Integrated modular avionics and certification - an IMA design team's view

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the concepts and techniques to be used in Integrated Modular Avionics (IMA) and to identify areas where there may be certification concerns. IMA techniques aim to reduce life cycle costs and improve technical and operational interoperability between aircraft and aircraft weapon subsystems. The intention is to achieve this by standardisation of hardware and software building blocks. The Modular Avionics Operating System (MAOS) layer (in the three-layer IMA software architecture) provides two standard interfaces. These are the APplication to Operating System Interface (APOS) and the hardware Module to Operating System Interface (MOS) to provide application portability and hardware independence, respectively. The MAOS provides various management features including fault management and reconfiguration. To enable re-use of the OS on any platform, the OS is generic, it's operation is conditioned for each particular platform by the use of configuration information (blueprints). The hardware in a IMA system will consist of generic modules, interconnected via a standard communications network. The suite of generic hardware modules will include data processing, data storage, power conversion and signal concentrator modules. The IMA certification discussion areas are identified. Close co-operation between the certification authorities and the IMA R&D teams is necessary to ensure that the IMA systems now being conceived provide the perceived benefits and are certifiable.