| Recurring |
unknown |
(a) The software failure incident related to TomTom sat-navs being struck down by a 'leap year' bug is specific to TomTom as mentioned in Article 11530. This incident appears to be unique to TomTom devices, with the company acknowledging the bug in their GPS receiver's software causing the issue. There is no mention of a similar incident happening again within the same organization.
(b) The software failure incident affecting TomTom sat-navs due to the 'leap year' bug does not indicate a similar incident happening at other organizations or with their products and services. The focus of the article is on TomTom devices being impacted by this particular bug, with complaints flooding in from users worldwide. |
| Phase (Design/Operation) |
design, operation |
(a) The software failure incident with TomTom sat-navs was attributed to a 'leap year' bug caused by a bug in the GPS receiver's software [11530]. This bug led to the devices failing to find their location and being unable to obtain a GPS position since 31 March. TomTom acknowledged the issue and mentioned that they were working on a permanent solution in the form of a downloadable software fix available on their website. This indicates that the failure was related to contributing factors introduced during the system development or system updates.
(b) The article also mentions that users experiencing the issue could temporarily resolve it by resetting their devices. This suggests that there were contributing factors introduced by the operation or misuse of the system, as resetting the device was a step users could take to address the problem caused by the software failure incident [11530]. |
| Boundary (Internal/External) |
within_system |
(a) The software failure incident with TomTom sat-navs was within the system. The article mentions that the problem was caused by a bug in the GPS receiver's software, leading to devices being unable to obtain a GPS position since 31 March [11530]. Additionally, the article discusses a software fix that TomTom is working on to address the issue, indicating that the failure originated from within the system itself. |
| Nature (Human/Non-human) |
non-human_actions |
(a) The software failure incident in this case was due to a 'leap year' bug in the GPS receiver's software, which caused TomTom sat-navs to fail to find their location. This bug was a non-human action, as it was related to the way the software handled the leap year date change, rather than being introduced by human actions [11530]. |
| Dimension (Hardware/Software) |
hardware, software |
(a) The software failure incident with TomTom sat-navs was caused by a bug in the GPS receiver's software, which is a hardware component. The bug in the software left some devices unable to obtain a GPS position since 31 March [11530].
(b) The software failure incident was also related to software issues, as TomTom mentioned they are working on a permanent software fix that will be made available on their website for download. The fix is expected to be delivered through TomTom Home, a program used to update the sat-nav's software [11530]. |
| Objective (Malicious/Non-malicious) |
non-malicious |
From the provided article [11530], the software failure incident related to TomTom sat-navs was non-malicious in nature. The incident was caused by a 'leap year' bug in the GPS receiver's software, leading to devices failing to find their location. TomTom acknowledged the bug and mentioned working on a permanent solution to be made available as a downloadable software fix on their website. The company also provided temporary solutions for affected users to reset their devices. The article does not suggest any malicious intent behind the software failure incident; it appears to be a technical oversight related to the leap year bug. |
| Intent (Poor/Accidental Decisions) |
unknown |
From the provided article, there is no explicit mention of the intent behind the software failure incident related to the leap year bug affecting TomTom sat-navs. The article primarily focuses on the technical details of the bug, symptoms experienced by users, the temporary solution of resetting the device, and the company's efforts to provide a permanent software fix. Therefore, the intent behind the software failure incident in terms of poor decisions or accidental decisions is unknown. |
| Capability (Incompetence/Accidental) |
development_incompetence, accidental |
(a) The software failure incident related to development incompetence is evident in the article as it mentions a 'leap year' bug affecting TomTom sat-navs. The bug was caused by a software issue in the GPS receiver that prevented some devices from obtaining a GPS position since March 31st. This oversight, especially considering the impact of a leap year on the software, points towards a lack of professional competence in handling date-related functionalities within the software [11530].
(b) The accidental nature of the software failure incident is also highlighted in the article. TomTom acknowledges the problem caused by the bug and mentions working on a permanent solution to be made available as a downloadable software fix on their website. The company refers to the issue as a glitch affecting a limited number of models, indicating that the failure was not intentional but rather an unintended consequence of the software design or implementation [11530]. |
| Duration |
temporary |
The software failure incident reported in the article about TomTom sat-navs being struck down by a 'leap year' bug is described as a temporary failure. The article mentions that the problem is caused by a bug in the GPS receiver's software that has left some devices unable to obtain a GPS position since 31 March. It also states that resetting the device temporarily resolves the issue, indicating that the failure is not permanent [11530]. |
| Behaviour |
crash, value |
(a) crash: The software failure incident described in the article is related to a crash. The TomTom sat-navs were struck down by a 'leap year' bug that caused the devices to fail to find their location, resulting in symptoms such as a grey screen or messages indicating a lack of a valid GPS signal [Article 11530].
(b) omission: The software failure incident does not seem to be related to omission, as there is no mention of the system omitting to perform its intended functions at a specific instance [Article 11530].
(c) timing: The software failure incident is not directly related to timing issues where the system performs its intended functions but at the wrong time. Instead, the issue is more about the system's inability to obtain a GPS position since March 31 due to the leap year bug [Article 11530].
(d) value: The software failure incident is related to a value issue where the system is performing its intended functions incorrectly. The bug in the GPS receiver's software caused the devices to be unable to obtain a GPS position, leading to a failure in providing accurate location information [Article 11530].
(e) byzantine: The software failure incident is not characterized by a byzantine behavior where the system behaves erroneously with inconsistent responses and interactions. The issue seems to be more straightforward, with devices experiencing a common bug that affects their GPS functionality [Article 11530].
(f) other: The software failure incident does not exhibit any other specific behavior beyond the crash and value issues mentioned. The focus is primarily on the bug causing the devices to fail in their primary function of providing GPS location information [Article 11530]. |