An Avionics Software Test and Evaluation Technique

Advanced helicopter avionics systems require complex software programs to perform a variety of tasks. Quality control of such large, performance-critical software programs must be insured. A four-phase method of software testing can assure greater quality for such programs. The phases are: 1. module testing, 2. software integration testing, 3. manned flight simulation testing, and 4. flight testing. The first phase tests the individual software modules. The second phase tests the complete program constructed from the linked modules. The third phase tests the complete software in real-time with simulated inputs. The last phase fine tunes the software algorithms. Using this graded method of software testing can improve the productivity of avionics software developers and insure that only the highest quality of software is delivered to the customer.