By the year 2050 computers could have capabilities rivalling that of the human brain. Effective utilization of such new technologies poses a significant challenge to the computer science community, which finds an ever increasing number of complex applications within its technological grasp. In addition to increased complexity, most, if not all, of these applications are also accompanied by an inherent increase in the consequences associated with their failure, resulting in the construction of increasingly high consequence complex systems. Systems that fall within this domain are beyond the ability to construct in a brute force manner. There are two major challenges in developing such systems: manage complexity and provide sufficient evidence that the system satisfies dependability constraints. Society is tacitly relying on the research community to solve these problems on a timetable satisfying the needs of industry. While impressive results have been obtained, the research community is still, to some extent, hamstrung by the lack of realistic case study problems against which to benchmark new techniques and approaches.
The purpose of this text is to explore a cross-section of some of the most promising areas of research in the construction of high consequence complex systems, for example, a case study involving the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system. Because of its scope and complexity, the BART case study is being recognized by many in the formal methods community as one of the definitive case study problems, and as such provides a valuable insight into the challenges that must be faced in the upcoming years. This book should be suitable as a secondary text for a graduate level course, and as a reference for researchers and practitioners in industry.