Functional Safety for mmWave Sensors#
Functional Safety is the reduction of unnecessary risk due to hazards caused by malfunctioning behavior of electronic safety systems. The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) created the standard IEC 61508 which defines methods on how to create systems which enable functional safety. In addition, the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) created an adaptation of this standard for automotive product development, ISO 26262. In this module, we will discuss how TI radar sensors enable functional safety applications, what resources are provided by TI for functional safety, and additional relevant standards.
As the automotive and industrial markets become more autonomous, they face an increasing need to meet stricter functional safety standards. These standards are designed to minimize equipment failures and physical injury that could result from two types of hardware faults, systematic faults and random hardware faults.
Safety Integration Levels#
Functional safety involves a safety integrity level (SIL) or other similar quantitative metric. A SIL applies to a safety function from start to finish, and affirms that the system reverts to a safe state or performs even during incorrect operation or a loss of functionality (in fault-tolerant architectures). Both the design and process must follow functional safety standards such as IEC 61508 or ISO 26262, and pass independent functional safety audits in order to achieve the corresponding quantitative metrics that assess appropriate safety standards.
TI radar sensors are designed according to an extensive hardware and software development process and are supported by device certification from Technischer Überwachungsverein (TÜV) SÜD.
Industrial Portfolio SIL Ratings#
Device |
Random Hardware Capabilities |
Systematic Capability |
Third Party Assessment + Device Certification |
|---|---|---|---|
SIL 2 |
SIL 3 |
TÜV SÜD |
|
SIL 2 Targeted |
SIL 3 Targeted |
TÜV SÜD (In Progress) |
|
SIL 2 |
SIL 3 |
TÜV SÜD |
|
SIL 2 |
SIL 3 |
TÜV SÜD |
|
SIL 2 |
SIL 3 |
TÜV SÜD |
|
SIL 2 |
SIL 3 |
TÜV SÜD |
|
SIL 2 Targeted |
SIL 3 Targeted |
TÜV SÜD (In Progress) |
|
SIL 2 Targeted |
SIL 3 Targeted |
TÜV SÜD (In Progress) |
|
SIL 2 Targeted |
SIL 3 Targeted |
TÜV SÜD (In Progress) |
Automotive Portfolio ASIL Ratings#
Device |
Random Hardware Capabilities |
Systematic Capability |
Third Party Assessment + Device Certification |
|---|---|---|---|
ASIL B |
ASIL D |
TÜV SÜD |
|
ASIL B |
ASIL D |
TÜV SÜD |
|
ASIL B |
ASIL D |
TÜV SÜD |
|
ASIL B |
ASIL D |
TÜV SÜD |
|
ASIL B |
ASIL D |
TÜV SÜD |
|
ASIL B |
ASIL D |
TÜV SÜD |
|
ASIL B |
ASIL D |
TÜV SÜD |
|
ASIL B |
ASIL D |
TÜV SÜD |
|
ASIL B |
ASIL D |
TÜV SÜD |
|
ASIL B Targeted |
ASIL D Targeted |
TÜV SÜD (In Progress) |
|
ASIL B |
ASIL D |
TÜV SÜD |
|
ASIL B |
ASIL D |
TÜV SÜD |
|
ASIL B Targeted |
ASIL D Targeted |
TÜV SÜD (In Progress) |
|
ASIL B Targeted |
ASIL D Targeted |
TÜV SÜD (In Progress) |
|
ASIL B Targeted |
ASIL D Targeted |
TÜV SÜD (In Progress) |
Systematic ASIL D compliance will enable customers to support System Level ASIL B(D) Decomposition.
mmWave Safety Responsibility: Who does What?#
Texas Instruments, assessors, and system integrators/customers all play a role in safety.
Texas Instruments#
TI has developed Functional Safety rated hardware and software via development processes which are certified by a Functional Safety assessor. Additionally, TI provides documentation, certificates, and relevant support packages to customers.
Below is a list of resources provided with TI Functional Safety compliant radar sensors, organized by where to find them.
Resource Name |
Resource Type |
Location |
|---|---|---|
TI Certificate for Functional Safety Hardware Development Process |
Document |
|
TI Certificate for Functional Safety Software Development Process |
Document |
|
Device Datasheet |
Document |
ti.com Product Page |
Device Functional Safety Certificate |
Document |
ti.com Product Page |
Software Development Kit |
Software Package |
ti.com Product page |
Device Firmware Package |
Software Package |
|
Safety Compiler Qualification Kit |
Software Package |
|
Device Safety Manual |
Document |
|
Safety Analysis Report FMEDA |
Document |
|
Safety Case Report |
Document |
|
Diagnostic and Monitoring Application Note |
Document |
|
Safety Diagnostics Library |
Software Package |
Getting Access to My Secure Resources#
Customer must have an NDA Signed with TI.
Engineers who need access to the safety manual must create a myTI account on ti.com using their official e-mail address (personal e-mail not allowed).
Reach out to TI representative and share the e-mail address used for the myTI account.
Customer will receive link to My secure resources package via e-mail once access is approved.
Assessor#
Certifies TI‘s Functional Safety Hardware Development Process
Certifies TI‘s Functional Safety Software Development Process
Certifies TI’s products and assesses sub-systems/TI-Designs
System Integrator or TI Customer#
Complete system level safety analysis
Determine system level Functional Safety requirements
Build and certify Functional Safety systems that use TI products
Related Standards#
Various safety related standards have also been created for specific applications, with their scope varying from chip-level to system-level. Some have been around for decades and some have been published within the last year. It is important to know and understand what standards and regulations apply to the type of product you are looking to develop, and Figure 1 below shows some of the existing standards that can apply to safety systems which include a radar sensor.
Figure 1. Industry specific safety standard variants, figure created by TÜV SÜD#
IEC 61496-5#
The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) originally created the IEC 61496 standard in 1997 to address requirements for electro-sensitive protective equipment which safeguarded machinery. In the following years, additional parts have been added to this standard to address the growing number of technologies which could be used for these types of safeguards. IEC 61496-5 was specifically created to provide requirements for the design and test of equipment which use FMCW radar to safeguard machinery. Compared to functional safety standards, this standard focuses on the detection performance of a radar protective device (RPD), rather than electrical safety features such as self diagnostics and error detection modules. The standard contains functional, design, and environment requirements the RPD must meet. Some examples of parameters tested by this standard include response time, positional accuracy, influences on detection such as interference, and more.
Check out the Radar Toolbox to see how IEC 61496-5 requirements can be met with TI radar devices. This report can be found in the documentation folder.
References and Additional Resources#
IEC 61508 Standard
ISO 26262 Standard
IEC 61496-5 Standard
TÜV SÜD certificate for Automotive Radar Devices
TÜV SÜD certificate for Industrial Radar Devices
Design Guide for Functional Safety Compliant Systems Using mmWave Radar Sensors
The mmWave Diagnostic and Monitoring Reference Design showcases the monitoring features that are included in TI radar sensors
The Radar Functional Safety Enablers application note shows an overview of some of the available resources
Application note on Streamlining Functional Safety Certification in Automotive and Industrial
The ti.com Functional Safety Home shows an overview on how TI handles functional safety