Cross-Industry Compatibility

Domain-Specific Traceability Requirements

Different industries have evolved specialized traceability needs based on their regulatory environments and technical characteristics:

Automotive Safety (ISO 26262)

• Hazard analysis and risk assessment: HARA documents, fault trees, safety goals
• Safety requirements: Functional safety requirements, technical safety requirements
• Safety mechanisms: Hardware safety mechanisms, software safety measures
• Verification evidence: Unit tests, integration tests, safety validation tests
• Safety case: Structured arguments linking hazards to mitigations

Aerospace Systems (DO-178C)

• Software planning: Plan for software aspects of certification (PSAC)
• Requirements data: High-level requirements, low-level requirements
• Design data: Software architecture, detailed design
• Source code: Implementation with coding standards compliance
• Verification procedures: Test cases, test procedures, test results
• Life cycle environment: Development tools, verification tools

Medical Devices (IEC 62304)

• Software safety classification: Class A, B, or C based on harm potential
• Software development plan: Life cycle processes and procedures
• Software requirements analysis: Functional and performance requirements
• Software architectural design: System and software architecture
• Risk management: Risk analysis, risk control measures
• Software validation: Clinical evaluation, usability engineering

AI/ML Systems

• Dataset documentation: Data collection methodology, annotation guidelines
• Model development: Training procedures, hyperparameter selection
• Performance evaluation: Accuracy metrics, bias assessment, fairness evaluation
• Operational design domain: Environmental and operational constraints
• Monitoring systems: Model drift detection, performance degradation alerts

Universal Schema Architecture

TRF provides cross-industry compatibility through a modular schema architecture:

Core Artifact Types

Four fundamental types that apply across all industries:

{
  "core_types": {
    "requirement": "Functional or non-functional system requirements",
    "test": "Verification and validation procedures and results",
    "design": "Architectural and detailed design artifacts",
    "component": "Implementation units and deliverable components"
  }
}

Domain Extensions

Specialized artifact types for specific industries:

{
  "automotive_extension": {
    "hazard": "Safety hazards and failure modes",
    "safety_goal": "Top-level safety objectives",
    "safety_requirement": "Derived safety requirements",
    "safety_mechanism": "Hardware/software safety measures"
  },
  "aerospace_extension": {
    "certification_plan": "Plans for software certification",
    "design_standard": "Coding and design standards",
    "verification_procedure": "Systematic verification methods",
    "life_cycle_data": "Process and tool qualification evidence"
  },
  "medical_extension": {
    "risk_analysis": "Clinical risk assessment",
    "safety_classification": "Software safety categorization",
    "clinical_evaluation": "Clinical validation evidence",
    "usability_study": "Human factors engineering"
  },
  "ai_ml_extension": {
    "dataset": "Training and validation datasets",
    "model": "Machine learning models and algorithms",
    "experiment": "Training experiments and hyperparameter tuning",
    "odd": "Operational design domain specifications"
  }
}

Relationship Compatibility

Standard relationship types work across domains:

{
  "relationship_types": {
    "satisfies": "Implementation satisfies requirement",
    "tests": "Test validates implementation or requirement",
    "derives_from": "Lower-level artifact derived from higher-level",
    "depends_on": "Artifact has dependency on another artifact",
    "refines": "Detailed version of higher-level artifact",
    "conflicts_with": "Artifacts have incompatible requirements"
  }
}

Schema Evolution and Compatibility

Versioned Schemas

TRF schemas include version information for backward compatibility:

{
  "$schema": "https://trf-spec.org/schemas/v2/automotive.json",
  "version": "2.1.0",
  "compatible_with": ["2.0.x", "1.9.x"],
  "breaking_changes": []
}

Extension Mechanism

New artifact types can be added without breaking existing tools:

{
  "custom_types": {
    "quantum_algorithm": {
      "extends": "component",
      "properties": {
        "qubit_count": {"type": "integer"},
        "gate_complexity": {"type": "number"},
        "error_rate": {"type": "number"}
      }
    }
  }
}

Migration Support

Tools can automatically migrate between schema versions:

# Upgrade TWPack to newer schema version
tw migrate evidence.twpack --to-version 2.1.0

# Validate compatibility across schema versions
tw validate evidence.twpack --allow-version-range "2.x"

# Report schema differences
tw schema-diff --from v2.0 --to v2.1

Cross-Domain Artifact Mapping

Requirements Mapping

Different industries express requirements differently, but core concepts align:

Domain	Requirement Type	TRF Mapping	Standard
Automotive	Functional Safety Requirement	safety_requirement	ISO 26262
Aerospace	High-Level Requirement	requirement + certification_plan	DO-178C
Medical	Software Requirement	requirement + safety_classification	IEC 62304
AI/ML	Performance Requirement	requirement + model	IEEE 2857

Test Evidence Mapping

Verification approaches vary by domain but follow common patterns:

Domain	Test Type	TRF Mapping	Evidence Format
Automotive	HIL Testing	test + component	Test vectors, coverage reports
Aerospace	Software Testing	test + verification_procedure	Test cases, structural coverage
Medical	Clinical Validation	test + clinical_evaluation	Clinical data, statistical analysis
AI/ML	Model Validation	test + experiment	Performance metrics, dataset splits

Design Artifact Mapping

Design representations are domain-specific but share common structure:

Domain	Design Type	TRF Mapping	Tool Integration
Automotive	AUTOSAR Architecture	design + component	ARXML export
Aerospace	Software Architecture	design + life_cycle_data	Model export
Medical	Software Architecture	design + risk_analysis	UML/SysML export
AI/ML	Model Architecture	design + model	ONNX, PyTorch export

Multi-Domain Evidence Packages

Hybrid System Support

Modern systems often span multiple domains:

{
  "autonomous_vehicle": {
    "domains": ["automotive", "ai_ml"],
    "artifacts": [
      {"id": "req:FUNC-001", "type": "requirement", "domain": "automotive"},
      {"id": "model:perception", "type": "model", "domain": "ai_ml"},
      {"id": "safety:HARA-001", "type": "hazard", "domain": "automotive"},
      {"id": "dataset:validation", "type": "dataset", "domain": "ai_ml"}
    ],
    "cross_domain_links": [
      {"from": "req:FUNC-001", "to": "model:perception", "type": "implements"},
      {"from": "safety:HARA-001", "to": "model:perception", "type": "mitigates"}
    ]
  }
}

Supply Chain Integration

Different suppliers can contribute domain-specific evidence:

{
  "tier1_automotive": {
    "contributes": ["safety_requirement", "hazard", "component"],
    "consumes": ["requirement", "design"]
  },
  "tier2_ai_vendor": {
    "contributes": ["model", "dataset", "experiment"],
    "consumes": ["requirement", "odd"]
  },
  "tier3_sensor_supplier": {
    "contributes": ["component", "test"],
    "consumes": ["requirement", "safety_requirement"]
  }
}

Industry Standard Compliance

Automotive Standards

TRF automotive extensions support multiple automotive standards:

• ISO 26262: Functional safety lifecycle artifacts
• UN-R155: Cybersecurity management system artifacts
• UN-R156: Software update management artifacts
• ISO/SAE 21434: Automotive cybersecurity engineering artifacts

Aerospace Standards

TRF aerospace extensions align with aviation certification requirements:

• DO-178C: Software considerations in airborne systems
• DO-254: Design assurance for airborne electronic hardware
• ARP4754A: Guidelines for development of civil aircraft systems
• DO-326A: Airworthiness security process specification

Medical Device Standards

TRF medical extensions support medical device development:

• IEC 62304: Medical device software lifecycle processes
• ISO 14971: Application of risk management to medical devices
• IEC 62366: Medical devices - Application of usability engineering
• FDA 21 CFR Part 820: Quality system regulation

AI/ML Standards

TRF AI/ML extensions support emerging AI standards:

• IEEE 2857: Privacy engineering for machine learning
• ISO/IEC 23053: Framework for AI systems using ML
• IEEE 2830: Technical standard for risk assessment of AI
• NIST AI Risk Management Framework: AI RMF 1.0

Tool Ecosystem Integration

Import Capabilities

TRF tools can import from industry-standard formats:

# Import automotive AUTOSAR models
tw import autosar_model.arxml --domain automotive

# Import aerospace DO-178C artifacts
tw import certification_data.xml --domain aerospace

# Import medical device risk analysis
tw import risk_management.xlsx --domain medical

# Import AI/ML experiment tracking
tw import mlflow_runs.json --domain ai_ml

Export Capabilities

TRF can export to domain-specific formats:

# Export to automotive safety case format
tw export evidence.twpack --format gsn --domain automotive

# Export to aerospace certification documentation
tw export evidence.twpack --format do178c --domain aerospace

# Export to medical device submission format
tw export evidence.twpack --format fda510k --domain medical

# Export to AI/ML model registry
tw export evidence.twpack --format mlflow --domain ai_ml

Integration APIs

Standardized APIs enable tool integration:

# Python API for multi-domain analysis
import trf

# Load evidence from multiple domains
auto_evidence = trf.load("automotive_safety.twpack")
ai_evidence = trf.load("ml_models.twpack")

# Perform cross-domain traceability analysis
cross_domain_links = trf.trace_across(auto_evidence, ai_evidence)

# Generate compliance reports for specific standards
iso26262_report = trf.compliance_report(auto_evidence, standard="ISO26262")

This universal approach enables organizations to maintain domain-specific expertise while benefiting from standardized traceability data exchange and analysis capabilities.