Posted by John Keller
KLEIN-WINTERNHEIM, Germany, 10 Nov. 2009. The software-based AFDX (ARINC-664) avionics databus from SYSGO AG in Klein-Winterheim, Germany, has earned DO-178B Level C safety critical software certification from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in Washington.
This implementation from SYSGO is part of an engine monitoring unit (EMU) developed by Vibro-Meter SA, a MEGGIT Group company.
This important milestone is the result of more than two years of effort with Vibro-Meter and other major avionics industrial players.
"Coming with a software based implementation of AFDX could have been seen as very challenging," says Didier Abel, project leader at Vibro-Meter SA. "We were confident however in the ability of our technical staff to take up this challenge, and we chose SYSGO as our key partner because of their experience in DO-178B certification and real time networking."
The software implementation of AFDX is portable, more flexible, and more affordable compared to the currently used ASICs, SYSGO officials say. Portable AFDX consists of the AFDX Node implementation and the very small footprint host driver.
ICMP and SNMP run on the AFDX Node, which gain more processing time for other tasks. The AFDX Node configuration is based on a simple CSV text file which allows the use of standard tools for configuration editing and also eases the automated conversion of existing AFDX configurations.
Host drivers are available for PikeOS, the Safe and Secure Virtualization (SSV) product from SYSGO, Linux and other major COTS real time operating systems.
Avionics Full-Duplex Switched Ethernet (AFDX/ARINC-664) is a specification of a deterministic aircraft data network bus system for commercial and other aircraft. The network is based on standard 802.3 Ethernet technology components to reduce the overall costs for the aircraft network. AFDX extends the standard Ethernet by adding Quality of Service (QoS) and deterministic behavior with a guaranteed dedicated bandwidth.
For more information contact SYSGO online at www.sysgo.com, or Vibro-Meter SA at www.vibro-meter.com.
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