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Last Updated: January 14, 2008 |
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Title Results of a Formal Methods
Verification of Software Controller Requirements |
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One
of the common root causes for mishaps in software intensive systems is design
specification errors or design errors. The most cost effective method of
correcting these errors is to be able to detect the errors early in the
development lifecycle, such as during the requirements phase. Detecting
specification errors or design errors early in the requirements phase
eliminates costly change requests during the development and testing phase.
Traditionally system engineers write subsystem specifications and software
requirements specifications with subject words in a natural language such as
English. Natural language words can be misinterpreted, confusing, contain
ambiguities, and the logic of the natural language specifications is
difficult to test and validate. Formal methods are mathematically based
techniques for specification, development and verification of systems and
software. The specifications used in Formal methods are clearly defined
well-formed statements using mathematical logic expressions. The software
logic can be modeled tested and verified before the end of the requirements
phase, thusly detecting and removing the errors early. This presentation will
present the results of a study conducted jointly between NASA/MSFC/Software
Assurance and US Army AMRDEC/SED to demonstrate the feasibility of using
Formal methods for early verification of system and software requirements. |
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Josh
McNeil has worked in the Aerospace Industry for 19 years as a Software Safety
and System Safety Engineer. Mr. McNeil received his BS in Electrical and
Computer Engineering from UAH. In his current position, Mr. McNeil is
responsible for performing software safety analyses and software
airworthiness assessments on the various US Army UAS. Mr. McNeil has been an
active member of SSS for over 17 years. Caroline
Wang has worked at NASA as an Engineer and Researcher for over 26 years. Ms.
Wang received her Master’s Degree in Mathematics from the University of
Wisconsin. Ms. Wang has worked as a Software designer and developer for many
years. Currently, she is the Software Assurance point of contact for the NASA
Space Shuttle Main Engine as well as the J-2X engine for Ares I, upper stage. |
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