Avionics Software Safety: Here's Your Chance to Be Certified

Almost all aspects of the design, production, and operation of civil aircraft are subject to extensive regulation by governments – with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and U.S. Department of Transportation being particularly watchful that avionics software safety standards are satisfied.

The most prominent standard for avionics software safety is DO-178B/C, which requires rigorous avionics software safety testing to ensure product efficiency and safety. In fact, DO-178C (Software Considerations in Airborne Systems and Equipment Certification) is the most widely used approach for demonstrating the airworthiness of an avionics or aerospace system.

The success of DO-178C is predicated on the many benefits associated with this very necessary standard. Some of those benefits include:

• Greater upfront requirements clarity
• Fewer coding iterations
• Fewer bugs found during module testing
• Fewer defects found during integration
• Fewer in-the-field defects?

One trend occurring in avionics software safety is the incorporation of DevOps. This has sprouted from the combination of software development and systems operations to make sure that software development is not done in a vacuum, but in combination with the teams that operate these systems in the real world.

The realization here is that a security failure is the same, or worse, as a quality failure. Defects in fielded product impact the bottom line as well as company reputation. It is even worse, if a review after the fact determines that these defects could have easily be avoided.

Additionally, another key reason to build security into agile and continuous processes is to build upon the knowledge that accumulates over the project. Analysts claim it’s not reasonable to expect software teams to understand their complete attack surface.

Building security into day-to-day operations accumulates expertise and knowledge. Starting early is key.

Want to learn more? Tonex offers Avionics Software Safety Certification, a 3-day bootcamp focusing on Software Considerations in Airborne Systems and Equipment Certification. This course presents considerations and methods of developing and analyzing avionics software and highlights managing a software safety program.?

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