Change Management with Impact Analysis During Safety-Critical IP and SoC Development

Change Management with Impact Analysis During Safety-Critical IP and SoC Development

Standards like ISO 26262 provide guidance to mitigate safety risks by defining safety analyses requirements and processes. The standard describes Change Management as a way to analyze and control changes in safety-related work products, items, and elements throughout the safety lifecycle. Impact analysis, a part of the Change Management process, is a systematic approach for evaluating changes to a system. According to the ISO 26262 standard, an impact analysis is performed at the element level when an existing element is modified or reused, confirming whether the element complies with the safety requirements, while considering the operational context in which the element is modified or reused. Such an analysis is an important supporting process during the safety activities process. The key safety-related work product deliverables for a safety-critical product includes the Failure Mode Effects and Diagnostic Analysis (FMEDA) and the Safety Manual. The impact analysis of a change request in a Change Management process is a necessity in a systematic approach that helps achieve ISO 26262 Automotive Safety Integrity Level (ASIL) D systematic compliance.

This whitepaper highlights what triggers an impact analysis and traceability requirement, as well as suggests recommendations on how to perform a complete impact analysis that leads to ISO 26262 ASIL systematic compliance.

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