The problem with aviation COTS

Commercial Off the Shelf (COTS) has become a byword for acquisition reform, but there are significant risks associated with the use of COTS products in military systems. These risks are especially acute for aviation systems. This paper explains how COTS can negatively affect military acquisitions and gives ideas on how to plan and resolve COTS caused problems     

Open systems architecture solutions for military avionics testing

Raytheon makes extensive use of open systems architecture methods in developing special test equipment (STE) for testing military avionics equipment. Such use has resulted in significant cost and schedule savings in the development of production test equipment for radar and infrared systems. With open systems architectures, a test system can be assembled using COTS products. This brings economies of scale to test equipment, which is normally built in very low quantities. Therefore, the potential cost savings due to COTS usage is proportionately greater in STE than in the higher volume avionics systems that are tested. A second major benefit of using COTS products is that test system development schedule cycle time is greatly reduced. This paper describes the application of Open Systems Architectures (OSA) to avionics testing. The following major architectures are surveyed: VME bus, VXI bus, IEEE GPIB, IEEE 1149.1 JTAG test bus, 1553 Military Bus, Fibre Channel, and COTS Test Applications Software. We describe how the benefits of OSA have been extended at Raytheon into achieving vertical test commonalities. The flexibility of OSA can be exploited to provide an overall optimum test solution, taking all levels of test into account. For example, test systems can be tailored with COTS products to provide integrated methods for avionics tests at the module, unit, and system levels. Test systems can be configured to maximize the reuse of COTS hardware over all test levels. Test software can also be programmed to optimize such reuse over levels of test. Additional test verticality synergies derived from such OSA usage are described, including: test false alarm avoidance; test cones of tolerance optimization; and efficient test of field returns     

COTS器件管理要求研究

通过对COTS 器件使用风险和管理现状进行说明,对国内外电子器件管理要求的分析和研究,提出 了针对COTS 器件管理的适航要求建议,期望能达成限制机载设备中COTS 器件使用的风险,提升机载设备可 靠性及民用飞机安全性的目的。     

Use of service history for certification credit for COTS [avionic software]

Much has been written in the last ten years about how the use of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) components would revolutionize the aerospace industry avionics, communication, navigation, surveillance/air traffic management (CNS/ATM) as well as global air traffic management (GATM). Civil aviation authorities around the world have been faced with numerous requests to certify aircraft containing increasing percentages of COTS components, much of it never designed or intended for use in the safety critical environment of an aircraft. Product service history is one method for demonstrating that such software is acceptable for use. In theory, product service history would seem to be a fairly simple concept, both to understand and to apply. However, in practice, such use has proven extremely problematic, as questions of how to measure the historic performance and the relevance of the provided data have surfaced. This paper elaborates a research effort funded by the United States Federal Aviation Administration to collect, analyze, and synthesize what is known and understood about applying product service history. The effort is limited to the topic of software product service history as applied in the certification of airborne systems and equipment.     

COTS based open systems for military avionics

The DoD has many acquisition programs that are aggressively implementing open architecture principles in new avionics systems. Since “open” is an unclear attribute, projects eventually give in to a point solution that has no flexibility to cost effectively keep up with rapid changes in technology. The Open Systems Development Initiative (OSDI) project utilized COTS products to study the feasibility of building an open system that has plug-and-play capabilities. Lessons learned from the AV-8B Open Systems Core Avionics Requirements (OSCAR) and the F/A-18 Advanced Mission Computers and Displays (AMC&D) programs clearly indicated that understanding the underlying interfaces is crucial to keeping the system as open as possible to take advantage of the rapid changes in technology. A matrix of Key Open Standard Interfaces (KOSI), called the KOSI matrix, was developed and an applicable standard was identified for each interface. A list of non-conforming interfaces was also identified and the use of extensions or wrappers was investigated in an attempt to comply with standards. Standardization, rather than optimization of such interfaces, was considered more beneficial. It became evident that, with the exception of ruggedization, there is no difference in the use of COTS products for either commercial or military systems. Performing a KOSI analysis helped identify the key interfaces and standards, thus enabling the OSDI system to be scalable, portable and interoperable. A good KOSI matrix provides a vehicle for clear communication and helps systems integration and technology insertion to be less painful than what it is today. It helps reduce time-to-market and provides guidance to systems engineers and vendors to keep the system open     

Development of a TPS reuse library using COTS tools

In the past, functional test requirements (FTR) or test requirement documents (TRD) and test program sets (TPS) were standalone items developed by individual engineers. In some cases, one engineer would write the FTR/TRD and another would develop the TPS. Commercial ATLAS FTRs are prepared in ARINC 616 and 626 ATLAS. Military TRDs are written in IEEE ATLAS 716 versions. Previous test reuse attempts have not been successful because additional software, like browsers, is required to support these efforts. It was difficult to justify writing new software; for example, browsers to manage the application software. Today, commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) tools are in place to browse and view information from circuit diagrams to documents to source code. These tools can develop hierarchies to organize the information. These COTS tools are available throughout Boeing on many types of workstations and personal computers on every engineer's desk. This paper discusses how a reusable test library (RTL) is being developed using commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) tools, such as Mosaic, to address commercial and military test applications. It describes each of the tools and the process to develop TPSs using the reuse library. It defines the metrics and benefits achieved     

An innovative commercial avionics architecture for militarytanker/transport platforms

Honeywell has implemented a versatile integrated avionics (VIA) architecture in several advanced commercial flight deck applications ensuring a military tie to future commercial upgrades related to global air traffic management functions. The VIA architecture can also be easily extended to meet unique military requirements of the advanced military flight decks for military tanker/transport upgrade programs. The subtle changes in the architecture are a result of unique equipment interfaces and unique military equipment such as communications radios, identification friend or foe, station keeping equipment and defensive systems which must be integrated within the architecture. The ability to integrate both commercial and military functions in the same high integrity computing platform truly offers the military the best of both worlds     

Safety tests of lithium 9-volt batteries for Navy applications

COTS batteries are relatively inexpensive, readily accessible, and extremely versatile. These attributes allow the military to save time and money during the research and development stages. Of these COTS batteries, a 9-Volt (9 V) lithium/manganese dioxide battery is the subject of this paper. This 9 V battery has the ability to provide a low magnetic signature, which is very important to the Navy for many applications, Also, it is Underwriters Laboratories (UL) listed at the unit level; however, these UL tests cannot be directly related to the safety of these 9 V batteries when they are combined in various series and parallel configurations. Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Carderock was tasked to rate the safety of several such specialized battery packs. It was found that packs consisting of two 9 V batteries in parallel were relatively safe, experiencing no violent behavior. Battery packs with six 9 Vs in parallel vented and deformed the 9 V batteries, but no smoke or flames were noticed. A battery pack with thirty 9 V batteries, 2 in series with 15 legs, experienced venting, smoke, and flames under certain circumstances, After testing, the six and thirty 9 V packs were required to include the addition of various safety devices     

NxTest augments legacy military ATE

Typical military automatic test equipment (ATE) usually consists of a number of single channel stimulus and measurement devices connected to the UUT with a switch matrix, providing; traditional serial, parametric test with its lengthy test times. Functional test methodology tests a unit by simulating its environment and verifying that the unit operates correctly in that environment. This requires simultaneous stimulus and measurement capability not usually found in traditional military ATE. Boeing Support Systems is currently in the process of augmenting an existing military test station to provide functional test capability through the use of NxTest technology. This paper will discuss our approach to adding functional test capability to an existing piece of equipment.     

ROSA Rotorcraft Open Systems Avionics

Commercial standards adopted from the volume-driven electronics markets provide improved processing capacities over those widely used military standards and at reduced cost. Desired future capabilities and advanced functions, such as RPA, require the throughput, bandwidth, and memory provided by commercial processors and data buses. The primary issues needing resolution prior to implementation are related to operations in military rotorcraft environment, reliability, redundancy management, and fault and battle damage tolerance. In addition, some required network components presently do not exist in the preferred form factors. The ROSA project is providing effective laboratory demonstrations of COTS products and open systems specifications and standards to rotorcraft avionics. Preliminary cost estimates forecast large potential savings and create a compelling business case for follow-on research and transition to production systems. In addition, the project is developing a Rotorcraft Technical Architecture with the participation of many industry partners and will promote the resulting documentation as background materials for the JTA-A     

面向地勤的军机用户界面标识设计方法

针对军机的使用功能、维护功能开展军机的标识标记使用现状分析,形成有效的设计流程与方法来指导面向地勤的军机用户界面内、外部标记和标识设计,提高地勤维护的安全性及便利性。重点研究并分析军机外部标识中有特定意义的图形及表示警告、警戒、操作内容、操作标准等的文字,军用飞机内部表示设备位置、操作提醒的标牌及表示警告、警戒、防差错等的标识,并对面向地勤的军机用户界面标识设计方法进行研究,制定基于使用与保障危险分析和职业健康危险分析的设计方法流程。为军机面向地勤的用户界面标识设计提供一种有效、快速、经济的设计流程方法。     

Sustainment of legacy automatic test systems: lessons learned on TPS transportability

Sustainment of legacy automatic test systems (ATS) saves cost through the re-use of software and hardware. The ATS consists of the automatic test equipment (ATE), the test program sets (TPSs), and associated software. The associated software includes the architecture the TPSs run on, known as the control software or test station test executive. In some cases, to sustain the legacy ATS, it is more practical to develop a replacement ATE with the latest instrumentation, often in the form of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) hardware and software. The existing TPSs, including their hardware and test programs, then need to be transported, or translated, to the new test station. In order to understand how to sustain a legacy ATS by translating TPSs, one must realize the full architecture of the legacy ATS to be replaced. It must be understood that TPS transportability does not only include translating the original TPS from an existing language (such as ATLAS) to a new language (such as "C") to run on a new test station, but includes transporting the run-time environment created by the legacy ATS. This paper examines the similarities and differences of legacy ATE and modern COTS ATE architectures, how the ATS testing philosophy impacts the ease of TPS transportability from legacy ATE to modern-day platforms, and what SEI has done to address the issues that arise out of TPS transportability.     

Vertical test integration

Today, most every weapon system is electronics intensive. Digital computers are at the core of military aircraft, ship, and vehicle weapons systems. Indeed, each weapon system's performance is largely determined by its digital computers and other electronics. This electronics dependency is necessary in order to provide the speed, functional compliance, and accuracy to achieve the required weapon system performance. Historically, test systems required for the various maintenance levels and also at the manufacturing site have each been uniquely developed, employed, and sustained for only one area of weapon system electronics support. There are a number of reasons for this situation including different organizations responsible for the levels of support, different funding sources, timing limitations, and technical feasibility. In recent years, however, commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) advances in measurement and stimulation hardware, personal computers, Windows operating systems, flexible test programming languages, and more, have made it technically feasible to develop a family of test systems that provide common weapon system electronics support at all levels. Some use the phrase Vertical Test Integration to describe this concept of factory/field/depot integration     

COTS software design minimizes ATS lifecycle cost

This paper identifies the design features of commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) software that impact the lifecycle cost of automatic test system (ATS) solutions and provides a set of design guidelines. It demonstrates that the architecture of COTS software must be modular, based on correct functional allocation, should possess distribution capabilities, and contain open interfaces that remain backwards compatible. In the case of COTS development tools, the programmatic interface should be simple, extensible, and enforced in the development environment.     

Continuing challenges in lithium battery development

In these days of emphasizing standardization, Acquisition Reform, Non-Developed Items (NDI) and Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) technologies, we are facing new challenges associated with these trends. Program managers are pressured to use a standard or COTS battery, while simultaneously, the new systems being developed have increasingly complex and demanding power requirements. Hardware must be developed with shorter schedules, and policies of Acquisition Reform limit the amount of control the government has over the development of a given item. In this paper, we review battery development efforts that have resulted in unexpected problems. Relevant data from both current and past test programs are presented. Recommendations are provided concerning how to best avoid duplication of effort, while ensuring that the final product will have the best chances of succeeding     

基于 GAHP的海军军械装备安全建设指标赋权

为解决海军军械装备安全建设评估多依靠人为主观判断、无科学模型的问题,采用群体层次分析法(GroupAnalytic Hierarchy Process,GAHP)对海军军械装备安全建设的 5个一级指标和 19个二级指标进行分析。根据各指标相对于其隶属的上级指标或总目标的重要程度,科学合理地确定了装备安全建设指标权重值,构建了海军军械装备安全建设指标权重模型。通过装备安全建设评估实践证明,确定的装备安全建设指标权重模型能够有效反映部队军械装备安全建设的整体情况,提高了部队安全建设情况评估的科学性、准确性。     

History of Time-Frequency Technology

Present-day collision avoidance systems (CAS) of the time-frequency variety employ modes of operation similar to those of airborne equipment which has been operating in military aircraft since 1959. A fleet operational evaluation of these systems began in 1961 in aircraft of U. S. Navy Helicopter Squadron HS-4, based on the aircraft carrier U.S.S. Yorktown. This equipment utilized a local clock in each aircraft, a separate time slot for each aircraft's interrogation signal, air-to-air coarse synchronization of all stations, and sufficient free-drift stability for time slot keeping. Operational use of one-way ranging with elimination of propagation delay offsets, higher clock stability for open-loop time keeping in the SNS-64 ... AN/APN-169 family of systems began in 1964 in U. S. Air Force C-130E turboprop aircraft. In 1965, use of the EROS I collision avoidance system began during flight testing of F-4 Phantom supersonic aircraft.     

基于COTS的航空电子软件开发

介绍了商用货架产品(COTS)在航空电子软件开发中应用的优点和缺点,和基于COTS的航电软件构架;并给出了一个开发过程和部分开发工具。最后通过一个实例说明基于COTS的航电软件开发是实际可行的。     

Commercial ATS program management

With the defense industry's ever-increasing reliance on Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (COTS) Automatic Test Systems (ATS) and commercial suppliers, there is a need to recognize and actively manage the gap between the expectations of the defense industry and the commercial community. The key to a successful program has proven to be investing time during the proposal stage and at contract award to clearly define the COTS deliverables and the level of detail of required data. This requires discipline from the supplier (engineering, sales, and the proposal team) as well as the procuring agency to agree that the time investment is worthwhile. This paper examines the problem and outlines proven strategies in managing this gap.     

军事装备复杂系统分析与集成设计方法研究

从大系统的复杂性和军事装备系统复杂性方面,在分析基于专家智慧集成构成的群决策问题的基础上,提出军事装备系统模式设计方法,即装备复杂系统模式设计方法三维框架的构建、面向专家智慧集成的设定研讨、基于信息价值链的效果评估以及基于探索性分析方法的装备复杂系统模式优化。