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An Exercise in Reverse Engineering for Safety-Critical Systems: An Experience for the Classroom

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Computer Supported Education (CSEDU 2018)

Part of the book series: Communications in Computer and Information Science ((CCIS,volume 1022))

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Abstract

There have been multiple software system failures and successes that have led to milestone events since the inception of software development. One can harken back to the Y2K problem of the late 1990s that led to a great demand in reverse engineering activities in academia and the industry. Fast-forward to the 21st century and one observes that reverse engineering lacks emphasis in USA academia. This issue is exemplified by the high demand for software systems in new and expanding software application areas, which has resulted in systems being implemented before the requirements and design phases have been completed. Towards the maintenance of such systems, it is necessary to conducted reverse engineering for the derivation of software documentation for requirements and high-level and low-level design. When this scenario exists in the domain of safety-critical system, particularly in the aviation industry, reverse engineering takes on greater value because such software systems must undergo development regulations and certification restrictions. This work reports on the experienced gained from conducting reverse engineering on an industry-based software system as a university project. The software system addressed a problem in the domain of aviation and was treated as a safety-critical system. The reverse engineering methodology applied was based on the RTCA DO-178C Software Considerations in Airborne Systems and Equipment Certification specification for onboard avionic software systems.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND, 58202, USA

    Emanuel S. Grant & Pann Ajjimaporn

Authors
  1. Emanuel S. Grant
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  2. Pann Ajjimaporn
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Emanuel S. Grant .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Bruce M. McLaren

  2. MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Rob Reilly

  3. University of Denver, Denver, CO, USA

    Susan Zvacek

  4. University of Ulster, Newtownabbey, UK

    James Uhomoibhi

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Grant, E.S., Ajjimaporn, P. (2019). An Exercise in Reverse Engineering for Safety-Critical Systems: An Experience for the Classroom. In: McLaren, B., Reilly, R., Zvacek, S., Uhomoibhi, J. (eds) Computer Supported Education. CSEDU 2018. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 1022. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-21151-6_20

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-21151-6_20

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-21150-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-21151-6

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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