Dedicated to ensuring the safety and security of electronic systems.
The interdependence of distributed control systems on modern vehilces is increasing exponentially. The convenience of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) has seen their adoption into vehicles in all sectors, and driven the introduction of fully electrical actuation of subsystems. The use of common platforms to underpin dozens of models for global markets has resulted in a huge increase in the complexity of electrical architectures.
The combination of these five factors; interdependence, driver assistance, x-by-wire, electrical actuation and complexity – has increased both the opportunity for occurrence and severity of the consequences - of systematic failures….
In response to this, standards for Functional Safety (such as ISO-26262) have emerged; aimed at eradicating or mitigating systematic failures, hardware failures and common mode failures. These standards represent the ‘State of the Art’ and OEMs and Systems Developers are now required to adhere to their processes.
Our mission is to assist OEMs, Systems Integrators and Developers in the feasibility, rollout and execution of functional safety standards like ISO-26262. The adoption of such standards should not be seen as a ‘bureaucratic overhead’. Deployed correctly, they are an opportunity to positively impact the safety culture, engineering effectiveness, quality, customer satisfaction, manufacturing efficiency and profitability of the entire organisation.
The ‘Vault 7’ Wikileaks publication of March 7th 2017 confirmed not only the vulnerability of vehicle electronic sub-systems but the capability of hackers and the range of tools at their disposal. Furthermore, the Vault 7 leak also revealed that an arsenal of hacking tools developed by the CIA to perform cyber attacks on embedded systems including automotive controls had been leaked. This arsenal, including malware, viruses, trojans and weaponsied exploits is now widely available to organised crime gangs, mischievous hackers and state agencies.
We strongly urge our mainstream automotive, heavy vehicles and other OEM clients to review the security policies of both existing products and new developments, ideally performing a full ‘Threat Analysis’ compliant with the latest standard for automotive cybersecurity, SAE 3061.
FSCX experts are available to assist with general awareness and skills training, plus the undertaking of specific of threat analyses on electronic systems of all types, in accordance with SAE 3061 and providing resulting advice and guidance to systems integrators for further action to take.
Many OEMs now stipulate that their suppliers adhere to the requirements of ISO26262 – a necessity for their own compliance. We can assist by carrying out a full ‘root and branch’ ISO-26262 audit to ensure supporting processes are in place.
We can conduct a company wide survey and provide a ‘Rollout/Improvement Report’ to advise on the necessary changes that should be made in order to become ISO-26262 compliant.
We can assist in developing and rolling out processes, tools and training courses geared to your organisation’s needs - not only on the core subject of electronic systems development, but also in related disciplines like 'Requirements Capture'.
The ISO-26262 standard stipulates that compliant organisations have a ‘Functional Safety Manager’ to assist in the engineering development of systems and ensure adherence to processes. The associated overhead costs can make the appointment of a dedicated individual unfeasible for many companies. We can provide this expertise – on site with regular visits, or remotely, using video and telephone conferencing facilities to support your engineering staff.
We can take an individual feature/system through a complete Functional Safety Analysis - from ‘Item Definition’ and ‘Initiation of the Safety Lifecycle’, through ‘Hazard Analysis and Risk Assessment’, to generation of Functional and Technical Safety Requirements. We can work in close co-operation with your engineers and also satsify requirements for ‘independence’.
Strict adherence to standards and principles like ISO15288, Automotive SPICE and the V-Cycle is essential for the development of modern, Functional Safety compliant, distributed control systems. If you are tentatively rolling out Requirements Capture or moving towards full MBSE, we can assist.
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Electrical Architectures Ltd. (trading as 'Functional Safety and Cybersecurity Experts')
2nd Floor Hanover House,
Charlotte Street
Manchester
M1 4EX
enquiries@fscx.co.uk