community.arm.com, Dec. 13, 2019 –
Over the last two years functional safety has become a "hot" topic, attracting the attention of the media and large investments from both venture capitalists and established computing businesses. They are perhaps fueled by a disruptive vision, potentially rewarded by huge revenues from robotic taxi services in the future, and nearer term from content delivered through an immersive digital cabin. It is not surprising that in this new and exciting world many organizations are keen to promote their presence and product offerings. This highlights their start on a journey to address key automotive or functional safety requirements.
Despite the recent hype, functional safety is not new. Standards like ISO 26262 for road vehicle electronics is often quoted, it was first published in 2011 building on concepts published by IEC 61508 from 1998 (1st revision) to 2010 (2nd revision). However, functional safety predates them both, with many of the safety principles for electronics that are first practiced in the aerospace, nuclear and rail industries.