Dependable Systems

Code:

M.EEC030

Acronym:

SCONF

Keywords
Classification	Keyword
OFICIAL	Automation and Control

Instance: 2024/2025 - 1S

Active?	Yes
Responsible unit:	Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Course/CS Responsible:	Master in Electrical and Computer Engineering

Cycles of Study/Courses

Acronym	No. of Students	Study Plan	Curricular Years	Credits UCN	Credits ECTS	Contact hours	Total Time
M.EEC	14	Syllabus	2	-	6	39

Teaching language

English

Objectives

This course aims to provide students with skills in the analysis, design and development of dependable systems,
applicable at different stages of the life cycle. A general approach to dependability will be presented amd cvered, but examples and course projects will focus on the idustrial automarion application domain.

A learning by doing teaching / learning strategy will be adopted in which the student, throughout the semester, learns
and applies the concepts acquired through their individual work with the support of the teaching team. This activity is
complemented by a project based learning approach in which students work in groups to solve more complex problems
that are close to practical reality.

Learning outcomes and competences

Upon completion of this course the student should be able to:
A) Justify the need for a systemic approach to safety.
B) Identify and characterize application domains of dependable systems.
C) Explain and apply the concepts of hazards, risk and safety integrity level.
D) Distinguish and select existing methodologies for the development of dependable systems.
E) Explain and apply hardware and software-based fault tolerance techniques.
F) Identify the means to validate system’s dependability.
G) Compute dependability evaluation metrics.
H) Use safety standards for the development of dependable systems in the industrial automation domain.

Working method

Presencial

Program

1) Introduction
- Concept of dependable system.
- Discussion of case studies of relevant incidents
- Basic concepts and terminology

2) Development of dependable systems
- Standards and organizations
- System life cycle
- Hazard analysis
- Risk analysis
- Safety integrity levels

3) Fault Tolerant software architectures
- Hardware redundancy: static, dynamic and hybrid
- Industrial hardware for dependable systems.

4) Fault-tolerant software architectures
- Forward / Backward Recovery
- Information and temporal redundancy
- Design and data diversity
- Adjudication techniques

5) Validation and verification of reliable operation
- Modeling: basic concepts
- Modeling techniques: reliability blocks & markov chains
- Reliability models of electronic components
- Software reliability models
- Modeling and evaluation of HW / SW architectures

Mandatory literature

Neil Storey; Safety-critical computer systems. ISBN: 0-201-42787-7
Laura L. Pullum; Software fault tolerance techniques and implementation. ISBN: 1-58053-137-7
Martin L. Shooman; Realiability of computer systems and networks. ISBN: 0-471-29342-3
Martin L. Shooman; Reliability of computer systems and networks. ISBN: 978-0-471-29342-2
Rausand, M.; Reliability of Safety-Critical Systems: Theory and Applications, Wiley, 2014. ISBN: 978-1-118-55338-1
William R. Dunn; Practical design of safety-critical computer systems. ISBN: 0-9717527-0-2
Jean-Claude Geffroy; Design of dependable computing systems. ISBN: 978-1-4020-0437-7
David J. Smith; Safety critical systems handbook. ISBN: 978-0-08-096781-3
Macdonald, D.; Practical Machinery Safety, Elsevier, 2004. ISBN: 9780750662703

Teaching methods and learning activities

TP classes: lectures for exposition of the syllabus with discussion of illustrative examples.

Part of the class time will be devoted to student guidance in the development of the project/case study in the industrial automation domain, including safety of machines.

Evaluation Type

Distributed evaluation with final exam

Assessment Components

Designation	Weight (%)
Exame	30,00
Trabalho prático ou de projeto	70,00
Total:	100,00

Amount of time allocated to each course unit

Designation	Time (hours)
Elaboração de projeto	84,00
Estudo autónomo	39,00
Frequência das aulas	39,00
Total:	162,00

Eligibility for exams

To be eligible for exams a student must fulfill all of the following conditions:
 - Conclude the course project (i.e. submit all components used for evaluating the course project)
  - attend a minimum of 60% of the lab sessions

Calculation formula of final grade

Final grade: FG = 0.3 x EX + 0.70 x CS

EX: Exam
CS: Development of a case study of a dependable system. This component is performed in groups of 2 to 4 students.

Approval is subject to a minimum grade of 7 on all components.