2007 Research
by Dr. Janusz Zalewski
Assessment of Software Development Tools for Safety-Critical, Real-Time Systems
A.J. Kornecki, N. Brixius, J. Zalewski et al.
Report DOT/FAA/AR-06/36, Federal Aviation Administration, Washington, DC, July 2007.
Abstract: The objective of the research was to identify the assessment criteria that allow both developers and certifying authorities to
evaluate specific safety-critical, real-time software development tools from a system and software safety perspective. The report
clarifies the landscape of software development tools with respect to the current aviation system certification guidelines. The
research effort proceeded in two directions: (1) collecting data on tool qualification efforts to examine potential future
modifications to the existing guidelines and (2) creating software development tool evaluation taxonomy by identifying tool
categories, functionalities, concerns, factors, and evaluation methods.
The problem statement has four components: (1) industry view, (2) qualification, (3) quality assessment, and (4) tool evaluation
taxonomy. The data collected from industry influenced the evaluation process and the recommendations for development tool
practices. Selected methods used to evaluate tools have been described. The report presents different categories of tools
identified in the course of the research. This categorization is limited to the research scope as guided by DO-178B. Finally, the
report defines the structure and the organization of the tool evaluation taxonomy.
Selected Issues in Computer Systems Safety
A.J. Kornecki, J. Zalewski
Proc. First IEEE International Workshop on Safety of Systems, Monterey, Calif., March 15-16, 2007, pp. 1-49.
Abstract: The position paper presents the authors’ views on the critical issues in safety of computer systems and software. It is based on selected results from several studies the authors have done for various government agencies, private companies and professional societies. Main limitations and challenges in designing computer systems for safety are discussed.