Forum for Aeronautical Software (FAS)

The Forum Aeronautical Software (FAS) has been established to provide a forum for those involved in the development of aeronautical software to share experiences and good practices and to provide a platform for the exchange of information regarding subjects addressed in the “software document suite”, new and emerging technologies, development methodologies, interesting use cases and other topics related to aeronautical software and related technologies.


The FAS is a joint EUROCAE/RTCA User Group that holds discussions and develops information papers called FAS Topic Papers (FTPs) relating to aeronautical software topics in efforts to harmonize these information papers. The purpose of this area of the EUROCAE/RTCA website is to provide an overview of the FAS and to provide access to selected information FTPs. Topics typically addressed by the FAS will relate to aeronautical software, including topics covered by the following set of EUROCAE/RTCA published documents (referred to as the “software document suite”):

  • ED-12C/DO-178C               Software considerations in airborne systems and equipment certification
  • ED-94C/DO-248C               Supporting Information for ED-12C and ED-109A
  • ED-109A/DO-278A             Software Integrity Assurance Considerations for Communication, Navigation, Surveillance and Air Traffic Management (CNS/ATM) Systems
  • ED-215/DO-330                Software tool qualification considerations
  • ED-216/DO-333                Formal methods supplement to ED-12C and ED-109A
  • ED-217/DO-332                Object-oriented technology supplement to ED-12C and ED-109A
  • ED-218/DO-331                Model-based development and verification supplement to ED-12C and ED-109A

Any information paper (FTP) released by FAS has been coordinated among the members of the group and has been approved by the FAS co-chairs for release. These papers do not constitute official policy or position from EUROCAE / RTCA or any regulatory agency or authority. These documents are made available for educational and informational purposes.

Goals

The goals of the FAS are as follows:

  • To share lessons learned in the use of the “software document suite” and to encourage good practices and promote the effective use of EUROCAE’s and RTCA's publications
  • To develop FAS Topic Papers related to subjects covered by “software document suite” or other related aeronautical software industry topics.
  • To identify and record any issues or errata showing the need for clarifications or the need for modifications to the “software document suite”.

If the FAS Executive Management Committee determines there is a general FAS agreement for proposed changes to the “software document suite” or the need for a new technology supplement, the FAS Executive Management Committee will bring this to the attention of RTCA/EUROCAE and FAA/EASA as appropriate with a request for discussion of the need for a new special committee/working group. It is expected that the efforts of the FAS would be used as input to the new special committee/working group thus the text development process would be more efficient as it would start with baseline material prepared by an expert user group.

 

Membership

Initial membership of FAS is limited to the Executive Management Committee and a Technical Leaders Group plus invited members who may be able to share their experience and expertise in the discussions related to and development of FTPs. The current membership is open to employees of companies that have membership to either RTCA or EUROCAE, with an associated role of either primary or observer.
Executive Management Committee – comprising the Executive Management Committee Leaders identified and agreed with EUROCAE and RTCA.
FAS Technical Leaders Group Members are those members identified by the Executive Management Committee to assist in leading Technical Groups (TGs) that will work on specific Information Papers as agreed by the FAS Executive Management Committee.
While membership is initially being managed through the Executive Management Committee, FAS is able to collect and store details of anyone wishing to Register Interest in the committee for future membership consideration.

Note that any contact and other information provided to the FAS shall be stored and maintained by the Executive Management Committee and will not be made available in the public domain. Complete this Registration of Interest and submit it to fas@rtca.org.

 

Publicly Available Papers

 

 

FAS Topic Paper (FTP) FTP Title Applicable to
FTP1000 Parameter Data Items Clarifications ED-12C/DO-178C
FTP1002 DO-331/ED-218 Annex Tables MB.A-3/MB.C-3 and MB.A-4/MB.C-4 Item Clarification ED-218/DO-331
FTP1003 Tool Operational Requirements Validation   ED-215/DO-330
FTP1004 Clarification of developer-TOR ED-215/DO-330
FTP1007 Consistency between DO-330/ED-215 Tables 11-1 and 11-2 on COTS tools and SQA Objectives    ED-215/DO-330
FTP1008 Inconsistency between Tool Qualification Assurance objectives and Tool Planning process objectives for TQL-5 ED-215/DO-330
FTP1009 Qualification of Tools Used to Develop or Verify a Software Tool ED-215/DO-330
FTP1015 ED-215/DO-330 Annex A Table T-10 TQL 5 ED-215/DO-330
FTP1016 ED-215/DO-330 Developer – TQP Clarification ED-215/DO-330
FTP1018 ED-215/DO-330 Section 11.5 Dissimilar Tools ED-215/DO-330
FTP1026 Field Loadable Software (FLS) Outside of Installed Environment ED-12C/DO-178B
ED-94C/DO-248C
FTP1028 Are the activities described in the DO-178C/ED-12C document set mandatory? ED-12C/DO-178B
ED-94C/DO-248C
ED-109A/DO-278A
ED-215/DO-330
ED-216/DO-333
ED-217/DO-332
ED-218/DO-331
FTP1037 Formal Methods Objectives for Executable Object Code ED-216/DO-333
FTP1044 Clarification of Objective 4 from ED-215/DO-330 Annex A Table T-0 and Paragraph 6.2.2, item a ED-215/DO-330
FTP1049 ED-217/DO-332 Software/Assurance Level Differs with ED-12C/DO-178B and ED-109A/DO-278A for Memory Management Activities ED-217/DO-332
FTP1051 Alternative Development Approaches ED-12C/DO-178B
ED-94C/DO-248C
ED-109A/DO-278A
ED-215/DO-330
ED-216/DO-333
ED-217/DO-332
ED-218/DO-331
FTP1052 Compiler Clarifications ED-12C/DO-178B
ED-94C/DO-248C
ED-109A/DO-278A
FTP1053 Use of Supplements Clarifications ED-216/DO-333
ED-217/DO-332
ED-218/DO-331
FTP1054 Operating Systems Clarifications ED-12C/DO-178B
ED-109A/DO-278A
FTP1055 Tool Qualification Impacts ED-12C/DO-178B
ED-109A/DO-278A
ED-215/DO-330

 

Several papers were developed in response to questions/concerns from the UAS Community, which include: FTP1049, FTP1051, FTP1052, FTP1053, FTP1054, and FTP1055.

 

In addition, FAS has reviewed the entire software standards suite (paper and PDF) and requested RTCA and EUROCAE issue errata/corrigenda. The following documents are affected:

ED

DO

Title

Corrigenda

ED-12C

DO-178C

Software Considerations in Airborne Systems and Equipment Certification

here

ED-94C

DO-248C

Supporting Information for ED-12C and ED-109A

 here

ED-109A

DO-278A

Software Integrity Assurance Considerations for Communication, Navigation, Surveillance and Air Traffic Management (CNS/ATM) Systems

here

ED-215

DO-330

Software Tool Qualification Considerations

here

ED-218

DO-331

Model Based Development & Verification Supplement

n/a

ED-217

DO-332

Object Oriented Technology and Related Techniques Supplement

n/a

ED-216

DO-333

Formal Methods Supplement

n/a


The Corrigenda are available on the for download at the links indicated above.

 

Questions

If you have a question about any of the ED-12C documents suite or on the documents published by FAS, please submit it to: fas@rtca.org

 

Contact
  •     RTCA (fas@rtca.org)
  •     EUROCAE (eurocae@eurocae.net)
  •     Co-Chair: Patty Bath (patty.bath@avistainc.com)
  •     Co-Chair: Christophe Cucuron (christophe.cucuron@airbus.com)