Object-Oriented Technology (OOT) In Civil Aviation Projects: Certification Concerns

Object-Oriented Technology (OOT) has been extensively utilized throughout the nonsafety rated software development community (e.g., Windows 98 and Internet software). Although the adoption of OOT has been limited in the airborne civil aviation community, OOT is being considered by an increasing number of manufacturers of airborne software. Application of RTCA DO-178B/EUROCAE ED-12B ("Software Considerations in Airborne systems and Equipment Certification") is the primary means of approving software within these airborne systems. However, DO-178B/ED-12B was developed prior to the widespread use of OOT. The application of DO-178B/ED-12B to systems developed using OOT is not well understand in the industry. This paper will provide an introduction to the issues surrounding the development of aviation software using OOT within the context of DO-178B/ED-12B assessments. This introduction will demonstrate that DO-178B/ED-12B is compatible with OOT but that there are significant issues that need to be addressed. Other papers will be developed to address these issues in more depth.