Industry Standards

IEC 61508

Model-Based Design is used for developing embedded software in the automotive, industrial automation and machinery, and other industries and application areas. Engineers use Model-Based Design to produce software that complies with IEC 61508 – a functional safety standard. These applications need extra consideration to address the constraints imposed by the standard and to produce the required evidence to demonstrate compliance.

IEC 61508 was developed for the industrial automation industry, but derivatives for other industries such as rail (EN 50128), medical (IEC 62304), and machinery (IEC 62061) exist. In automotive, the draft international standard ISO 26262 is becoming relevant for the passenger cars segment. IEC 61508 is still used for commercial vehicles – especially off-highway vehicles.

IEC Certification Kit aids certification for IEC 61508 and its derivative standards including ISO 26262. It supports Embedded Coder and Polyspace code verification products.

Key products for developing IEC 61508 applications:

• IEC Certification Kit (for IEC 61508 and ISO 26262)
• Simulink
• Stateflow
• Embedded Coder
• Simulink Check
• Simulink Coverage
• Simulink Requirements
• Embedded Coder
• Polyspace code verification products

More about MathWorks support for IEC 61508:

• SAE Paper: Model-Based Design for Safety-Related Applications
• SAE Paper: A Verification and Validation Workflow for IEC 61508 Applications
• MBEES Paper: Model-Based Design for IEC 62304 Medical Devices
• Video: Edit-Time Checking to Find Compliance Issues Earlier (1:28)