Methods and Articles of Manufacture for Hosting a Safety Critical Application on an Uncontrolled Data Processing Device

Abstract

Methods and articles of manufacture for hosting a safety critical application on an uncontrolled data processing device are provided. Various checks and combinations of checks including installation, functional, host integrity, coexistence, interoperability, power management, and environment checks are performed at various times to determine if the safety critical application operates properly on the device. The operation of the SCA on the UDPD may be controlled accordingly.

1 . A method of executing an environment check on an uncontrolled data processing device (UDPD) having a safety critical application (SCA) installed thereon, wherein the UDPD is configured to permit a user to make software and/or hardware changes to the UDPD, the method comprising:
 determining that the safety critical application is permitted to operate freely on the UDPD;   identifying, with the UDPD, a first current environment of the UDPD, to provide a stored environment;   initiating an environment check to identify, with the UDPD, a second current environment of the UDPD;   comparing, with the UDPD, the second current environment to the stored environment to determine whether a change in environment has occurred; and   initiating a functional check if it is determined that the environment has changed;   wherein the safety critical application is a medically-related application and the UDPD is a wireless personal device comprising a display, the UDPD being configured to be in data communication with at least one of an analyte monitoring device, a drug administration device or a combination of both an analyte monitoring device and a drug administration device.   
     
     
         2 . The method according to  claim 1  further comprising identifying and storing the environment at various times associated with the performing of the environment checks, optionally before the environment check is initiated, when the environment check is initiated and/or after the environment check has provided an outcome. 
     
     
         3 . The method according to  claim 1  further comprising initiating the environment check at predetermined times, at predetermined time intervals and/or on the occurrence of an event, including at least one of: when the safety critical application is run, when the safety critical application is closed, when the UDPD is powered. 
     
     
         4 . The method according to  claim 1  further comprising initiating the environment check while the safety critical application is running. 
     
     
         5 . The method according  claim 1 , wherein the identifying of the second current environment of the UDPD and the initiating the functional check are performed in a background of the UDPD. 
     
     
         6 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the environment comprises the processing environment of the UDPD, optionally the processing environment comprising at least one of: a software configuration, currently installed software programs, applications, drivers and hardware components. 
     
     
         7 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein initiating an environment check comprises identifying software and/or hardware components that are present on the UDPD, optionally identifying configurations of the software and/or hardware components. 
     
     
         8 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the environment comprises a software environment of the UDPD and the second current environment comprises a revision update, software fix or firmware update of the software environment. 
     
     
         9 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the functional check comprises at least one of: a computational test routine, timing test routine, display test routine and a communication test routine. 
     
     
         10 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the SCA is prevented from operating freely while the functional check is performed. 
     
     
         11 . The method according to  claim 1 , further comprising preventing, with the UDPD, the SCA from operating freely on the UDPD if the functional check determines that the SCA does not function properly on the UDPD. 
     
     
         12 . The method according to  claim 1  further comprising permitting, with the UDPD, the SCA to operate freely on the UDPD if the functional check determines that the SCA functions properly on the UDPD. 
     
     
         13 . The method according to  claim 1  further comprising saving the second current environment as the stored environment if it is determined that the SCA functions properly on the UDPD. 
     
     
         14 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the environment check is executed by a test harness on the UDPD. 
     
     
         15 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the UDPD is a mobile phone. 
     
     
         16 . The method according to  claim 1 , wherein the SCA is an analyte monitoring application, optionally a glucose or ketone monitoring application. 
     
     
         17 . A safety critical application (SCA) for installation on an uncontrolled data processing device (UDPD), wherein the UDPD is configured to permit a user to make software and/or hardware changes to the UDPD, the SCA comprising instructions that, when executed on a processor of the UDPD, cause the UDPD to implement a method comprising:
 determining that the safety critical application is permitted to operate freely on the UDPD;   identifying, with the UDPD, a first current environment of the UDPD, to provide a stored environment;   initiating an environment check to identify, with the UDPD, a second current environment of the UDPD;   comparing, with the UDPD, the second current environment to the stored environment to determine whether a change in environment has occurred; and   initiating a functional check if it is determined that the environment has changed;   wherein the safety critical application is a medically-related application and the UDPD is a wireless personal device comprising a display, the UDPD being configured to be in data communication with at least one of an analyte monitoring device, a drug administration device or a combination of both an analyte monitoring device and a drug administration device.   
     
     
         18 . The safety critical application (SCA) of  claim 17 , further comprising instructions that, when executed on a processor of the UDPD, cause the UDPD to implement the method of any of  claims 2  to  16 .