Software Failure Analysis at Architecture Level using FMEA

The advancement and proliferation of information technology has made it possible for specified functions of systems including safety-critical systems to be software driven. Traditional failure analysis techniques existed before computers and are widely used in the failure analysis of hardware. Typically, hardware failures are random while software failures are systematic and this makes software failure analysis difficult to be addressed. However, similar approaches used in hardware failure analysis can be applied in the failure analysis of software at its architecture level. Such analysis informs design modifications in software and likely hardware to mitigating design weaknesses. This paper investigates this approach by employing the use of FMEA and emphasizes on the commencement of failure analysis at early system design stage. Thus, weaknesses in the design can be identified early and necessary interventions taken. The FMEA investigates failure of each entity of the architecture relative to a defined system top event.