ISO 26262

ISO 26262 (“Road vehicles –Functional safety”) is the current ISO standard for safety relevant electronic and electric (E/E) systems in passenger cars up to 3.5 tons. In the past the standard for electronic and programable devices for functional safety was IEC 61508. Based on this standard the ISO 26262 expanded the requirements for nowadays electronic vehicle architecture and safety.

The innovation and optimization of electrical / electronic vehicle architecture increased rapidly in the last 30 Years, due to this fact it is important to guarantee the functional safety of the parts and systems in production.

The ISO 26262 focusses on all aspects of functional safety including hardware and software. The certification for ISO 26262 is on process, product and tools.

Image from: Clemson University Vehicular Electronics Laboratory

Electrical/Electronic (E/E) “that provides safety or safety-related functions”

Obvious examples:

• Anti-lock brakes, air bags, traction control, electronic cruise control, adaptive cruise control, collision avoidance, lane change control

Less obvious examples:

• Front windshield defroster/defogger, rear windshield (backlite) defroster, auto-on headlamps, auto-on running lights, seat-belt pre-tensioners, low tire pressure warning system, engine, electric-assist power steering.

The Goal of ISO 26262 is to provide an automotive safety lifecycle. From its management to development further to production, operation and service.  It can be used to tailor necessary activities during these lifecycle phases. For example, if an automobile manufacturer or supplier wants to develop a safety-related system.

For ISO 26262 compliance; a functional safety consultant identifies and assesses hazards (safety risks). These hazards are then categorized based on their criticality factor under the Automotive Safety Integrity Level (ASIL) under ISO 26262. Such a clear classification of hazards helps to :

• Establish various safety requirements to mitigate the risks to acceptable levels
• Smoothly manage and track these safety requirements
• Ensure that standardized safety procedures have been followed in the delivered product.

Because all Automotive System development for Electronic and Electrical components need to comply to ISO 26262 a supplier must be certificated to work with this standard so that he stays competitive and able to provide the automobile manufactories.

1. Proper requirements management, design, and quality management practices
2. Traceability
   • Across all assets and work products, originated from requirements
3. Change and Configuration Management
4. Process Improvement
   • Collecting process information
   • Collecting operational information
5. Accountability and progress reporting
   • Audit trail
     • Work products
     • Process

Traceability is the key to compliance with ISO 26262.

Initial requirements will be decomposed, which creates traceability relationships. Other relationships can also be traced such as “consists of”, “verifies”, etc.

Traceability must be enforced in order to ensure consistency and completeness

        Traceability from customer requirements through product development to test and delivery enables organizations to:

Know which requirements are implemented and tested vs. those which are not Manage and defend against scope creep

With IBM Tools you can easily become ISO 26262 certified. Due to the Jazz Platform which combines several possibilities to track your progress and to safe your maturity level.

The IBM Rational Solution for Automotive Engineering - ISO-26262 is a set of best practices to help organizations develop products that must comply with the ISO-26262 functional safety standard. The scope of these practices covers areas that are described by ISO-26262, relating to management of functional safety, concept, system engineering, and software development. They have been developed to support the incremental adoption of process, practices and tools, thereby reducing the time to value for process improvement initiatives. More information.

• Verification and verification planning (Test Conductor and Engineering Test Management)
  • Lot of emphasis on validation and verification of Systems, HW and SW
  • Level and type of test dependent upon ASIL of element to be developed.
  • Integrations with National Instruments Veristand
  • ISO 26262 RQM process template
  • Work going on with ETAS on HW-SW integration with EWM
• Production and Operation
  • New technology in the form of Internet of Things
  • Big Data and Analystics
• Turning Data into Information (Jazz and ELO –Engineering Insights)
  • Collaborative environment and team working
  • Potentially across OEM-Supplier boundaries
  • View information existing in different tools via OSLC integrations
    • Mentor Graphics
    • National Instruments
    • Simulink etc
  • Customise views on that information