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Avionics Commonality

Avionics Commonality

A LinkedIn discussion centered on the Future Airborne Capability Environment (FACE) standard contained an important observation concerning certification.  Granted — requirements for validation, with acceptance by governing agencies, definitely are essential for safety. What follows here is advocacy for a proposed way to realize the common avionics benefits offered by FACE while retaining (and in fact, improving) the process of certification. Reasoning is based on three major items:

* CHANGE. In many respects this has necessitated improved standards.

* HISTORY. Spectacular failures in what we have now are widely documented.

* COST. The status quo is (and, for a long time, has been) unaffordable.


In regard to the first item: the pace of change in so many areas (hardware, software, operating systems, data communication, etc., etc., etc.) — and the effects on procurement cycles — are well known. How can certification remain unchanged when nothing else does? That argument would be undercut if the process had a rock solid track record — but that theme would not be supported by the second item — history:


Myriad shortcomings of existing operational systems are so pervasive that no one is considered a “loose cannon” for openly discussing them. Any of my horror stories — too strange and too numerous to be revisited here — would be trumped anyway by a document from the government itself. GAO-08-467SP, in 2008, described outlandish cost overruns, schedule delays, and deficient technical performance in the defense industry. That 3-way combination speaks for itself. Now a significant addition: the certification process has not been at all immune to serious flaws. The first-ever certified GPS receiver is now well known to have failed spectacularly in multiple facets of integrity testing by another manufacturer. It is readily acknowledged that correction of those early problems is quite credible, but one issue is inescapable: Historical proof of flightworthiness improperly bestowed — with proprietary rights accepted for algorithms and tests –- happened ,  and that was not widely known until much later.


There is still more, including integrity failure probability limits missed by orders-of-magnitude in certified GPS receivers, severe limitations of GO/NO-GO testing, and failed attempts to gain approval to set requirements for correcting those plus other deficiencies. For brevity here, those issues are covered by citing the fifth page from another related reference .


The final item is, after years of fruitless talk about cost reduction, being acknowledged — we can’t do what we’ve been doing any more.  With dollars being the ultimate driver of so many decisions, we might finally see the necessary break from ingrained habits. FACE already addresses the issues and the requisite justifications. To make it all happen, two essential ingredients are

 

* raw-data-across-the-board, and * nonproprietary software, with standardization under government control.

Flight-validated algorithms already in existence can be converted (e.g., from proof-of-concept to in-flight real-time form) according to government specification, by small groups more interested in engineering than in dollars (yes, that does exist). The payoff in cost savings can be huge.

 

By James Farrell 09 May, 2023
A look back in time by James L Farrell, PHD - 2023
11 Apr, 2020
Apologies for little posting lately. Much activity included some with deadlines; this will focus primarily on the few years leading up to Covid.
11 Apr, 2020
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By James Farrell 30 Aug, 2018
Apologies for little posting lately. Much activity included some with deadlines; this will be limited to the past twelve months. In 2017 my involvement in the annual GNSS+ Conference again included teaching the satnav/inertial integration tutorial sessions with OhioU Prof. Frank vanGraas. Part I and Part II are likewise being offered for Sept 2018. Also...Read More
28 Jun, 2018
Once again I am privileged to work with Ohio University Prof. Frank vanGraas, in presenting tutorial sessions at the Institute of Navigation’s GNSS-19 conference. In 2019, as in several consecutive previous years, two sessions will cover integrated navigation with Kalman filtering.  Descriptions of the part 1 session and part 2 session are now available online. By way of...Read More
30 Apr, 2018
The Institute of Navigation’s GNSS+ 2018 Conference provides me the privilege of collaborating with two of the industry’s pillars of expertise. Ohio University Professor Frank van Graas and I are offering fundamental and advanced tutorials.  Then on the last day of the conference I’m coauthored with William Woodward, Chairman of SAE Int’l Aerospace Avionics Systems Division and hardware lead...Read More
24 Apr, 2018
A new SAE standard for GPS receivers is a natural complement to a newly receptive posture toward innovation unmistakably expressed at high levels in FAA and Mitre (ICNS 2018).  Techniques introduced over decades by this author (many on this site) can finally become operational. 1980s euphoria over GPS success was understandable but decision-makers, lulled into complacency, defined requirements in adherence...Read More
22 Mar, 2018
At April’s ICNS meeting (Integrated Communications Navigation and Surveillance) as coauthor with Bill Woodward (Chairman, SAE International Aerospace Avionics Systems Division), I’ll present “NEW INTERFACE REQUIREMENTS: IMPLICATIONS for FUTURE“.  By “future” we indicate the initiation of a task to conclude with a SAE standard that will necessitate appearance of separate satellite measurements to be included...Read More
16 Jul, 2016
A recent video describes a pair of long-awaited developments that promise dramatic benefits in achievable navigation and tracking performance.  Marked improvements will occur, not only in accuracy and availability; over four decades this topic has arisen in connection with myriad operations, many documented in material cited from other blogs here. 
12 Feb, 2016
For reasons, consider a line from a song in Gilbert-&-Sullivan’s Gondoliers: “When everybody is somebody, then nobody is anybody” — (too many cooks) For consequences, consider this question: Should an intolerable reality remain indefinitely intolerable? While much of the advocacy expressed in my publications and website have focused on tracking and navigation, this tract concentrates...Read More
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