The Dependable and Intelligent Systems Research Group at the University of Hull is presently pioneering the development of novel methods and tools for dependability analysis and optimisation of complex safety critical engineering systems collectively known as Hierarchically Performed Hazard Origin and Propagation Studies (HiP-HOPS).

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Important contributions of HiP-HOPS to the field of dependability so far include:

  • Novel algorithms for top-down semi-automatic allocation of safety requirements in the form of Safety Integrity Levels - this work automates some of the processes for ASIL allocation specified in the new automotive safety standard ISO26262
  • Fast algorithms for bottom up dependability analysis via automatic synthesis of Fault Trees and Failure Models and Effects Analyses (FMEAs) where the basis of the analysis can be provided by architectural models that can be hierarchical described in a single perspective or in multiple perspectives (e.g. HW and SW linked with allocations)
  • Linguistic concepts for representation and reuse of component failure patterns
  • PANDORA - a new temporal logic that enables assessment of the effects of sequences of faults in Fault Tree Analysis (FTA)
  • A novel extension of dependability analyses with genetic algorithms that solves difficult multi-objective optimisation problems in the design of architecture and maintenance of safety critical systems.

HiP-HOPS supports with state-of-the-art model-based techniques, as well as application of search meta-heuristics and sophisticated model-based analysis algorithms both sides of the V engineering lifecycle of a complex system, both the refinement of dependable designs from requirements to detailed SW-HW architecture, and the bottom up verification of dependability. This work has achieved substantial international recognition - more than 100 papers have been published or presented on topics related to this work. In the context of a string of recent European projects (ATESST, ATESST2, MAENAD, DEIS), HiP-HOPS has contributed to the specification of the error modelling capabilities of EAST-ADL, an emerging architecture description language developed as an industry standard for the design of vehicle control systems. HiP-HOPS today is widely recognised as one of the state-of-the-art techniques in the area of dependability analysis.

Following years of research, the HiP-HOPS software tool was commercially launched in 2012. ITI GmbH, a CAE software house and author of the simulation tool SimulationX have integrated HiP-HOPS into SimulationX and provide licences to interested parties. iti-loMore information about this product can be here or by clicking on the ITI logo on the right. The commercial version currently supports combinatorial FMEA & FTA synthesis and analysis and has some design optimisation capability that can help with decisions on component and subsystem selection among alternatives as well as decisions on the level and location of replicated components. The commercial version has experimental support of allocation of requirements in the form of Safety Integrity Levels, a capability that is maturing and scaling up.

HiP-HOPS is an open tool. Licences of the tool for research and easy connection to other modelling tools and modelling frameworks can also be directly bought from the University of Hull (please contact Prof. Yiannis Papadopoulos for access to this version). Experimental connections of HiP-HOPS to modelling languages such as AADL and SySML have been achieved in numerous European and other research projects.

Version Update 2.5.907

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[fix] Error message appeared when attempting to open perspective as a component in the Matlab editor. Now this is more gracefully handled with dialog. [fix] Bug due to deprecated size method behaviour in 2025 Matlab version.

[note] There is a known issue when using Chrome as the default browser. If the output type is set to HTML, HiP-HOPS will automatically attempt to open the results output in the default browser. When the default browser is Chrome, and Chrome is not already open, the system call appears to wait indefinitely before releasing for other processes to continue when the browser is closed. This issue appears to be isolated to Chrome and does not present with other browsers including Edge and Firefox. There is no fix for this, but it can be worked around by opening Chrome before running the analysis.

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#version update 

Version Update 2.5.906

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[fix] In Chrome based browsers there was a bug that prevented the treeview from operating properly when you returned to the treeview having navigated somewhere else.

[note] There is a known issue when using Chrome as the default browser. If the output type is set to HTML, HiP-HOPS will automatically attempt to open the results output in the default browser. When the default browser is Chrome, and Chrome is not already open, the system call appears to wait indefinitely before releasing for other processes to continue when the browser is closed. This issue appears to be isolated to Chrome and does not present with other browsers including Edge and Firefox. There is no fix for this, but it can be worked around by opening Chrome before running the analysis.

[Read More]
#version update 

Version Update 2.5.905

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[fix] There was an error that prevented results from the optimisation example being automatically opened in the browser.

[fix] There was an error that prevented the warning list in the results from being correctly rendered.

[note] There is a known issue when using Chrome as the default browser. If the output type is set to HTML, HiP-HOPS will automatically attempt to open the results output in the default browser. When the default browser is Chrome, and Chrome is not already open, the system call appears to wait indefinitely before releasing for other processes to continue when the browser is closed. This issue appears to be isolated to Chrome and does not present with other browsers including Edge and Firefox. There is no fix for this, but it can be worked around by opening Chrome before running the analysis.

[Read More]
#version update 

Version Update 2.5.904

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[feature] The Matlab Failure Editor UI has been updated to improve the user experience. The UI will automatically detect available deviations for a component based on the propagations from other connected components. These can then be added to a failure definition from a pre-populated list rather than having to manually type in the failure. This should result in fewer errors due to typos.

[note] There is a known issue when using Chrome as the default browser. If the output type is set to HTML, HiP-HOPS will automatically attempt to open the results output in the default browser. When the default browser is Chrome, and Chrome is not already open, the system call appears to wait indefinitely before releasing for other processes to continue when the browser is closed. This issue appears to be isolated to Chrome and does not present with other browsers including Edge and Firefox. There is no fix for this, but it can be worked around by opening Chrome before running the analysis.

[Read More]
#version update 

Version Update 2.5.903

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[fix] Bug in Model Parameters Editor of the Matlab Simulink user interface where the state of the DecomposeSILs and OutputToExcel check boxes were not being properly recognised. [note] There is a known issue when using Chrome as the default browser. If the output type is set to HTML, HiP-HOPS will automatically attempt to open the results output in the default browser. When the default browser is Chrome, and Chrome is not already open, the system call appears to wait indefinitely before releasing for other processes to continue when the browser is closed. This issue appears to be isolated to Chrome and does not present with other browsers including Edge and Firefox. There is no fix for this, but it can be worked around by opening Chrome before running the analysis.

[Read More]
#version update 

Version Update 2.5.902

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[feature] complete overhaul of the Matlab Simulink user interface.
[feature] refresh of the manual. [feature] updated set of example/tutorial models to illustrate concepts in the updated manual.

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#version update 

Version Update 2.5.900

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[feature] added severity field to Hazards dialog in the Matlab GUI
[fix] Matlab interface bug the prevented editing and deleting of failure causes in output deviations and hazards

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#version update 

Version Update 2.5.899

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[feature] updated unavailability calculations
[feature] added frequency calculation
[fix] Matlab interface bug the prevented editing of exiting failure logic
[fix] Matlab interface bug preventing output to XML

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#version update 

Version Update 2.5.893

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[fix] Bug in the Matlab GUI scripts that caused an error if the top subsystem in the model had the same name as the model.
[fix] Bug in the HiP-HOPS engine that prevented the user from targeting a system level implicit output deviation when the explicit deviation is in a subsystem.
[fix] The xml output from the Matlab GUI script now includes line breaks after tags to make the line numbers in the HiP-HOPS parse errors more meaningful.

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#version update