Example Application of a Standard Approach to Identifying and Defining Functions for Systems Development and Safety Assessments

The Safety Assessment Process defined by SAE ARP4761 [1] and associated regulatory guidance and the system development process defined by SAE ARP4754 [2] are built on an understanding of the functions performed by a system or systems. SAE Technical Paper 2022-01-0008 [3] proposes a process to assist the system or product developer with identifying and describing functions at each level of abstraction used in describing the architecture.

This paper walks through the process described in SAE Technical Paper 2022-01-0008, examining some of the issues and considerations encountered using this approach, and resulting in an example function list for a passenger aircraft. The example aircraft is typical except that an autonomous operating mode is included.