Safety-critical system requirements specification based on the spectra language: a case study in the medical devices domain

• Grant number: 18/17592-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research
• Start date: December 20, 2018
• End date: March 17, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Computer Science - Computing Methodologies and Techniques
• Agreement: European Research Council
• Principal Investigator: Luiz Eduardo Galvão Martins
• Grantee: Luiz Eduardo Galvão Martins
• Host Investigator: Shahar Maoz
• Host Institution: Instituto de Ciência e Tecnologia (ICT). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus São José dos Campos. São José dos Campos , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: Tel Aviv University, Israel

Abstract

Safety-Critical Systems (SCS) are becoming more and more present in the daily lives of modern societies, increasing people's dependence on them. Current SCS are strongly based on computational technology; possible failures in the operation of these systems can lead to accidents and endanger human life, as well as to damage the environment and property. SCS are present in many areas such as avionics, automotive systems, industrial plants (chemical, oil & gas, and nuclear), medical devices, railroad control, defense and aerospace systems, among others. The requirements specification of any system is crucial for the correct development of the system. It becomes even more relevant in the development of SC. The aim of this proposal is to investigate the process of transforming requirements specification written in natural language to requirements specification written in SPECTRA language. SPECTRA is a formal language built to specify reactive systems. The case study to be carried out in this proposal focuses on the requirements specification of a low cost insulin infusion pump. The requirements will be initially specified in natural language, and later transformed into SPECTRA language. During the transformation process we will verify the potential of the use of the SPECTRA language in the stage of requirements specification, identifying the difficulties in the transformation process and the advantages obtained. The SPECTRA language is being developed within the context of the ERC - SYNTECH project.