Advanced Technologies for System Dependability through the Product Life Cycle Life Cycle Management of Dependable Systems Based on Formal Methods KATAYAMA Takuya Advanced Technologies for Dependable Systems through Product Life Cycle by Managing Gaps among Specifications, Implementation, and Environment UCHIHIRA Naoshi With the increasing scale, complexity, open and cooperative operability of products, the conventional quality assurance approach is insufficient to respond to the expanding gaps among their specifications, implementation, and environment. New approaches are therefore required to establish high dependability by monitoring, detecting, and modifying these gaps throughout the product life cycle. Toshiba is developing advanced technologies baced on the life cycle quality assurance model for highly dependable products. Health Monitoring Technology for Digital Equipment HIROHATA Kenji / NAKAMURA Koji / SUDA Yukihiro With digital equipment being used for many purposes recently, there is an increased risk of failure in the electronic circuit boards and various components of such equipment due to different usage environments and unanticipated forms of use. New technologies to achieve higher reliability are required both to avoid unexpected failures and to allow comfortable use of digital equipment. To meet these requirements, Toshiba has developed a health monitoring technology featuring diagnostic monitoring and prognostic health management of digital equipment. We are continuing our efforts to expand the functions of this technology in order to realize high availability and serviceability, including reduction of downtime and effective maintenance, by utilizing the health monitoring data. Proactive Quality Control and Service Utilizing Product Field Data NISHIKAWA Takeichiro / HARA Kanzo Even when a great deal of effort is made to ensure that products are sufficiently tested during the development phase, it is difficult to prevent problems occurring in the field after shipment. Toshiba has developed analysis techniques for detection of problems at an early stage by utilizing service logs, as an example in the case of notebook PCs. Based on these techniques, we have developed the Toshiba PC Health Monitor, which is designed to monitor the functions running on a PC and alert users about potential problems by providing them with accurate prognostic information. In addition, we have launched a diagnosis and inspection service applying the Toshiba PC Health Monitor to proactively reduce users’ losses due to problems, based on the health monitoring data, and are also investigating possibilities for new services according to the usage conditions of individual PCs. NetScopeTM Technology to Diagnose Wireless LAN Setup Problems for PC Users ISE Kotaro / TAJIMA Takeshi / TANAKA Yasuyuki / KATSUBE Yasuhiro With the widespread dissemination of PCs in recent years, many users without technical knowledge are enjoying network applications on PCs such as sending e-mail and Web browsing. However, it is difficult for them to set up a wireless LAN in their home, and various problems often occur. Toshiba has developed a network diagnosis technology called NetScope. NetScope proposes potential causes of network problems to users based on inquiries from users received at a PC help desk, the setup status of the PC, and the status of protocols for Internet access. Users can correct the problems they encounter in accordance with advice from the PC help desk based on the proposed causes. Furthermore, the PC help desk can identify the causes of problems and solve them quickly utilizing the analyses of NetScope. CForge Modular Verification Tool for C Programs Including Specifications of Data Structures SAKAI Masahiro / IMAI Takeo / KATAOKA Yoshio Toshiba has been engaged in a software reliability project based on the concept of "specification-leveraged dependability enhancement." The basic objective of this concept is to preserve consistency between a program and its specifications in the course of further modification or extension of the software. We have developed CForge, a new modular verification tool that can verify consistency between C functions and their specifications. In addition, it is capable of comprehensive verification including data structures and pointers. Model-Based Testing Method for Development of High-Quality Software with High Efficiency OHTA Akinori / SHIN Hiromasa / WATANABE Tatsuaki For the efficient development of high-quality software, both specification review based on a behavioral model and test design utilizing a model-based testing method are being introduced at the early stages of development. However, since it is difficult in practice to cover all test cases of complex software, a technology for the selection of test cases has become essential. Toshiba has developed a model-based testing method incorporating our original technology for the flexible selection of test cases. This method makes it possible to realize state transition testing generated from a behavioral model that covers all equivalent classes corresponding to the typical behavior of software. We have applied this method to the test design of an automobile cruise control system and confirmed its effectiveness. S.E.R. studio ESL Tool for Design of High-Quality Platforms for Electronic Devices ARAKI Dai / NAKAMURA Atsushi Unexpected failures of electronic devices at an early stage of operation have been increasing due to designers' insufficient understanding of the performance and characteristics of system large-scale integrations (LSIs) installed in these devices along with the acceleration of integration density and structural complexity. To overcome these problems, InterDesign Technologies, Inc. has developed S.E.R. studio, an electronic system level (ESL) design tool that realizes a virtual design environment in the upstream design phase to effectively optimize the hardware and software architectures, design a high-quality platform, and visualize the design performance. Improvement of Medical Processes Using Risk FMEA TORII Kentaro / NISHIKAWA Takeichiro / HIRANO Kaho In recent years, as the actual status of medical accidents caused by human error has become clearer both in Japan and abroad, there have been increasing calls for improvement of patient safety during the course of medical processes. Toshiba and Toshiba Rinkan Hospital have developed a risk analysis method for medical processes that employs the failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) technique. This method called RFMEA (Risk FMEA) quantitatively evaluates the risk of rare serious accidents that could occur in each task of a medical process. In addition, we have developed an incident reporting system that enables medical personnel to identify high-risk tasks in medical processes in which high-risk incidents occur with higher frequency. Using RFMEA and the incident reporting system, Toshiba Rinkan Hospital is making ongoing efforts to improve medical processes for extra safety according to the plan-do-check-act (PDCA) cycle. Filtering Method for System Fault Notification HASEGAWA Tetsuo / NAKAJIMA Nobuyasu / LEE Guanglin Samson In the event of an operational failure in a large-scale system such as an electric power transmission system, the timely delivery of alarms concerning detected faults is essential for rapid restoration of the system. Furthermore, only the necessary information selected from a variety of alarms should be dispatched to the authorized personnel. It is not easy to distinguish the critically required information on the system failure, however, due to the limits of human monitoring capacity and the difficulty of transferring the appropriate know-how from experienced people. With this as a background, Toshiba has developed a high-precision alarm system that can filter the information generated and distribute alarms based on the user's requirements without the need for a complex configuration. We have confirmed the successful performance of this system through simulations. TMSTATIONTM Remote Maintenance Platform Evolving Diagnostic Technologies OKITANI Noriyasu / NAGANO Kazutoshi / KISHIHARA Masaki Continuous improvement and evolution of technologies for maintenance services are required as social infrastructures become increasingly complicated and sophisticated. Toshiba Solutions Corporation has developed the TMSTATION remote maintenance platform. TMSTATION provides optimal maintenance services corresponding to the evolution of diagnostic technologies, by integrating a remote monitoring system developed in social infrastructure fields and an integrated maintenance database that can manage various maintenance data of facilities to accumulate and analyze related information. We are continuing our efforts to expand the functions of this system in order to realize maintenance services with high added value. |