Your Complete Guide to IEC 61508 Industrial Safety

The IEC 61508 standard provides a broad and necessary framework for ensuring the functional and industrial safety of electronic components. At Infineon, we follow strict IEC guidelines to make sure all our products are fully compliant with IEC 61508 safety standards.

In this guide, we’ll discuss the IEC 61508 industrial safety guidelines, as laid out by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC). We’ll outline what these protocols involve, how we adhere to their standards, and what the benefits and industrial applications of IEC 61508 are. We’ll also showcase a selection of our high-tech microcontrollers that are built to these safety standards.

The IEC 61508 is an international standard to ensure the safety of all electrical, electronic, and programmable electronic (E/E/PE) systems. Devised by the International Electrotechnical Commission, these regulations concern the application, design, and maintenance of safety-related systems.

The IEC 61508 standard relates to the industrial safety for any industry, including railways, manufacturing, automotive, power plants, and machinery. More broadly, the IEC 61508 standard concerns the functional safety of any Equipment Under Control (EUC) or system.

There are two core parts to this standard:

  1. Safety Life Cycle: This is realized according to several best practices to identify and eliminate design errors. It has a total of 16 phases divided into three stages addressing the analysis, realization, and operation of the components.
  2. Probabilistic Failure Assessment: This approach is used as a safeguard against potential device failures. It allows manufacturers to account for possible dangers if a device fails.

At Infineon, we spare no expense when it comes to safety. Our specialized hardware and MCUs are designed with strict safety features to comply with legal regulations and achieve guaranteed customer satisfaction.

Our AURIX™, TRAVEO™, and PSoC™ microcontrollers are designed with PRO-SIL features. For example, they have a holistic safety concept in their cores, memories, peripherals, and buses. Our MCUs also have 3-layer access protection and an SMU for alarm and fault management in a single control point. These help with error detection and diagnostics during electrical testing, ensuring our products are safe and damage-free.

Here are just some of the many industrial safety features of Infineon ATV microcontrollers:

  • Safe SPB, DMA, and SRI.
  • SRAM and Flash ECCs.
  • Lockstep Core.
  • Memory Protection Core.
  • Safe Interrupt Processing.
  • Flexible CRC Engine (FCE).
  • Power Supply Monitoring.
  • CPU Self-Tests (90% Latent Fault Metric).
  • E2E Protection.

Safety Integrity Levels (SILs)

Every feature of our microcontrollers and electronics is tested according to a Safety Integrity Level (SIL). These are set targets that each safety function needs to achieve to be considered operationally safe. To determine a SIL, a risk assessment is performed, and each component is assigned a score based on which SIL it can achieve.

The table below illustrates the SILs for two of our high-performance MCUs. AURIX devices support up to SIL-3 with just a single microcontroller, but they can reach SIL-4 when used with 2oo2 Architecture. Meanwhile, TRAVEO T2G and PSoC MCUs support up to SIL-2 with a single device and SIL-3 on 2oo2 Architecture.

At Infineon, we provide a wide range of MCUs that comply with IEC 61508 industrial safety standards. Each microcontroller has been tested using thorough processes to ensure it is legal and efficient. All our products are engineered to a high standard, giving you the right tools to supercharge your industrial machines.

 Below, we’ve outlined a selection of our alongside their industrial uses and benefits:

  • 32-Bit AURIX™ TriCore™ Microcontrollers: Our AURIX™ chips are high-performance MCUs designed for a range of industrial applications. They are best suited to automation, renewable energy, power conversion and inverters, sensor fusion, and cybersecurity. Most offer safety up to SIL-3, and all are IEC 61508 certified. For example, our AURIX™ TC3xx improves motor efficiency with lower RDSon resistance. It also offers a motor application kit with a variety of industrial uses, including eBikes, wind turbines, industrial robots, and automated guided vehicles.
  • 32-Bit TRAVEO™ T2G Arm® Cortex® Microcontrollers: TRAVEO™ MCUs are powerful, Arm® Cortex®-based microcontrollers that are fully IEC 61508 compliant and certified by TÜV SAAR. They operate using Cortex® M4 & M7 with SIL-2 and offer multiple features for safe use in cybersecurity, thermal management, HMI, and medicine. For example, the TRAVEO TG2 has the highest frame rate and lowest memory footprint of its main competitors. It’s notable for its ability to function with 60 fps displays at resolutions up to full HD.
  • 32-Bit PSoC™ High Voltage Arm® Cortex® Microcontrollers
  • PSOC™ 4 HV (High Voltage) is a family of products providing one-chip solutions for smart sensor designs for automotive. It integrates high precision and programmable analog blocks, programmable digital blocks along with high-voltage (12V) operation integrating communication transceivers such as LIN / CXPI PHY, and an ARM Cortex M0+ CPU with embedded memory.

The IEC 61508 functional safety standard concerns components across a broad range of industrial applications. The framework helps manufacturers design and produce electrical devices to a high degree of safety for all kinds of purposes. Let’s take a look at some common applications for IEC 61508 products.

Cybersecurity

The second edition of the IEC 61508 standard addresses cybersecurity threats. It states that during the risk assessment stage, any malicious and unauthorized actions must be considered, and a full cybersecurity threat analysis must be performed if potential threats are identified. This means that IEC 61508 verified MCUs provide extra security for applications where cybersecurity and hacking may be a concern, such as in laptops, drones, and industrial machinery.

Industrial Automation

Microcontrollers and chips used in industrial automation are all IEC 61508 compliant. These MCUs are commonly found in manufacturing plants and factories, where innovative robotics and remote-controlled mechanisms are utilized in the construction and delivery processes.

The safety features of MCUs ensure workers can operate machinery effectively without the risk of overheating, injury, damage, or death. For example, the lockstep processor technique found in microcontrollers like AURIX and TRAVEO Extension HSM use dual processing cores to execute the same instructions simultaneously. The cores’ outputs are then compared to identify discrepancies. This ensures redundancy and fault tolerance in safety-critical systems, keeping them reliable and functional.

Renewable Energy & Storage

IEC 61508 microcontrollers are also suited to the energy sector. They can be used in large-scale industrial operations like wind farms and power plants. The IEC 61513 standard, an adaptation of the broader IEC 61508 framework, provides specific guidance on the safety of hardware and electrical components used in power plants.

Our MCUs are also designed for use in energy storage and power supply systems. Thanks to their high-performance specifications, they can be used in complex electrical systems with renewable energy sources. Additionally, they’re ideal for smaller energy sources, such as EV charging stations.

The International Electrotechnical Commission implements its safety standards for several reasons. Primarily, it is to ensure that all electronic devices are fit for human use and minimize the risk of injury. However, there are also other benefits to these protocols, including:

  1. Reduced Accidents: The core benefit of adhering to IEC 61508 industrial safety standards is that there is a far lesser chance of injury and damage. This goes for both human operators of machinery and the electrical devices themselves.
  2. Product Efficiency: With proper safety systems in place, electrical components and devices can operate more securely and to optimal energy efficiency. This leads to a more effective device and an increased power transfer between components, ensuring a high-performance, high-quality electronic device.
  3. Product Longevity: By adhering to industry-wide safety standards, we can build products that last. Integrated error-detection systems and dual processing cores ensure our components remain functional and safe for longer, increasing their durability and reducing the risk of breakages.
  4. Legal Compliance: IEC 61508 industrial safety standards ensure all equipment is safely tested and approved for use. Adhering to these standards ensures you are operating within the laws of your country and industry, keeping your company free from legal disputes and lawsuits.

We take great care to provide products that are fully ICE 61508 certified. When you purchase an Infineon microcontroller like the  AURIX or TRAVEO families, you are assured of safe and compliant components that help you meet the legal requirements across the safety life cycle.

We are experts at what we do. Our range of safety-compliant products are designed with the latest component-level standard and give long-lasting efficiency for industrial applications like automation, power conversion, renewable energy, and sensors.

What are safety integrity levels?

A safety integrity level (SIL) is a framework designed to improve the functional safety of an electrical component. It provides a tangible target that the part should achieve in order to be fit for industrial operation. Intricate risk assessments are carried out to determine the SIL of a component.

Do your components also comply with ISO 26262?

The functional safety standard ISO 26262 is an adaptation of IEC 61508 specifically geared towards the automotive industry. Our MCUs are fully compliant with both functional safety standards, ensuring full operational security in industrial and automotive applications.

Are your MCUs fit for industrial use?

All our electrical components are rigorously tested to ensure they comply with functional safety regulations, including the IEC 61508 standard. This means we only offer fully compliant MCUs that are suited for a wide range of industrial applications, including in renewable ene