A synthesis of logic and bio-inspired techniques in the design of dependable systems

Much of the development of model-based design and dependability analysis in the design of dependable systems, including software intensive systems, can be attributed to the application of advances in formal logic and its application to fault forecasting and verification of systems. In parallel, work on bio-inspired technologies has shown potential for the evolutionary design of engineering systems via automated exploration of potentially large design spaces. We have not yet seen the emergence of a design paradigm that effectively combines these two techniques, schematically founded on the two pillars of formal logic and biology, from the early stages of, and throughout, the design lifecycle. Such a design paradigm would apply these techniques synergistically and systematically to enable optimal refinement of new designs which can be driven effectively by dependability requirements. The paper sketches such a model-centric paradigm for the design of dependable systems, presented in the scope of the HiP-HOPS tool and technique, that brings these technologies together to realise their combined potential benefits. The paper begins by identifying current challenges in model-based safety assessment and then overviews the use of meta-heuristics at various stages of the design lifecycle covering topics that span from allocation of dependability requirements, through dependability analysis, to multi-objective optimisation of system architectures and maintenance schedules

The safety case and the lessons learned for the reliability and maintainability case

This paper examine the safety case and the lessons learned for the reliability and maintainability case

A new fuzzy set merging technique using inclusion-based fuzzy clustering

This paper proposes a new method of merging parameterized fuzzy sets based on clustering in the parameters space, taking into account the degree of inclusion of each fuzzy set in the cluster prototypes. The merger method is applied to fuzzy rule base simplification by automatically replacing the fuzzy sets corresponding to a given cluster with that pertaining to cluster prototype. The feasibility and the performance of the proposed method are studied using an application in mobile robot navigation. The results indicate that the proposed merging and rule base simplification approach leads to good navigation performance in the application considered and to fuzzy models that are interpretable by experts. In this paper, we concentrate mainly on fuzzy systems with Gaussian membership functions, but the general approach can also be applied to other parameterized fuzzy sets

Quantify resilience enhancement of UTS through exploiting connect community and internet of everything emerging technologies

This work aims at investigating and quantifying the Urban Transport System (UTS) resilience enhancement enabled by the adoption of emerging technology such as Internet of Everything (IoE) and the new trend of the Connected Community (CC). A conceptual extension of Functional Resonance Analysis Method (FRAM) and its formalization have been proposed and used to model UTS complexity. The scope is to identify the system functions and their interdependencies with a particular focus on those that have a relation and impact on people and communities. Network analysis techniques have been applied to the FRAM model to identify and estimate the most critical community-related functions. The notion of Variability Rate (VR) has been defined as the amount of output variability generated by an upstream function that can be tolerated/absorbed by a downstream function, without significantly increasing of its subsequent output variability. A fuzzy based quantification of the VR on expert judgment has been developed when quantitative data are not available. Our approach has been applied to a critical scenario (water bomb/flash flooding) considering two cases: when UTS has CC and IoE implemented or not. The results show a remarkable VR enhancement if CC and IoE are deploye

Towards systems engineering approach applicable for small developing organisation

Includes bibliographical references.The purpose of this thesis was to create the model which could be used to optimise the operational effectiveness of the general type of small developing business/system. The small developing organisation is the system which has the same type of components as a big organisation but the structure is much simpler. These components develop a system in the Technical, Economic and Environmental areas. Each of these components has its own purpose and together these purposes optimise the entire system. The identification of the purpose of the components of the small developing organisation should be analysed by: • investigating the component's performance; • investigating the component's behavioural pattern; and • investigating the component's support requirement. Further, the analysis of the general characteristics of the small developing organisation is such that: * analysis of the performance considers only the main point of the component's operation but not the entire operational function; * the behavioural pattern (i.e. failure and repair occurrence) is random; * the evaluation of the support requirements is subjective where the statistical tools may not be applicable; • the relationship between the elements of the aforementioned three activities is often unpredictable; • the components are usually analysed according to the hierarchy of importance to the development of the entire system

A QFD framework for quality, innovation and high-tech product development dynamics

The customer mostly chooses a product on the base of its quality, which therefore arises as the main cause of its commercial success. In a nearly axiomatic drawing, it follows that the effect of innovation is the improvement of quality, which itself becomes the aim of innovation. Even though the previous statement relates quality and innovation, it still does not explain their dynamics. To stress them, the ‘quality' concept must be analyzed in more detail. In fact, in addition to the ‘perceived quality', the quality ensured through `design, manufacturing and marketing' combined domains should be dealt with. This paper enhances this issue taking advantage of principles and models made available by control theory schemes coupled with quality function development (QFD) and best practice software modeling based on unified modeling language (UML

Designing and Valuating System on Dependability Analysis of Cluster-Based Multiprocessor System

Analysis of dependability is a significant stage in structuring and examining the safety of protection systems and computer systems. The introduction of virtual machines and multiprocessors leads to increasing the faults of the system, particularly for the failures that are software- induced, affecting the overall dependability. Also, it is different for the successful operation of the safety system at any dynamic stage, since there is a tremendous distinction in the rate of failure among the failures that are induced by the software and the hardware. Thus this paper presents a review or different dependability analysis techniques employed in multiprocessor system