in nuclear marine propulsion. Heat from nu ...
control,
avionics
Avionics (a blend of ''aviation'' and ''electronics'') are the electronic systems used on aircraft. Avionic systems include communications, navigation, the display and management of multiple systems, and the hundreds of systems that are fitt ...
software, and
process control
An industrial process control in continuous production processes is a discipline that uses industrial control systems to achieve a production level of consistency, economy and safety which could not be achieved purely by human manual control. ...
software.
A number of standards are applicable to high-integrity software, including:
*
DO-178C
DO-178C, Software Considerations in Airborne Systems and Equipment Certification is the primary document by which the certification authorities such as FAA, EASA and Transport Canada approve all commercial software-based aerospace systems. The ...
, Software Considerations in Airborne Systems and Equipment Certification
* CENELEC EN 50128, Railway applications - Communication, signalling and processing systems - Software for railway control and protection systems
*
IEC 61508
IEC 61508 is an international standard published by the International Electrotechnical Commission consisting of methods on how to apply, design, deploy and maintain automatic protection systems called safety-related systems. It is titled ''Functi ...
, Functional Safety of Electrical/Electronic/Programmable Electronic Safety-related Systems (E/E/PE, or E/E/PES)
See also
*
Safety-critical system
*
High availability software
*
Formal methods
In computer science, formal methods are mathematically rigorous techniques for the specification, development, and verification of software and hardware systems. The use of formal methods for software and hardware design is motivated by the exp ...
*
Software of unknown pedigree
References
External links
*
*
*
{{software-eng-stub
Software by type
Software quality
Safety engineering