ISO 26262-6-2018 PDF

Full title and description

ISO 26262-6:2018 — Road vehicles — Functional safety — Part 6: Product development at the software level. This part of ISO 26262 specifies requirements and guidance for the development of safety-related automotive embedded software, covering specification of software safety requirements, software architecture and design, unit implementation and verification, software integration and testing, and use of configurable software components for series-production road vehicles.

Abstract

This document provides a framework of requirements for achieving functional safety at the software level in automotive electrical and electronic (E/E) systems. It addresses hazards caused by malfunctioning behaviour of safety-related E/E systems (excluding non‑E/E hazards such as fire or toxicity unless directly caused by malfunction), and it specifies processes, work products and verification activities to develop and demonstrate safe embedded software for series-production road vehicles. Annex A gives an overview of objectives, prerequisites and work products related to the software lifecycle.

General information

• Status: Published (current edition).
• Publication date: December 2018.
• Publisher: International Organization for Standardization (ISO).
• ICS / categories: 43.040.10 — Electrical and electronic equipment for road vehicles.
• Edition / version: Edition 2 (2018).
• Number of pages: 57.

Scope

ISO 26262‑6:2018 applies to product development at the software level for safety‑related systems that include one or more E/E systems installed in series‑production road vehicles (excludes mopeds and typically excludes special purpose vehicles unless tailored). The part defines requirements for initiating software development, deriving and specifying software safety requirements from system safety goals, software architectural design, detailed unit design and implementation, verification of units and integrated software, and software testing. It also addresses tailoring for existing systems and the use of configurable software and tools within the software safety lifecycle.

Key topics and requirements

• Specification of software safety requirements derived from system-level safety goals and ASILs.
• Software architectural design that supports allocated safety requirements, modularity and isolation.
• Software unit design and implementation practices (including coding standards, defensive programming and configuration management).
• Software unit verification, review and static analysis requirements to demonstrate correctness at unit level.
• Software integration and integration verification to ensure correct interaction between units and with hardware.
• Systematic and structural testing strategies, test coverage criteria and traceability of tests to requirements.
• Considerations for configurable software components and reuse, including justification and evidence of safety when using third‑party/configurable software.
• Tool classification and qualification where tools can introduce or fail to detect software faults affecting safety.
• Traceability, configuration management, and required work products to demonstrate compliance and support certification/assessment.

Typical use and users

Engineers and managers in automotive OEMs and suppliers responsible for embedded software development, functional safety engineers, verification and test teams, tool qualification engineers, safety assessors, and consultants use ISO 26262‑6 to establish and demonstrate that software has been developed to the safety integrity required by allocated ASILs. The standard is used to define company processes, create development and verification plans, and produce the work products required for safety case evidence.

Related standards

ISO 26262‑6 is one part of the ISO 26262 series (parts 1–10 in the 2018 edition). Closely related parts include: Part 1 (Vocabulary), Part 2 (Management of functional safety), Part 4 (Product development at the system level), Part 5 (Product development at the hardware level), Part 7 (Production, operation, service and decommissioning) and Part 8 (Supporting processes). Other complementary documents and industry guidance (e.g., coding standards, tool qualification documents and supplier agreements) are commonly used alongside ISO 26262‑6.

Keywords

ISO 26262, functional safety, automotive software, software safety requirements, ASIL, software architecture, unit testing, integration testing, tool qualification, configurable software, safety lifecycle, traceability.

FAQ

Q: What is this standard?

A: ISO 26262‑6:2018 is the software‑level part of the ISO 26262 series that specifies requirements for the development and verification of safety‑related automotive embedded software.

Q: What does it cover?

A: It covers specification of software safety requirements, software architectural and unit design, unit and integration verification, software testing, use of configurable software, and related verification and work‑product requirements to support a safety case for series‑production road vehicles.

Q: Who typically uses it?

A: Automotive OEMs, Tier‑1/Tier‑2 suppliers, embedded software developers, verification/test engineers, safety managers and assessors use the part to plan, perform and demonstrate compliant software development for safety‑related functions.

Q: Is it current or superseded?

A: The current edition is ISO 26262‑6:2018 (Edition 2, published December 2018). The earlier 2011 edition (ISO 26262‑6:2011) was withdrawn and replaced by the 2018 edition.

Q: Is it part of a series?

A: Yes — ISO 26262‑6 is one part of the ISO 26262 series (functional safety for road vehicles). The 2018 edition reorganized and expanded the series; Part 6 specifically addresses software‑level development.

Q: What are the key keywords?

A: Functional safety, automotive software, ASIL, software architecture, unit testing, integration verification, tool qualification, configurable software, safety lifecycle.