DO-178B Cost & Benefits: what are the true DO-178B costs and benefits; a detailed analysis.
Certifying software to DO178B and DO254 avionics standards typically increases development costs by 10% to 70%. If proper SEI/CMMI environments exist, the added DO-178B/DO-254 costs will be only 10-40% more. When DO-178B and DO-254 are implemented efficiently, the initial increased avionics development cost is much less and will actually be cost-effective over the long-term. The belief that D0178 and D0254 costs 100%-200% more is incorrect. HighRely�s engineers have successfully completed over 150 DO-178B and DO-254 projects using certified Project Management Institute (PMI) lean avionics project methods and metrics. HighRely�s DO-178B and DO-254 formal training clearly shows how to reduce avionics certification costs by 30%-50%. Properly managed avionics DO-178B and DO-254 projects are actually more cost-effective over the long-term because of improved reusability, higher reliability, lower life-cycle and maintenance costs, fewer bug fixes/down-time, and increased market penetration/acceptance. For details on DO178B and DO254 costs please request the proprietary whitepaper
DO-254/178B Tool Qualification: why, when, and how much for DO-254 Tool Qualification?
D0178 and D0254 avionics certification standards require certain tool qualification for avionics software, hardware, and testing tools. But the question of what avionics tools require DO-178B and DO-254 qualification and is relevant. HighRely�s proprietary DO178B/DO254 Tool Qualification Whitepaper provides detailed answers, but the following summarizes. There are two types of avionics tools which could require formal DO178B or DO254 tool qualification: development tools and verification tools. Avionics development tool qualification is required if a tool has the potential to insert an error into the system for which other applied DO178B or DO254 lifecycle steps would not detect. Avionics test tool qualification is required if a tool cannot insert an error but may fail to detect an error, and the other applied DO-178 or DO-254 lifecycle steps would not detect. There are numerous other considerations for DO-178B, DO-178C, and DO-254 avionics tool qualification which are addressed in HighRely�s whitepaper.
DO-254 for the Military: how to apply DO-254 & DO-178B on defense contracts
The U.S. and foreign militaries have adopted D0178B and D0254 certifiability and compliance. Some reasons for Military DO178B and DO154 adoption are similar to the commercial avionics certification sector: improved avionics consistency, avionics quality, measurable and verifiable avionics quality, increased avionics re-usability, and lower avionics development costs. HighRely�s engineers have worked on many military avionics projects and trained many U.S. and foreign military personnel in DO-178B and DO-254 and noted that the military�s 2167A and 490 specifications were 60% similar to DO178B and DO254. However, DO-178B and DO-254 are more specific than 2167A and 490 for avionics project planning, avionics quality assurance, avionics design details, avionics robustness testing, avionics structural coverage testing, and avionics tool qualification. The military has adopted DO-178B and DO-254 to obtain improvement in these areas and also produce consistency among its larger number of avionics suppliers and subcontractors. The military does not require formal DO-178B and DO-254 certification, but instead requires DO-178B and DO-254 compliance, meaning the military oversees and approves compiance instead of the FAA overseeing certification. The FAA is not actively involved in approval of military avionics.
DO-254 Overview & Process Flow The D0-254 airborne electronic hardware development guidance document is the counterpart to the well-established software standard RTCA D0-178B /EUROCAE ED-12B. In fact, both DO-178B and DO-254 share a common heritage, structure, and authorship overlap. With DO254 as summarized in HighRely�s whitepaper, the FAA has recognized that airborne systems are comprised of both hardware and software, with each equal in importance. Like a chain which is only as strong as its weakest link, systems are comprised of both hardware and software and each needs its own certification guideline. The DO-254 guideline is applicable to all hierarchical stratifications of hardware developed for airborne systems including Line Replaceable Units (LRUs), Circuit Card/Board Assemblies (CCAs), custom micro-coded components (e.g. ASIC, PLD, FPGA, CPLD), integrated hybrids and multi-chip components, and Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) devices. This HighRely D0254 whitepaper details the DO-254 certification process, DO254 compliance, commercial and military DO-254, and DO-254 strategies and issues. HighRely also provides DO-254 Training which is all-new and delivered by trainers who have trained more persons in DO-254 and DO-178B than all other trainers combined.
DO-254 Cost Estimation, and Costs versus Benefits Certifying hardware to the RTCA DO-254 avionics standard typically increases development costs by 10% to 70%. If proper processes and efficiencies exist, the added DO254 costs will be only 10-40% more. When D0-254 is implemented efficiently, the initial increased avionics development cost is much less and will actually be cost-effective over the long-term. The belief that D0254 costs 100%-200% more is incorrect. HighRely�s engineers have successfully completed over 150 DO-178B and DO-254 projects using certified Project Management Institute (PMI) lean avionics project methods and metrics. HighRely�s DO-254 formal training clearly shows how to reduce avionics certification costs by 30%-50%. Properly managed DO-254 hardware projects are actually more cost-effective over the long-term because of improved reusability, higher reliability, lower life-cycle and maintenance costs, fewer error fixes/down-time, and increased market penetration/acceptance.
Top DO-254 Mistakes and How To Avoid Them
This HighRely whitepaper describes the 13 most common DO-254 mistakes and how you can avoid each of them. DO254 can easily double or triple your hardware development costs if any of these D0-254 mistakes are made. This HighRely whitepaper covers D0254 mistakes associated with hardware requirements definition, hardware traceabilty, complex versus simple hardware certification, applying DO-254 to components versus systems, independence, DO-254 test coverage, DO-254 tool qualification, and DO-254 automated testing. HighRely explains why these DO-254 areas are important and how to avoid these common DO254 mistakes.
DO-254 & Basics of HW Verification DO-254 Verification is a key component of DO254 certification. However, there are two main challenges in D0254 testing of HDL components: controllability and visibility. All DO254 test efforts are scoped toward getting the Device Under Test (DUT) to behave via a predefined set of stimulus in a predictably consistent and deterministic fashion. The purpose of this HighRely Reliable Whitepaper on DO-254 Testing and Verification is to educate the reader in how a leading avionics services company considers DO-254 approaches for hardware verification activities on a regular basis. HighRely also provides DO-254 Training which is all-new and delivered by trainers who have trained more persons in DO-254 and DO-178B than all other trainers combined.
System Safety Assessment: SAE-ARP4761 This HighRely white paper �Safety Engineering and Systems Safety Assessments using ARP4761� summarizes and provides the key activities of SAE-ARP4761. The key areas will be Safety Assessment Process (high level); Functional Hazard Assessment (FHA),-Functional Failure Paths; Preliminary System Safety Assessment: System Safety Assessment, FHA, FMEA, Common Causal Analysis, Zonal Safety Analysis, Particular Risks Analysis, Common Mode Analysis, Fault Tree Analyses; Requirements Validation; System Verification. When developing real-time embedded software for safety-critical applications there must be a solid experience of the Safety Engineering processes, tools and techniques used to manage, develop, analyze and evaluate high-integrity systems across a wide spectrum of safety critical industries. This whitepaper is a subset synopsis of HighRely�s proprietary System Safety training which covers all this material in greatly expanded detail.
FAA and FDA Gap Analysis and Reverse Engineering
The FAA and FDA have product avionics certification requirements and medical device certification requirements which are aimed at new product development. However, in many cases existing products are re-used or certified as-is. In such cases, DO178B, DO254, and FDA Gap Analysis is applied to achieve certification. Gap Analysis is an evaluation of your current engineering process , artifacts, and product to determine missing elements required for end-item certification. Typical missing items include low-level requirements, design documentation, independent reviews, and certain low-level tests. Gap Analysis is typically performed by trained avionics or medical device consultants including those from HighRely. The resultant Gap Analysis RoadMap assesses all of the software/hardware processes and artifacts; it provides details for filling the gap to meet FAA or FDA compliance.
Managing Embedded Projects: Modern methodologies and success secrets
Information technology projects run over budget by about 43%, representing more than $17 billion in IT spending. Is embedded software development such as Avionics or Medical Devices really different than developing any other quality IT product? The answer is No; What is unique are the FHA/FMEA, independent reviews/processes, code coverage, and FAA/FDA Liaison/certification. Embedded project management entails deadlines that are engraved in stone, faster time-to-market, more complexity, more 3rd party tools/products, and more challenge with integrating all the preceding items. Companies that adopt a more measured or standardized approach to establishing contingency plans and to avoid troubles will do a better job of meeting deadlines. To be successful, high reliability embedded projects need new metrics and methodologies; this means considering the Schedule Performance Index (SPI) and Cost Performance Index (CPI) over the traditional �Cost/Schedule� control system. HighRely has proven methods of using �dashboard� methodologies to create better management of embedded software projects.
Compensating Embedded Engineers: Pay Rates & Salaries for Embedded Software Engineers by Area and Job Category in North America, 2006What are the salary and compensation levels for embedded software engineers? This whitepaper by HighRely Inc describes the pay ranges, salaries, and compensation for avionics engineers, medical device engineers, embedded software engineers, and aerospace software engineers, by experience level, skill level, job category, and geographic area. Compiled by HighRely in over one year of aerospace engineer compensation surveys and medical device software engineering consultations, this Whitepaper on embedded engineering pay rates and salaries will assist engineers and managers in determining what they should earn, or pay, embedded software engineers. Also detailed are embedded software consulting company bill rates, compiled by a survey of consulting engineers and embedded consulting companies. Not surprisingly, the highest engineering pay rates are found in areas which maximize coastal access, access to a cosmopolitan area, mild winters, and multiple potential employers. Also not surprisingly is the correlation of living expenses in these same areas: top-ranked engineers simply want the same amenities as everyone. But this HighRely embedded software engineer salary and compensation survey describes the detailed pay data, along with recommendations on compensating, motivating, hiring, and retaining embedded software engineers.