Modern Software Quality Assurance in Safety-Critical Automotive Programs an Integrated Framework for Continuous Compliance and Engineering Excellence
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.63282/3050-922X.IJERET-V7I3P110Keywords:
Software Quality Assurance, Automotive SPICE, Functional Safety, ISO 26262, Engineering Analytics, Continuous Compliance, SDV, Risk-Based AuditingAbstract
Modern automotive software has evolved from isolated embedded controllers to highly connected software-defined vehicles (SDVs). This evolution has significantly increased expectations on software quality assurance (SQA), process governance, functional safety, cybersecurity and regulatory compliance. Traditional milestone-based quality assurance is no longer sufficient for agile and continuous development environments. This paper proposes a Continuous Software Quality Assurance (CSQA) framework integrating Automotive SPICE, ISO 26262, engineering analytics and risk-based governance. The framework enables continuous evidence collection, proactive audit planning, objective process measurement and early identification of compliance risks. A representative SDV case study illustrates improvements in audit readiness, traceability coverage, defect prevention and engineering efficiency.
References
1. IEEE Std 730-2014, Software Quality Assurance Processes.
2. ISO/IEC/IEEE 12207.
3. ISO 26262: Road Vehicles Functional Safety.
4. Automotive SPICE PAM Version 4.0.
5. IEC 61508 Functional Safety.
6. MISRA Guidelines for Automotive Software.
7. SAE papers on Software Defined Vehicle
8. Merakanapalli, S., & Bodapati, S. J. (2025). Autonomous Steering Control using AI-Based Driver Drowsiness Detection and Safe-Zone Navigation. International Journal of Research Publications in Engineering, Technology and Management (IJRPETM), 8(5), 12773-12784. https://doi.org/10.15662/IJRPETM.2025.0805014
