Trusted Tool

For the development of safety-directed Systems the use of software tools within the safety life cycle is getting more and more important. Development Tools are an essential part of product development and must be selected diligently and according to defined criteria. Important tasks and supporting processes within the development process are realised or improved through software. The ISO 26262 as well as the IEC 61508 have defined requirements for the tools and requests documented trust into the tools.

Depending on the Project a tool qualification Analysis and assessment depending on the ASIL or SIL for the respective safety Goal has to be determined in the planning phase. The degree of trust (e.g. Tool Confidence Level – TCL) of each tool used must be analyzed under consideration of the Impacts on the development process and the possible recognition of a failure. Serious consequences on the safety function through the tool used mean that a high volume of trust in the tool is necessary and the qualification has to be conducted according to the requirements of each standard.