Sacs-a pattern language for safe adaptive control software

This article puts forward a pattern language for Safe Adaptive Control Software named SACS. We interpret the term “pattern language ” such that a set of patterns, the interconnections between them, and how these are intended to be used make up a language. The pattern language consists of three basic types of patterns, namely the Requirement Pattern, the Design Pattern, and the Safety Case Pattern and an additional Composite Pattern type. The Composite Pattern type facilitates users of the language to specify their own patterns as compositions of basic patterns. The patterns are intended to be used in the context of safety related and safety critical systems, thus the safety aspect is a principal concern. The pattern language may be used as a tool for e.g. safety engineers and system developers to increase effectiveness during conceptual design and facilitate effective evaluation of alternative adaptive design solutions with respect to utilisation in a safety related application by a systematic approach for combining best practices