Abstract
This paper compares two test engine architectures, one based on the RT-Tester test system, and one based on FMI, and analyzes how these different approaches satisfy the needs for verification and validation of safety-critical avionics software. The study is based on an aircraft controller application, which motivates the requirements to the test engine designs.
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- 1.
Handling of discrete I/O is necessary to start or reset the aircraft controller. Without discrete I/O, automated testing is thus not possible.
- 2.
Controlling external devices is essential to reach the test goals, for instance, verify the stability of the SUT with respect to unexpected timings of incoming CAN messages.
- 3.
The devices connected to the aircraft controller are configured via software parameters, and different tests may have to exercise different parameter settings. The parameter settings include, for example, the number of heating controllers and the association of heaters to heating controllers. It must therefore be possible to straightforwardly adapt the set of simulations, as well as simulation parameters and the order in which these simulations are executed, for each single test.
- 4.
A predictable order is necessary since the different simulations and checkers running on the test engine may depend on one another.
- 5.
Please note that this is one possibility for defining the interface to the actual aircraft controller. It would likewise be possible to summarize the interfaces to a specific hardware device in one FMU, or to structure the interfaces based on applications. This decision, however, does not influence the principled architecture.
- 6.
Observe that this requirement is strongly related to predictable scheduling and a suitable scheduling policy, as specified by requirement REQ-SCHEDULING.
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Brauer, J., Möller, O., Peleska, J. (2018). Testing Avionics Software: Is FMI up to the Task?. In: Margaria, T., Steffen, B. (eds) Leveraging Applications of Formal Methods, Verification and Validation. Distributed Systems. ISoLA 2018. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 11246. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-03424-5_32
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