Cyber-Physical System (CPS) is a real-time system which computation, communication, and control parts are integrated and deals with the physical world. CPSs such as unmanned aerial vehicles, automotive vehicles, and smart grids are safety-critical sin...
Cyber-Physical System (CPS) is a real-time system which computation, communication, and control parts are integrated and deals with the physical world. CPSs such as unmanned aerial vehicles, automotive vehicles, and smart grids are safety-critical since those CPSs perform safety-critical tasks. A lot of research has been done by many researchers to achieve the safety of individual CPSs. Meanwhile, CPSs can cooperate to achieve a common goal and safety is one of the emergent properties that can appear while systems cooperate. Therefore, not only the safety of each safety-critical CPS but also the safety of an overall CPS, which is composed of various heterogeneous CPSs, must be achieved to a sufficient level.
Safety is one of the Quality Attributes, which are measurable or testable non-functional properties of a system to indicate how well the system meets the needs of stakeholders beyond the basic functions of the system. Requirements for such Quality Attributes can be specified in a form of a scenario, called Quality Attribute Scenarios (QASs). Identifying QASs is an effective way to show whether Quality Attribute Requirements have been met. If the requirement or design specifications of the system are complemented by the identified QASs, it can be objectively demonstrated that a system satisfies a quality attribute requirement enough, since the system will be implemented satisfying such requirements and design specifications.
This paper proposes an approach to identify QASs for the safety of an overall CPS composed of cooperating safety-critical constituent CPSs using causal scenarios from a state-of-the-art hazard analysis technique, Systems-Theoretic Process Analysis (STPA). We also applied the proposed approach to a case study of an example of two types of CPS which has interactions to achieve a common goal, to demonstrate that by using this proposed approach, requirements and/or design specifications of cooperating CPSs can be complemented from the perspective of safety.