Considerations in the Preference for and Application of RTCA/DO-178B in the Australian Military Avionics Context

Reinhardt, D.W.

RTCA/DO-178B is the Australian Defence Force's (ADF's) preferred software assurance standard for safety critical and safety related airborne software development. However, RTCA/DO-178B is often the centre of much debate or criticism for several reasons. The absence of mandatory formal methods and static code analysis, the absence of objectives relating to software safety analysis and software safety requirements, and the ineffectiveness of testing regimes are the key focuses of criticism. The assumptions underlying the integrity level definition may also be questionable. Alternatively, there are others that believe that the verification objectives of RTCA/DO-178B are too onerous, and that the fidelity requirements regarding specification and traceability of software requirements are conflicting with common software development practices. This paper examines these criticisms and discusses how they influence the ADF's preference for and application of RTCA/DO-178B. Specific factors such as how RTCA/DO-178B is applied in conjunction with other standards in the ADF framework, the test coverage objectives, use of RTCA/DO-178B as a software assurance benchmark, the use of COTS software and migration issues are also considered.

Cite as: Reinhardt, D.W. (2008). Considerations in the Preference for and Application of RTCA/DO-178B in the Australian Military Avionics Context. In Proc. Thirteenth Australian Conference on Safety-Related Programmable Systems (SCS 2008), Canberra, Australia. CRPIT, 100. Cant, T., Ed. ACS. 49-68.

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