Verification of Robustness for FPGAs and CEH to Meet Compliance to Objectives (DO-254 and FAA Order 8110.105)

The verification of Robustness is conceptually simple, once the reasonable set of “abnormal operating conditions” has been established. During testing those conditions are created and the FPGA/CEH response is noted. Depending upon system requirements, sometimes the FPGA/CEH response need not be “to work normally” but should at a minimum return to normal operation once normal conditions are reestablished. Part of the analysis is to establish acceptable FPGA/CEH responses to the “abnormal operating conditions”. Some of the acceptable responses may actually affect the LRU/CCA hardware performance or software functions hosted on the system, an early identification of such interdependence is essential for the planning of robustness testing.

The test cases implementing robustness testing conform to the same constraints and pedigree as any requirements based test case. The key here is to know the scope of the tests and plan accordingly. The understanding that the test environment will need to be capable of generating these “abnormal operating conditions” is key to properly planning for and establishing the infrastructure needed. Attempting to modify or adapt a Test Infrastructure later in the life cycle is never beneficial as there is limited success with regard to effectiveness, time and costs.