F R A U N H O F E R I N S T I T U T E F O R O P E N C O M M U N I C AT I O N S Y S T E M S F O K U S

SYSTEM QUALITY CENTER

Electr ic i ty and water don’t s imply mater ia l ize from a socket or faucet, and vehic les l ike tra ins and cars

can’t dr ive themselves. Cr i t ica l infrastructures l ike these are backed by information and communicat ion

systems and their software.

QUALITY RIGHT FROM THE START

with a medium-sized industrial partner to develop a modular

architecture for an SIL3-capable control unit which is used to

control safety systems in automation technology. During the

project, the developers took an IEC 61508-compliant approach

so that the entire development process displayed the neces-

sary high degree of maturity. The project showed that

customers can reduce their development time by between

20 and 60 percent using a standards-compliant approach. The

scientists contribute their knowledge of software interopera-

bility and standards compliance to a variety of standardization

bodies, including the European Telecommunications Standards

Institute (ETSI), the Object Management Group (OMG) and the

AUTOSAR partnership. They also played a key role in the

development of the Testing and Test Control Notation

(TTCN-3) and UML Testing Profile (UTP).

SYSTEM DESIGN

System design is a critical step in the development process.

The researchers from SQC use model-based development

methods for this, among others. With their flexible and

extensible ModelBus® tool integration and automation

platform, they can significantly reduce the development

costs for software-based systems. When designing safety-

critical systems such as those used in aerospace, it is

necessary to ensure failure-free operation and a high degree

of processing power with low energy consumption. In the

MUSE project, Fraunhofer researchers investigated what

types of high-performance computer architecture will

The System Quality Center (SQC) of Fraunhofer FOKUS offers

methods, processes and tools for the development and

quality assurance of software-based systems that handle

central and often safety-critical functions. Such systems are

increasingly interconnected these days. Functions that users

now take for granted actually demand a great deal of system

development experience. Because many of these functions

are safety- critical, and their failure could lead not only to

financial risks, but also to the loss of life. To guarantee these

safety-critical functions and ensure that the technical systems

benefit people, it is necessary to protect them from both

failure (safety features) and attack (security features). The

goal of the around 100 employees of the System Quality

Center is to develop reliable, secure and trustworthy soft-

ware-based systems in order to guarantee functionality,

performance, safety, security and robustness.

FROM REQUIREMENTS TO QUALITY ASSURANCE

For these software-based systems to comply with truly

established standards at the end of the development process

and, if necessary, pass a certification test, quality assurance

has to start when development starts. For this reason, the

scientists at the SQC apply their domain-specific knowledge

– of standards and norms, for example – even during the

requirements analysis to guarantee that the final overall

system is successfully certified at the end of the development

process. In the VAKOMO project, for example, they worked

“We ensure system quality through the entire development process – from the requirements analysis to certification.”

Friedrich Schön, Director System Quality Center

“By improving the efficiency of development and quality assurance processes, we help our customers increase their innovative potential.”

Tom Ritter, Director System Quality Center

software security vulner-abilities are based on pro-gramming errors. This allows attackers to access sensitive data, like bank details.

90 percent of all

function reliably and energy-efficiently in a spacecraft

despite cosmic radiation.

QUALITY ASSURANCE

Quality assurance is becoming increasingly important to the

development of safety-critical systems. High levels of quality

are specified by different standards, such as DO 178-B, a

standard for software development in aviation, or DIN EN

61508, which is used in the development of electrical,

electronic and programmable electronic systems. The System

Quality Center provides methods and tools for quality

assurance and advises its customers on their use. For example,

the researchers in the STANCE project are developing analysis

tools for verifying complex software systems in order to check

the attack vulnerability of a train guidance system, for

example. And in the DIAMONDS project, they are using

model-based security tests to ensure that the network

interfaces of bill counting machines cannot be manipulated.

CERTIFICATION SUPPORT

The System Quality Center also monitors the Common

Criteria certification process in the CertLab, an outpost of the

German Federal Office for Information Security (BSI). The

scientists are involved in the development of industry stan-

dards and test methods here, and they support their custom-

ers during the certification process. Among other things, they

are working with Vattenfall on the further development of the

industry standard known as VHPready (Virtual Heat and

Power Ready).

S T R E E T C A R S M U S T O N LY R U N I F S A F E T Y-

C R I T I C A L F U N C T I O N S A R E G U A R A N T E E D

Services

– Requirements analysis

– Optimization of system architectures

– Model-based development and testing of

software-based systems

– Tool integration

– Model management and model quality

– Compliance, interoperability, performance

and safety tests

– Product qualification and certification support

– Training and consulting for development,

testing and quality assurance teams

Technologies

– Model-based development and testing

– Test automation

– Verification

– Domain-specific languages

– Process automation

Industries

– Automotive engineering

– Automation technology

– Railway technology

– Information technology

– Aerospace engineering

– Medical technology

– Telecommunications

T H E S Y S T E M Q U A L I T Y C E N T E R P R O V I D E S

M E T H O D S A N D T O O L S F O R T H E Q U A L I T Y

A S S U R A N C E O F S O F T W A R E - B A S E D S Y S T E M S

DR. TOM RITTER

Tom Ritter studied computer science at Technische Universi-

tät Berlin and earned a doctorate in 2011 from Humboldt

University of Berlin. He has worked at Fraunhofer FOKUS

since 1998. Since December 2013, he has been co-director

of the System Quality Center (SQC) with Friedrich Schön. He

is primarily interested in the model-driven development of

software-intensive systems and the optimization of develop-

ment and quality assurance processes. Tom Ritter is married

and has three children.

FRIEDRICH SCHÖN

Friedrich Schön was born in 1958 and completed his

computer science studies at Technische Universität Berlin in

1983. From 2002, he was a department head in the field

of software quality at Fraunhofer FIRST and Fraunhofer

FOKUS. Since December 2013, he has been co-director of

the System Quality Center (SQC) with Tom Ritter. His

primary interests range from parallel and distributed

system architectures to the model-driven and verifiable

construction of systems. Friedrich Schön is married and has

a grown daughter.

CONTACT

Dr. Tom Ritter

Director System Quality Center (SQC)

Phone +49 30 3463-7278

Fax +49 30 3463-99 7278

tom.ritter@fokus.fraunhofer.de

Friedrich Schön

Director System Quality Center (SQC)

Phone +49 30 3463-7453

Fax +49 30 3463-99 7453

friedrich.schoen@fokus.fraunhofer.de

Fraunhofer FOKUS

Kaiserin-Augusta-Allee 31

10589 Berlin

Germany

www.fokus.fraunhofer.de/go/sqc

iku | 1502 (Photos: Matthias Heyde/ Fraunhofer FOKUS)