DO-178C Training Crash Course | Software Considerations in Airborne Systems and Equipment Certification

DO-178C Training Crash Course, Software Considerations in Airborne Systems and Equipment Certification

The DO-178C standard defines a set of objectives for software to be certified for use in airborne systems.

In DO-178C “software” pertains to all drivers, BSP, RTOS, libraries, graphics and the application software – in other words, any executable aspect that is loaded into memory during execution.

Software testing means ensuring that the lowest level detailed requirements are accurately implemented, paths are covered according to their criticality level, and full traceability is provided.

Organizations can reduce risks and effort with a verification approach to support the DO-178C objectives, such as:

• Iterate and refine system requirements by creating an executable specification
• Define architecture and confirm your design choices for robustness and maintainability leveraging modeling and simulation
• Demonstrate code and executable coverage through back-to-back testing and end-to-end traceability from requirements to tests
• Automate model and code review activities
• Reduce testing activities by using formal methods

The FAA, EASA and Transport Canada approve all commercial software-based aerospace systems. Through DO-178C these certification authorities emphasize that achieving compliance needs to be done in all aspects of development.

Planning, for example, is critical. You need to plan what you’re going to deliver to market and when — and how you’ll be compliant in your processes. This means you need to gather requirements. And you need to make sure those requirements account for the standard.

Then there’s development, which should be top-of-mind during development processes. This means:

• Requirements should be clearly defined
• Test cases should be developed from requirement
• Code should be written to satisfy those requirements
• Tests should satisfy test cases and show that requirements are met

Verification processes also help prove you’ve satisfied compliance requirements. The three big things that need to be verified: requirements, code and tests.

DO-178C Training Crash Course Description

DO-178C Training Crash Course provides the knowledge required to reduce DO-178C risks and costs, while also enhancing the quality of the software during avionics development. During this intensive hands-on training, participants will learn the best practices for real-life software development and how to stay away from common DO-178C errors.

The DO-178C, which is Software Considerations in Airborne Systems and Equipment Certification, is the main international standard for commercial avionics software development. RTCA/DO-178C is the fourth-generation standard for the commercial airborne software. The United States Federal Aviation Administration recognized it in 2013.

DO-178C gives suggestions to produce effective airborne systems and equipment software. Agreement with the objectives of DO-178C is the key tools to meet airworthiness requirements and obtain approval of software used in civil aviation products.

Through DO-178C training crash course, you will learn aircraft safety, systems, software planning, software requirements, and software design/code/test. The whole environment of aviation avionics software development will be discussed briefly including but not limited to DO-178C’s relationship to other industry standards including the SAE standards ARP-4761 for Safety and ARP-4754A for Systems Development.

DO-178C training crash course presents the fundamental concepts behind DO-178B/C avionics certification. It also discusses the differences between DO-178B and DO-178C, with the focus on how to use the guidance in the Object-Oriented Technologies and Related Techniques supplement (DO-332). You also will learn how to best apply the Ada language and GNAT Pro tool fits to agree with the certification objectives.

The majority of this training is dedicated to hands-on activities and practical exercises with real-world cases. Once the participants learned the basics, concepts, requirements, and guidelines of DO-178C standard and its associated components, they will get to use them in the templates provided in the class. Attendees will learn about the best practices of DO-178C applications.

This intensive training course includes interactive lectures, labs, individual/small group activities, and hands-on workshops.

Audience

DO-178C training crash course is a 4-day course designed for:

• Engineering managers
• Software engineers
• Software quality engineers
• Test engineers
• Hardware engineers
• Systems engineers
• Quality and process assurance personnel
• Software developers
• Project managers

Training Objectives

Upon the completion of DO-178C training crash course, the attendees are able to:

• Understand DO-178C and its supplements
• Discuss DO-178C software development and verification planning process
• Articulate the main differences between DO-178B and DO-178C
• Understand and follow regulatory review of DO-178C
• Explain DO-330, DO-331, DO-332, DO-333 supplements
• Use general contents, supplements, and documents related to DO-178C
• Integrate changes in DO-178C with existing practices in the software analysis process
• Assess life- cycle, processes, and data for compliance with DO-178C
• Incorporate DO-330 with the existing practices for the software tool qualification process
• Assess tool qualification life-cycle processes and data for compliance with DO-330

Course Outline

Introduction to DO-178C

• Certificate overview
• DO-178C topology & map
• Objectives & activities
• Refinement
• DO-178C supplements and companion documents
• DO-178C processes
• Software planning process
• Additional considerations
• 
DO-178 & DO-254 history
• 
DO-178C/254 principles
• 
Document hierarchy & criticality levels
• 
ARP4761 safety assessments
• 
PSAC/PHAC details
• 
System & requirements details
• 
DO178/254 design aspects
• 
DO178/254 implementation, coding and reviews
• 
DO178/254 verification
• 
DO-178/254 vs CMMI
• DO-178C structural coverage, tools & strategies
• Traceability
• DO-178/254 mistakes & prevention
• DO-254 additional details
• Gap analysis & reverse engineering
• Design, data & control flow
• COTS usage in DO-178/254
• Differences between DO-178B and DO-178C
• Regulatory Review

Fundamentals of DO-178C

• Avionics environment
• Relationship to ARP-4754A and ARP-4761
• Avionics safety
• Avionics systems

DO-178C Software Planning

• Criticality levels
• Plan for Software Aspects of Certification (PSAC)
• Software Quality Assurance Planning (SQAP)
• Software Configuration Management Planning (SCMP)
• Software Development Planning (SDP) –Requirements, Design, Code, and Integration
• Software Verification Planning (SVP) – Reviews, Tests, and Analysis

DO-254 Hardware Planning

• Plan for Hardware Aspects of Certification (PHAC)
• Hardware Configuration Management Planning (HCMP)
• Hardware Verification Plan (HVP)
• Hardware Design Process (HDP)
• HPAP

Introduction to DO-254

• Compliance
• System Design Assurance Level (DAL)
• EASA and FAA application
• Hardware design lifecycle objectives and Data
• Integral processes
• Validation and verification
• Configuration management
• Process assurance
• System safety
• Tool qualification
• COTs cores and IPs
• Single Event Upset and SRAM parts
• Functional Failure Path (FFP)
• Elemental assessment
• Advanced verification techniques
• Requirements capture
• Conceptual design
• Detailed design
• Implementation and production transition
• Verification and validation

DO-178C Software Development Processes

• Requirements development
• Design development
• Software implementation
• Parameter data item files
• Trace Data
• Software Integration

DO-178C Software Verification Processes

• Software verification objectives
• Software verification process activities
• Software analyses
• Software testing
• Requirements-based testing techniques
• Test coverage analysis
• Software verification process traceability
• Verification of parameter data items

Integral Processes

• Software verification
• Software configuration management
• Software quality assurance
• Certification liaison

Software Life Cycle Data

• Plan for software aspects of certification
• Software development plan
• Software verification plan
• Software configuration management plan
• Software quality assurance plan
• Software requirements standards
• Software design standards
• Software code standards
• Software requirements data

Software Configuration Management (CM) Processes

• Software CM process objectives
• Software CM process activities
• Data control categories
• Software load control
• Software life cycle ecosystem control

Software Quality Assurance (QA) Processes

• Software QA process objectives
• Software QA process activities
• Software conformity review

DO-178C Supplements

• DO-330 software tool qualification
• DO-331 model-based development and verification
• DO-332 object-oriented technology
• DO-333 formal methods supplement

DO-178C OO Technology Supplement

• Logic of using OOP in certified avionics
• New objectives and activities in DO-178C for OOP
• OOP-specific vulnerabilities and verification
  • Inheritance
  • Polymorphism, dynamic binding, and local type consistency
  • Overloading
• Virtualization vulnerabilities and verification
• Memory management vulnerabilities and verification
• Related techniques vulnerabilities and verification
  • Type conversion
  • Exceptions
• Additional vulnerabilities and verification
  • Traceability
  • Structural coverage
  • Component-based development
  • Timing analysis

Hands-On Activities

• Labs
• Individual/group activities
• Workshops

TONEX DO-178C Sample Workshop

Participants will work on templates for the following:

• PSAC
• PSAA
• SDP
• SVP
• SCMP
• SQAP
• SRS
• SDS
• SCS
• SRD
• SDD
• SVCP
• SCAR
• SLECI
• SCI
• SAS
• DO-330
• DO-331
• DO-332
• DO-333

 DO-178C Training Crash Course