scholarly journals Challenges with Software Verification and Validation Activities in the Space Industry

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Feldt ◽  
R. Torkar ◽  
Ehsan Ahmad ◽  
Bilal Raza
Keyword(s):  
Software Verification ◽  
Verification And Validation ◽  
Space Industry ◽  
Software Verification And Validation

Effective Software Verification and Validation Approach for Nuclear Power Plant Digital Instrumentation and Control Systems

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steve Yang ◽  
Jun Ding ◽  
Huifang Miao ◽  
Jianxiang Zheng
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Nuclear Power Plants ◽  
Software Verification ◽  
Verification And Validation ◽  
Common Cause ◽  
Digital Instrumentation ◽  
And Control ◽  
Software Verification And Validation

All 1000 MW nuclear power plants currently in construction or projected to-be-built in China will use the digital instrumentation and control (I&C) systems. Safety and reliability are the ultimate concern for the digital I&C systems. To obtain high confidence in the safety of digital I&C systems, rigorous software verification and validation (V&V) life-cycle methodologies are necessary. The V&V life-cycle process ensures that the requirements of the system and software are correct, complete, and traceable; that the requirements at the end of each life-cycle phase fulfill the requirements imposed by the previous phase; and the final product meets the user-specified requirements. The V&V process is best illustrated via the so-called V-model. This paper describes the V-model in detail by some examples. Through the examples demonstration, it is shown that the process detailed in the V-model is consistent with the IEEE Std 1012-1998, which is endorsed by the US Regulatory Guide 1.168-2004. The examples show that the V-model process detailed in this paper provides an effective V&V approach for digital I&C systems used in nuclear power plants. Additionally, in order to obtain a qualitative mathematical description of the V-model, we study its topological structure in graph theory. This study confirms the rationality of the V-model. Finally, the V&V approach affording protection against common-cause failure from design deficiencies, and manufacturing errors is explored. We conclude that rigorous V&V activities using the V-model are creditable in reducing the risk of common-cause failures.

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