Reliability and Criticality Analysis of Automotive Embedded Systems

In the last decades the automotive field has become increasingly multidisciplinary. This has happened because of the outbreak of electronic components first, and software programming secondly, in the design of more modern vehicles. Therefore, the need for controlled and safe products, hence functional safety, has become more delicate and relevant. In particular, the commonly accepted standard is ISO 26262. This addresses the possible hazards that may arise due to malfunctioning electronic and electric components and proposes some safety measures to prevent, detect or control such situations. The subject of this work is the study of two electronic boards, conducted with two different perspectives. The first part of the analysis revolves around reliability and is based on the FIDES methodology. Firstly, the life profile is defined depending on the operational situations of the item through time. Secondly, each component is classified depending on its properties. Running the analysis tool, the failure rate of the item is obtained, and the single influences of the components and phases may be observed. The second part of the study involves criticality and focuses only on the most critical board. The applied methodology is FMECA (Failure Mode, Effects and Criticality Analysis) which charts the failure modes with their probability and their effects on the functioning of the item considered. These data are combined with the previously obtained FIDES results to achieve a deeper understanding of the risks determined by the single components in the item. Consequently, it is possible to determine the ASIL (Automotive Safety Integrity Level) of the electronic board taken into analysis. The application of such a procedure shows that an integration between the FIDES and FMECA methodologies is efficient in time and effective in highlighting the most delicate failure modes, and thus identifying the most critical situations in a global scope. This is fundamental in preventing any kind of risk, caused by failures, that can bring damage to human activities.