Jump to content

DO-254

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 80.156.42.129 (talk) at 16:11, 18 February 2010. The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Template:RTCA standard

RTCA/DO-254, DESIGN ASSURANCE GUIDANCE FOR AIRBORNE ELECTRONIC HARDWARE is a document providing guidance for the development of airborne electronic hardware, published by RTCA, Incorporated.

Outline of contents

1. Introduction

The DO-254 standard was formally recognized by the FAA in 2005 via AC 20-152 as a means of compliance for the design of complex electronic hardware in airborne systems. Complex electronic hardware includes devices like Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), Programmable Logic Devices (PLDs), and Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs). The DO-254 standard is the counterpart to the well-established software standard RTCA DO-178B/EUROCAE ED-12B. With DO-254, the FAA has indicated that avionics equipment contains both hardware and software, and each is critical to safe operation of aircraft. There are five levels of compliance, A-E, which depend on the effect a failure of the hardware will have on the operation of the aircraft. Level A is the most stringent, defined as "catastrophic", while a failure of Level E hardware will not affect the safety of the aircraft. Meeting Level A compliance for complex electronic hardware requires a much higher level of validation and verification than Level E compliance.

2. System Aspects of Hardware Design Assurance

The main regulations which must be followed are requirements capturing and tracking throughout the design and verification process. The following items of substantiation are required to be provided to the FAA, or the Designated Engineering Representative (DER) representing the FAA: Plan for Hardware Aspects of Certification (PHAC), Hardware Verification Plan (HVP), Top-Level Drawing, and Hardware Accomplishment Summary (HAS)

3. Hardware Design Life Cycle

The hardware design and hardware verification need to be done independently. The hardware designer works to ensure the design of the hardware will meet the defined requirements. Meanwhile, the verification engineer will generate a verification plan which will allow for testing the hardware to verify that it meets all of its derived requirements.

4. Planning Process

5. Hardware Design Processes

  • Requirements Capture
  • Conceptual Design
  • Detailed Design

6. Validation and Verification Process

The validation process provides assurance that the hardware item derived requirements are correct and complete with respect to system requirements allocated to the hardware item.

The verification process provides assurance that the hardware item implementation meets all of the hardware requirements, including derived requirements.

7. Configuration Management Process

8. Process Assurance

9. Certification Liaison Process

10. Hardware Design Life Cycle Data

11. Additional Considerations

  • Use of Previously Developed Hardware
  • Commercial-Off-The Shelf (COTS) Components Usage
  • Product Service Experience
  • Tool Assessment and Qualification
  • Appendix A. Modulation of Hardware Life Cycle Data Based on Hardware Design Assurance Level
  • Appendix B. Design Assurance Considerations for Level A and B Functions
  • Appendix C. Glossary of Terms
  • Appendix D. Acronyms


Criticism

Important Considerations

- Section 1.6 (Complexity Considerations) presents the definition for Simple Device.

- Table 5-1 (Typical ASIC/PLD Process Mapping) presents a process mapping very useful for practical application considering the scope of AC 20-152

Resources

  • FAR Part 23/25 §1301/§1309
  • FAR Part 27/29
  • AC 23/25.1309
  • RTCA DO-254

Certification in Europe

  • Replace FAA with EASA, JAA or CAA
  • Replace FAR with JAR
  • Replace AC with AMJ

See also

  • DO-254 News
    • DO-254 Users Group Forms a US Chapter, Affiliates with European Counterpart from [1] FPGA Journal and several others
    • DO-254 Partnership from [2] Altera Launches DO-254 Network
    • DO-254 Network from [3] Aldec joins DO-254 Network
  • DO-254 Blogs
    • DO-254 Blogs from www.do254blog.com DO-254 Blogs for sharing information among avionics engineers and services providers.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=DO-254&oldid=344835582"