Software development for safety-related systems

Safety-related systems mostly comprise hardware and software solutions. Due to the increasing application of complex hardware and software systems, the software systems have to be considered regarding safety as well as hardware systems. The development of a safety-related software system is similar to the development of a safety-related hardware systems. But there are still no generally accepted methods for developing safety-critical software. One has to use the methods, which fit best to the actual requirements. However, the calculation of reliability and availability for safety-related software systems is far more complex.