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AdvantechSafety-Critical Software, an element of the total safety and software development program, cannot be allowed to function independently of the total effort. Both simple and highly integrated multiple systems are experiencing an extraordinary growth in the use of computers and software to monitor and/or control safety-critical subsystems or functions. A software specification error, design flaw, or the lack of generic safety-critical requirements can contribute to or cause a system failure or erroneous human decision. To achieve an acceptable level of safety for software used in critical applications, Software System Safety engineering must be given primary emphasis early in the requirements definition and system conceptual design process. Safety-critical software must then receive continuous management emphasis and engineering analysis throughout the development and operational lifecycles of the system.
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Software Radio and JTRS Making Steady Progress
With its most troubled days well behind, the DoD’s Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) remains one of the most sweeping and technically challenging programs ever conceived. The JointRead More...
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The Power of Software Defined Radio: A Holistic Approach to Designing SDRs for Power
Software defined radio (SDR) is already a proven reality, thanks to programs such as the U.S. Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS). However, there are many issues that severely limit theRead More...
GPS and IRIG: Critical Tools for Precision Timing
Although indispensable these days as a tool for determining location in today’s military and commercial applications, the Global Positioning System (GPS) is also vital as a source ofRead More...
FPGAs Muster Up Solutions for Software Radio
Software defined radio technology has been widely adopted for new military and aerospace platforms, government signal intelligence and homeland security systems, and now moreRead More...
FPGA Tech Advances Propel Software Radio Forward
For a variety of military applications, FPGAs have become a core enabling technology—as critical as processors, memory and I/O interface silicon. But no segment is perhaps so dependentRead More...
Software Modernization Is Key to Controlling Costs, Complexity
The ongoing rapid evolution of hardware capabilities and capacities presents a double-edged sword for mission-critical applications. Hardware advancements boost functionality andRead More...
Leveraging Java to Achieve Component Reusability in Safety-Critical Systems
The existing DO-178B guidelines for certification of safety-critical avionics software require that all certification evidence applies to complete systems rather than to the individualRead More...
Software Assurance Is Critical to SDR Success
To date, much security work for software defined radio (SDR) focuses on traditional communications security issues, particularly the confidentiality of voice and data transmissions.Read More...
Ada 2005 Strengthens Ada's Safety-Critical Muscles
Certain kinds of applications leave no margin for error. Software that flies an aircraft or that controls a nuclear reactor must work correctly, or the results could be catastrophic;Read More...
Reusing Safety-Critical Software Components
Safety-critical software continues to make its way into military embedded application environments beyond avionics flight systems, such as weapons systems and communications equipment.Read More...
The Inside Track
NASA Taps Harris’ Software for Constellation Launch Control Program NASA Kennedy Space Center has selected Harris’ OS/COMET telemetry, tracking and command (TT&C) software for theRead More...
The Inside Track
GE Fanuc Secures 3U VPX Order from GD Land Systems GE Fanuc Intelligent Platforms, a unit of GE Enterprise Solutions, today announced that it had secured an order from GeneralRead More...
Data Distribution Service and MILS: A Powerful Combination
There are some unique benefits to using Data Distribution Service (DDS) publish-subscribe middleware within the Multiple Independent Levels of Security (MILS) architecture. Both MILSRead More...
DO-178B Provides Certification Safety Net
Safety-critical avionics software has been evolving for decades, providing increased functionality while becoming more complex. In response, regulatory authorities and commercialRead More...
Growing Complexity Drives Need for Emerging DO-178C Standard
The size and complexity of avionics software is projected to grow geometrically. Boeing and Airbus measure the current rate of software growth as 400 percent every two years (FigureRead More...
The Inside Track
Raytheon Completes Design Review for CVN 78's Dual Band Radar Raytheon and the U.S. Navy recently completed a critical design review (CDR) for the Dual Band Radar (DBR), which will beRead More...
Memory Allocation Strategy in Safety-Critical Mil Systems
Developers of embedded software for military and aerospace projects often lack the luxury of knowing the exact amount of memory that program variables will require at runtime. InRead More...
The Inside Track
Northrop Grumman Demos Scalable Agile Beam Radar (SABR) Aboard F-16 Northrop Grumman in conjunction with the U.S. Air Force has successfully completed a series of demonstrationRead More...
The Inside Track
Northrop Grumman to Upgrade Integrated Bridge Systems for Nimitz-Class Carriers Northrop Grumman Corporation has been awarded a contract to provide Scalable Integrated Bridge SystemsRead More...
Modular Approach Eases Avionics Certification Challenges
The promise of greater efficiency by using Integrated Modular Avionics (IMA) systems that reduce Space, Weight and Power (SWaP), is now coming to fruition. Very large, visible projectsRead More...
Addressing the Application Side of the MILS Architecture
Several real-time operating systems (RTOSs) on the market today support the Multiple Independent Levels of Security (MILS) architecture. Many of these have been certified (or are planRead More...
