Accellera Systems Initiative has approved Functional Safety Language Standard 1.0 for release, creating a common language for capturing, exchanging, and integrating functional safety information across electronic systems development. The standard is available for download and is intended to make safety data easier to move between tools, teams, and companies without repeated manual translation.
The need arises because functional safety analysis now spans an extended supply chain. An IP1. image placement2. Internet protocolInterface or communications concept for transmitting data between devices and systems.3. Intellectual PropertyIP denotes licensable semiconductor design blocks or technology elements. supplier may develop a component, a semiconductor company may integrate it into a chip, and a system manufacturer may use that chip in a larger product. Each step depends on relevant safety information, including assumptions and limitations that affect how failures propagate through the finished system.
Until now, those handoffs have often relied on spreadsheets, proprietary databases, and incompatible formats. That can force engineers to recreate relationships, reconcile differing terminology, and manually align multiple versions of an analysis. FSL 1.0 is designed to reduce those conversion points and make exchanges more consistent and more automatable.
The standard focuses on failure modes, effects, and diagnostic analysis, or FMEDA. It captures failure modes, effects, safety mechanisms, technology information, and safety requirements, together with mappings that connect safety information to design representations. A notable capability is support for hierarchical FMEDAs, so component-level analyses can feed into subsystem and system-level work while preserving traceability.
FSL 1.0 also supports both assumption-based and design-mapped FMEDA approaches. That allows safety analysis to begin before implementation details are complete and then evolve as development progresses. The standard further supports updating estimated diagnostic coverage with results from verification and fault-injection activities.
This link between analysis and test evidence is important when verification uncovers differences from the original estimates. If a safety mechanism detects fewer faults than expected, the analysis can be updated to reflect the measured behavior instead of relying only on assumptions. The standard is intended to make such updates easier to exchange and review.
FSL uses Tcl-based syntax for machine processing and workflow integration. It also supports calculation and reporting of safety-related failure rates and metrics associated with ISO 26262 and IECinfused emitter coupling 61508. Those standards remain in force; adopting FSL by itself does not prove compliance or certify a product.
The practical goal is tighter coordination between design, verification, and safety engineering across IP1. image placement2. Internet protocolInterface or communications concept for transmitting data between devices and systems.3. Intellectual PropertyIP denotes licensable semiconductor design blocks or technology elements., integrated circuits, and systems. Adoption will depend on compatible tool implementations and reliable export processes, but FSL 1.0 establishes a common foundation for exchanging functional safety data with more consistency and traceability.