Presentation of the basic concepts faults, errors and failures

Presentation of the basic concepts faults, errors and failures 1.2.1. Obstruction to functional saf  

As indicated in [LAP 92], the functional safety of a complex system can be compromised by three types of incidents failures, faults, and errors. The system elements are subjected to failures, which can potentially result in accidents. 

Definition 1.1 failure - as indicated in the lEC 61508 [lEC 98] standard a failure is the suspension of a functional unit s ability to accomplish a specified function. Since the completion of a required function necessarily excludes certain behavior, and certain functions can be specified in terms of behavior to avoid, then the occurrence of a behavior to avoid is a failure. 

This chapter is based on educational material produced together with M. Walter Schon, Professor at the University of Technology of Compiegne, whom 1 can never thank enough. 

Safety of Computer Architectures Edited by Jean-Louis Boulanger 

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