Supply Chain Implications of Open Source Safety Elements

There is a growing interest to deploy Linux, as a safety element within safety critical systems. The safety capability of a safety element is expressed in terms safety claims with associated safety in …

There is a growing interest to deploy Linux, as a safety element within safety critical systems. The safety capability of a safety element is expressed in terms safety claims with associated safety integrity levels. The safety manual summarizes the safety capability and defines a contractual relationship within the supply chain. This presentation addresses the necessity of stated safety capabilities and how they can be stated in light of open source development as currently under investigation in the ELISA (Enabling Linux in Safety Applications) project. Two example system architectures are introduced to discuss the extent to which it is possible for Linux to take assumptions on the design external to Linux itself and of “assumption of use requirements” originating from other safety elements in the safety system into consideration. The presentation considers the role of open source and third-party tools in this context and summarizes the difference towards qualified software.