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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DO-254

DO-254, Design Assurance Guidance for Airborne Electronic Hardware is a standard for complex electronic hardware development 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

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

• avionics
• hazard analysis
• DO-178B (similar to DO-254, but for software)
• ARP4761
• ARP4754

External links

• DO-254 Training
  • Official RTCA DO-254 Training
  • Mentor Graphics DO-254 Training
  • DO-254 Training in Europe from DO254 website
  • DO-254 Training, Gap Analysis, and Certification from HighRely, Inc.
  • Complex Electronic Hardware Development and DO-254 Training from Kansas University - Instructor: Leanna Rierson
  • DO-254 Training from Avionyx
  • DO-254 Training From Level A FAA DER's provided by Qualtech Consulting, Inc.

• DO-254 Docs & Papers
  • AC 25.1309-1A
  • DO-254 Technical Papers from Mentor Graphics

• DO-254 Compliance Management Tools and Templates
  • DO-254 Web-Based Tools from Qualtech Consulting, Inc.
  • DO-254 Document Templates from Qualtech Consulting, Inc.

• DO-254 Web Sites
  • DO-254 Industry Group (www.do254site.com) is the world’s largest group of avionics companies and DO-254 avionics product and services providers
  • DO-254 Blogs from www.do254blog.com DO-254 Blogs for sharing information among avionics engineers and services providers.
  • DO-254 dedicated website from DO254 User Group Europe federating the industry efforts in Europe
  • DO-254 dedicated website from DO254 User Group US federating the industry efforts in US
  • DO-254 Compliant Verification and Qualification Tools from Aldec, Inc.
  • RTCA.org is where the publication can be acquired
  • DO-254 resources from Mentor Graphics Corp.
  • DO-254 section of the Avionics Standardisation Committee (ASSC) website Training and guidance documentation on DO-254 development.

• 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.

• DO-254 FAA Designated Engineering Representatives (DER's)
  • FAA DER's With AEH/CEH (DO-254) Delegation from Qualtech Consulting, Inc.

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Published in July 2009.

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