AUTOMOTIVE CONTROL SYSTEMS
At XEFRA, our commitment to automotive control systems is underpinned by a robust safety management approach.
The aim of safety management is to design processes in such a manner as to achieve safety targets by correctly identifying responsibilities, decisions, planning, methods.
Our foundation is built on internationally recognized standards such as ISO 26262. We support Manufacturers and Automotive Managers by providing management services such as:
- Project Management: We employ structured project management methodologies to ensure seamless and efficient progress from conception to completion.
- Evaluation and Optimisation of Management Systems: Our team conducts thorough evaluations, suggesting and implementing strategic optimisations for enhanced performance and safety.
- Safe Operation Procedures: We define and refine operational procedures to ensure they meet the stringent requirements of automotive functional safety.
- Inspections and Measurements: Rigorous inspections and precise measurements are conducted to ensure compliance with automotive safety standards.
- Quality Assurance, Quality Control (QA/QC), and Safety Audits: Our QA/QC processes are designed to uphold the highest levels of quality and safety, backed by comprehensive audits.
- Hazard analysis and risk assessment (HARA), required by part 3 of the ISO 26262 standard, is used to identify malfunctions that involve hazardous behaviours, assess the level of risk for each hazard and formulate vehicle safety objectives.
XEFRA’s Support for Automotive Control Systems
Our support for Automotive Control Systems extends to OEMs, Tier-1, and Tier-2 suppliers through the following safety concept steps:
- Item Definition: we streamline the HARA process by subdividing vehicles into functional items, simplifying analysis.
- Scenario Catalogues: our catalogue of critical vehicle scenarios aids in the approach to HARA, reducing the OEM’s effort and enhancing efficiency.
- Safety Mechanisms: we define safety mechanisms outside the function for a simplified HARA process.
- Quantitative Risk Analysis ASIL: we help in apportioning and defining the level of exposure to the driver’s danger, in line with the standard, based on duration or frequency.
- Product measures: we carry out technical measures against random HW failures and systematic HW and SW failures.
- Product requirements: we identify the characteristics of commercial products that make up the Vehicle Control System (SEooC for automotive).
Automotive Functional Safety
Functional safety analysis is used to evaluate the safety level achieved by the product (e.g., an IP, an SoC). Our functional safety analysis involves quantitative evaluations like Failure Mode Effect and Diagnostic Analysis (FMEDA) and timing analysis, alongside qualitative assessments such as Dependent Failure Analysis (DFA).
FMEDA is a structured approach to define failure modes, failure rate, and diagnostic capabilities of a hardware component. Based on the component functionality, the FMEDA hierarchy is structured in parts/subparts/elementary subparts (depending on the detail level)/failure modes.
- Technical Safety Concept (Part 4-6)
- System-Level Safety Analysis – FMEA or FTA (Part 4- 6)
- Hardware Safety Requirements (Part 5-6)
- Hardware Metrics Calculation with FMEDA (Part 5-8, 5-9)
- Hardware Verification & Testing Plan and Report (Part 5-10)
Our goal at XEFRA is to provide a comprehensive and reliable approach to managing automotive control systems, ensuring they not only meet but exceed the stringent standards of automotive functional safety.