Gnat Pro - High Integrity Edition
For DO-178B
What is DO-178B?
The purpose of RTCA DO-178B / EUROCAE ED-12 is to provide guidelines for the production of software for airborne systems and equipment that performs its intended function with a level of confidence in safety that complies with airworthiness requirements. The guidelines are in the form of:
- Objectives of software life cycle processes
- Description of activities and design considerations for achieving these objectives
- Description of the evidence that indicate that the objectives have been satisfied
The document discusses those aspects of airworthiness certification that pertain to the production of software for airborne systems and equipment used on aircraft or engines.
DO-178B Safety Levels
| Level A | Catastrophic: prevents continued safe flight or landing, many fatal injuries |
| Level B: | Hazardous/Severe: potential fatal injuries to a small number of occupants |
| Level C: | Major: impairs crew efficiency, discomfort or possible injuries to occupants |
| Level D: | Minor: reduced aircraft safety margins, but well within crew capabilities |
| Level E: | No Effect: does not effect the safety of the aircraft at all |
These relate to the criticality of the airborne system. Flight control, navigation, and all fly-by-wire systems are flight critical and require DO-178B Level A certification. Entertainment systems fall at the other end of the criticality spectrum and would be Level E systems (except for the crew’s ability to override it when making public announcements “PA”).
DO-178B Documentation Requirements
DO-178B requires a thorough definition and documentation of the software development process. The base set of required documentation and life cycle artifacts include:
- Plan for Software Aspects of Certification (PSAC)
- Software Quality Assurance Plan
- Software Configuration Management Plan
- Configuration Control Procedures
- Software Code Standard For Ada
- Software Design Standard
- Software Requirements Standard
- Software Development Plan
- Software Verification Plan
- Source, Executable Object Code, SCI and SECI
- Software Design Document
- Software Requirements Document
- Traceability
- Test Cases and Procedures
- Verification Results
- Quality Assurance Records
- Configuration Management Records
- Problem Reports
- Software Accomplishments Summary
Why GNAT Pro High-Integrity Edition for DO-178B?
AdaCore’s High-Integrity Edition for DO-178B solution has passed DO-178B Level A certification as a part of avionics systems multiple times and is a proven solution to meet this safety-critical standard requirements. It is available for both Wind River Safety-Critical Platforms:
Or bare board solutions for:
For further information on DO-178B:
GNAT Pro Development Solutions
Find the right version of GNAT Pro based on your development needs.