Abstract
This paper deals with digital computers on board airplanes. Only the systems unde Aerospatiale’s responsibility are dealt with. The airplanes involved are the Airbus and the ATR By studying the evolution of these aircraft families, it can be seen that digital computing systems are becoming increasingly numerous and used in increasingly critical functions Aerospatiale has therefore had to adapt its design and certification methods to suit. A lesson to be drawn from this experience is that a problem cannot be solved unless a global approach is used covering all issues.
This paper first deals with the key elements of our approach: the control and monitoring computers and our system design process. As this approach is extensibely used, several practical examples are explained. The safety related research topics are briefly described.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
A. Avizienis, P. Gunningberg, J.P.J. Kelly, L. Strigini, P. Traverse, K.S. Tso, U. Voges, “The UCLA DEDIX System: A distributed testbed for multiple-version software”, Proc. 15th International Symposium on Fault-Tolerant Computing, FTCS-15, Ann Arbor, Michigan, June 1985.
L. Barbaste, J.P. Desmons, “Assurance qualité du logiciel et la certification des aéronefs, expérience A320”, Proc. 1er Séminaire EOQC sur la Qualité des Logiciels, Brussels, April 1988.
K. Barkaoui, G. Florin, C. Fraize, B. Lemaire, S. Natkin, “Reliability analysis of non repairable systems using stochastic Petri nets”, Proc. 18th International Symposium on Fault-Tolerant Computing, FTCS-18, Tokyo, June 1988.
D. Chatrenet, “Simulateurs A320 d’Aérospatiale: leur contribution à la conception, au développement et à la certification”, INFAUTOM 89, Toulouse, March 1989.
S.G. Corps, “A320 Flight controls”, Proc. 29th Symposium of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots, September 1985.
M. Durandeau, J. Troyes, “Les commandes de vol des avions de transport”, Cercles des Officiers Mécaniciens et Ingénieurs Navigants — COMINAC, Roissy en France, January 1986.
J. Farineau, “Lateral electric flight controls laws of the A320 based upon eigenstructure assignment technique”, Proc. AIAA Guidance, Navigation and Control Conference, Boston, August 1989.
Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) and Joint Airworthiness Authorities (JAA), “Federal Aviation Regulation part 25 and Joint Airworthiness Requirements part 25”.
D.P. Glutch, M.J. Paul, “Fault-tolerance in distributed digital fly-by-wire flight control systems”, Proc. 7th Digital Avionics Systems Conference — DASC, Fort Worth, Texas, October 1986.
J. Grossin, P. Traverse, “Système de commande vol pour aéronef”, French Patent n° 88.03.343, March 1988.
A.D. Hills, “Digital fly-by-wire experience”, AGARD Lectures Series n ° 143, 1985.
C. Hourtolle, “Conception de logiciels sûrs de fonctionnement: analyse de la sécurité des logiciels ; mécanismes de décision pour la programmation N-version”, Thesis for the doctorate of the Institut National Polytechnique de Toulouse, n° 122, October 1987.
J.P. Laborie, P. Desjean, J.P. Domergue, P. Palandjian, “Système pour la commande aérodynamique mobile d’un aéronef”, French Patent n° 86.01.576, February 1986.
H. Lansdorf, “Terminal weather”, Flight International, May 23rd, 1987.
Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics (RTCA) and EURopean Organization for Civil Aviation Electronics (EUROCAE), “Software considerations in airborne systems and equipment certification”, n° DO178A and ED12A, March 1985.
C.R. Spitzer, “All-digital jets are taking off”, IEEE Spectrum, September 1986.
P. Traverse, “Sûreté des systèmes informatiques embarqués à bord d’avions”, Proc. 3ème Colloque ANAE International sur la Sécurité Aérienne et Spatiale, Toulouse, September 1988.
P. Traverse, “Evolution dans les applications civiles”, Proc. AGARD Conference on Fault Tolerant Design Concepts for Highly Integrated Flight Critical Guidance and Control Systems, CP-456, Toulouse, October 1989.
J.M. Wensley, L. Lamport, J. Goldberg, M.W. Green, K.N. Levitt, P.M. Melliar-Smith, “SIFT: The design and analysis of a fault-tolerant computer for aircraft control”, Proceedings of the IEEE, vol. 66, n° 10, October 1978.
B. Ziegler, M. Durandeau, “Flight control system on modern civil aircraft”, International Council of the Aeronautical Sciences — ICAS84, Toulouse, September 1984.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1991 Springer-Verlag/Wien
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Traverse, P. (1991). Dependability of Digital Computers on Board Airplanes. In: Avižienis, A., Laprie, JC. (eds) Dependable Computing for Critical Applications. Dependable Computing and Fault-Tolerant Systems, vol 4. Springer, Vienna. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7091-9123-1_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7091-9123-1_6
Publisher Name: Springer, Vienna
Print ISBN: 978-3-7091-9125-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-7091-9123-1
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive