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Electronic aviation equipment, composed of both hardware and software, plays a critical role to fulfill the objective of a safe flight. The DO-254 standard, Design Assurance Guidance for Airborne Electronic Hardware, was created in April, 2000 and formally accepted by the FAA in 2005 as a means of compliance for the design of complex electronic hardware in airborne systems. The standard was conceived as the complement to the well-recognized homologous guidance for software, DO-178B. The main objective of DO-254 is to provide design assurance guidance to assist organizations in the development of electronic hardware. The intention of this paper is to provide a quick overview of the DO-254 standard for companies, engineers and managers.
Verification and Validation Configuration Management Planning Process Assurance Certification Liaison Supporting Processes
System Process
Requirements Capture
Conceptual Design
Detailed Design
Implementation
Production Transition
Manufacturing Process
1. Planning Process
The overall development of electronic hardware according to DO-254 starts with the Planning Process. No design data, requirements, schematics or HDL (Hardware Description Language) code is produced in this process, however it is one of the most important processes as it defines how the hardware development processes and the supporting processes are to be executed. This definition takes the form of planning documents, which, according to the standard, can be contained in one or more documents. In addition to the planning documents, DO-254 also recommends the usage of quality standards to aid in the development of electronic hardware. Both the planning and quality standards documents constitute the output of the planning process.
Capture
requirements imposed by the system safety assessment. The output of this process is the Hardware Requirements Data. Produces a high-level design such as a block diagram, architecture description or circuit card assembly outline. The output of this process is the Conceptual Design Data. Uses the hardware requirements and the conceptual design to produce a more detailed design. The output of this process is the Detailed Design Data. In this process, the detailed design is used to produce the actual hardware item. The output of this process is the hardware item itself. All the resources, including manufacturing data and test facilities are evaluated to ensure availability and correctness for production of the hardware item.
Conceptual Design
Detailed Design
Implementation
Production Transition
As part of the hardware design process, the standard mentions the creation of an Acceptance Test, which demonstrates that the manufactured, modified or repaired part performs as intended. However, no additional guidelines are provided because it is considered out of the document scope.
3. Supporting Processes
Supporting Processes is a group of processes executed in parallel with the planning and hardware design processes to ensure correctness and completeness of the outputs generated. It is recommended that the activities in the Supporting Processes group are carried out using personnel that are independent from the personnel participating in the hardware design processes. The following is a list and a brief description of the supporting processes. The validation process ensures that the hardware requirements are correct and complete. The verification process provides assurance that the hardware item implementation meets all the hardware requirements. All this is accomplished through tests, analyses and reviews of the hardware life cycle data. Provides the ability to control the hardware life cycle data, so that, if required, the hardware item or any documentation can be consistently regenerated in case a modification is required. Ensures that the objectives of the life cycle process are accomplished according to the foundations established in the planning documents or that deviations have been justified and documented. This process constitutes the communication channel between the applicant and the certification authority.
Configuration Management
Process Assurance
Certification Liaison
Why DO-254?
There are several reasons for choosing DO-254 as your standard for electronic hardware development. The first and most important reason is that DO-254 provides design assurance that will significantly help to ensure that the electronic hardware performs its intended function with no anomalous behavior under the foreseeable operation conditions. Secondly, the FAA recommends that the standard is used to pursue certification of the equipment. Even though the standard is not mentioned to be mandatory, getting another process approved by the FAA could be cost prohibitive and may greatly impact the schedule as well. If you are new to DO-254, Avionyx provides a 3-day Introduction to D-254 class that is offered at RTCA in Washington, DC, or at your site for groups of 10 or more. For more info, contact us at sales@avionyx.com.