ABSTRACT

Written by a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) consultant designated engineering representative (DER) and an electronics hardware design engineer who together taught the DO-254 class at the Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics, Inc. (RTCA) in Washington, District of Columbia, USA, Airborne Electronic Hardware Design Assurance: A Practitioner's Guide to RTCA/DO-254 is a testimony to the lessons learned and wisdom gained from many years of first-hand experience in the design, verification, and approval of airborne electronic hardware.

This practical guide to the use of RTCA/DO-254 in the development of airborne electronic hardware for safety critical airborne applications:

  • Describes how to optimize engineering processes and practices to harmonize with DO-254
  • Addresses the single most problematic aspect of engineering and compliance to DO-254—poorly written requirements
  • Includes a tutorial on how to write requirements that will minimize the cost and effort of electronic design and verification
  • Discusses the common pitfalls encountered by practitioners of DO-254, along with how those pitfalls occur and what can be done about them
  • Settles the ongoing debate and misconceptions about the true definition of a derived requirement
  • Promotes embracing DO-254 as the best means to achieve compliance to it, as well as the best path to high-quality electronic hardware

Airborne Electronic Hardware Design Assurance: A Practitioner's Guide to RTCA/DO-254 offers real-world insight into RTCA/DO-254 and how its objectives can be satisfied. It provides engineers with valuable information that can be applied to any project to make compliance to DO-254 as easy and problem-free as possible.

chapter 1|15 pages

Introduction to RTCA/DO-254

chapter 2|13 pages

Regulatory Background

chapter 3|36 pages

Planning

chapter 4|39 pages

Requirements

chapter 5|6 pages

Validation

chapter 7|36 pages

Verification

chapter 8|7 pages

Process Assurance

chapter 9|18 pages

Configuration Management

chapter 10|16 pages

Additional Considerations

chapter 11|5 pages

Summary